While Reading The Books 1-5 Of The Odyssey, Make Sure To Underline Any Lines Or Passages That Strike You As Peculiar. essay

BOOK A4What the Sea God SaidThey came to Sparta, land of caves and valleys,and drove to Menelaus’ house. They found him hosting a wedding feast for many gueststo celebrate his children’s marriages. In Troy he had declared that he would give his daughter to Achilles’ son, who ruled the Myrmidons. Now he was sending her, with dowry gifts of horse-drawn chariots; the gods had made the marriage come to pass. And he was welcoming a Spartan bride, Alector’s daughter, for his well-loved son, strong Megapenthes, mothered by a slave. The gods had given Helen no more children after the beautiful Hermione, image of Aphrodite all in gold. Neighbors and family were feasting gladly under the king’s high roof. The bard was singing and strumming, and two acrobats were spinning and leading them in dance. Telemachus and Nestor’s son stopped by the palace doorsBOOK 4: WHAT THE SEA GOD SAID 153and held their horses. Menelaus’ guard,Eteoneus, ran out and saw them there,and then hurried back inside to tell his master.“Your Majesty, there are two men outside,strangers who seem like sons of Zeus. Please tell me, should we take off the harness from their horses?Or send them off to find another host?”Flushed Menelaus shouted angrily,“You used to have some brains!Now you are talking like a silly child. We two were fed by many different hostsbefore returning home. As we may hopefor Zeus to keep us safe in future times, untack their horses! Lead them in to dine!”30So Eteoneus rushed out from the palace, and ordered other slaves to follow him.They freed the sweating horses from their yokeand tied them by the manger, which they filledwith emmer that they mixed with bright white barley.They leaned the carriage up against the wall and led their guests inside the godlike house.The boys looked round the palace in amazement: the lofty halls of famous Menelaus shone like the dazzling light of sun or moon. When they had satisfied their eyes withstaring they went to take a bath in polished tubs. The slave girls helped them wash and rubbed them downin olive oil, then dressed them in wool cloaks and tunics, and then seated them beside the son of Atreus, King Menelaus. A house girl brought a basin made of silver,4050154 HOMER: THE oDYSSEYand water in a golden jug. She poured itover their hands to wash, then set a tableof polished wood beside them, and a humbleslave girl brought bread and many canapés,a lavish spread. The carver carried platterswith every kind of meat, and set before themcups made of gold. Then ruddy Menelauswelcomed them both and told them,“Help yourselves!Enjoy the food! When you have shared our meal,we will begin to ask you who you are.Your fathers must be scepter-bearing kings;the sons of peasants do not look like you.”60With that, he took the dish of rich roast meat, cut from the back, which was his special meal, and offered it to them. They reached their handsto take the food set out in front of them.After their thirst and hunger had been sated, Telemachus turned round to Nestor’s son, ducking his head so no one else could hear. 70“Pisistratus! Dear friend, do you see how these echoing halls are shining bright with bronze, and silver, gold and ivory and amber?It is as full of riches as the palace ofZeus on Mount Olympus! I am struck with awe.” When Menelaus heard his words, he spoke to them in turn-his words flew out.“No mortal, my dear boys, can rival Zeus. His halls and home and property are deathless. Some man may match my wealth; or maybe not. I suffered for it. I was lost, adrift80BOOK4: WHAT THE sEA GOD SAID 155at sea for eight long years. I traipsed through Cyprus, Phoenicia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Sidon and Araby, and Libya,where lambs are born with horns-their ewes give birth three times a year. The master and his slavehave milk and cheese and meat; the flock provides sweet milk year round. But while I wandered there accumulating wealth, someone crept in and killed my brother; his own scheming wife betrayed him. I can take no joy in all my wealth. Whoever they may be, your fathers have surely told you how much I have suffered! I lost my lovely home, and I was parted for many years from all my splendid riches.I wish I had stayed here, with just a third of all the treasure I have now acquired, if those who died at Troy, so far away from Argive pastures, were alive and well.Isit here in my palace, mourning allwho died, and often weeping. Sometimes tears bring comfort to my heart, but not forlong cold grief grows sickening. I miss them all, but one man most. When I remember him, I cannot eat or sleep, since no one labored like him-Odysseus. His destiny was suffering, and mine the endless pain of missing him. We do not even know if he is still alive-he has been gone so long. His faithful wife and old Laertes must grieve for him, and young Telemachus, who was a newborn when he went away.”90100110These words roused in the boy a desperate need to mourn his father. Tears rolled down his face and splashed down on the ground. He lifted up156 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYhis cloak to hide his eyes. But Menelausnoticed and wondered whether he should waituntil the boy first spoke about his father,or ask. As he was hesitating, Helenemerged from her high-ceilinged, fragrant bedroom,like Artemis, who carries golden arrows.Adraste set a special chair forher Alcippe spread upon it soft wool blankets,and Phylo brought a silver sewing basket,given to her by Alcandre, the wifeof Polybus, who lived in Thebes, in Egypt, where people have extraordinary wealth.He gave two silver tubs to Menelaus,a pair of tripods and ten pounds of gold.His wife gave other lovely gifts for Helen: a golden spindle and this silver basketon wheels; the rims were finished off with gold. Phylo, her girl, brought out that basket now, packed full of yarn she had already spun. A spindle wound around with purple wool was laid across it. She sat down and put her feet upon a stool, and asked her husband,20130“Do we know who these men are, Menelaus, who have arrived here in our house? Shall I conceal my thoughts or speak? I feel compelled to say, the sight of them amazes me. I never saw two people so alike as this boy and Telemachus, the son of spirited Odysseus, the child he left behind, a little newborn baby, the day the Greeks marched off to Troy, their minds fixated on the war andviolence They made my face the cause that hounded them.”40BOOK 4: WHAT THE SEA GOD SAID 157High-colored Menelaus answered, “Wife,I saw the likeness too. Odysseus had hands like those, those legs, that hair, that head,that glancing gaze. And when I spoke just now about Odysseus and all the thingshe suffered for my sake, the boy grimaced, and floods of tears were rolling down his cheeks; he raised his purple cloak to hide his eyes.”150Pisistratus, the son of Nestor, spoke.