Book 11

But when we had come down to the ship and to the sea,first of all we dragged the ship into the bright salt water,and set the mast inside it and the sails in the black ship,and taking the sheep we put them aboard, and we ourselvesclimbed aboard too, grieving, shedding a thick tear.And behind us, for the ship with the dark-blue prow,she sent a following wind that filled the sails, a good companion,Circe of the lovely braids, a dread goddess with a human voice.And we, having made fast each rope throughout the ship,sat down; and the wind and the helmsman steered her.All day long her sails were stretched as she traveled the sea,and the sun went down and all the pathways grew shadowy.And she came to the limits of deep-flowing Ocean.There is the land and the city of the Cimmerian men,wrapped in mist and cloud; never upon themdoes the shining sun look with his rays,neither when he climbs up into the starry heaven,nor when he turns back again toward the earth from heaven,but deadly night is stretched out over those wretched mortals.Coming there we beached the ship, and out wetook the sheep; and we ourselves again beside the stream of Oceanwent on, until we came to the place that Circe had shown.There Perimedes and Eurylochus heldthe victims; and I, drawing the sharp sword from beside my thigh,dug a pit of a cubit's length this way and that,and around it I poured a drink-offering to all the dead,first with honeyed milk, then afterwards with sweet wine,and the third time with water; and I sprinkled white barley over it.And I besought many times the strengthless heads of the dead,promising that when I came to Ithaca I would offer a barren cow, the best of all,and sacrifice in my halls, and fill a pyre with good things,and to Tiresias, apart from the rest, to sacrifice a sheep, to him alone,all-black, which stands out among my flocks.But when with vows and prayers I had besought the tribes of the dead,taking the sheep I cut their throatsover the pit, and the dark-clouded blood flowed; and they gathered,the souls of the dead who had died, from out of Erebus.Brides and unwed youths and much-enduring old men,and tender maidens with hearts of new-made grief,and many wounded by bronze-tipped spears,men slain in war, wearing blood-stained armor;these thronged in crowds around the pit, one from one side, one from another,with a wondrous cry; and pale fear seized me.Then I urged on my comrades and commanded themto flay the sheep that lay there slain by the pitiless bronze,and to burn them, and to pray to the gods,to mighty Hades and to dread Persephone;and I myself, drawing the sharp sword from beside my thigh,sat still, and I did not allow the strengthless heads of the deadto come nearer to the blood, before I had asked of Tiresias.First came the soul of my comrade Elpenor;for he had not yet been buried beneath the wide-pathed earth;for we had left his body in the hall of Circe,unwept and unburied, since another toil pressed on us.I wept when I saw him and I pitied him in my heart,and speaking to him I addressed him with winged words:Elpenor, how did you come down under the misty darkness?Did you come on foot faster than I did with the black ship?So I spoke, and he groaned and answered me with a word:Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, many-devising Odysseus,the evil fate of a god undid me, and the measureless wine.For lying down in the hall of Circe I did not thinkto go back down by the long ladder,but I fell straight down from the roof; and my neckwas broken from the spine, and my soul went down to the house of Hades.Now I beg you, by those behind, who are not with us,by your wife and your father, who raised you when you were small,and by Telemachus, whom you left alone in the halls;for I know that going from here, out of the house of Hades,you will bring your well-built ship to the island of Aeaea;there, then, my lord, I bid you remember me.Do not leave me unwept and unburied when you go away,having departed, lest I become some cause of the wrath of the gods,but burn me with my armor, all that I have,and heap a mound for me on the shore of the gray sea,of an unhappy man, to be known to men who are yet to be.Fulfill this for me, and fix an oar upon the tomb,the oar with which I rowed while alive among my comrades.So he spoke, and I answered him and addressed him:This all, unhappy man, I will fulfill and perform.So we two sat exchanging hateful words,I on one side holding the sword over the blood,and on the other side the phantom of my comrade spoke many things.Then came the soul of my mother, who had died,Anticleia, daughter of great-hearted Autolycus,whom I left alive when I set out for holy Ilium.I wept when I saw her and I pitied her in my heart,but not even so did I let her, though I grieved heavily,come nearer to the blood, before I had learned of Tiresias.Then came the soul of the Theban Tiresias,holding a golden staff, and he knew me and spoke to me:Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, many-devising Odysseus,why now, unhappy man, having left the light of the sun,have you come, to see the dead and this joyless place?But draw back from the pit, and hold off your sharp sword,so that I may drink the blood and tell you the truth.So he spoke, and I drew back and thrust the silver-studded swordinto its sheath. And when he had drunk the dark blood,then indeed the blameless prophet addressed me with words:You seek your honey-sweet homecoming, glorious Odysseus;a god will make it hard for you; for I do not thinkyou will escape the Earthshaker, who has set wrath in his heartagainst you, angry because you blinded his dear son.But even so you might still come home, though suffering evils,if you are willing to restrain your own spirit and your comrades',when first you bring your well-built shipto the island Thrinacia, fleeing over the violet-dark sea,and find grazing cattle and sturdy flocksof Helios, who looks upon all things and hears all things.If you leave them unharmed and take thought for your homecoming,you may still come to Ithaca, though suffering evils;but if you harm them, then I foretell destructionfor your ship and your comrades. And if you yourself escape,you will come home late and badly, having lost all your comrades,in a stranger's ship; and you will find woes in your house,overweening men, who devour your livelihood,wooing your godlike wife and offering bridal gifts.But you will surely take vengeance on their violence when you come.And when you have killed the suitors in your halls,either by guile or openly with the sharp bronze,then go, taking up a well-fitted oar,until you come to men who do not know the sea,men who do not eat food mixed with salt,and who do not know ships with crimson cheeks,nor well-fitted oars, which are wings to ships.And I will tell you a sign, very clear indeed, and it will not escape you:when another traveler, meeting you,says that you have a winnowing-fan on your shining shoulder,then plant in the ground your well-fitted oar,and make fair sacrifices to lord Poseidon,a ram, a bull, and a boar that mounts the sows,and go back home and perform holy hecatombsto the immortal gods who hold the broad heaven,all of them in due order. And death will come to you from the sea,a very gentle death, such as will slay youworn by sleek old age; and around you the peoplewill be blessed. And these things I tell you truly.So he spoke, and I answered him and addressed him:Tiresias, the gods themselves have surely spun all this.But come, tell me this and recount it exactly:I see here the soul of my mother, who has died;she sits in silence near the blood, and she has not daredto look at her own son face to face nor to speak to him.Tell me, lord, how may she know me for what I am?So I spoke, and he answered me straightway and said:Easy is the word I will speak, and I will put it in your mind.Whichever one of the dead you allowto come nearer to the blood, that one will tell you the truth;but whomever you begrudge it to, that one will go back again.So speaking, the soul of lord Tiresias went within the house of Hades,when he had spoken his oracles;but I stayed there steadfastly, until my mothercame and drank the dark-clouded blood; and straightway she knew me,and lamenting she addressed me with winged words:My child, how have you come down under the misty darknesswhile alive? And it is hard for the living to look upon these things.For in between lie great rivers and dread streams,Ocean