CHARACTERS Alcinous (al sin' o as)—king of the Phaea-
Tiresias (ti re se es)—blind prophet who ad-
cians, to whom Odysseus tells his story
vised Odysseus
Odysseus (8 dis a es)—king of Ithaca
Persephone (par sof a ne)—wife of Hades
Calypso (ka lip' so)—sea goddess who loved Odysseus
Telemachus (ta lam a kes)—Odysseus and
Circe (set' se)—enchantress who helped
Sirens (sr ranz)—creatures whose songs lure
Odysseus
Zeus (zoos)—king of the gods Apollo (a par 8)—god of music, poetry, and medicine
Agamemnon (ag' a mem' nan)—king and
Homer Translated by Robert Fitzgerald
1 The Adventures of Odysseus Part
5
of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy. 2 He saw the townlands and learned the minds of many distant men, and weathered many bitter nights and days in his deep heart at sea, while he fought only to save his life, to bring his shipmates home.
860 ♦ The Epic
sailors to their deaths
25
Scylla (sir e)—sea monster of gray rock Charybdis (ka rib' dis)—enormous and dangerous whirlpool
leader of Greek forces
Lampetia (lam 0' she)—nymph
Poseidon (p8 sr den)—god of sea and earth-
Hermes (hur mez)—herald and messenger of
quakes
the gods
Athena (a the ne)—goddess of wisdom, skills,
Eumaeus (yob me es)—old swineherd and
25
and warfare
friend of Odysseus
Polyphemus (par a fe mes)—the Cyclops
Antinous (an tin' ö es)—leader among the
who imprisoned Odysseus
suitors
Laertes (la tit" tez)—Odysseus' father Cronus (kro nes)—Titan ruler of the universe; father of Zeus
30
EuiynOme (y88 tin" a me)—housekeeper for Penelope
Odysseus' crew
Penelope (pa ner a pe)—Odysseus' wife Eurymachus (yob rr me kes)—suitor
Eurylochus (yo—o rir a kes)—another member
Arnphinomus (am fin' a mes)—suitor
Perimedes (per a me cez)—member of
of the crew
In the opening verses. Homer addresses the muse of epic poetry. He asks her help in telling the tale of Odysseus.
Sing in me, Muse,' and through me tell the story
Penelope's son
1. Muse (mycT152): Any one of the nine goddesses of the arts, literature, and the sciences. 2. Troy (trot): City in northwest Asia Minor, site of the Trojan War.
Build Vocabulary plundered (ohm" dard) v.: Took goods by force from;
to But not by will nor valor could he save them, for their own recklessness destroyed them all— children and fools, they killed and feasted on the cattle of Lord Helios, 3 the Sun, and he who moves all day through heaven 15 took from their eyes the dawn of their return. Of these adventures, Muse, daughter of Zeus, 4 tell us in our time, lift the great song again.
looted
862 ♦ The Epic
3. Helios (NY is as'): Sun god.
4. Zeus (arcs): King of the gods.
I
Sailing from Troy Ten years after the Trojan War, Odysseus departs from the goddess Calypso's island. He arrives in Phaeacia, ruled by Alcinous. Alcinous offers a ship to Odysseus and asks him to tell of his adventures.
Out to sea again!' My men were mutinous, 12
"I am Laertes' 5 son, Odysseus. 20
Men formidable for guile in peace and war: hold me this fame has gone abroad to the sky's rim.
My home is on the peaked sea-mark of Ithaca? under Mount Neion's wind-blown,robe of leaves, in sight of other islands—Dulichium, Same, wooded Zacynthus—Ithaca 25 being most lofty in that coastal sea and northwest, while the rest lie east and south. A rocky isle, but good for a boy's training; I shall not see on earth a place more dear, though I have been detained long by Calypso, 9 30 loveliest among goddesses, who held me in her smooth caves, to be her heart's delight, as Circe of Aeaea, 9 the enchantress, desired me, and detained me in her hall. But in my heart I never gave consent. 35 Where shall a man find sweetness to surpass his own home and his parents? In far lands he shall not, though he find a house of gold.
• Reading Strategy Why do the opening lines of Odysseus sound more natural when you ignore the line breaks?
S. Laertes (Id er tez) 6. guile (gil)
Craftiness; cunning. 7. Ithaca (ith' a ke): island off the west coast of Greece. 8. Calypso Ike lip' sb)
9. Circe (se( SO) of Aeaea (e a 2)
gus
45
70
What of ose years of rough adventure, weathered under Zeus th? The wind that carried west from Mural° brought me to Ismarus, on the far shore, a strongpoint on the coast of Clcones. 11 I stormed that place and killed the men who fought. Plunder we took, and we enslaved the women, to make division, equal shares to all— but on the spot I told them: 'Back, and quickly!
12. mutinous (mytttir an as) adj.: Rebellious.
90
95
100
13. Achaeans (e ke enz): Greeks; here, Odysseus' men.
The Lotus-Eaters
What of my sailing, then, from Troy?
40
fols,ntrewi.Shpafse they butchered by the surf, and shambling cattle, 50 feasting,—while fugitives went inland, running to call to arms the main force of Cicones. This was an army trained to fight on horseback or, where the ground required, on foot. They came with dawn over that terrain like the leaves and blades of spring. So doom appeared to us, 55 dark word of Zeus for us, our evil days. My men stood up and made a fight of it— backed on the ships, with lances kept in play, from bright morning through the blaze of noon holding our beach, although so far outnumbered; 60 but when the sun passed toward unyoking time, then the Achaeans, 13 one by one, gave way. Six benches were left empty in every ship that evening when we pulled away from death. And this new grief we bore with us to sea: 65 our precious lives we had, but not our friends. No ship made sail next day until some shipmate had raised a cry, three times, for each poor ghost unfleshed by the Cicones on that field.
10. Ilium (ii e em): Troy. 75 11. Cicones (si
nez)
80
Note: In his translation of the Odyssey, Fitzgerald spelled Greek names in a way that suggests the sound and flavor of the original Greek. In the excerpts included here, more familiar spellings have been used. Where, for example, Fitzgerald wrote "Kirke," "Kyklops." and "Seirenes," you will here find "Circe," "Cyclops," and "Sirens." The Odyssey, Part 1, Sailing from Troy ♦ 863
Now Zeus the lord of cloud roused in the north a storm against the ships, and driving veils of squall moved down like night on land and sea. The bows went plunging at the gust; sails cracked and lashed out strips in the big wind. We saw death in that fury, dropped the yards, unshipped the oars, and pulled for the nearest lee: 14 then two long days and nights we lay offshore worn out and sick at heart, tasting our grief, until a third Dawn came with ringlets shining. Then we put up our masts, hauled sail, and rested, letting the steersmen and the breeze take over.
I might have made it safely home, that time, but as I came round Malea the current took me out to sea, and from the north 85 a fresh gale drove me on, past Cythera. Nine days I drifted on the teeming sea before dangerous high winds. Upon the tenth we came to the coastline of the Lotus-Eaters, who live upon that flower. We landed there 864
♦ The Eoic
• Re sic 14. lee (16") n.: Area sheltered from the wind.
ad; Ti se! Pe at ad
+Build Vocabulary squall (skw81) n.: Brief, violent storm
1. 2. 3.
4.
■,,
so to take on water. All ships companies mustered alongside for the midday meal. Then I sent out two picked men and a runner to learn what race of men that land sustain ed. They fell in, soon enough, with Lotus-Eaters . 95 who showed no will to do us harm, only offering the sweet Lotus to our friends— but those who ate this honeyed plant, the Lotus, never cared to report, nor to return: they longed to stay forever, browsing on too that native bloom, forgetful of their homel and. I drove them, all three walling, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing bench es, and called the rest: 'All hands aboard; come, clear the beach and no one taste 105 the Lotus, or you lose your hope of home. ' Filing in to their places by the rowlocks my oarsmen dipped their long oars in the surf, and we moved out again on our seafaring.
The Cyclops
♦ Literary Focus What characteristics of a hero and leader does Odysseus show in the episode with the Lotus Eaters?
Guide for Responding • Literature, ua,Y our Reader's Response What is your first impression of Odysse us? Which of admire?
his qualities do you
Them
atic Focus Identify the conflicts represented by each of Odysseus' foes and explain how a person might work out these conflicts. Questions
for Research Troy was a great city at the time of the Trojan War, but what is its status in more recent times? Generate research questio ns about Troy in modern times. Check Your Comprehension I. Who is narrating these advent ures?
2. Describe the events on Ismarus. 3. What keeps Odysse us from reaching home? 4. What happens to the men who eat the Lotus?
125
♦ Critical Thinking INTERPRET I. What were Odysseus' feelings when he was held
captive by Calypso and Circe? [Interpret] 2. The third dawn after the storm is described as coming ''with ringlets shining:' What impres sion of the dawn does this image give you? [Analyze] 3. What does the episod e with the Lotus-Eaters suggest about the kinds of problems Odysse us has with his men? [Infer] EVALUATE 4. What lessons can be learned from the defeat of Odysseus and his men at Ismarus? [Asses s] APPLY
5. What impression do you have of the differences between the world of the world? [Synthesize]
In the next land we found were Cyclopes.' s 110 giants. louts, without a law to bless them. In ignorance leaving the fruitage of the earth in mystery to the immortal gods, they neither plow nor sow by hand, nor till the ground. though grain— wild wheat and barley—grows untended, and 115 wine grapes, in clusters, ripen in heave n's rains. Cyclopes have no muster and no meeting, no consultation or old tribal ways, but each one dwells in his own mountain cave dealing out rough justice to wife and child, indifferent to what the others do. . . . 120
Odyssey and today's
The Odyssey, Part 1, The Lotus-Eaters
♦ 865
As we rowed on, and nearer to the mainla nd, at one end of the bay, we saw a cavern yawning above the water, screened with laurel, and many rams and goats about the place inside a sheepfold—made from slabs of stone earthfast between tall trunks of pine and rugged . toweringaks.
A prod1g10u616 man slept in this cave alone, and took his flocks to graze afield—remote from all companions, knowing none but savage ways, a brute 130 so huge, he seemed no man at all of those who eat good wheaten bread; but he seeme d rather a shaggy mountain reared in solitude. We beached there, and I told the crew to stand by and keep watch over the ship: 135 as for myself I took my twelve best fighter s and went ahead. I had a goatskin full of that sweet liquor that Euanthes' son, Maron, had given me. He kept Apollo's" 140 holy grove at Ismarus; for kindness we showed him there, and showed his wife and child, he gave me seven shining golden talents's perfectly formed, a solid silver winebowl, and then this liquor—twelve two-handled jars 145 of brandy, pure and fiery. Not a slave in Maron's household knew this drink; only he, his wife and the storeroom mistress knew; and they would put one cupful—ruby-colore d honey—smooth—in twenty more of water,
866
♦
The Fnir
150 16. Cyclopes (si kl6 pdz) Plural form of Cyclops (sr kldps), a race of giants with one eye In the middle of the towhead.
n.:
155
• Literature-
awl Nu,
14•
160
The description of the Cyclopes reveals what the ancient Greeks regarded as the benefits of civilization. What in your opinion are the benefits of civilization?