“King Menelaus, you are right. This is truly his son, just as you say he is.But he is shy and feels he should not speaktoo boldly in your presence right away Your voice is like a god’s to us. Lord Nestor sent me to guide him here. He longed to see you to get some news from you or some advice. A son whose father is away will suffer intensely, if he has no man at home to help him. In the absence of hisfather, Telemachus has no one to protect him.”160Then Menelaus answered, “So the son of my dear friend, who worked so hard for me, has come here to my house! I always thought that I would greet that friend with warmth beyond all other Argives, if Zeus let us sail home with all speed across the sea. I would have brought him from Ithaca, with all his wealth, his son and people, and bestowed on him a town in Argos, driving out the natives from somewhere hereabouts under my rule. We would have constantly spent time together. Nothing would have divided us in love and joy, till death’s dark cloud surrounded us.170180158 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYBut I suppose the god begrudged our friendship,and kept that poor, unlucky man from home.”His words made everybody want to cry Helen was weeping, as was Menelaus.Pisistratus’ eyes were full of tears for irreplaceable Antilochus,killed by the noble son of shining Dawn.Mindful of him, he spoke with words like wings.“King Menelaus, when we spoke of you back home in our own halls, my father Nestor always declared you are exceptionalfor common sense. So listen now to me.I disapprove of crying during dinner. Dawn will soon come; weep then. There is no harm in mourning when a person dies; it is the only honor we can pay the deadto cut our hair and drench our cheeks with tears. I had a brother named Antilochus, one of the bravest fighters in the army, a sprinter and a warrior. He died. I never got to meet him or to see him. Perhaps you did?”190200King Menelaus answered, “My friend, you speak just as a wise man should, like somebody much older than yourself. You show your father’s wisdom in your speech. A lineage is easy to discern when Zeus spins out a life of happiness, in marriage and in offspring. So he gave good luck to Nestor all his life; he aged at home in comfort, and his sons are wise210BOOK 4: WHAT THE SEA GOD SAID 159and skillful spear-men. Yes, we will stop crying and turn our minds to dinner once again.Let them pour water on our hands. At dawn, Telemachus and I can talk at length.”At that Asphalion, the nimble house slave of mighty Menelaus, poured the water over their hands. They helped themselves to food from laden tables. Then the child of Zeus, Helen, decided she would mix the wine with drugs to take all pain and rage away, to bring forgetfulness of every evil. Whoever drinks this mixture from thebowwill shed no tears that day, not even if her mother or her father die, nor evenif soldiers kill her brother or her darling son with bronze spears before her very eyes. Helen had these powerful magic drugsfrom Polydamna, wife of Thon, from Egypt, where fertile fields produce the most narcotics: some good, some dangerous. The people there are skillful doctors. They are the Healer’s people. She mixed the wine and told the slave to pour it, and then she spoke again.220230“Now Menelaus, and you two noble sons of noble men, Zeus gives us good and bad at different times; he has the power. Sit here then and eat, and I will entertain you with a story. Enjoy it; it is fitting to the times. I cannot tell of all the challenges steadfast Odysseus has undergone. But I will tell you what that brave man did240160 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYat Troy, when the Achaeans were in trouble.He beat himself and bruised his body badlyand put a ragged cloak on, like a slave,then shuffled through the enemy city streets.In his disguise he seemed a poor old beggar,hardly a man to sail with the Achaeans.He crept through Troy like that, and no one knew himexcept for me. I saw through his disguiseand questioned him. He was too smart to talk, acting evasive. But I washed and scrubbed him with oil and dressed him, and I swore an oath that I would not reveal him to the Trojans before he had got back to his own camp. He told me all the things the Greeks were planningOn his way back, he used his long bronze swordto slaughter many Trojans, and he brought useful intelligence to tell the Greeks. The Trojan women keened in grief, but I was glad-by then I wanted to go home. I wished that Aphrodite had not made me go crazy, when she took me from my country, and made me leave my daughter and the bedI shared with my fine, handsome, clever husband.”250260And Menelaus said,“Yes, wife, quite right. I have been round the world, and I have met many heroic men and known their minds. I never saw a man so resolute as that Odysseus. How tough he was! And what impressive fortitude he showed inside the Wooden Horse! We fighters lurked inside, to bring destruction to the Trojans.270161BOOK 4: WHAT THE SE^ GoD SAIDYou came there too. Some spirit who desiredto glorify the Trojans urged youonGodlike Deiphobus was following you.Three times you went around the hollow belly,touching the hiding place, and calling onus Greeks by name: you put on different voicesfor each man’s wife. Then I and Diomedes and good Odysseus, inside the horse,heard you call out to us, and we two wantedto go out, or to answer from in there. Odysseus prevented us from going. Then all the other sons of the Achaeanswere quiet; Anticlus still wished to answer. Odysseus’ hands clamped shut his mouthand saved us all. He held him there like that, until Athena led you far away.”280Weighing these words, Telemachus replied,“But Menelaus, all this makes it worse!My father’s courage could not save his life,even if he had had a heart of iron. So now, show us to bed. We need the comfortof being lulled into a sweet deep sleep.”290Then Argive Helen told her girls to spread beds on the porch and pile on them fine rugsof purple, and lay blankets over them,with woolly covers on the very top. The girls went out with torches in their hands and made the beds. A slave led out the guests. lelemachus and Nestor’s handsome son slept in the front room; Menelaus slept tar back inside the lofty house. Beside him lay marvelous Helen, in her flowing gown.300162 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYSoon Dawn was born, her fingers bright with roses.Gruff Menelaus jumped up out of bed,got dressed and strapped his sharp sword to his shoulder,then tied his sandals on his well-oiled feet.He went out of his bedroom like a god, approached Telemachus, and spoke to him.310“What need has brought you here, Telemachus,to Sparta, over such expanse of sea?Private or public business? Tell me truly!”Telemachus inhaled and then replied,“King Menelaus, son of Atreus, I came in search of news about my father. My house is being eaten up; our wealth is ruined. My whole home is full of men who mean me harm-my mother’s loutish suitors. Each day they kill more sheep, more longhorn cattle. So I am begging you, here on my knees, tell me the dreadful news, if he is dead! Perhaps you saw it with your eyes, or heard tales of his travels. He was surely born to suffer in extraordinary ways. Please do not try to sweeten bitter news from pity; tell me truly if you saw him, and how he was. If my heroic father ever helped you at Troy when things were bad, keep that in mind right now, and tell the truth.”320330Flushed, Menelaus shouted out in anger, “Damn them! Those cowards want to steal the bed of one whose heart is braver than their own. As when a deer lays down two newborn fawns,163BOOK 4: WHAT THE SEA GOD SAIDstillsucklings, in the lair ofsome strong