Book 15

1 Pallas Athena went to spacious Lacedaemon, to remind the shining son of great-hearted Odysseus of his homecoming and to urge him to return. She found Telemachus and the glorious son of Nestor lying in the forecourt of renowned Menelaus. The son of Nestor was overcome by soft sleep; but sweet sleep did not hold Telemachus, for all through the immortal night anxious thoughts of his father kept him wakeful in his heart. Gray-eyed Athena stood near him and said:

10 “Telemachus, it is no longer right for you to wander far from home, leaving your possessions behind and men in your house so overbearing. Beware that they do not divide up all your possessions and eat them up, and your journey prove useless. Quickly, then, urge Menelaus, good at the war cry, to send you on your way, so that you may still find your excellent mother at home. For already her father and her brothers are urging her to marry Eurymachus, since he outdoes all the suitors in his gifts and has been raising his bride-gifts. Take care that nothing of value is carried out of the house against your will. You know what the heart in a woman’s breast is like: she wants to build up the house of the man who marries her, and of her former children and her dear wedded husband, once he is dead, she no longer thinks or asks. But go yourself and put everything in the charge of whichever of the women servants seems best to you, until the gods show you a glorious bride. And I will tell you something else, and you lay it to heart. The best of the suitors are lying in wait for you on purpose in the strait between Ithaca and rugged Samos, eager to kill you before you reach your native land. But I do not think it will happen. Before that the earth will hold some of the suitors who devour your living. Keep your well-built ship far from the islands, and sail by night as well; and whichever of the immortals guards and protects you will send you a fair wind from astern. And when you reach the first shore of Ithaca, send your ship and all your companions on to the city, but go first of all yourself to the swineherd, who keeps your swine and is as loyal to you as ever. Spend the night there, and send him into the city to bring word to prudent Penelope that you are safe and have come back from Pylos.”

43 So saying, she went away to high Olympus. And Telemachus woke the son of Nestor from sweet sleep, stirring him with a touch of his heel, and spoke to him:

46 “Wake up, Peisistratus, son of Nestor; bring the single-hoofed horses and yoke them to the chariot, so that we can be on our way.”

48 Then Peisistratus, son of Nestor, answered him: “Telemachus, there is no way we can drive through the dark night, however eager we are for the road. Soon it will be dawn. Wait until the hero son of Atreus, Menelaus famed for his spear, brings gifts and sets them in the chariot, and sends us off with kind words of farewell. A guest remembers all his days the host who has shown him kindness.”

56 So he spoke, and soon Dawn of the golden throne came. Menelaus, good at the war cry, came near them, risen from his bed beside fair-tressed Helen. When the dear son of Odysseus saw him, he hurried to put his shining tunic on his body and threw a great mantle over his sturdy shoulders, the hero, and went to the door; and standing beside him, Telemachus, the dear son of godlike Odysseus, said:

64 “Menelaus, son of Atreus, Zeus-nurtured, leader of the people, send me back now to my own native land, for my heart is longing now to be home.”

67 Then Menelaus, good at the war cry, answered him: “Telemachus, I will not keep you here a long time when you are eager to go home. I would blame any other host as well who loves beyond measure or hates beyond measure; all things are better in due measure. It is as bad to hurry a guest away who does not want to go as to hold one back who is eager to leave. You should make a guest welcome while he is with you and send him on his way when he wishes. But wait until I bring fine gifts and set them in the chariot, and you see them with your own eyes; and I will tell the women to make a meal in the hall from the plenty that is in the house. It is both honor and glory, and profit too, for travelers to dine before they set out over the wide and boundless earth. And if you want to travel through Hellas and the heart of Argos, so that I may go with you myself, I will yoke my horses for you and lead you to the cities of men. No one will send us away empty-handed; each will give us at least one thing to take with us, a tripod of fine bronze or a cauldron, or two mules, or a golden cup.”

86 Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “Menelaus, son of Atreus, Zeus-nurtured, leader of the people, I wish to go back now to what is ours; for when I left, I left no one behind to guard my possessions. I fear that while I search for my godlike father I may perish myself, or that some fine treasure may be lost from my halls.”