16. prodigious (pro Enormous.
dli'
165
es)
170
adl.:
175
17. Apollo (a par 6): God of music, poetry, prophecy, and medicine.
180
16. talents: Units of money in ancient Greece. 181
AV
150
155
al LL5sfl la
ird blimmireiti
lei RI Elig Itgi pi
but str I the sweet scent hovered like a fume over the winebowl. No man turned away when cups of this came round. A wineskin full I brought along, and victualsI 2 in a bag, for in my bones I knew some towering brute would be upon us soon—all outward power, a wild man, ignorant of civility.
We climbed, then, briskly to the cave. But Cyclops had gone afield, to pasture his fat sheep, so we looked round at everything inside: 160 a drying rack that sagged with cheeses, pens crowded with lambs and kids, 20 each in its class• firstlings apart from middlings, and the 'dewdrops,' or newborn lambkins penned apart from both. And vessels full of whey2 I were brimming there1s5 bowls of earthenware and pails for milking. My men came pressing round me, pleading:
170
MPAti,4,
__— 19. victuals (vit' els) n.: Food or other provision.
thickened his milk, then, into curds and whey, sieved out the curds to drip in withy 25 baskets, and poured the whey to stand in bowls cooling until he drank it for his supper. 195 When all these chores were done, he poked the fire, heaping on brushwood. In the glare he saw us.
20. kids (kids) n.: Young goats. 200 21. whey (hwa) n.: Thin, watery part of milk separated from the thicker curds.
Why not take these cheeses, get them stowed, come back, throw open all the pens, and make a run for it? We'll drive the kids and lambs aboard. We say put out again on good salt water!'
'Strangers,' he said, 'who are you? And where from? What brings you here by seaways—a fair traffic? Or are you wandering rogues, who cast your lives like dice, and ravage other folk by sea?'
205
210
215 22. boughs (bouz) n.: Tree branches.
We are from Troy, Achaeans, blown off course by shifting gales on the Great South Sea; homeward bound, but taking routes and ways uncommon; so the will of Zeus would have it. We served under Agamemnon, 24 son of Atreus— the whole world knows what city he laid waste, what armies he destroyed. It was our luck to come here; here we stand, beholden for your help, or any gifts you give—as custom is to honor strangers. We would entreat you, great Sir, have a care for the gods' courtesy; Zeus will avenge the unoffending guest.' He answered this from his brute chest, unmoved:
220
225
The Odyssey, Part 1, The Cyclops ♦ 867
235
We felt a pressure on our hearts, in dread of that deep rumble and that mighty man. But all the same I spoke up in reply:
Ah, how sound that was! Yet I refused. I wished to see the cave man, what he had to offer— no pretty sight, it turned out, for my friends. We lit a fire, burnt an offering, 175 and took some cheese to eat: then sat in silence around the embers, waiting. When he came he had a load of dry boughs 22 on his shoulder to stoke his fire at suppertime. He dumped it with a great crash into that hollow cave, 180 and we all scattered fast to the far wall. Then over the broad cavern floor he ushered the ewes he meant to milk. He left his rams and he-goats In the yard outside, and swung high overhead a slab of solid rock 185 to close the cave. Two dozen four-wheeled wagons, with heaving wagon teams, could not have stirred the tonnage of that rock from where he wedged it over the doorsill. Next he took his seat and milked his bleating ewes. A practiced job 190 he made of it, giving each ewe her sodding;
23. withy (with' 0) adj.: Tough, flexible twigs.
'You are a ninny, or else you come from the other end of nowhere, telling me, mind the gods! We Cyclopes care not a whistle for your thundering Zeus or all the gods in bliss; we have more force by far. I would not let you go for fear of Zeus— you or your friends—unless I had a whim 25 to. Tell me, where was it, now, you left your ship— • around the point, or down the shore, I wonder?' He thought he'd find out, but I saw through this, and answered with a ready lie:
868 • The Epic
24
24. Agamemnon (ag e mem nan): King who led the Greek army during the Trojan War.
♦ Literary Focus An epic hero like Odysseus served as a role model for ancient Greeks. What can be learned about conduct and respect for the gods from Odysseus' speech?
25
•
26
25. whim (hwim) n.: Sudden thought or wish to do something.
Build Vocabulary dispatched (dis pachl) v.: • Finished quickly
2C
230
'My ship? Poseidon26 Lord, who sets the earth a-tremble, broke it up on the rocks at your land's end. A wind from seaward served him, drove us there. We are survivors, these good men and I.'
26. Poseidon (p6 sr don): God of the sea and of earthquakes.
270
Neither reply nor pity came from him, but in one stride he clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies 235 to beat their brains out, spattering the floor. Then he dismembered them and made his meal, gaping and crunching like a mountain lion— everything: innards, flesh, and marrow bones. We cried aloud, lifting our hands to Zeus, 245 powerless, looking on at this, appalled; but Cyclops went on filling up his belly with manflesh and great gulps of whey, then lay down like a mast among his sheep. My heart beat high now at the chance of action, 245 and drawing the sharp sword from my hip I went along his flank to stab him where the midriff holds the liver. I had touched the spot when sudden fear stayed me: if I killed him we perished there as well, for we could never 250 move his ponderous doorway slab aside. So we were left to groan and wait for morning.
275
280
♦ Reading Strategy Read lines 244-250 In complete sentences, ignoring the line breaks. How does doing so help your understanding of the passage?
a deep-sea-going c an—might carry: so long, so big around, it seemed. Now I chopped out a six foot section of this pole and set it down before my men, who scraped it; and when they had it smooth. I hewed again to make a stake with pointed end. I held this in the fire's heart and turned it, toughening it, then hid it, well back in the cavern, under one of the dung piles in profusion there. Now came the time to toss for it: who ventured along with me? whose hand could bear to thrust and grind that spike in Cyclops' eye, when mild sleep had mastered him? As luck would have it, the men I would have chosen won the toss— four strong men, and I made five as captain.
do
a club, or staff, lay there along the fold— an olive tree, felled green and left to season 31 forCyclps'hand.Aitwkems a lugger32 of twenty oars, broad in the beam-
295 27. brace (bras) n.: Pair.
28. cap (kap) a quiver (kM," ar): Close a case holding arrows. 29. din (din) n.: Loud, continuous noise; uproar. 30. Athena (a the' na): Goddess of wisdom, skills, and warfare. 31. felled green and left to season: Chopped down and exposed to the weather to age the wood. 32. lugger (lug' or) n.: Small sailing vessel.
evening came the shepherd with his flock, his woolly flock. The rams as well this lime, entered the cave: by some sheepherding whim— or a god's bidding—none were left outside. He hefted his great boulder into place and sat him down to milk the bleating ewes in proper order, put the lambs to suck, and swiftly ran through all his evening chores. Then he caught two more men and feasted on them. My moment was at hand, and I went forward holding an ivy bowl of my dark drink, looking up, saying:
285 At
290
When the young Dawn with fingertips of rose lit up the world, the Cyclops built a fire and milked his handsome ewes, all in due order, 255 putting the sucklings to the mothers. Then, his chores being all dispatched, he caught another brace" of men to make his breakfast, and whisked away his great door slab to let his sheep go through—but he, behind, 260 reset the stone as one would cap a quiver. 28 29 of whistling as the CyclopsTherwasdin rounded his flock to higher ground, then stillness. And now I pondered how to hurt him worst, if but Athena 39 granted what I prayed for. 265 Here are the means I thought would serve my turn:
♦ Literary Focus What heroic qualities does Odysseus reveal as he plots against the Cyclops?
300
305
The Odyssey, Part 1, The Cyclops ♦ 869 310
R70
'Cyclops, try some wine. Here's liquor to wash down your scraps of men. Taste it, and see the kind of drink we carried under our planks. I meant it for an offering if you would help us home. But you are mad. unbearable, a bloody monster! After this, will any other traveler come to see you?' He seized and drained the bowl, and it went down so fiery and smooth he called for more: 'Give me another, thank you kindly. Tell me, how are you called? I'll make a gift will please you. Even Cyclopes know the wine grapes grow out of grassland and loam in heaven's rain, but here's a bit of nectar and ambrosial' 33 Three bowls I brought him, and he poured them down. I saw the fuddle and flush come over him. ♦
ThP Rnfr
33. nectar (nek' ter) and ambrosia (am bra" zha): Drink and food of the gods. .
Hp;
mE71 ri
then I sang out in cordial tones:
315
'Cyclops , you ask my honorable name? Remember the gift you promised me, and I shall tell you. My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy.'
♦ Reading Strategy How would you write Odysseus' sly lie in regular prose?
And he said: "Nohbdy's my meat, then, after I eat his friends. Others come first. There's a noble gift, now.'
325
330
335
340
360
365
370 34. bored (bard) v.: Made a hole in.
375
In a smithy
nd is
Pods.
one sees a white-hot axhead or an adze plunged and wrung in a cold tub, screeching steam— the way they make soft iron hale and hard—: Just so that eyeball hissed around the spike. 345 The Cyclops bellowed and the rock roared round him, and we fell back in fear. Clawing his face he tugged the bloody spike out of his eye, threw it away, and his wild hands went groping; then he set up a howl for Cyclopes 350 who lived in caves on windy peaks nearby.
380
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The Odyssey, Part 1, The Cyclops ♦ 871 — ............ ...
......
.
35. divers (di verz) adj.: Several; various.
39C
'What ails you, Polyphemus?36 Why do you cry so sore in the starry night? You will not let us sleep. 355 Sure no man's driving off your flock? No man has tricked you, ruined you?'
Even as he spoke, he reeled and tumbled backward, 32o his great head lolling to one side; and sleep took him like any creature. Drunk, hiccuping, he dribbled streams of liquor and bits of men. Now, by the gods, I drove my big hand spike deep in the embers, charring it again, and cheered my men along with battle talk to keep their courage up; no quitting now. The pike of olive, green though it had been. reddened and glowed as if about to catch. I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops as more than natural force nerved them; straight forward they sprinted, lefted it, and rammed it deep in his crater eye, and leaned on It turning it as a shipwright turns a drill in planking, having men below to swing the two-handled strap that spins it in the groove. So with our brand we bored 34 that great eye socket while blood ran out around the red-hot bar. Eyelid and lash were seared; the pierced ball hissed broiling, and the roots popped.
Some heard him; and they came by divers 35 ways to clump around outside and call:
...
Out of the cave the mammoth Polyphemus roared in answer: 'Nohbdy, Nohbdy's tricked me, Nohbdy's ruined mel' To this rough shout they made a sage 37 reply: 'Ah well, if nobody has played you foul there in your lonely bed, we are no use in pain given by great Zeus. Let it be your father, Poseidon Lord, to whom you pray.' So saying they trailed away. And I was filled with laughter to see how like a charm the name deceived them. Now Cyclops, wheezing as the pain came on him, fumbled to wrench away the great doorstone and squatted in the breach with arms thrown wide for any silly beast or man who boltedhoping somehow I might be such a fool. But I kept thinking how to win the game: death sat there huge; how could we slip away? I drew on all my wits, and ran through tactics, reasoning as a man will for dear life, until a trick came—and it pleased me well. The Cyclops' rams were handsome, fat, with heavy fleeces, a dark violet.
