Book 16

1 Meanwhile, in the hut, Odysseus and the noble swineherd had kindled a fire at dawn and were making breakfast ready, and they had sent the herdsmen out with the droves of swine. The loud-barking dogs fawned around Telemachus and did not bark as he came near. Noble Odysseus noticed the dogs fawning, and the sound of footsteps came to him, and at once he spoke to Eumaeus, and his words had wings:

8 “Eumaeus, surely some companion of yours is coming here, or someone else you know, since the dogs are not barking but fawning around him; and I hear the tread of feet.”

11 He had not yet finished speaking when his own dear son stood in the doorway. The swineherd sprang up in amazement, and the vessels he had been busy with, mixing the sparkling wine, fell from his hands. He went to meet his master, and he kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes and both his hands, and a warm tear fell from him. As a father, full of love, welcomes his son who comes home from a far country in the tenth year, his only son, born late, for whom he has endured many sorrows, so the noble swineherd threw his arms around Telemachus, godlike in looks, and kissed him all over, as one escaped from death; and weeping, he spoke to him, and his words had wings:

23 “You have come, Telemachus, sweet light of my eyes! I thought I would never see you again, when you had gone off in the ship to Pylos. But come in now, dear child, so that I may delight my heart in looking at you, home again just now from abroad. For you do not often come out to the fields and the herdsmen; you stay in the town. So it has pleased your heart, I suppose, to look on that ruinous crowd, the suitors.” Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “It shall be as you say, old father. It is for your sake that I have come here, to see you with my eyes and to hear from you whether my mother still stays in the halls, or whether some other man has married her by now, and the bed of Odysseus lies empty of sleepers, covered with foul cobwebs.”

36 Then the swineherd, leader of men, said to him: “She stays indeed, with a heart that endures, in your halls, and her nights and days waste away in misery as she weeps.” So saying, he took the bronze spear from him; and Telemachus went inside and stepped over the stone threshold. As he came in, his father Odysseus rose to give him his seat; but Telemachus, from the other side, held him back and said:

44 “Sit, stranger; we will find a seat somewhere else in our farmstead, and here is the man who will set one for me.”

46 So he spoke, and Odysseus went back and sat down again; and for Telemachus the swineherd heaped up green brushwood and laid a fleece on top, and there the dear son of Odysseus sat down. The swineherd set before them platters of roast meat, which they had left over from eating the day before, and quickly heaped bread in baskets, and in a wooden bowl he mixed honey-sweet wine; and he himself sat down facing godlike Odysseus. 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 spoke to the noble swineherd:

57 “Old father, where has this stranger come to you from? How did sailors bring him to Ithaca? Who did they say they were? For I do not suppose he came here on foot.”

60 And you answered him, Eumaeus, swineherd: “Then I will tell you all the truth, child. He claims to come of a family from wide Crete, and he says he has roamed through many cities of men in his wanderings; for that is the thread a god has spun for him. Now he has run away from a ship of Thesprotian men and come to my farmstead, and I will put him in your hands. Do as you wish; he claims to be your suppliant.”

68 Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “Eumaeus, this word you have spoken truly wounds my heart. How am I to receive the stranger in my house? I am young myself, and do not yet trust my hands to defend me against a man who starts a quarrel. And my mother’s heart is divided in her breast, whether to stay here with me and keep the house, respecting her husband’s bed and the voice of the people, or to go off now with whoever is best of the Achaeans who court her in the halls and offers the most gifts. But since the stranger has come to your house, I will dress him in a cloak and a tunic, fine clothes, and give him a two-edged sword and sandals for his feet, and send him wherever his heart and spirit bid him go. Or if you wish, keep him here at the farmstead and look after him; I will send clothes here, and all the food he needs to eat, so that he will not be a burden on you and your companions. But I would not let him go there among the suitors, for their insolence is far too reckless; they might mock him, and that would be a dreadful grief to me. It is hard for one man, however mighty, to do anything among so many, since they are far stronger.” Then much-enduring noble Odysseus said to him: “Friend, since it is surely right for me too to answer, it truly tears my heart to hear what you say, the reckless things the suitors are contriving in the halls, against your will, a man such as you are. Tell me, do you submit to them willingly, or do the people throughout the land hate you, following the voice of a god? Or do you blame your brothers, whom a man trusts to fight beside him, even when a great quarrel arises? I wish I were as young as you, with this spirit of mine, or were the son of excellent Odysseus, or Odysseus himself! Then let a stranger cut my head from my shoulders at once, if I did not become the bane of every one of them, when I came to the hall of Odysseus, son of Laertes. And if they overpowered me by their numbers, alone as I was, I would rather die, killed in my own halls, than go on watching these shameful deeds forever, strangers being knocked about and men dragging the women servants shamefully through the beautiful house, and the wine drawn off and wasted, and men eating up the bread, wantonly, without end, in a business that is never finished.”