lion,and goes to look tor pasture, over slopesand grassy valleys; when the lion comes backto his own bed, he brings down doom on them so will Odysseus upon those men.O Father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo,Ipray he is as strong as when he stood to wrestle Philomeleides, on Lesbos,and hurled him to the ground, and we all cheered.So may Odysseus attack the suitors.May all their lives be brief, their weddings cursed!As for your questions, I will not deceiveyou.I will not hide a single word I heardfrom that old Sea God Proteus. Although I longed to come back home, away from Egypt,the gods prevented me, since I had failed to offer perfect hecatombs. They alwaysdesire obedience. There is an islandout in the sea beside the coast of Egypt, named Pharos. If a clear wind blows your ship, it takes all day to travel to that island. Its harbor has good anchorage, andthere men draw dark water up, and then launch offto sea. But I was held for twenty days by gods. No winds appeared to guide my shipsactoss the water’s back. All our supplies would have been gone, and all our hope; but then a goddess, Eidothea, pitied me- the child of Proteus, the old sea god. She met me pacing sadly all alone. My men were off around the island, fishing With hooks, as usual-hunger pinched their bellies. She stood beside me and she spoke to me.340350360164 HOMER: THE ODYSSEY‘Stranger, are you so foolish that you chooseto give up, and take pleasure in your pain?There is no end in sight; you have been stuckhere on this island for so long. Your men growweak at heart.’I answered her and said, Whoever you may be-for sure a goddess–I tell you I am trapped against my will. I must have sinned against the deathless gods who live in heaven. Please explain which spirit is blocking me from going home across the teeming sea. Gods must knoweverything That shining goddess answered me at once, Stranger, I will be frank with you. A deathless old sea god haunts this place, named Proteus of Egypt, who can speak infallibly, who knows the depths of seas, and serves Poseidon. They say he is the one who fathered me. If you can somehow lie in wait and catch him, he will explain how you can get back home, plotting your path where fish leap through thewaters And ifyou wish it, prince, he will explain what happened in your home, both good and bad, while you were gone on this long. painful journey: Those were her words. I answered, “Tell me, please, how I can trap this ancient god, so he will not see me too soon, and get away. It is not easy for a man to catch a god. The goddess answered me at once, ‘Stranger, I will instruct you thoroughly. When the sun hits the midpoint of the sky, the old god bobs above the salty water; the breath ofZephyr hides him in dark shade. He goes to take his nap inside the caves. Around him sleep the clustering seals, the daughters370380390400BOOK4: WHAT THE S EA GOD SAID 165of lovely Lady Brine. Their breath smells sourfrom gray seawater, pungent salty depths.Select the three best men you have on board,and when dawn breaks, I will take all of you down to the shore, and set you ina line.Let me explain the old god’s tricks. He will first count the seals and walk around among them.When he has counted them and checked them all,he lies down in the middle, like a shepherdamong his flock of sheep. When you observehim sleeping, gather all your force and strength, and hold him there, despite his desperate struggles.In trying to escape, he will change shapeto every animal on earth, and thenwater and holy fire. You must hold fastunshaken, and press harder; keep him down.At last he will assume again the form in which he went to sleep, and he will speak and question you. Then, warrior, releaseyour forceful hold on that old god, and ask him which god is angry with you, and the wayto cross the fish-filled waters and go homeWith that she sank beneath the deep sea waves.I went down to the ships upon the sand.My heart was surging in me as I walked. Ariving at the ships and at the shore, we made our meal. Then came immortal night; we went to sleep beside the water’s edge.When Dawn appeared, her fingers bright with flowers,I walked beside the spreading sea, along the dunes, and prayed intensely to the gods. Then I chose out my three most trusted men. Ihe goddess dove down deep inside the sea and brought four sealskins up from underwater,410420430166 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYnew-flayed-to help her plot against her father. She scooped out hiding places in the sand,and sat to wait. We came right up to her. She laid us in a row, and put a skinon each. It would have been a dismal hideout, stinking of salt-bred seals. Who would lie downto rest beside a creature from the sea?But she brought sweet ambrosia to save us. She very kindly put it in our nostrils, to take away the stench of seal. We waited all morning, apprehensively. And then out of the sea there rose a pod of seals; they lay along the shore. At noon the god emerged above the waves. He went among his fatted seals and counted out their number. He counted us among the first of them, suspecting nothing. Then he lay down too. With a great shout we pounced on him and grabbed him. The old god still remembered all his tricks, and first became a lion with a mane, then snake, then leopard, then a mighty boar, then flowing water, then a leafy tree. But we kept holding on: our hearts stood firm. At last that ancient sorcerer grew tired, and then he asked me, ‘Son of Atreus! What god devised this plan with you and taught you to lurk and capture me against my will? What do you want from me?’ And I replied, Old god, why do you want to throw me off? You know I have been trapped here on this island for far too long, with no way out; my heart grows faint. So tell me-gods knoweverything what spirit stops my journey? And how can I get home across the watery shoals offish?440450460470167BOOK 4: WHAT THE SEA GOD SAIDAt once he answered me and told me this:You should have given Zeus and other godsfine offerings, to speed your journey homeacross the wine-dark sea. It is your fatenot to go home or see the ones you loveuntil you go again to Egypt’s river,watered by Zeus, and kill a hundred cows, to please the deathless gods who live in heaven.Then they will let you travel where you wish.Ifelt heartbroken that I had to cross the misty sea and go again to Egypt:a long and bitter journey! But I answered,Sir, I will do exactly as you say. But come now, tell me this, and tell me truly, did all the Greeks sail safely home by ship,whom Nestor and myself left there in Troy?Did any meet a dreadful death at sea, on his own ship, or in familiar arms, after the war wound up?’ When I said this,at once he answered me and said these words.O son of Atreus! Why ask me this?You have no need to know or learn my mind.When I have told you, you will not be long able to hold back tears. So many menwere killed, and many left behind at Troy. Just two of all the bronze-clad captains diedwhile traveling back home; one more perhapsmay be alive, trapped somewhere out at sea.Ajax was drowned; his ships were sunk. Poseidon hrst drove him to the rocks of Gyrae, then Tescued him from the sea; he would have lived, despite Athena’s hatred, but he made a Crazy boast-that he survived the waves against the wishes of the gods. Poseidon480490500168 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYheard his rash words. At once, he seized his tridentin mighty hands, and hit the Gyran rock.One half remained; the other, on which Ajaxsat as he boasted, cracked right off and fellinto the sea, and carried him deep down.The boundless waves washed over him; he drankthe salty brine, and died. But Agamemnonsurvivedthe goddess Hera saved his fleet.When he had almost reached the craggy mountainof Malea, a gust ofwind took holdand bore him over waves where fish were jumping, across the rumbling depths to where all farmsare finished, where Thyestes used to live, and now his son Aegisthus. After that, the route was clear: the gods made all winds fair. Then joyfully he stepped foot in his country, and touched and kissed the earth of his dear home.He wept hot floods of tears, from happiness.But from the lookout post the watchman saw him. Scheming Aegisthus paid that man two talents of gold to watch all year, so Agamemnon could not slip past unseen, or summon up his will to fight. The spy rushed off to tell the King. Aegisthus formed a plan at once. He chose the twenty best men in the land to lurk in ambush, and he told the house slavesto cook a feast. He rode out on his carriage, and summoned Agamemnon, who suspected nothing. Aegisthus killed him over dinner, just as a person kills an ox at manger. All of the men who came with him were killed, and all those of Aegisthus; all were killed.51020530BOOK 4: WHAT THE SEA GD SAID 169His story broke my heart, and I sat downupon the sands and wept. I did not wantto go on living or to see the sun.Ithrashed around and wailed. When I was done,the old Sea God spoke words of truth to me.Now, son of Atreus, your endless weepinghas gone on long enough. It does no good.Quickly, go home. You may still find Aegisthusalive, or else Orestes may have come and killed him; you can join hisfuneral Those words made me a man again: my heartwas warmed inside, despite my grief. My words took wings. I said, ‘I know now of those two; but name the third who may be still alive,trapped somewhere in the wide expanse of sea, or may be dead. I know the news may hurt, but still I want to hearit And he answered, It is Laertes’ son, the Ithacan. I saw him crying, shedding floods of tears upon Calypso’s island, in her chambers. She traps him there; he cannot go back home.He has no boats with oars or crew to row him across the sea’s broad back to his own land.But Menelaus, it is not your fate to die in Argos. Gods will carry you off to the world’s end, to Elysium. Those fields are ruled by tawny Rhadamanthus and life is there the easiest for humans. There is no snow, no heavy storms or rain, but Ocean always sends up gentle breezes ofZephyr to refresh the people there. You gain these blessings as the son-in-law of Zeus through Helen. Then the old god sank540550560170 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYbeneath the waves. I went back to my ships and godlike men, and as I walked my mind swirled with my many thoughts. Beside the fleetwe cooked and ate our meal, then holy nightcame down; we slept beside the surging water.When early Dawn appeared and touched the skywith blossom, first we launched the balanced shipsinto the salty sea, put up the mastsand fixed the sails, and then the men embarkedand sat on benches neatly, in their lines.And then at once they struck the sea with oars.We soon reached Egypt’s holy rain-fed river. We docked the ships and sacrificed the oxen.When I had quenched the anger of the gods,I built a mound to honor Agamemnon, for his immortal fame. The gods at lastgave me fair wind, and sent me quickly home.But come now, stay with me here in my palace,until eleven days or twelve have passed.Then I will send you off with precious gifts, three horses and a gleaming chariot. Also a lovely cup so you can pour gifts to the gods, and always think of me”7080590Then tactfully Telemachus replied, “Please do not keep me here so long, my lord. Indeed, I would be glad to stay a year; I would not even miss my home or parents I get such pleasure listening to you. But my poor friends are surely tired of waiting in Pylos. You have made me stay too long. And for a gift, please only give me treasure. You keep your lovely horses here; I cannot transport them all the way to Ithaca.600BOOK 4 WHAT THE SEA GoD SAID 171You rule these open meadows, rich in clover,white barley in wide rows, and wheat and grass. In Ithaca, there are no fields or racetracksThough it is only fit for goats, we love it more than horse pasture. Islands out at sea have no good grazing-ours the least of all.”Then Menelaus smiled and clasped his hand, and spoke to him in his loud booming voice. 610“My boy, your words are proof of your good blood.I will give different gifts, just as you ask.I will give you the finest piece of treasure of all the hoard I have piled up at home: a finely crafted bowl, of purest silver, with gold around the rim. Hephaestus made it, and Phaedimus the king of Sidon gave it to me, when I was visiting his houseas I was traveling home. You can have that.”Such was their conversation. Then the guests entered the palace, bringing lamb and wine that gives one confidence. The girls, all dressedin pretty scarves, brought bread for them. So went the feasting in the house of Menelaus.620Meanwhile, outside dysseus’ house, the suitors were as arrogant as usual, enjoying throwing discuses and spears Out on the playing field. The two chief suitors, were sitting there: Antinous and godlike Eurymachus. Just then Noëmon, son ot Phronius, approached and asked a question.630172 HOMER: THE ODYSSEY“So do we know, Antinous, or not, whether Telemachus is coming backfrom sandy Pylos? He left with my ship.I need it, to cross over to the fields of Elis, where I have twelve mares with mulessuckling their teats and not yet broken in.want to take and train one.”They were all astonished, since they had not thought the boywas gone to Pylos, but was somewhere near, out with the sheep or pigs. Antinous said,640Tell me the truth, when did he go? And who went with him? Did he choose some Ithacans,or slaves and laborers? It could be either. And tell me also, did he steal the shipfrom you by force, or did you give it to him freely, because he asked?”Noëmon, son of Phronius, replied, “I gave it freely. What could I do, when someone so upset was asking me? A noble boy like that? It would have been ungracious to refuse. The young men who were with him were high class, the best in town except ourselves. I saw Mentor embark as captain-or perhaps not Mentor but a god who looked like him. This puzzles me, that yesterday at dawn I saw great Mentor here, though he had gone to Pylos in the ship.”650BOOK 4: WHAT THE SEA GOD SAID 173With that, Noëmon departed for his father’s house. Those leaderswere furious. At once they made the suitors stop playing games and sit. Antinous spoke up with eyes bright as fire, his mind darkened with anger.660“Damn! That stuck-up boy succeeded in his stupid trip. We thought he would not manage it. Telemachus has launched a ship and picked an ideal crew, despite us all! This is the start of worse. May Zeus destroy his strength before he reaches manhood. Give me a ship and twenty men, so I may watch and catch him in the strait in between Ithaca and craggy Same.A sad end to this journey for his