38. Polyphemus (par ate'
mas)
400
37. sage (sal adj.: Wise.
405
410
415
'42C;
Three abreast I tied them silently together, twining cords of willow from the ogre's bed then slung a man under each middle one to ride there safely, shielded left and right. So three sheep could convey each man. I took the woolliest ram, the choicest of the flock, and hung myself under his kinky belly, pulled up tight, with fingers twisted deep in sheepskin ringlets for an iron grip. So, breathing hard, we waited until morning.
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♦ Build Vocabulary When Dawn spread out her fingertips of rose the rams began to stir, moving for pasture, 872 ♦ The Epic
395
mammoth (mam' eth) adj.: Enormous
LL5
ro_ 39
395
400
405
410
[al
•
ELI
and peals of bleating echoed round the pens where dams with udders full called for a milking. Blinded, and sick with pain from his head wound, the master stroked each ram, then let it pass. but my men riding on the pectora138 fleece the giant's blind hands blundering never found. Last of them all my ram, the leader, Caine, weighted by wool and me with my meditations. The Cyclops patted him, and then he said: 'Sweet cousin ram, why lag behind the rest in the night cave? You never linger so, but graze before them all, and go afar to crop sweet grass, and take your -stately way leading along the streams, until at evening you run to be the first one in the fold. Why, now, so far behind? Can you be grieving over your Master's eye? That carrion rogue 39 andhiscurtompbniu when he had conquered all my wits with wine. Nohbdy will not get out alive, I swear. Oh, had you brain and voice to tell where he may be now, dodging all my fury! Bashed by this hand and bashed on this rock wall his brains would strew the floor, and I should have rest from the outrage Nohbdy worked upon me.'
38. pectoral (pek" tar el) adj.: Located on the chest.
• ,•
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440
39. carrion (kar" 6 en) rogue (rog): Repulsive scoundrel.
445
you damned cannibal? Eater of guests under your roof) Zeus and the gods have paid your The blind thing in his doubled fury broke a hilltop in his hands and heaved it after us. Ahead of our black prow it struck and sank whelmed in a spurning geyser, a giant wave that washed the ship stern foremost back to shore. I got the longest boathook out and stood fending us off, with furious nods to all to put their backs into a racing stroke— row, row, or perish. So the long oars bent kicking the foam sternward, making head until we drew away, and twice as far. Now when I cupped my hands I heard the crew in low voices protesting: 'Godsake, Captain) Why bait the beast again? Let him alone)'
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He sent us into the open, then Close by, I dropped and rolled clear of the ram's belly, going this way and that to untie the men. With many glances back, we rounded up his fat, stiff-legged sheep to take aboard, '420 and drove them down to where the good ship lay. We saw, as we came near, our fellows' faces shining; then we saw them turn to grief tallying those who had not fled from death. I hushed them, jerking head and eyebrows up, 425 and in a low voice told them: 'Load this herd; move fast, and put the ship's head toward the breakers.' They all pitched in at loading, then embarked and struck their oars into the sea. Far out, as far offshore as shouted words would carry, 430 I sent a few back to the adversary: '0 Cyclops! Would you feast on my companions? Puny, am I, in a cave man's hands? How do you like the beating that we gave you,
That tidal wave he made on the first throw all but beached us.' 'All but stove us in!' 'Give him our bearing with your trumpeting, he'll get the range and lob a boulder.'
455
'Aye He'll smash our timbers and our heads together)' I would not heed them in my glorying spirit, but let my anger flare and yelled:
'Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: aso Laertes' son, whose home's on Ithaca!'
♦ Literary Focus An epic hero is larger than life but usually also has some human failings. What human weakness does Odysseus' behavior reveal?
The Odyssey, Part 1, The Cyclops ♦ 873
♦ Literature. andYear .1.4e. When they are angry or boasting, people sometimes say things that they later regret. How do Odysseus' words relate to your own observations of a person "having a big mouth"?
At this he gave a mighty sob and rumbled:
1
1
465
'Now comes the weirdo upon me, spoken of old. A wizard, grand and wondrous, lived here—Telemus. 4I 42 great length of days asonfEurym• he had in wizardry among the Cyclopes, and these things he foretold for time to come: my great eye lost, and at Odysseus' hands. Always I had in mind some giant, armed
874 ♦ The Epic
40. weird (wird) n.: Fate or destiny. 41. Telemus (tel a mas) 42. Eurymus (yffl5 rim as)
.4 Critical Viewing Odysseus and his surviving men escape in their ship as the blinded Cyclops hurls boulders and curses. What events provoke this scene? (Analyze)
The god of earthquake could not heal you there!'
520
At this he stretched his hands out in the darkness toward the sky of stars, and prayed Poseidon: '0 hear me, lord, blue girdler of the islands, 455 if I am thine indeed, and thou art father: grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, never see his home: Laertes' son, I mean, who kept his hall on Ithaca. Should destiny intend that he shall see his roof again 450 among his family in his father land, far be that day, and dark the years between. Let him lose all companions, and return under strange sail to bitter days at home.'
525
In these words he prayed, and the god heard him. 495 Now he laid hands upon a bigger stone and wheeled around, titanic for the cast, to let it fly in the black-prowed vessel's track. But it fell short, just aft the steering oar, and whelming seas rose giant above the stone to bear us onward toward the island. 500
in giant force, would come against me here. 470 But this, but you—small, pitiful and twiggy— you put me down with wine, you blinded me. Come back, Odysseus, and I'll treat you well, praying the god of earthquake 43 to befriend you— his son I am, for he by his avowal 475 fathered me, and, if he will, he may heal me of this black wound—he and no other of all the happy gods or mortal men.'
43. god of earthquake: Poseidon.
s)
Few words I shouted in reply to him: 480
If I could take your life I would and take your time away, and hurl you down to hell! The Odyssey, Part 1, The Cyclops ♦ 875
There as we ran in we saw the squadron waiting, the trim ships drawn up side by side, and all our troubled friends who waited, looking seaward. We beached her, grinding keel in the soft sand, and waded in, ourselves, on the sandy beach. 505 Then we unloaded all of Cyclops' flock to make division, share and share alike. Only my fighters voted that my ram, the prize of all, should go to me. I slew him by the seaside and burnt his long thighbones 510 to Zeus beyond the stormcloud, Cronus'" son, who rules the world. But Zeus disdained my offering: destruction for my ships he had in store and death for those who sailed them, my companions. 515 Now all day long until the sun went down we made our feast on mutton and sweet wine, till after sunset in the gathering dark we went to sleep above the wash of ripples. When the young Dawn with fingertips of rose ,f47 • Tim
♦ Literary Focus What admirable qualities does Odysseus show in what he does with the stolen sheep?
44. Cronus (krei nes): Titan who was ruler of the universe until he was overthrown by his son Zeus.
411■ Build Vocabulary titanic (ti tan" ik) adj.: Of great size or strength
530
520 touched the world, I roused the men, gave orders to man the ships, cast off the mooring lines: and filing in to sit beside the rowlocks oarsmen in line dipped oars in the gray sea. So we moved out, sad in the vast offing," 525 having our precious lives, but not our friends.
45. offing (of eir)) Distant part of the sea visible from the shore.
The Land of the Dead Odysseus and his men sail to Aeolia, 46 where Aeolus, winds, sends Odysseus on his way with a gift: a sack king of the containing all the winds except the favorable west wind. W home, Odysseus' men open the sack, letting a shen they are near a storm that drives them back to Aeolia. Aeolus casts them out, having decided
46. Aeolia (5
li a)
that they are detested by the gods. They sail seven days and rive in the land of the
La estrygonians, ar47 a race of cannibals. These creatures destroy all of Odysseus' ships except the one he is sailing in. Odysseus and his reduced crew escape and reach Aeaea, the island ruled by the sorceress goddess Circe. She transforms ha of the men into swine. Protected by a magic herb, Odysseus demand's that Circe change his men back into human form. Before Odysseus departs from the island a year later; Circe informs him that in order to reach home he mustjourney to the land of the dead, Hades, and consult the blind prophet Tiresias.
47. Laestrygonians (les tri
go ni anz)
ti
530
ne
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We bore down on the ship at the sea's edge and launched her on the salt immortal sea, stepping our mast and spar in the black ship; embarked the ram and ewe and went aboard in tears, with bitter and sore dread upon us. But now a breeze came up for us astern-a canvas-bellying land breeze, hale shipmate sent by the singing nymph with sunbright hair:48 so we made fast the braces, took our thwarts, and let the wind and steersman work the ship with full sail spread all day above our coursing, till the sun dipped, and all the ways grew dark upon the fathomless unresting sea.
Critical Viewing What can you infer about ancient
Greek beliefs about death and the afterlife from the text and this illustration? [Infer]
aa,
48. singing nymph .. . hair. Circe.
By night our ship ran onward toward the Ocean's bourn, realm and region of the Men of Winter, hidden in mist and cloud. Never the flaming eye of Helios lights on those men at morning, when he climbs the sky of stars, the
The Odyssey, Part I, The Land of the Dead
.. .
♦ 877
nor in descending earthward out of heaven; 545 ruinous night being rove over those wretches. We made the land, put ram and ewe ashore, and took our way along the Ocean stream to find the place foretold for us by Circe. There Perimedes and Eulylochus, 48 550 pinioned50 the sacred beasts. With my drawn blade I spaded up the votive 51 pit, and poured libations52 round it to the unnumbered dead: sweet milk and honey, then sweet wine, and last clear water; and I scattered barley down. 555 Then I addressed the blurred and breathless dead, vowing to slaughter my best heifer for them before she calved, at home in Ithaca, and burn the choice bits on the altar fire: as for Tireslas, I swore to sacrifice 5so a black lamb, handsomest of all our flock. Thus to assuage the nations of the dead I pledged these rites, then slashed the lamb and ewe, letting their black blood stream into the wellpit. 878 ♦ The Epic
49. Perimedes (per a me d6z) and Eurylochus (yao fir a kas) 50. pinioned (pin" yand) Confined or shackled. 51. votive (vat iv) adj.: Done in fulfilment of a vow or pledge. 52. libations Ili ba sham) 6.: Wine or other liquids poured upon the ground as a sacrifice.
• Build Vocabulary assuage (a swan v.: Calm; pacify
FC11 Luf I 1E31 FE3- I 565
570
575
13_1
Now the souls gathered, stirring out of Erebus, 53 brides and young men, and men grown old in pain, and tender girls whose hearts were new to grief; many were there, too, torn by brazen lanceheads, battle-slain, bearing still their bloody gear. From every side they came and sought the pit with rustling cries; and I grew sick with fear. But presently I gave command to my officers to flay those sheep the bronze cut down, and make burnt offerings of flesh to the gods below— to sovereign Death, to pale Persephone. 54 Meanwhile I crouched with my drawn sword to keep the surging phantoms from the bloody pit till I should know the presence of Tireslas. 55
53. Erebus (er" a bas): Dark region under the earth through which the dead pass before entering the realm of Hades.
How is Odysseus' courage revealed even as he admits to being "sick with fear"?
