Book 4

So they came to hollow Lacedaemon, land of deep ravines,and drove up to the house of glorious Menelaus.They found him feasting at a wedding in the midst of many kinsmen,for his son and his blameless daughter, in his own house.The girl he was sending to the son of Achilles, breaker of men —for in Troy he had first promised and nodded his assentto give her, and now the gods were bringing the marriage to fulfilment.So he was sending her there with horses and chariots to journeyto the famous city of the Myrmidons, over whom he ruled.And for his son he was bringing a bride from Sparta, the daughter of Alector,even Megapenthes the strong, who was born to him in his old ageof a slave woman; and for Helen the gods no longer showed offspring,since she had first borne a lovely child,Hermione, who had the beauty of golden Aphrodite.So these feasted throughout the great high-roofed hall,the neighbours and the clansmen of glorious Menelaus,taking their pleasure; and among them a divine bard sangplaying the lyre, and two tumblers whirledthrough their midst while the song began.But the two others in the porch of the house, the two men with their horses,the hero Telemachus and Nestor's splendid son,halted there; and lord Eteoneus came out and saw them,the ready squire of glorious Menelaus,and he went through the halls to tell the shepherd of the people,and standing near him he spoke winged words:"Two strangers are here, Zeus-fostered Menelaus,two men, and by birth they are like the sons of great Zeus.But tell me: shall we unyoke their swift horses,or send them on to another who may welcome them?"Then, greatly vexed, fair-haired Menelaus answered him:"You were no fool before, Boethous' son Eteoneus,but now you talk like a child, like a senseless boy.Surely the two of us came here having eaten many a guest-giftat other men's tables — if ever Zeusshall grant that we cease from sorrow hereafter. So unyokethe strangers' horses, and lead the men in to feast."So he spoke, and the other darted through the hall and calledthe other ready squires to follow him.They loosed the sweating horses from beneath the yokeand tied them to the mangers of the stable,and threw spelt before them and mixed white barley,and leaned the chariot against the gleaming porch,and led the men into the divine house. And they, seeing it,marvelled throughout the house of the Zeus-fostered king:for like the radiance of the sun or the moonwas the high-roofed house of glorious Menelaus.But when they had taken their fill of gazing with their eyes,they stepped into the polished bathing tubs and bathed.And when the maidservants had washed them and anointed them with oil,and thrown fleecy cloaks and tunics about them,they sat down on chairs beside Atreus' son Menelaus.And a handmaid brought a pitcher and poured water overa fair golden basin set above a silver one,for them to wash; and she drew up a polished table beside them.And the honoured housekeeper brought and set out bread,adding many dishes, giving freely of what was there.And the carver lifted and set before them platters of fleshof every kind, and placed golden cups beside them.And greeting them, fair-haired Menelaus spoke:"Fall to your food, and welcome. Then, afterwards,when you have tasted dinner, we will ask who you areamong men; for your parents' race has not perished,but you are of the race of Zeus-fostered kingswho bear the sceptre — for base men could not father such as you."So he spoke, and set before them the fat back of an ox,roasted, taking it in his hands — the portion they had set aside for him.And they reached out their hands to the ready food lying before them.But when they had put away desire for drink and food,then Telemachus spoke to Nestor's son,drawing his head close, so that the others might not hear:"Look, son of Nestor, dear to my heart —the flashing of bronze through the echoing halls,and of gold and amber and silver and ivory.Such, I think, must be the court of Olympian Zeus within,so many and unspeakable are these things; awe takes hold of me as I look."And fair-haired Menelaus heard him speaking,and spoke aloud and addressed them with winged words:"Dear children, no mortal could rival Zeus —for his house and his possessions are immortal.But among men, one may rival me in possessions, or may not.For after much suffering and much wandering,I brought them home in my ships and came back in the eighth year,driven far to Cyprus and Phoenicia and the Egyptians,and I reached the Ethiopians and the Sidonians and the Erembi,and Libya, where the lambs are born horned at once.For there the flocks bear young three times in the full year.And there neither master nor shepherd is in wantof cheese or flesh or sweet milk,but they always provide milk to draw the whole year through.While I wandered there, gathering a great livelihood,meanwhile another man killed my brother,secretly, unwittingly, by the guile of his accursed wife.So it is not with joy that I rule over these possessions.And these things you are likely to have heard from your fathers,whoever they are — since I suffered very much, and lost my house,a house very well established, holding many good things.If only I dwelt in my halls with a third part of it,and those men were safe, who then perishedin wide Troy, far from horse-pasturing Argos.But still, mourning and grieving for them all,often as I sit in my halls,at one time I gladden my heart with lamentation, at anotherI cease; for there comes swiftly a surfeit of chilly grief.For all of them I do not grieve so much, grieving as I am,as for one man, who makes sleep hateful to me and food,when I remember him — for no other Achaean toiled so much,as much as Odysseus toiled and endured. And yet for himsorrows were to come, and for me grief ever unforgottenfor that man, that he is so long gone, and we do not knowwhether he is alive or dead. And surely they mourn him,old Laertes and wise-hearted Penelopeand Telemachus, whom he left a newborn in his house."So he spoke, and roused in the other a longing to weep for his father.He let a tear fall from his eyelids to the ground at hearing of his father,holding up his purple cloak before his eyeswith both hands. And Menelaus marked him,and then pondered in his heart and in his spiritwhether he should let him remember his father himself,or first question him and try him on each thing.While he was turning these things over in his heart and spirit,out of her fragrant high-roofed chamber came Helen,looking like Artemis of the golden distaff.And with her Adreste set out a well-made chair,and Alcippe brought a rug of soft wool,and Phylo brought a silver basket, which Alcandra had given her,the wife of Polybus, who lived in Egyptian Thebes,where the greatest wealth lies in the houses;he gave Menelaus two silver bathing tubs,and two tripods, and ten talents of gold.And separately Helen, his wife, gave him beautiful gifts:a golden distaff she gave him and a wheeled basketof silver, whose rims were fitted with gold.This the handmaid Phylo brought and set beside her,stuffed with finely wrought yarn; and upon itthe distaff lay outstretched, holding violet-dark wool.She sat down in the chair, and a footstool was under her feet.And at once she questioned her husband on each thing:"Do we know, Zeus-fostered Menelaus, who these men arewho claim to have come to our house?Shall I lie, or shall I speak the truth? My heart bids me.For I say I have never yet seen anyone so like —neither man nor woman — awe takes hold of me as I look —as this man is like the son of great-hearted Odysseus,Telemachus, whom that man left a newborn in his house,when for my sake, shameless dog that I am, the Achaeanscame beneath Troy, bent on daring war."Then fair-haired Menelaus answered her:"I too now think, lady, just as you guess.For such were his feet, such were his hands,and the glances of his eyes, and the head, and the hair above it.And just now, remembering Odysseus,I was telling of all that he suffered and toiledfor my sake, and he let a bitter tear fall beneath his brows,holding up his purple cloak before his eyes."Then Nestor's son Peisistratus spoke in answer:"Zeus-fostered Menelaus, son of Atreus, leader of hosts,this man is truly that man's son, as you say;but he is prudent, and is ashamed in his heartto come here and at first display his speechesface to face with you, whose voice delights us like a god's.But Gerenian Nestor, the horseman, sent me outto follow with him as escort; for he longed to see you,so that you might put some word or some deed in his mind.For many sorrows has the son of a father who is gonein his halls, when he has no other helpers,as now for Telemachus — his father is gone, and there are no othersin the district who might ward off ruin from him."Then fair-haired Menelaus answered him:"Oh, surely the son of a dear man has come to my house,the man who toiled many labours for my sake.And I said I would love him above the otherArgives if he came, if over the sea Olympian wide-thundering Zeusgranted that a homecoming in our swift ships should be ours.And I would have settled a city for him in Argos and built him a house,bringing him from Ithaca with his possessions and his sonand all his people, after laying waste one cityof those that lie around and are ruled by me.And we would often mingle here together; and nothingwould have parted us, loving each other and taking joy,until the dark cloud of death covered us over.But that, I suppose, some god himself was going to begrudge,the god who made that wretched man, alone, never to come home."So he spoke, and roused in them all a longing to weep.Argive Helen wept, daughter of Zeus,and Telemachus wept, and Atreus' son Menelaus,nor did Nestor's son keep his eyes unwet;for he remembered blameless Antilochus in his heart,whom the splendid son of shining Dawn had killed.Remembering him, he spoke winged words:"Son of Atreus, old Nestor used to saythat you were the wisest of mortals beyond all others,whenever we spoke of you in his hallsand talked with one another.And now, if it may be, listen to me; for I at leasttake no pleasure in weeping after dinner, but early-borndawn will come; and I would not begrudgeweeping for any mortal who dies and meets his fate.For this is the only honour for wretched mortals:to cut the hair and let a tear fall from the cheeks.For my own brother too is dead, and no worst manamong the Argives — you must know of him; for I at leastnever met him or saw him; but they say Antilochuswas foremost of the others both at running and in battle."Then fair-haired Menelaus answered him:"Dear friend, since you have said what a wise manwould say and do, even one who was older born —for of such a father are you, and you speak wisely —easily is a man's offspring known, when the son of Cronusspins prosperity for him at his marriage and at his birth,as he has now given to Nestor through all his days:that he himself grow sleekly old in his halls,and his sons again be wise and best with the spear.But let us leave the weeping that has just now been,and let us turn our minds again to dinner, and let them pourwater over our hands. Speeches too there will beat dawn, for Telemachus and me to speak over with one another."So he spoke, and Asphalion poured water over their hands,the ready squire of glorious Menelaus.And they reached out their hands to the ready food lying before them.Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, thought of another thing:at once she cast a drug into the wine they were drinking,a drug that takes away grief and anger and brings forgetfulness of all evils.Whoever swallowed it down, once it was mixed in the bowl,could not let a tear fall down his cheeks that day,not even if his mother and father both died,nor if before his eyes his brother or dear sonwere butchered with bronze, and he watched it with his eyes.Such were the cunning drugs the daughter of Zeus had,good ones, which Polydamna gave her, the wife of Thon,an Egyptian — for there the grain-giving earth bears mostdrugs, many good ones mixed in, and many baneful;and every man there is a physician knowing more than allother men; for they are of the race of Paeon.But when she had put it in and told them to pour the wine,again she spoke and answered them with words:"Zeus-fostered Menelaus, son of Atreus, and you here,sons of good men — for Zeus gives good and evilto one man at one time, to another at another; he can do all things —come now, sit and feast in the hallsand take your pleasure in talk; for I will tell you fitting things.All of them I could not tell over or name,as many labours as there are of Odysseus, the enduring man;but such a thing as this that strong man did and enduredin the land of the Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered woes.He beat his own body with unseemly blows,threw a wretched rag about his shoulders, looking like a slave,and crept into the wide-streeted city of the enemy men;and hiding himself, he likened himself to another man,a beggar, one who was nothing like that among the Achaean ships.Like him he entered the city of the Trojans, and they allwere speechless; but I alone recognized him as he was,and questioned him; but he turned aside in his cunning.But when I had bathed him and rubbed him with oil,and dressed him in clothes and swore a strong oathnot to reveal Odysseus among the Trojans beforehe reached the swift ships and the huts,then he told me the whole mind of the Achaeans.And after killing many of the Trojans with the long-pointed bronzehe came back to the Argives, bringing much knowledge.Then the other Trojan women wailed shrilly; but my own heartrejoiced, since my mind had already turned to goinghome again, and I grieved for the folly that Aphroditegave me, when she led me there from my own dear fatherland,abandoning my child and my bridal chamber and my husband,who lacked nothing in wits or in beauty."Then fair-haired Menelaus answered her:"Yes, indeed, lady, you have told all this as is fitting.For I have learned the counsel and the mind of manyheroic men, and I have travelled over much land;but never yet have I seen with my eyes such a oneas was the dear heart of Odysseus the enduring.What a thing that strong man did and endured —in the polished horse, where we all sat, the bestof the Argives, bringing slaughter and death to the Trojans.Then you came there; and some god was about to bid you,the spirit that wished to give glory to the Trojans;and godlike Deiphobus followed you as you went.Three times you walked around the hollow ambush, feeling it with your hands,and you called out by name the best of the Danaans,making your voice like the voices of their wives.But I and the son of Tydeus and brilliant Odysseus,sitting in the midst, heard how you cried out.The two of us were eager, starting up, to rush outor to answer at once from within;but Odysseus held us back and restrained us, eager as we were.Then all the other sons of the Achaeans were silent,but Anticlus alone wished to answer you with words.But Odysseus pressed his hand over his mouthrelentlessly with his strong hands, and saved all the Achaeans;and he held him so until Pallas Athena led you away."Then wise Telemachus answered him:"Zeus-fostered Menelaus, son of Atreus, leader of hosts,the worse for it; for none of that warded off his cruel destruction,not even if his heart within were made of iron.But come, turn us towards bed, so that we too at oncemay lie down and take our pleasure in sweet sleep."So he spoke, and Argive Helen told the maidservantsto set up beds beneath the portico and throw on finepurple blankets, and spread rugs over them,and put fleecy cloaks on top for them to wear.And they went from the hall with torches in their hands,and made the beds; and a herald led the guests out.So they slept there in the forecourt of the house,the hero Telemachus and Nestor's splendid son;and Atreus' son slept in the inner corner of the lofty house,and beside him lay Helen of the long robes, shining among women.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,good at the war-cry Menelaus rose from his bed,put on his clothes, slung a sharp sword over his shoulder,tied fine sandals under his shining feet,and went from the chamber, like a god to look upon,and sat down beside Telemachus, and spoke a word and named him:"What need has brought you here, hero Telemachus,to shining Lacedaemon, over the broad back of the sea?Public business or your own? Tell me this truly."Then wise Telemachus answered him:"Zeus-fostered Menelaus, son of Atreus, leader of hosts,I have come, in case you can tell me some report of my father.My house is being eaten up, my rich fields are ruined,and my house is full of hostile men, who alwaysslaughter my thronging sheep and my shambling crook-horned cattle —my mother's suitors, holding overweening outrage.Therefore I now come as a suppliant to your knees, in case you are willingto tell me of that man's cruel destruction, if somewhere you have seen itwith your own eyes, or heard the word from anotheras he wandered; for his mother bore him for sorrow.And do not soothe me out of shame or pity,but tell me well how you came upon the sight.I beg you, if ever my father, noble Odysseus,undertook and accomplished some word or some deed for youin the land of the Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered woes,remember those things now for me, and tell me truly."Then, greatly vexed, fair-haired Menelaus answered him:"Oh no — so it is a mighty-hearted man's bedthat these weaklings wished to lie in!As when in a thicket a deer has laid her newborn, milk-fed fawnsto sleep, and ranges over the slopes and the grassy glensto feed, and then a strong lion comes to that bed of hersand brings an unseemly death on both of them —so will Odysseus bring an unseemly death on those men.I wish, father Zeus, and Athena, and Apollo,that he were such as he once was in well-built Lesbos,when he stood up and wrestled in rivalry with Philomeleides,and threw him hard, and all the Achaeans rejoiced —such a man might Odysseus be among the suitors!Then all would be swift-fated and bitterly wedded.But as for what you ask me and beg of me, I at leastwill not speak otherwise, turning aside, nor will I deceive you,but I will tell you what the old man of the sea told me, truthful as he is;not one word of it will I hide from you or keep back."In Egypt the gods still held me there when I was eager to come home,because I had not offered them perfect hecatombs.For the gods always wish men to remember their commands.There is a certain island in the much-surging sea,in front of Egypt, and men call it Pharos,as far off as a hollow ship can travelin a whole day, when a shrill fair wind blows behind her.And in it there is a good harbour, from which men launchtheir equal ships into the sea after drawing dark water.There the gods held me twenty days, and never did any fair windsappear blowing, the winds that areescorts of ships over the broad back of the sea.And now all my provisions would have perished and my men's strength,if one of the gods had not pitied me and saved me,the daughter of mighty Proteus, the old man of the sea,Eidothea; for I stirred her heart especially.She met me as I wandered alone, apart from my companions;for they were always wandering around the island fishingwith bent hooks, and hunger was wearing out their bellies.And she stood near me and spoke a word and said:'You are very foolish, stranger, and feeble-minded,or you give up willingly and take pleasure in suffering.How long now are you held on the island, and you cannotfind any way out, and your companions' hearts are failing?So she spoke, and I answered her and said:'I will tell you, whoever of the goddesses you are,that I am not held here willingly, but surely I musthave offended the immortals who hold the wide heaven.But do you tell me — the gods know all things —which of the immortals binds me and has bound me from my path,and how I shall go over the fish-filled sea.'So I spoke, and the shining goddess answered at once:'Then I will tell you, stranger, very precisely.There roams here a truthful old man of the sea,an immortal, Egyptian Proteus, who knows the depthsof all the sea, and is a servant under Poseidon;and they say he is my father and begot me.If you could somehow lie in wait and seize him,he would tell you your road and the measures of your journey,and how you shall go over the fish-filled sea.And he would tell you, Zeus-fostered one, if you are willing,whatever evil and good has been done in your hallswhile you were gone on the long and painful road.'So she spoke, and I answered her and said:'Now do you yourself plan the ambush of the divine old man,in case he sees me beforehand or knows beforehand and escapes;for it is hard for a mortal man to overpower a god.'So I spoke, and the shining goddess answered at once:'Then I will tell you, stranger, very precisely.When the sun has climbed to the middle of the sky,then the truthful old man of the sea comes up from the brineunder the breath of the West Wind, hidden in dark rippling water,and coming out he sleeps under the hollow caves;and around him the seals, offspring of the fair sea-goddess,sleep in a herd, risen up from the gray sea,breathing out the pungent smell of the deep sea brine.There I will lead you at dawn when it appearsand lay you down in a row; and do you choose well threecompanions, the best of those beside your well-benched ships.And I will tell you all the treacherous tricks of that old man.First he will go and count the seals;and when he has reckoned them all by fives and looked them over,he will lie down in the midst of them like a shepherd among his flocks of sheep.And as soon as you see him laid down to sleep,then let your strength and force be ready,and hold him there struggling, eager as he is to escape.And he will try all things that creepupon the earth, and water and blazing fire;but you must hold on unshaken and press him the more.But when at last he himself questions you in words,being such as you saw him when he lay down,then at last slacken your force and release the old man,hero, and ask him which of the gods is angry with you,and how you shall go over the fish-filled sea."So speaking, she dove beneath the surging sea.But I went to the ships, where they stood on the sands,my provisions; and my heart churned greatly within me as I went.But when I had come down to the ship and the sea,and we had made ready dinner, and immortal night came on,then we lay down to sleep on the breakwater of the sea.