THE VISIT TO KING MENELAUS, WHO TELLS HIS STORY—MEANWHILE THE SUITORS IN ITHACA PLOT AGAINST TELEMACHUS.
they the low city of Lacedaemon, where they to the of Menelaus36 [and him in his own house, with his many in of the wedding of his son, and also of his daughter, he was marrying to the son of that Achilles. He had his and promised her to him while he was still at Troy, and now the gods were the marriage about; so he was sending her with and to the city of the Myrmidons over Achilles’ son was reigning. For his only son he had a from Sparta,37 the of Alector. This son, Megapenthes, was to him of a bondwoman, for Helen no more children after she had Hermione, who was as Venus herself.
So the and of Menelaus were and making in his house. There was a also to sing to them and play his lyre, while two about in the of them when the man up with his tune.38
Telemachus and the son of Nestor their at the gate, Eteoneus to Menelaus came out, and as soon as he saw them ran into the house to tell his Master. He close up to him and said, “Menelaus, there are some come here, two men, who look like sons of Jove. What are we to do? Shall we take their out, or tell them to friends as they best can?”
Menelaus was very angry and said, “Eteoneus, son of Boethous, you used to be a fool, but now you talk like a simpleton. Take their out, of course, and the in that they may have supper; you and I have often at other people’s houses we got here, where that we may in peace henceforward.”
So Eteoneus and the other come with him. They took their from under the yoke, them fast to the mangers, and gave them a of and mixed. Then they the against the end of the courtyard, and the way into the house. Telemachus and Pisistratus were when they saw it, for its was as that of the sun and moon; then, when they had to their heart’s content, they into the room and themselves.
When the had them and them with oil, they them and shirts, and the two took their seats by the of Menelaus. A maid-servant them water in a ewer, and it into a for them to wash their hands; and she a clean table them. An upper them bread, and offered them many good of what there was in the house, while the them plates of all manner of meats and set cups of gold by their side.
Menelaus then them saying, “Fall to, and welcome; when you have done supper I shall ask who you are, for the of such men as you cannot have been lost. You must be from a line of sceptre-bearing kings, for people do not have such sons as you are.”
On this he them39 a piece of loin, which had been set near him as being a part, and they their hands on the good that were them; as soon as they had had to eat and drink, Telemachus said to the son of Nestor, with his so close that no one might hear, “Look, Pisistratus, man after my own heart, see the of and gold—of amber,40 ivory, and silver. Everything is so that it is like the of Olympian Jove. I am in admiration.”
Menelaus him and said, “No one, my sons, can his own with Jove, for his house and about him is immortal; but among men—well, there may be another who has as much as I have, or there may not; but at all events I have much and have much hardship, for it was nearly eight years I home with my fleet. I to Cyprus, Phoenicia and the Egyptians; I also to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Erembians, and to Libya where the have as soon as they are born, and the sheep three times a year. Every one in that country, master or man, has of cheese, meat, and good milk, for the all the year round. But while I was and great among these people, my was and through the of his wife, so that I have no in being lord of all this wealth. Whoever your may be they must have told you about all this, and of my in the ruin41 of a and furnished. Would that I had only a third of what I now have so that I had at home, and all those were who on the plain of Troy, from Argos. I often grieve, as I here in my house, for one and all of them. At times I for sorrow, but presently I off again, for is cold and one soon of it. Yet for these as I may, I do so for one man more than for them all. I cannot think of him without food and sleep, so he make me, for no one of all the Achaeans so hard or so much as he did. He took nothing by it, and has left a of to myself, for he has been gone a long time, and we know not he is alive or dead. His old father, his long-suffering wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus, he left him an in arms, are in on his account.”
Thus spoke Menelaus, and the of Telemachus as he him of his father. Tears from his as he him thus mentioned, so that he his his with hands. When Menelaus saw this he to let him choose his own time for speaking, or to ask him at once and what it was all about.
While he was thus in two minds Helen came from her high and room, looking as as Diana herself. Adraste her a seat, Alcippe a soft while Phylo her the work-box which Alcandra wife of Polybus had her. Polybus in Egyptian Thebes, which is the city in the whole world; he gave Menelaus two baths, of pure silver, two tripods, and ten of gold; all this, his wife gave Helen some presents, to wit, a distaff, and a work box that ran on wheels, with a gold the top of it. Phylo now this by her side, full of yarn, and a with was upon the top of it. Then Helen took her seat, put her upon the footstool, and to question her husband.42
“Do we know, Menelaus,” said she, “the names of these who have come to visit us? Shall I right or wrong?—but I cannot help saying what I think. Never yet have I either man or woman so like somebody else (indeed when I look at him I know what to think) as this man is like Telemachus, Ulysses left as a him, when you Achaeans to Troy with in your hearts, on account of my most self.”
