CALYPSO—ULYSSES REACHES SCHERIA ON A RAFT.
And now, as Dawn rose from her Tithonus—harbinger of light to and immortals—the gods met in and with them, Jove the lord of thunder, who is their king. Thereon Minerva to tell them of the many of Ulysses, for she him away there in the house of the Calypso.
“Father Jove,” said she, “and all you other gods that live in bliss, I there may be such a thing as a and well-disposed ruler any more, one who will equitably. I they will be all and unjust, for there is not one of his but has Ulysses, who them as though he were their father. There he is, in great pain in an where the Calypso, who will not let him go; and he cannot to his own country, for he can neither ships to take him over the sea. Furthermore, people are now trying to his only son Telemachus, who is home from Pylos and Lacedaemon, where he has been to see if he can news of his father.”
“What, my dear, are you talking about?” her father, “did you not send him there yourself, you it would help Ulysses to home and the suitors? Besides, you are perfectly able to protect Telemachus, and to see him safely home again, while the have to come hurry-skurrying without having killed him.”
When he had thus spoken, he said to his son Mercury, “Mercury, you are our messenger, go therefore and tell Calypso we have that Ulysses is to return home. He is to be neither by gods men, but after a of twenty days upon a he is to Scheria,50 the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of to the gods, and will him as though he were one of ourselves. They will send him in a ship to his own country, and will give him more and gold and than he would have from Troy, if he had had all his prize money and had got home without disaster. This is how we have settled that he shall return to his country and his friends.”
Thus he spoke, and Mercury, and guardian, of Argus, did as he was told. Forthwith he on his sandals with which he like the wind over land and sea. He took the with which he men’s in sleep or them just as he pleases, and it in his hand over Pieria; then he through the till he the level of the sea, he like a that every and of the ocean, and its thick in the spray. He and over many a wave, but when at last he got to the which was his journey’s end, he left the sea and on by land till he came to the where the Calypso lived.
He her at home. There was a large fire on the hearth, and one from the of and wood. As for herself, she was at her loom, her through the and beautifully. Round her there was a thick of alder, poplar, and sweet trees, all of great had their nests—owls, hawks, and sea-crows that their in the waters. A with was and about the mouth of the cave; there were also four of water in cut close together, and and so as to the of and over which they flowed. 51 Even a god not help being with such a spot, so Mercury still and looked at it; but when he had it he the cave.
Calypso him at once—for the gods all know each other, no how they live from one another—but Ulysses was not within; he was on the sea-shore as usual, looking out upon the with in his eyes, and his for sorrow. Calypso gave Mercury a seat and said: “Why have you come to see me, Mercury—honoured, and welcome—for you do not visit me often? Say what you want; I will do it for you at once if I can, and if it can be done at all; but come inside, and let me set you.”
As she spoke she a table with him and mixed him some red nectar, so Mercury ate and till he had had enough, and then said:
“We are speaking god and to one another, and you ask me why I have come here, and I will tell you as you would have me do. Jove sent me; it was no doing of mine; who possibly want to come all this way over the sea where there are no full of people to offer me or choice hecatombs? Nevertheless I had to come, for none of us other gods can Jove, his orders. He says that you have here the most ill-starred of all those who nine years the city of King Priam and home in the tenth year after having it. On their way home they against Minerva,52 who wind and against them, so that all his perished, and he alone was by wind and tide. Jove says that you are to let this man go at once, for it is that he shall not here, from his own people, but shall return to his house and country and see his friends again.”
Calypso with when she this, “You gods,” she exclaimed, “ought to be of yourselves. You are always and a take a to a man, and live with him in open matrimony. So when rosy-fingered Dawn love to Orion, you gods were all of you till Diana and killed him in Ortygia. So again when Ceres in love with Iasion, and to him in a thrice-ploughed field, Jove came to of it so very long and killed Iasion with his thunderbolts. And now you are angry with me too I have a man here. I the all alone of a keel, for Jove had his ship with and it in ocean, so that all his were drowned, while he himself was by wind and on to my island. I got of him and him, and had set my on making him immortal, so that he should old all his days; still I cannot Jove, his to nothing; therefore, if he upon it, let the man go the again; but I cannot send him myself for I have neither ships men who can take him. Nevertheless I will give him such advice, in all good faith, as will be likely to him safely to his own country.”
“Then send him away,” said Mercury, “or Jove will be angry with you and you”.
On this he took his leave, and Calypso out to look for Ulysses, for she had Jove’s message. She him upon the beach with his with tears, and of home sickness; for he had got of Calypso, and though he was to sleep with her in the by night, it was she, not he, that would have it so. As for the day time, he it on the and on the sea shore, weeping, for his despair, and always looking out upon the sea. Calypso then close up to him said:
“My fellow, you shall not here and your life out any longer. I am going to send you away of my own free will; so go, cut some of wood, and make a large with an upper that it may you safely over the sea. I will put bread, wine, and water on to save you from starving. I will also give you clothes, and will send you a wind to take you home, if the gods in so will it—for they know more about these things, and can settle them than I can.”
