At the word with her rod all golden Odysseus did she smite,

  And a kirtle and cloak well-washen she did about his breast,

  And fulfilled the might of his body, and his manhood at the best;

  And his cheeks filled out, and the colour grew deep o’er all his skin,

  And deep the beard was waxing and dark about his chin.

  So she wrought, and her ways she wended, and aback to the booth went

  And sore his dear son marvelled, and feared that sight to see, [he,

  And in dread his eyes drew from him lest a very God it were;

  Yet his voice withal he uttered and winged a word to hear:

  “O guest, now art thou another than thou wert before mine eyes,

  And other raiment hast thou, and thy skin wrought otherwise,

  Yea, thou art a God of the God-folk who the wide-spread heavens do hold.

  Be kind, that we may give thee well-fashioned gifts of gold

  With the holy rites thou lovest: and spare us now we pray!”

  But the toil-stout goodly Odysseus in this wise fell to say:

  “I am no God; why then a God of me wilt thou make?

  And yet am I thy father, whom for thy sorrow’s sake

  So often thou bewailedst, borne down by the wrong of man.”

  So he spake, and his son he kissed, and to earth the tear-drops ran

  From his cheeks, though up to this while he refrained them steadfastly:

  But Telemachus, for in nowise he trowed him his father to be,

  Again with words made answer, and thuswise fell to say:

  “Thou art not my father Odysseus; rather some God today

  Befooleth me, that the worser may be my weeping and woe.

  For this thing a man that dieth could nowise fashion so,

  Or in his mind contrive it; unless some God forsooth

  Encompass him, and give him by his will or eld or youth.

  For an old man clad but foully thou satest here beside,

  Who now to the Gods art likest that hold the heavens the wide.”

  But Odysseus of many a rede he answered thus and said:

  “Telemachus, for that thou seest thy father here in the stead

  Not overmuch shouldst thou wonder, or stand in all amaze.

  For never another Odysseus shall come unto his place;

  But such as I am, toil-worn, wide-wandering, hither I come

  In the twentieth year of my travail to my fatherland and my home.

  But all this is the work of Athene, the Driver of the Prey,

  Who maketh me e’en as she willeth, for of might she is, and she may,

  One while like a very beggar, and another while indeed

  Like a fresh young man, whose body is clad in lovely weed;

  For unto the Gods ’tis easy, who hold the heavens the wide,

  To exalt a man of mortals, or abase him on a tide.”

  So he spake and adown he sat him, and Telemachus withal

  Clung round his valiant father, and let the tear-drops fall;

  And so sorely for the weeping did the soul of either yearn

  That each fell a-wailing shrilly; and as ceaseless as the erne,

  Or the crook-clawed gar-fowl crieth, when the country-folk by sleight

  Have carried off their fledgelings ere they be fit for flight,

  So piteously the tear-rain down from their brows did pour:

  And forsooth the sun had sunken upon their weeping sore

  If Telemachus had not spoken to his father presently:

  “In what ship, beloved father, did the shipmen o’er the sea come?

  Unto Ithaca bring thee? Who were they, and whence did they say they were

  Since afoot and aland meseemeth thou cam’st not hither home?”

  But the toil-stout valiant Odysseus made answer thereunto:

  “Forsooth, my child, the story will I tell thee straight and true:

  ’Twas the ship-renowned Phaeacians who brought me here to hand,

  Who ever ferry all men who come unto their land.

  And they brought me amidst of my slumber in a swift ship over the sea,

  And in Ithaca set me adown, and great gifts they gave unto me,

  Both of gold and of brass abundance, and of goodly woven weed,

  Which lie in the hollow rock-dens by the Godfolk’s grace and speed;

  And hither I come thrust onward by the lore that Athene knows

  That we may now take counsel, and compass the bane of our foes.

  Now therefore number the Wooers, and tell out their tale to me,

  That I may behold how many and what manner of men they be;

  And then in my mind unblemished I will ponder the deed to be done,

  And consider if we be able to prevail against them alone,

  We twain without another; or if we must seek us aid.”

  But Telemachus the heedful thereto made answer and said:

  “I have heard of thy fame, O father, and the glory of thy deeds,

  Of thine hands a mighty warrior, and wise of wit and redes;

  But huge is thy word, and amazement hath seized me. Nay, but nought

  May many men and valiant by two alone be fought.

  For not ten alone are the Wooers; nor are they but twice ten,

  But a many more: thou shalt know it, the number of those men.

  There cometh up out of Dulichium a band of fifty and two,

  Of chosen swains, and with them six house-carles ever go;

  And next of the men of Samel are twenty youths and four;

  And there cometh from Zacynthus of Achaeans another score;

  And twelve are from Ithaca hereby, and they forsooth of the best:

  And with them is the herald Medon, and the godlike singer blest;

  And therewith two swains of service full deft the victual to dight.

  And if within thine homestead all these we meet in fight

  Thy coming to wreak thee of wrong for us shall be bitter bane.

  Say then if thou mayest bethink thee of a helper good for our gainT^”*

  E’en one who with heart and with soul will bear us warding and aid.