“My dear wife,” Menelaus, “I see the just as you do. His hands and are just like Ulysses; so is his hair, with the shape of his and the of his eyes. Moreover, when I was talking about Ulysses, and saying how much he had on my account, from his eyes, and he his in his mantle.”
Then Pisistratus said, “Menelaus, son of Atreus, you are right in that this man is Telemachus, but he is very modest, and is to come here and opening up with one is so as your own. My father, Nestor, sent me to him hither, for he wanted to know you give him any or suggestion. A son has always trouble at home when his father has gone away him without supporters; and this is how Telemachus is now placed, for his father is absent, and there is no one among his own people to by him.”
“Bless my heart,” Menelaus, “then I am a visit from the son of a very dear friend, who much for my sake. I had always to him with most marked when had us a safe return from the seas. I should have a city for him in Argos, and him a house. I should have him Ithaca with his goods, his son, and all his people, and should have for them some one of the that are to me. We should thus have one another continually, and nothing but death have so close and happy an intercourse. I suppose, however, that us such great good fortune, for it has the from home at all.”
Thus did he speak, and his set them all a weeping. Helen wept, Telemachus wept, and so did Menelaus, Pisistratus keep his from filling, when he his dear Antilochus the son of Dawn had killed. Thereon he said to Menelaus,
“Sir, my father Nestor, when we used to talk about you at home, told me you were a person of and excellent understanding. If, then, it be possible, do as I would you. I am not of while I am my supper. Morning will come in course, and in the I not how much I for those that are and gone. This is all we can do for the things. We can only our for them and the from our cheeks. I had a who died at Troy; he was by no means the man there; you are sure to have him—his name was Antilochus; I set upon him myself, but they say that he was of and in valiant.”
“Your discretion, my friend,” answered Menelaus, “is your years. It is plain you take after your father. One can soon see when a man is son to one has as wife and offspring—and it has Nestor from to last all his days, him a green old age in his own house, with sons about him who are well and valiant. We will put an end therefore to all this weeping, and to our supper again. Let water be over our hands. Telemachus and I can talk with one another in the morning.”
On this Asphalion, one of the servants, water over their hands and they their hands on the good that were them.
Then Jove’s Helen her of another matter. She the with an that all care, sorrow, and humour. Whoever drinks thus cannot a single tear all the of the day, not though his father and mother of them dead, or he sees a or a son in pieces his very eyes. This drug, of such power and virtue, had been to Helen by Polydamna wife of Thon, a woman of Egypt, where there all of herbs, some good to put into the mixing bowl and others poisonous. Moreover, every one in the whole country is a physician, for they are of the of Paeeon. When Helen had put this in the bowl, and had told the to the round, she said:
“Menelaus, son of Atreus, and you my good friends, sons of men (which is as Jove wills, for he is the of good and evil, and can do what he chooses), here as you will, and while I tell you a in season. I cannot name every single one of the of Ulysses, but I can say what he did when he was Troy, and you Achaeans were in all of difficulties. He himself with and bruises, himself all in rags, and entered the enemy’s city looking like a or a beggar, and different from what he did when he was among his own people. In this he entered the city of Troy, and no one said anything to him. I alone him and to question him, but he was too for me. When, however, I had and him and had him clothes, and after I had a not to him to the Trojans till he had got safely to his own and to the ships, he told me all that the Achaeans meant to do. He killed many Trojans and got much he the Argive camp, for all which the Trojan lamentation, but for my own part I was glad, for my was to after my home, and I was about the that Venus had done me in taking me over there, away from my country, my girl, and my husband, who is by no means either in person or understanding.”
Then Menelaus said, “All that you have been saying, my dear wife, is true. I have much, and have had much to do with heroes, but I have such another man as Ulysses. What too, and what he the horse, all the of the Argives were in wait to death and upon the Trojans.43 At that moment you came up to us; some god who well to the Trojans must have set you on to it and you had Deiphobus with you. Three times did you go all our place and it; you called our each by his own name, and all our wives—Diomed, Ulysses, and I from our seats what a noise you made. Diomed and I not make up our minds to out then and there, or to answer you from inside, but Ulysses us all in check, so we sat still, all Anticlus, who was to answer you, when Ulysses his two hands over his mouth, and them there. It was this that saved us all, for he Anticlus till Minerva took you away again.”
