Speaker 1: Hello, this is let's talk about myths baby here with
Speaker 1: you today on this magnificent of Fridays with another episode
Speaker 1: of the Odyssey. Things are moving along. We're not quite
Speaker 1: at Odyssey has yet, which is a travesty in my opinion,
Speaker 1: but you know, old Telemachus has got a few more
Speaker 1: things to do before we get back to his father.
Speaker 1: Just a reminder, this translation is meth If you're looking
Speaker 1: to actually read the Odyssey yourself and not just listen
Speaker 1: to me reading it, I would highly recommend Emily Wilson's
Speaker 1: recent translation of it. It's beautiful in prose, like it
Speaker 1: should be translated by a woman who kind of took
Speaker 1: note of some of the more problematic translations done in
Speaker 1: the past, and overall, honestly, it's just like such an
Speaker 1: enjoyable translation. If it were not for copyright, I would
Speaker 1: be reading that one to you. But we are not
Speaker 1: breaking copyright laws here at you, guys, And that's why
Speaker 1: I'm reading super old, super awkward, super conservative Samuel Butler's translation.
Speaker 1: And so this is Homer's Odyssey, translated by Samuel Butler,
Speaker 1: Book four. Now, when the sun had set and darkness
Speaker 1: was over the land, they reached the low lying city
Speaker 1: of Lackadaimon, where they drove straight to the abode of Menelais,
Speaker 1: and found him in his own house feasting with his
Speaker 1: many clansmen in honor of the wedding of his son,
Speaker 1: and also have his daughter, whom he was marrying to
Speaker 1: the son of that valiant warrior Achilles. He had given
Speaker 1: his consent and promised her to him while he was
Speaker 1: still a troy, and now the gods were bringing the
Speaker 1: marriage about. So he was sending her with chariots and
Speaker 1: horses to the city of the Mermaidons, over whom Achilles
Speaker 1: son was reigning. For his only son, he had found
Speaker 1: a bride from Sparta, the daughter of Elector. This son, Megapenthes,
Speaker 1: was born to him of a bondwoman, For Heaven vouchsafed
Speaker 1: Helen no more children after she had borne her mayone
Speaker 1: who was fair as golden Venus herself. So the neighbors
Speaker 1: and kinsmen of Menelaius were feasting and making marry in
Speaker 1: his house. There was a bard also to sing to
Speaker 1: them and play his lyre, while two tumblers went about
Speaker 1: performing in the midst of them. When the man struck
Speaker 1: up with his tune, Telemachus and the son of Nestor,
Speaker 1: stayed their horses at the gate whereon Econius, servant to Mentelaius,
Speaker 1: came out, and as soon as he saw them, ran
Speaker 1: hurrying back into the house to tell his master. He
Speaker 1: went close up to him and said, Mente Lais, there
Speaker 1: are some strangers. Come here, two men who look like
Speaker 1: sons of Jove. What are we to do? Shall we
Speaker 1: take their horses out? Or tell them to find friends
Speaker 1: elsewhere as they best can. Mentelais was very angry and said, Eatonius,
Speaker 1: son of Bethus, you never used to be a fool,
Speaker 1: but now you talk like a simpleton. Take their horses out,
Speaker 1: of course, and show the strangers in that they may
Speaker 1: have supper. You and I have stayed, and often enough,
Speaker 1: at other people's houses before we got back here where
Speaker 1: Heaven grant that we may rest in peace. Henceforward, So
Speaker 1: Eatonus bustled back and bade the other servants come with him.
Speaker 1: They took their sweating steeds from under the yoke, made
Speaker 1: them fast to the mangers, and gave them a feed
Speaker 1: of oats and barley mixed. Then they leaned the chariot
Speaker 1: against the end wall of the courtyard and led the
Speaker 1: way into the house. Telemachus and Pisistratus were astonished when
Speaker 1: they saw it, for it's splendor was as that of
Speaker 1: the sun and moon. Then, when they had admired everything,
Speaker 1: to their hearts content, they went into the bathroom and
Speaker 1: washed themselves. When the servants had washed them and anointed
Speaker 1: them with oil, they brought them woolen cloaks and shirts,
Speaker 1: and the two took their seats by the side of Menelaias.
Speaker 1: A maid servant brought them water in a beautiful golden
Speaker 1: ewre and poured it into a silver basin for them
Speaker 1: to wash their hands, and she drew a clean table
Speaker 1: beside them. An upper servant brought them bread and offered
Speaker 1: them many good things of what there was in the house,
Speaker 1: while the carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats,
Speaker 1: and set cups of gold by their side. Mentelaias then
Speaker 1: greeted them, saying, fall to and welcome. When you have
Speaker 1: done supper, I shall ask who you are. For the
Speaker 1: lineage of such men as you cannot have been lost.
Speaker 1: You must be descended from a line of scepter bearing kings.
Speaker 1: For poor people do not have such sons as you
Speaker 1: are on this. He handed them a piece of fat
Speaker 1: roast loin which he had set near him, as being
Speaker 1: a prime part, and they laid their hands on the
Speaker 1: good things that were before them. As soon as they
Speaker 1: had had enough to eat and drink, Telemachus said to
Speaker 1: the son of Nestor, with his head so close that
Speaker 1: no one might hear, look by, sistertus Man, after my
Speaker 1: own heart, see the gleam of bronze, and gold, of amber,
Speaker 1: ivory and silver. Everything is so splendid that it is
Speaker 1: like seeing the palace of Olympian Jove. I am lost
Speaker 1: in admiration. Metelias overheard him and said, no one my
Speaker 1: sons can hold his own with Jove, for his house
Speaker 1: and everything about him is immortal. But among immortal men, well,
Speaker 1: there may be another who has as much wealth as
Speaker 1: I have, or there may not. But at all events,
Speaker 1: I have traveled much and have undergone much hardship, for
Speaker 1: it was nearly eight years before I could get home
Speaker 1: with my fleet. I went to Cyprus, Phoenicia, and the Egyptians.
