Book XV · Ῥαψωδία ο

And Pallas Athena dipped over to wide-dancefloored Lacedaemon,

off to find the golden boy of big-hearted Odysseus,

to jog his memory about the comeback and light a fire under him to head home.

And she clocked Telemachus and Nestor's shining boy,

crashed out in the front porch of glorious Menelaus,

but sweet sleep wasn't catching Telemachus, nah, deep in his chest,

all through the divine dark of the night, worries about his dad kept him wide awake.

And pulling up close beside him, Athena, eyes glinting, hit him with this:

"Telemachus, this whole drifting-far-from-home arc is not it anymore,

guys this outrageously entitled: watch them eat your whole estate,

carving it up between themselves, and your trip ends up a total waste of time.

So lean on Menelaus, loud-in-the-clutch, hard and fast,

to send you off, while your flawless mum's still at home and not yet gone.

to marry Eurymachus: that guy's out-flexing all the others,

the suitors, with his gifts, and he keeps cranking the bride-price up:

careful no property walks out the door against your will.

Because you know exactly how a woman's heart works in her chest:

and her earlier kids and the dear husband of her youth,

once he's dead and gone, she stops thinking about him, no follow-up questions.

So roll up there yourself and put everything in the hands

of whichever handmaid you reckon is the most solid one,

And here's one more thing for you, lock it into your heart.

The top dogs among the suitors are lying in wait for you on purpose,

parked in the strait between Ithaca and rugged Same,

fully itching to body you before you touch home soil.

of these suitors, the ones eating your livelihood right now.

So keep your well-built ship well clear of the islands,

and sail through the night too: whichever of the immortals

is watching your back and keeping you safe will send a fair wind right behind you.

send the ship on into the city and all your crew with it,

and you, first thing, beeline straight for the swineherd,

the one who's the guardian of your pigs, and who's loyal to you, no cap.

Crash there for the night: then send him into the city

that you're safe and sound and you've rolled back in from Pylos."

And once she'd said all that she dipped off to towering Olympus,

meanwhile he shook Nestor's son out of his sweet sleep,

nudging him awake with a foot, and hit him with this:

and yoke them under the chariot, so we can knock out the journey."

And Peisistratus, son of Nestor, fired back at him with this:

"Telemachus, there's no way, however much we're itching to go,

to drive through the pitch-dark night: dawn's gonna pull up soon enough.

on the chariot, Atreus's son, spear-famous Menelaus,

and sees us off with soft, kind words.

Because that's the thing a guest remembers all his days,

the host who showed him real warmth and proper love."

And loud-in-the-clutch Menelaus came up close to them,

having risen from his bed, from beside lovely-haired Helen.

And as soon as the dear son of Odysseus clocked him,

he scrambled, yanking the shiny tunic round his body

that hero, and he stepped out the door, and pulling up beside him spoke,

Telemachus, the dear son of godlike Odysseus:

"Menelaus, son of Atreus, raised by Zeus, captain of the troops,

go on and send me off now, back to my beloved homeland,

And then loud-in-the-clutch Menelaus came back at him with this:

"Telemachus, no way am I gonna hold you here a long time

when you're itching for the comeback: I'd be salty at any other

host too, the kind who's over-the-top with the love

It's equally bad form, the guy who pushes a guest to leave

when he doesn't want to, and the guy who holds him back when he's desperate to go.

You've gotta show love to the guest while he's here, and send him off when he wants out.

So just hang back until I bring the gifts and load them

to fix a proper feast in the halls, plenty in stock inside.

It's a win on all fronts: clout, glory, and a full belly,

to eat first and then set out across the wide endless land.

And if you fancy a road trip through Hellas and the heart of Argos,

and I'll guide you through people's cities: and nobody's gonna

send us off empty-handed, they'll each slip us one thing to carry away,

some tripod of good bronze or a cauldron,

or a pair of mules or a golden cup."