father!”670All of them praised hís words, endorsed his plan, and went inside Odysseus’ palace.Penelope was soon aware of all the suitors’ secret plots. The house boy Medontold her, since he had been outside the courtyard and he had heard the plans they were devising.He rushed to tell her. As he stepped inside, across the threshold, she came up and asked him, 680Well,boy, why have those lordly suitors sent you? To tell godlike Odysseus’ girls o stop their work and make a feast for them? T hope this is their final meal! I hope they never gather elsewhere to go courting! XOu suitors who come crowding here are wasting Telemachus’ wealth! When you were youngerHOMER: THE ODYSSEY174you never paid attention to your fatherswho told you of Odysseus’ greatness.He never spoke or acted without justice,among the people. Lords are mostly biased;they favor one person and hate another.But he did not. He did no wrong at all.Now you! Your wicked deeds and plans are clear.No gratitude for favors from the past!”690Then knowledgeable Medon answered her,“My Queen, I wish this were the worst of it.Now they are plotting even greater ruin. May Zeus ensure it never comes to pass!The suitors want to kill Telemachus with sharp bronze weapons on his journey home. He went to sandy Pylos and to Sparta for word about his father.”00At the news, her legs grew weak; her heart sank; she was struck dumb for a time, her voice blocked as her eyes filled up with tears. At last she answered him, “But why did my son go away? There was no need to go on those swift ships that gallop like horses over miles of salty water. Did he intend to lose his name as well, and be unknown?”710And Medon said, “Perhaps some god or his own heart nudged him to go to Pylos to find out about his father, if he will come back home, or if he has already met his fate.” With that, he left her.BOOK 4: WHAT THE SEA GOD SAID 175Grief wrapped around her, eating at her heart.The house was full of chairs but she could notbear to sit upright. In her bedroom doorwaycollapsing on the tloor, she wept and cried.Around her all her women, young and old,were whimpering. Voice thick with tears, she sobbed,720“Friends, listen! Zeus has cursed me more than allthe women ot my family. AlreadyI lost my noble, lionhearted husband,most talented and brave of all the Greeks, whose fame is spread through Greece. And now the windshave taken my dear son, and no one told methat he was setting out. Shame on you all!You knew that he was leaving in that ship!Not one of you came here to wake me up!If only I had known about his journey, he would have stayed–no matter how he wantedto leave-or else have left me dead right here.Now call old Dolius, my gardener, the slave who cares for all my trees. My father gave him to me when I came here. Tell him to hurry off and sit beside Laertes, and tell him everything; he may decide to go in tears to plead with those who want to kill godlike Odysseus’ son, his grandson.”130740Then the loyal Eurycleia Said, “Lady, sweetheart, even if you take a sword and kill me, I will tell the truth. knew all this. I gave him what he asked for, rCad and sweet wine. He made me swear an oath not to inform you, till twelve days had passed,176 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYor till you heard about it, and you missed him,so that you would not cry and spoil your beauty.Now have a bath, get changed into clean clothes,go with your slave girls upstairs to your room.Pray to Athena, child of Zeus the King.She may save him from death. And do not botherpoor old Laertes; he has pain enough.I do not think the blessed gods despisethis family; I trust that there will always be one to rule this house and rich estate.”50This soothed Penelope. She dried her tears, and took her bath and got dressed in clean clothes,then went up to her bedroom with her girls. She put some barley on a tray and prayed. 60“Hear me, Athena, tireless child of Zeus, if my quick-minded husband ever gave you fat thighs of beef or lamb here in our halls, remember now and save the son I love.Protect him from the abuses of those suitors!” She wailed aloud; the goddess heard herprayer.The suitors made a racket that resounded all through the palace shadows. They were boasting.This queen whom all of us have come here courting is ready now to marry one of us, and does not even know her son will die!” They spoke not knowing how things really stood. Antinous declared to them,770“My lords, you have to stop this bragging! Quiet down, or those inside will hear it. Now get upBOOK 4 WHAT THE SEA GOD SAID 177in silence. We must go and follow throughthe plan we all agreed on in our hearts.”With that, he picked the twenty strongest men. They went down to the seashore; first of allthey launched the swift black ship in deep saltwate, set up the mast and raised the sails and fit the oars in proper order in the straps of leather, then spread out the bright white sails. With confidence their slaves dealt out the weapons. They moored high up the stream and disembarked. They ate there, while they waited for theevening780Penelope lay upstairs in her bedroom, refusing food and drink, consuming nothing She wondered if her fine son would escape from death, or be brought down by those proud suitors.Her mind was like a lion caught by humans, terrified, as they throng and circle round him,trying to trap him; so sweet drowsiness subdued her and she slept, her limbs relaxed.790Athena, bright-eyed goddess, had a plan. She made a phantom looking like a woman, Iphthime, child of great Icarius, the wife of Eumelus who lived in Pherae. She sent it to Odysseus’ house, to make Penelope feel less distressed and stop her tears of grief. It traveled through the latch’s thong, and in her bedroom stood above her head, and asked,800“Penelope, Are you asleep? And are you still upset?HOMER: THE ODYSSEY178The gods who live at ease have no desirefor you to weep or worry. Know, your sonis coming home. He has not wronged the gods.”Intelligent Penelope, still sleeping sweetly inside the gates of dreams,replied,“Sister, why have you come? Your house is far, and you have never visited before.You tell me to stop grieving and not feel the many pains that prickle at my heart.But long ago I lost my lionhearted husband, a man more talented than any, famous throughout all Greece. Now my dear son has sailed off in a ship, though he knows nothing of hardship and the world; he is a child. I worry for him more than for his father.I shudder, I am scared of what may happen, at sea, or in the country that he went to. He has so many enemies; they planto murder him before he reaches home.”B10B20The misty phantom answered her, “Have courage.Let not your heart be troubled or afraid. He has a goddess as his guide-Athena, a helper many men have prayed to have. She has great power. Pitying your griet, she sent me here to tell you all of this.”30Careful Penelope replied, “If you are actually a god, with news from gods, tell me about my husband too, poor man! Tell if he is alive and sees the sun, or dead already in the house ofHades!”BOOK 4: WHAT THE SEA GOD SAID 179The spirit said, “I cannot tell you whetherhe is alive or dead. It is not goodto speak of things intangible as wind.”With that, the phantom floated through the airinto the breeze. And then Penelopewoke up from sleep, and she was glad at heart,because she dreamed so clearly in the night.840The suitors got on board and sailed acrossthe water, set on murdering the boy There is a rocky island out at sea, in between Ithaca and craggy Same, called Asteris-quite small but with a harbor to shelter ships, and there they lurked in ambush.BOOK 5From the Goddess to the StormThen Dawn rose up from bed with Lord Tithonus,to bring the light to deathless gods and mortals. The gods sat down for council, with the great Thunderlord Zeus. Athena was concerned about Odysseus’ many troubles, trapped by the nymph Calypso in her house.