Speaker 1: I also went to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians of the Eurembrians,
Speaker 1: and to Libya, where the lambs have horns. As soon
Speaker 1: as they are born, and the sheep lambed down three
Speaker 1: times a year. Every one in that country, whether master
Speaker 1: or man, has plenty of cheese, meat, and good milk
Speaker 1: for the ewes yield all year round. But while I
Speaker 1: was traveling and getting great riches among these people, my
Speaker 1: brother was secretly and shockingly murdered through the perfidity of
Speaker 1: his wicked wife, So that I have no pleasure of
Speaker 1: being lord of all this wealth. Whoever your parents may be,
Speaker 1: they must have told you about all this, and of
Speaker 1: my heavy loss in the ruin of a stately mansion,
Speaker 1: fully and magnificently furnished. Would that I had only a
Speaker 1: third of what I had now, so that I had
Speaker 1: stayed at home, and all those were living who perished
Speaker 1: on the plain of Troy far from Argos. I often
Speaker 1: grieve as I sit here in my house, for one
Speaker 1: and all of them. At times I cry aloud for sorrow,
Speaker 1: but presently I leave off again, for crying is cold comfort,
Speaker 1: and one soon tires of it. Yet grieve for these
Speaker 1: as I may. I do so for one man more
Speaker 1: than for them all. I cannot even think of him
Speaker 1: without loathing both food and sleep. So miserable does he
Speaker 1: make me, For no one of all the Achaeans worked
Speaker 1: so hard or risked so much as he did. He
Speaker 1: took nothing by it, and left a legacy of sorrow
Speaker 1: to myself, For he has been gone a long time,
Speaker 1: and we know not whether he is alive or dead.
Speaker 1: His old father, his long suffering wife Penelope, and his
Speaker 1: son Telemachus, whom he left behind an infant in arms,
Speaker 1: are plunged in grief on his account. Thus spoke Mentelaius,
Speaker 1: and the heart of Telemachus yearned as he bethought him
Speaker 1: of his father. Tears fell from his eyes as he
Speaker 1: heard him thus mentioned, so that he held his cloak
Speaker 1: before his face with both hands. When Mentelius saw this,
Speaker 1: he doubted whether to let him choose his own time
Speaker 1: for speaking, or to ask him at once and find
Speaker 1: what it was all about. While he was thus in
Speaker 1: two minds Helen came down from her high vaulted and
Speaker 1: perfumed room, looking as lovely as Diana herself. A Draste
Speaker 1: brought her a seat, al kippy a soft woolen rug,
Speaker 1: while Philo fetched her the silver workbox which Alcandra, wife
Speaker 1: of Polybus, had given her. Polybus lived in Egyptian, Thebes,
Speaker 1: which is the richest city in the whole world. He
Speaker 1: gave Mentelaius two baths, both of pure silver, two tripods,
Speaker 1: and ten talents of gold. Besides all this, his wife
Speaker 1: gave Helen some beautiful presents to with a golden distaff
Speaker 1: and a silver work box that ran on wheels with
Speaker 1: a gold band around the top of it. Philau now
Speaker 1: placed this by her side, full of fine spun yarn,
Speaker 1: and a distaff charged with violet colored wool was laid
Speaker 1: upon the top of it. Then Helen took her seat,
Speaker 1: put her feet upon the footstool, and began to question
Speaker 1: her husband. Do we know Metelius, said she the names
Speaker 1: of these strangers who have come to visit us? Shall
Speaker 1: I guess right or wrong? But I cannot help saying
Speaker 1: what I think. Never yet have I seen either man
Speaker 1: or woman so like somebody else. Indeed, when I look
Speaker 1: at him, I hardly know what to think, as this
Speaker 1: young man is like Telemachus, whom Odysseus left as a
Speaker 1: baby behind him, when you o'chaeans went to Troy with
Speaker 1: battle in your hearts, on account of my most shameless self,
Speaker 1: my dear wife replied Mentelaius, I see the likeness just
Speaker 1: as you do. His hands and feet are just like Odysseus,
Speaker 1: so is his hair, with the shape of his head
Speaker 1: and expression of his eyes. Moreover, when I was talking
Speaker 1: about Odysseus and saying how much he had suffered on
Speaker 1: my account, tears fell from his eyes, and he hid
Speaker 1: his face in his mantle. Then, py sister Tous said, Mentelaius,
Speaker 1: son of Atrius, you are right in thinking that this
Speaker 1: young man is Telemachus. But he is very modest and
Speaker 1: is ashamed to come here and begin opening up discourse
Speaker 1: with one whose conversation is so divinely interesting as your own.
Speaker 1: My father, nest Or sent me to escort him hither,
Speaker 1: for he wanted to know whether you could give him
Speaker 1: any counsel or suggestion. A son has always trouble at
Speaker 1: home when his father has gone away, leaving him without supporters,
Speaker 1: and this is how Telemachus is now placed, for his
Speaker 1: father is absent, and there is no one among his
Speaker 1: own people to stand by him. Bless my heart, replied Menelais.
Speaker 1: Then I am receiving a gift from the son of
Speaker 1: a very dear friend who suffered much hardship from my sake.
Speaker 1: I had always hoped to entertain him with most marked distinction.
Speaker 1: When Heaven had granted us a safe return from beyond
Speaker 1: the seas, I should have founded a city for him
Speaker 1: and Argos, and built him a house. I should have
Speaker 1: made him leave Ithaca with his goods, his son, and
Speaker 1: all his people, and should have sacked for them some
Speaker 1: one of the neighboring cities that are subject to me.
Speaker 1: We should thus have seen one another continually, and nothing
Speaker 1: but death could have interrupted so closely and happy an intercourse.
Speaker 1: I suppose, however, that Heaven grudged us such great good fortune,
Speaker 1: for it has prevented the poor fellow from ever getting
Speaker 1: home at all. Thus did he speak, and his words
Speaker 1: set them all a weeping helen webbt to Lemachus wept,
Speaker 1: and so did Mentelaius. Nor could Pi Sistertus keep his
Speaker 1: eyes from filling when he remembered his dear brother Antilochus,
Speaker 1: whom the son of Bright Dawn had killed. Thereon, he
Speaker 1: said to Mentelaius, Sir, my father Nestor, when we used
Speaker 1: to talk about you at home, told me you were
Speaker 1: a person of rare and excellent understanding. If then it
Speaker 1: be possible, do as I would urge you. I am
Speaker 1: not fond of crying while I am getting my supper.
Speaker 1: Morning will come and due course, and in for noon.