"Menelaus, son of Atreus, raised by Zeus, captain of the troops,

I really wanna head back to ours now, because I didn't leave anyone behind

to keep watch over my property when I set out:

careful I don't perish hunting for my godlike dad,

But once loud-in-the-clutch Menelaus heard that,

straight away he told his wife and the handmaids

to fix a proper feast in the halls, plenty in stock inside.

And Eteoneus, son of Boethous, came up close to him,

and loud-in-the-clutch Menelaus told him to kindle a fire

and roast some meat: and the guy heard and didn't ghost the order.

Meanwhile Menelaus himself went down into the fragrant storeroom,

not solo, Helen and Megapenthes rolled down with him too.

Atreus's son then grabbed a two-handled cup,

and told his son Megapenthes to carry the mixing-bowl,

the silver one: and Helen posted up by the storage chests,

where her embroidered robes were, the ones she'd made herself, all of them dazzling.

the one that was the most gorgeous in its embroidery and the biggest,

glowing like a star: and it was lying way at the bottom under the rest.

And they went on through the house till they reached

Telemachus: then golden-haired Menelaus said to him:

the one your heart's set on, Zeus, the loud-thundering husband of Hera.

And out of all the treasures stashed in my house,

I'll give you the one that's the most gorgeous and the most prized.

I'll give you a finely crafted mixing-bowl: it's solid silver

the work of Hephaestus: and the hero Phaedimus handed it over,

the king of the Sidonians, when his house took me in

back when I was heading home: and now I wanna pass it on to you."

Saying this he placed the two-handled cup in his hands,

mighty Megapenthes carried over and set down right in front of him,

the silver one: and lovely-cheeked Helen posted up beside them

with the robe in her hands, said her piece and called him by name:

"Here's a gift from me too, dear child, I'm giving you this,

for your bride to wear: and until then let it lie beside your dear mum

in the hall. As for you, may you reach home buzzing inside,

your well-built house and your own homeland."

Saying this she placed it in his hands, and he took it buzzing inside.

into the chariot basket, and admired every piece in his heart:

then golden-haired Menelaus walked the two of them to the hall.

And they sat themselves down on the chairs and thrones.

Then a handmaid came with water and poured it from a pitcher,

so they could wash up: and she dragged a polished table over beside them.

And the respectable housekeeper came round with the bread and laid it out,

loading on plenty of dishes, generous with whatever was on hand:

and the son of Boethous carved the meat and dished out the portions:

So they all sent it on the good food laid out ready in front of them.

But once they'd killed the craving for drinking and eating,

right then Telemachus and Nestor's shining boy

yoked up the horses and climbed into the embroidered chariot,

And after them came golden-haired Menelaus, son of Atreus,

holding honey-hearted wine in his right hand,

in a golden cup, so the two of them could pour one out before they left.

And he stood out in front of the horses, raised a toast to them and said:

for me: because honestly he was gentle to me like a father,

all the while we sons of the Achaeans were warring at Troy."

And then switched-on Telemachus came back at him with this:

"For sure, raised-by-Zeus one, exactly like you're saying,

once I'm back in Ithaca and I've found Odysseus in the house,

could tell him how I'm coming back after scoring all your love and hospitality,

and look, I'm hauling loads of fine treasures with me."

And just as he said that, a bird shot past on his right,

a tame one, snatched from the yard: and the people came chasing after it,

shouting, men and women: and the eagle, swooping in close to them,

shot off to the right in front of the horses. And seeing it,

they were buzzing, and the heart in every one of them warmed right up.

"Tell us, Menelaus, raised by Zeus, captain of the troops,

did the god flash this omen for us two, or for you yourself?"

So he spoke, and Menelaus, beloved of Ares, sat there racking his brain,

trying to read it and give them the proper answer.

"Listen up: I'm gonna prophesy, exactly the way the immortals

are dropping it in my chest and the way I reckon it's gonna play out.

Just like that eagle snatched the goose raised up in the house

after swooping down from the mountain, where its bloodline and brood are,

will make it home and collect his payback: or maybe he's already

home, planting bad vibes for every single one of those suitors."