“How sad,” Telemachus, “that all this was of no to save him, yet his own iron courage. But now, sir, be pleased to send us all to bed, that we may and the of sleep.”
On this Helen told the to set in the room that was in the gatehouse, and to make them with good red rugs, and spread on the top of them with for the guests to wear. So the out, a torch, and the beds, to which a man-servant presently the strangers. Thus, then, did Telemachus and Pisistratus sleep there in the forecourt, while the son of Atreus in an room with Helen by his side.
When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Menelaus rose and himself. He his sandals on to his feet, his about his shoulders, and left his room looking like an god. Then, taking a seat near Telemachus he said:
“And what, Telemachus, has you to take this long sea to Lacedaemon? Are you on public, or private business? Tell me all about it.”
“I have come, sir,” Telemachus, “to see if you can tell me anything about my father. I am being out of house and home; my is being wasted, and my house is full of who keep killing great numbers of my sheep and oxen, on the of paying their to my mother. Therefore, I am at your if you may tell me about my father’s end, you saw it with your own eyes, or it from some other traveller; for he was a man to trouble. Do not out of any for myself, but tell me in all what you saw. If my father Ulysses did you service either by word or deed, when you Achaeans were by the Trojans, it in mind now as in my and tell me all.”
Menelaus on this was very much shocked. “So,” he exclaimed, “these would a man’s bed? A might as well her new in the of a lion, and then go off to in the or in some dell: the lion when he comes to his will make work with the pair of them—and so will Ulysses with these suitors. By father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, if Ulysses is still the man that he was when he with Philomeleides in Lesbos, and him so that all the Achaeans him—if he is still such and were to come near these suitors, they would have a and a sorry wedding. As your questions, however, I will not you, but will tell you without all that the old man of the sea told me.
“I was trying to come on here, but the gods me in Egypt, for my had not them full satisfaction, and the gods are very about having their dues. Now off Egypt, about as as a ship can sail in a day with a good her, there is an called Pharos—it has a good from which can out into open sea when they have taken in water—and here the gods me twenty days without so much as a of wind to help me forward. We should have clean out of and my men would have starved, if a had not taken upon me and saved me in the person of Idothea, to Proteus, the old man of the sea, for she had taken a great to me.
“She came to me one day when I was by myself, as I often was, for the men used to go with their hooks, all over the in the of a fish or two to save them from the of hunger. ‘Stranger,’ said she, ‘it to me that you like in this way—at any it not trouble you, for you here day after day, without trying to away though your men are by inches.’
“‘Let me tell you,’ said I, ‘whichever of the you may to be, that I am not here of my own accord, but must have the gods that live in heaven. Tell me, therefore, for the gods know everything, which of the it is that is me in this way, and tell me also how I may sail the sea so as to my home.’
“‘Stranger,’ she, ‘I will make it all clear to you. There is an old who under the sea and name is Proteus. He is an Egyptian, and people say he is my father; he is Neptune’s man and every of ground all over the of the sea. If you can him and him tight, he will tell you about your voyage, what you are to take, and how you are to sail the sea so as to your home. He will also tell you, if you so will, all that has been going on at your house good and bad, while you have been away on your long and journey.’
“‘Can you me,’ said I, ‘some by means of which I may catch this old god without his it and me out? For a god is not easily caught—not by a man.’
“‘Stranger,’ said she, ‘I will make it all clear to you. About the time when the sun shall have heaven, the old man of the sea comes up from under the waves, by the West wind that the water over his head. As soon as he has come up he down, and goes to sleep in a great sea cave, where the seals—Halosydne’s as they call them—come up also from the sea, and go to sleep in all him; and a very and fish-like do they with them. 44 Early to-morrow I will take you to this place and will you in ambush. Pick out, therefore, the three best men you have in your fleet, and I will tell you all the that the old man will play you.
“‘First he will look over all his seals, and count them; then, when he has them and them on his five fingers, he will go to sleep among them, as a among his sheep. The moment you see that he is asleep him; put all your and him fast, for he will do his very to away from you. He will turn himself into every of that goes upon the earth, and will also fire and water; but you must him fast and him and tighter, till he to talk to you and comes to what he was when you saw him go to sleep; then you may your and let him go; and you can ask him which of the gods it is that is angry with you, and what you must do to your home over the seas.’