Ulysses as he her. “Now goddess,” he answered, “there is something all this; you cannot be meaning to help me home when you me do such a thing as put to sea on a raft. Not a well ship with a wind on such a voyage: nothing that you can say or do shall make me go on a unless you that you me no mischief.”
Calypso at this and him with her hand: “You know a great deal,” said she, “but you are here. May above and earth be my witnesses, with the of the river Styx—and this is the most which a god can take—that I you no of harm, and am only you to do what I should do myself in your place. I am with you straightforwardly; my is not of iron, and I am very sorry for you.”
When she had thus spoken she the way him, and Ulysses in her steps; so the pair, and man, on and on till they came to Calypso’s cave, where Ulysses took the seat that Mercury had just left. Calypso set meat and drink him of the food that eat; but her and for herself, and they their hands on the good that were them. When they had satisfied themselves with meat and drink, Calypso spoke, saying:
“Ulysses, son of Laertes, so you would start home to your own land at once? Good luck go with you, but if you only know how much is in store for you you to your own country, you would where you are, keep house along with me, and let me make you immortal, no how you may be to see this wife of yours, of you are all the time day after day; yet I myself that I am no less tall or well-looking than she is, for it is not to be that a woman should in with an immortal.”
“Goddess,” Ulysses, “do not be angry with me about this. I am aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so as yourself. She is only a woman, you are an immortal. Nevertheless, I want to home, and can think of nothing else. If some god me when I am on the sea, I will it and make the best of it. I have had trouble by land and sea already, so let this go with the rest.”
Presently the sun set and it dark, the pair retired into the part of the and to bed.
When the child of rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Ulysses put on his shirt and cloak, while the a dress of a light fabric, very and graceful, with a about her and a to her head. She at once set herself to think how she speed Ulysses on his way. So she gave him a great that his hands; it was on sides, and had a olive-wood on to it. She also gave him a adze, and then the way to the end of the where the largest trees grew—alder, and pine, that the sky—very and well seasoned, so as to sail light for him in the water.53 Then, when she had him where the best trees grew, Calypso home, him to cut them, which he soon doing. He cut twenty trees in all and them smooth, them by in good fashion. Meanwhile Calypso came with some augers, so he with them and the together with and rivets. He the as as a makes the of a large vessel, and he a on top of the ribs, and ran a all it. He also a with a arm, and a to with. He the all with as a protection against the waves, and then he on a quantity of wood. By and by Calypso him some to make the sails, and he these too, excellently, making them fast with and sheets. Last of all, with the help of levers, he the into the water.
In four days he had the whole work, and on the Calypso sent him from the after him and him some clean clothes. She gave him a skin full of black wine, and another larger one of water; she also gave him a full of provisions, and him in much good meat. Moreover, she the wind and warm for him, and did Ulysses spread his sail it, while he sat and the by means of the rudder. He closed his eyes, but them on the Pleiads, on late-setting Bootes, and on the Bear—which men also call the wain, and which and where it is, Orion, and alone into the of Oceanus—for Calypso had told him to keep this to his left. Days seven and ten did he sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth the of the on the nearest part of the Phaeacian appeared, like a on the horizon.
But King Neptune, who was returning from the Ethiopians, of Ulysses a long way off, from the of the Solymi. He see him upon the sea, and it him very angry, so he his and to himself, saying, “Good heavens, so the gods have been their minds about Ulysses while I was away in Ethiopia, and now he is close to the land of the Phaeacians, where it is that he shall from the that have him. Still, he shall have of yet he has done with it.”
Thereon he his clouds together, his trident, it in the sea, and the of every wind that till earth, sea, and sky were in cloud, and night out of the heavens. Winds from East, South, North, and West upon him all at the same time, and a sea got up, so that Ulysses’ to fail him. “Alas,” he said to himself in his dismay, “what will of me? I am Calypso was right when she said I should have trouble by sea I got home. It is all true. How black is Jove making with his clouds, and what a sea the are from every at once. I am now safe to perish. Blest and thrice were those Danaans who Troy in the of the sons of Atreus. Would that I had been killed on the day when the Trojans were pressing me so about the of Achilles, for then I should have had and the Achaeans would have my name; but now it that I shall come to a most end.”
As he spoke a sea over him with such that the again, and he was a long way off. He let go the helm, and the of the was so great that it the way up, and sail and over into the sea. For a long time Ulysses was under water, and it was all he do to to the surface again, for the Calypso had him him down; but at last he got his above water and out the that was his in streams. In of all this, however, he did not of his raft, but as fast as he it, got of it, and on again so as to drowning. The sea took the and it about as Autumn and upon a road. It was as though the South, North, East, and West were all playing and with it at once.