And then switched-on Telemachus came back at her with this:

"May Zeus make it happen exactly like that, Hera's loud-thundering husband:

He spoke, and laid the whip on the horses: and they shot off real quick,

charging across the plain, fully locked in, straight through the city.

And all day long they kept the yoke shaking, holding it tight on both sides.

And the sun went down and all the streets fell into shadow:

son of Ortilochus, the boy that Alpheus fathered.

There they crashed for the night, and he set out guest-gifts for them.

And the second early-born rosy-fingered Dawn pulled up doing her thing,

they yoked up the horses and climbed into the embroidered chariot,

and he cracked the whip to drive on, and the pair flew, no complaints.

And soon enough they reached the steep citadel of Pylos:

and right then Telemachus said this to Nestor's son:

"Son of Nestor, how could you promise to do me a solid

out of our fathers' love, and on top of that we're the same age:

and this trip's gonna lock us into being even more on the same wavelength.

Don't drive me past my ship, raised-by-Zeus one, just drop me right there,

so the old man doesn't trap me at his place against my will,

So he spoke, and the son of Nestor talked it over in his own heart,

how he could promise it and pull it off properly.

And as he turned it over, this seemed like the smarter play:

he wheeled the horses round towards the fast ship and the seashore,

the clothing and the gold, the stuff Menelaus had handed over:

and urging him on, he hit him with these winged words:

"Get aboard now in a hurry and tell all your crew to do the same,

before I get home and break the news to the old man.

that's how his spirit is, way too overbearing, he won't let you go,

he'll come down here himself to fetch you, and I'm telling you

he's not going back empty-handed: he's gonna be properly heated regardless."

Saying this he drove the gorgeous-maned horses

And Telemachus, urging on his crew, gave the order:

"Get the gear sorted on the black ship, lads,

and let's climb aboard ourselves, so we can knock out the journey."

So he spoke, and they totally heard him and fell in line,

Well, he was busy with all that and praying, making an offering to Athena

beside the ship's stern: and a man came up close to him,

from a faraway land, on the run from Argos after killing a man,

a seer: and as for his bloodline he was a descendant of Melampus,

seriously loaded, living in a standout mansion among the Pylians:

but then he ended up in another people's country, on the run from his homeland

and from big-hearted Neleus, the most impressive of all living men,

the one who held onto loads of his property by force

in painful chains, going through brutal agonies,

all over the daughter of Neleus and that heavy blindness of mind,

the one the goddess, the grim Erinys, dropped into his head.

But he dodged his death and drove the loud-mooing cattle

for that disgraceful move, and he brought the woman home

to his brother's house: meanwhile he himself headed to another people's land,

to horse-grazing Argos: because that's where it was fated for him

to live, ruling over loads of Argives.

and fathered Antiphates and Mantius, two mighty sons.

And Antiphates fathered big-hearted Oicles,

and Oicles fathered Amphiaraus, the rouser of armies,

the one whom Zeus of the aegis and Apollo loved deep in their hearts

nah, he perished at Thebes, all over a woman's bribes.

His sons were Alcmaon and Amphilochus.

And Mantius fathered Polypheides and Cleitus:

but golden-throned Dawn straight up snatched Cleitus away

and as for proud-spirited Polypheides, Apollo

made him the absolute best seer of mortals, after Amphiaraus died:

this guy moved away to Hyperesia, salty at his father,

and living there he prophesied for every mortal who came round.

who at that moment posted up next to Telemachus: and he caught him

pouring a libation and praying beside his fast black ship,

and he found his voice and hit him with these winged words:

"My guy, since I've caught you making an offering in this spot,

your own life and your crew's, the ones rolling with you,

tell me straight what I'm asking and don't hide a thing:

who are you and where from? Where's your city and your folks?"

And then switched-on Telemachus came back at him with this:

I'm Ithacan by blood, and my father is Odysseus,

if he ever existed: but now he's perished a grim death.

That's why right now I grabbed my crew and a black ship

and rolled out to get the tea on my dad who's been gone forever."

