MINERVA SUMMONS TELEMACHUS FROM LACEDAEMON—HE MEETS WITH THEOCLYMENUS AT PYLOS AND BRINGS HIM TO ITHACA—ON LANDING HE GOES TO THE HUT OF EUMAEUS.
But Minerva to the city of Lacedaemon to tell Ulysses’ son that he was to return at once. She him and Pisistratus sleeping in the of Menelaus’s house; Pisistratus was fast asleep, but Telemachus no all night for of his father, so Minerva close up to him and said:
“Telemachus, you should not so away from home any longer, your property with such people in your house; they will eat up you have among them, and you will have been on a fool’s errand. Ask Menelaus to send you home at once if you wish to your excellent mother still there when you back. Her father and are already her to Eurymachus, who has her more than any of the others, and has been his wedding presents. I nothing valuable may have been taken from the house in of you, but you know what are—they always want to do the best they can for the man who marries them, and give another to the children of their husband, to their father either when he is and done with. Go home, therefore, and put in of the most woman that you have, until it shall to send you a wife of your own. Let me tell you also of another which you had to. The men among the are in wait for you in the Strait128 Ithaca and Samos, and they to kill you you can home. I do not much think they will succeed; it is more likely that some of those who are now up your property will a themselves. Sail night and day, and keep your ship well away from the islands; the god who over you and you will send you a wind. As soon as you to Ithaca send your ship and men on to the town, but go to the who has of your pigs; he is well you, with him, therefore, for the night, and then send him to Penelope to tell her that you have got safe from Pylos.”
Then she to Olympus; but Telemachus Pisistratus with his to him, and said, “Wake up Pisistratus, and the to the chariot, for we must set off home.”129
But Pisistratus said, “No what we are in we cannot drive in the dark. It will be soon; wait till Menelaus has his presents and put them in the for us; and let him say good to us in the way. So long as he a guest should a who has him kindness.”
As he spoke day to break, and Menelaus, who had already risen, Helen in bed, came them. When Telemachus saw him he put on his shirt as fast as he could, a great over his shoulders, and out to meet him. “Menelaus,” said he, “let me go now to my own country, for I want to home.”
And Menelaus answered, “Telemachus, if you on going I will not you. I do not like to see a either too of his guest or too to him. Moderation is best in all things, and not a man go when he wants to do so is as as telling him to go if he would like to stay. One should a guest well as long as he is in the house and speed him when he wants to it. Wait, then, till I can your presents into your chariot, and till you have them. I will tell the to prepare a dinner for you of what there may be in the house; it will be at once more proper and for you to your dinner setting out on such a long journey. If, moreover, you have a for making a in Hellas or in the Peloponnese, I will my horses, and will you myself through all our cities. No one will send us away empty handed; every one will give us something—a tripod, a of mules, or a gold cup.”
“Menelaus,” Telemachus, “I want to go home at once, for when I came away I left my property without protection, and that while looking for my father I shall come to myself, or that something valuable has been my absence.”
When Menelaus this he told his wife and to prepare a dinner from what there might be in the house. At this moment Eteoneus joined him, for he close by and had just got up; so Menelaus told him to light the fire and cook some meat, which he at once did. Then Menelaus into his store room,130 not alone, but Helen too, with Megapenthes. When he the place where the of his house were kept, he a cup, and told his son Megapenthes to also a mixing bowl. Meanwhile Helen to the where she the which she had with her own hands, and took out one that was largest and most with embroidery; it like a star, and at the very of the chest. 131 Then they all came through the house again till they got to Telemachus, and Menelaus said, “Telemachus, may Jove, the husband of Juno, you safely home according to your desire. I will now present you with the and most piece of plate in all my house. It is a mixing bowl of pure silver, the rim, which is with gold, and it is the work of Vulcan. Phaedimus king of the Sidonians me a present of it in the of a visit that I paid him while I was on my return home. I should like to give it to you.”
With these he the cup in the hands of Telemachus, while Megapenthes the mixing bowl and set it him. Hard by Helen with the in her hand.
“I too, my son,” said she, “have something for you as a from the hand of Helen; it is for your to wear upon her wedding day. Till then, your dear mother to keep it for you; thus may you go to your own country and to your home.”
