A Dangerous Journey
The early Dawn was born; her fingers bloomed.
Odysseus’ well-beloved son
jumped up, put on his clothes, and strapped his sword across his back, and tied his handsome sandals
onto his well-oiled feet. He left the room looking just like a god.
He quickly told
the clear-voiced heralds they must call the Greeks to council. Soon the men, their long hair flowing, were gathered all together in the square.
Telemachus arrived, bronze sword in hand, 10
not by himself—two swift dogs came with him. Athena poured a heavenly grace upon him.
The elders let him join them, and he sat upon his father’s throne. The first to speak was wise Aegyptius, a bent old soldier.
His darling son, the spear-man Antiphus, had sailed with Lord Odysseus to Troy;
the Cyclops killed him in his cave and made him his final course at dinner. This old father
had three sons left. One teamed up with the suitors— 20
Eurynomus. The others spent their time working the farm. But still the father mourned the son whom he had lost. He spoke in tears.
“People of Ithaca, now hear my words. We have not met in council since the day Odysseus departed with his ships.
Who called us? Someone old or young? And why? Has he found out an army is approaching?
Or does he have some other piece of news
which he would like to share with all of us? 30
I think he is a helpful, decent man.
I hope that Zeus rewards his good intentions!”
Odysseus’ loving son felt glad,
and eagerly got up to speak and stood among them, in the center of the group. The competent official, named Pisenor,
passed him the speaking-stick; he held it up, and first addressed Aegyptius.
“Here, sir!
Now look no further for the man you seek.
I called the meeting. I am in deep trouble. 40
I have no information of an army
that might attack us, nor do I have news of any other danger to our people.
I need help for myself. My family has suffered two disasters. First I lost my father, who was kind to you as if
you also were his sons. Now, even worse, my house is being ripped apart; my wealth will soon be gone! The sons of all the nobles
have shoved inside my house to court my mother, 50
against her wishes. They should go and ask Icarius her father to provide
a dowry, and choose who should be her husband. They are too scared. Instead, they haunt our house day after day, and kill our cows and pigs
and good fat goats. They feast and drink red wine, not caring if they waste it all. There is
no man to save the house—no man like him, Odysseus. I cannot fight against them;
I would be useless. I have had no training. 60
But if I had the power, I would do it! It is unbearable, what they have done!
They ruined my whole house! It is not fair! You suitors all should feel ashamed! Consider what others in the neighborhood will think!
And also be afraid! The angry gods
will turn on you in rage; they will be shocked at all this criminal behavior!
I beg you, by Olympian Zeus, and by
the goddess who presides in human meetings: 70
Justice! But never mind. Friends, leave me be, and let me cry and suffer by myself.
Or did Odysseus, my warlike father, deliberately do harm to our own side?
Is that why you seem set on hurting me, encouraging these suitors? Oh, if only
you Ithacans would eat my stock yourselves! If you did that, I soon would get revenge;
I would come through the town and keep demanding, until it all got given back. But now, 80
you make me so unhappy! This is pointless!”
He stopped, frustrated, flung the scepter down, and burst out crying. Everyone was seized
by pity. No one spoke; they hesitated to answer him unkindly. Then at last Antinous began.
“Telemachus,
you stuck-up, wilful little boy! How dare you try to embarrass us and put the blame
on us? We suitors have not done you wrong.
Go blame your precious mother! She is cunning. 90
It is the third year, soon it will be four, that she has cheated us of what we want. She offers hope to all, sends notes to each,
but all the while her mind moves somewhere else.
She came up with a special trick: she fixed a mighty loom inside the palace hall.
Weaving her fine long cloth, she said to us,
‘Young men, you are my suitors. Since my husband, the brave Odysseus, is dead, I know
you want to marry me. You must be patient; 100
I have worked hard to weave this winding-sheet to bury good Laertes when he dies.
He gained such wealth, the women would reproach me if he were buried with no shroud. Please let me
finish it!’ And her words made sense to us. So every day she wove the mighty cloth,
and then at night by torchlight, she unwove it.