Speaker 1: I care not how much I cry for those that
Speaker 1: are dead and gone. This is all we can do
Speaker 1: for the poor things. We can only shave our heads
Speaker 1: for them, and wring the tears from our cheeks. I
Speaker 1: had a brother who died at Troy. He was, by
Speaker 1: no means the worst man there. You are sure to
Speaker 1: have known him. His name was Antilochus. I never set
Speaker 1: eyes upon him myself, but they say he was singularly
Speaker 1: fleet of foot and in fight valiant. Your discretion, my friend,
Speaker 1: answered Menelaus, is beyond your years. It is plain you
Speaker 1: take after your father. One can soon see when a
Speaker 1: man is son to one whom heaven is blessed both
Speaker 1: as regards wife and offspring. And it is blessed nest
Speaker 1: Or from first to last all his days, giving him
Speaker 1: green old age in his own house, with sons about
Speaker 1: him who are both well disposed and valiant. We will
Speaker 1: put an end therefore to all this weeping, and intend
Speaker 1: to our supper again. Let water be poured over our hands. Telemachus,
Speaker 1: and I can talk with one another fully in the morning.
Speaker 1: On this asked Phalion. One of the servants poured water
Speaker 1: over their hands, and they laid their hands on the
Speaker 1: good things that were brought before them. Then Jove's daughter
Speaker 1: Helen bethought her of another matter. She drugs the wine
Speaker 1: with an herb that banishes all cares, sorrow and ill humor.
Speaker 1: Whoever drinks wine thus drugged cannot shed a single tear
Speaker 1: all the rest of the day, not even though his
Speaker 1: father and mother, both of them, drop down dead, or
Speaker 1: he sees a brother or a son hewn and pieces
Speaker 1: before his very eyes. This drug of such sovereign power
Speaker 1: and virtue had been given to Hellas by Polydamnia, wife
Speaker 1: of Thawn, a woman of Egypt, where there grow all
Speaker 1: sorts of herbs, some good to put into a mixing bowl,
Speaker 1: and others poisonous. Moreover, everyone in the whole country is
Speaker 1: a skilled physician, for they are of the race of Peon.
Speaker 1: When Helen had put this drug in the bowl and
Speaker 1: had told the servants to serve the wine round, she said, Menelaius,
Speaker 1: son of Atrius, and you, my good friends, sons of
Speaker 1: honorable men, which is as Jove wills, for he is
Speaker 1: the giver both of good and evil, and can do
Speaker 1: what he chooses. Feast here as you will, and listen
Speaker 1: while I tell you a tale in season. I cannot
Speaker 1: indeed name every single one of the exploits of Odysseus,
Speaker 1: but I can say what he did when he was
Speaker 1: before Troy and you Achaeans were in all sorts of difficulties.
Speaker 1: He covered himself with wounds and bruises, dressed himself all
Speaker 1: in rags, and entered the enemy's own city, looking like
Speaker 1: a menial or a beggar, and quite different from what
Speaker 1: he did when he was among his own people. In
Speaker 1: this disguise, he entered the city of Troy, and no
Speaker 1: one said anything to him. I alone recognized him and
Speaker 1: began to question him, but he was too cunning for me.
Speaker 1: When however, I had washed and anointed him, and had
Speaker 1: given him clothes, and after I had sworn a solemn
Speaker 1: oath not to betray him to the Trojans till he
Speaker 1: had got safely back to his own camp and to
Speaker 1: the ships. He killed many Trojans and got much information
Speaker 1: before he reached the Argive camp, for all which things
Speaker 1: the Trojan women made lamentation. But for my own part,
Speaker 1: I was glad, for my heart was beginning to yearn
Speaker 1: after my home, and I was unhappy about the wrong
Speaker 1: that Venus had done me in taking me over there,
Speaker 1: away from my country, my girl, and my lawful wedded husband,
Speaker 1: who was indeed by no means deficient either in person
Speaker 1: or understanding. Then Menteleiah said, all that you have been saying,
Speaker 1: my dear wife, is true. I have traveled much and
Speaker 1: have had much to do with heroes, but I have
Speaker 1: never seen such another man as Odysseus. What endurance to
Speaker 1: and what courage he displayed within the wooden horse, wherein
Speaker 1: all the bravest of the Argives were lying in wait
Speaker 1: to bring death and destruction upon the Trojans. At that
Speaker 1: moment you came up to us. Some god who wished
Speaker 1: well to the Trojans must have set you on to
Speaker 1: do it, and you had Diphobis with you. Three times.
Speaker 1: Did you all go all around our hiding place and
Speaker 1: path it You called our chiefs, each by his own name,
Speaker 1: and mimicked all our wives. Diametes, Odysseus, and I, from
Speaker 1: our seats inside, heard what a noise you made Diametes
Speaker 1: and I could not make up our minds whether to
Speaker 1: spring out then and there or to answer you from inside.
Speaker 1: But Odysseus held us all in check, so we sat
Speaker 1: quite still, all except Anticholus, who was beginning to answer you,
Speaker 1: when Odysseus clapped two brawny hands over his mouth and
Speaker 1: kept them there. It was this that saved us all,
Speaker 1: for he muzzled Anticholus till Minerva took you away again.
Speaker 1: How sad exclaimed Telemachus that all this was of no
Speaker 1: avail to save him, nor yet his own iron courage.
Speaker 1: But now, Sir, be please to send us all to bed,
Speaker 1: that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon
Speaker 1: of sleep. On this Helen told the maid servants to
Speaker 1: set beds in the room that was in the gatehouse,
Speaker 1: and to make them with good red rugs, and spread
Speaker 1: coverlets on the top of them with woolen clothes for
Speaker 1: the guests to wear. So the maids went out, carrying
Speaker 1: a torch and made the beds, to which a man
Speaker 1: servant presently conducted the strangers. Thus then did Telemachus and
Speaker 1: my sister to sleep there in the forecourt, while the
Speaker 1: son of Atrius lay in an inner room, with lovely
Speaker 1: Helen by his side. When the child of mourning, rosy
Speaker 1: fingered dawn appeared, Menelaius rose and dressed himself. He bound
Speaker 1: his sandals on to his comely feet, girded his sword
Speaker 1: about his shoulders, and left his room, looking like an
Speaker 1: immortal god. Then, taking a seat near Telemachus, he said,
Speaker 1: and what Telemachus has led you to take this long
Speaker 1: sea voyage to lack of diamon? Are you on public
Speaker 1: or private business? Tell me all about it. I have come, sir,
Speaker 1: replied Telemachus, to see if you can tell me anything
Speaker 1: about my father. I am being eaten out of house
Speaker 1: and home. My fair estate is being wasted, and my
Speaker 1: house is full of miscreants who keep killing great numbers
Speaker 1: of my sheep and oxen on the pretense of paying
Speaker 1: their addresses to my mother. Therefore, I am suppliant at
Speaker 1: your knees. If happy, you may tell me about my
Speaker 1: father's melancholy end, whether you saw it with your own
Speaker 1: eyes or heard it from some mother traveler. For he
Speaker 1: was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things
Speaker 1: out of pity for myself, But tell me in all plainness,
Speaker 1: exactly what you saw. If my brave father Odysseus ever
Speaker 1: did you loyal service, either by word or deed, when
Speaker 1: you Acayans were harassed by the Trojans, bear it in
Speaker 1: mind now as in my favor, and tell me truly,
Speaker 1: all Menelais on hearing this, was very much shocked, so
Speaker 1: he exclaimed, these cowards would usurp a brave man's bed.