first of all, which no one can crosson foot, unless he has a well-built ship.Have you come here wandering from Troywith ship and comrades for a long time? Have you not yet cometo Ithaca, nor seen your wife in your halls?So she spoke, and I answered her and addressed her:My mother, a need brought me down to the house of Hades,to consult the soul of the Theban Tiresias;for I have not yet come near Achaea, nor have I yetset foot on my own land, but I wander always in misery,ever since I first followed shining Agamemnonto Ilium of good horses, to fight with the Trojans.But come, tell me this and recount it exactly:what fate of long-drawn death subdued you?Was it a lingering sickness, or did Artemis the arrow-pourercome upon you with her gentle arrows and slay you?And tell me of my father and of the son whom I left behind,whether my honor still lies with them, or some other manalready holds it, and they say that I will not come home.And tell me the counsel and the mind of my wooed wife,whether she stays beside my son and keeps everything steadfast,or has already married whichever of the Achaeans is best.So I spoke, and the revered mother answered straightway:Indeed that woman stays with an enduring heartin your halls; and her wretched nights and daysalways waste away as she sheds tears.No one yet holds your fair honor, but at his easeTelemachus farms the lands and feasts at equal banquets,such as it is fitting for a man who gives judgments to enjoy;for all men invite him. But your father stays therein the country, and does not come down to the city. Nor does he havebed and blankets and shining rugs,but in winter he sleeps where the servants sleep in the house,in the dust close to the fire, and he wears evil clothing on his body;but when summer comes and the luxuriant harvest-time,everywhere along the slope of his vineyard soillow beds of fallen leaves are strewn for him.There he lies grieving, and he greatly increases the sorrow in his heart,longing for your return, and hard old age comes upon him.So I too perished and met my fate;neither did the keen-sighted arrow-pourer come upon me in my hallswith her gentle arrows and slay me,nor did any sickness come upon me, which most of alltakes the spirit from the limbs with hateful wasting;but my longing for you and your counsels, glorious Odysseus,and your gentle kindness took away my honey-sweet spirit.So she spoke, and I wished in my heart, pondering,to take the soul of my mother, who had died, in my arms.Three times I sprang toward her, and my heart urged me to hold her,and three times she flew from my hands like a shadow or a dream.And sharp grief grew in my heart the more,and speaking to her I addressed her with winged words:My mother, why will you not wait for me, who long to hold you,so that both of us, throwing our arms around each other,may take our joy in chilling lamentation in the house of Hades?Or is this phantom sent by the glorious Persephone,so that I may groan and lament the more?So I spoke, and the revered mother answered straightway:Ah me, my child, most wretched of all mortals,Persephone, the daughter of Zeus, does not deceive you,but this is the custom of mortals, whenever one dies;for no longer do the sinews hold flesh and bones together,but the strong might of blazing fire subdues them,as soon as the spirit first leaves the white bones,and the soul, like a dream, flies off and flutters away.But long for the light of day as quickly as you can; and know all this,so that you may tell it hereafter to your wife.So we two exchanged words with one another, and the women came,for the glorious Persephone urged them on,all who were wives and daughters of the chieftains.And they gathered in a crowd around the dark blood,and I considered how I might question each one.And this counsel seemed best to my heart:drawing my long-edged sword from beside my thick thigh,I did not allow them all together to drink the dark blood.And they came forward in order, and each onedeclared her lineage; and I questioned them all.There first I saw Tyro of the goodly father,who said she was the offspring of blameless Salmoneus,and said she was the wife of Cretheus, son of Aeolus;she loved the divine river Enipeus,which flows over the earth the fairest of all rivers,and she used to wander along the fair streams of Enipeus.And the Earthholder, the Earthshaker, making himself like him,lay beside her at the mouth of the whirling river;and a purple wave stood around them, like a mountain,arching over, and it hid the god and the mortal woman.He loosed her maiden girdle and poured sleep upon her.And when the god had accomplished the works of love,he clasped her hand and spoke a word and called her by name:Rejoice, woman, in this loving; and when the year comes round,you will bear glorious children, since the beds of the immortalsare not unfruitful; but you must care for them and rear them.But now go to your house, and keep silent and do not name me;for I am Poseidon, the Earthshaker.So saying, he plunged beneath the surging sea.And she, conceiving, bore Pelias and Neleus,who became mighty servants of great Zeus,both of them; Pelias dwelt in spacious Iolcus,rich in flocks, and the other in sandy Pylos.And the others she bore to Cretheus, a queen among women,Aeson and Pheres and Amythaon, who delighted in chariots.And after her I saw Antiope, daughter of Asopus,who claimed that she had lain in the arms of Zeus,and she bore two sons, Amphion and Zethus,who first founded the seat of seven-gated Thebes,and walled it, since they could notdwell in spacious Thebes unwalled, strong though they were.And after her I saw Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon,who bore Heracles, bold-spirited, lion-hearted,having lain in the arms of great Zeus;and Megara, daughter of overbearing Creon,whom the son of Amphitryon held, his might forever unwearied.And I saw the mother of Oedipus, the fair Epicaste,who did a great deed in the ignorance of her mind,marrying her own son; and he, having slain his father,married her; and straightway the gods made it known among men.But he remained in much-loved Thebes, ruling the Cadmeiansand suffering griefs, through the deadly counsels of the gods;and she went to the house of strong, gate-barring Hades,having tied a high noose from the lofty beam,mastered by her grief; and she left griefs behind for him,very many, such as a mother's Furies bring to pass.And I saw beautiful Chloris, whom once Neleusmarried for her beauty, since he gave countless bridal gifts,the youngest daughter of Amphion, son of Iasus,who once ruled by force in Minyan Orchomenus;and she was queen of Pylos, and bore him glorious children,Nestor and Chromius and proud Periclymenus.And besides these she bore sturdy Pero, a wonder to mortals,whom all the neighboring men wooed; but Neleuswould not give her to any man unless he drove off the spiral-horned, broad-browed cattlefrom Phylace, the grievous cattle of mighty Iphicles;and the blameless prophet alone promised to drive them out;but the hard fate of the god bound him fast,and painful bonds, and the rustic herdsmen.But when the months and the days were being fulfilledas the year rolled round again and the seasons came on,then the might of Iphicles loosed him,when he had told all the oracles; and the will of Zeus was accomplished.And I saw Leda, the wife of Tyndareus,who bore to Tyndareus two stout-hearted sons,Castor the horse-tamer and Polydeuces good at boxing,whom the life-giving earth holds both of them alive;they, even beneath the earth, having honor from Zeus,live on alternate days, and again at other timesare dead; and they have obtained honor equal to the gods.And after her I saw Iphimedeia, wife of Aloeus,who said that she had lain with Poseidon,and she bore two sons, but they were short-lived,godlike Otus and far-famed Ephialtes,whom the grain-giving earth reared as the tallestand by far the fairest, after famed Orion;for at nine years old they were nine cubitsin breadth, and in height they grew to nine fathoms.These two even threatened the immortal gods on Olympusto set up the din of much-roaring war;they meant to set Ossa upon Olympus, and upon OssaPelion with its shaking leaves, so that heaven might be climbed.And they would have accomplished it, if they had reached the measure of youth;but the son of Zeus, whom fair-haired Leto bore,slew them both, before beneath their temples the downbloomed and covered their cheeks with a fair-flowering beard.And