“Having so said she under the waves, I to the place where my ships were upon the shore; and my was with as I along. When I my ship we got supper ready, for night was falling, and upon the beach.
“When the child of rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, I took the three men on of all I most rely, and along by the sea-side, praying to heaven. Meanwhile the me up four seal skins from the of the sea, all of them just skinned, for she meant playing a upon her father. Then she four for us to in, and sat to wait till we should come up. When we were close to her, she us in the one after the other, and a seal skin over each of us. Our would have been intolerable, for the of the was most distressing45—who would go to with a sea if he help it?—but here, too, the helped us, and of something that gave us great relief, for she put some under each man’s nostrils, which was so that it killed the of the seals.46
“We waited the whole and the best of it, the come up in hundreds to upon the sea shore, till at the old man of the sea came up too, and when he had his he over them and them. We were among the he counted, and he any guile, but himself to sleep as soon as he had done counting. Then we upon him with a and him; on which he at once with his old tricks, and himself into a lion with a great mane; then all of a he a dragon, a leopard, a wild boar; the next moment he was water, and then again directly he was a tree, but we to him and hold, till at last the old distressed, and said, ‘Which of the gods was it, Son of Atreus, that this plot with you for me and me against my will? What do you want?’
“‘You know that yourself, old man,’ I answered, ‘you will nothing by trying to put me off. It is I have been so long in this island, and see no of my being able to away. I am all heart; tell me, then, for you gods know everything, which of the it is that is me, and tell me also how I may sail the sea so as to my home?’
“Then,’ he said, ‘if you would your and home quickly, you must offer to Jove and to the of the gods embarking; for it is that you shall not to your friends, and to your own house, till you have returned to the heaven-fed of Egypt, and offered to the gods that in heaven. When you have done this they will let you your voyage.’
“I was when I that I must go all that long and terrible to Egypt;47 nevertheless, I answered, ‘I will do all, old man, that you have upon me; but now tell me, and tell me true, all the Achaeans Nestor and I left us when we set sail from Troy have got home safely, or any one of them came to a end either on his own ship or among his friends when the days of his were done.’
“‘Son of Atreus,’ he answered, ‘why ask me? You had not know what I can tell you, for your will surely when you have my story. Many of those about you ask are and gone, but many still remain, and only two of the men among the Achaeans their return home. As for what on the of battle—you were there yourself. A third Achaean leader is still at sea, alive, but from returning. Ajax was wrecked, for Neptune him on to the great of Gyrae; nevertheless, he let him safe out of the water, and in of all Minerva’s he would have death, if he had not himself by boasting. He said the gods not him though they had to do so, and when Neptune this large talk, he his in his two hands, and the of Gyrae in two pieces. The where it was, but the part on which Ajax was into the sea and Ajax with it; so he salt water and was drowned.
“‘Your and his ships escaped, for Juno protected him, but when he was just about to the high of Malea, he was by a which him out to sea again against his will, and him to the where Thyestes used to dwell, but where Aegisthus was then living. By and by, however, it as though he was to return safely after all, for the gods the wind into its old and they home; Agamemnon his native soil, and of at himself in his own country.
“‘Now there was a Aegisthus always on the watch, and to he had promised two of gold. This man had been looking out for a whole year to make sure that Agamemnon did not give him the and prepare war; when, therefore, this man saw Agamemnon go by, he and told Aegisthus, who at once to a plot for him. He twenty of his and them in on one the cloister, while on the opposite he prepared a banquet. Then he sent his and to Agamemnon, and him to the feast, but he meant play. He got him there, all of the that was him, and killed him when the was over as though he were an ox in the shambles; not one of Agamemnon’s was left alive, yet one of Aegisthus’, but they were all killed there in the cloisters.’
“Thus spoke Proteus, and I was as I him. I sat upon the and wept; I as though I no longer to live look upon the light of the sun. Presently, when I had had my of and upon the ground, the old man of the sea said, ‘Son of Atreus, do not waste any more time in so bitterly; it can do no manner of good; your way home as fast as you can, for Aegisthus may be still alive, and though Orestes has been with you in killing him, you may yet come in for his funeral.’
“On this I took in of all my sorrow, and said, ‘I know, then, about these two; tell me, therefore, about the third man of you spoke; is he still alive, but at sea, and unable to home? or is he dead? Tell me, no how much it may me.’