He ceased, and I replied: 610
615
620
'How is this, Elpenor, how could you journey to the western gloom 585 swifter afoot than I in the black lugger?' He sighed, and answered:
625
830
56. Telemachus (to lem" a Ices) 635
57. cairn (kern) n.: Conical heap of stones built as a monument.
65C
'Unhappy spirit,
I promise you the barrow and the burial.'
54. Persephone (per se a ne): Wife of Hades. 55. Tireslas (ti re" si as)
One shade came first—Elpenor, of our company, who lay unburied still on the wide earth ssci as we had left him—dead in Circe's hall. untouched, unmoumed, when other cares compelled us. Now when I saw him there I wept for pity and called out to him:
'Son of great Laertes, Odysseus, master mariner and soldier, bad luck shadowed me. and no kindly power; ignoble death I drank with so much wine. seo I slept on Circe's roof, then could not see the long steep backward ladder, coming down, and fell that height. My neckbone, buckled under, snapped, and my spirit found this well of dark. Now hear the grace I pray for, in the name 595 of those back in the world, not here—your wife and father, he who gave you bread In childhood, and your own child, your only son, Telemachus, 56 longaefthm. When you make sail and put these lodgings of dim Death behind, sou you will moor ship, I know, upon Aeaea Island; there, 0 my lord, remember Inc. I pray, do not abandon me unwept, unburied, to tempt the gods' wrath, while you sail for home; but fire my corpse, and all the gear I had, 605 and build a cairn 57 for me above the breakers— an unknown sailor's mark for men to come.
Heap up the mound there, and implant upon it the oar I pulled in life with my companions.'
♦ Literary Focus
640
The Odyssey, Part 1, The Land of the Dead ♦ 879
645
So we conversed, and grimly, at a distance, with my long sword between, guarding the blood, while the faint image of the lad spoke on. Now came the soul of Anticlea, dead, my mother, daughter of Autolycus, 58 dead now, though living still when I took ship for holy Troy. Seeing this ghost I grieved, but held her off, through pang on pang of tears, till I should know the presence of Tiresias. Soon from the dark that prince of Thebes 59 came forward bearing a golden staff; and he addressed me:
65.
tar I kus)
58.
Autolycus
59.
Thebes (theln)
'Son of Laertes and the gods of old, Odysseus, master of landways and seaways, why leave the blazing sun, 0 man of woe, to see the cold dead and the joyless region? Stand clear, put up your sword; let me but taste the blood, I shall speak true.' At this I stepped aside, and in the scabbard let my long sword ring home to the pommel silver, as he bent down to the somber blood. Then spoke the prince of those with gift of speech: 'Great captain, a fair wind and the honey lights of home are all you seek. But anguish lies ahead; the god who thunders on the land prepares it, not to be shaken from your track, implacable, in rancor for the son whose eye you blinded. One narrow strait may take you through his blows: denial of yourself, restraint of shipmates. When you make landfall on Thrinacia first and quit the violet sea, dark on the land you'll find the grazing herds of Helios by whom all things are seen, all speech is known. Avoid these kine, 69 hold fast to your intent. and hard seafaring brings you all to Ithaca. But if you raid the beeves, I see destruction
880 • The Eric
♦ Reading Strategy Rephrase in ordinary language the verses about Odysseus putting his sword away. How can verses hel p Fyoo muer si n i n gOdyssey h er tsa e re a sd senten c es ?
60. kine (kin) n.: Cattle.
650
655
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for ship and crew. Though you survive alone, bereft of all companions, lost for years. under strange sail shall you come home, to find your own house filled with trouble: insolent men eating your livestock as they court your lady. Aye, you shall make those men atone in blood! But after you have dealt out death—in open combat or by stealth—to all the suitors, go overland on foot. and take an oar, until one day you come where men have lived with meat unsalted, never known the sea, nor seen seagoing ships, with crimson bows and oars that fledge light hulls for dipping flight. The spot will soon be plain to you, and I can tell you how: some passerby will say, 'What winnowing fan is that upon your shoulder? Halt, and implant your smooth oar in the turf and make fair sacrifice to Lord Poseidon: a rain, a bull, a great buck boar: turn back. and carry out pure hecatombsen at home to all wide heaven's lords, the undying gods, to each in order. Then a seaborne death soft as this hand of mist will come upon you when you are wearied out with rich old age, your country folk in blessed peace around you. And all this shall be Just as I foretell.'
The Sirens Odysseus returns to Circe's island. The goddess reveals his the dangers course to him and gives advice on how to avoid he will face: the Sirens, who lure sailors to their destruction; birds in the Wandering Rocks, sea rocks that destroy even nearby, the flight; the perils of the sea monster Scylla and, whirlpool Chandbdis;e2 and the cattle of the sun god, which Tiresias has warned Odysseus not to harm.
61. hecatombs (heft' tam) n.: Large-scale sacrifices: often the slaughter of 100 cattle at one time.
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* Build Vocabulary bereft (hi raft) adj.: Deprived
685
As Circe spoke, Dawn mounted her golden throne, and on the first rays Circe left me, taking her way like a great goddess up the island. I made straight for the ship, roused up the men to get aboard and cast off at the stern. They scrambled to their places by the rowlocks and all in line dipped oars in the gray sea. But soon an offshore breeze blew to our likinga canvas-bellying breeze, a lusty shipmate sent by the singing nymph with sunbright hair. So we made fast the braces, and we rested, letting the wind and steersman work the ship. The crew being now silent before me, I addressed them, sore at heart:
Guide for Responding ♦ .1.4teratitre • 44141YOur Life Reader's Response What do you think of Odysseus' plan for escaping from Polyphemus?
Thematic Focus What are some constructive ways of working out conflicts with powerful or unreasonable opponents? Check Your Comprehension
I. What does Odysseus do to blind Polyphemus? 2. How do Odysseus and his companions ultimately escape from the Cyclops? 3. What does Tiresias foretell?
'Dear friends, more than one man, or two, should know those
♦ Critical Thinking INTERPRET I. What does the encounter with Maron tell you about ancient Greek attitudes toward hospitality? [Interpret] 2. What "laws" of behavior and attitude does Polyphemus violate? Explain. [Infer]
EVALUATE 3. (a)What survival qualities does Odysseus exhibit in his conflict with Polyphemus? (b) What character trait does Odysseus display In "The Land of the Dead" that he did not reveal in his adventure with the Cyclops? [Assess]
The Odyssey, Part 1, The Land of the Dead
62. Charybdis (ka rib' clis)
♦
881
things Circe foresaw for us and shared with me, so let one tell her forecast: then we die with our eyes open. if we are going to die, sso or know what death we baffle if we can. Sirens weaving a haunting song over the sea we are to shun, she said, and their green shore all sweet with clover; yet she urged that I alone should listen to their song Therefore you are to tie me up, tight as a splint, 695 erect along the mast, lashed to the mast, and ill shout and beg to be untied, take more turns of the rope to muffle me.'
700
I rather dwelt on this part of the forecast, while our good ship made time, bound outward down the wind for the strange island of Sirens. Then all at once the wind fell, and a calm
882
♦
The Epic
♦ Literary Focus What does Odysseus reveal about his character by sharing information with his men?
715
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A
Critical Viewing
735
The beautiful sorceress Circe both helps and hinders Odysseus on his long journey home. What can you tell about Circe's character from this illustration? [Deduce]
amidships, back to the mast, lashed to the mast, and took themselves again to rowing. Soon, as we came smartly within hailing distance, the two Sirens, noting our fast ship off their point, made ready, and they sang:
755
This way, oh turn your bows, Achaea's glory, As all the world allows— Moor and be merry, 760
Sweet coupled airs we sing. No lonely seafarer Holds clear of entering Ow green mirror. Pleased by each purling note Like honey twining From her throat and my throat, Who lies a-pining?
• Literature, andYour Do you think the Sirens' song is the same for every listener? What might the Sirens sing to a real or fictional person you know?
Sea rovers here takejoy Voyaging onward, As from our song of Tray Graybeard and rower-boy Goeth more learned. All feats on that great field In the long warfare, Dark days the bright gods waled, Wounds you bore there,
came over all the sea, as though some power lulled the swell. 740
The crew were on their feet 705 briskly, to furl the sail, and stow it; then each in place, they poised the smooth oar blades and sent the white foam scudding by. I carved a massive cake of beeswax into bits and rolled them in my hands until they softened710 no long task, for a burning heat came down from Helios, lord of high noon. Going forward I carried wax along the line, and laid it thick on their ears. They tied me up, then, plumb
63. Argos' old soldiery: Soldiers from Argos, a city In ancient Greece.
Argos' old soldiery° On Troy beach teeming. Charmed out of time we see. No life on earth can be Hid from our dreaming.
The lovely voices in ardor appealing over the water made me crave to listen, and I tried to say 'Untie mel' to the crew, jerking my brows; but they bent steady to the oars. Then Perimedes got to his feet, he and Eurylochus, 760 and passed more line about, to hold me still. So all rowed on, until the Sirens dropped under the sea rim, and their singing dwindled away.
745
The Odyssey, Part 1, The Sirens • 883
884 • The Epic
* Build Vocabulary
ardor
(ar der) n.: Passion; enthusiasm
My faithful company rested on their oars now peeling off 755 the wax that I had laid thick on their ears: then set me free.
Scylla and Charybdis But scarcely faded in blue air than I saw smoke had that island
760
and white water, with sound of waves in tumult— a sound the men heard, and it terrified them. Oars flew from their hands; the blades went knocking wild alongside till the ship lost way, with no oar blades to drive her through the water.
790
Well, I walked up and down from bow to stern, trying to put heart into them, standing over 765 every oarsman, saying gently,
And all this time, in travai1, 67 sobbing, gaining on the current, we rowed into the strait—Scylla to port and on our starboard beam Charybdis, 68 dire gorge69 of the salt-sea tide. By heaven! when she vomited, all the sea was like a cauldron Boo seething over intense fire, when the mixture suddenly heaves and rises. 795
'Friends , have we never been in danger before this? More fearsome, is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in his cave? What power he had! Did I not keep my nerve, and use my wits 770 to find a way out for us?
785
That was all, and it brought them round to action. But as I sent them on toward Scylla, 65 I told them nothing, as they could do nothing. They would have dropped their oars again, in panic,
66. cuirass (kwl ras') n.: Armor for the upper body.
67. travail (tray Very hard work. 68.
82 5
n.:
83C
Charybdis (ka rib' clis)
69. gorge (gad) n.: Hungry, consuming mouth.
83;
The shot spume soared to the landside heights, and fell like rain.
Now I say by hook or crook this peril too shall be something that we remember.