I saw Phaedra and Procris and the fair Ariadne,the daughter of baleful-minded Minos, whom once Theseuswas leading from Crete to the hill of holy Athens,but he did not enjoy her; for Artemis killed her first,on sea-girt Dia, on the testimony of Dionysus.And I saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle,who accepted precious gold for the life of her own husband.But I could not tell of all of them nor name them,all the wives and the daughters of heroes that I saw;for sooner would the immortal night fail. But it is also timeto sleep, either going to the swift ship to my comrades,or here; and the sending home shall be the care of the gods and of you.So he spoke, and they all became silent in stillness,and they were held by enchantment throughout the shadowy halls.And among them white-armed Arete began the words:Phaeacians, how does this man seem to you to be,in form and in stature and in the good sense within him?He is my guest, and each of you has a share in the honor;so do not send him off in haste, and do notcut short the gifts for one who is so in need; for manypossessions lie in your halls by the will of the gods.And among them spoke the old hero Echeneus,who was the eldest of the Phaeacian men:Friends, the thoughtful queen does not speakoff the mark nor against what we believe; but obey her.But on Alcinoos here depends both deed and word.And Alcinoos answered him again and spoke:This word shall indeed be so, if I at leastrule as king, while alive, over the oar-loving Phaeacians;but let the stranger endure, though he longs greatly for his homecoming,to wait until tomorrow all the same, until I have madeall the gift-giving complete; and the sending home shall be the careof all men, but most of all of me; for the power in the district is mine.And many-devising Odysseus answered him and said:Alcinoos, mighty lord, most renowned of all peoples,even if you should bid me stay here for a year,and urge on my sending home and give me glorious gifts,I would wish for that, and it would be far more profitable,to come to my dear fatherland with a fuller hand;and I would be more respected and dearer among all men,all who might see me returned to Ithaca.And Alcinoos answered him again and spoke:Odysseus, we do not look on you and supposethat you are a deceiver and a cheat, such as manythe black earth nourishes, scattered far and wide among men,who fashion lies out of things no one could see;but upon you there is a beauty of words, and within you a good mind.And you have recounted your tale skillfully, as a bard would,the grievous sorrows of all the Argives and of yourself.But come, tell me this and recount it exactly,whether you saw any of your godlike comrades, who with youfollowed to Ilium and there met their fate.And this night is very long, immeasurably long; and it is not yet timeto sleep in the hall; but do you tell me the wondrous deeds.And I could hold out until the bright dawn, if youwould consent to tell me your sorrows in the hall.And many-devising Odysseus answered him and said:Alcinoos, mighty lord, most renowned of all peoples,there is a time for many words, and a time also for sleep;but if you are still eager to listen, I would notbegrudge you this, but would tell other things more pitiable still,the sorrows of my comrades, who perished afterwards,who escaped from the groaning battle-cry of the Trojansand perished on the way home through the will of a wicked woman.But when the holy Persephone had scattered the soulsof the tender women this way and that,then came the soul of Agamemnon, son of Atreus,grieving; and around him the others gathered, all who with himhad died in the house of Aegisthus and met their fate.And he knew me at once, when he had drunk the dark blood;and he wept shrilly, shedding a thick tear,stretching out his hands toward me, eager to touch me;but there was no longer any steadfast strength in him, nor any vigorsuch as there had been before in his supple limbs.I wept when I saw him and I pitied him in my heart,and speaking to him I addressed him with winged words:Most glorious son of Atreus, lord of men Agamemnon,what fate of long-drawn death subdued you?Did Poseidon subdue you among your ships,rousing a hateful blast of grievous winds?Or did hostile men do you harm on the mainland,as you were cutting off cattle and fair flocks of sheep,or fighting for a city and for its women?So I spoke, and he answered me straightway and said:Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, many-devising Odysseus,neither did Poseidon subdue me among the ships,rousing a hateful blast of grievous winds,nor did hostile men do me harm on the mainland,but Aegisthus, contriving death and doom for me,killed me with the help of my accursed wife, calling me to his house,feasting me, as one kills an ox at its manger.So I died a most pitiable death; and around me the other comradeswere slaughtered unceasingly, like white-tusked boars,in the hall of a rich man of great power,at a wedding or a gathering or a lavish banquet.You have already come upon the slaughter of many men,killed singly and in strong battle;but you would have grieved most of all in your heart at that sight,how around the mixing-bowl and the loaded tableswe lay in the hall, and the whole floor steamed with blood.And most piteous of all I heard the voice of the daughter of Priam,Cassandra, whom crafty Clytemnestra killedover me, while I, raising my hands toward the ground,struck them as I was dying around the sword; and the shameless womanturned away, and she did not dare, though I was going to Hades,to close my eyes with her hands or to press my mouth shut with hers.So there is nothing more dreadful and more shameless than a woman,one who lays such deeds in her mind;such a shameful deed indeed that woman contrived,planning murder for her wedded husband. And I thoughtthat I would come home welcome to my children and my servants;but she, knowing exceeding wickedness,poured forth shame both on herself and on women to comehereafter, even on her who does what is good.So he spoke, and I answered him and addressed him:Alas, indeed Zeus the far-thundering has terribly hatedthe race of Atreus, through the counsels of women,from the beginning; for Helen's sake many of us perished,and for you Clytemnestra contrived a snare while you were far away.So I spoke, and he answered me straightway and said:Therefore never now be gentle with a woman, even so;do not reveal to her every word that you know well,but tell one part, and let the other be hidden.But it will not be from a woman that murder comes to you, Odysseus;for the daughter of Icarius, the thoughtful Penelope,is very prudent and knows good counsels in her mind.We indeed left her a young bridewhen we went to the war; and she had a child at her breast,an infant, who now, I suppose, sits among the numbered men,blessed; for his dear father will see him when he comes,and he will embrace his father, as is right.But my wife did not allow me to be filled with the sight of my son,even with my eyes; before that she killed me too.And I will tell you another thing, and do you put it in your mind:secretly, and not openly, bring your shipto your dear fatherland; for there is no longer trust in women.But come, tell me this and recount it exactly,whether you hear anywhere that my son is still alive,either at Orchomenus or at sandy Pylos,or somewhere by Menelaus in broad Sparta;for godlike Orestes has not yet died on the earth.So he spoke, and I answered him and addressed him:Son of Atreus, why do you ask me this? I do not know at allwhether he is alive or dead; and it is bad to babble empty words.So we two stood exchanging hateful words,grieving, shedding a thick tear;and there came the soul of Achilles, son of Peleus,and that of Patroclus and of blameless Antilochusand of Ajax, who was the best in form and in buildof the other Danaans after the blameless son of Peleus.And the soul of the swift-footed descendant of Aeacus knew me,and lamenting he addressed me with winged words:Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, many-devising Odysseus,reckless man, what greater deed will you yet devise in your mind?How did you dare to come down to the house of Hades, where the deaddwell without sense, the phantoms of mortals who have died?So he spoke, and I answered him and addressed him:Achilles, son of Peleus, by far the greatest of the Achaeans,I came for the need of Tiresias, in the hope that he might tellsome