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,then indeed along the shore of the wide-pathed seaI went, praying much to the gods; and three of my companionsI led, men in whom I trusted most in every way.Meanwhile she, diving under the broad bosom of the sea,brought four sealskins up from the deep;all were newly flayed; and she was devising a trick against her father.And she had hollowed out beds in the sands of the shore,and sat waiting; and we came very close to her.And she laid us down in a row, and threw a hide over each.There the ambush would have been most terrible; for it oppressed us dreadfully,the most deadly stench of the sea-fed seals.For who would lie down to sleep beside a sea-monster?But she herself saved us and thought of a great help:she brought ambrosia and put it under each man's nostrils,smelling very sweet, and destroyed the stench of the monster.And all the morning we waited with enduring heart;and the seals came out of the sea in throngs. Then theylay down in rows along the breakwater of the sea;and at noon the old man came from the sea, and found the sealswell-fed, and went along all of them, and counted their number;and he counted us first among the monsters, and nothing in his heartsuspected there was a trick; then he too lay down.But we rushed on him with a shout, and threw our armsabout him; and the old man did not forget his crafty art,but first of all he became a deep-maned lion,and then a serpent and a leopard and a great boar;and he became wet water and a high-branched tree;but we held on unshaken with enduring heart.But when at last the old man, knowing treacherous things, grew weary,then he questioned me with words and said:"Who of the gods, son of Atreus, counselled these plans with you,that you should take me unwilling by ambush? What do you need?"So he spoke, and I answered him and said:"You know, old man, why you ask me these things, turning me aside.How long now am I held on the island, and I cannotfind any way out, and my heart fails within me.But do you tell me — the gods know all things —which of the immortals binds me and has bound me from my path,and how I shall go over the fish-filled sea."So I spoke, and he answered me at once and said:"Ah, but you should have offered fine sacrifices to Zeusand to the other gods before you embarked, so that you might comemost swiftly to your fatherland, sailing over the wine-dark sea.For it is not your fate to see your friends and reachyour well-built home and your fatherland beforeyou go back to the waters of the river of Egypt, rain-fed,and offer sacred hecatombsto the immortal gods who hold the wide heaven;and then the gods will give you the journey you long for."So he spoke, and my own dear heart was broken within me,because he told me to go back over the misty seato Egypt, a long and painful journey.But even so I answered him with words:"That I will indeed perform, old man, just as you command.But come, tell me this and relate it exactly:did all the Achaeans come home unharmed in their ships,whom Nestor and I left behind when we sailed from Troy,or did some perish by a cruel death on their own shipor in the hands of friends, after they had wound up the war?"So I spoke, and he answered me at once and said:"Son of Atreus, why do you ask me these things? It is not for youto know them, nor to learn my mind; nor do I thinkyou will be long without weeping, once you hear it all well.For many of them perished, and many were left behind;and of the leaders, only two of the bronze-clad Achaeansperished on the way home; and you yourself were present at the battle.And one more is still held alive, somewhere on the wide sea.Ajax perished among his long-oared ships.First Poseidon drove him onto the Gyraeanrocks, and saved him from the sea;and he would have escaped death, though Athena hated him,if he had not let fly a boastful word and been greatly blinded;he said he had escaped the great gulf of the sea against the gods' will.And Poseidon heard him as he shouted aloud;at once then he took his trident in his strong handsand struck the Gyraean rock and split it apart;and one part stayed there, and the fragment fell into the sea,on which Ajax had first sat and been greatly blinded;and it carried him over the boundless surging sea.So he perished there, when he drank the salt water.But your brother, I suppose, escaped the fates and got awayin his hollow ships; and lady Hera saved him.But when he was soon about to reach the steepmountain of Malea, then a storm snatched him upand carried him over the fish-filled sea, groaning heavily,to the edge of the country, where Thyestes oncehad his house, but then Thyestes' son Aegisthus lived there.But when a safe homecoming appeared even from there,and the gods turned the wind about, and they came home,then indeed he stepped gladly on his fatherlandand touched and kissed his own land; and from him manyhot tears poured, since he gladly saw the land.But a watchman saw him from the lookout, whomcrafty Aegisthus had set there, and he promised him a wage,two talents of gold; and he kept watch for a year,in case he passed by unnoticed, and that he might remember his furious valour.And he went to the house to tell the shepherd of the people.At once Aegisthus devised a cunning plan;choosing twenty of the best men in the districthe set them in ambush, and elsewhere he ordered a feast to be prepared.Then he went to summon Agamemnon, shepherd of the people,with horses and chariots, thinking unseemly thoughts.And he brought him up, unknowing of destruction, and killed himafter feasting him, as a man kills an ox at the manger.Nor did any of Atreus' son's companions who followed him survive,nor any of Aegisthus' men, but they were killed in the halls.So he spoke, and my own dear heart was broken within me,and I wept, sitting in the sands, and my heartno longer wished to live and see the light of the sun.But when I had had my fill of weeping and rolling in the dust,then the truthful old man of the sea spoke to me:"No longer, son of Atreus, weep thus unceasingly for so long,since we see no profit in it; but as quickly as you can,try how you may reach your fatherland.For either you will find him alive, or Oresteshas killed him first, and you will come upon his funeral."So he spoke, and my heart and my proud spiritagain were warmed within my breast, though I was grieving,and I spoke aloud and addressed him with winged words:"These I know of; but do you name a third man for me,whoever is still held alive on the wide sea,or dead; and I wish to hear it, grieving as I am."So I spoke, and he answered me at once and said:"The son of Laertes, who has his home in Ithaca.I saw him on an island, shedding a big tear,in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who holds himby force; and he cannot reach his fatherland;for he has no oared ships and no companions,who might send him over the broad back of the sea.But for you, Zeus-fostered Menelaus, it is not fatedto die in horse-pasturing Argos and meet your fate,but the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain and the ends of the earth,where fair-haired Rhadamanthys is,where life is easiest for men.There is no snow, no violent storm, no rain ever,but always the breezes of the shrilly blowing West Winddoes Ocean send up to refresh men;because you have Helen, and are the son-in-law of Zeus."So speaking, he dove beneath the surging sea.But I went to the ships with my godlike companions,and my heart churned greatly within me as I went.But when we had come down to the ship and the sea,and we had made ready dinner, and immortal night came on,then we lay down to sleep on the breakwater of the sea.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,first of all we dragged the ships into the shining salt sea,and set up masts and sails in the well-balanced ships,and we ourselves went aboard and sat down on the benches;and sitting in rows we struck the gray salt water with our oars.And back to the river of Egypt, rain-fed,I brought my ships to shore, and offered perfect hecatombs.But when I had put an end to the anger of the gods who live forever,I heaped up a tomb for Agamemnon, so that his fame might be unquenchable.Having finished these things, I sailed home, and the immortalsgave me a fair wind, who sent me swiftly to my dear fatherland.But come now, stay on in my halls,until the eleventh day and the twelfth day come;and then I will send you off well, and give you splendid gifts,three horses and a well-smoothed chariot; and after thatI will give you a beautiful cup, so that you may pour libations to the godsimmortal, remembering me all your days."Then wise Telemachus answered him:"Son of Atreus, do not hold me here for a long time.For even for a year I would endure staying beside you,sitting here, and no longing for home or parents would seize me;for I take great pleasure, hearing your tales and your words.But already my companions are vexed for mein holy Pylos; and you are holding me here a long time.Whatever gift you give me, let it be a treasure;but horses I will not take to Ithaca, but will leave themhere for you yourself, as an ornament; for you rule overa wide plain, in which there is much clover, and galingale,and wheat and spelt and the broad-growing white barley.But in Ithaca there are no wide courses nor any meadow;it is goat-pasturing, and more lovely even than horse-pasturing.For no one of the islands that lean on the seais fit for driving horses or rich in meadows; and Ithaca above all."So he spoke, and good at the war-cry Menelaus smiled,and stroked him with his hand, and spoke a word and named him:"Of good blood you are, dear child, by the words you speak.Then I will change these things for you; for I can.And of the gifts that lie as treasures in my house,I will give you the one that is most beautiful and most prized.I will give you a well-made mixing bowl; it is allof silver, and its rims are fitted with gold,the work of Hephaestus. The hero Phaedimus,king of the Sidonians, gave it to me, when his house shelteredme as I came home there; and I wish to give it to you."So the two of them spoke such things to each other,and the guests went into the halls of the divine king.They brought sheep, and carried wine that gladdens men;and their fair-veiled wives sent them bread.So these busied themselves with dinner in the halls.But the suitors, in front of Odysseus' house,were taking their pleasure with quoits and with throwing javelinson the levelled floor, where they had done it before, in their outrage.And Antinous was sitting there, and godlike Eurymachus,the leaders of the suitors, and they were far the best in valour.And to them Noemon, son of Phronius, came nearand questioned Antinous and said to him:"Antinous, do we know in our minds, or do we not,when Telemachus will sail back from sandy Pylos?He has gone off, taking my ship with him; and I have need of itto cross over to spacious Elis, where I havetwelve mares, and strong mules beneath them,unbroken; I would like to drive one away and break it in."So he spoke, and they were amazed in their hearts; for they did not thinkhe had gone to Neleian Pylos, but that he was somewherethere in the fields with the sheep, or with the swineherd.Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him:"Tell me truly, when did he go, and which young menfollowed with him? Chosen ones of Ithaca, or his ownhirelings and slaves? He could do even that.And tell me this truly, so that I may know well:did he take the black ship from you by force, against your will,or did you give it willingly, since he asked you with words?"Then Noemon, son of Phronius, answered him:"I gave it to him willingly myself; what else could another do,when a man like that, having cares in his heart,asked for it? It would be hard to refuse the gift.And the young men who follow him are the ones who are bestin the district among us; and I noticed their leadergoing aboard — Mentor, or a god, and he was altogether like him.But this I marvel at: I saw divine Mentor hereyesterday morning, and then he went aboard the ship for Pylos."So speaking, he went off to his father's house,and the proud heart of both of them was vexed.And they made the suitors sit down together and stopped the contests.Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke among them,vexed; and his dark heart was greatly filledwith rage, and his two eyes were like blazing fire:"Oh no, this journey of Telemachus has been accomplishedin great and overweening fashion; and we said it would not be done.Against our will, the young boy has gone off just so,having dragged out a ship and chosen the best in the district.He will begin to be a trouble even farther on; but may Zeusdestroy his strength himself, before he reaches the measure of manhood.But come, give me a swift ship and twenty companions,so that I may lie in wait for him as he comes and keep watchin the strait between Ithaca and rugged Samos,so that his voyage for his father will be a miserable one."So he spoke, and they all approved and urged it on.At once then they rose and went to Odysseus' house.Nor was Penelope unaware for a long timeof the words the suitors were brooding in their hearts;for the herald Medon told her, who learned their counselsas he stood outside the courtyard; and they were weaving their plan within.And he went through the halls to tell Penelope;and as he crossed the threshold Penelope spoke to him:"Herald, why did the proud suitors send you?Is it to tell the maidservants of divine Odysseusto stop their work and prepare a feast for them?May they never woo again or meet together elsewhere,and may they now dine here for the last and final time —they who gather here so often and cut down my great livelihood,the property of wise Telemachus; and you never heardof your own fathers before, when you were children,what kind of man Odysseus was among your parents,never doing or saying anything outrageousin the district — which is the way of divine kings;one man he might hate, another he might love.But that man never did anything reckless to any man.But your temper and your unseemly deedsare plain, and there is no gratitude for benefits afterwards."Then Medon, knowing wise things, answered her:"If only, my queen, this were the greatest evil.But the suitors are planning something far greaterand more painful, which may the son of Cronus not fulfil:they mean to kill Telemachus with the sharp bronzeas he comes home; and he has gone to hear of his fatherto holy Pylos and to shining Lacedaemon."So he spoke, and her knees and her own heart gave way beneath her,and for a long while speechlessness at his words took hold of her; and her two eyesfilled with tears, and her full voice was checked.And at last she answered him and said:"Herald, why has my son gone? He has no needto step aboard swift ships, which are horses of the seafor men, and carry them over the great wet expanse.Or is it so that not even his name will be left among men?"Then Medon, knowing wise things, answered her:"I do not know whether some god roused him, or whetherhis own heart urged him to go to Pylos, so that he might learnof his father, either his homecoming or what fate he has met."So speaking, he went off through Odysseus' house.And heart-destroying grief was poured around her, and she no longer had the strengthto sit on a chair, though many were in the house,but she sat down on the threshold of the well-wrought chamber,wailing piteously; and around her the maidservants murmured,all of them, as many as were young and old in the halls.And Penelope, grieving shrilly, spoke among them:"Listen, dear women; for the Olympian has given me sorrowsbeyond all women, as many as were raised with me and born with me.I, who first lost my noble husband, a lion-hearted man,adorned with every kind of virtue among the Danaans,a noble man, whose fame is wide through Hellas and mid-Argos.Now again a storm has snatched away my beloved sonfrom the halls, without renown, and I did not hear of his setting out.Cruel women, none of you in your hearts thoughtto wake me from my bed, knowing clearly in your heartswhen that man went to the hollow black ship.For if I had heard that he was planning that journey,then even though he were eager for the road, he would have stayed,or he would have left me dead in the halls.But let someone quickly call old Dolius,my slave, whom my father gave me before I came here,and who keeps my orchard of many trees, so that as quickly as possiblehe may sit beside Laertes and tell him all this,in case that man, weaving some plan in his heart,may go out and complain to the people, who are resolvedto destroy the offspring of him and of godlike Odysseus."Then her dear nurse Eurycleia answered her:"Dear child, you may kill me with the pitiless bronze,or let me live in the hall; I will not hide the word from you.I knew all this, and I gave him whatever he asked for,bread and sweet wine; but he took a great oath from menot to tell you before the twelfth day had come,or before you yourself missed him and heard of his setting out,so that you would not weep and mar your fair skin.But go wash yourself, put clean clothes on your body,and go up to the upper room with your waiting women,and pray to Athena, daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis;for she may then save him even from death.And do not afflict the old man, who is already afflicted; for I do not thinkthat the blessed gods altogether hate the offspring of Arcesius,but there is still someone who will holdthe high-roofed house and the rich fields far away."So she spoke, and lulled her weeping, and checked her eyes from tears.And she, washed, with clean clothes on her body,went up to the upper room with her waiting women,and put barley groats in a basket, and prayed to Athena:"Hear me, child of Zeus who holds the aegis, unwearied one,if ever Odysseus of many counsels in his hallsburned for you the rich thighbones of an ox or a sheep,remember those now for me, and save my dear son,and drive away the suitors who wickedly overreach."So speaking, she wailed aloud, and the goddess heard her prayer.And the suitors made an uproar through the shadowy halls;and thus one of the proud young men would say:"Surely now the much-wooed queen is preparinga wedding for us, and she does not know that death has been prepared for her son."So one of them would say, but they did not know how it had been arranged.Then Antinous spoke to them and addressed them:"Strange men, avoid all your overweening wordsalike, in case someone reports them even inside.But come, let us rise in silence and carry outthe plan, which has pleased us all in our hearts."So speaking, he chose twenty of the best men,and they went to the swift ship and the shore of the sea.First of all they dragged the ship down into the depths of the salt sea,and set up the mast and the sails in the black ship,and fitted the oars in their leather thongs,all in order, and spread the white sails;and their high-hearted squires brought them their weapons.And they moored her out in the water, and went ashore themselves;and there they took dinner, and waited for evening to come.But thoughtful Penelope lay up in her upper room,without food, without taste of meat or drink,turning over in her mind whether her blameless son would escape death,or whether he would be overpowered by the overweening suitors.And as many thoughts as a lion in a crowd of menturns over in fear, when they lead him in a treacherous circle,so many thoughts came over her, and then sweet sleep came on her;and she slept, leaning back, and all her limbs were loosed.Then the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, thought of another thing:she made a phantom, and shaped it like a woman,Iphthime, the daughter of great-hearted Icarius,whom Eumelus married, living in Pherae.And she sent her to the house of divine Odysseus,so that she might make Penelope, mourning and wailing,cease from weeping and from tearful lamentation.She came into the chamber by the thong of the door-bar,and stood above her head, and spoke a word to her:"Are you sleeping, Penelope, with a heart grieved?The gods who live at ease do not let youweep or be distressed, since your son is stillone who will come home; for he is not guilty in the eyes of the gods."Then thoughtful Penelope answered her,slumbering very sweetly at the gates of dreams:"Sister, why have you come here? You never came herebefore, since you live very far away.And you bid me cease from my misery and my manypains, which stir me in my heart and spirit —I, who first lost my noble husband, a lion-hearted man,adorned with every kind of virtue among the Danaans,a noble man, whose fame is wide through Hellas and mid-Argos;now again my beloved son has gone in a hollow ship,a foolish boy, knowing nothing well of toils or of assemblies.For him I grieve even more than for that other man;for him I tremble and fear, in case something happens to him,either among the people where he has gone, or on the sea;for many enemies are plotting against him,eager to kill him before he reaches his fatherland."Then the dim phantom answered her and said:"Take courage, and do not fear too greatly in your heart;for such a guide goes with him, one whom other menalso have prayed to stand beside them, and she can,Pallas Athena; and she pities you in your grief;she it is who now sent me to tell you this."Then thoughtful Penelope answered her:"If you are a god and have heard the voice of a god,come then, tell me also of that wretched man,whether he is still alive and sees the light of the sun,or whether he is already dead in the house of Hades."Then the dim phantom answered her and said:"I will not tell you of that man at all exactly,whether he lives or is dead; and it is wrong to speak empty words."So speaking, it slipped away past the door-bar of the hallinto the blasts of the winds. And she started up from sleep,the daughter of Icarius; and her own heart was warmed,since the dream had come to her clearly in the dead of night.But the suitors went aboard and sailed over the watery ways,planning steep slaughter for Telemachus in their hearts.There is a certain rocky island in the middle of the sea,between Ithaca and rugged Samos,Asteris, not large; and there are two harbours in it where ships can lie,double-mouthed; there the Achaeans lay in wait for him.