"Same here, I'm on the run from my homeland, after killing a man,

one of my own kin: and there's plenty of brothers and relatives

across horse-grazing Argos, and they've got serious sway over the Achaeans:

dodging death and the black doom from them,

But take me aboard your ship, since I came to you as a fugitive begging for help,

so they don't body me: because I reckon they're hunting me down."

And then switched-on Telemachus came back at him with this:

"Nah, there's no way I'm shoving you off my balanced ship when you wanna come,

That's what he said, and he took the bronze spear off the guy's hands,

and he stretched it out flat along the deck of the curved-both-ends ship,

then climbed aboard the sea-crossing vessel himself, no hesitation.

And he parked himself down at the stern, and right beside him

And Telemachus, hyping his crew up, fired off the orders

to grab hold of the tackle: and they jumped to it, no slacking.

And they hoisted the pine mast up and stood it bolt upright

inside the hollow socket, then strapped it down snug with the forestays,

And Athena, eyes glinting, sent them a fair following breeze,

ripping hard through the upper air, so the ship could speedrun

its way through, eating up the salty water of the sea.

So they ran past Crounoi and Chalcis with its pretty streams.

and the ship was bearing down on Pheae, pushed along by Zeus's wind,

and past glorious Elis too, where the Epeians run the show.

And from there he steered her on toward the racing islands,

turning it over in his head: would he dodge death or get snatched?

were having their dinner: and the other men were dining right alongside them.

But once they'd absolutely demolished the food and drink and the craving backed off,

Odysseus dropped a line, testing the swineherd to see

whether he'd keep on looking after him warm and tell him to stay

"Hear me out now, Eumaeus, and all you other lads too:

come dawn I'm itching to head off toward the city,

to go beg, so I don't keep draining you and the crew dry.

But give me some solid pointers and a good guide to roll with,

drag myself about on my own, hoping someone hands me a cup and a crust.

And maybe I'd swing by the house of godlike Odysseus

and pass some news to switched-on Penelope,

and I could even mingle with those arrogant suitors,

I'd jump straight to it and do whatever they wanted, no problem.

Because let me tell you something, take it in and hear me out:

thanks to Hermes the guide, the one who hands out

grace and clout to the work of every single person,

stacking a fire up right and splitting the dry firewood,

carving and roasting the meat and pouring the wine,

all the stuff the lower lot do, waiting on the proper gentlemen."

And properly cut up about it you came back at him, swineherd Eumaeus:

inside your head? You straight up wanna get yourself killed out there,

if you really wanna sink down into that suitor mob,

the ones whose arrogance and brute force hit the iron sky.

Trust me, the servants those guys keep are nothing like you,

heads and pretty faces forever shining with oil,

those are the ones who wait on them: and the polished tables

are buckling under the bread and meat and wine.

So just stay: nobody here's annoyed by you hanging around,

And once the dear son of Odysseus shows up,

that's the man who'll kit you out with a cloak and tunic, proper clothes,

and send you off wherever your heart and spirit are telling you to go."

Then Odysseus, that goat who's been through it, came back at him:

as you are by me, for putting an end to my wandering and grim misery.

Because there's nothing worse for mortals than the homeless drift:

nah, for the sake of the cursed belly men carry brutal troubles,

whoever the wandering and the heartbreak and the pain catches up to.

come on, tell me about the mother of godlike Odysseus,

and the father he left behind on the doorstep of old age,

whether they're somehow still alive under the rays of the sun,

or they're already gone and down in the halls of Hades."

"Alright then, stranger, I'll lay it out for you super straight.

Laertes is still living, but he's forever praying to Zeus

that his spirit would just drain from his limbs there in his halls:

because he grieves so wildly over the son who's gone,

gutted him the worst and pushed him into a raw, early old age.

And she perished from heartbreak over her famous son,

a wretched death, the kind I'd never wish on anybody

living round here who's a friend to me and treats me right.