counsel, how I might come to rugged Ithaca;for I have not yet come near Achaea, nor have I yetset foot on my own land, but I always have troubles. But than you, Achilles,no man was ever more blessed before, nor shall be hereafter.For before, while you were alive, we honored you like the gods,we Argives, and now again you hold great power among the deadwhile you are here; so do not grieve at all at having died, Achilles.So I spoke, and he answered me straightway and said:Do not comfort me about death, glorious Odysseus.I would rather be a hired laborer, serving another man,a man with no portion of land, who has but little livelihood,than to be king over all the dead who have perished.But come, tell me news of my glorious son,whether he followed to the war to be a champion, or not.And tell me of blameless Peleus, if you have heard anything,whether he still holds honor among the many Myrmidons,or do they dishonor him throughout Hellas and Phthia,because old age holds his hands and his feet.For I am no defender under the beams of the sun,such as I once was in broad Troy,when I killed the best of the host, defending the Argives;if I could come as such a one, even for a moment, to my father's house,then I would make hateful my might and my resistless handsto those who do him violence and drive him from his honor.So he spoke, and I answered him and addressed him:Indeed I have heard nothing of blameless Peleus,but of your dear son Neoptolemus I will tell youthe whole truth, as you bid me;for I myself brought him from Scyrus in a hollow, well-balanced ship,to the well-greaved Achaeans.Indeed, when we were considering counsels around the city of Troy,he was always the first to speak and he did not miss the mark in words;only godlike Nestor and I surpassed him.But when we fought with bronze on the Trojan plain,he never stayed back in the throng of men nor in the crowd,but he ran far ahead, yielding to no one in his might,and he killed many men in the dread battle-strife.But I could not tell of all of them nor name them,how many of the host he killed defending the Argives,but only how he slew with the bronze the son of Telephus,the hero Eurypylus, and around him many comradesof the Cetians were killed for the sake of women's gifts.Him I saw as the fairest, after godlike Memnon.And when we went down into the horse that Epeius built,the best of the Argives, and everything was assigned to me,both to open the close ambush and to shut it,there the other leaders and counselors of the Danaanswere wiping away tears and the limbs of each man trembled;but him I never saw at all with my eyeseither growing pale in his fair skin or wipinga tear from his cheeks; but he begged greatlyto be let out of the horse, and he kept feeling for the hilt of his swordand his bronze-heavy spear, and he planned evil for the Trojans.But when we had sacked the steep city of Priam,he went aboard the ship holding his share and his fine prizeunharmed, neither struck by the sharp bronzenor wounded in close combat, such wounds as oftenhappen in war; for Ares rages confusedly.So I spoke, and the soul of the swift-footed descendant of Aeacuswent with long strides across the field of asphodel,rejoicing that I had told him his son was renowned.And the other souls of the dead who had diedstood grieving, and each one asked about her own sorrows.But the soul of Ajax, son of Telamon, alonestood apart, angry because of the victorythat I had won over him in the judgment beside the shipsover the armor of Achilles; and his revered mother had set it out.And the sons of the Trojans judged, and Pallas Athena.How I wish I had not won in such a contest!For such a head as his did the earth cover because of that armor,Ajax, who in form and in deeds was fashioned abovethe other Danaans, after the blameless son of Peleus.And I addressed him with gentle words:Ajax, son of blameless Telamon, were you not goingeven in death to forget your anger against me because of the armor,that accursed armor? The gods made it a woe for the Argives,for such a tower as you were, you perished for them; and we Achaeansgrieve for you forever as much as for the head of Achilles, son of Peleus;and no one elseis to blame, but Zeus terribly hated the host of spear-bearing Danaans,and laid a fate upon you.But come here, lord, so that you may hear our word and speech;and subdue your might and your proud spirit.So I spoke, and he answered me nothing, but went off after the othersouls of the dead who had died, into Erebus.There, even though angry, he would have spoken to me, or I to him;but my heart in my dear breast wishedto see the souls of the other dead.There indeed I saw Minos, the glorious son of Zeus,holding a golden staff, giving judgment to the dead,seated, and they asked him, their lord, for judgments,sitting and standing throughout the wide-gated house of Hades.And after him I noticed huge Oriondriving the wild beasts together across the field of asphodel,the very beasts he had killed in the lonely mountains,holding in his hands a club of solid bronze, forever unbroken.And I saw Tityus, son of the far-famed Earth,lying on the ground; and he lay over nine acres of land,and two vultures, sitting on either side of him, tore at his liver,dipping into the fat, and he did not fend them off with his hands;for he had dragged off Leto, the glorious wife of Zeus,as she was going to Pytho through beautiful Panopeus.And indeed I saw Tantalus, having great agony,standing in a pool; and the water came near his chin;he seemed to be thirsty, but he could not take and drink;for as often as the old man bent down, eager to drink,so often the water was swallowed down and vanished, and at his feetthe black earth showed, and a god withered him away.And trees with high-fluttering leaves poured down fruit from the top,pear trees and pomegranates and apple trees with shining fruit,sweet figs and luxuriant olives;and whenever the old man reached out with his hands to grasp them,the wind tossed them up toward the shadowy clouds.And indeed I saw Sisyphus, having great agony,lifting a huge stone with both hands.He would brace himself with hands and feet togetherand push the stone upward toward the hill; but whenever he was aboutto thrust it over the top, then its power turned it back,and again the shameless stone rolled down to the plain.But he strained and pushed it up, and the sweat pouredfrom his limbs, and dust rose from his head.And after him I noticed the might of Heracles,a phantom; but he himself among the immortal godsdelights in feasting and holds fair-ankled Hebe,the daughter of great Zeus and of Hera of the golden sandals.And around him was a clamor of the dead, like birds,scattering in panic on every side; and he, like the dark night,holding his bare bow and an arrow on the string,glaring terribly, seeming always about to shoot.And dread across his chest was his sword-belt,a golden strap, in which wondrous works were fashioned,bears and wild boars and lions with shining eyes,battles and fights and slaughters and killings of men.May the one who made it by his craft never make another thing,whoever placed that belt into his skill.And he knew me again, when he saw me with his eyes,and lamenting he addressed me with winged words:Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, many-devising Odysseus,ah, poor man, are you too leading some evil doom,the kind I once endured under the beams of the sun?I was a son of Zeus, son of Cronos, yet I hadboundless misery; for I was enslaved to a far worse man,and he laid cruel labors upon me.And once he sent me here to bring away the dog; for he thoughtthere was no other labor more powerful than this for me;and I brought him up and led him out of the house of Hades,and Hermes sent me on, and bright-eyed Athena.So saying, he went back again into the house of Hades,but I stayed there steadfastly, in case anyone else should comeof the heroic men, who had perished in former times.And I might have seen yet more men of former days, whom I wanted,Theseus and Peirithous, glorious children of the gods;but before that, countless tribes of the dead gathered,with a wondrous cry; and pale fear seized me,lest the revered Persephone send against me from the house of Hadesthe Gorgon's head of that dread monster.Then straightway I went to the ship and commanded my comradesboth to embark themselves and to loose the stern-cables.And they embarked quickly and sat down at the rowing-benches.And the wave of the river carried the ship down along Ocean,first with rowing, and afterwards with a fair following wind.