92 When Menelaus, good at the war cry, heard this, he at once told his wife and the women servants to make a meal in the hall from the plenty that was in the house. And Eteoneus son of Boethous came near him, just risen from his bed, for he lived not far away; and Menelaus, good at the war cry, told him to kindle a fire and roast meat, and he heard and did not disobey. Menelaus himself went down into the fragrant storeroom, not alone: Helen went with him, and Megapenthes. When they came to where the treasures lay, the son of Atreus took a two-handled cup and told his son Megapenthes to carry a mixing bowl of silver; and Helen stood beside the chests where her robes lay, richly embroidered, which she had made herself. Helen, noble among women, lifted out one of them and carried it, the one that was loveliest in its embroidery and the largest; it shone like a star, and it lay beneath all the others. Then they went forward through the house until they came to Telemachus, and red-haired Menelaus said to him: “Telemachus, may Zeus, the loud-thundering husband of Hera, accomplish your homecoming just as your heart desires. And of the gifts that lie stored as treasures in my house, I will give you the one that is loveliest and most precious. I will give you a mixing bowl, finely wrought; it is all of silver, and its rims are finished with gold, the work of Hephaestus. The hero Phaedimus gave it to me, the king of the Sidonians, when his house sheltered me as I came there on my way home; and I want to give it to you.” So saying, the hero son of Atreus put the two-handled cup in his hand, and strong Megapenthes brought the shining mixing bowl, the silver one, and set it before him; and fair-cheeked Helen stood beside him with the robe in her hands, and she spoke and addressed him:

125 “I too give you this gift, dear child, a keepsake of Helen’s hands, for your bride to wear at the time of your longed-for wedding; until then let it lie in the hall with your dear mother. And may you come home in joy to your well-built house and your own native land.”

130 So saying, she put it in his hands, and he received it gladly. The hero Peisistratus took the gifts and laid them in the wagon basket, and gazed at all of them with wonder in his heart. Then red-haired Menelaus led them to the house, and they sat down on chairs and high seats. A maid brought water in a lovely golden pitcher and poured it over a silver basin for them to wash their hands, and drew up a polished table beside them. The revered housekeeper brought bread and set it before them, and many dishes besides, giving freely of what she had. The son of Boethous carved the meat beside them and served out the portions, and the son of renowned Menelaus poured the wine. And they put out their hands to the good things that lay ready before them. But when they had put from them the desire for drink and food, then Telemachus and the glorious son of Nestor yoked the horses and mounted the inlaid chariot, and drove out of the gateway and the echoing portico. Red-haired Menelaus, son of Atreus, went after them, holding heart-cheering wine in his right hand in a golden cup, so that they might pour an offering before they went. He stood in front of the horses and, pledging them, he said:

151 “Farewell, young men, and give my greeting to Nestor, shepherd of the people; for truly he was as kind as a father to me, while we sons of the Achaeans fought at Troy.”

154 Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “Indeed, Zeus-nurtured, we will tell him all this, just as you say, as soon as we come. And I wish that I might as surely come home to Ithaca and find Odysseus in the house, and tell him that I come from you after meeting with every kindness, and that I bring many fine treasures.”

160 As he spoke, a bird flew by on the right, an eagle carrying in its talons a huge white goose, a tame one from the yard; and men and women followed shouting. The eagle came near them and darted off to the right in front of the horses. When they saw it they were glad, and the hearts in all their breasts grew warm. And Peisistratus, son of Nestor, began to speak among them:

167 “Consider now, Menelaus, Zeus-nurtured, leader of the people, whether the god has shown this sign to us two, or to you yourself.”

169 So he spoke, and Menelaus, dear to Ares, pondered how he should rightly understand it and give his answer. But long-robed Helen spoke before him and said:

172 “Hear me, and I will prophesy, as the immortals put it into my heart and as I think it will be fulfilled. As this eagle came from the mountain, where his birth and his kin are, and snatched up the goose that was reared in the house, so Odysseus, after suffering many evils and wandering far, will come home and take vengeance; or he is already at home, and is sowing evil for all the suitors.”

179 Then thoughtful Telemachus answered her: “May Zeus, the loud-thundering husband of Hera, make it so; then even there, at home, I would pray to you as to a god.”