I always loved to check in on her and ask after things,

because she was the one who raised me alongside long-robed Ctimene,

her mighty daughter, the youngest kid she'd brought into the world:

the two of us grew up together, and she honoured me only a touch less.

they sent her off to Same and pulled in a fat dowry,

while me, that woman dressed up in a cloak and tunic, proper clothes,

gorgeous ones, and handed me sandals for my feet

and shipped me out to the fields: but in her heart she loved me even more.

keep growing the work I stick at, the work I never quit,

and from it I've eaten and drunk and given to people I respect.

But from the mistress there's nothing sweet to hear anymore,

not a word, not a kind act, since trouble crashed onto the house,

to talk face to face with the mistress and get the whole story

and eat and drink, and then carry off a little something

to the fields, the kind of thing that always warms a servant's heart."

Then big-brain Odysseus came back at him with this:

when you got knocked way off course from your homeland and your folks.

But come on, tell me this and lay it out for me straight:

did some wide-streeted city of people get sacked and torn down,

the one your father and your queenly mother used to live in,

when hostile men snatched you off in their ships and trafficked you,

sold you to this man's house, and he paid a fair price for you?"

And the swineherd, leader of men, came back at him with this:

"Stranger, since you're actually asking me and digging into all this,

just chilling. These nights stretch out forever: there's time to sleep,

and there's time to listen and enjoy: and there's no need for you

to lie down before it's time: too much sleep is its own kind of drag.

And as for the rest, whoever's heart and spirit is telling them to,

let them get fed and roll out with the master's pigs.

But the two of us, in here, drinking and dining,

let's get our enjoyment trading the grim sorrows of each other,

remembering it all: because a man can find a kind of joy even in his pains,

So here's the thing I'll tell you, the thing you keep digging into.

There's an island they call Syrie, in case you've heard of it,

up above Ortygia, where the sun makes its turning,

not super crammed with people or anything, but a good place,

Hunger never once comes for the people there, and no other

nasty disease ever lands on the poor mortals:

no, but when the tribes of folk in the city grow old,

silver-bowed Apollo rolls up with Artemis,

There are two cities there, and everything's split clean in half between them:

and over both of them my father held the throne,

Ctesius, son of Ormenus, a guy basically godlike.

And that's where the Phoenicians pulled up, those famous-for-ships men,

Now there was a Phoenician woman in my father's house,

gorgeous and tall and skilled at making beautiful work:

and the Phoenicians, those slippery operators, ran a whole game on her.

While she was off washing clothes, one of them linked up with her

the heads of soft women, even one who's a hard worker.

Then he asked her who she was and where she came from:

and she pointed out my father's high-roofed house right away:

'I'm proud to say I'm from Sidon, the place rich in bronze,

but Taphian raiders, those pirate types, snatched me up

as I was coming in from the fields, and trafficked me, brought me here,

sold me to this man's house, and he paid a fair price for me.'

And the man who'd been linking up with her on the down-low came back:

to set eyes on your father's and mother's high-roofed house,

and them too? Because they're still alive and they're called rich.'

And the woman came back at him and answered with this:

'Yeah, this could happen, if you sailors would swear me

That's what she said, and they all swore the oath like she told them.

But once they'd sworn it and finished off the whole oath,

the woman jumped back in and answered them with this:

'Quiet now: nobody from your crew should chat me up

or maybe at the well: in case someone heads to the house

and tells the old man, and he gets suspicious and ties me up

in brutal chains, and cooks up your destruction too.

So keep the plan locked in your heads and rush the cargo trade.

then get a message sent quick to me at the house:

because I'll bring gold too, whatever lands in my hands.

And I'd happily throw in something else as my fare:

because there's a kid I'm minding in the halls, a rich man's boy,

I'd bring him to the ship, and he'd fetch you a massive price,

wherever you traffick him among the people who talk different.'

That's what she said, and she headed off to the gorgeous house:

and they hung around with us right there for a whole year,

But once the hollow ship was loaded enough for them to sail,

right then they sent a messenger to pass word to the woman.

A real cunning operator pulled up at my father's house

with a golden necklace, strung through with bits of amber.

were turning it over in their hands and feasting their eyes on it,

offering a price: and he gave her the silent nod.