So saying she gave the over to him and he it gladly. Then Pisistratus put the presents into the chariot, and them all as he did so. Presently Menelaus took Telemachus and Pisistratus into the house, and they of them sat to table. A them water in a ewer, and it into a for them to wash their hands, and she a clean table them; an upper them and offered them many good of what there was in the house. Eteoneus the meat and gave them each their portions, while Megapenthes out the wine. Then they their hands upon the good that were them, but as soon as they had had to eat and drink Telemachus and Pisistratus the horses, and took their places in the chariot. They out through the and under the of the court, and Menelaus came after them with a of in his right hand that they might make a drink-offering they set out. He in of the and them, saying, “Farewell to of you; see that you tell Nestor how I have you, for he was as to me as any father be while we Achaeans were Troy.”
“We will be sure, sir,” answered Telemachus, “to tell him as soon as we see him. I wish I were as of Ulysses returned when I to Ithaca, that I might tell him of the very great you have me and of the many presents I am taking with me.”
As he was thus speaking a bird on his right hand—an with a great white in its which it had off from the farm yard—and all the men and were after it and shouting. It came close up to them and away on their right hands in of the horses. When they saw it they were glad, and their took them, Pisistratus said, “Tell me, Menelaus, has sent this for us or for you?”
Menelaus was what would be the most proper answer for him to make, but Helen was too quick for him and said, “I will read this as has put it in my heart, and as I not that it will come to pass. The came from the where it was and has its nest, and in like manner Ulysses, after having and much, will return to take his revenge—if he is not already and for the suitors.”
“May Jove so it,” Telemachus, “if it should prove to be so, I will make to you as though you were a god, when I am at home.”
As he spoke he his and they started off at full speed through the town the open country. They the upon their necks and the whole day long till the sun set and was over all the land. Then they Pherae, where Diocles who was son of Ortilochus, the son of Alpheus. There they passed the night and were hospitably. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, they again their and their places in the chariot. They out through the and under the of the court. Then Pisistratus his on and they nothing loath; long they came to Pylos, and then Telemachus said:
“Pisistratus, I you will promise to do what I am going to ask you. You know our fathers were old friends us; moreover, we are of an age, and this has us together still more closely; do not, therefore, take me past my ship, but me there, for if I go to your father’s house he will try to keep me in the of his good will me, and I must go home at once.”
Pisistratus how he should do as he was asked, and in the end he it best to turn his the ship, and put Menelaus’s presents of gold and in the of the vessel. Then he said, “Go on at once and tell your men to do so also I can home to tell my father. I know how he is, and am sure he will not let you go; he will come here to you, and he will not go without you. But he will be very angry.”
With this he his to the city of the Pylians and soon his home, but Telemachus called the men together and gave his orders. “Now, my men,” said he, “get in order on the ship, and let us set out home.”
Thus did he speak, and they on as he had said. But as Telemachus was thus busied, praying also and to Minerva in the ship’s stern, there came to him a man from a country, a seer, who was from Argos he had killed a man. He was from Melampus, who used to live in Pylos, the land of sheep; he was rich and owned a great house, but he was into by the great and powerful king Neleus. Neleus his and them for a whole year, which he was a close in the house of king Phylacus, and in much of mind on account of the of Neleus and he was by a great that Erinys had upon him. In the end, however, he with his life, the from Phylace to Pylos, the that had been done him, and gave the of Neleus to his brother. Then he left the country and to Argos, where it was that he should over much people. There he married, himself, and had two famous sons Antiphates and Mantius. Antiphates father of Oicleus, and Oicleus of Amphiaraus, who was loved by Jove and by Apollo, but he did not live to old age, for he was killed in Thebes by of a woman’s gifts. His sons were Alcmaeon and Amphilochus. Mantius, the other son of Melampus, was father to Polypheides and Cleitus. Aurora, in gold, off Cleitus for his beauty’s sake, that he might among the immortals, but Apollo Polypheides the in the whole world now that Amphiaraus was dead. He with his father and to live in Hyperesia, where he and for all men.
His son, Theoclymenus, it was who now came up to Telemachus as he was making drink-offerings and praying in his ship. “Friend,” said he, “now that I you in this place, I you by your themselves, and by the god to you make them, I pray you also by your own and by those of your tell me the truth and nothing but the truth. Who and are you? Tell me also of your town and parents.”
Telemachus said, “I will answer you truly. I am from Ithaca, and my father is Ulysses, as surely as that he lived. But he has come to some end. Therefore I have taken this ship and got my together to see if I can any news of him, for he has been away a long time.”
“I too,” answered Theoclymenus, “am an exile, for I have killed a man of my own race. He has many and in Argos, and they have great power among the Argives. I am to death at their hands, and am thus to be a on the of the earth. I am your suppliant; take me, therefore, on your ship that they may not kill me, for I know they are in pursuit.”