For three long years her trick beguiled the Greeks. But when the fourth year’s seasons rolled around,
a woman slave who knew the truth told us. 110
We caught her there, unraveling the cloth, and made her finish it. This is our answer, so you and all the Greeks may understand. Dismiss your mother, let her father tell her to marry anyone his heart desires.
Athena blessed her with intelligence, great artistry and skill, a finer mind than anyone has ever had before,
even the braided girls of ancient Greece,
Tyro, Alcmene, garlanded Mycene— 120
none of them had Penelope’s understanding. But if she wants to go on hurting us,
her plans are contrary to destiny.
We suitors will keep eating up your wealth, and livelihood, as long as she pursues
this plan the gods have put inside her heart. For her it may be glory, but for you,
pure loss. We will not go back to our farms or anywhere, until she picks a husband.”
Telemachus insisted, breathing hard, 130
“Antinous, I cannot force my mother
out of the house. She gave me birth and raised me. My father is elsewhere—alive or dead.
If I insist my mother has to leave, Icarius will make me pay the price,
and gods will send more trouble; if she goes,
Mother will rouse up Furies full of hate
to take revenge, and everyone will curse me. I will not. If you feel upset, you go!
Out of my house! Stop eating all my food! 140
Devour each other’s property, not mine!
Or do you really think it right to waste
one person’s means of life, and go scot-free? Then try it! I will call the deathless gods!
May Zeus give recompense some day for this! You will die here, and nobody will care!”
Then Zeus, whose voice resounds around the world, sent down two eagles from the mountain peak.
At first they hovered on the breath of wind,
close by each other, balanced on their wings. 150
Reaching the noisy middle of the crowd,
they wheeled and whirred and flapped their mighty wings, swooping at each man’s head with eyes like death,
and with their talons ripped each face and neck. Then to the right they flew, across the town.
Everyone was astonished at the sight;
they wondered in their hearts what this could mean. Old Halitherses, son of Mastor, spoke.
More than the other elders, this old leader
excelled at prophecy and knew the birds. 160
He gave them good advice.
“Now Ithacans, listen! I speak especially for the suitors.
Disaster rolls their way! Odysseus
will not be absent from his friends for long; already he is near and sows the seeds
of death for all of them, and more disaster for many others in bright Ithaca.
We have to form a plan to make them stop. That would be best for them as well by far. I am experienced at prophecy; 170
my words came true for him, that mastermind,
Odysseus. I told him when he left
for Troy with all the Argives, he would suffer most terribly, and all his men would die,
but in the twentieth year he would come home, unrecognized. Now it is coming true.”
Eurymachus, the son of Polybus,
replied, “Old man, be off! Go home and spout your portents to your children, or it will
be worse for them. But I can read these omens 180
better than you can. Many birds go flying in sunlight, and not all are meaningful.
Odysseus is dead, away from home.
I wish that you had died with him, to stop your forecasts! You are making this boy angry, hoping that he will give your household gifts. But let me tell you this, which will come true.
You may know many ancient forms of wisdom, but if you tease this boy and make him angry, he will be hurt, and never get to act 190
on any of these prophecies of yours.
And, old man, we will make you pay so much your heart will break, your pain will cut so deep. I will advise Telemachus myself,
in front of everyone, to send his mother back to her father’s family, to fix
her wedding, and the gifts a well-loved daughter should have. Unless he does that, we will never cease from this torturous courtship. We are not afraid of anyone, much less this boy 200
with his long speeches, nor your pointless portents. They will not come to pass and they will make you hated. His house will be devoured, and payback will never come, as long as she frustrates
our hopes of marriage. Meanwhile, we will wait in daily hope, competing for the prize,
not seeking other women as our wives.”
Telemachus, his mind made up, replied, “All right, Eurymachus, and all of you.
I will not talk about this anymore. 210
The gods and all of you already know. Just let me have a ship and twenty men to make a journey with me, out and back, to Sparta and to sandy Pylos, seeking
news about when my father may come home.
I may hear it from somebody, or from
a voice from Zeus—it often happens so.
If I find out my father is alive
and coming home, I will endure this pain
for one more year. But if I hear that he 220
is dead, I will come home to my own land, and build a tomb and hold the funeral rites as he deserves, and I will give my mother to a new husband.”