We must obey the orders as I give themHeads up, lads! . 775 Get the oar shafts in your hands, and lay back hard on your benches; hit these breaking seas. Zeus help us pull away before we founder. You at the tiller, listen, and take in all that I say—the rudders are your duty; 760 keep her out of the combers and the smoke:64 steer for that headland; watch the drift, or we fetch up in the smother, and you drown us.'
to roll for cover under the decking. Circe's bidding against arms had slipped my mind, so I tied on my cuirass 66 and took up two heavy spears, then made my way along to the foredeck—thinking to see her first from there, the monster of the gray rock, harboring torment for my friends. I strained my eyes upon the cliffside veiled in cloud, but nowhere could I catch sight of her.
• Reading Strategy How would you rewrite Odysseus' pep talk in paragraph form without poetic line, breaks?
64. the combers (kom" ars) and the smoke: The large waves that break on the beach and the ocean spray.
65.
Scylla (sir a)
The Odyssey, Part 1, Scylla and Charybdis
♦ 885
But when she swallowed the sea water down we saw the funnel of the maelstrom, 70 heard 805 the rock bellowing all around, and dark sand raged on the bottom far below. My men all blanched against the gloom, our eyes were fixed upon that yawning mouth in fear of being devoured. Then Scylla made her strike, 810 whisking six of my best men from the ship. I happened to glance aft at ship and oarsmen and caught sight of their arms and legs, dangling high overhead. Voices came down to me in anguish, calling my name for the last time. 815
A man surfcasting on a point of rock for bass or mackerel, whipping his long rod to drop the sinker and the bait far out, will hook a fish and rip it from the surface to dangle wriggling through the air:
so these 620 were borne aloft in spasms toward the cliff. She ate them as they shrieked there, in her den, in the dire grapple, reaching still for me886 ♦ The
Epic
70. maelstrom (mai' strew) n.: Large, violent whirlpool.
8 41
825
and deathly pity ran me through at that sight—far the worst I ever suffered, questing the passes of the strange sea. We rowed on. The Rocks were now behind; Charybdis, too, and Scylla dropped astern. . 860
The Cattle of the Sun God 830
ht.
835
In the small hours of the third watch, when stars that shone out in the first dusk of evening had gone down to their setting, a giant wind blew from heaven, and clouds driven by Zeus shrouded land and sea in a night of storm; so, Just as Dawn with fingertips of rose touched the windy world, we dragged our ship to cover in a grotto, a sea cave where nymphs had chairs of rock and sanded floors. I mustered all the crew and said:
865
850
880
885
♦ Literary Focus The
855
The storms continued. So one day I withdrew to the interior to pray the gods in solitude, for hope that one might show me some way of salvation. Slipping away, I struck across the island
'Comrades; he said, You've gone through everything; listen to what I say. All deaths are hateful to us. mortal wretches, but famine is the most pitiful, the worst end that a man can come to.
Will you fight it? Come, we'll cut out the noblest of these cattle for sacrifice to the gods who own the sky: 870 and once at home, in the old country of Ithaca, if ever that day comes— we'll build a costly temple and adorn it with every beauty for the Lord of Noon. 72 Butifhelarspov ift, wishing our ship destroyed, and if the gods 875 make cause with him, why, then I say: Better open your lungs to a big sea once for all than waste to skin and bones on a lonely islandl'
Fierce the god is who cherishes these heifers and these sheep: Helios; and no man avoids his eye.'
845
71. Olympus (0 Ilrn pee): Mount Olympus, home of the gods.
Now on the shore Eurylochus made his insidious plea:
'Old shipmates, Our stores are in the ship's hold, food and drink; the cattle here are not for our provision, 840 or we pay dearly for it.
To this my fighters nodded. Yes. But now we had a month of onshore gales, blowing day in, day out—south winds, or south by east. As long as bread and good red wine remained to keep the men up, and appease their craving, they would not touch the cattle. But in the end, when all the barley in the ship was gone, hunger drove them to scour the wild shore with angling hooks, for fishes and seafowl, whatever fell into their hands; and lean days wore their bellies thin.
to a sheltered spot, out of the driving gale. I washed my hands there, and made supplication to the gods who own Olympus, 21 all the gods— but they, for answer, only closed my eyes under slow drops of sleep.
characteristics of an epic hero reflect the values of his or her culture. What does this passage tell you about ancient Greek values?
890
The Odyssey, Part 1, Cattle of the Sun God ♦ 887 895
Thus Eurylochus: and they murmered 'Ayer trooping away at once to round up heifers. Now, that day tranquil cattle with broad brows were gazing near, and soon the men drew up around their chosen beasts in ceremony. They plucked the leaves that shone on a tall oakhaving no barley meal—to strew the victims, performed the prayers and ritual, knifed the kine and flayed each carcass, cutting thighbones free to wrap in double folds of fat. These offerings, with strips of meat, were laid upon the fire. Then, as they had no wine, they made libation with clear spring water, broiling the entrails first; and when the bones were burnt and tripes shared, they spitted the carved meat. Just then my slumber left me in a rush, my eyes opened, and I went down the seaward path. No sooner had I caught sight of our black hull, than savory
888 • The Epic
72.
Lord of Noon: Hellos.
* Build Vocabulary Insidious (in old' 5 es) adj.: Characterized by craftiness and betrayal
90!:
odors of burnt fat eddied around me; grief took hold of me, and I cried aloud:
900
'0 Father Zeus and gods in bliss forever, you made me sleep away this day of mischief! 0 cruel drowsing, in the evil hour! Here they sat, and a great work they contrived.' 73
Lampetiam in her long gown meanwhile had borne swift word to the Overlord of Noon: 905
73. contrived (ken tried) v.: Thought up; devised. 74. Lampetla (lam pa' the): A nymph.
They have killed your kine.' And the Lord Helios burst into angry speech amid the immortals:
On the afterdeck 945 the mast had hit the steersman a slant blow bashing the skull in. knocking him override, as the brave soul fled the body, like a diver. With crack on crack of thunder, Zeus let fly a bolt against the ship, a direct hit, so that she bucked, in reeking fumes of sulphur, 950 and all the men were flung into the sea. They came up 'round the wreck, bobbing awhile like petrelsy on the waves.
'0 Father Zeus and gods in bliss forever,
punish Odysseus' men! So overweening, now they have killed my peaceful kine, my joy at morning when I climbed the sky of stars, and evening, when I bore westward from heaven. Restitution or penalty they shall pay— and pay in full—or I go down forever to light the dead men in the underworld.' 915 Then Zeus who drives the stormcloud made reply: 'Peace, Helios: shine on among the gods, shine over mortals In the fields of grain. Let me throw down one white-hot bolt, and make splinters of their ship in the winedark sea.' 920 —Calypso later told me of this exchange as she declared that Hermes" had told her. Well, when I reached the sea cave and the ship, I faced each man, and had it out; but where could any remedy be found? There was none. 925 The silken beeves 76 of Hellos were dead. The gods, moreover, made queer signs appear: cowhides began to crawl, and beef, both raw and roasted, lowed like kine upon the spits. Now six full days my gallant crew could feast sao upon the prime beef they had marked for slaughter from Helios' herd; and Zeus, the son of Cronus, added one fine morning. 910
935
the island coastline faded, and no land showed anywhere, but only sea and heaven, when Zeus Cronion piled a thunderhead above the ship, while gloom spread on the ocean. sso We held our course, but briefly. Then the squall struck whining from the west, with gale force, breaking both forestays, and the mast came toppling aft along the ship's length, so the running rigging showered into the bilge.
955
75. Hermes (her" mez): The herald and messenger of the gods.
76. beeves (bevz) n.: Plural of beet.
All the gales had ceased, blown out, and with an offshore breeze we launched again, stepping the mast and sail, to make for the open sea. Astern of us The Odyssey, Part 1, Cattle of the Sun God ♦ 889
• Literature, NutYour
1,01.
How do these eerie occurrences create a sense of anticipation in you as you read?
77. petrels (pet" relz): Small, dark sea birds.
No more seafaring homeward for these, no sweet day of return; the god had turned his face from them.
I clambered fore and aft my hulk until a comber split her, keel from ribs, and the big timber floated free; the mast, too, broke away. A backstay floated dangling from it, stout sso rawhide rope, and I used this for lashing mast and keel together. These I straddled, riding the frightful storm. . Nor had I yet seen the worst of it: for now the west wind dropped, and a southeast gale came on—one more twist of the knife—taking me north again, 965 straight for Charybdis. All that night I drifted, and in the sunrise, sure enough, I lay off Scyllan mountain and Charybdis deep. There, as the whirlpool drank the tide, a billow tossed me, and I sprang for the great fig tree, 970 catching on like a bat under a bough. Nowhere had I to stand, no way of climbing, the root and bole" being far below, and far above my head the branches and their leaves, massed, overshadowing Charybdis pool. 975 890 ♦ The Epic
78.
Scylla (sir e)
79. hole (bon n.: Tree trunk.
wif3N1 101 E-1,11
[g-
-0]
Real and imaginary Places in the Odyssey
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Man
ITHACA
Aeoholdond--,
A Sparta
THRINACIA Td. unar (Conte of the Soo God)
"cap.
/ Mem craw
,
985
CRETE OGYGIA (calypso)
Meditmairean Sea 990
A Critical Viewing The entrance to the Land of the Dead is believed to be the Strait of Gibraltar. Why might the ancient Greeks have considered this location frightening? (Analyze) 995
But I clung grimly, thinking my mast and keel would come back to the surface when she spouted. And ahl how long, with what desire, I waited! till, at the twilight hour, when one who hears and judges pleas in the marketplace all day between contentious men, goes home to supper, the long poles at last reared from the sea. Now I let go with hands and feet, plunging straight into the foam beside the timbers, pulled astride, and rowed hard with my hands to pass by Scylla. Never could I have passed her had not the Father of gods and men. 80 this time, kept me from her eyes. Once through the strait, nine days I drifted in the open sea before I made shore, buoyed up by the gods, upon Ogygiaal Isle. The dangerous nymph Calypso lives and sings there, in her beauty, and she received me, loved me.
lands of Peloponnesus and Crete.Then, sailing westward on the Mediterranean Sea, Odysseus traveled near Sicily, where he found the Cyclops and where nearby islands were homes to the Lotus Eaters, the Sirens, and Aeolus, among others. After circling Sicily clockwise, Odysseus sailed northeastward and finally reached the Ionian Islands of Greece and his home, Ithaca. Activity Journeys or pilgrimages are common themes in epic literature around the world. Research an epic traveler from another culture, and draw a map tracing his or her journey.
The Odyssey, Part 1, Cattle of the Sun God ♦ 891
80. Father . men: Zeus.
81. Ogygia (0 Iir I e).
Guide for Responding
Geography Connection ney carries him to real places, such as Troy and Sparta, as well as to fictitious places, such as Aeolia and Aeaea. In modern times, historians and explorers have tried to retrace the epic journey of Odysseus to determine the actual locations of the places with fictional names and thus to determine Odysseus' exact route.What follows Is just one of many theories of the actual route of Odysseus: From Troy in present-day Turkey, Odysseus proceeded briefly northward and then southwestward on the Aegean Sea, passing between the Greek
to
But why tell the same tale that I told last night in hall to you and to your lady? Those adventures made a long evening, and I do not hold with tiresome repetition of a story."