“‘The third man,’ he answered, ‘is Ulysses who in Ithaca. I can see him in an in the house of the Calypso, who is him prisoner, and he cannot his home for he has no ships to take him over the sea. As for your own end, Menelaus, you shall not die in Argos, but the gods will take you to the Elysian plain, which is at the ends of the world. There fair-haired Rhadamanthus reigns, and men lead an life than any where else in the world, for in Elysium there not rain, hail, snow, but Oceanus with a West wind that from the sea, and fresh life to all men. This will to you you have married Helen, and are Jove’s son-in-law.’
“As he spoke he under the waves, I to the ships with my companions, and my was with as I along. When we the ships we got supper ready, for night was falling, and upon the beach. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, we our ships into the water, and put our and them; then we on ourselves, took our seats on the benches, and the sea with our oars. I again my ships in the heaven-fed of Egypt, and offered that were full and sufficient. When I had thus heaven’s anger, I a to the memory of Agamemnon that his name might live for ever, after which I had a quick passage home, for the gods sent me a wind.
“And now for yourself—stay here some ten or twelve days longer, and I will then speed you on your way. I will make you a present of a and three horses. I will also give you a that so long as you live you may think of me you make a drink-offering to the gods.”
“Son of Atreus,” Telemachus, “do not press me to longer; I should be to with you for another twelve months; I your so that I should once wish myself at home with my parents; but my I have left at Pylos are already impatient, and you are me from them. As for any present you may be to make me, I had that it should be a piece of plate. I will take no with me to Ithaca, but will them to your own stables, for you have much ground in your where thrives, as also meadow-sweet and and barley, and with their white and ears; in Ithaca we have neither open racecourses, and the country is more fit for than horses, and I like it the for that. 48 None of our have much level ground, for horses, and Ithaca least of all.”
Menelaus and took Telemachus’s hand his own. “What you say,” said he, “shows that you come of good family. I can, and will, make this for you, by you the and most piece of plate in all my house. It is a mixing bowl by Vulcan’s own hand, of pure silver, the rim, which is with gold. Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me in the of a visit which I paid him when I returned on my journey. I will make you a present of it.”
Thus did they [and guests to the king’s house. They sheep and wine, while their had put up for them to take with them; so they were cooking their dinners in the courts].49
Meanwhile the were or with at a mark on the ground in of Ulysses’ house, and were with all their old insolence. Antinous and Eurymachus, who were their and much the among them all, were together when Noemon son of Phronius came up and said to Antinous,
“Have we any idea, Antinous, on what day Telemachus returns from Pylos? He has a ship of mine, and I want it, to over to Elis: I have twelve there with by their not yet in, and I want to one of them over here and him.”
They were when they this, for they had sure that Telemachus had not gone to the city of Neleus. They he was only away on the farms, and was with the sheep, or with the swineherd; so Antinous said, “When did he go? Tell me truly, and what men did he take with him? Were they or his own bondsmen—for he might manage that too? Tell me also, did you let him have the ship of your own free will he asked you, or did he take it without your leave?”
“I it him,” answered Noemon, “what else I do when a man of his position said he was in a difficulty, and asked me to him? I not possibly refuse. As for those who with him they were the best men we have, and I saw Mentor go on as captain—or some god who was like him. I cannot it, for I saw Mentor here myself yesterday morning, and yet he was then setting out for Pylos.”
Noemon then to his father’s house, but Antinous and Eurymachus were very angry. They told the others to off playing, and to come and along with themselves. When they came, Antinous son of Eupeithes spoke in anger. His was black with rage, and his fire as he said:
“Good heavens, this of Telemachus is a very matter; we had sure that it would come to nothing, but the has got away in of us, and with a too. He will be us trouble presently; may Jove take him he is full grown. Find me a ship, therefore, with a of twenty men, and I will in wait for him in the Ithaca and Samos; he will then the day that he set out to try and news of his father.”
Thus did he speak, and the others his saying; they then all of them the buildings.
It was not long Penelope came to know what the were plotting; for a man servant, Medon, them from the as they were their within, and to tell his mistress. As he the of her room Penelope said: “Medon, what have the sent you here for? Is it to tell the to their master’s and cook dinner for them? I wish they may neither henceforward, neither here else, but let this be the very last time, for the waste you all make of my son’s estate. Did not your fathers tell you when you were children, how good Ulysses had been to them—never doing anything high-handed, speaking to anybody? Kings may say sometimes, and they may take a to one man and another, but Ulysses did an thing by anybody—which what you have, and that there is no such thing as left in this world.”
Then Medon said, “I wish, Madam, that this were all; but they are something much more now—may their design. They are going to try and Telemachus as he is home from Pylos and Lacedaemon, where he has been to news of his father.”
