Fetch hither all his fellows, two only abiding behind.

  And one to Laerces the goldsmith, the bidding let him say,

  That he come the horns of the heifer with gold to overlay.

  But here let the others be gathered, and let them bid withal

  The handmaids to dight us the banquet in our glorious house and hall,

  And to set forth the seats and the logs, and bear forth water fair.”

  He spake, and they fell to and hastened, and the heifer was speeded there

  From the mead; and thither came, from the swift ship shapely wrought,

  The high-souled Telemachus’ fellows: and the smith came there, and he brought

  His smithying tools in his hand, his craft’s fulfilling gear,

  To wit, his hammer and anvil, and his fire-tongs fashioned fair,

  Wherewith the gold to smithy. And thither, to gather her meed

  Of the hallowed gifts, came Athene. Then old Nestor of the Steed

  Gave gold, and the craftsman wrought it, and therewith were the beast’s horns done

  That thereof might the Goddess be glad as its fairness she looked upon.

  Then Stratius and Echephron fair by the horns the heifer led;

  And Aretus came from the chamber with a bowl with flowers bespread,

  And therein the hand-washing water; and his other hand did hold

  The barley-meal maund: and stood forth Thrasymedes, war-biding and bold

  In his hand the axe well whetted all ready the heifer to hew;

  And Perseus held the blood-bowl. Then the rider Nestor ‘gan do

  The hand-washing and barley-sprinkling, and much prayer to Athene he sped

  In the outset, and cast in the fire the forelock of the head.

  But when they had prayed and cast forth the barley-meal thereon

  Then drew anigh Thrasymedes the high-souled Nestor’s son,

  nd he hewed and the beast’s neck-tendons he sundered with the blade

  And loosened the might of the heifer, and the whoop and the cry they made,

  The daughters and the sons’ wives, and the wife the reverend queen,

  Eurydice, first-born daughter of Clymenus once had she been.

  So they from the wide-wayed earth raised the beast and held her then,

  And Pisistratus slaughtered her straightway, the leader of ranks of men.

  But when the black blood had flowed forth and life the bones had left,

  Then at once they sheared up the carcase, and the thighs thereof they cleft,

  And all in due wise and wonted; and twofold wrapping they made

  Of fat about them, and slices of the raw flesh on them laid.

  On the faggots the elder burned them and poured on the gleaming wine,

  But the youths stood by him and handled the forks five-fold of tyne;

  But when burned up were the thighs, and the inwards were tasted aright,

  They cut up the flesh, and the gobbets on spits for the roasting dight,

  And they handled the spits sharp-pointed and roasted it then and there.

  Meanwhile was Telemachus bathed by Polycaste the fair,

  Of Nestor son of Neleus the youngest daughter and last;

  And when she had washed his body and the olive oil o’er him cast,

  And had done a frock upon him, and a fair cloak thereon laid,

  From the bath he went, and his body as fair as a God’s was made.

  So he went and by Nestor’s side, the Shepherd of Folk, did he sit.

  But when they had roasted the outflesh, and drawn it off from the spit,

  They sat and fell to feasting, and men of worth rose up

  And poured the wine unto them in many a golden cup.’

  But when the yearning for meat and for drink they had done away,

  Then the Rider, Gerenian Nestor, began to speak and to say:

  “O sons, for Telemachus bring ye the well-maned horses fair,

  And unto the chariot yoke them that he the way may wear.”

  He spake, and therewithal his word did they hearken and heed,

  And straight the swift-foot horses to the car they yoked with speed,

  And therein laid the store-maid bread and wine and dainty meat,

  E’en such as kingfolk cherished of Zeus are wont to eat.

  Then Telemachus went up straightway on the lovely-fashioned car,

  And Pisistratus, son of Nestor, the chief of the men of war,

  Went up on the car moreover, and caught in hand the rein,

  And smote the steeds to be going, and unloth they sped to the plain;

  And the builded burg of Pylos, and the steep they left behind,

  And daylong the yoke they were swaying that both the twain did bind.

  But now the sun sank under, and dark lay on every road,

  When they came their ways to Pherae and Diodes’ abode,

  Of Orsilochus begotten, whom Alpheus did beget.

  There nightlong they abided and guest-cheer for them he set

  But when the Mother of Daylight, Rose-fingered Dawn, shone clear,

  They yoked their steeds and mounted the chariot painted fair.

  Then they drove their ways from the forecourt, from the echoing cloister sped,

  And they smote the steeds to be going, and nothing loth they fled,

  Till they came to the plain wheat-bearing, and fast their way they wore,

  So speedily their going the swift-foot horses bore:

  And so the sun sank under, and all ways were shadowed o’er.

  BOOK IV.

  ARGUMENT.

  Telemachus Cometh With Pisistratus, Son Of Nestor, To Menelaus At Sparta, And Hath Some Tidings Of His Father. The Wooers Waylay Telemachus’ Return. Penelope Hath A Dream Sent

  For Her Solace By Athene.

  SO they came unto Lacedaemon in the hollow dales adown,

  To the house of Menelaus, the lord of high renown,

  And they found him holding a wedding to many a man of his kin,

  Of his son and daughter the noble his house and his home within.