He sat down, and up stood Mentor. When Odysseus sailed off,
this was the friend he asked to guard his house and told the slaves to look to him as master.
Mentor addressed the crowd.
“Now Ithacans!
Listen! This changes everything! Now kings
should never try to judge with righteousness 230
or rule their people gently. Kings should always be cruel, since the people whom he ruled
as kindly as a father, have forgotten their King Odysseus. I do not blame
the suitors’ overconfidence, rough ways and violence, in eating up his household;
they risk their lives, supposing that the master will never come back home. But I do blame you others, sitting passive, never speaking
against them, though you far outnumber them.” 240
Leocritus, Euenor’s son, replied,
“Mentor, for shame! You must have lost your mind! Fool, telling us to stop our banqueting!
You could not fight us; we outnumber you.
Even if Ithacan Odysseus
came back and found us feasting in his house, and tried to drive us out, his wife would get no joy of his return, no matter how
she misses him. If he tried fighting solo
against us, he would die a cruel death. 250
So what you said was nonsense. Anyway, we must disperse, and everyone get busy. Mentor and Halitherses, since you are old comrades of his father, you can guide Telemachus’ journey. I suspect
he will not manage to go anywhere; he will just wait in Ithaca for news.”
The crowd broke up; the Ithacans went home; the suitors, to Odysseus’ house.
Telemachus slipped out and at the beach 260
he dipped his hands in salty gray seawater, and asked Athena,
“Goddess, hear my prayer!
Just yesterday you came and ordered me to sail the hazy sea and find out news
of my long-absent father’s journey home.
The Greeks are wasting everything, especially these bullying, mean suitors.”
Then Athena came near him with the voice and guise of Mentor, and spoke to him with words that flew like birds.
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“Telemachus, you will be brave and thoughtful, |
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if your own father’s forcefulness runs through you. |
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How capable he was, in word and deed! |
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Your journey will succeed, if you are his. |
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If you are not his son, his true-born son, |
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I doubt you can achieve what you desire. |
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And it is rare for sons to be like fathers; |
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only a few are better, most are worse. |
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But you will be no coward and no fool. |
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You do possess your father’s cunning mind, |
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so there is hope you will do all these things. |
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Forget about those foolish suitors’ plans. |
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They have no brains and no morality. |
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They do not know black doom will kill them all, |
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and some day soon: their death is near at hand. |
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You will achieve the journey that you seek, |
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since I will go with you, just like a father. |
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I will equip a good swift ship for you. |
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Now go back home to where those suitors are, |
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and get provisions. Pack them in containers: |
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some wine in jars, and grain, the strength of men, |
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in sturdy skins. And I will go through town, |
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calling for volunteers to come with us. |
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There are a lot of ships in Ithaca, |
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both new and old. I will select the best one; |
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we will equip her quickly and sail fast, |
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far off across the sea.” |
So spoke the goddess, daughter of Zeus. Telemachus obeyed.
His heart was troubled as he went back home. He found the arrogant suitors in the hall,
skinning some goats and charring hogs for dinner. 300
Antinous began to laugh. He called him,
and seized his hand and spoke these words to him.
“Telemachus, you are being so pigheaded! Why not put all your troubles from your heart? Come eat and drink with me, just as before.
You know the Greeks will fix it all for you. They will select a ship and crew, and soon you will reach Pylos, where you hope to hear word of your father.”
But the boy was wary, and said, “Antinous, I cannot eat; 310
I have no peace or joy when I am with you selfish suitors. Is it not enough that you destroyed my rich inheritance when I was just a little boy? But now I have grown bigger, and I got advice
from other people, and my heart wells up with courage. I will try to bring down doom on your heads here at home or when I go
to Pylos. Yes, I really will go there,
as passenger, although I do not own 320
a ship or have a crew—because of you!”
He snatched his hand away. But as they feasted, the suitors started mocking him and jeering.
With sneers they said,
“Oh no! Telemachus is going to kill us! He will bring supporters from Pylos or from Sparta—he is quite determined! Or indeed he may be fetching some lethal poisons from the fertile fields
of Ephyra, to mix up in our wine-bowl and kill us all!”