“I will not you,” Telemachus, “if you wish to join us. Come, therefore, and in Ithaca we will you according to what we have.”
On this he Theoclymenus’ and it on the of the ship. He on and sat in the stern, Theoclymenus him; then the men let go the hawsers. Telemachus told them to catch of the ropes, and they all to do so. They set the in its in the plank, it and it fast with the forestays, and they their white with of ox hide. Minerva sent them a wind that fresh and to take the ship on her as fast as possible. Thus then they passed by Crouni and Chalcis.
Presently the sun set and was over all the land. The a quick passage to Pheae and on to Elis, where the Epeans rule. Telemachus then her for the islands,132 himself he should death or should be taken prisoner.
Meanwhile Ulysses and the were their supper in the hut, and the men with them. As soon as they had had to eat and drink, Ulysses trying to prove the and see he would continue to him kindly, and ask him to on at the station or pack him off to the city; so he said:
“Eumaeus, and all of you, to-morrow I want to go away and about the town, so as to be no more trouble to you or to your men. Give me your therefore, and let me have a good to go with me and me the way. I will go the of the city as I needs must, to see if any one will give me a drink and a piece of bread. I should like also to go to the house of Ulysses and news of her husband to Queen Penelope. I then go about among the and see if out of all their they will give me a dinner. I should soon make them an excellent in all of ways. Listen and when I tell you that by the of Mercury who and good name to the of all men, there is no one who would make a more than I should—to put fresh on the fire, fuel, carve, cook, out wine, and do all those services that men have to do for their betters.”
The was very much when he this. “Heaven help me,” he exclaimed, “what can have put such a as that into your head? If you go near the you will be to a certainty, for their and the very heavens. They would think of taking a man like you for a servant. Their are all men, well dressed, good and shirts, with well looking and their always tidy, the tables are clean and are with bread, meat, and wine. Stay where you are, then; you are not in anybody’s way; I do not mind your being here, no more do any of the others, and when Telemachus comes home he will give you a shirt and and will send you you want to go.”
Ulysses answered, “I you may be as dear to the gods as you are to me, for having saved me from going about and into trouble; there is nothing than being always on the tramp; still, when men have once got low in the world they will go through a great on of their bellies. Since, however, you press me to here and the return of Telemachus, tell me about Ulysses’ mother, and his father he left on the of old age when he set out for Troy. Are they still or are they already and in the house of Hades?”
“I will tell you all about them,” Eumaeus, “Laertes is still and prays to let him peacefully in his own house, for he is about the of his son, and also about the death of his wife, which him and him more than anything else did. She came to an end133 through for her son: may no friend or neighbour who has by me come to such an end as she did. As long as she was still living, though she was always grieving, I used to like her and her how she did, for she me up along with her Ctimene, the of her children; we were boy and girl together, and she little us. When, however, we up, they sent Ctimene to Same and a for her. As for me, my gave me a good shirt and with a pair of sandals for my feet, and sent me off into the country, but she was just as of me as ever. This is all over now. Still it has pleased to my work in the which I now hold. I have to eat and drink, and can something for any who comes here; but there is no a word or out of my mistress, for the house has into the hands of people. Servants want sometimes to see their and have a talk with her; they like to have something to eat and drink at the house, and something too to take with them into the country. This is what will keep in a good humour.”
Ulysses answered, “Then you must have been a very little fellow, Eumaeus, when you were taken so away from your home and parents. Tell me, and tell me true, was the city in which your father and mother and pillaged, or did some you off when you were alone sheep or cattle, ship you off here, and sell you for your master gave them?”
“Stranger,” Eumaeus, “as your question: still, make comfortable, drink your wine, and to me. The nights are now at their longest; there is of time for sleeping and up talking together; you ought not to go to till time, too much sleep is as as too little; if any one of the others to go to let him us and do so; he can then take my master’s pigs out when he has done in the morning. We too will here and in the hut, and telling one another about our misfortunes; for when a man has much, and been about in the world, he takes in the memory of that have long gone by. As your question, then, my is as follows:
“You may have of an called Syra that over above Ortygia,134 where the land to turn and look in another direction.135 It is not very peopled, but the is good, with much fit for and sheep, and it with and wheat. Dearth comes there, are the people by any sickness, but when they old Apollo comes with Diana and kills them with his painless shafts. It two communities, and the whole country is these two. My father Ctesius son of Ormenus, a man to the gods, over both.