112 Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “Then I will tell you everything truly, stranger. It is not that all the people hate me and are angry with me, nor do I blame my brothers, whom a man trusts to fight beside him, even when a great quarrel arises. For this is how the son of Cronus has made our family a line of only sons: Arceisius fathered one son only, Laertes, and his father fathered one son only, Odysseus; and Odysseus fathered only me, and left me in his halls and had no joy of me. So now there are enemies beyond counting in the house. For all the nobles who rule over the islands, Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus, and all who lord it over rocky Ithaca, so many are courting my mother and wearing out my house. And she neither refuses the hateful marriage nor can she bring it to an end; and they eat up my house and waste it, and soon they will destroy me too. But these things lie on the knees of the gods. Old father, you go quickly and tell sensible Penelope that I am safe and have come back from Pylos. I will stay here, and you come back here once you have told her alone; let none of the other Achaeans learn of it, for there are many who are plotting evil against me.”

135 And you answered him, Eumaeus, swineherd: “I understand, I follow; you are giving these orders to a man who has sense. But come, tell me this, and tell it truly: shall I go the same way as a messenger to Laertes too, poor man? Until now, though he grieved greatly for Odysseus, he would watch over the work, and eat and drink with the servants in the house, whenever the heart in his breast bid him. But now, ever since you went off in the ship to Pylos, they say he has not eaten or drunk as he used to, nor looked to the work; he sits groaning and lamenting and weeping, and the flesh wastes away on his bones.”

146 Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “That is a sorrier thing; but still we will let him be, though it grieves us. For if mortals could have everything for the choosing, first of all we would choose my father’s day of return. No, when you have given your message, come back, and do not wander through the fields to find him. But tell my mother to send the housekeeper, her attendant, as quickly as she can, in secret; she could take the news to the old man.”

154 He spoke, and he sent the swineherd off; and he took his sandals in his hands, bound them under his feet, and set off for the city. But Athena did not fail to notice Eumaeus the swineherd leaving the farmstead. She came near, and now she was like a woman, beautiful and tall and skilled in glorious handiwork. She stood by the doorway of the hut, visible to Odysseus; but Telemachus did not see her before him or notice her, for the gods do not show themselves plainly to everyone. But Odysseus saw her, and the dogs did, and they did not bark; whimpering, they shrank away in fear to the other side of the farmstead. She nodded with her brows, and noble Odysseus understood, and he went out of the hut past the great wall of the yard and stood before her; and Athena said to him:

167 “Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, resourceful Odysseus, now is the time to tell your son, and hide nothing, so that the two of you may plan death and doom for the suitors and go to the famous city. I myself will not be away from you for long, for I am eager for the fight.”

172 She spoke, and Athena touched him with her golden wand. First she put a freshly washed mantle and a tunic about his chest, and she made him taller and younger. His skin was dark again, his cheeks filled out, and the beard about his chin turned black. When she had done this, she went away again; and Odysseus went into the hut. His dear son was astonished at him, and he turned his eyes aside in fear that it might be a god, and he spoke to him, and his words had wings:

181 “Stranger, you look different now from before; you have other clothes on, and your skin is not the same. Surely you are one of the gods who hold the wide sky. Be gracious, so that we may give you pleasing sacrifices and golden gifts, finely wrought; and spare us!”

186 Then much-enduring noble Odysseus answered him: “I am no god; why do you liken me to the immortals? I am your father, for whose sake you have groaned and suffered many pains, submitting to the violence of men.”