Beyorl,td Z, a--e4,-(a-uye, Tracing Odysseus' Route Odysseus' jour-
R.
• Litera.ture, aiukYour Reader's Response In your opinion, when does Odysseus act most heroically? Explain.
Thematic Focus What personal qualities are seful when It comes to working out problems and reaching goals?
Check Your Comprehension
♦ Critical Thinking INTERPRET I. Compare and contrast the peril of the Sirens
and the peril of the Lotus-Eaters. [Compare
and Contrast] 2. Why do you think Odysseus chooses to sail toward Scylla rather than Charybdis? [Analyze] 3. In these adventures, how does Odysseus show himself to be an effective leader? [Draw Conclusions]
I . (a) What does Tiresias foretell? (b)What direc-
EVALUATE
tions and warnings does he give? 2. What does Odysseus do to protect his men from the Sirens? 3. How does Eurylochus persuade Odysseus' men to slaughter and eat Helios' cattle? 4. What is Zeus' response to Helios' demand for revenge?
4. Is Odysseus right to keep his decision to sail toward Scylla a secret from his men? Give reasons for your opinion. [Make a Judgment]
892 ♦ The Epic
COMPARE LITERARY WORKS
5. How do the form and tone of the Sirens' song (p.884) differ from the rest of the Odyssey?
[Distinguish]
Guide for Respondin g (continued) ♦ Reading Strategy
♦ Build Grammar Skills
READ IN SENTENCES
RESTRICTIVE AND NONRESTRICTIVE APPOSITIVES
Read the words of an epic in complete sentences, without worrying about line breaks.
I. Copy Odysseus' description of preparing to meet the Sirens on pp. 883-884 from the second part of line 704 through the first part of line 713 as a
is essential to the meaning of the sentence and is not set off by commas.A nonrestrictive apposi-
single paragraph. Read your paragraph aloud. 2. Rewrite the paragraph in your own words.
tive or appositive phrase provides nonessential information and is set off with commas.
♦ Literary Focus
Practice In your notebook, identify the appositives in these phrases from the Odyssey and tell whether
THE EPIC HERO
I. (a) How is Odysseus different from ordinary men? (b) How is he similar to ordinary men? 2. Do you admire Odysseus? Explain.
prophet Tiresias and learns of still more challenges to come.Although warned by the prophet to leave the cattle of the sun god Helios
•
SUMMARIZE
You can better understand what is going on in an epic like the Odyssey—or in any other work of literature with a complicated plot—if you first summarize the events. When you summarize, you retell the plot briefly in your own words. Ideally, your summary should tell not only what happened but why it happened.To assist you in summarizing Part 2 of the Odyssey, you may find it helpful to jot down some notes about im-
Literary Focus
EPIC SIMILE An epic simile, sometimes called a Homeric simile, is an elaborate comparison that may extend for a number of lines. Epic similes may the comparison. In lines use the words, like or as, just as, or so to make
Idea Bank
portant events and their causes as you read.
268-271, Odysseus uses an epic simile to describe the fallen tree from
Writing I. Letter Imagine that you are a sailor aboard
3. The archaeologist's study of ancient ruins took her on an ? across Turkey and Greece. 4. Unlike its mythical namesake, a modern ?
Odysseus' ship.Write a letter home, telling your family about your adventures. makesnupltwrigond.
5. mammoth e. small and weak 6. assuage f. calm, sunny weather 7. insidious g. honest 8. titanic h. aggravate 9. ardor i. lack of interest
what you think will happen when Odysseus arrives home.
d. siren
to be unsinkable, it was named the ? . 2. The treasures from ancient Troy were housed in a ? .
Match each word with its opposite. I. dispatch a. restore to its owner 2. bereft b. finish slowly 3. plunder c. joyfully acquiring 4. squall d. tiny
us in our time, lift the great song again. 2. Sweet cousin ram, why lag behind the rest in the night cave? 3. We Cyclopes care not a whistle for your thundering Zeus ...
of high noon.
I. Because the enormous ocean liner was thought
Antonyms
alone, Odysseus' men fail to heed this advice and are killed when a lightning bolt hurled by the god Zeus destroys their ship. The events you will read about in Part 2 of the Odyssey take place in Ithaca, Odysseus' homeland and the goal of all his travels. Predict
5.... a burning heat came down from Helios, lord
The words that follow come from mythology. Use one word to complete each sentence. c. Titanic
I. Of these adventures, Muse, daughter of Zeus, tell
his home: Laertes' son, I mean, who kept his hall on Ithaca.
USING WORDS FROM MYTHS
USING THE WORD BANK:
Odysseus and his companions face many In Part I of the Odyssey, perils on their voyage from Troy to Ithaca, including the hypnotic Lotus, a man-eating Cyclops, the Sirens, and the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. Odysseus journeys to the Land of the Dead to consult the
4.... grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, never see
♦ Build Vocabulary
b. odyssey
*Reading Strategy I
Review and Anticipate
•
each is restrictive or nonrestrictive.
The epic hero—the central character of an epic—possesses qualities superior to those of most people yet remains recognizably human.
a. museum
nide for Reading
Appositives add information about the nouns and pronouns in a sentence.A restrictive appositive
which he will create the weapon to blind the Cyclops.
And it was like a mast
1
a lugger of twenty oars, brood in the beam— a deep-sea-going craft—might carry: so long, so big around, it seemed.
2. Comparison-and-Contrast Essay Write an essay in which you explore the concept of the hero. In your essay, compare and contrast Odysseus with other heroes, real or imaginary.
Speaking, Listening, and Viewing 3. Play-by-Play Broadcast Select an exciting, action-filled incident from Part I of the Odyssey. Using the text and your imagination, describe the action as it unfolds.When you have worked out all the details, perform your broadcast for an audience. [Performing Arts Link; Career Link]
• Build Vocabulary LATIN WORD ROOTS: - equiA disguised Odysseus, speaking to his wife Penelope, tells her that her good name is like the honor of a just king "who rules in equity:' The word equity means "fairness" or "justice" and dissemble contains the Latin word root -equi-, lithe which means "same" or "equal:' incredulity
Thus, a king who rules in equity
bemusing
treats all his subjects the same.
glowering equity
The Odyssey, Part I ♦ 893
WORD BANK Preview these words from the
maudlin contempt
selection.
894 ♦ The Epic
♦ Build Grammar Skills PARTICIPIAL PHRASES A participle is a verb form that is used as an adjective to modify a noun or pronoun. A participial phrase is a phrase that consists of a participle and the words that work with it.The entire participial phrase then serves as an adjective to modify a noun or pronoun. Here are some examples of participial phrases from the Odyssey. past participle This was an army trained to fight on horseback ... present participle So, breathing hard, we waited until morning.
ra
I
Ei
Odysseus noticed her: so did the dogs, who cowered whimpering away from her. She only 1005 nodded, signing to him with her brows, a sign he recognized. Crossing the yard, he passed out through the gate in the stockade to face the goddess. There she said to him:
Homer Translated by Robert Fitzgerald Part 2
The Return of Odysseus
"Son of Laertes and the gods of old, 1010 Odysseus, master of 'endways and seaways, dissemble to your son no longer now. The time has come: tell him how you together will bring doom on the suitors in the town. I shall not be far distant then, for I 1015 myself desire battle."
"Twenty years gone, and I am back again" 0; Odysseus has finished telling his story to the Phaeacians. The next day, young Phaeacian noblemen conduct him home by ship. He arrives in Ithaca after an absence of twenty years. The goddess Athena appears and informs him of the situation at home. Numerous suitors, believing Odysseus to be dead, have been continually seeking the hand of his wife, Penelope, in marriage, while overrunning Odysseus' palace and enjoying themselves at Penelope's expense. Moreover, they are plotting to murder Odysseus' son, Telemachus, before he can inherit his father's lands. Telemachus, who, like Penelope, still hopes for his father's return, has Journeyed to Pylos and Sparta to learn what he can about his father's fate. Athena disguises Odysseus as a beggar and directs him to the but of Eumaeus,' his old and faithful swineherd While Odysseus and Eumaeus are eating breakfast, Telemachus arrives. Athena then appears to Odysseus.
1020
Saying no more, she tipped her golden wand upon the man, making his cloak pure white, and the knit tunic fresh around him. Lithe and young she made him, ruddy with sun, his jawline clean, the beard no longer gray upon his chin. And she withdrew when she had done. Then Lord Odysseus reappeared—and his son was thunderstruck. Fear in his eyes, he looked down and away as though it were a god, and whispered:
"Stranger, 1025 you are no longer what you were just nowt Your cloak is new; even your skin) You are one of the gods who rule the sweep of heaven! Be kind to us, we'll make you fair oblation 2 and gifts of hammered gold. Have mercy on tie"
I
2. oblation (5 b15" shen)
n.: Offering to a god.
1. Eumaeus (yo—o me- es) 1030
"No god. Why take me for a god? No, no. I am that father whom your boyhood lacked and suffered pain for lack of. I am he."
.... From the air she walked, taking the form of a tall woman, handsome and clever at her craft, and stood moo beyond the gate in plain sight of Odysseus, unseen, though, by Telemachus, unguessed, for not to everyone will gods appear.
The Odyssey, Part 2, The Return of Odysseus ♦ 895
The noble and enduring man replied:
Held back too long, the tears ran down his cheeks 1035
as he embraced his son.
896 ♦ The Eptc
dissemble (dl sem bet) v.: Conceal with false appearances; disguise
lithe
(lith) adj.: Supple;
limber Only Telemachus,
uncomprehending, wild with incredulity, cried out:
Build Vocabulary
Incredulity (In' kre do—o' le te) n.: Inability to believe
1050
1055
'This is not princely, to be swept away by wonder at your father's presence. No other Odysseus will ever come, for he and I are one, the same; his bitter fortune and his wanderings are mine. Twenty years gone, and I am back again on my own island. As for my change of skin, that is a charm Athena, Hope of Soldiers, uses as she will; she has the knack to make me seem a beggar man sometimes and sometimes young, with finer clothes about me. It is no hard thing for the gods of heaven to glorify a man or bring him low."
05
09
When he had spoken, down he sat. 1060
1065
• Critical Viewing What can you tell about Eumaeus from this illustration? [Infer] 1070
You cannot be my father Odysseus? Meddling spirits conceived this trick to twist the knife in mel 1040 No man of woman born could work these wonders by his own craft, unless a god came into it with ease to turn him young or old at will. I swear you were in rags and old, and here you stand like one of the immortals?" 1045
Odysseus brought his ranging mind to bear and said:
Then, throwing his arms around this marvel of a father Telemachus began to weep. Salt tears rose from the wells of longing in both men, and cries burst from both as keen and fluttering as those of the great taloned hawk, whose nestlings farmers take before they fly. So helplessly they cried, pouring out tears, and might have gone on weeping so till sundown, had not Telemachus said:
0
♦ Literary Focus What is being cornpared in the epic simile in lines
1063 - 1065?