Another proud young man 330
said, “Well, who knows, perhaps he will get lost in that curved ship, and die, so far away
from all his family—just like his father. And what a pity that would be for us!
Then we would have to share out all his wealth, and give away the house itself to her—
his mother, and the man who marries her.”
The boy went downstairs, to his father’s storeroom, wide and high-roofed, piled high with gold and bronze and clothes in chests and fragrant olive oil. 340
Down there the jars of vintage wine were stored, which held the sweet, unmixed and godlike drink, lined in a row against the wall, in case
weary Odysseus came home at last.
The double doors were locked and closely fitted. A woman checked the contents, night and day, guarding it all with great intelligence,
and that was Eurycleia, child of Ops.
He called her to the chamber and addressed her.
“Nanny, please pour sweet wine in jugs for me, 350
the second best one, not the one you keep for when the poor unlucky king escapes
from evil fate and death, and comes back home. Fill up twelve jugs with wine for me, and pour me some twenty pounds of fine-milled barley-groats, all packed in sturdy leather bags. Load up
all these provisions secretly. At nightfall,
I will come here and get them, when my mother has gone upstairs to go to sleep. I am
leaving for Sparta and for sandy Pylos, 360
to learn about my father’s journey home.”
At that his loving nurse began to wail, and sobbed,
“Sweet child! What gave you this idea?
Why do you want to go so far? You are an only child, and dearly loved! The king, Odysseus, is gone, lost, far from home,
and they will plot against you when you leave, scheming to murder you and share this wealth.
Stay with us, we who love you! Do not go
searching for danger out on restless seas!” 370
Telemachus decisively replied,
“Nanny, you need not worry. Gods have blessed this plan. But promise me you will not tell Mother, until she notices me gone.
Say nothing for twelve days, so she will not start crying; it would spoil her pretty skin.”
At that the old nurse swore a mighty oath
by all the gods that she would keep the secret, and then she drew the wine for him in jars,
and poured the barley-groats in well-stitched bags. 380
Telemachus returned to see the suitors.
Meanwhile, bright-eyed Athena had a plan.
Resembling Telemachus, she went
all through the city, standing by each man, and urged them to assemble by the ship
at night, and asked the son of Phronius, Noëmon, for his speedy ship; he promised to give it gladly. Then the sun went down
and all the streets grew dark. The goddess dragged the ship into the water, and she loaded 390
the necessary tackle for a journey.
Right at the beach’s farthest end the goddess stood and assembled good strong men as crew;
she coached each one. Then, eyes ablaze with plans, she went back to Odysseus’ house,
and poured sweet sleep upon the drunken suitors. She struck them and their cups fell from their hands. Disguised as Mentor both in looks and voice,
she called the boy out from the mighty hall,
and looked intently in his face, and said, 400
“Telemachus, your crew of armored men is ready at the oar for your departure.
Come on! No time to waste! We must be gone!”
So speaking, Pallas quickly led the boy;
he followed in the footsteps of the goddess. They went down to the seashore and the ship, and found the long-haired sailors on the beach.
Inspired and confident, Telemachus called out,
“My friends! Come on, let us go fetch the rations; they are ready in the hall. 410
But quietly—my mother does not know, nor do the other women, except one.”
And so he led them, and they followed him. They loaded everything upon the decks; Odysseus’ son instructed them,
and then embarked—Athena led the way. She sat down in the stern, and next to her Telemachus was sitting. Then the crew released the ropes and boarded, each at oar. Athena called a favorable wind, 420
pure Zephyr whistling on wine-dark sea. Telemachus commanded his companions to seize the rigging; so they did, and raised
the pine-wood mast inside the rounded block, and bound it down with forestays round about,
and raised the bright white sails with leather ropes.
Wind blew the middle sail; the purple wave was splashing loudly round the moving keel.
The goddess rode the waves and smoothed the way.
The quick black ship held steady, so they fastened 430
the tackle down, and filled their cups with wine. They poured libations to the deathless gods, especially to the bright-eyed child of Zeus.
All through the night till dawn the ship sailed on.