So they came to hollow Lacedaemon, the land of deep ravines,and drove up to the house of glorious Menelaus.They found him holding a wedding feast for many relatives,for his son and his blameless daughter, in his own house.He was sending the girl to the son of Achilles, the breaker of men —because back in Troy he had promised and nodded his headto give her, and now the gods were bringing the marriage about.So he was sending her there with horses and chariotsto the famous city of the Myrmidons, where that son ruled.And for his son he was bringing a bride from Sparta, Alector's daughter,strong Megapenthes, born to him in his old agefrom a slave woman; and the gods gave Helen no more children,after she had first given birth to a lovely child,Hermione, who had the beauty of golden Aphrodite.So they feasted through the great high-roofed hall,the neighbours and the clansmen of glorious Menelaus,enjoying themselves; and among them a holy bard sangplaying the lyre, and two acrobats spunthrough the middle of them as the song began.But the other two, in the porch of the house, the two men and their horses,the hero Telemachus and Nestor's splendid son,stopped there; and lord Eteoneus came out and saw them,the quick servant of glorious Menelaus,and he went through the halls to tell the shepherd of the people,and standing beside him he spoke winged words:"Two strangers are here, Menelaus, raised by Zeus,two men, and by birth they look like sons of great Zeus.But tell me: should we unyoke their swift horses,or send them on to someone else who will welcome them?"Then, greatly upset, fair-haired Menelaus answered him:"You weren't a fool before, Eteoneus, son of Boethous,but now you talk like a child, like a senseless boy.Surely the two of us came here after eating plenty of guest-mealsat other men's tables — if ever Zeuslets us stop suffering in the future. So unyokethe strangers' horses, and bring the men in to eat."So he said, and the other ran through the hall and calledthe other quick servants to follow him.They loosed the sweating horses from under the yokeand tied them to the mangers in the stable,and threw spelt down for them and mixed white barley,and leaned the chariot against the gleaming porch,and led the men into the holy house. And when they saw it,they were amazed all through the house of the Zeus-raised king:for like the shining of the sun or the moonwas the high-roofed house of glorious Menelaus.But when they had looked their fill with their eyes,they stepped into the polished bathtubs and washed.And when the maids had washed them and rubbed them with oil,and thrown woolly cloaks and tunics around them,they sat down on chairs beside Atreus' son Menelaus.And a maid brought a pitcher and poured water overa beautiful golden basin set on top of a silver one,for them to wash; and she pulled a polished table up beside them.And the respected housekeeper brought and set out bread,adding lots of dishes, sharing freely what was there.And the carver lifted and set before them platters of meatof every kind, and put golden cups beside them.And greeting them, fair-haired Menelaus said:"Take the food and welcome. Afterwards,once you've tasted dinner, we'll ask who you areamong men; your parents' family hasn't died out,but you come from the family of Zeus-raised kingswho carry scepters — bad men couldn't father children like you."So he said, and set the fat back of an ox before them,roasted, taking it in his hands — the piece they had set aside for him.And they reached their hands out to the ready food in front of them.But when they had lost their hunger and thirst,then Telemachus spoke to Nestor's son,pulling his head close so the others wouldn't hear:"Look, son of Nestor, dear to my heart —the flashing of bronze through the echoing halls,and of gold and amber and silver and ivory.This must be what the court of Olympian Zeus is like inside,there's so much of it, more than words; awe takes hold of me as I look."And fair-haired Menelaus heard him talking,and called out and spoke winged words to them:"Dear children, no mortal could compete with Zeus —his house and his possessions are immortal.But among men, someone might compete with me in possessions, or might not.For after much suffering and much wandering,I brought them home in my ships and got back in the eighth year,driven as far as Cyprus and Phoenicia and Egypt,and I reached the Ethiopians and Sidonians and Erembi,and Libya, where the lambs are born with horns straight away.For there the flocks give birth three times in one full year.And there no master and no shepherd lackscheese or meat or sweet milk,but they always give milk to draw all year round.While I wandered there, piling up a big living,meanwhile another man killed my brother,in secret, without warning, by the trick of his cursed wife.So I don't rule over these possessions with any joy.And you've probably heard this from your fathers,whoever they are — since I suffered a lot, and lost my house,a house that was very well settled, holding many good things.If only I lived in my halls with even a third of it,and those men were safe who died back thenin wide Troy, far from horse-pasturing Argos.But still, mourning and grieving for them all,often as I sit in my halls,sometimes I cheer my heart with crying, sometimesI stop; for you get sick of cold grief quickly.For all of them I don't grieve as much, grieving as I am,as for one man, who makes sleep and food hateful to mewhen I remember him — no other Greek worked so hardas Odysseus worked and endured. And yet for himsorrows were coming, and for me grief I'll never forgetfor that man, because he's been gone so long, and we don't knowwhether he's alive or dead. And surely they mourn him,old Laertes and sensible Penelopeand Telemachus, whom he left as a newborn in his house."So he said, and stirred in the other a longing to cry for his father.He let a tear fall from his eyelids to the ground when he heard about his father,holding his purple cloak up in front of his eyeswith both hands. And Menelaus noticed him,and then wondered in his heart and mindwhether he should let him remember his father on his own,or first question him and test him on everything.While he was turning this over in his heart and mind,out of her sweet-smelling high-roofed room came Helen,looking like Artemis with the golden distaff.And with her Adreste set out a well-made chair,and Alcippe brought a rug of soft wool,and Phylo brought a silver basket, which Alcandra had given her,the wife of Polybus, who lived in Egyptian Thebes,where the greatest wealth lies in the houses;he gave Menelaus two silver bathtubs,and two tripods, and ten talents of gold.And separately Helen, his wife, gave him beautiful gifts:a golden distaff and a basket on wheels,made of silver, with the rims worked in gold.This the maid Phylo brought and set beside her,stuffed with finely made yarn; and on top of itlay the distaff, holding violet-dark wool.She sat down in the chair, and a footstool was under her feet.And right away she asked her husband about everything:"Do we know, Menelaus, raised by Zeus, who these men arewho claim to have come to our house?Should I lie, or should I tell the truth? My heart tells me to.For I say I've never seen anyone so much alike —not a man or a woman — awe takes hold of me as I look —as this man is like the son of great-hearted Odysseus,Telemachus, whom that man left as a newborn in his house,when for my sake, shameless dog that I am, the Greekscame to Troy, planning a bold war."Then fair-haired Menelaus answered her:"I think the same now, lady, as you're guessing.For his feet were like that, and his hands like that,and the look in his eyes, and his head, and the hair on top."And just now, remembering Odysseus,I was telling how much he suffered and workedfor my sake, and he let a bitter tear fall from under his brows,holding his purple cloak up in front of his eyes."Then Nestor's son Peisistratus answered him:"Menelaus, raised by Zeus, son of Atreus, leader of hosts,this really is that man's son, just as you say;but he's sensible, and he's ashamed in his heartto come here and, right at first, show off his talkingface to face with you, whose voice we enjoy like a god's.But old Gerenian Nestor, the horseman, sent meto come along with him as an escort; for he wanted to see you,so you might put some word or some plan in his mind.For many troubles come to the son of a father who's gonein his halls, when he has no other helpers,as now for Telemachus — his father is gone, and there are no othersin the district who might fend off ruin from him."Then fair-haired Menelaus answered him:"Oh! So the son of a dear man has come to my house,the man who worked through many hard trials for my sake.And I said I'd love him more than the otherGreeks if he came, if over the sea Olympian Zeus who thunders widegranted that we two got home safe in our swift ships.And I would have settled a city for him in Argos and built him a house,bringing him from Ithaca with his possessions and his sonand all his people, after sacking one cityof those that lie around me and are ruled by me.And we'd often be together here; and nothingwould have separated us, loving each other and enjoying it,until the dark cloud of death covered us over.But that, I suppose, some god was going to begrudge,the god who made that poor man, alone, never to come home."So he said, and stirred in them all a longing to cry.Argive Helen cried, the daughter of Zeus,and Telemachus cried, and Atreus' son Menelaus,and Nestor's son didn't keep his eyes dry either;for he remembered blameless Antilochus in his heart,whom the splendid son of shining Dawn had killed.Remembering him, he spoke winged words:"Son of Atreus, old Nestor used to sayyou were the wisest of mortals, above all others,whenever we talked about you in his hallsand spoke with each other.And now, if there's any way, listen to me; for I for onedon't enjoy crying after dinner, but early-borndawn will be here; and I wouldn't begrudgecrying for any mortal who dies and meets his fate.For this is the only honor for poor mortals:to cut the hair and let a tear fall from the cheeks.For my brother is dead too, and no worst manamong the Greeks — you must know him; for I for onenever met him or saw him; but they say Antilochuswas the best of the others at running and at fighting."Then fair-haired Menelaus answered him:"Dear friend, since you've said what a wise manwould say and do, even one older than you —for that's the kind of father you have, and you speak wisely —a man's child is easy to recognize, when the son of Cronusspins out wealth for him at his marriage and at his birth,as he has now given to Nestor all his days:that he himself grow sleek and old in his halls,and his sons be wise and the best with the spear.But let's drop the crying that just happened,and think about dinner again, and let them pourwater over our hands. There'll be plenty of talkat dawn for Telemachus and me to share with each other."So he said, and Asphalion poured water over their hands,the quick servant of glorious Menelaus.And they reached their hands out to the ready food in front of them.Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, thought of something else:right away she dropped a drug into the wine they were drinking,a drug that takes away grief and anger and makes you forget all troubles.Whoever swallowed it, once it was mixed in the bowl,couldn't let a tear fall down his cheeks all day,not even if his mother and father both died,or if his brother or dear son right in front of himwere cut down with bronze while he watched with his own eyes.Such were the clever drugs the daughter of Zeus had,good ones, which Polydamna gave her, the wife of Thon,an Egyptian — for there the grain-giving earth grows the mostdrugs, many good ones mixed in, and many harmful;and every man there is a doctor who knows more than allother men; for they come from the family of Paeon.But when she'd dropped it in and told them to pour the wine,again she spoke and answered them with words:"Menelaus, raised by Zeus, son of Atreus, and you here,sons of good men — Zeus gives good and evilto one man at one time, to another at another; he can do anything —come on, sit and feast in the hallsand enjoy the talk; for I'll tell you things that fit.I couldn't tell or name them all,all the hard trials that enduring Odysseus went through;but take this one thing that strong man did and enduredin the land of the Trojans, where you Greeks suffered troubles.He beat his own body with shameful blows,threw a ragged cloth over his shoulders, looking like a slave,and sneaked into the wide-streeted city of the enemy men;and hiding himself, he pretended to be a different man,a beggar, one who was nothing like that among the Greek ships.Looking like him he entered the city of the Trojans, and they allwere fooled; but I alone recognized him as he was,and questioned him; but he dodged me with his cunning.But when I had bathed him and rubbed him with oil,and dressed him in clothes and swore a strong oathnot to reveal Odysseus among the Trojans untilhe got back to the swift ships and the huts,then he told me the whole plan of the Greeks.And after killing many Trojans with the long-pointed bronzehe came back to the Greeks, bringing back a lot of news.Then the other Trojan women wailed loudly; but my own heartwas glad, because my mind had already turned to goinghome again, and I was sorry for the ruin that Aphroditegave me, when she led me there from my own dear homeland,leaving behind my child and my bedroom and my husband,who lacked nothing in brains or in looks."Then fair-haired Menelaus answered her:"Yes, lady, you've told all this the way it should be told.For I've learned the thinking and the mind of manyheroic men, and I've traveled over a lot of land;but I've never yet seen with my own eyes anyonelike the dear heart of enduring Odysseus.What a thing that strong man did and endured —inside the polished horse, where we all sat, the bestof the Greeks, bringing slaughter and death to the Trojans.Then you came there; and some god was about to send you,the spirit that wanted to give glory to the Trojans;and godlike Deiphobus came along with you as you went.Three times you walked around the hollow ambush, feeling it with your hands,and you called out by name the best of the Greeks,making your voice sound like their wives' voices.But I and the son of Tydeus and brilliant Odysseus,sitting in the middle, heard how you shouted.The two of us were hot to jump outor to answer right away from inside;but Odysseus held us back and stopped us, eager as we were.Then all the other sons of the Greeks were silent,but Anticlus alone wanted to answer you with words.But Odysseus pressed his hand over his mouthwithout letting up, with his strong hands, and saved all the Greeks;and he held him like that until Pallas Athena led you away."Then wise Telemachus answered him:"Menelaus, raised by Zeus, son of Atreus, leader of hosts,that's the worse for it; none of that stopped his cruel death,not even if his heart inside was made of iron.But come, send us to bed, so we too can right nowlie down and enjoy sweet sleep."So he said, and Argive Helen told the maidsto set up beds under the portico and throw on beautifulpurple blankets and spread rugs on top,and put woolly cloaks on top to cover themselves with.And they went out of the hall with torches in their hands,and made the beds; and a herald led the guests out.So they slept there in the front court of the house,the hero Telemachus and Nestor's splendid son;and Atreus' son slept in the inner corner of the lofty house,and beside him lay Helen of the long robes, shining among women.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,Menelaus, good at the war cry, got up from his bed,put on his clothes, slung a sharp sword over his shoulder,tied beautiful sandals under his shining feet,and went out of the bedroom, looking like a god,and sat down beside Telemachus, and spoke a word and called him by name:"What need brought you here, hero Telemachus,to shining Lacedaemon, over the broad back of the sea?Public business or your own? Tell me this for certain."Then wise Telemachus answered him:"Menelaus, raised by Zeus, son of Atreus, leader of hosts,I've come, in case you can tell me some news of my father.My house is being eaten up, my rich fields are ruined,and my house is full of hostile men, who alwaysslaughter my crowding sheep and my shambling, crook-horned cattle —my mother's suitors, acting with arrogant violence.So now I come to your knees as a beggar, in case you're willingto tell me about that man's cruel death, if you've seen it anywherewith your own eyes, or heard the word from someone elseas he wandered; for his mother bore him for sorrow.And don't soothe me out of shame or pity,but tell me well how you ran into that sight.I beg you, if ever my father, noble Odysseus,promised some word or did some deed for youin the land of the Trojans, where you Greeks suffered troubles,remember that now for me, and tell me the truth."Then, greatly upset, fair-haired Menelaus answered him:"Oh no — so it's a strong-hearted man's bedthat these weaklings wanted to lie in!Like when a deer in a thicket has put her newborn, milk-fed fawnsto sleep, and roams over the slopes and grassy hollowsto graze, and then a strong lion comes to that bed of hersand brings a shameful death on both of them —so will Odysseus bring a shameful death on those men.I wish, father Zeus, and Athena, and Apollo,that he were the man he once was in well-built Lesbos,when he stood up and wrestled with Philomeleides in a contest,and threw him hard, and all the Greeks cheered —such a man might Odysseus be among the suitors!Then all of them would die fast and have bitter weddings.But as for what you're asking me and begging me for, I for onewon't say anything different, dodging sideways, and I won't trick you,but I'll tell you what the old man of the sea told me, and he tells the truth;I won't hide a single word of it from you or keep it back."The gods still held me in Egypt when I was eager to get home,because I hadn't offered them complete sacrifices.For the gods always want people to remember their commands.There's an island out in the much-surging sea,in front of Egypt, and people call it Pharos,as far away as a hollow ship can goin one whole day, when a shrill fair wind blows behind her.And it has a good harbor, where men launchtheir balanced ships into the sea after drawing dark water.The gods held me there twenty days, and no fair windsever showed up blowing, the winds thatguide ships over the broad back of the sea.And by now all my supplies would have run out and my men's strength too,if one of the gods hadn't pitied me and saved me,the daughter of mighty Proteus, the old man of the sea,Eidothea; for I stirred her heart most of all.She met me wandering alone, away from my companions;for they were always roaming around the island fishingwith bent hooks, and hunger was wearing out their bellies.And she stood near me and spoke a word and said:'You're very foolish, stranger, and weak in the head,or you're giving up willingly and enjoying your suffering.How long have you been stuck on this island, and you can'tfind any way out, and your companions' hearts are failing?'So she said, and I answered her and said:'I'll tell you, whoever of the goddesses you are,that I'm not held here willingly, but I must haveoffended the immortals who hold the wide heaven.But you tell me — the gods know everything —which of the immortals traps me and has blocked my road,and how I'll get across the fish-filled sea.'So I said, and the shining goddess answered right away:'Then I'll tell you, stranger, very exactly.An old man of the sea roams around here, and he tells the truth,an immortal Egyptian, Proteus, who knows the depthsof all the sea, and serves under Poseidon;and they say he's my father and that he fathered me.If you could somehow lie in wait and grab him,he'd tell you your route and the distances of your journey,and how you'll get across the fish-filled sea.And he'd tell you, Zeus-raised one, if you want,whatever evil and good has been done in your hallswhile you've been gone on the long, painful road.'So she said, and I answered her and said:'Now you yourself plan the ambush of this divine old man,in case he sees me coming or finds out and escapes;for it's hard for a mortal man to beat a god.'So I said, and the shining goddess answered right away:'Then I'll tell you, stranger, very exactly.When the sun has climbed to the middle of the sky,then the old man of the sea comes up out of the salt water,under the breath of the West Wind, hidden in dark rippling water,and once he's out he sleeps under the hollow caves;and around him the seals, children of the beautiful sea goddess,sleep in a herd, risen up out of the gray sea,breathing out the sharp smell of the deep salt water.There I'll lead you at dawn when it shows,and lay you down in a row; and you pick out three goodcompanions, the best ones beside your well-benched ships.And I'll tell you all the treacherous tricks of that old man.First he'll go and count the seals;and when he's counted them all by fives and looked them over,he'll lie down in the middle of them like a shepherd among his sheep.And as soon as you see him lying down asleep,then let your strength and force be ready,and hold him there while he struggles, eager as he is to escape.And he'll try every shape of everything that creepson the earth, and water and blazing fire;but you hold on without letting go, and squeeze him harder.But when at last he himself questions you with words,being just as you saw him when he lay down,then at last relax your grip and let the old man go,hero, and ask him which of the gods is angry with you,and how you'll get across the fish-filled sea."So saying that, she dove down under the surging sea.But I went to the ships, where they stood on the sand,my supplies; and my heart churned a lot inside me as I went.But when I got down to the ship and the sea,and we had made dinner ready, and immortal night came on,then we lay down to sleep on the edge of the sea.