But when we had gone down to the ship and the sea,we first dragged the ship into the bright salt water,and set the mast in it and the sails in the black ship,and we took the sheep and put them on board, and we ourselvesclimbed aboard too, grieving, shedding a thick tear.And behind us, for the ship with the dark-blue prow,she sent a following wind that filled the sails, a good companion,Circe of the lovely braids, a dread goddess with a human voice.And we, after making fast each rope throughout the ship,sat down; and the wind and the helmsman steered her.All day long her sails were stretched as she traveled the sea,and the sun went down and all the pathways grew shadowy.And she came to the limits of deep-flowing Ocean.There is the land and the city of the Cimmerian men,wrapped in mist and cloud; never on themdoes the shining sun look with his rays,neither when he climbs up into the starry sky,nor when he turns back again from the sky toward the earth,but deadly night is spread out over those wretched mortals.When we came there we beached the ship, and out wetook the sheep; and we ourselves again beside the stream of Oceanwent on, until we came to the place that Circe had shown.There Perimedes and Eurylochus heldthe victims; and I, drawing the sharp sword from beside my thigh,dug a pit a cubit long this way and that,and around it I poured a drink-offering to all the dead,first with honeyed milk, then afterwards with sweet wine,and the third time with water; and I sprinkled white barley over it.And I begged many times the strengthless heads of the dead,promising that when I reached Ithaca I would sacrifice a barren cow, the best one,in my halls, and fill a pyre with good things,and to Tiresias, apart from the others, sacrifice a sheep, to him alone,all black, one that stands out among my flocks.But when with vows and prayers I had begged the tribes of the dead,I took the sheep and cut their throatsover the pit, and the dark-clouded blood flowed; and there gatheredthe souls of the dead who had died, up from Erebus.Brides and unmarried young men and much-enduring old men,and tender young girls with hearts of fresh grief,and many wounded by bronze-tipped spears,men killed in war, wearing blood-stained armor;these swarmed in crowds around the pit, one from one side, one from another,with a wondrous cry; and pale fear seized me.Then I urged on my comrades and told themto flay the sheep that lay there killed by the pitiless bronze,and to burn them, and to pray to the gods,to mighty Hades and to dread Persephone;and I myself, drawing the sharp sword from beside my thigh,sat still, and I did not let the strengthless heads of the deadcome closer to the blood, before I had asked Tiresias.First came the soul of my comrade Elpenor;for he had not yet been buried under the wide-pathed earth;for we had left his body in Circe's hall,unwept and unburied, since another task was pressing us.I wept when I saw him and I pitied him in my heart,and speaking to him I addressed him with winged words:Elpenor, how did you come down under the misty darkness?Did you come on foot faster than I did with the black ship?So I spoke, and he groaned and answered me with a word:Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, many-devising Odysseus,the evil fate of a god ruined me, and the endless wine.For I lay down in Circe's hall and did not thinkto go back down by the long ladder,but I fell straight down from the roof; and my neckwas broken off at the spine, and my soul went down to the house of Hades.Now I beg you by those left behind, who are not here,by your wife and your father, who raised you when you were small,and by Telemachus, whom you left alone in the halls;for I know that when you go from here, out of the house of Hades,you will bring your well-built ship to the island of Aeaea;there, then, my lord, I ask you to remember me.Do not leave me unwept and unburied when you go away,after you have left, in case I become some cause of the gods' anger,but burn me with my armor, all that I have,and heap up a mound for me on the shore of the gray sea,of an unhappy man, to be known to men who come later.Do this for me, and fix an oar on the tomb,the oar with which I rowed while alive among my comrades.So he spoke, and I answered him and said:All this, unhappy man, I will carry out and do.So we two sat exchanging hateful words,I on one side holding the sword over the blood,and on the other side the phantom of my comrade said many things.Then came the soul of my mother, who had died,Anticleia, daughter of great-hearted Autolycus,whom I left alive when I set out for holy Ilium.I wept when I saw her and I pitied her in my heart,but even so I did not let her, though I grieved heavily,come closer to the blood, before I had learned from Tiresias.Then came the soul of the Theban Tiresias,holding a golden staff, and he recognized me and spoke:Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, many-devising Odysseus,why now, unhappy man, having left the light of the sun,have you come, to see the dead and this joyless place?But draw back from the pit, and hold off your sharp sword,so that I can drink the blood and tell you the truth.So he spoke, and I drew back and thrust the silver-studded swordinto its sheath. And when he had drunk the dark blood,then indeed the blameless prophet spoke to me with words:You are seeking your honey-sweet homecoming, glorious Odysseus;a god will make it hard for you; for I do not thinkyou will escape the Earthshaker, who has put anger in his heartagainst you, angry because you blinded his dear son.But even so you might still get home, though suffering evils,if you are willing to hold back your own spirit and your comrades',when you first bring your well-built shipto the island Thrinacia, fleeing over the violet-dark sea,and find grazing cattle and sturdy flocksof Helios, who watches all things and hears all things.If you leave them unharmed and think about your homecoming,you may still reach Ithaca, though suffering evils;but if you harm them, then I foretell destructionfor your ship and your comrades. And if you yourself escape,you will get home late and badly, having lost all your comrades,on a stranger's ship; and you will find troubles in your house,overbearing men, who devour your livelihood,courting your godlike wife and offering bridal gifts.But you will certainly take revenge on their violence when you come.And when you have killed the suitors in your halls,either by trickery or openly with the sharp bronze,then go, taking up a well-fitted oar,until you come to men who do not know the sea,men who do not eat food mixed with salt,and who do not know ships with crimson cheeks,nor well-fitted oars, which are wings to ships.And I will tell you a sign, very clear, and it will not escape you:when another traveler meeting yousays that you have a winnowing-fan on your shining shoulder,then plant your well-fitted oar in the ground,and make fair sacrifices to lord Poseidon,a ram, a bull, and a boar that mounts the sows,and go back home and perform holy hecatombsto the immortal gods who hold the broad sky,all of them in due order. And death will come to you from the sea,a very gentle one, such as will kill youworn out by sleek old age; and around you the peoplewill be blessed. And these things I tell you truly.So he spoke, and I answered him and said:Tiresias, the gods themselves have surely spun all this.But come, tell me this and recount it exactly:I see here the soul of my mother, who has died;she sits in silence near the blood, and she has not daredto look at her own son face to face or to speak to him.Tell me, lord, how can she recognize me for what I am?So I spoke, and he answered me straightway and said:Easy is the word I will speak, and I will put it in your mind.Whichever one of the dead you allowto come closer to the blood, that one will tell you the truth;but whomever you refuse it to, that one will go back again.So speaking, the soul of lord Tiresias went into the house of Hades,when he had spoken his oracles;but I stayed there and held my ground, until my mothercame and drank the dark-clouded blood; and at once she knew me,and in grief she spoke to me with winged words:My child, how have you come down under the misty darknesswhile still alive? It is hard for the living to look on these things.For in between are great rivers