190 So saying, he kissed his son, and let a tear fall down his cheeks to the ground; until then he had held back his tears, steadfastly, all the time. But Telemachus, since he could not yet believe that this was his father, answered him again and said:

194 “You are not Odysseus, my father; some god is beguiling me, so that I may groan and lament still more. For no mortal man could contrive these things by his own wit, unless a god himself came to him and easily, at his own will, made him young or old. Only a moment ago you were an old man and dressed in shabby clothes; and now you are like the gods who hold the wide sky.”

201 Odysseus of many wiles answered him: “Telemachus, it is not right for you to wonder beyond measure at your dear father, now that he is home, or to be so amazed. No other Odysseus will ever come here; it is I, such as you see me, who have suffered evils and wandered far and come in the twentieth year to my native land. As for this, it is the work of Athena, the driver of spoil, who makes me what she will, for she can: now like a beggar, and now again like a young man with fine clothes on his body. It is easy for the gods who hold the wide sky both to glorify a mortal man and to bring him low.”

213 So saying, he sat down; and Telemachus threw his arms around his noble father and wept, shedding tears, and in both of them rose the longing to lament. They cried aloud, more shrilly than birds, sea eagles or vultures with crooked talons, whose young the country people have taken from the nest before they could fly: so pitifully did they let the tears fall from under their brows. And the light of the sun would have gone down on their weeping, if Telemachus had not quickly spoken to his father:

222 “In what kind of ship, dear father, did sailors bring you here to Ithaca? Who did they say they were? For I do not suppose you came here on foot.” Then much-enduring noble Odysseus said to him: “Then I will tell you the truth, child. The Phaeacians brought me, men famed for ships, who give escort to other men too, whoever comes to them. They carried me asleep over the sea in a swift ship and set me down in Ithaca, and gave me glorious gifts, bronze and gold in plenty and woven clothing. These lie in caves by the will of the gods. And now I have come here at Athena’s bidding, so that we may plan the killing of our enemies. But come, count over the suitors for me and tell me, so that I may know how many there are and what men they are; and then I will consider in my excellent heart and decide whether we two will be able to stand against them alone, without others, or whether we should look for others too.” Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “Father, I have always heard of your great fame, that you were a spearman with your hands and wise in counsel. But what you have said is far too much; I am amazed. Two men could never fight against many, and strong ones. The suitors are not just ten, or twice ten, but many more; you will soon learn their number here. From Dulichium there are fifty-two picked young men, and six serving men go with them; from Same there are twenty-four men; from Zacynthus there are twenty young Achaeans; and from Ithaca itself twelve, all of them the best; and with them is Medon the herald, and the godlike bard, and two attendants skilled in carving. If we meet all these men inside, I fear you may come home to a bitter and terrible revenge for their violence. But you, if you can think of any helper, consider who might help us both with a willing heart.”

258 Then much-enduring noble Odysseus said to him: “Then I will tell you, and you mark it and listen to me: consider whether Athena, with father Zeus, will be enough for us two, or whether I should think of some other helper.”

262 Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him: “Good helpers indeed, these two you name, though they sit high up in the clouds; they rule over other men and over the immortal gods.”

266 Then much-enduring noble Odysseus said to him: “Those two will not stay long apart from the fierce fighting, when the strength of Ares is put to the test between the suitors and us in my halls. But for now, go home at the break of dawn, and mix with the overbearing suitors. The swineherd will bring me to the city later, looking like a wretched beggar and an old man. If they treat me with dishonor in the house, let the dear heart in your breast endure it while I suffer ill treatment, even if they drag me by the feet through the house to the door, or throw things at me and strike me; you look on and bear it. But do tell them to stop their folly, persuading them with gentle words; they will not listen to you at all, for their day of doom is standing at their side. And I will tell you something else, and you lay it to heart: when Athena, rich in counsel, puts it in my mind, I will nod to you with my head; and when you see it, take all the weapons of war that lie in the halls and carry them up and put them away in the innermost corner of the high storeroom, every one. And when the suitors miss them and ask you about them, put them off with soft words:

288 “‘I have put them away out of the smoke, since they no longer look like the arms Odysseus left behind long ago when he went to Troy; they are all fouled, as far as the breath of the fire has reached. And besides, the son of Cronus has put this greater fear into my mind, that you might get drunk and start a quarrel among yourselves and wound one another, and shame the feast and your courting; for iron of itself draws a man on.’ But for the two of us alone leave two swords and two spears, and two oxhide shields for our hands to take up, so that we can rush to them and snatch them up; and then Pallas Athena and Zeus the counselor will beguile the suitors’ minds. And I will tell you something else, and you lay it to heart: if you are truly mine and of our blood, let no one hear that Odysseus is at home. Do not let Laertes know it, or the swineherd, or anyone of the household, or Penelope herself; but let you and me alone find out the mind of the women. And we might test some of the men servants too, to see who among them honors us and fears us in his heart, and who has no regard for us and dishonors you, such a man as you are.”

308 His shining son answered him and said: “Father, you will come to know my spirit later on, I think; there is no slackness of mind in me. But I do not think this plan will be to the profit of either of us, and I ask you to consider. You will go a long way round, testing each man, going about the farms; while in the halls the suitors at their ease devour your possessions insolently, and there is no sparing. No, I urge you to find out about the women, which of them dishonor you and which are guiltless. But as for the men, I would not want us to go testing them in the farmsteads; let us see to that later, if you truly know some sign from Zeus who holds the aegis.”

321 So they spoke with one another. Meanwhile the well-built ship that had brought Telemachus and all his companions from Pylos put in at Ithaca. When they came inside the deep harbor, they hauled the black ship up on the land, and proud attendants carried off their gear, and they took the beautiful gifts at once to the house of Clytius. And they sent a herald ahead to the house of Odysseus to bring word to prudent Penelope that Telemachus was out in the fields and had told them to sail the ship on to the city, so that the stately queen would not be afraid in her heart and shed tender tears. The herald and the noble swineherd met, on the same errand, to give the news to the lady. When they came to the house of the godlike king, the herald stood among the women servants and said: “Your dear son has come back, my queen.”

338 But the swineherd came up close to Penelope and told her everything her dear son had bidden him say. And when he had told her all he was charged with, he went off to his swine and left the courtyard and the hall.

342 The suitors were vexed and downcast in their hearts. They went out of the hall past the great wall of the courtyard and sat down there in front of the gates. And Eurymachus son of Polybus began to speak among them:

346 “Friends, this is a great deed that Telemachus has carried through so insolently, this voyage; we said he would never accomplish it. But come, let us launch a black ship, the best there is, and gather seamen to row her, who can go quickly and tell the others to come home at once.”

351 He had not yet finished speaking when Amphinomus, turning in his place, saw a ship inside the deep harbor, and men taking in the sails and holding the oars in their hands. He laughed out pleasantly and said to his companions:

355 “Let us not send any message now; they are here already. Either some god told them, or they saw the ship for themselves as she went by, and could not catch her.”

358 So he spoke, and they rose and went to the shore of the sea, and quickly they hauled the black ship up on the land, and proud attendants carried off their gear. Then they went all together to the place of assembly, and they let no one else, young or old, sit with them. And Antinous son of Eupeithes spoke among them:

364 “Ah! How the gods have saved this man from harm! By day our lookouts sat on the windy heights, one relieving another, all the time; and at sunset we never spent a night on the land, but sailed the sea in our swift ship and waited for bright Dawn, lying in wait for Telemachus, to seize him and destroy him. But meanwhile some god has brought him home. Let us plan a miserable death for Telemachus here, and let him not escape us; for I do not think that while he lives this business of ours will ever be accomplished. He himself is skilled in counsel and in thought, and the people no longer show us favor at all. Come, before he gathers the Achaeans to the assembly—for I do not think he will let things go; he will rage at us, and he will stand up and tell them all how we plotted sheer murder against him and did not catch him; and they will not praise us when they hear of these evil deeds. Let us take care they do not do us some harm and drive us out of our country, and we have to go to the land of strangers. Let us strike first and seize him in the fields far from the city, or on the road; and let us keep his livelihood and his possessions ourselves, dividing them fairly among us, and give the house to his mother to keep, and to whoever marries her. But if this proposal displeases you, and you want him to live and keep all his father’s goods, then let us no longer gather here and devour his heart-pleasing goods in plenty, but let each man court her from his own hall and seek her with bride-gifts; and then she would marry the one who offers the most and comes as her destined husband.”