Speaker 1: A hind might as well lay her newborn young in
Speaker 1: the layer of a lion, and then go off to
Speaker 1: feed in the forest or in some grassy dell. The lion,
Speaker 1: when he comes back to his lair, will make short
Speaker 1: work with the pair of them, and so will Odysseus
Speaker 1: with these suitors. By Father, Jove, Minerva and Apollo. If
Speaker 1: Odysseus is still the man that he was when he
Speaker 1: wrestled with Philow Miladies in Les both and threw him
Speaker 1: so heavily that all the Achaeans cheered him. If he
Speaker 1: is still such and were to come near these suitors,
Speaker 1: they would have a short shrift and a sorry wedding.
Speaker 1: As regards your questions, however, I will not prevaricate nor
Speaker 1: deceive you, but will tell you without concealment all that
Speaker 1: the Old Man of the Sea has told me. I
Speaker 1: was true to come here, But the gods detained me
Speaker 1: in Egypt, for my hecatombs had not given them full satisfaction,
Speaker 1: and the gods are very strict about having their dues.
Speaker 1: Now off Egypt, about as far as a ship can
Speaker 1: sail in a day with a good stiff breeze behind her,
Speaker 1: there is an island called Pharaohs, and it has a
Speaker 1: good harbor from which vessels can get out into open
Speaker 1: sea when they have taken in water. And here the
Speaker 1: gods becomed me twenty days without so much as a
Speaker 1: breath of fair wind to help me forward. We should
Speaker 1: have run clean out of provisions, and my men would
Speaker 1: have starved if a goddess had not taken pity upon
Speaker 1: me and saved me in the person Idothea, daughter of Proteus,
Speaker 1: the Old Man of the Sea, for she had taken
Speaker 1: a great fancy to me. She came to me one
Speaker 1: day when I was by myself, as I often was,
Speaker 1: for the men used to go with their barbed hooks
Speaker 1: all over the island in the hope of catching a
Speaker 1: fish or two to save them from the pangs of hunger,
Speaker 1: Stranger said she, it seems to me that you like
Speaker 1: star harving in this way. At any rate, it does
Speaker 1: not greatly trouble you, for you stick here day after
Speaker 1: day without even trying to get away, though your men
Speaker 1: are dying by inches. Let me tell you, said I,
Speaker 1: whichever of the goddesses you may happen to be that,
Speaker 1: I am not staying here of my own accord, but
Speaker 1: must have offended the gods that live in heaven. Tell
Speaker 1: me therefore, for the gods know everything. Which of the
Speaker 1: immortals is it that is hindering me in this way?
Speaker 1: And tell me also how I may sail so to
Speaker 1: reach my home. Stranger replied she, I will make it
Speaker 1: all quite clear to you. There is an immortal who
Speaker 1: lives under the sea hereabouts, and his name is Proteus.
Speaker 1: He is an Egyptian, and people say he is my father.
Speaker 1: He is a neptune's headman and knows every inch of
Speaker 1: ground all over the bottom of the sea. If you
Speaker 1: can snare him and hold him tight, he will tell
Speaker 1: you about your voyage, what courses you are to take,
Speaker 1: and how you are to sail the sea so as
Speaker 1: to reach your home. He will also tell you, if
Speaker 1: you so will, all that has been going on at
Speaker 1: your house, both good and bad, while you have been
Speaker 1: away on your long and dangerous journey. Can you show me,
Speaker 1: said I, some stratagem by means of which I may
Speaker 1: catch this old God without his suspecting it and finding
Speaker 1: me out. For a god is not easily caught, not
Speaker 1: by a mortal man, stranger, said she. I will make
Speaker 1: it all quite clear to you. About the time when
Speaker 1: the sun shall have reached mid heaven, the old men
Speaker 1: of the sea comes up from under the waves, heralded
Speaker 1: by the west wind that furs the water over his head.
Speaker 1: As soon as he has come up, he lies down
Speaker 1: and goes to sleep in a great sea cave where
Speaker 1: the seals hallow Sydney's chickens as they call them, come
Speaker 1: up from the gray sea and go to sleep, and
Speaker 1: shoals all around him. And a very strong and fish
Speaker 1: like smell do they bring with them. Early tomorrow morning,
Speaker 1: I will take you to this place and will lay
Speaker 1: you an ambush. Pick out therefore the three best men
Speaker 1: you have in your fleet, and I will tell you
Speaker 1: all the tricks that the old Man will play you. First,
Speaker 1: he will look all over his seals and count them. Then,
Speaker 1: when he has seen them and tally them on his
Speaker 1: five fingers, he will go to sleep among them, as
Speaker 1: a shepherd among his sheep. The moment you see that
Speaker 1: he is asleep, seize him, put forth all your strength
Speaker 1: and hold him fast, for he will do his very
Speaker 1: utmost to get away from you. He will turn himself
Speaker 1: into every kind of creature that goes upon the earth,
Speaker 1: and will become also both fire and water. But you
Speaker 1: must hold him fast and grip him tighter and tighter
Speaker 1: till he begins to talk to you and comes back
Speaker 1: to what he was when you saw him go to sleep.