  Therewith the valiant Odysseus, the toil-stout, answered and said: “ Yea, of such an one will I tell thee, and hearken thou, and heed, If Athene with Zeus the Father be anywise good for our need,

  Or whether I yet shall bethink me of another warder of bane.”

  Then Telemachus the heedful he spake, and answered again: “ Yea, these are valiant helpers of whom thou tellest the tale, And aloft in the clouds are they sitting, and their might is of all avail,

  Both over all men of menfolk and the Gods that never die.”

  Then the toil-stout goodly Odysseus he answered presently:

  “Not long shall these be lacking from the mighty battle-din

  When we and the band of the Wooers shall meet my halls within,

  And the play of the might of Ares shall be tried between us there.

  But do thou thyself wend homeward when the daydawn shineth clear,

  And there do thou mix and mingle with the Wooers overproud;

  And me to the town thereafter shall the swineherd bring on the road,

  Most like to a beggar, wretched and aged by many a year;

  But if me in the house they mishandle, yet in thine heart forbear,

  And refrain the soul within thee, whatso of ill I meet

  Yea, if e’en through the house and outdoors they hale me by the feet,

  Or cast at me to smite me; yet forbear as thou lookest on these,

  And with smooth words rather bid them that they from their folly cease.

  Yet not for all thy speaking shall they hearken thee or heed,

  Since on their heads full swiftly their day of doom doth speed.

  Yet another word; and do thou to thine heart’s root lay the thing:

  When Athene rich in counsel the thought to my mind shall bring

  I shall nod with my head, and straightway, when thou hast heeded me,

  Whatsoever gear of Ares within the hall may be,

  Take all, and lay it together in the nook of the chamber aloft,

  And then unto those the Wooers give gentle words and soft,

  When at last they come to miss them, and thereof they ask thee close:

  ‘ From out of the smoke have I laid them; for now nought are they like

  Which erst, to Troy-town faring, Odysseus left behind, [unto those

  But are marred where the reek of the fire the face of them might find.

  And another matter and greater hath Zeus set in my mind withal,

  That ye, when ye are drunken to strife and wounds may fall

  And befoul the feast and the wooing; for this is said aright,

  That e’en of himself the iron draws on a man to smite.’

  But two swords and two spears for us twain alone shalt thouleave in the hall,

  And two oxhide shields moreover for our hands to wield withal,

  That we may rush on and take them, and Pallas Athene then,

  And Zeus the allwise of counsel, to their doom shall draw those men.

  And another thing yet will I tell thee, and anigh to thine heart let it be:

  If thou art verily mine, and come of the blood of me,

  Then let not any one hear it that Odysseus is within:

  Let not Laertes know it, or the swineherd word of it win,

  Nor any one of the house-thralls, nor e’en Penelope;

  For the mind of the women, we only shall know what it may be;

  And some indeed of the men-thralls we yet may try apait,

  Which one of them giveth us worship and honoureth us in his heart,

  And which heeds thee nought and mocks thee; yea, and thou e’en such an one!”

  Then spake again and answered Odysseus’ glorious son:

  “Father, methinks hereafter thou shalt come to know my mind,

  And no light headlong folly there holding me shalt find;

  But unto us meseemeth this thing shall scarce be good,

  And I bid thee turn it over in thy mind and in thy mood.

  Long while shalt thou weary for little in trying each of these,

  Through the country-side a-wandering, while in thine hall at ease

  Those men thy goods devour, and spare them not a whit

  Indeed, for the ways of the women, I would have thee look to it

  Which do thine house dishonour, and which be guiltless still.

  But from stead to stead I would not be wending by my will

  To try the men; though hereafter with this may we deal also,

  If a sign of Zeus the Shielded thou verily dost know.”

  So unto one another such matters did they say;

  But meanwhile to the Ithacan haven was the good ship come her way

  Which had ferried Telemachus over from Pylos with his men,

  But when to the deep of the haven they were gotten, there and then

  They shoved the swift black ship all high and dry on the shore,

  And the high-heart swains of service aland their weapons bore;

  But to Clytius’ house they carried the gifts full glorious,

  And therewith sent on a henchman unto Odysseus’ house,

  To Penelope the wiseheart, to tell out all the tale,

  How Telemachus had landed in the field and had bidden them sail

  The ship unto the city; lest, soul-possessed by dread,

  The goodly queen in sorrow soft flowing tears should shed.

  So the henchman and the swineherd they met upon the way,

  The twain on one errand wending, the tale to a woman to say;

  But when at last they were gotten to the house of the holy king,

  The henchman amidst of the handmaids his message straight did bring:

  “O Queen, thy son beloved is now come home to thee.”

  And therewithal the swineherd stood anigh Penelope,

  And told her all the tidings as her son beloved bade;

  And so when he had spoken, and an end of his errand had made,

  He turned him aback to his swine, and left the garths and the hall.

  But sore troubled were the Wooers, and downcast of heart withal,

  And out of the house they wended by the garth-wall high and great,

  And thereby adown they sat them and over against the gate,

  And amidst them fell to speaking Eurymachus Polybus’ son.