  Now her to the son was he sending of Achilles, the cleaver of war,

  As he yea-said and promised to give her by Troy in the days of yore;

  And now the Gods for these to its end the wedding would speed;

  So the maiden was he flitting to wend with chariot and steed

  To the Myrmidon burg all-glorious, where the man was lord and king.

  But the daughter of Alector from Sparta withal would he bring

  For his last-loved son, Megapenthes, the mighty man born of a slave;

  For now the Gods unto Helen no fruit of her body gave

  Since the day when the lovely maiden, Hermione, she bare,

  As the golden Aphrodite of body fashioned fair.

  Thus then in the high-roofed hall were feasting, the neighbours and kin

  Of the glorious Menelaus, and were merry therewithin;

  And to them a goodly minstrel was harping and singing the lay;

  And e’en with his song’s beginning two tumblers fell to play,

  And amidst the feasting folk they whirled about as they played.

  But by the porch of the homestead those twain their horses stayed,

  Telemachus the hero and Nestor’s noble son,

  And the swain, e’en Eteoneus, came forth and looked thereon,

  Of the glorious Menelaus the handy fellow; so then

  He went through the house to be telling thereof to the Shepherd of Men,

  And drew anigh unto him, and set these words on the wing:

  “There are stranger guests come hither, Menelaus God-bred king,

  Two men that are like in fashion to the kin of mighty Zeus.

  What say’st thou then? Their horses swift-footed shall we loose,

  Or speed them on to another who to guest them may be fain?”

  But the yellow Menelaus in wrath thus answered again:

  “Eteoneus, son of Boethous, no fool thou wert wont to be,

  But now as a child mere folly thou babblest unto me.

  What! have we not eaten guest-cheer of other men, we twain,

  Ere hither we got us home; if yet of Zeus we may gain

  An end of trouble henceforward? Go, loose the guest-folks’ steeds,

  And bring the men in to be feasted according to their needs.”

  Then the swain from the hall departed, and called on those who were there,

  Of the handy swains of service, along with him to fare;

  And they the sweating horses from the yoke unharnessed straight

  And tied them up to the mangers wherefrom the horse-kind ate,

  And they cast the oats into them, and hoary barley withal;

  Then they tilted up the chariot ‘gainst the shining face of the wall,

  And into the holy house brought the twain, much wondering

  At what their eyes were beholding of the house of the Zeus-bred king;

  For therein was a glory abiding as it were of the moon or the sun

  In the high-roofed house of the famous, Menelaus the mighty one.

  But when they for their eyes’ rejoicing had gazed as they deemed it good,

  They went to the well-smoothed bath-vats to wash them as they would;

  And when the maids had washed them and with oil had sleeked them well,

  They did the frocks upon them, and cloaks of close-set fell;

  And they sat on the chairs beside him, Menelaus, Atreus’ son,

  And a damsel brought them water for their hands, and poured thereon

  From a goodly golden ewer in a bowl of silver white.

  Then the board well-smoothed and polished before them there she dight,

  And a goodwife brought them bread, and set it down beside,

  Of meat she made them welcome of such as did there betide.

  And the sewer set forth the platters of flesh-meat manifold,

  And therewithal beside them he set the cups of gold.

  Then the yellow Menelaus, he greeted the twain and said:

  “Now taste the meat and be merry; but when ye have broken bread

  And have eaten, then will we ask you what manner of men ye be;

  For in you the race of your fathers hath hot failed utterly,

  And ye are of men mace-wielding, and the kin of Zeus-bred kings,

  For it is not in men that are base-born to beget such noble things.”

  With that word the fatted ox-chine, the roast, in hand did he take,

  And gave them the very portion meted out for his honour’s sake;

  And therewith they stretched out their hands to the meat that before them lay.

  But when of meat and of drink they had worn the longing away,

  Then to the son of Nestor spake Telemachus, drawing anear,

  Laying his head to his head that the others might not hear:

  “O thou, the son of Nestor, to my heart the dearest of all!

  Note thou the flashing of brass about the echoing hall,

  The gleam of the gold, and amber, and silver, and ivory

  E’en such must the courts withinward of Zeus the Olympian be

  For wealth untold: as I look my soul doth the wonder take.”

  But the yellow Menelaus was ware of the word he spake,

  And he sent his voice to themward, and set such words on the wing:

  “Dear son, no man that dieth may strive with Zeus the king,

  For deathless are his houses, and his wealth may never die:

  But of manfolk there may or may not be with me in wealth to vie.

  Yet at least many things have I suffered, and have wandered far and near,

  And about in ships have been flitted to come back in the eighth long year.

  To Cyprus and Phoenicia and -digypt have I strayed;

  ^Ethiopia too and Sidon, and Erembian land we made,

  And Lybia withal, where the lambs are full-horned from their very birth,

  And thrice are the sheepkind yeaning in the space of one year of the earth;

  Where neither king nor shepherd may ever lack to eat

  Of either cheese or flesh-meat, or to drink milk fresh and sweet,

  For yearlong there unceasing they yield to the milking-trough.