When he was in this plight, Ino of Cadmus, also called Leucothea, saw him. She had been a mortal, but had been since to the rank of a goddess. Seeing in what great Ulysses now was, she had upon him, and, like a sea-gull from the waves, took her seat upon the raft.
“My good man,” said she, “why is Neptune so angry with you? He is you a great of trouble, but for all his he will not kill you. You to be a person, do then as I you; strip, your to drive the wind, and swim to the Phaeacian where luck you. And here, take my and put it your chest; it is enchanted, and you can come to no so long as you wear it. As soon as you touch land take it off, it as as you can into the sea, and then go away again.” With these she took off her and gave it him. Then she again like a sea-gull and the dark waters.
But Ulysses did not know what to think. “Alas,” he said to himself in his dismay, “this is only some one or other of the gods who is me to by me to my raft. At any I will not do so at present, for the land where she said I should be of all to be still a good way off. I know what I will do—I am sure it will be best—no what I will to the as long as her together, but when the sea her up I will swim for it; I do not see how I can do any than this.”
While he was thus in two minds, Neptune sent a terrible great that to itself above his till it right over the raft, which then to pieces as though it were a of about by a whirlwind. Ulysses got of one and upon it as if he were on horseback; he then took off the Calypso had him, Ino’s under his arms, and into the sea—meaning to swim on shore. King Neptune him as he did so, and his head, to himself and saying, “There now, swim up and as you best can till you in with well-to-do people. I do not think you will be able to say that I have let you off too lightly.” On this he his and to Aegae where his is.
But Minerva to help Ulysses, so she the of all the one, and them still; but she a good from the North that should the till Ulysses the land of the Phaeacians where he would be safe.
Thereon he about for two nights and two days in the water, with a on the sea and death him in the face; but when the third day broke, the wind and there was a without so much as a of air stirring. As he rose on the he looked ahead, and see land near. Then, as children when their dear father to after having for a long time sent him by some angry spirit, but the gods deliver him from evil, so was Ulysses when he again saw land and trees, and on with all his that he might once more set upon ground. When, however, he got earshot, he to the up against the rocks, for the still against them with a roar. Everything was in spray; there were no where a ship might ride, of any kind, but only headlands, low-lying rocks, and tops.
Ulysses’ now to fail him, and he said to himself, “Alas, Jove has let me see land after so that I had up all hope, but I can no landing place, for the is and surf-beaten, the are and from the sea, with water close under them so that I cannot climb out for want of hold. I am some great will me off my and me against the as I the water—which would give me a sorry landing. If, on the other hand, I swim in search of some beach or harbour, a may me out to sea again against my will, or may send some great of the to attack me; for Amphitrite many such, and I know that Neptune is very angry with me.”
While he was thus in two minds a him and took him with such against the that he would have been and to pieces if Minerva had not him what to do. He of the with hands and to it with pain till the retired, so he was saved that time; but presently the came on again and him with it into the sea—tearing his hands as the of a polypus are when some one it from its bed, and the come up along with it—even so did the tear the skin from his hands, and then the him under the water.
Here Ulysses would have in of his own destiny, if Minerva had not helped him to keep his about him. He again, of the that was against the land, and at the same time he looking the to see if he some haven, or a that should take the aslant. By and by, as he on, he came to the mouth of a river, and here he would be the best place, for there were no rocks, and it from the wind. He that there was a current, so he prayed and said:
“Hear me, O King, you may be, and save me from the anger of the sea-god Neptune, for I approach you prayerfully. Any one who has his way has at all times a upon the gods, in my I near to your stream, and to the of your riverhood. Have upon me, O king, for I myself your suppliant.”
Then the god his and the waves, making all him, and him safely into the mouth of the river. Here at last Ulysses’ and hands failed him, for the sea had him. His was all swollen, and his mouth and ran like a river with sea-water, so that he neither breathe speak, and from exhaustion; presently, when he had got his and came to himself again, he took off the that Ino had him and it into the salt54 of the river, Ino it into her hands from the that it her. Then he left the river, himself among the rushes, and the earth.
“Alas,” he to himself in his dismay, “what will of me, and how is it all to end? If I here upon the river through the long of the night, I am so that the cold and may make an end of me—for there will be a wind from off the river. If, on the other hand, I climb the hill side, in the woods, and sleep in some thicket, I may the cold and have a good night’s rest, but some may take of me and me.”
In the end he it best to take to the woods, and he one upon some high ground not from the water. There he two of that from a single stock—the one an sucker, while the other had been grafted. No wind, squally, through the they afforded, the sun’s them, the rain through them, so closely did they into one another. Ulysses under these and to make himself a to on, for there was a great of about—enough to make a for two or three men in hard winter weather. He was to see this, so he himself and the all him. Then, as one who alone in the country, from any neighbor, a as fire-seed in the to save himself from having to a light elsewhere, so did Ulysses himself up with leaves; and Minerva a sweet sleep upon his eyes, closed his eyelids, and him all memories of his sorrows.