  “O friends, a deed that is mighty full boldly hath been done;

  — Telemachus and his wayfare; and we said it should not be.

  So come! a black ship of the goodliest, let us shove adown to the sea,

  And gather sea-wont oarsmen, that their swiftest they may wend.

  With the message unto our fellows to come home and make an end.”

  But lo, ere his word was over, the ship Amphinomus saw,

  As in his place he turned him, to the deep of the haven draw,

  And the folk her sails a-furling and the oars a-handling there;

  So laughing very sweetly he spake to his fellows fair:

  “Now ye shall not speed the message; for lo they are coming in:

  Either some God hath told them, or they a sight did win

  Of his ship a-slipping by them, and no meeting might there be.”

  So he spake; and they rose up and wended adown to the shore of the sea.

  And the black ship straight did they beach all high and dry on the shore,

  And the high-souled swains of service aland their armour bore,

  And they unto the high-place went thronging, and none there

  Would they have beside them sitting, whether old or young he were.

  But Antinoiis son of Eupeithes amidst them speech began:

  “Out on it! how have the godfolk from his evils freed this man

  Daylong on the windy nesses sat the watchers, ever one

  Still following on the other; and at setting of the sun

  On the land we never rested a night, but sailed the sea,

  In our swift ship ever abiding, till the Holy Dawn should be,

  Telemachus waylaying, till him we might take and slay:

  But some God in meantime took him and led him home away.

  But for him a woeful ending henceforth let us compass and speed,

  Nor yet let the man escape us; because I deem of our deed

  That while this man is living we shall not accomplish it,

  Since forsooth he hath understanding of counsel and of wit;

  And the people, they no longer be kind to us and sweet

  Come then, before this youngling shall call on the folk to meet

  In the high-place! for I deem not that he shall let it fall,

  But will presently rise up in wrath, and tell out his tale before all,

  How his utter bane we plotted, though we happed not on his ways;

  And when our ill deed they have hearkened, see ye if they deal us praise!

  Or rather do us a mischief, and drive us away from our home

  And our lands, and unto the people of an alien folk shall ‘we come.

  So let us forego him and slay him in the field aloof from the town,

  Or on the way: and his chattels and goods shall be our own,

  Dealt out by lot amongst us; the while the house and stead

  We shall give unto his mother to hold with the man she shall wed.

  But if this word nothing like you, and it rather be your will

  That he yet shall live and be holding the wealth of his father still,

  Then no longer here assembled let us eat as hitherto

  His happy wealth, but each man from his own hall let him woo,

  And press on with the gifts of wooing; and thereafter let her wed

  The man that most gifts giveth and thereto by fate is led.”

  So he spake; but all they in silence that word of his did take,

  Till Amphinomus amidst them took up the word and spake,

  The noble son of Nisus, Aretias’ son the King,

  Who from the isle Dulichium, wheat-rich, grass-flourishing,

  Led on the Wooers, and ever most pleased Penelope

  With happy words; for gifted of goodly redes was he;

  He then, no goodwill lacking, spake there, and fell to say:

  “Friends, nowise am I willing Telemachus to slay,

  For this is a thing most fearful in a kingly house to kill:

  So first let us seek to the Gods, and ask of their counsel and will;

  And if indeed it pleaseth the doom of Zeus in his might,

  Then forsooth will I hearten you others; yea, and I myself will smite;

  But if the Gods turn from it, then you I bid refrain!”

  So Amphinomus spake, and the others of the word he spake were fain

  And they rose and unto the house of Odysseus did they fare,

  And entering, sat them adown on the polished high-seats there.

  But Penelope the wise-heart she thought another thought,

  To show herself to the Wooers mid their pride unstayed by nought:

  For she knew of her own child’s slaying that was to be in the stead,

  For Medon the henchman had told her, who had heard their counsel said.

  And so with her women beside her to the feast-hall did she fare.

  Then came that glory of Women amidst the feast-hall there,

  And stood up by the door-post of the fair-built high-roofed hall,

  And the gleaming coif was she holding before her cheeks withal.

  So Antinoiis she chided and spake and named his name:

  “Antinoiis, forger of bale, pride-holden, of thee is the fame

  That amidst of the Ithacan people thy peers dost thou out-go

  In speech-words and in counsel; but nowise is it so.

  Fool! why art thou patching up bale and bane for Telemachus then?

  And the suppliants nought thou heedest, of whom Zeus bears witness to

  And to patch up ill for each other is a thing to men accurst [men.

  Yea, knowest thou not that thy father fled hither a suppliant erst

  In fear of the folk? since forsooth exceeding wroth they were,

  Because with the Taphian sea-thieves the bale of war he bare

  Against the folk Thesprotian, with whom as friends we live;

  So his slaughter they desired and his heart to rend and rive,

  And withal his goods to devour, a rich enduring store;

  But as then Odysseus refrained them, for all that they longed for it sore.

  And now his house thou eatest in shame, and wooest his wife,

 

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