“Father, and all immortal gods,” she said, “No longer let a sceptered king be kind, or gentle, or pay heed to right and wrong. Let every king be cruel, his acts unjust! Odysseus ruled gently, like a father, but no one even thinks about him now. The wretched man is stranded on an island; Calypso forces him to stay with her. He cannot make his way back to his country. He has no ships, no oars, and no companions to help him sail across the wide-backed sea. His son has gone for news of his lost father,10BOOK 5: FROM THE GODDESs TO THE STORM 181in sandy Pylos and in splendid Sparta;they plot to kill the boy when he returns!” 20Smiling at her, Lord Zeus who heaps the cloudsreplied, “Ah, daughter! What a thing to say!Did you not plan all this yourself, so thatOdysseus could come and take revengeupon those suitors? Now use all your skill:ensure Telemachus comes safely home,and that the suitors fail and sail away”Then turning to his son he said, “Dear Hermes,you are my messenger. Go tell the goddessour fixed intention: that Odysseusmust go back home-he has endured enough. Without a god or human as his guide, he will drift miserably for twenty daysupon a makeshift raft, and then arrive at fertile Scheria. The magicalPhaeacians will respect him like a god,and send him in a ship to his dear homeland,with gifts of bronze and heaps of gold and clothing,more than he would have brought with him from Troy if he had come directly, with his share of plunder. It is granted him to see the ones he loves, beneath his own high root, in his own country.”30A0Hermes heard these words. At once he fastened on his feet the sandals of everlasting gold with which he flies on breath of air across the sea and land; he seized the wand he uses to enchantHOMER THE ODYSSEY182men’s eyes to sleep or wake as he desires,and flew. The god flashed bright in all his power.He touched Pieria, then from the skyhe plunged into the sea and swooped betweenthe waves, just like a seagull catching fish,wetting its whirring wings in tireless brine.So Hermes scudded through the surging swell.Then finally, he reached the distant island,stepped from the indigo water to the shore, and reached the cavern where the goddess lived.50There sat Calypso with her braided curls.Beside the hearth a mighty fire was burning. The scent of citrus and of brittle pine suffused the island. Inside, she was singing and weaving with a shuttle made of gold.Her voice was beautiful. Around the cave a luscious forest flourished: alder, poplar, and scented cypress. It was full of wings. Birds nested there but hunted out at sea: the owls, the hawks, the gulls with gaping beaks.A ripe and verdant vine, hung thick with grapes, was stretched to coil around her cave. Four springs spurted with sparkling water as they laced with crisscross currents intertwined together. The meadow softly bloomed with celery and violets. He gazed around in wonder and joy, at sights to please even a god. Even the deathless god who once killed Argos stood still, his heart amazed at all he saw. At last he went inside the cave. Calypso, the splendid goddess, knew the god on sight: the deathless gods all recognize each other, however far away their homes may be.6070183BOOK 5: FROM THE GODDESS TO THE STORMBut Hermes did not find Odysseus,since he was sitting by the shore as usual,sobbing ingrief and pain; his heart was breaking.In tears he stared across the fruitless sea.Divine Calypso told her guest to situpon a gleaming, glittering chair, and said,“Dear friend, Lord Hermes of the golden wand, why have you come? You do not often visit. What do you have in mind? My heart inclines to help you ifI can, if it is fated. For now, come in, and let me make you welcome”90At that the goddess led him to a table heaped with ambrosia, and she mixed a drink: red nectar. So swift-flashing Hermes drank and ate till he was satisfied, and then the diplomat explained why he had come.“You are a goddess, I a god-and yet you ask why I am here. Well, I will tell you. Zeus ordered me to come-I did not want to. Who would desire to cross such an expanse of endless salty sea? No human town 15 near here, where gods get fine sacrifices.Still, none can sway or check the will of Zeus. He says the most unhappy man alive is living here-a warrior from those who fought the town of Priam for nine years and in the tenth they sacked it and sailed home. But on the journey back, they wronged Athena. She roused the wind and surging sea against them and all his brave companions were destroyed, while he himself was blown here by the waves. Leus orders you to send him on his way100110184 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYat once, since it is not his destinyto die here far away from those he loves.It is his fate to see his familyand come back home, to his own native land.”Calypso shuddered and let fly at him.“You cruel, jealous gods! You bear a grudgewhenever any goddess takes a manto sleep with as a lover in her bed.Just so the gods who live at ease were angry when rosy-fingered Dawn took up Orion, and from her golden throne, chaste Artemis attacked and killed him with her gentle arrows.Demeter with the cornrows in her hair indulged her own desire, and she made lovewith lasion in triple-furrowed fieldstill Zeus found out, hurled flashing flame and killed him. So now, you male gods are upset with me for living with a man. A man I saved! Zeus pinned his ship and with his flash of lightning smashed it to pieces. All his friends were killed out on the wine-dark sea. This man alone, clutching the keel, was swept by wind and wave, and came here, to my home. I cared for him and loved him, and I vowed to set him free from time and death forever. Still, I know no other god can change the will of Zeus. So let him go, if that is Zeus’ order, across the barren sea. I will not give an escort for this trip across the water; I have no ships or rowers. But I will share what I know with him, and gladly give useful advice so he can safely reach his home.”1203040BOOK 5: FROM THE GODDESS TO THE STORM 185The mediator, Zeus’ servant, replied, “Then send him now, avoid the wrath of Zeus, do not enrage him, or one dayhis rage will hurt you. With these words, he vanished.Acknowledging the edict sent from Zeus, the goddess went to find Odysseus. She found him on the shore. His eyes were always tearful; he wept sweet life away, in longing to go back home, since she no longer pleased him. He had no choice. He spent his nights with her inside her hollow cave, not wanting her though she still wanted him. By day he sat out on the rocky beach, in tears and grief, staring in heartbreak at the fruitless sea.150The goddess stood by him and said, “Poor man! Stop grieving, please. You need not waste your life.I am quite ready now to send you