And once he'd given that nod he made off back to the hollow ship,

and she took me by the hand and led me out of the house, out the door.

of the men who'd been dining, the ones who waited on my dad.

They'd gone off to a council session and a public meeting,

and quick as anything she stashed three cups under her dress

and carried them out: and me, I tagged along, no thoughts head empty.

and we got to the famous harbour, hurrying along,

where that Phoenician crew's fast-sailing ship was parked.

Then they climbed aboard and set off over the watery paths,

hauling the two of us up: and Zeus sent a following wind.

but once Zeus, son of Kronos, brought on the seventh day,

right then Artemis, who showers arrows, struck the woman down,

and she crashed into the bilge with a thud like a diving seabird.

And they chucked her overboard to be a snack for the seals

And the wind and the water carried them and dumped them on Ithaca,

and that's where Laertes bought me with his own money.

And that's how I laid eyes on this land with my own two eyes."

Then Odysseus, born of Zeus, answered him with this:

telling me each of these things, all the pain you went through in your soul.

But honestly, alongside the bad, Zeus laid something good for you,

since after all that grind you reached the house of a kind man,

one who hands you food and drink, looking after you

I've fetched up here after wandering through loads of mortals' cities."

So that's the kind of thing they were saying to each other,

and they didn't crash out for long, just a little, because quick

came Dawn of the lovely throne. Meanwhile over on the shore

double-quick, and rowed her on into the harbour with the oars.

And they tossed out the mooring-stones and tied down the stern-ropes,

and they themselves stepped out onto the breaking edge of the sea

and got their dinner sorted and mixed up the sparkling wine.

switched-on Telemachus kicked off the talking with them:

"Right, you lot drive the black ship on to the city now,

while I'll head off to the fields and the herders:

this evening, once I've checked on my stuff, I'll come down to town.

a proper feast of meat and sweet-sipping wine."

And godlike Theoclymenus came back at him with this:

"And where do I go, dear kid? Whose house am I meant to head for,

out of the men who lord it over rugged Ithaca?

And switched-on Telemachus came back at him with this:

"Honestly, any other time I'd be telling you to head to ours,

because there's no shortage of welcome there: but right now it'd be

worse for you, since I won't be around, and my mum

the suitors in the house, no, she's up in the high room weaving at her loom, away from them.

But let me point you to another guy you should go to,

Eurymachus, the shining son of sharp-minded Polybus,

the one the Ithacans are looking at now like he's basically a god:

to marry my mother and grab the honour Odysseus had.

But Zeus on Olympus knows how all that lands, up in the upper air,

whether he'll wrap up an evil day for them before any wedding."

And just as he was saying that, a bird flew by on the right,

it had a dove and was plucking it, scattering the feathers to the ground

in between the ship and Telemachus himself.

And Theoclymenus called him off to the side, away from the crew,

and clasped his hand and found his voice and hit him with this:

because I clocked it dead on as I looked, and I know it's an omen.

There's no other line more kingly than yours

in the whole land of Ithaca, no, you're the ones who stay strong forever."

And switched-on Telemachus came back at him with this:

then you'd know my friendship in no time, and gifts, loads of them,

straight from me, so anyone running into you would call you blessed."

That's what he said, and then he called out to Peiraeus, his ride-or-die mate:

"Peiraeus, son of Clytius, you're the one out of all my crew

so now take this stranger and bring him to your house

and look after him warm and proper and treat him right, until I come."

And spear-famous Peiraeus came back at him with this:

"Telemachus, even if you stay out there a long while,

That's what he said, and he climbed aboard the ship and told the crew

to get on themselves and to untie the stern-ropes.

And quick as anything they were aboard and parked on the rowing-benches.

And Telemachus laced up the gorgeous sandals onto his feet,

up off the ship's deck: meanwhile they cast off the stern-ropes.

And they shoved off and sailed for the city, just like he'd ordered,

Telemachus, the dear son of godlike Odysseus:

and his feet carried him forward fast, striding on until he hit the yard,

crashed every night, a good loyal man who treated his masters right.