"Dear father? Tell me what kind of vessel put you here ashore on Ithaca? Your sailors, who were they? I doubt you made it, walking on the seal"
• Literature,
11
Then said Odysseus, who had borne the barren sea:
and Your .1.1e.
How does Telemachus' reaction to his father compare with your own reaction to friends or relatives you haven't seen
1075
for a long time?
logo
The Odyssey, Part 2, The Return of Odysseus
♦ 897
"Only plain truth shall I tell you, child. Great seafarers, the Phaeacians, gave me passage as they give other wanderers. By night over the open ocean, while I slept, they brought me in their cutters set me down on Ithaca, with gifts of bronze and gold and stores of woven things. By the gods' will these lie all hidden in a cave. I came to this wild place, directed by Athena, so that we might lay plans to kill our enemies. Count up the suitors for me, let me know what men at arms are there, how many men.
898 ♦ The Epic
3. cutter (hut en n.: Small, swift ship or boat.
11
1E-1 111:01111 1085
tlka
FE]
k!,
I must put all my mind to it, to see if we two by ourselves can take them on or if we should look round for help."
replied:
Telemachus
"0 Father, all my life your fame as a fighting man has echoed in my ears — 1090 your skill with weapons and the tricks of war— but what you speak of is a staggering thing, beyond imagining, for me. How can two men do battle with a houseful in their primer' For I must tell you this is no affair loos of ten or even twice ten men, but scores, throngs of them. You shall see, here and now. The number from Dulichium alone is fifty-two, picked men, with armorers, a half dozen: twenty-four came from Same, 1100 twenty from Zacynthus; our own island accounts for twelve, high-ranked, and their retainers, Medan the crier, and the Master Harper, besides a pair of handymen at feasts. If we go in against all these 1105 I fear we pay in salt blood for your vengeance. You must think hard if you would conjure up the fighting strength to take us through." Odysseus who had endured the long war and the sea answered:
1125
4. In their prime: In the best or most vigorous stage of their lives.
"III tell you now. Lilo Suppose Athena's arm is over us, and Zeus her father's, must I rack my brains for more?"
1130
1135
1140
1145
Clearheaded Telemachus looked hard and said:
1115
1120
"Those two are great defenders, no one doubts It, but throned in the serene clouds overhead; other affairs of men and gods they have to rule over." And the hero answered: "Before long they will stand to right and left of us in combat, in the shouting, when the test comes— our nerve against the suitors' in my hall. Here is your part: at break of day tomorrow
1150
1155
The Odyssey, Part 2, The Return of Odysseus ♦ 899 1160
home with you, go mingle with our princes. The swineherd later on will take me down the port-side trail—a beggar, by my looks, hangdog and old. If they make fun of me in my own courtyard, let your ribs cage up your springing heart, no matter what I suffer, no matter if they pull me by the heels or practice shots at me, to drive me out. Look on, hold down your anger. You may even plead with them, by heaven! in gentle terms to quit their horseplay—not that they will heed you, rash as they are, facing their day of wrath. Now fix the next step in your mind. Athena, counseling me, will give me word, and I shall signal to you, nodding: at that point round up all armor, lances, gear of war left in our hall, and stow the lot away back in the vaulted storeroom. When the suitors miss those arms and question you, be soft in what you say: answer 'I thought I'd move them out of the smoke. They seemed no longer those bright arms Odysseus left us years ago when he went off to Troy. Here where the fire's hot breath came, they had grown black and drear. One better reason, too, I had from Zeus: suppose a brawl starts up when you are drunk, you might be crazed and bloody one another, and that would stain your feast, your courtship. Tempered iron can magnetize a man.' Say that But put aside two broadswords and two spears for our own use, two oxhide shields nearby when we go into action. Pallas Athena and Zeus All-Provident will see you through, bemusing our young friends. Now one thing more. If son of mine you are and blood of mine, let no one hear Odysseus is about. Neither Laertes, nor the swineherd here, nor any slave, nor even Penelope. But you and I alone must learn how far the women are corrupted; we should know
900 ♦ The Epic
11E
11 E
♦ Reading Strategy Summarize the events of Odysseus' reunion with Telemachus.
how to locate good men among our hands, the loyal and respectful, and the shirkers 5
5. shirkers (shirk" erz) n.: People who get out of doing or leave undone something that needs to be done.
whotakeyulig,snadyoug."
Argus
He never shrank from any savage thing 1195 he'd brought to bay in the deep woods; on the scent no other dog kept up with him. Now misery has him in leash. His owner died abroad, and here the women slaves will take no care of him. You know how servants are: without a master they have no will to labor, or excel. 1200 For Zeus who views the wide world takes away half the manhood of a man, that day he goes into captivity and slavery."
Odysseus heads for town with Eumaeus. Outside the palace, Odysseus' old dog, Argus, is lying at rest as his long-absent master approaches.
While he spoke an old hound, lying near, pricked up his ears 1165 and lifted up his muzzle. This was Argus, trained as a puppy by Odysseus, but never taken on a hunt before his master sailed for Troy. The young men, afterward, hunted wild goats with him, and hare, and deer, 1170 but he had grown old in his master's absence. Treated as rubbish now, he lay at last upon a mass of dung before the gates— manure of mules and cows, piled there until fteldhands could spread it on the king's estate. 1175 Abandoned there, and half destroyed with flies, old Argus lay. But when he knew he heard Odysseus' voice nearby, he did his best to wag his tail, nose down, with flattened ears, having no strength to move nearer his master. 1180 And the man looked away, wiping a salt tear from his cheek; but he hid this from Eumaeus. Then he said:
1185
1206
in some far place. If this old hound could show the form he had when Lord Odysseus left him, going to Troy, you'd see him swift and strong.
Eumaeus crossed the court and went straight forward into the megaron6 among the suitors: but death and darkness in that instant closed the eyes of Argus, who had seen his master, Odysseus, after twenty years.
8. megaron ling a rbn) n.: Great, central hall of the house, usually containing a center hearth.
Still disguised as a beggar Odysseus enters his home. He is confronted by the haughty? suitor Antlnous. 8
7. haughty (Mr 81 ad).: Arrogant. 8. Antinous (an tin 6 es)
But here Antinous broke in, shouting: "Godl 1210
"I marvel that they leave this hound to lie here on the dung pile; he would have been a fine dog, from the look of him, though I can't say as to his power and speed when he was young. You find the same good build in house dogs, table dogs landowners keep all for style."
"A hunter owned him—but the man is dead
Pet owners will sometimes contend that animals are more perceptive than people. How does the story of Argus support this contention?
The Suitors
1215
And you replied, Eumaeus: 1190
• Literatura anal Your 1.4e.
•
Build Vocabulary
bemusing (bl myff zit))
adj.:
Stupefying or muddling
The Odyssey, Part 2, Argus
♦ 901
What evil wind blew in this pest? Get over, stand in the passage! Nudge my table, will you? Egyptian whips are sweet to what you'll come to here, you nosing rat, making your pitch to everyone! These men have bread to throw away on you because it is not theirs. Who cares? Who spares another's food, when he has more than plenty?"
With guile Odysseus drew away, then said: "A pity that you have more looks than heart. 1220 You'd grudge a pinch of salt from your own larder to your own handyman. You sit here, fat on others' meats and cannot bring yourself to rummage out a crust of bread for mer
1225
Then anger made Antinous' heart beat hard, and, glowering under his brows, he answered:
902 ♦ The Epic
•
Build Vocabulary
glowering (glaw er it)) adj. .: Staring with sullen anger; scowling
01 :0:11-41,
r2Ingpd Lcif
-0_1 ig
"Nowl You think you'll shuffle off and get away after that impudence? 8 Oh, no you don't!"
9. Impudence (Im' py00 dens) n.: Quality of being shamelessly bold; disrespectful.
The stool he let fly hit the man's right shoulder on the packed muscle under the shoulder blade1230 like solid rock, for all the effect one saw. Odysseus only shook his head, containing thoughts of bloody work, as he walked on, then sat, and dropped his loaded bag again upon the door sill. Facing the whole crowd 1235 he said, and eyed them all:
1265 on the higher level of her room had heard the blow, and knew who gave it. Now she murmured:
"One word only, my lords, and suitors of the famous queen. One thing I have to say. There is no pain, no burden for the heart when blows come to a man, and he defending 1240 his own cattle—his own cows and lambs. Here It was otherwise. Antinous hit me for being driven on by hunger— how many bitter seas men cross for hunger! If beggars interest the gods, if there are Furiesl° 1245 pent in the dark to avenge a poor man's wrong, then may Antinous meet his death before his wedding day!"
"Would god you could be hit yourself, Antinoushit by Apollo's bowshotl" And Eurynome, 11 her housekeeper, put in: "He and no other?
10. Furies (iyobr" ez): Three terrible spirits who punish those whose crimes have not been avenged.
Then said Eupeithes' son, Antinous:
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1255
Telemachus, after the blow his father bore, sat still without a tear, though his heart felt the blow. Slowly he shook his head from side to side, containing murderous thoughts. Penelope
"Enough. Eat and be quiet where you are, or shamble elsewhere, unless you want these lads to stop your mouth pulling you by the heels, or hands and feet, over the whole floor, till your back is peeled!" But now the rest were mortified, and someone spoke from the crowd of young bucks to rebuke him: "A poor show, that—hitting this famished trampbad business, if he happened to be a god. You know they go in foreign guise, the gods do, looking like strangers, turning up In towns and settlements to keep an eye on manners, good or bad."
1270 if all we pray for came to pass, not one would live till dawn!" Her gentle mistress said: "Oh, Nan, they are a bad lot: they intend ruin for all of us: but Antinous appears a blacker-hearted hound than any. 1275 Here is a poor man come, a wanderer, driven by want to beg his bread, and everyone in hall gave bits, to cram his bag—only Antinous threw a stool, and banged his shoulder!"
1260
So she described it, sitting in her chamber among her maids—while her true lord was eating. Then she called in the forester and said:
"Go to that man on my behalf, Eumaeus, and send him here, so I can greet and question him. Abroad in the great world, he may have heard 1285 rumors about Odysseus—may have known himl"
Penelope
But at this notion
1260 Antinous only shrugged. In the evening. Penelope questions the old beggar
about himseEf. The Odyssey, Part 2, The Suitors ♦ 903 "Friend, let me ask you first of all: who are you, where do you come from, of what nation
904 • The Enic
12'
11. Eurynomer (y(50 fin' em
1101 INN
1
Li [El I
-Ef
1 rr151o- CE1gI
CJ
15 I rE
LP:47W41 Ir
and parents were you born'?" And he replied: "My lady, never a man in the wide world 1290 should have a fault to find with you. Your name has gone out under heaven like the sweet honor of some god-fearing king, who rules in equity over the strong: his black lands bear both wheat and barley, fruit trees laden bright, 1295 new lambs at lambing time—and the deep sea gives great hauls of fish by his good strategy, so that his folk fare well.
♦ Literary Focus Identify the epic simile In Odysseus' response to Penelope's question.