182 He spoke, and he laid the whip on the horses, and they sped very quickly through the city toward the plain, eager to go. All day long they shook the yoke they bore between them. The sun set, and all the ways grew dark. They came to Pherae, to the house of Diocles, son of Ortilochus, whom Alpheus had fathered. There they spent the night, and he set before them the gifts due to guests.

189 When early-born Dawn appeared, the rose-fingered, they yoked the horses and mounted the inlaid chariot, and drove out of the gateway and the echoing portico. He touched the horses with the whip to start them, and the pair flew on not unwillingly. Soon after that they reached the steep citadel of Pylos, and then Telemachus said to the son of Nestor:

195 “Son of Nestor, will you promise me something and do it, as I ask? We claim to be guest-friends from of old because of our fathers’ friendship, and we are of the same age as well; and this journey will make us still more of one mind. Do not take me past my ship, Zeus-nurtured, but leave me there, or the old man may keep me in his house against my will in his eagerness to show me kindness; and I must get home more quickly.”

202 So he spoke, and the son of Nestor took counsel with his heart how he might rightly promise this and do it. And as he thought it over, this seemed the better way. He turned the horses toward the swift ship and the shore of the sea, and took out the beautiful gifts and set them in the stern of the ship, the clothing and the gold that Menelaus had given him; and he urged him on, and his words had wings:

209 “Go aboard now, quickly, and order all your companions aboard, before I reach home and tell the old man. For I know this well in my mind and in my heart: so overbearing is his spirit that he will not let you go; he will come here himself to call you, and I do not think he will go back without you; for he will be very angry all the same.”

215 So saying, he drove the fine-maned horses back to the city of the Pylians and quickly reached the house. And Telemachus urged his companions and gave his orders: “Put the gear in order in the black ship, companions, and let us go aboard ourselves, so that we can be on our way.”

220 So he spoke, and they listened closely and obeyed. Quickly they went aboard and sat down at the oarlocks.

222 So he was busy with this, and praying, and sacrificing to Athena by the stern of the ship, when a man came near him from a far country, a fugitive from Argos because he had killed a man, a seer. By descent he was of the line of Melampus, who long ago had lived in Pylos, mother of flocks, a rich man among the Pylians, living in a house far above the rest. But then he had come to the land of other men, fleeing his own country and great-hearted Neleus, the lordliest of living men, who had held his many possessions by force for a full year. All that time Melampus lay bound in hard bonds in the halls of Phylacus, suffering bitter pains for the sake of Neleus’s daughter and the heavy folly that the goddess, the dread Erinys, had laid on his mind. But he escaped his fate and drove the loud-lowing cattle from Phylace to Pylos, and took vengeance on godlike Neleus for his shameful deed, and brought the woman home as a wife for his brother. Then he went to the land of other men, to horse-pasturing Argos; for there it was fated for him to live, ruling over many Argives. There he married a wife and built a high-roofed house, and fathered Antiphates and Mantius, two strong sons. Antiphates fathered great-hearted Oecles, and Oecles Amphiaraus, rouser of hosts, whom Zeus who holds the aegis and Apollo loved with all their hearts, with every kind of love; but he did not reach the threshold of old age, for he died at Thebes because of gifts given to a woman. His sons were Alcmaeon and Amphilochus. And Mantius fathered Polypheides and Cleitus; but Cleitus was carried off by Dawn of the golden throne, for his beauty, so that he might live among the immortals. And Apollo made high-hearted Polypheides a seer, far the best of mortals, once Amphiaraus was dead. He moved away to Hyperesia in anger against his father, and there he lived and prophesied for all mortals.

256 It was his son who came now, and his name was Theoclymenus. He stood beside Telemachus and found him pouring offerings and praying by the swift black ship, and he spoke to him, and his words had wings:

260 “Friend, since I find you sacrificing in this place, I beg you by these offerings and the god, and then by your own head and the heads of the companions who follow you, tell me truly what I ask, and hide nothing: Who are you, and where are you from? Where is your city, and where are your parents?” Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “Then I will tell you everything truly, stranger. I am from Ithaca by birth, and my father is Odysseus, if ever there was such a man; but by now he has perished by a miserable death. That is why I have taken my companions and a black ship and come to learn news of my father, who has been gone so long.”