and dread streams,Ocean first of all, which no one can crosson foot, unless he has a well-built ship.Have you come here wandering from Troywith ship and comrades for a long time? Have you not yet cometo Ithaca, nor seen your wife in your halls?So she spoke, and I answered her and said:My mother, a need brought me down to the house of Hades,to consult the soul of the Theban Tiresias;for I have not yet come near Achaea, nor have I yetset foot on my own land, but I wander always in misery,ever since I first followed shining Agamemnonto Ilium of good horses, to fight the Trojans.But come, tell me this and recount it exactly:what fate of long-drawn death subdued you?Was it a lingering sickness, or did Artemis the arrow-pourercome on you with her gentle arrows and kill you?And tell me about my father and the son I left behind,whether my honor still lies with them, or some other manalready holds it, and they say I will not come home.And tell me the plan and the mind of my wife who is being courted,whether she stays beside my son and keeps everything steady,or has already married whichever of the Achaeans is best.So I spoke, and my revered mother answered straightway:Indeed that woman stays with an enduring heartin your halls; and her wretched nights and daysalways waste away as she sheds tears.No one yet holds your fair honor, but at his easeTelemachus farms the land and feasts at equal banquets,such as it is fitting for a man who gives judgments to enjoy;for all men invite him. But your father stays therein the country, and does not come down to the city. Nor does he havea bed, blankets, and shining rugs,but in winter he sleeps where the servants sleep in the house,in the dust close to the fire, and he wears sorry clothing on his body;but when summer comes and the rich harvest-time,everywhere along the slope of his vineyard groundlow beds of fallen leaves are spread for him.There he lies grieving, and he greatly increases the sorrow in his heart,longing for your return, and hard old age comes on him.So I too perished and met my fate;neither did the keen-sighted arrow-pourer come on me in my hallswith her gentle arrows and kill me,nor did any sickness come on me, the kind that most of alltakes the spirit from the limbs with hateful wasting;but my longing for you and your plans, glorious Odysseus,and your gentle kindness took away my honey-sweet spirit.So she spoke, and I wanted in my heart, as I thought it over,to take the soul of my dead mother in my arms.Three times I sprang toward her, and my heart urged me to hold her,and three times she flew from my hands like a shadow or a dream.And sharp grief grew in my heart all the more,and speaking to her I addressed her with winged words:My mother, why will you not wait for me, when I long to hold you,so that both of us, throwing our arms around each other,may take our joy in chilling lamentation in the house of Hades?Or is this phantom sent by the glorious Persephone,so that I may groan and mourn the more?So I spoke, and my revered mother answered straightway:Ah me, my child, most wretched of all mortals,Persephone, the daughter of Zeus, is not deceiving you,but this is the custom of mortals, whenever one dies;for the sinews no longer hold flesh and bones together,but the strong might of blazing fire subdues them,as soon as the spirit first leaves the white bones,and the soul, like a dream, flies off and flutters away.But long for the light of day as fast as you can; and know all this,so that you may tell it to your wife later on.So we two exchanged words with each other, and the women came,for the glorious Persephone urged them on,all who were the wives and daughters of chieftains.And they gathered in a crowd around the dark blood,and I considered how I might question each one.And this plan seemed best to my heart:drawing my long-edged sword from beside my thick thigh,I did not let them all drink the dark blood together.And they came forward in order, and each onedeclared her lineage; and I questioned them all.There first I saw Tyro of the goodly father,who said she was the offspring of blameless Salmoneus,and said she was the wife of Cretheus, son of Aeolus;she loved the divine river Enipeus,which flows over the earth the fairest of all rivers,and she used to roam along the fair streams of Enipeus.And the Earthholder, the Earthshaker, making himself look like him,lay beside her at the mouth of the whirling river;and a purple wave stood around them, like a mountain,arching over, and it hid the god and the mortal woman.He untied her maiden girdle and poured sleep over her.And when the god had finished the works of love,he clasped her hand and spoke a word and called her by name:Rejoice, woman, in this loving; and when the year comes round,you will bear glorious children, since the beds of the immortalsare not unfruitful; but you must care for them and raise them.But now go to your house, and keep silent and do not name me;for I am Poseidon, the Earthshaker.So saying, he plunged beneath the surging sea.And she, conceiving, bore Pelias and Neleus,who became mighty servants of great Zeus,both of them; Pelias lived in spacious Iolcus,rich in flocks, and the other in sandy Pylos.And she bore the others to Cretheus, a queen among women,Aeson and Pheres and Amythaon, who delighted in chariots.And after her I saw Antiope, daughter of Asopus,who claimed that she had lain in the arms of Zeus,and she bore two sons, Amphion and Zethus,who first founded the seat of seven-gated Thebes,and walled it, since they could notlive in spacious Thebes without walls, strong as they were.And after her I saw Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon,who bore Heracles, bold-spirited, lion-hearted,having lain in the arms of great Zeus;and Megara, daughter of overbearing Creon,whom the son of Amphitryon married, his might never wearied.And I saw the mother of Oedipus, the fair Epicaste,who did a great deed in the ignorance of her mind,marrying her own son; and he, having killed his father,married her; and at once the gods made it known to men.But he stayed in much-loved Thebes, ruling the Cadmeiansand suffering griefs, through the deadly plans of the gods;and she went to the house of strong, gate-barring Hades,having tied a high noose from the lofty beam,overcome by her grief; and she left griefs behind for him,very many, such as a mother's Furies bring about.And I saw beautiful Chloris, whom once Neleusmarried for her beauty, since he gave countless bridal gifts,the youngest daughter of Amphion, son of Iasus,who once ruled by force in Minyan Orchomenus;and she was queen of Pylos, and bore him glorious children,Nestor and Chromius and proud Periclymenus.And besides these she bore sturdy Pero, a wonder to mortals,whom all the neighboring men courted; but Neleuswould not give her to any man unless he drove off the spiral-horned, broad-browed cattlefrom Phylace, the painful cattle of mighty Iphicles;and the blameless prophet alone promised to drive them out;but the hard fate of the god bound him fast,and painful bonds, and the rustic herdsmen.But when the months and the days were being fulfilledas the year rolled round again and the seasons came on,then the might of Iphicles released him,when he had told all the oracles; and the will of Zeus was accomplished.And I saw Leda, the wife of Tyndareus,who bore to Tyndareus two stout-hearted sons,Castor the horse-tamer and Polydeuces good at boxing,whom the life-giving earth holds both of them alive;they, even under the earth, having honor from Zeus,live on alternate days, and at other timesare dead; and they have obtained honor equal to the gods.And after her I saw Iphimedeia, wife of Aloeus,who said that she had lain with Poseidon,and she bore two sons, but they were short-lived,godlike Otus and far-famed Ephialtes,whom the grain-giving earth raised as the tallestand by far the fairest, after famed Orion;for at nine years old they were nine cubitsbroad, and in height they grew to nine fathoms.These two even threatened the immortal gods on Olympusto stir up the din of much-roaring war;they meant to pile Ossa on Olympus, and on OssaPelion with its shaking leaves, so that the sky could be climbed.And they would have done it, if they had reached the measure of youth;but the son of Zeus, whom fair-haired Leto bore,killed them both, before beneath their temples the downbloomed and covered their cheeks with a fair-flowering beard.And I saw Phaedra and Procris and