“Now to this place there came some from Phoenicia (for the Phoenicians are great mariners) in a ship which they had with of all kinds. There to be a Phoenician woman in my father’s house, very tall and comely, and an excellent servant; these got of her one day when she was near their ship, her, and her in that no woman can resist, no how good she may be by nature. The man who had her asked her who she was and where she came from, and on this she told him her father’s name. ‘I come from Sidon,’ said she, ‘and am to Arybas, a man in wealth. One day as I was into the town from the country, some Taphian me and took me here over the sea, where they me to the man who this house, and he gave them their price for me.’
“The man who had her then said, ‘Would you like to come along with us to see the house of your and your themselves? They are alive and are said to be well off.’
“‘I will do so gladly,’ answered she, ‘if you men will me a that you will do me no by the way.’
“They all as she told them, and when they had their the woman said, ‘Hush; and if any of your men meets me in the or at the well, do not let him speak to me, for some one should go and tell my master, in which case he would something. He would put me in prison, and would have all of you murdered; keep your own therefore; your as fast as you can, and send me word when you have done loading. I will as much gold as I can my hands on, and there is something else also that I can do paying my fare. I am nurse to the son of the good man of the house, a little just able to about. I will him off in your ship, and you will a great of money for him if you take him and sell him in parts.’
“On this she to the house. The Phoenicians a whole year till they had their ship with much merchandise, and then, when they had got enough, they sent to tell the woman. Their messenger, a very fellow, came to my father’s house a necklace of gold with among it; and while my mother and the had it in their hands it and about it, he a to the woman and then to the ship, she took me by the hand and me out of the house. In the part of the house she saw the tables set with the cups of guests who had been with my father, as being in on him; these were now all gone to a meeting of the public assembly, so she up three cups and them off in the of her dress, while I her, for I no better. The sun was now set, and was over all the land, so we on as fast as we till we the harbour, where the Phoenician ship was lying. When they had got on they their over the sea, taking us with them, and Jove sent then a wind; six days did we sail night and day, but on the seventh day Diana the woman and she into the ship’s as though she were a sea on the water; so they her to the and fishes, and I was left all and alone. Presently the and took the ship to Ithaca, where Laertes gave of his for me, and thus it was that I came to set upon this country.”
Ulysses answered, “Eumaeus, I have the of your with the most and pity, but Jove has you good as well as evil, for in of you have a good master, who sees that you always have to eat and drink; and you lead a good life, I am still going about my way from city to city.”
Thus did they converse, and they had only a very little time left for sleep, for it was soon daybreak. In the time Telemachus and his were land, so they the sails, took the mast, and the ship into the harbour.136 They out their and fast the hawsers; they then got out upon the sea shore, mixed their wine, and got dinner ready. As soon as they had had to eat and drink Telemachus said, “Take the ship on to the town, but me here, for I want to look after the on one of my farms. In the evening, when I have all I want, I will come to the city, and to-morrow in return for your trouble I will give you all a good dinner with meat and wine.” 137
Then Theoclymenus said, “And what, my dear friend, is to of me? To house, among all your men, am I to repair? or shall I go to your own house and to your mother?”
“At any other time,” Telemachus, “I should have you go to my own house, for you would no want of hospitality; at the present moment, however, you would not be there, for I shall be away, and my mother will not see you; she not often herself to the suitors, but at her in an upper chamber, out of their way; but I can tell you a man house you can go to—I Eurymachus the son of Polybus, who is in the by every one in Ithaca. He is much the best man and the most wooer, of all those who are paying to my mother and trying to take Ulysses’ place. Jove, however, in alone or no they will come to a end the marriage takes place.”
As he was speaking a bird by upon his right hand—a hawk, Apollo’s messenger. It a in its talons, and the feathers, as it them off,138 to the ground Telemachus and the ship. On this Theoclymenus called him and him by the hand. “Telemachus,” said he, “that bird did not on your right hand without having been sent there by some god. As soon as I saw it I it was an omen; it means that you will powerful and that there will be no house in Ithaca more than your own.”
“I wish it may prove so,” answered Telemachus. “If it does, I will you so much good will and give you so many presents that all who meet you will you.”
Then he said to his friend Piraeus, “Piraeus, son of Clytius, you have the most to me of all those who have me to Pylos; I wish you would take this to your own house and him till I can come for him.”
And Piraeus answered, “Telemachus, you may away as long as you please, but I will look after him for you, and he shall no of hospitality.”
As he spoke he on board, and the others do so also and the hawsers, so they took their places in the ship. But Telemachus on his sandals, and took a long and with a of from the of the ship. Then they the hawsers, the ship off from land, and on the city as they had been told to do, while Telemachus on as fast as he could, till he the where his of were feeding, and where the excellent swineherd, who was so a to his master.