271 Then Theoclymenus, godlike in looks, said to him: “So I too am away from my country, because I killed a man of my own tribe. He has many brothers and kinsmen in horse-pasturing Argos, and they have great power among the Achaeans. To escape death and black fate at their hands I am a fugitive, since it is my lot now to wander among men. But take me aboard your ship, since I come to you a fugitive and a suppliant, so that they do not kill me; for I think they are after me.”

279 Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “Since you want to come, I will certainly not drive you from my well-balanced ship. Come with us; there at home you will be made welcome with whatever we have.”

282 So saying, he took the bronze spear from him and laid it along the deck of the curved ship, and went aboard the seafaring ship himself. He sat down in the stern and seated Theoclymenus beside him; and they loosed the stern cables. Telemachus urged his companions and ordered them to lay hold of the tackle, and they quickly obeyed. They raised the mast of fir, set it in the hollow socket, made it fast with the forestays, and hauled up the white sails with ropes of twisted oxhide. Gray-eyed Athena sent them a favoring wind, blowing hard through the upper air, so that the ship might finish her run over the salt water of the sea as fast as she could. They passed by Cruni and Chalcis of the lovely streams.

296 The sun set, and all the ways grew dark. The ship made for Pheae, driven on by the wind of Zeus, and past bright Elis, where the Epeans rule. From there Telemachus steered for the sharp islands, wondering whether he would escape death or be taken.

301 Meanwhile, in the hut, Odysseus and the noble swineherd were having supper, and the other men had supper with them. But when they had put from them the desire for drink and food, Odysseus spoke among them, testing the swineherd, to see whether he would still treat him kindly and ask him to stay there at the farmstead, or would send him off to the city:

307 “Hear me now, Eumaeus, and all you other companions. In the morning I want to go off to the city to beg, so as not to wear out you and your companions. But give me good advice, and send a good guide with me to take me there. Then I will wander through the city on my own, since I must, in case someone will hold out a cup and a crust to me. And I could go to the house of godlike Odysseus and bring news to prudent Penelope, and mingle with the overbearing suitors, in case they would give me a meal, since they have good things beyond counting. I could quickly do good service among them, whatever they wanted. For I will tell you, and you mark it and listen to me: by the favor of Hermes the guide, who gives grace and glory to the work of all men, no other mortal could rival me in serving, at building a fire well and splitting dry wood, at carving and roasting and pouring wine, all the things that lesser men do in the service of their betters.”

325 Deeply troubled, you said to him, Eumaeus, swineherd: “Ah, stranger, why has this thought come into your mind? You must be utterly set on dying there, if you mean to go into the crowd of the suitors, whose insolence and violence reach the iron sky. Their servants are not men like you; they are young, well dressed in cloaks and tunics, their hair and their handsome faces always glossy with oil, the ones who wait on them; and the polished tables are loaded with bread and meat and wine. No, stay here. No one is troubled by your being here, neither I nor any of the companions I have. And when the dear son of Odysseus comes, he will dress you in a cloak and a tunic, and send you wherever your heart and spirit bid you go.”

340 Then much-enduring noble Odysseus answered him: “Eumaeus, may you be as dear to father Zeus as you are to me, since you have put an end to my wandering and my dreadful misery. There is nothing worse for mortals than roaming; for the sake of the cursed belly men endure evil sorrows, whoever is visited by wandering and pain and grief. But now, since you keep me here and tell me to wait for him, come, tell me about the mother of godlike Odysseus, and about his father, whom he left on the threshold of old age when he went: are they still alive somewhere under the rays of the sun, or are they dead already and in the house of Hades?”

351 Then the swineherd, leader of men, said to him: “Then I will tell you everything truly, stranger. Laertes is still alive, but he prays to Zeus always that the life may waste away from his limbs in his halls. For he grieves terribly for his son, who is gone, and for his wise wedded wife, whose death grieved him most of all and brought him to old age before his time. She died of grief for her renowned son, a miserable death; may no one die so who lives here as my friend and is kind to me! So long as she was alive, sorrowful as she was, I was glad to ask and inquire after her, because she had brought me up herself with long-robed Ctimene, her stately daughter, the youngest of her children. I was brought up with her, and she honored me only a little less. But when we both reached the lovely age of youth, they gave her in marriage to Same and got gifts beyond counting, and her mother dressed me in a cloak and a tunic, very fine clothes, gave me sandals for my feet, and sent me off to the fields; and she loved me the more in her heart. Now I go without all that; but the blessed gods prosper the work I stay at, and from it I have eaten and drunk and given to those who deserve respect. But from my mistress there is no kindness to be heard, neither word nor deed, since evil has fallen on the house, these overbearing men; and servants badly want to speak with their mistress face to face and hear all the news, and to eat and drink there, and then carry something back to the fields as well, such things as always warm a servant’s heart.”