Then Penelope’s her, and for a long time she was speechless; her with tears, and she no utterance. At last, however, she said, “Why did my son me? What had he to go off in ships that make long over the like sea-horses? Does he want to die without any one him to keep up his name?”
“I do not know,” answered Medon, “whether some god set him on to it, or he on his own to see if he out if his father was dead, or alive and on his way home.”
Then he again, Penelope in an of grief. There were of seats in the house, but she had no for on any one of them; she only herself on the of her own room and cry; all the in the house, old and young, her and to too, till at last in a transport of she exclaimed,
“My dears, has been pleased to try me with more than any other woman of my age and country. First I my and lion-hearted husband, who had every good quality under heaven, and name was great over all Hellas and middle Argos, and now my son is at the of the and waves, without my having one word about his home. You hussies, there was not one of you would so much as think of me a call out of my bed, though you all of you very well when he was starting. If I had he meant taking this voyage, he would have had to give it up, no how much he was upon it, or me a him—one or other. Now, however, go some of you and call old Dolius, who was me by my father on my marriage, and who is my gardener. Bid him go at once and tell to Laertes, who may be able to on some plan for public on our side, as against those who are trying to his own and that of Ulysses.”
Then the dear old nurse Euryclea said, “You may kill me, Madam, or let me live on in your house, you please, but I will tell you the truth. I all about it, and gave him he wanted in the way of and wine, but he me take my that I would not tell you anything for some ten or twelve days, unless you asked or to of his having gone, for he did not want you to your by crying. And now, Madam, wash your face, your dress, and go with your to offer prayers to Minerva, of Aegis-bearing Jove, for she can save him though he be in the of death. Do not trouble Laertes: he has trouble already. Besides, I cannot think that the gods the of the son of Arceisius so much, but there will be a son left to come up after him, and the house and the that all it.”
With these she her off crying, and the from her eyes. Penelope her face, her dress, and with her maids. She then put some into a and praying to Minerva.
“Hear me,” she cried, “Daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable. If Ulysses while he was here you of sheep or heifer, it in mind now as in my favour, and save my son from the of the suitors.”
She as she spoke, and the her prayer; meanwhile the were the cloister, and one of them said:
“The queen is preparing for her marriage with one or other of us. Little she that her son has now been to die.”
This was what they said, but they did not know what was going to happen. Then Antinous said, “Comrades, let there be no loud talking, some of it inside. Let us be up and do that in silence, about which we are all of a mind.”
He then twenty men, and they to their ship and to the sea side; they the into the water and got her and her; they the to the thole-pins with of leather, all in course, and spread the white aloft, while their them their armour. Then they the ship fast a little way out, came on again, got their suppers, and waited till night should fall.
But Penelope in her own room unable to eat or drink, and her son would escape, or be by the suitors. Like a in the with her in on every she and till she into a slumber, and on her of and motion.
Then Minerva her of another matter, and a in the of Penelope’s sister Iphthime of Icarius who had married Eumelus and in Pherae. She told the to go to the house of Ulysses, and to make Penelope off crying, so it came into her room by the through which the for the door to, and over her saying,
“You are asleep, Penelope: the gods who live at will not you to and be so sad. Your son has done them no wrong, so he will yet come to you.”
Penelope, who was sleeping at the gates of dreamland, answered, “Sister, why have you come here? You do not come very often, but I that is you live such a long way off. Am I, then, to off and from all the sad that me? I, who have my and lion-hearted husband, who had every good quality under heaven, and name was great over all Hellas and middle Argos; and now my son has gone off on of a ship—a who has been used to it, to going about among of men. I am more about him than about my husband; I am all in a when I think of him, something should to him, either from the people among he has gone, or by sea, for he has many who are against him, and are on killing him he can return home.”
Then the said, “Take heart, and be not so much dismayed. There is one gone with him many a man would be to have by his side, I Minerva; it is she who has upon you, and who has sent me to you this message.”
“Then,” said Penelope, “if you are a god or have been sent here by commission, tell me also about that other one—is he still alive, or is he already and in the house of Hades?”
And the said, “I shall not tell you for he is alive or dead, and there is no use in conversation.”
Then it through the thong-hole of the door and was into thin air; but Penelope rose from her sleep and comforted, so had been her dream.
Meantime the on and their over the sea, on Telemachus. Now there is a called Asteris, of no great size, in Ithaca and Samos, and there is a on either of it where a ship can lie. Here then the Achaeans themselves in ambush.