Speaker 1: Then you may slack in your hold and let him go,
Speaker 1: and you can ask him which of the gods it
Speaker 1: is that is angry with you, and what you must
Speaker 1: do to reach your home over the seas. Having said so,
Speaker 1: she dived under the waves. Whereon I turned back to
Speaker 1: the place where my ships were ranged upon the shore,
Speaker 1: and my heart was clouded with care as I went along.
Speaker 1: When I reached my ships, we got supper, for night
Speaker 1: was falling, and camped down upon the beach. When the
Speaker 1: child of mourning, rosy fingered dawn appeared, I took the
Speaker 1: three men, on whose prowess of all kinds I could
Speaker 1: most rely, and went along by the seaside, praying heartily
Speaker 1: to Heaven. Meanwhile, the goddess fetched me up four seal
Speaker 1: skins from the bottom of the sea, all of them
Speaker 1: just skinned, for she meant playing a trick upon her father.
Speaker 1: Then she dug four pits for us a lion, and
Speaker 1: sat down to wait till we should come up. When
Speaker 1: we were close to her, she made us lie down
Speaker 1: in the pits, one after another, and threw the seal
Speaker 1: skin over each of us. Our ambuscade would have been intolerable,
Speaker 1: for the stench of the fishy seals was most distressing.
Speaker 1: Who would go to bed with the sea monster if
Speaker 1: he could help it? But here too the goddess helped
Speaker 1: us and thought of something that gave us great relief.
Speaker 1: For she put some ambrosia under each man's nostrils, which
Speaker 1: was so fragrant that had killed the smell of the seals.
Speaker 1: We waited the whole morning and made the best of it,
Speaker 1: watching the seals come up in hundreds to bask upon
Speaker 1: the seashore, till at noon. The old man of the
Speaker 1: sea came up too, and when he had found his
Speaker 1: fat seals. He went over them and counted them. We
Speaker 1: were among the first he counted, and he never suspected
Speaker 1: any guile, but laid himself down to sleep as soon
Speaker 1: as he had done counting. Then we rushed upon him
Speaker 1: with a shout and seized him, on which he began
Speaker 1: at once with his old tricks, and changed himself first
Speaker 1: into a lion with a great maine. Then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden he became a dragon, a leopard, a wild boar.
Speaker 1: The next moment he was running water, and then again
Speaker 1: directly he was a tree. But we stuck to him
Speaker 1: and never lost hold till at last the cunning old
Speaker 1: creature became distressed and said, which of the gods was it,
Speaker 1: son of Atrius, that hatched this plot? With you? For
Speaker 1: snaring me and seizing me against my will? What do
Speaker 1: you want? You know that yourself, old man? I answered,
Speaker 1: you will gain nothing by trying to put me off.
Speaker 1: It is because I have been kept so long on
Speaker 1: this island, and see no sign of my being able
Speaker 1: to get away, I am losing all heart. Tell me, then,
Speaker 1: for you gods know everything, which of the immortals is
Speaker 1: it that is hindering me, and tell me also how
Speaker 1: I may sail the sea so as to reach my home.
Speaker 1: Then he said, if you would finish your voyage and
Speaker 1: get home quickly, you must offer sacrifices to Jove and
Speaker 1: to the rest of the gods before embarking. For it
Speaker 1: is decreed that you shall not get back to your
Speaker 1: friends and to your own house till you have returned
Speaker 1: to the heaven fed stream of Egypt and offered holy
Speaker 1: hecatombs to the immortal gods that reign in heaven. When
Speaker 1: you've done this, they will let you finish your voyage.
Speaker 1: I was brokenhearted when I heard that I must go
Speaker 1: back all that long and terrible voyage to Egypt. Nevertheless,
Speaker 1: I answered, I will do all, old man, that you
Speaker 1: have laid upon me. But now tell me, and tell
Speaker 1: me true, whether the Achaeans whom nest Or and I
Speaker 1: left behind when we set sail from Troy, have got
Speaker 1: home safely, or whether any one of them came to
Speaker 1: a bad end, either on board his own ship or
Speaker 1: among his friends. When the days of his fighting were done,
Speaker 1: son of Atrius, he answered, why ask me? You had
Speaker 1: better not know what I can tell you, for your
Speaker 1: eyes will surely fil when you have heard my story.
Speaker 1: Many of those about whom you are asked are dead
Speaker 1: and gone, but many still remain, and only two of
Speaker 1: the chief men among the Accayans perished during their return home.
Speaker 1: As for what happened on the battlefield, you were there yourself.
Speaker 1: A third Accayan leader is still at sea, alive, but
Speaker 1: hindered from returning. Ajax was wrecked, for Neptune drove him
Speaker 1: onto the great rocks of Geary. Nevertheless, he let himself
Speaker 1: get safe out of the water, and in spite of
Speaker 1: all manner of his hatred, he would have escaped death
Speaker 1: if he had not ruined himself by boasting. He said
Speaker 1: that the gods could not drown him, even though they
Speaker 1: had tried to do so. And when Neptune heard this
Speaker 1: large talk, he seized his trident with his two brawny
Speaker 1: hands and split the rock of Gary in two pieces.
Speaker 1: The base remained where it was, but the part on
Speaker 1: which Ajax was sitting fell headlong into the sea and
Speaker 1: carried Ajax with it. So he drank salt water and
Speaker 1: was drowned. Your brother and his ships escaped, for Juno
Speaker 1: protected him, But when he was just about to reach
Speaker 1: the high promontory of Malia. He was caught by a
Speaker 1: heavy gale, which carried him out to sea again sorely
Speaker 1: against his will, and drove him to the foreland where
Speaker 1: Thyesti is used to dwell, but where a geese this
Speaker 1: was then living by and by. However, it seemed as
Speaker 1: though he was to return safely after all, for the
Speaker 1: gods backed the wind into its old quarter, and they
Speaker 1: reached home, whereon Agamemnon kissed his native soil and shed
Speaker 1: tears of joy at finding himself in his own country.