380 Odysseus of many wiles answered him: “Ah! So you were only a little boy, Eumaeus, swineherd, when you were carried far from your country and your parents. But come, tell me this, and tell it truly: was the city of wide streets sacked, where your father and your lady mother lived? Or were you alone with the sheep or the cattle, when enemies took you in their ships and sold you to this man’s house, and he paid a good price?”

389 Then the swineherd, leader of men, said to him: “Stranger, since you ask and question me about this, listen now in silence and enjoy it, and sit and drink your wine. These nights are endless. There is time to sleep, and there is time to take pleasure in listening; and you need not lie down before it is time. Too much sleep is a weariness. As for the others, whoever’s heart and spirit bid him, let him go out and sleep; and at dawn let him eat his breakfast and go with our master’s swine. But let us two, drinking and feasting in the hut, take our pleasure in each other’s bitter sorrows as we remember them; for afterward a man takes pleasure even in his pains, one who has suffered very much and wandered very far. So I will tell you what you ask and question me about.

403 “There is an island called Syrie, if you have heard of it, above Ortygia, where the sun turns. It is not so very thickly peopled, but it is good land, good for cattle, good for sheep, full of wine, rich in wheat. Famine never comes upon its people, nor does any other hateful sickness fall on wretched mortals there; but when the tribes of men grow old throughout the city, Apollo of the silver bow comes with Artemis and attacks them with his gentle arrows and kills them. There are two cities there, and everything is divided between them; and over both of them my father was king, Ctesius son of Ormenus, a man like the immortals.

415 “There came Phoenicians, men famed for ships, greedy knaves, bringing countless trinkets in their black ship. Now in my father’s house there was a Phoenician woman, beautiful and tall and skilled in glorious handiwork; and the wily Phoenicians beguiled her. First, as she was washing clothes, one of them lay with her by the hollow ship in love, which beguiles the minds of women, even one who is good. Then he asked her who she was and where she came from, and she at once pointed out her father’s high-roofed house:

425 “‘I claim to come from Sidon, rich in bronze, and I am the daughter of Arybas, who had wealth in streams. But Taphian pirates seized me as I was coming in from the fields, and brought me here and sold me to this man’s house, and he paid a good price.’

430 “Then the man who had lain with her in secret said to her: ‘Would you come home again with us now, so that you may see your father’s and mother’s high-roofed house, and see them too? For they are still alive and are called rich.’

434 “Then the woman said to him in answer: ‘That could be, if you sailors would pledge me by an oath to take me home unharmed.’

437 “So she spoke, and they all swore as she told them. And when they had sworn and finished the oath, the woman spoke among them again and answered:

440 “‘Quiet now, and let none of your companions speak a word to me if he meets me in the street or at the spring, in case someone goes to the house and tells the old man, and he suspects, and binds me in hard bonds, and plans your destruction. Keep the word in your minds, and hurry on the buying of your cargo. But when the ship is loaded with goods, let a message come to me at the house quickly; for I will bring gold too, whatever comes to my hand. And I would gladly give you another thing for my passage. I am nurse in the halls to the child of my good master, a clever little boy who runs out of doors with me. I could bring him aboard your ship, and he would fetch you a huge price, wherever you sold him among men of strange speech.’