the fair Ariadne,the daughter of baleful-minded Minos, whom once Theseuswas leading from Crete to the hill of holy Athens,but he did not enjoy her; for Artemis killed her first,on sea-girt Dia, on the testimony of Dionysus.And I saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle,who accepted precious gold for the life of her own husband.But I could not tell of all of them or name them,all the wives and the daughters of heroes that I saw;for sooner would the immortal night fail. But it is also timeto sleep, either going to the swift ship to my comrades,or here; and the sending home will be the care of the gods and of you.So he spoke, and they all became silent in stillness,and they were held by enchantment throughout the shadowy halls.And among them white-armed Arete began the words:Phaeacians, how does this man seem to you to be,in form and height and in the good sense inside him?He is my guest, and each of you has a share in the honor;so do not send him off in haste, and do notcut short the gifts for one who is so much in need; for manypossessions lie in your halls by the will of the gods.And among them spoke the old hero Echeneus,who was the eldest of the Phaeacian men:Friends, the thoughtful queen does not speakoff the mark or against what we believe; so obey her.But on Alcinoos here depends both deed and word.And Alcinoos answered him again and spoke:This word shall indeed be so, if I at leastrule as king, while alive, over the oar-loving Phaeacians;but let the stranger endure, though he longs greatly for his homecoming,to wait until tomorrow all the same, until I have madeall the gift-giving complete; and the sending home will be the careof all men, but most of all of me; for the power in the district is mine.And many-devising Odysseus answered him and said:Alcinoos, mighty lord, most renowned of all peoples,even if you should tell me to stay here for a year,and urge on my sending home and give me glorious gifts,I would wish for that, and it would be far more profitable,to come to my dear fatherland with a fuller hand;and I would be more respected and dearer among all men,all who might see me returned to Ithaca.And Alcinoos answered him again and spoke:Odysseus, we do not look at you and supposethat you are a deceiver and a cheat, such as manythe black earth nourishes, scattered far and wide among men,who fashion lies out of things no one could see;but upon you there is a beauty of words, and inside you a good mind.And you have recounted your tale skillfully, as a bard would,the grievous sorrows of all the Argives and of yourself.But come, tell me this and recount it exactly,whether you saw any of your godlike comrades, who with youfollowed to Ilium and there met their fate.And this night is very long, immeasurably long; and it is not yet timeto sleep in the hall; but do you tell me the wondrous deeds.And I could hold out until the bright dawn, if youwere willing to tell me your sorrows in the hall.And many-devising Odysseus answered him and said:Alcinoos, mighty lord, most renowned of all peoples,there is a time for many words, and a time also for sleep;but if you are still eager to listen, I would notrefuse you this, but would tell other things more pitiable still,the sorrows of my comrades, who perished afterwards,who escaped the groaning battle-cry of the Trojansand perished on the way home through the will of a wicked woman.But when the holy Persephone had scattered the soulsof the tender women this way and that,then came the soul of Agamemnon, son of Atreus,grieving; and around him the others gathered, all who with himhad died in the house of Aegisthus and met their fate.And he knew me at once, when he had drunk the dark blood;and he wept shrilly, shedding a thick tear,stretching out his hands toward me, eager to touch me;but there was no longer any steady strength in him, nor any vigorsuch as there had been before in his supple limbs.I wept when I saw him and I pitied him in my heart,and speaking to him I addressed him with winged words:Most glorious son of Atreus, lord of men Agamemnon,what fate of long-drawn death subdued you?Did Poseidon subdue you among your ships,rousing a hateful blast of grievous winds?Or did hostile men do you harm on land,as you were cutting off cattle and fair flocks of sheep,or fighting for a city and for its women?So I spoke, and he answered me straightway and said:Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, many-devising Odysseus,neither did Poseidon subdue me among the ships,rousing a hateful blast of grievous winds,nor did hostile men do me harm on land,but Aegisthus, contriving death and doom for me,killed me with the help of my accursed wife, calling me to his house,feasting me, as one kills an ox at its manger.So I died a most pitiable death; and around me the other comradeswere slaughtered without pause, like white-tusked boars,in the hall of a rich man of great power,at a wedding or a gathering or a lavish banquet.You have already come upon the slaughter of many men,killed one by one and in strong battle;but you would have grieved most of all in your heart at that sight,how around the mixing-bowl and the loaded tableswe lay in the hall, and the whole floor steamed with blood.And most piteous of all I heard the voice of the daughter of Priam,Cassandra, whom crafty Clytemnestra killedover me, while I, raising my hands toward the ground,struck them as I was dying around the sword; and the shameless womanturned away, and she did not dare, though I was going to Hades,to close my eyes with her hands or to press my mouth shut with hers.So there is nothing more dreadful and more shameless than a woman,one who lays such deeds in her mind;such a shameful deed indeed that woman contrived,planning murder for her wedded husband. And I thoughtthat I would come home welcome to my children and my servants;but she, knowing exceeding wickedness,poured out shame both on herself and on women to comelater on, even on her who does what is good.So he spoke, and I answered him and said:Alas, indeed Zeus the far-thundering has terribly hatedthe race of Atreus, through the counsels of women,from the beginning; for Helen's sake many of us perished,and for you Clytemnestra contrived a snare while you were far away.So I spoke, and he answered me straightway and said:Therefore never now be gentle with a woman, even so;do not reveal to her every word that you know well,but tell one part, and let the other stay hidden.But it will not be from a woman that murder comes to you, Odysseus;for the daughter of Icarius, the thoughtful Penelope,is very prudent and knows good counsels in her mind.We indeed left her a young bridewhen we went to the war; and she had a child at her breast,an infant, who now, I suppose, sits among the numbered men,blessed; for his dear father will see him when he comes,and he will embrace his father, as is right.But my wife did not let me be filled with the sight of my son,even with my eyes; before that she killed me too.And I will tell you another thing, and do you put it in your mind:secretly, and not openly, bring your shipto your dear fatherland; for there is no longer trust in women.But come, tell me this and recount it exactly,whether you hear anywhere that my son is still alive,either at Orchomenus or at sandy Pylos,or somewhere by Menelaus in broad Sparta;for godlike Orestes has not yet died on the earth.So he spoke, and I answered him and said:Son of Atreus, why do you ask me this? I do not know at allwhether he is alive or dead; and it is bad to babble empty words.So we two stood exchanging hateful words,grieving, shedding a thick tear;and there came the soul of Achilles, son of Peleus,and that of Patroclus and of blameless Antilochusand of Ajax, who was the best in form and buildof the other Danaans after the blameless son of Peleus.And the soul of the swift-footed descendant of Aeacus knew me,and in grief he addressed me with winged words:Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, many-devising Odysseus,reckless man, what greater deed will you yet devise in your mind?How did you dare to come down to the house of Hades, where the deaddwell without sense, the phantoms of mortals who have died?So he spoke, and I answered him and said:Achilles, son of Peleus, by far the greatest of the Achaeans,I came for the need of Tiresias, in the hope that he might tellsome counsel, how I might reach rugged Ithaca;for I have not yet come near Achaea, nor have I yetset