393 So he spoke, and they all fell silent and were still. And Amphinomus spoke to them and addressed them, the shining son of lord Nisus, son of Aretias, who led the suitors from Dulichium, rich in wheat and grassy, and who pleased Penelope most with his words, for he had a good heart. With good intent he spoke to them and said:

400 “Friends, I for one would not want to kill Telemachus; it is a dreadful thing to kill one of royal blood. Let us first ask the will of the gods. If the decrees of great Zeus approve, I will kill him myself and urge all the others on; but if the gods turn us from it, I tell you to stop.”

406 So Amphinomus spoke, and his words pleased them. At once they rose and went to the house of Odysseus, and when they came they sat down on the polished chairs.

409 Then prudent Penelope had another thought: to show herself to the suitors in their overweening insolence. For she had heard of the death they planned for her son in the halls; the herald Medon had told her, who had overheard their plans. She went to the hall with her women attendants. When she, noble among women, had come to the suitors, she stood beside a pillar of the well-built roof, holding her shining veil before her cheeks; and she rebuked Antinous, and spoke and addressed him:

418 “Antinous, insolent man, contriver of evil, they say that in the land of Ithaca you are the best of those your age in counsel and in speech; but you were never that. Madman, why are you weaving death and doom for Telemachus, and pay no heed to suppliants, for whom Zeus is witness? It is unholy to weave evil for one another. Do you not know how your father came here as a fugitive, in fear of the people? They were very angry with him, because he had joined Taphian pirates and harried the Thesprotians, who were our allies. They wanted to kill him and tear the dear heart out of him, and eat up all his livelihood, rich and plentiful; but Odysseus held them back and stopped them, eager as they were. Now it is his house you are eating up without paying, his wife you are courting, his son you are trying to kill, and me you grieve bitterly. I tell you to stop, and to tell the others to stop.”

434 Then Eurymachus son of Polybus answered her: “Daughter of Icarius, prudent Penelope, take heart; do not let these things trouble your mind. That man does not exist and never will, nor will he ever be born, who will lay hands on Telemachus, your son, so long as I am alive and see the light on the earth. For I will tell you this, and it will surely be done: his black blood would at once stream around my spear. For Odysseus, sacker of cities, often set me on his knees too, and put roast meat in my hands, and held red wine to my lips. So Telemachus is by far the dearest to me of all men, and I tell him not to fear death, not from the suitors at least; from the gods there is no escaping it.”

448 So he spoke to encourage her, but he himself was plotting the boy’s death. She went up to her shining upper rooms, and wept for Odysseus, her dear husband, until gray-eyed Athena cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids.

452 In the evening the noble swineherd came back to Odysseus and his son. They were busy making supper ready, having sacrificed a yearling pig. But Athena came near Odysseus, son of Laertes, struck him with her wand and made him an old man again, and dressed him in wretched clothes, so that the swineherd would not recognize him when he saw him face to face, and go to tell sensible Penelope, unable to keep it in his heart. And Telemachus spoke to him first: “You have come, noble Eumaeus. What news is there in the city? Are the proud suitors back home already from their ambush, or are they still watching for me on my way home?”

464 And you answered him, Eumaeus, swineherd: “I did not care to ask or inquire about that as I went down through the town; my heart bid me give my message as quickly as I could and come back here. But a swift messenger from your companions fell in with me, a herald, who was the first to tell the news to your mother. And this other thing I know, for I saw it with my own eyes. I was already above the city, where the hill of Hermes is, on my way back, when I saw a swift ship coming down into our harbor. There were many men in her, and she was loaded with shields and two-edged spears; and I thought it was they, but I do not know.”

476 So he spoke, and the sacred strength of Telemachus smiled, glancing at his father, but he kept out of the swineherd’s sight.

478 When they had finished their work and made the meal ready, they feasted, and their hearts lacked nothing of the fair-shared feast. But when they had put from them the desire for drink and food, they thought of rest and took the gift of sleep.