off. Using your sword of bronze, cut trunks and build a raft, fix decks across, and let it take you across the misty sea. I will provide water, red wine, and food, to stop you starving, and I will give you clothes, and send a windto blow you safely home, if this is what those sky gods want. They are more powerful than me; they get their way.”160Odysseus,informed by many years of pain and loss, shuddered and let his words fly out at her. Goddess, you have some other scheme in mind, not my safe passage. You are telling me to cross this vast and terrifying gult,70186 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYin just a raft, when even stable schoonerssped on by winds from Zeus would not succeed?No, goddess, I will not get on a raft, unless you swear to me a mighty oathyou are not planning yet more pain for me.”At that, divine Calypso smiled at him. She reached out and caressed him with her hand, saying, “You scalawag! What you have saidshows that you understand how these things work. But by this earth, and by the sky above, and by the waters of the Styx below which is the strongest oath for blessed gods,I swear I will not plot more pain for you. I have made plans for you as I would do for my own self, if I were in your place. I am not made of iron; no, my heart is kind and decent, and I pity you”180190And with those words, the goddess quickly turned and led the way; he followed in her footsteps. They reached the cave together, man and goddess. The chair that Hermes had been sitting on was empty now; Odysseus sat there. The goddess gave him human food and drink. She sat and faced godlike Odysseus while slave girls brought her nectar and ambrosia. They reached to take the good things set before them, and satisfied their hunger and their thirst.200The goddess-queen began. “Odysseus, son of Laertes, blessed by Zeus-your plans are always changing. Do you really wantBOOK 5: FROM THE GODDEsS TO THE STORM 187to go back to that home you love so much?Well then, good-bye! But if you understood how glutted you will be with sufferingbefore you reach your home, you would stay herewith me and be immortal-though you might still wish to see that wife you always pine for.And anyway, I know my body isbetter than hers is. I am taller too. Mortals can never rival the immortalsin beauty”210So Odysseus, with tact, said “Do not be enraged at me, great goddess.You are quite right. I know my modest wife Penelope could never match your beauty. She is a human; you are deathless, ageless. But even so, I want to go back home, and every day I hope that day will come. If some god strikes me on the wine-dark sea, I will endure it. By now I am used to suffering-I have gone through so much, at sea and in the war. Let this come too.”220he sun went down and brought the darkness on. They went inside the hollow cave and took the pleasure of their love, held close together.When vernal Dawn first touched the sky with flowers, they rose and dressed: Odysseus put on his cloak and tunic, and Calypso wore her fine long robe of silver. Round her waist eWrapped a golden belt, and veiled her head. hen she prepared the journey for the man.230HOMER: THE ODYSSEY188She gave an axe that fitted in his grip,its handle made of finest olive wood;its huge bronze blade was sharp on either side.She also gave a polished adze. She led himout to the island’s end, where tall trees grew: black poplar, alder, fir that touched the sky, good for a nimble boat of seasoned timber.When she had shown him where the tall trees grew, Calypso, queen of goddesses, went home. Odysseus began and made good progress.With his bronze axe he cut down twenty trunks, polished them skillfully and planed them straight. Calypso brought a gimlet and he drilled through every plank and fitted them together, fixing it firm with pegs and fastenings. As wide as when a man who knows his trade marks out the curving hull to fit a ship, so wide Odysseus marked out his raft. He notched the side decks to the close-set frame and fixed long planks along the ribs to finish. He set a mast inside, and joined to it a yardarm and a rudder to steer straight. He heaped the boat with brush, and caulked the sideswith wickerwork, to keep the water out. Calypso brought him fabric for a sail, and he constructed that with equal skill. He fastened up the braces, clews and halyards, and using levers, launched her on the sea.40250260The work had taken four days; on the fifth Calypso let him go. She washed and dressed him in clothes that smelled of incense. On the raft she put a flask of wine, a bigger flask of water, and a large supply of food.189BOOK 5: FROM THE GoDDESS To THE STORMShe sent him off with gentle, lukewarm breezes.Gladly Odysseus spread out his sailsto catch the wind; with skill he steered the rudder.No sleep fell on his eyes; he watched the stars,the Pleiades, late-setting Boötes,and Bear, which people also call the Plow,which circles in one place, and marks Orion the only star that has no share of Ocean. Calypso, queen of goddesses, had told himto keep the Bear on his left side while sailing.He sailed the sea for seven days and ten, and on the eighteenth day, a murky mountain of the Phaeacian land appeared–it rose up like a shield beyond the misty sea.270280Returning from the Ethiopians, and pausing on Mount Solyma, Poseidon, Master of Earthquakes, saw the distant raft. Enraged, he shook his head and told himself,“This is outrageous! So it seems the gods have changed their plans about Odysseuswhile I was absent! He has almost reached Phaeacia, where it is his destiny to flee the rope of pain that binds him now. But I will goad him to more misery, till he is sick of it.”290He gathered up the clouds, and seized his trident and stirred round the sea and roused the gusts of every wind, and covered earth and sea with fog. Night stretched from heaven. Eurus, Notus, blasting Zephyr and Boreas, the child of sky, all fellHOMER: THE ODYSSEY90and rolled a mighty wave. Odysseusgrew weak at knees. He cried out in despai,“More pain? How will it end? I am afraid the goddess spoke the truth: that I will havea sea of sufferings before I reach my homeland. It is coming true! Zeus whirls the air. Look at those clouds! He agitatesthe waves, as winds attack from all directions. I can hold on to one thing: certain death.Those Greeks were lucky, three and four times over, who died upon the plain of Troy to help the sons of Atreus. I wish I had died that same day the mass of Trojans hurledtheir bronze-tipped spears at me around the corpseof Peleus’ son. I would have had a funeral, and honor from the Greeks; but now I have to die this cruel death!”300310A wave crashed onto him, and overturned the raft, and he fell out. The rudder slippedout of his hands. The winds blew all directions and one enormous gust snapped off the mast. The sail and yardarm drifted out to sea. Then for a long time rushing, crashing waves kept him submerged: he could not reach the surface. The clothes Calypso gave him weighed him down.At last he rose and spat the sour saltwater out of his mouth-it gushed forth in a torrent. Despite his pain and weakness, he remembered his raft, and lunged to get it through the waves; he climbed on top of it and clung to life. The great waves carried it this way and that. As when the thistles, clumping close together,20191BOOK 5: FROM THE GODDESS