  But while about I wandered and gat me gear enough,

  That very while another was taking my brother’s life,

  In covert wise and unwares by the wiles of his wicked wife;

  So in little joy am I ruling o’er all this wealth ye see.

  Ye may know hereof from your fathers, whosoever they may be,

  How much of grief I have suffered, how gone is my house of old,

  That once was so goodly dwelt in, that such plenteous gear did hold.

  Yea, would that I had but a third, and there still in my house to abide,

  And that safe those men were living who long ago have died

  In broad Troy far from Argos, the horseland of the earth

  “But while for all this I bmcnt me, and grief in my soul has birth,

  And oft in my halls here sitting my soul I satisfy

  With bewailing of my sorrows, and oft lay sorrow by

  (Since soon will a man be sated of lamentation chill);

  Not so for all these do I sorrow as for one I sorrow still,

  Whose memory maketh loathly my meat and my sleeping-tide,

  For no one man of Achaeans such labour did abide

  As Odysseus wrought and laboured: and for him it was to be

  But very toil and trouble; and enduring grief to me

  That so long he wandereth houseless, while of him all tidings fail,

  Whether he liveth or dieth. There too for him they wail, no

  Penelope wise of heart, and Laertes elder of days,

  And Telemachus left in his homestead new-born when he went his ways.”

  He spake, and therewith the youngling to yearning grief he stirred,

  And he dropped the tears from his eyelids as he of his father heard;

  While before his eyes he was holding the cloak of purple dye

  With both hands; but Meuelaus beheld him heedfully,

  And in his mind and his mood was he musing therewithal

  If he should abide till the youngling to his mind his father should call,

  Or whether he first should ask him and seek all matters to learn.

  But while in his mind and his mood these matters did he turn,

  Lo, Helen came from her chamber fragrant, high-vaulted of old;

  And like unto Artemis was she, the Dame of the Shaft of Gold.

  And there with her came Adraste, who set forth the well-wrought chair;

  But the carpet of soft wool woven forth did Alcippe bear,

  And Phylo a silver basket, the gift of Polybus’ wife

  Alcandra; in Thebes of JEgypt forsooth she weareth life,

  Where of all the world most treasure the houses in them have.

  But he to Menelaus two silver bath-vats gave,

  Two caldrons withal three-footed, and of gold ten talents weight

  And his wife to Helen moreover gave goodly gifts and great:

  A distaff of gold and a basket fashioned on wheels to run,

  Of silver wrought; but its edges about with gold were done.

  And e’en this it was that was carried and set down by Phylo the maid,

  With the wrought yarn all fulfilled, and the distaff over it laid,

  Reached out therefrom, with its head well charged with dark-blue wool.

  So Helen sat in the chair and under her feet was the stool.

  So she spake out words to her husband, and asked him heedfully:

  “Know we, O Menelaus, Zeus-cherished, who these be?

  And what men of men they avow them, who this our house would seek?

  Shall I lie or speak out the truth? Nay, my mood would have me speak.

  I say then that none hath been seen, whether man or woman it were,

  (And a mighty wonder holds me as I gaze upon him there),

  More like than this man to the son of Odysseus mighty of heart,

  Telemachus, left in his homestead new-born when he needs must depart;

  What time the Achaean war-host for the shameless, even for me,

  Went up under Troy and were waking the war so mightily.”

  But the yellow Menelaus he answered her and spake:

  “Of this thing and the likeness thou deemest note also did I take:

  And e’en now when I called unto mind the tale of Odysseus, and told

  Of his toil and his trouble for me, that was grievous and manifold,

  Then this man from under his brows let a bitter tear fall down,

  As before his eyes he was holding the lap of his purple gown.”

  Then Pisistratus, son of Nestor, spake out and answered again:

  “Menelaus, son of Atreus, Zeus-cherished leader of men,

  Verily this is the son of him of whom thou hast told;

  But wise is the man of his mood, and were shamed were he overbold

  Hither to come, and be first to put forth the pushing word

  Before thee, whose voice unto us is the voice of a God and a Lord.

  But for me, the Gerenian Rider, e’en Nestor bade me to go

  And guide the man hither to theeward, for thee would he look on and know,

  That some word thou may’st teach unto him or some work that he may fulfil.

  For the son of an absent father in his house hath many an ill

  When he hath none other helpers, as with this man now doth it fare.

  For far away is his father, nor others hath he there

  Who may ward him amid the people and thrust the evil away.”

  But the yellow Menelaus thus fell to answer and say:

  “Out on it! here to my house hath come the loved man’s son,

  Who for me hath laboured sorely and such doughty deeds hath done.

  And I said that came he hither, above all Argive men

  I would greet him; if Zeus of Olympus farseeing had given us then

  Return to our house and our home in our swift ships over the sea,

  I had given him dwelling in Argos, and a burg wherein to be,

  And from Ithaca forth had I brought him, with his son and all his gear

  And all his folk; and one city of those that are dwelt in here,

  Of those that I lord it over, for him had I wasted clean.

  Then oft in this homestead meeting together had we been,’

  And nothing then would have sundered our love and our delight,

 

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