Speaker 1: Now there was a watchman whom a geese this kept
Speaker 1: always on the watch, and to whom he had promised
Speaker 1: two talents of gold. This man had been looking out
Speaker 1: for a whole year to make sure that Agamemnon did
Speaker 1: not give him the slip and prepare war. When therefore
Speaker 1: this man saw Agamemnon go by, he went and told
Speaker 1: a geistus, who at once began to lay a plot
Speaker 1: for him. He picked twenty of his bravest warriors and
Speaker 1: placed them in ambuscade on one side at the cloister,
Speaker 1: while the opposite side he prepared a banquet. Then he
Speaker 1: sent his chariots and horsemen to Agamemnon and invited him
Speaker 1: to the feast, but he meant foul play. He got
Speaker 1: there all unsuspicious of the doom that was awaiting him,
Speaker 1: and killed him when the banquet was over, as though
Speaker 1: he were butchering an ox. In the shambles, not one
Speaker 1: of Agamemnon's followers was left alive, nor yet one of
Speaker 1: a geist. This is, but they were all killed there
Speaker 1: in the cloisters. Thus spoke Proteus, and I was broken
Speaker 1: hard did as I heard him. I sat down upon
Speaker 1: the sands and wept. I felt as though I could
Speaker 1: no longer bear to live nor look upon the light
Speaker 1: of the sun. Presently, when I had my fill of
Speaker 1: weeping and writhing upon the ground, the old man of
Speaker 1: the sea said, son of Atrius, do not waste any
Speaker 1: more time in crying so bitterly it can do no
Speaker 1: manner of good. Find your way home as fast as
Speaker 1: ever you can. For a geese, this may still be alive.
Speaker 1: And even though Orestes has been beforehand with you and
Speaker 1: killing him, you may yet come in for his funeral.
Speaker 1: On this I took comfort in spite of all my sorrow,
Speaker 1: and said, I know then about these two. Tell me
Speaker 1: Therefore about the third man of whom you spoke, Is
Speaker 1: he alive but at sea and unable to get home?
Speaker 1: Or is he dead? Tell me, no matter how much
Speaker 1: it may grieve me. The third man, he answered, is Odysseus,
Speaker 1: who dwells in Ithaca. I can see him in an island,
Speaker 1: sorrowing it eterally in the house of the nymph Calypso,
Speaker 1: who was keeping him prisoner. And he cannot reach his home,
Speaker 1: for he has no ships nor sailors to take him
Speaker 1: over the sea. As for your own end, Menelais, you
Speaker 1: shall not die in Argos, but the gods will take
Speaker 1: you to the Elysian plane, which is at the ends
Speaker 1: of the world. They're fair haired rhadamanthus reins and men
Speaker 1: lead an easier life than anywhere else in the world.
Speaker 1: For in Elysium there falls not rain, nor hail nor snow.
Speaker 1: But oceanis breathes ever with a west wind that sings
Speaker 1: softly from the sea and gives fresh life to all men.
Speaker 1: This will happen to you because you have married Helen
Speaker 1: and our Jove's son in law. As he spoke, he
Speaker 1: dived under the waves, whereon I turned back to the
Speaker 1: ships with my companions, and my heart was clouded with
Speaker 1: care as I went along. When we reached the ships,
Speaker 1: we got supper, for night was falling, and camped down
Speaker 1: upon the beach. When the child of morning, rosy fingered
Speaker 1: dawn appeared, we drew our ships into the water and
Speaker 1: put our masts and sails within them. Then we got
Speaker 1: on board ourselves, took our seats on the benches, and
Speaker 1: smote the gray sea with our oars. I again stationed
Speaker 1: my ships in the heaven fed stream of Egypt, and
Speaker 1: offered hecat homes that were full and sufficient. When I
Speaker 1: have thus appeased Heaven's anger, I raised a barrow to
Speaker 1: the memory of Agamemnon, that his name might live forever,
Speaker 1: after which I had a quick passage home, for the
Speaker 1: God sent me a fair wind. And now for yourself,
Speaker 1: stay here some ten or twelve days longer, and I
Speaker 1: will then speed you on your way. I will make
Speaker 1: you a noble present of a chariot and three horses.
Speaker 1: I will also give you a beautiful chalice, so that
Speaker 1: so long as you live, you may think of me
Speaker 1: whenever you make a drink. Offering to the ortal gods.
Speaker 1: Son of Atrius replied Telemachus, do not press me to
Speaker 1: stay longer. I should be contented to remain with you
Speaker 1: for another twelve months. I find your conversation so delightful
Speaker 1: that I should never once wish myself at home with
Speaker 1: my parents. But my crew, whom I have left at
Speaker 1: pea Loss, are already impatient, and you are detaining me
Speaker 1: from them. As for any present you may be disposed
Speaker 1: to make me, I had rather that it should be
Speaker 1: a piece of plate. I will take no horses back
Speaker 1: with me to Ithaca, but I will leave them to
Speaker 1: adorn your own stables. For you have much flat ground
Speaker 1: in your kingdom, where lotus thrives, as also meadow, sweet
Speaker 1: and wheat, and barley, and oats with their white and
Speaker 1: spreading ears. Whereas in Ithaca we have neither open fields
Speaker 1: nor racecourses, and the country is more fit for goats
Speaker 1: than horses. And I like it the better, for all
Speaker 1: that none of our islands have much level ground suitable
Speaker 1: for horses, and Ithaca least of all mentele a Us
Speaker 1: smiled and took Telemachus hand within his own. What you
Speaker 1: say said, he shows that you come of good family.
Speaker 1: I both can and will make this exchange for you
Speaker 1: by giving you the finest and most precious piece of
Speaker 1: plate in all my house. It is a mixing bowl
Speaker 1: by Vulcan's own hand, of pure silver, except the rim,
Speaker 1: which is inlaid with gold. Fadomus, king of the Sidonians,
Speaker 1: gave it to me in the course of a visit
Speaker 1: which I paid him. When I returned thither on my
Speaker 1: homeward journey, I will make you a present of it.
Speaker 1: Thus did they converse, and guests kept coming into the
Speaker 1: king's house. They brought sheep and wine, while their wives
Speaker 1: had put bread for them to take with them. So
Speaker 1: they were busy cooking their dinners in the courts. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the suitors were throwing discs or aiming with spears at
Speaker 1: a mark on the level ground in front of Odysseus's home,
Speaker 1: and were behaving with all their old insolence. Antinous and Eurymachus,
Speaker 1: who were their ringleaders and much the foremost among them,
Speaker 1: all were sitting together when Niemon's son of Phronius, came
Speaker 1: up and said to Antinous, have we any idea, Antinous,
Speaker 1: on what day Telemachus returns from Pilas he is a
Speaker 1: ship of mine and I want it to cross over
Speaker 1: to Ellis. I have twelve brewed mares there with a
Speaker 1: yearling mule folds by their side, not yet broken in,
Speaker 1: and I want to bring one of them over here
Speaker 1: and break him. They were astounded when they heard this,
Speaker 1: for they had made sure that Telemachus had not gone
Speaker 1: to the city of Nelius. They thought he was only
Speaker 1: gone away somewhere on the farms, and was with the
Speaker 1: sheep or with the swineherd. So Antinous said, when did
Speaker 1: he go? Tell me, truly, and what young men did
Speaker 1: he take with him? Were they freeman or his own bondsman?