To THE SToRMare borne across the prairie by the North Wind,so these winds swept the raft across the sea.The South Wind hurls it, then the North Wind grabs it, then East Wind yields and lets the West Wind drive it.But stepping softly, Ino, the White Goddes, Cadmus’ child, once human, human-voiced,now honored with the gods in salty depths, noticed that he was suffering and lost,with pity. Like a gull with wings outstretched she rose up from the sea, sat on the raft and said,330“Poor man! Why does enraged Poseidoncreate an odyssey of pain for you?’But his hostility will not destroy you. You seem intelligent. Do as I say. Strip off your clothes and leave the raft behind for winds to take away. With just your armsswim to Phaeacia. Fate decrees that thereyou will survive. Here, take my scarf and tie it under your chest: with this immortal veil, you need not be afraid of death or danger. But when you reach dry earth, untie the scarf and throw it out to sea, away from land, and turn away” With that, the goddess gave it, and plunged back down inside the surging sea, just like a gull. The black wave covered her.340350The hero who had suffered so much danger was troubled and confused. He asked himself, Some deity has said to leave the raft. But what if gods are weaving tricks again? Iwill not trust her yet: with my own eyes I saw the land she said I should escape to,192 HOMER: THE ODYSSEYand it is far away. I will do this:as long as these wood timbers hold together,I will hang on, however hard it is. But when the waves have smashed my raft to pieces,then I will have no choice, and I will swim.”60While he was thinking this, the Lord of Earthquakes, Poseidon, roused a huge and dreadful wavethat arched above his head: he hurled it at him.As when a fierce wind ruffles upa heap of dry wheat chaff; it scatters here and there; so were the raft’s long timbers flung apart. He climbed astride a plank and rode alongas if on horseback. He took off the clothesCalypso gave him, but he tied the scarfaround his chest, and dove into the sea, spreading his arms to swim. The Lord of Earthquakes saw him and nodded, muttering, “At lastyou are in pain! Go drift across the sea, till you meet people blessed by Zeus, the Sky Lord. But even then, I think you will not lack for suffering” He spurred his fine-maned horses,and went to Aegae, where he had his home.70380Athena, child of Zeus, devised a plan. She blocked the path of all the other winds, told them to cease and made them go to sleep,but roused swift Boreas and smoothed the wavesin front of him, so that Odysseus could reach Phaeacia and escape from death.Two days and nights he drifted on the waves: each moment he expected he would die.But when the Dawn with dazzling braids brought day 390193BOOK 5: FROM THE GODDESS TO THE STORMfor the third time, the wind died down. No breeze,but total calm. As he was lifted upby an enormous wave, he scanned around,and saw the shore nearby. As when a fatherlies sick and weak for many days, tormentedby some cruel spirit, till at last the godsrestore him back to life; his children feelgreat joy; Odysseus felt that same joy when he saw land. He swam and longed to set his feet on earth. But when he was in earshot, he heard the boom of surf against the rocks. The mighty waves were crashing on the shore,a dreadful belching. Everything was coveredin salty foam. There were no sheltering harborsfor ships, just sheer crags, reefs and solid cliffs.Odysseus’ heart and legs gave way. Shaken but purposeful, he told himself,400“Zeus went beyond my hopes and let me seedry land! I made it, cutting the abyss!But I see no way out from this gray sea.There are steep cliffs offshore, and all aroundthe rushing water roars; the rock runs sheer;the sea is deep near shore; there is no wayto set my feet on land without disaster.IfI attempt to scramble out, a wave will seize and dash me on the jagged rock;a useless effort. But if I swim on farther, looking for bays or coves or slanting beaches,storm winds may seize me once again and drag me, howling with grief, towards the fish-filled sea.A god may even send a great sea-monster, the kind that famous Amphitrite rears. know Poseidon wants to do me harm.”410420194 HOMER: THE oDYSSEYAs he was thinking this, the waves grew big and hurled him at the craggy shore. His skinwould have been ripped away, and his bones smashed,had not Athena given him a thought.He grabbed a rock as he was swept alongwith both hands, and clung to it, groaning, till the wave passed by. But then the swell rushed back,and struck him hard and hurled him out to sea.As when an octopus, dragged from its den, has many pebbles sticking to its suckers,so his strong hands were skinned against the rocks.A mighty wave rolled over him again. He would have died too soon, in misery, without the inspiration of Athena.He came up from the wave that spewed to shore and swam towards the land, in search of beacheswith gradual slopes, or inlets from the sea. He swam until he reached a river’s mouth with gentle waters; that place seemed ideal, smooth and not stony, sheltered from the wind. He sensed its current; in his heart he prayed,430440“Unknown god, hear me! How I longed for you! I have escaped the salt sea and Poseidon. Even the deathless gods respect a man who is as lost as I am now. I have gone through so much and reached your flowing streams. Pity me, lord! I am your supplicant.” 450The current ceased; the River God restrained the waves and made them calm. He brought him safe into the river mouth. His legs cramped up: the sea had broken him. His swollen bodyBOOK 5: FROM THE GODDESS TO THE SToRM 195gushed brine from mouth and nostrils. There he lay,winded and silent, hardly fit to move.A terrible exhaustion overcame him.When he could breathe and think again, he took the goddess’ scarf off, and let it go into the river flowing to the sea:strong currents swept it down and Ino’s handstook it. He crawled on land and crouched besidethe reeds and bent to kiss life-giving earth,and trembling, he spoke to his own heart.460“What now? What will become of me? If I stay up all wretched night beside this river, the cruel frost and gentle dew togethermay finish me: my life is thin with weakness.At dawn a cold breeze blows beside the river.But if I climb the slope to those dark woodsand go to rest in that thick undergrowth,letting sweet sleep take hold of me, and losingmy cold and weariness-wild beasts may find me and treat me as their prey”470But he decidedto go into the woods. He found a placebeside a clearing, near the water’s edgeHe crawled beneath two bushes grown together,of olive and thorn. No strong wet wind could blowthrough them, no shining sunbeam ever strike them,no rain could penetrate them; they were growing so thickly intertwined. Odysseus crept under, and he scraped a bed together, of leaves: there were enough to cover two against the worst of winter. Seeing this,480HOMER: THE ODYSSEY196the hero who had suffered for so longwas happy. He lay down inside and heapedmore leaves on top. As when a man who livesout on a lonely farm that has no neighborsburies a glowing torch inside black embersto save the seed of fire and keep a source so was Odysseus concealed in leaves.Athena poured down sleep to shut his eyesso all his painful weariness could end.90
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