foot on my own land, but I always have troubles. But than you, Achilles,no man was ever more blessed before, nor shall be hereafter.For before, while you were alive, we honored you like the gods,we Argives, and now again you hold great power among the deadwhile you are here; so do not grieve at all at having died, Achilles.So I spoke, and he answered me straightway and said:Do not comfort me about death, glorious Odysseus.I would rather be a hired laborer, serving another man,a man with no portion of land, who has but little to live on,than to be king over all the dead who have perished.But come, tell me news of my glorious son,whether he followed to the war to be a champion, or not.And tell me about blameless Peleus, if you have heard anything,whether he still holds honor among the many Myrmidons,or do they dishonor him throughout Hellas and Phthia,because old age holds his hands and his feet.For I am no defender under the beams of the sun,such as I once was in broad Troy,when I killed the best of the host, defending the Argives;if I could come as such a one, even for a moment, to my father's house,then I would make my might and my resistless hands hatefulto those who do him violence and drive him from his honor.So he spoke, and I answered him and said:Indeed I have heard nothing of blameless Peleus,but of your dear son Neoptolemus I will tell youthe whole truth, as you bid me;for I myself brought him from Scyrus in a hollow, well-balanced ship,to the well-greaved Achaeans.Indeed, when we were considering counsels around the city of Troy,he was always the first to speak and he did not miss the mark in words;only godlike Nestor and I surpassed him.But when we fought with bronze on the Trojan plain,he never stayed back in the throng of men or in the crowd,but he ran far ahead, yielding to no one in his might,and he killed many men in the dread battle-strife.But I could not tell of all of them or name them,how many of the host he killed defending the Argives,but only how he slew with the bronze the son of Telephus,the hero Eurypylus, and around him many comradesof the Cetians were killed for the sake of women's gifts.Him I saw as the fairest, after godlike Memnon.And when we went down into the horse that Epeius built,the best of the Argives, and everything was assigned to me,both to open the close ambush and to shut it,there the other leaders and counselors of the Danaanswere wiping away tears and the limbs of each man trembled;but him I never saw at all with my eyeseither growing pale in his fair skin or wipinga tear from his cheeks; but he begged greatlyto be let out of the horse, and he kept feeling for the hilt of his swordand his bronze-heavy spear, and he planned evil for the Trojans.But when we had sacked the steep city of Priam,he went aboard the ship holding his share and his fine prizeunharmed, neither struck by the sharp bronzenor wounded in close combat, such wounds as oftenhappen in war; for Ares rages confusedly.So I spoke, and the soul of the swift-footed descendant of Aeacuswent with long strides across the field of asphodel,rejoicing that I had told him his son was renowned.And the other souls of the dead who had diedstood grieving, and each one asked about her own sorrows.But the soul of Ajax, son of Telamon, alonestood apart, angry because of the victorythat I had won over him in the judgment beside the shipsover the armor of Achilles; and his revered mother had set it out.And the sons of the Trojans judged, and Pallas Athena.How I wish I had not won in such a contest!For such a head as his did the earth cover because of that armor,Ajax, who in form and in deeds was fashioned abovethe other Danaans, after the blameless son of Peleus.And I addressed him with gentle words:Ajax, son of blameless Telamon, were you not goingeven in death to forget your anger against me because of the armor,that accursed armor? The gods made it a woe for the Argives,for such a tower as you were, you perished for them; and we Achaeansgrieve for you forever as much as for the head of Achilles, son of Peleus;and no one elseis to blame, but Zeus terribly hated the host of spear-bearing Danaans,and laid a fate upon you.But come here, lord, so that you may hear our word and speech;and subdue your might and your proud spirit.So I spoke, and he answered me nothing, but went off after the othersouls of the dead who had died, into Erebus.There, even though angry, he would have spoken to me, or I to him;but my heart in my dear breast wishedto see the souls of the other dead.There indeed I saw Minos, the glorious son of Zeus,holding a golden staff, giving judgment to the dead,seated, and they asked him, their lord, for judgments,sitting and standing throughout the wide-gated house of Hades.And after him I noticed huge Oriondriving the wild beasts together across the field of asphodel,the very beasts he had killed in the lonely mountains,holding in his hands a club of solid bronze, forever unbroken.And I saw Tityus, son of the far-famed Earth,lying on the ground; and he lay over nine acres of land,and two vultures, sitting on either side of him, tore at his liver,dipping into the fat, and he did not fend them off with his hands;for he had dragged off Leto, the glorious wife of Zeus,as she was going to Pytho through beautiful Panopeus.And indeed I saw Tantalus, having great agony,standing in a pool; and the water came near his chin;he seemed to be thirsty, but he could not take and drink;for as often as the old man bent down, eager to drink,so often the water was swallowed down and vanished, and at his feetthe black earth showed, and a god withered him away.And trees with high-fluttering leaves poured down fruit from the top,pear trees and pomegranates and apple trees with shining fruit,sweet figs and luxuriant olives;and whenever the old man reached out with his hands to grasp them,the wind tossed them up toward the shadowy clouds.And indeed I saw Sisyphus, having great agony,lifting a huge stone with both hands.He would brace himself with hands and feet togetherand push the stone upward toward the hill; but whenever he was aboutto thrust it over the top, then its power turned it back,and again the shameless stone rolled down to the plain.But he strained and pushed it up, and the sweat pouredfrom his limbs, and dust rose from his head.And after him I noticed the might of Heracles,a phantom; but he himself among the immortal godsdelights in feasting and holds fair-ankled Hebe,the daughter of great Zeus and of Hera of the golden sandals.And around him was a clamor of the dead, like birds,scattering in panic on every side; and he, like the dark night,holding his bare bow and an arrow on the string,glaring terribly, seeming always about to shoot.And dread across his chest was his sword-belt,a golden strap, in which wondrous works were fashioned,bears and wild boars and lions with shining eyes,battles and fights and slaughters and killings of men.May the one who made it by his craft never make another thing,whoever placed that belt into his skill.And he knew me again, when he saw me with his eyes,and in grief he addressed me with winged words:Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, many-devising Odysseus,ah, poor man, are you too leading some evil doom,the kind I once endured under the beams of the sun?I was a son of Zeus, son of Cronos, yet I hadboundless misery; for I was enslaved to a far worse man,and he laid cruel labors on me.And once he sent me here to bring away the dog; for he thoughtthere was no other labor more powerful than this for me;and I brought him up and led him out of the house of Hades,and Hermes sent me on, and bright-eyed Athena.So saying, he went back again into the house of Hades,but I stayed there and held my ground, in case anyone else should comeof the heroic men, who had perished in former times.And I might have seen yet more men of former days, whom I wanted,Theseus and Peirithous, glorious children of the gods;but before that, countless tribes of the dead gathered,with a wondrous cry; and pale fear seized me,in case the revered Persephone send against me from the house of Hadesthe Gorgon's head of that dread monster.Then straightway I went to the ship and told my comradesboth to embark themselves and to loose the stern-cables.And they embarked quickly and sat down at the rowing-benches.And the wave of the river carried the ship down along Ocean,first with rowing, and afterwards with a fair following wind.