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,then along the shore of the wide-pathed seaI went, praying a lot to the gods; and three of my companionsI led along, the men I trusted most in every way.Meanwhile she, diving down into the broad bay of the sea,brought up four sealskins from the deep;they were all freshly flayed; and she was planning a trick against her father.And she had dug out beds in the sands by the shore,and sat waiting; and we came very close to her.And she laid us down in a row, and threw a hide over each of us.There the ambush would have been the most awful thing; for it tortured us badly,the deadly stink of the sea-fed seals.For who would lie down to sleep next to a sea monster?But she herself saved us and thought up a big help:she brought ambrosia and put it under each man's nose,smelling very sweet, and killed the monster's stink.And all morning we waited with patient hearts;and the seals came out of the sea in crowds. Then theylay down in rows along the edge of the sea;and at noon the old man came out of the sea, and found the sealswell fed, and went along all of them, and counted their number;and he counted us first among the monsters, and nothing in his heartsuspected there was a trick; then he lay down too.But we rushed at him with a shout, and threw our armsaround him; and the old man didn't forget his crafty skill,but first of all he turned into a deep-maned lion,and then a snake and a leopard and a big boar;and he turned into wet water and a tall leafy tree;but we held on without letting go, with patient hearts.But when at last the old man, who knew treacherous things, got tired,then he questioned me with words and said:'Who of the gods, son of Atreus, planned these plans with you,so that you took me by ambush against my will? What do you want?'So he said, and I answered him and said:'You know, old man, why you're asking me these things to turn me aside.How long have I been stuck on this island, and I can'tfind any way out, and my heart fails inside me.But you tell me — the gods know everything —which of the immortals traps me and has blocked my road,and how I'll get across the fish-filled sea.'So I said, and he answered me right away and said:'Ah, but you should have offered fine sacrifices to Zeusand the other gods before you set out, so that you could comeas fast as possible to your homeland, sailing over the wine-dark sea.For it isn't your fate to see your friends and reachyour well-built home and your homeland beforeyou go back to the water of the river of Egypt, fed by rain,and offer sacred sacrificesto the immortal gods who hold the wide heaven;and then the gods will give you the journey you're longing for.'So he said, and my own dear heart broke inside me,because he told me to go back over the misty seato Egypt, a long and painful trip.But even so I answered him with words:'All that I'll do, old man, just as you tell me.But come, tell me this and relate it exactly:did all the Greeks get home unharmed in their ships,the ones Nestor and I left behind when we sailed from Troy,or did someone die a cruel death on his own shipor in the hands of friends, after he'd finished the war?'So I said, and he answered me right away and said:'Son of Atreus, why are you asking me this? It's not for youto know it, or to learn my thoughts; and I don't thinkyou'll be long without crying once you hear it all properly.For many of them died, and many were left behind;and of the leaders, only two of the bronze-clad Greeksdied on the way home; and you yourself were there at the battle.And one more is still being held alive, somewhere on the wide sea.Ajax died among his long-oared ships.First Poseidon drove him onto the Gyraeanrocks, and saved him from the sea;and he would have escaped death, though Athena hated him,if he hadn't let out a boastful word and been completely blinded;he said he'd escaped the great gulf of the sea against the gods' will.And Poseidon heard him shout it out;right away then he took his trident in his strong handsand struck the Gyraean rock and split it in two;and one part stayed there, and the piece fell into the sea,the piece Ajax had first sat on, and he was completely doomed;and it carried him over the endless surging sea.So he died there, when he drank the salt water.But your brother, I suppose, escaped death and got awayin his hollow ships; and lady Hera saved him.But when he was just about to reach the steepmountain of Malea, then a storm snatched him upand carried him over the fish-filled sea, groaning heavily,to the edge of the countryside, where Thyestes oncehad his house, but then Thyestes' son Aegisthus lived there.But when a safe homecoming even from there appeared,and the gods turned the wind around, and they got home,then he stepped gladly onto his homelandand kissed and touched his own land; and from him manyhot tears poured out, since he was glad to see the land.But a lookout saw him from the watchtower, the onecrafty Aegisthus had put there, and he promised him a payment,two talents of gold; and he watched for a year,in case he slipped past, so he could remember his fierce courage.And he went to the house to tell the shepherd of the people.Right away Aegisthus thought up a cunning plan;picking twenty of the best men in the districthe set them in ambush, and elsewhere he ordered a feast to be made ready.Then he went to invite Agamemnon, shepherd of the people,with horses and chariots, thinking shameful thoughts.And he brought him up, not knowing his death was coming, and killed himafter feeding him, the way a man kills an ox at the manger.And none of Atreus' son's companions who came with him survived,and none of Aegisthus' men either, but they were killed in the halls.So he said, and my own dear heart broke inside me,and I cried, sitting in the sand, and my heartno longer wanted to live and see the sunlight.But when I'd had enough of crying and rolling in the dust,then the truthful old man of the sea spoke to me:'Don't cry like that any longer, son of Atreus, so long and without stopping,since we see no good come of it; but as fast as you can,try to reach your homeland.For either you'll find him alive, or Oresteshas killed him first, and you'll come to his funeral.'So he said, and my heart and my proud spiritwere warmed again in my chest, even though I was grieving,and I spoke out and addressed him with winged words:'Those I already know about; but name a third man for me,whoever is still being held alive on the wide sea,or dead; and I want to hear it, grieving as I am.'So I said, and he answered me right away and said:'The son of Laertes, who has his home in Ithaca.I saw him on an island, shedding a big tear,in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who holds himby force; and he can't reach his homeland;for he has no oared ships and no companions,who could send him over the broad back of the sea.But for you, Zeus-raised Menelaus, it isn't fatedto die in horse-pasturing Argos and meet your fate,but the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain and the ends of the earth,where fair-haired Rhadamanthys is,where life is easiest for people.There's no snow, no heavy storm, no rain ever,but always the breezes of the shrilly blowing West Windthat Ocean sends up to cool people;because you have Helen, and you're Zeus's son-in-law.'So saying that, he dove down under the surging sea.But I went to the ships with my godlike companions,and my heart churned a lot inside me as I went.But when we got down to the ship and the sea,and we had made dinner ready, and immortal night came on,then we lay down to sleep on the edge of the sea.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,first of all we dragged the ships into the shining salt sea,and set up masts and sails in the well-balanced ships,and we ourselves climbed aboard and sat down on the benches;and sitting in rows we struck the gray salt water with our oars.And back to the river of Egypt, fed by rain,I brought my ships to shore, and offered complete sacrifices.But when I had ended the anger of the gods who live forever,I piled up a tomb for Agamemnon, so his fame would never die out.Having finished all that, I sailed home, and the immortalsgave me a fair wind, and sent me quickly to my dear homeland.But come now, stay on in my halls,until the eleventh day and the twelfth day come;and then I'll send you off well, and give you shining gifts,three horses and a well-smoothed chariot; and after thatI'll give you a beautiful cup, so you can pour offerings to the godsimmortal, remembering me all your days."Then wise Telemachus answered him:"Son of Atreus, don't keep me here a long time.For even for a year I'd put up with staying beside you,sitting here, and no longing for home or parents would grab me;for I take great pleasure in hearing your stories and your words.But my companions are already getting upset for mein holy Pylos; and you're keeping me here a long time.Whatever gift you give me, let it be a treasure;but horses I won't take to Ithaca, but I'll leave themhere for you yourself, as a decoration; for you rule overa wide plain, with lots of clover in it, and galingale,and wheat and spelt and the broad-growing white barley.But in Ithaca there are no wide tracks and no meadow;it's goat-pasture, and nicer even than horse-pasture.For none of the islands that lean on the seais good for driving horses or rich in meadows; and Ithaca most of all."So he said, and Menelaus, good at the war cry, smiled,and stroked him with his hand, and spoke a word and called him by name:"You're from good blood, dear child, from the way you talk.So I'll change that for you; for I can.And of the gifts that lie as treasures in my house,I'll give you the one that's the most beautiful and the most valuable.I'll give you a well-made mixing bowl; it's allsilver, and the rims are worked in gold,made by Hephaestus. The hero Phaedimus,king of the Sidonians, gave it to me, when his house shelteredme on my way home there; and I want to give it to you."So the two of them said things like this to each other,and the guests went into the halls of the divine king.They brought sheep, and carried wine that makes men glad;and their pretty, head-veiled wives sent them bread.So these people busied themselves with dinner in the halls.But the suitors, in front of Odysseus' house,were enjoying themselves with quoits and throwing javelinson the leveled ground, where they'd done it before, acting arrogant.And Antinous was sitting there, and godlike Eurymachus,the leaders of the suitors, and they were far the best in bravery.And to them Noemon, son of Phronius, came up closeand questioned Antinous and said to him:'Antinous, do we know in our minds, or don't we,when Telemachus will sail back from sandy Pylos?He's gone off, taking my ship with him; and I need itto cross over to spacious Elis, where I havetwelve mares, and sturdy mules under them,unbroken; I'd like to drive one away and break it in.'So he said, and they were amazed in their hearts; for they didn't thinkhe'd gone to Neleian Pylos, but that he was somewhereout in the fields with the sheep, or with the swineherd.Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him:'Tell me the truth, when did he go, and which young menwent with him? Chosen men of Ithaca, or his ownhired workers and slaves? He could do that too.And tell me this honestly, so I know well:did he take the black ship from you by force, against your will,or did you give it willingly, since he asked you with words?'Then Noemon, son of Phronius, answered him:'I gave it to him willingly myself; what else could anyone do,when a man like that, with worries in his heart,asks? It would be hard to refuse the gift.And the young men who went with him are the ones who are bestin the district among us; and I noticed their leadergoing aboard — Mentor, or a god, and he looked exactly like him.But this I'm amazed at: I saw divine Mentor hereyesterday morning, and then he went aboard the ship for Pylos.'So saying that, he went off to his father's house,and the proud heart of both of them was upset.And they made the suitors sit down together and stopped the games.Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke among them,upset; and his dark heart was filled upwith rage, and his two eyes were like blazing fire:'Oh no, this trip of Telemachus has been pulled offin a grand and arrogant way; and we said it wouldn't happen.Against our will, the young boy has just gone off,having dragged out a ship and picked the best men in the district.He'll start being a problem even further ahead; but may Zeusdestroy his strength himself, before he reaches manhood.But come, give me a swift ship and twenty companions,so I can lie in wait for him as he comes and keep watchin the strait between Ithaca and rugged Samos,so his sailing for his father turns out miserable.'So he said, and they all agreed and told him to do it.Right away then they got up and went to Odysseus' house.And Penelope wasn't unaware for longof the words the suitors were brooding in their hearts;for the herald Medon told her, who learned their plansas he stood outside the courtyard; and they were weaving their plan inside.And he went through the halls to tell Penelope;and as he crossed the threshold Penelope spoke to him:'Herald, why did the proud suitors send you?Is it to tell the maids of divine Odysseusto stop their work and make a feast for them?May they never court again or meet together anywhere else,and may they now eat dinner here for the last and final time —they who gather here so often and cut down my big livelihood,the property of wise Telemachus; and you never heardabout your own fathers before, when you were children,what kind of man Odysseus was among your parents,never doing or saying anything outrageousin the district — which is the way divine kings act;one man he might hate, another he might love.But that man never did anything reckless to anyone.But your temper and your shameful deedsare plain, and there's no gratitude for kindness afterwards.'Then Medon, who knew wise things, answered her:'If only, my queen, this were the greatest evil.But the suitors are planning something far biggerand more painful, which may the son of Cronus not carry out:they mean to kill Telemachus with the sharp bronzeas he comes home; and he's gone to find news of his fatherto holy Pylos and to shining Lacedaemon.'So he said, and her knees and her own heart went weak beneath her,and for a long while she was speechless at his words; and her two eyesfilled with tears, and her full voice was stuck.And at last she answered him and said:'Herald, why has my son gone? He has no needto step aboard swift ships, which are horses of the seafor men, and carry them over the great wet expanse.Or is it so that not even his name will be left among people?'Then Medon, who knew wise things, answered her:'I don't know whether some god stirred him up, or whetherhis own heart pushed him to go to Pylos, so he could learnabout his father, either his homecoming or what death he met.'So saying that, he went off through Odysseus' house.And heart-destroying grief poured around her, and she no longer had the strengthto sit on a chair, though many were in the house,but she sat down on the threshold of the well-made bedroom,crying pitifully; and around her the maids murmured,all of them, as many as were young and old in the halls.And Penelope, weeping shrilly, spoke among them:'Listen, dear women; for the Olympian has given me griefbeyond all women, as many as were raised with me and born with me.I, who first lost my noble husband, a lion-hearted man,outstanding in every kind of virtue among the Greeks,a noble man, whose fame is wide through Greece and central Argos.Now again a storm has snatched away my beloved sonfrom the halls, with no one knowing, and I didn't hear he'd set out.Cruel women, none of you in your hearts thoughtto wake me from my bed, knowing clearly in your heartswhen that man went to the hollow black ship.For if I'd heard he was planning that trip,then even if he were eager to go, he would have stayed,or he would have left me dead in the halls.But let someone quickly call old Dolius,my slave, whom my father gave me before I came here,and who keeps my orchard full of trees, so that as fast as possiblehe can sit beside Laertes and tell him all this,in case that man, weaving some plan in his heart,goes out and complains to the people, who are determinedto destroy the family of him and of godlike Odysseus.'Then her dear nurse Eurycleia answered her:'Dear child, you can kill me with the pitiless bronze,or let me live in the hall; I won't hide the word from you.I knew all this, and I gave him whatever he asked for,bread and sweet wine; but he made me take a great oathnot to tell you before the twelfth day came,or before you yourself missed him and heard he'd set out,so you wouldn't cry and ruin your lovely skin.But go wash yourself, put clean clothes on your body,and go up to the upper room with your waiting women,and pray to Athena, daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis;for she may then save him even from death.And don't make the old man worse, when he's already troubled; for I don't thinkthe blessed gods hate the family of Arcesius completely,but there's still someone who will holdthe high-roofed house and the rich fields far off.'So she said, and calmed her crying, and stopped her eyes from tears.And she, washed, with clean clothes on her body,went up to the upper room with her waiting women,and put barley groats in a basket, and prayed to Athena:'Hear me, child of Zeus who holds the aegis, unwearied one,if ever Odysseus of many plans in his hallsburned for you the rich thighbones of an ox or a sheep,remember that now for me, and save my dear son,and drive away the suitors who wickedly act so proud.'So saying that, she cried out, and the goddess heard her prayer.And the suitors made a racket through the shadowy halls;and one of the proud young men would say:'The much-courted queen is surely gettinga wedding ready for us, and she doesn't know that death is ready for her son.'So one of them would say, but they didn't know how it had been arranged.Then Antinous spoke to them and said:'Strange men, avoid all your arrogant talkalike, in case someone reports it even inside.But come, let's get up in silence and carry outthe plan, which has pleased us all in our hearts.'So saying that, he picked twenty of the best men,and they went to the swift ship and the shore of the sea.First of all they dragged the ship down into the depths of the salt sea,and set up the mast and the sails in the black ship,and fitted the oars in their leather straps,all in order, and spread the white sails;and their high-hearted servants brought them their weapons.And they moored her out in the water, and went ashore themselves;and there they ate dinner, and waited for evening to come.But thoughtful Penelope lay up in her upper room,without food, without a taste of meat or drink,turning over in her mind whether her blameless son would escape death,or whether he'd be beaten down by the arrogant suitors.And as many thoughts as a lion in a crowd of menturns over in fear, when they lead him in a treacherous circle,so many thoughts came over her, and then sweet sleep came on her;and she slept, leaning back, and all her limbs went limp.Then the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, thought of something else:she made a ghost, and shaped it like a woman,Iphthime, the daughter of great-hearted Icarius,whom Eumelus married, living in Pherae.And she sent her to the house of divine Odysseus,so that she might make Penelope, mourning and wailing,stop crying and stop her tearful lament.She came into the bedroom by the strap of the door bolt,and stood above her head, and spoke a word to her:'Are you asleep, Penelope, with a heart full of grief?The gods who live at ease don't let youcry or be distressed, since your son is stillgoing to come home; for he's not guilty in the eyes of the gods.'Then thoughtful Penelope answered her,sleeping very sweetly at the gates of dreams:'Sister, why have you come here? You never came herebefore, since you live very far away.And you tell me to stop my misery and my manypains, which stir me in my heart and mind —I, who first lost my noble husband, a lion-hearted man,outstanding in every kind of virtue among the Greeks,a noble man, whose fame is wide through Greece and central Argos;now again my beloved son has gone in a hollow ship,a foolish boy, who knows nothing well of hard work or of public speaking.For him I grieve even more than for that other man;for him I tremble and fear, in case something happens to him,either among the people where he's gone, or on the sea;for many enemies are plotting against him,eager to kill him before he reaches his homeland.'Then the dim ghost answered her and said:'Take courage, and don't be too afraid in your heart;for a guide goes with him, one whom other menhave also prayed to stand beside them, and she can,Pallas Athena; and she pities you in your grief;she's the one who now sent me to tell you this.'Then thoughtful Penelope answered her:'If you're a god and have heard the voice of a god,come then, tell me too about that poor man,whether he's still alive and sees the sunlight,or whether he's already dead in the house of Hades.'Then the dim ghost answered her and said:'I won't tell you about that man at all exactly,whether he lives or is dead; and it's wrong to speak empty words.'So saying that, it slipped away past the door bolt of the hallinto the gusts of the winds. And she jumped up from sleep,the daughter of Icarius; and her own heart was warmed,because the dream had come to her clearly in the dead of night.But the suitors climbed aboard and sailed over the watery paths,planning steep slaughter for Telemachus in their hearts.There's a certain rocky island in the middle of the sea,between Ithaca and rugged Samos,Asteris, not big; and it has two harbors where ships can anchor,twin-mouthed; there the Greeks waited in ambush for him.