Speaker 1: For he might manage that too. Tell me, also, did
Speaker 1: you let him have the ship of your own free
Speaker 1: will because he asked you? Or did he take it
Speaker 1: without your leave? I lent it him, said Neimon. What
Speaker 1: else could I do with when a man of his
Speaker 1: position said he was in a difficulty and ask me
Speaker 1: to oblige him, I could not possibly refuse. As for
Speaker 1: those who went with him, they were the best young
Speaker 1: man we have. And I saw Mentor go on board
Speaker 1: as captain, or some god who was exactly like him,
Speaker 1: I cannot understand it. For I saw a Mentor here
Speaker 1: myself yesterday morning, and He was then setting out for
Speaker 1: p Lossnmon then went back to his father's house. But
Speaker 1: Antinous and Eurymicus were very angry. They told the others
Speaker 1: to leave off playing and to come and sit down
Speaker 1: along with themselves. When they came, Antinuous, son of Eupethes,
Speaker 1: spoke in anger. His heart was black with rage, and
Speaker 1: his eyes flashed fire, as he said, Good Heavens, this
Speaker 1: voyage of Telemachus is a very serious matter. We had
Speaker 1: made sure that it would come to nothing. But the
Speaker 1: young fellow has got away in spite of us, and
Speaker 1: with a picked crew too. He will be giving us trouble. Presently,
Speaker 1: May Jove take him before he has full grown. Find
Speaker 1: me a ship. Therefore, with a crew of twenty men,
Speaker 1: and I lie in wait for him in the straits
Speaker 1: between Ithaca and Samos. He will then rue the day
Speaker 1: that he set out to try and get news of
Speaker 1: his father. Thus did he speak, and the others applauded
Speaker 1: his saying. They then all of them went inside the buildings.
Speaker 1: It was not long year Penelope came to know what
Speaker 1: the suitors were plotting. For a man servant meet On
Speaker 1: overheard them from outside the outer court as they were
Speaker 1: laying their schemes within, and went to tell his mistress.
Speaker 1: As he crossed the threshold of her room, Penelope said, meet, on,
Speaker 1: what have the suitors sent you here for? Is it
Speaker 1: to tell the maids to leave their master's business and
Speaker 1: cook for dinner for them? I wish they may neither
Speaker 1: woo nor dine henceforward, neither here nor anywhere else. But
Speaker 1: let this be the very last time for the waste
Speaker 1: you all make of my son's estate. Did not your
Speaker 1: father's tell you when you were children how good Odysseus
Speaker 1: had been to them, never doing anything high handed, nor
Speaker 1: speaking harshly to anybody. Kings may say things sometimes, and
Speaker 1: they may take a fancy to one man and dislike another.
Speaker 1: But Odysseus never did an unjust thing by anybody, which
Speaker 1: shows what bad hearts you have, and that there is
Speaker 1: no such thing as gratitude left in this world. Then
Speaker 1: mead On said, I wish, Madam, that this were all.
Speaker 1: But they are plotting something much more dreadful. Now, may
Speaker 1: Heaven frustrate their design. They are going to try and
Speaker 1: murder Telemachus as he is coming home from p Loss
Speaker 1: and Lackadaimon, where he has been to get news of
Speaker 1: his father. Then Penelope's heart sank within her. For a
Speaker 1: long time, she was speechless, her eyes filled with tears,
Speaker 1: and she could find no utterance. At last, however, she said,
Speaker 1: why did my son leave me? What business had he
Speaker 1: to go sailing off in ships that make long voyages
Speaker 1: over the ocean like sea horses? Does he want to
Speaker 1: die without leaving anyone behind him to keep up his name?
Speaker 1: I do not know, answered Meatn whether some god set
Speaker 1: him on to do it, or whether he went on
Speaker 1: his own impulse to see if he could find out
Speaker 1: if his father was dead or alive, or on his
Speaker 1: way home. Then he went downstairs again, leaving Penelope in
Speaker 1: an agony of grief. There were plenty of seats in
Speaker 1: the house, but she had no heart for sitting on
Speaker 1: any of them. She could only fling herself on the
Speaker 1: floor of her own room and cry. Where on all
Speaker 1: the maids in the house, both old and young, gathered
Speaker 1: round her and began to cry too, till at last,
Speaker 1: in a transport of sorrow, she exclaimed, my DearS, Heaven
Speaker 1: has been pleased to try me with more affliction than
Speaker 1: any other woman of my age and country. First I
Speaker 1: lost my brave and lion hearted husband, who had every
Speaker 1: good quality under heaven, and whose name was great all
Speaker 1: over Hellas and Middle Argos. And now my darling son
Speaker 1: is at the mercy of winds and waves, without my
Speaker 1: having heard one word about his leaving home. There was
Speaker 1: not one of you would so much think of giving
Speaker 1: me a call out of my bed, though you, all
Speaker 1: of you very well knew when he was starting. If
Speaker 1: I had known he meant taking this voyage, he would
Speaker 1: have had to give it up, no matter how much
Speaker 1: he was bent upon it, or leave me a corpse
Speaker 1: behind him, one or another. Now, however, go some one
Speaker 1: of you to old Dolius, who was given to me
Speaker 1: by my father on my marriage, and who is my gardener.
Speaker 1: Bid him go at once and tell everything to Hilarities,
Speaker 1: who may be able to hit on some plan for
Speaker 1: a listing public sympathy on our side as against those
Speaker 1: who are trying to exterminate his own race and that
Speaker 1: of Odysseus. Then the old dear nurse Eurycleia said, you
Speaker 1: may kill me, madam, or let me live on in
Speaker 1: your house, whichever you please, But I will tell you
Speaker 1: the real truth. I knew all about it. And gave
Speaker 1: him everything he wanted in the way of bread and wine.