454 “So saying, she went back to the beautiful house. They stayed with us there a whole year, and gathered goods in plenty in their hollow ship by trading. But when the hollow ship was loaded for their going, they sent a messenger to tell the woman. There came a cunning man to my father’s house with a golden necklace strung here and there with amber beads. In the hall the maids and my lady mother handled it and gazed at it, and offered him a price; and he nodded to the woman in silence. Having nodded, he went off to the hollow ship, and she took me by the hand and led me out of the house. In the forecourt she found cups and tables left by the men who had feasted there, my father’s attendants. They had gone out to the council, to the people’s place of debate; and at once she hid three goblets in the fold of her dress and carried them off, and I followed in my innocence. The sun set, and all the ways grew dark. Walking quickly, we came to the famous harbor, where the swift ship of the Phoenician men lay. Then they went aboard and sailed over the watery ways, taking the two of us aboard, and Zeus sent a wind behind them. For six days we sailed on, night and day alike; but when Zeus, son of Cronus, brought on the seventh day, then arrow-showering Artemis struck the woman, and she fell into the hold with a thud, like a sea tern. They threw her overboard to become prey for the seals and the fish; and I was left behind, grieving at heart. The wind and the water carried them on and brought them to Ithaca, where Laertes bought me with his own possessions. That is how I came to see this land with my eyes.” Then Odysseus, sprung from Zeus, answered him: “Eumaeus, truly you have stirred the heart in my breast deeply with all you have told me, all the pains you have suffered in your heart. But for you, at least, Zeus has set good beside the evil, since after many toils you came to the house of a kind man, who gives you food and drink generously, and you live a good life; while I have come here wandering through many cities of men.”

493 So they spoke with one another, and they slept, not for long but only a little while; for soon came Dawn of the lovely throne. Near the shore Telemachus’s companions loosed the sails and quickly took down the mast, and rowed the ship forward to her moorings. They threw out the anchor stones and made the stern cables fast, and they went ashore themselves on the beach where the waves break, and made their breakfast ready and mixed the sparkling wine. But when they had put from them the desire for drink and food, thoughtful Telemachus began to speak among them:

503 “Row the black ship on to the city now; I will go out to the fields and the herdsmen, and in the evening, when I have seen my lands, I will come down to the city. In the morning I will set before you a feast as the wage for your voyage, a good meal of meat and sweet wine.”

508 Then Theoclymenus, godlike in looks, said to him: “And where am I to go, dear child? To whose house shall I go, of the men who rule over rocky Ithaca? Shall I go straight to your mother’s house, and yours?”

512 Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “At another time I would tell you to come to our house, for there is no lack of welcome for a guest; but it would be worse for you now, since I will not be there, and my mother will not see you. She does not often show herself to the suitors in the house, but weaves at her loom in an upper room, away from them. But I will tell you of another man whose house you might go to: Eurymachus, the glorious son of wise Polybus, whom the men of Ithaca now look on as a god. For he is far the best man of them, and the most eager to marry my mother and to have the honors of Odysseus. But Olympian Zeus, who dwells in the upper air, knows whether before the wedding he will bring on them the day of evil.”

525 As he spoke, a bird flew by on the right, a falcon, the swift messenger of Apollo. In its talons it held a dove and was plucking it, and it shed the feathers on the ground midway between the ship and Telemachus himself. Then Theoclymenus called him aside from his companions, and clasped his hand, and spoke and addressed him:

531 “Telemachus, it was not without a god that the bird flew by on the right; I knew when I saw it, face to face, that it was a bird of omen. There is no other family more kingly than yours in the land of Ithaca; you will always have the power.” Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “Stranger, if only this word of yours might be fulfilled! Then you would soon know my friendship and many gifts from me, so that anyone who met you would call you blessed.”

539 He spoke, and he called to Peiraeus, his trusted companion: “Peiraeus, son of Clytius, of all my companions who went with me to Pylos you are the one who does as I say in other things; and now, please, take this stranger to your house and treat him kindly and honor him until I come.”

544 Then Peiraeus, famed for his spear, answered him: “Telemachus, even if you were to stay there a long time, I will look after him, and he will not lack for welcome.”

547 So saying, he went aboard the ship and ordered his companions to go aboard themselves and loose the stern cables; and quickly they went aboard and sat down at the oarlocks. Telemachus bound his fine sandals under his feet and took from the deck of the ship his strong spear, tipped with sharp bronze; and they loosed the stern cables. They pushed off and sailed for the city, as Telemachus had ordered, the dear son of godlike Odysseus; and his feet carried him quickly on, striding forward, until he reached the farmyard where his swine were, countless, among whom the good swineherd slept, loyal of heart to his masters.