Speaker 1: But he made me take my solemn oath that I
Speaker 1: would not tell you anything for some ten or twelve
Speaker 1: days unless you asked or happened to hear of his
Speaker 1: having gone, For he did not want you to spoil
Speaker 1: your beauty by crying. And now, madam, wash your face,
Speaker 1: change your dress, and go upstairs with your maids to
Speaker 1: offer prayers to Minerva, daughter of Egis bearing Jove, for
Speaker 1: she can save him, even though he beat in the
Speaker 1: jaws of death. Do not trouble larities. He has trouble
Speaker 1: enough already. Besides, it cannot think that the gods hate
Speaker 1: the race and the son of Arcassias so much. But
Speaker 1: there will be a son left to come up after him,
Speaker 1: and inherit both the house and the fair fields that
Speaker 1: lie all around it. With these words, she made her
Speaker 1: mistress leave off crying and dried the tears from her eyes.
Speaker 1: Penelope washed her face, changed her dress, and went upstairs
Speaker 1: with her maids. She then put some bruised barley into
Speaker 1: a basket and began praying to Minerva. Hear me, she cried,
Speaker 1: daughter of Egis bearing Jove, unweariable, if ever isseus while
Speaker 1: he was here, burned you fat thigh bones of sheep
Speaker 1: or heifer buried in mind now as in my favor,
Speaker 1: and save my darling son from the villainy of the suitors.
Speaker 1: She cried aloud as she spoke, and the goddess heard
Speaker 1: her prayer. Meanwhile, the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered cloister,
Speaker 1: and one of them said, the queen is preparing for
Speaker 1: her marriage with one or other of us. Little does
Speaker 1: she dream that her son has now been doomed to die.
Speaker 1: This was what they said, but they did not know
Speaker 1: what was going to happen. Then Antinous said, comrades, let
Speaker 1: there be no loud talking, lest some of it get
Speaker 1: carried inside. Let us be up and do that in
Speaker 1: silence about which we are all of a mind. He
Speaker 1: then chose twenty men, and they went down to their
Speaker 1: ship and to the seaside. They drew the vessel into
Speaker 1: the water, and got her mast and sails inside her.
Speaker 1: They bound the oars to the full pins and twisted
Speaker 1: songs of leather all in due course, and bread the
Speaker 1: white sails aloft, while their fine servants brought them their armor.
Speaker 1: Then they made the ship fast a little way out,
Speaker 1: came on shore again, got their suppers, and waited till
Speaker 1: night should fall. But Penelope lay in her own room upstairs,
Speaker 1: unable to eat or drink, and wondering whether her brave
Speaker 1: son would escape or be overpowered by the wicked suitors,
Speaker 1: like a lioness caught in the toils, with huntsmen hemming
Speaker 1: her in on every side. She thought and thought till
Speaker 1: she sank into a slumber and lay on her bed,
Speaker 1: bereft of thought and motion. Then Minerva bethought her of
Speaker 1: another matter and made a vision in the likeness of
Speaker 1: Penelope's sister if fammy daughter Vicarius, who had married Humulus
Speaker 1: and lived in fury. She told division to go to
Speaker 1: the home of Odysseus and to make Penelope leave off crying.
Speaker 1: So it came into her room by the hole through
Speaker 1: which the thong went for pulling the door to and
Speaker 1: hovered over her, saying, you are asleep, Penelope. The gods
Speaker 1: to live at ease, will not suffer you to weep
Speaker 1: and be so sad. Your son has done them no wrong,
Speaker 1: so he will come back to you. Penelope, who was
Speaker 1: sleeping sweetly at the gates, of dream Land, answered sister,
Speaker 1: why have you come here? You do not come very often,
Speaker 1: But I suppose that it is because you live such
Speaker 1: a long way off. Am I then to leave off
Speaker 1: crying and refrain from all the sad thoughts that torture me.
Speaker 1: I who have lost my brave and lion hearted husband,
Speaker 1: who had every good quality under heaven, and whose name
Speaker 1: was great over Hellas and Middle Argos. And now my
Speaker 1: son has gone off on board of a ship, a
Speaker 1: foolish fellow who has never been used to roughing it,
Speaker 1: or nor to going about other gatherings of men. I
Speaker 1: am even more anxious about him than my husband. I
Speaker 1: am in all a tremble when I think of him,
Speaker 1: lest something should happen to him, either from the peace
Speaker 1: people among whom he is gone, or by the sea.
Speaker 1: For he has many enemies who are plotting against him
Speaker 1: and are bent on killing him before he can return home.
Speaker 1: Then the vision said, take heart, and be not so
Speaker 1: much dismayed. There is one gone with him who is
Speaker 1: many a man would be glad enough to have stand
Speaker 1: by his side. I mean, Minerva. It is she who
Speaker 1: has compassioned upon you and has sent me to bear
Speaker 1: you this message. Then said Penelope, if you are a
Speaker 1: god or have been sent here by divine commission, tell
Speaker 1: me also about that other unhappy one. Is he still
Speaker 1: alive or is he already dead? And in the house
Speaker 1: of Hades, and the vision said, I shall not tell
Speaker 1: you for certain whether he is alive or dead, And
Speaker 1: there is no use in idle conversation. Then it vanished
Speaker 1: through the thonghole of the door and was dissipated into
Speaker 1: thin air. But Penelope rose from her sleep, refreshed and comforted.
Speaker 1: So vivid had been her dream. Meanwhile, the suitors went
Speaker 1: on board and sailed their ways over the sea, intent
Speaker 1: on murdering Telemachus. Now there is a rocky islet called
Speaker 1: the Stairs of no great size in mid channel between
Speaker 1: Ithaca and Samos, and there is a harbor on either
Speaker 1: side of it where a ship can lie. Here. Then
Speaker 1: the Achaeans placed themselves in ambush. Oh nerds, another episode
Speaker 1: of the Odyssey. It's very exciting. I love it so much,
Speaker 1: That's all I say at the end of these episodes.
Speaker 1: Now breaking broken record. Anyway, next week, next week it's
Speaker 1: actually time for Odysseus. So oh my gosh, stay tuned,
Speaker 1: get excited with me. I am pumped such a nerd
Speaker 1: Thank you all for listening. You are all the best
Speaker 1: as usual. Maybe rate review, subscribe, Thank you. I am
Speaker 1: live and I love this ship. M