0 my dear lady, this being so, let it suffice to ask me of other matters—not my blood, my homeland. 1300 Do not enforce me to recall my pain. My heart is sore; but I must not be found sitting in tears here. in another's house: it is not well forever to be grieving. One of the maids might say—or you might think1305 I had got maudlin over cups of wine." And Penelope replied: "Stranger, my looks, my face, my carriage, 12 were soon lost or faded when the Achaeans crossed the sea to Troy, Odysseus my lord among the rest. 1310 If he returned, if he were here to care for me, I might be happily renowned! But grief instead heaven sent me—years of pain. Sons of the noblest families on the islands, Dulichium, Same, wooded Zacynthus, 13 13 5withnativeIthac nareh retoc urtme, against my wish; and they consume this house. Can I give proper heed to guest or suppliant or herald on the realm's affairs? How could I? wasted with longing for Odysseus, while here 132o they press for marriage. Ruses 14 served my turn to draw the time out—first a close-grained web I had the happy thought to set up weaving on my big loom in hall. I said, that day: 'Young men—my suitors, now my lord is dead,
12. carriage (kat' ipn.: Posture.
1325 let me finish my weaving before I marry, or else my thread will have been spun in vain. It is a shroud I weave for Lord Laertes when cold Death comes to lay him on his bier. The country wives would hold me in dishonor 1330 if he, with all his fortune, lay unshrouded.' I reached their hearts that way, and they agreed. So every day I wove on the great loom, but every night by torchlight I unwove it; and so for three years I deceived the Achaeans. 1335 But when the seasons brought a fourth year on. as long months waned, and the long days were spent, through impudent folly In the slinking maids they caught me—clamored up to me at night; I had no choice then but to finish it. And now, as matters stand at last. 1340 I have no strength left to evade a marriage, cannot find any further way; my parents urge it upon me. and my son will not stand by while they eat up his property. ' He comprehends it, being a man full-grown, 1345 able to oversee the kind of house Zeus would endow with honor. But you too confide in me, tell me your ancestry. You were not born of mythic oak or stone."
13. Zacynthus (za sin" thus)
14. Ruses (ro—oz' oz) n.: Tricks.
* Build Vocabulary equity (ek' wit 9) /1.: Fairness; impartiality; justice maudlin (mad' lin) adj.: Tearfully or foolishly sentimental
The Odyssey, Part 2, Penelope ♦ 905
♦ Reading
Strategy
Summarize what Penelope tells the disguised Odysseus. How has she demonstrated her loyalty to her husband?
Penelope again asks the beggar to tell about himself. He makes up a tale in which Odysseus is mentioned and declares that Penelope's husband will soon be home. "You see, then, he Is alive and well, and headed homeward now, no more to be abroad far from his island, his dear wife and son. Here is my sworn word for it. Witness this, god of the zenith, noblest of the gods, 15 1355 and Lord Odysseus' hearthfire, now before me: I swear these things shall turn out as I say. Between this present dark and one day's ebb, after the wane, before the crescent moon, Odysseus will come."
1350
906 ♦ The Epic
15. god of the zenith, noblest of the gods: Zeus.
PI § INN 11
•^^
The Challenge Pressed by the suitors to choose a husband from among them, Penelope says she will marry whoever can string Odysseus' bow and shoot an arrow through twelve wchandle sockets. The suitors try and jail. Still in disguise. Odysseus asks for a turn and gets it.
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. . . And Odysseus took his time, turning the bow, tapping it, every inch, for borings that termites might have made while the master of the weapon was abroad. The suitors were now watching him, and some jested among themselves:
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"A bow lover!"
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"Maybe he has one like it at homer' "Or has an itch to make one for himself." "See how he handles it, the sly old bumard!" And one disdainful suitor added this:
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"May his fortune grow an inch for every inch he bends it!" But the man skilled in all ways of contending, satisfied by the great bow's look and heft, like a musician, like a harper, when with quiet hand upon his instrument he draws between his thumb and forefinger a sweet new string upon a peg: so effortlessly Odysseus in one motion strung the bow. Then slid his right hand down the cord and plucked it, so the taut gut vibrating hummed and sang a swallow's note. In the hushed hall it smote the suitors and all their faces changed. Then Zeus thundered overhead, one loud crack for a sign. And Odysseus laughed within him that the son of crooked-minded Cronus had flung that omen down. The Odyssey, Part 2, The Challenge ♦ 907 A
Critical Viewing The winner of the archery contest wit win Penelope's hand in marriage. How does the artist capture the tension in this scene? [Interpret]
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He picked one ready arrow from his table where it lay bare: the rest were waiting still in the quiver for the young men's turn to come. He nocked 16 it, let it rest across the handgrip, and drew the string and grooved butt of the arrow, aiming from where he sat upon the stool.
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16. necked: Set an arrow against the bowstring.
Odysseus' Revenge
Now arrow from twanging bow clean as a whistle flashed through every socket ring, and grazed not one, to thud with heavy brazen head beyond. Odysseus said:
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"Telemachu you welcomed in your hall has not disgras, the stranger ced you. I did not miss neither did I take all day stringing the bow. My hand and eye are sound, not so contemptible as the young men say. The hour has come to cook their lordsh ips' mutton— supper by daylight. Other amusements later, with song and harping that adorn a feast."
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He dropped his eyes and nodded, and the prince Telemachus, true son of King Odysseus, belted his sword on, clapped hand to his spear, and with a clink and glitter of keen bronze stood by his chair, in the forefront near his father.
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• Literature, and
Guide for Responding Your 4 ♦ Critical Thinking
Reader's Response How would you react you were in Telemachus' or Penelope's place? if Thematic Focus How should Odysseus work to solve the problems caused by his long absenc e? Check Your Comprehension 1. How do Odysseus and Telemachus plan to handle Penelope's unwanted suitors? 2. What is Argus? What was he like in his youth? 3. Describe Antinous' treatm ent of Odysseus. 4. Describe the trick Penelo pe used to delay choosing a husband from among the suitors .
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INTERPRET I. Compare
Odysseus! emotions with Telemachus' when they are reunited. [Compare and Contrast] 2. Is Argus' death just when Odysseus returns a coincidence? Explain. [Analyze] 3. What impression of Penelope.do you get from her conversation with the disguised Odysseus?
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[Interpret]
APPLY
4. Why do you think Odysseus chooses not to reveal his identity to his wife? [Specu late]
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The Odyssey, Part 2, The Challenge • ••
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Now shrugging off his rags the wiliest" fighter of the islands leapt and stood on the broad doorsill, his own bow in his hand. He poured out at his feet a rain of arrow s from the quiver and spoke to the crowd: "So much for that. Your clean-cut game is over. Now watch me hit a target that no man has hit before. if I can make this shot. Help me, Apollo." He drew to his fist the cruel head of an arrow for Antinous just as the young man leaned to lift his beautiful drinking cup, embossed, two-handled, golden: the cup was in his fingers: the wine was even at his lips: and did he dream of death? How could he? In that revelry 18 amid his throng of friends who would imagine a single foe—though a strong foe indeed— could dare to bring death's pain on him and darkness on his eyes? Odysseus' arrow hit him under the chin and punched up to the feathers throug h his throat. Backward and down he went, letting the winecup fall from his shocked hand. Like pipes his nostrils jetted crimson runnels, a river of mortal red, and one last kick upset his table knocking the bread and meat to soak in dusty blood. Now as they craned to see their champion where he lay the suitors jostled in uproar down the hall, everyone on his feet. Wildly they turned and scanned the walls in the long room for arms; but not a shield, not a good ashen spear was there for a man to take and throw. All they could do was yell in outrage at Odysseus: "Foul! to shoot at a manl That was your last shot!" "Your own throat will be slit for thisl" "Our finest lad is down! You killed the best on Ithaca." "Buzzards will tear your eyes out!" For they imagined as they wished—that it was a wild shot, an unintended killing—fools, not to compr ehend they were already in the grip of death. But glaring under his brows Odysseus answe red: "You yellow dogs, you thought I'd never make it home from the land of Troy. You took my house to plunder. ... You dared bid for my wife while I was still alive. Contempt was all you had for the gods who rule wide heaven, contempt for what men say of you hereaf ter. Your last hour has come. You die in blood ."
910 ♦ The Epic
17. wiliest (wit" a ast) adj.: Most tricky.
18. revelry (rev" at re) n.:
Boisterous
festivity.
*Reading Strategy Summarize Odysseus' interactions with the suitors to this point. Why does he catch them by surprise? What do you think will happen next?
Build Vocabulary contempt (ken tempt) n.: Actions or attitude of a person toward someone or something he or she considers low or worthless
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As they all took this in, sickly green fear pulled at their entrails, and their eyes flickered looking for some hatch or hideaway from death. Eurymachus ,9 alone could'speak. He said:
19. Eurymachus (yoo d" ma kas)
"If you are Odysseus of Ithaca come back, 1450 all that you say these men have done is true. Rash actions, many here, more in the countryside. But here he lies, the man who caused them all. Antinous was the ringleader, he whipped us on to do these things. He cared less for a marriage 1455 than for the power Cronion has denied him as king of Ithaca. For that he tried to trap your son and would have killed him. He is dead now and has his portion. Spare your own people. As for ourselves, we'll make 1460 restitution of wine and meat consumed, and add, each one, a tithe of twenty oxen with gifts of bronze and gold to warm your heart. Meanwhile we cannot blame you for your anger." 1465
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Amphinomus now came running at Odysseus, broadsword naked in his hand. He thought to make the great soldier give way at the door. But with a spear throw from behind Telemachus hit him between the shoulders, and the lancehead drove clear through his chest. He left his feet and fell 1500 forward, thudding, forehead against the ground. Telemachus swerved around him, leaving the long dark spear planted in Amphinomus. If he paused to yank it out someone might jump him from behind or cut him down with a sword at the moment he bent over. So he ran—ran from the tables 1505 to his father's side and halted, panting, saying:
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Odysseus glowered under his black brows and said: "Not for the whole treasure of your fathers, all you enjoy, lands, flocks, or any gold put up by others, would I hold my hand. There will be killing till the score is paid. You forced yourselves upon this house. Fight your way out, or run for it, if you think you'll escape death. I doubt one man of you skins by." They felt their knees fall, and their hearts—but heard Eurymachus for the last time rallying them.
"Friends," he said, "the man is implacable. Now that he's got his hands on bow and quiver he'll shoot from the big doorstone there until he kills us to the last man. Fight, I say, let's remember the joy of it. Swords outl Hold up your tables to deflect his arrows. 1480 After me, everyone: rush him where he stands If we can budge into from the door, if we can pass into the town, we'll call out men to chase him. This fellow with his bow will shoot no more." 1475
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honed like a razor on either edge. Then crying hoarse and loud he hurled himself at Odysseus. But the kingly man let fly an arrow at that instant, and the quivering feathered butt sprang to the nipple of his breast as the barb stuck in his liver. The bright broadsword clanged down. He lurched and fell aside, pitching across his table. His cup, his bread and meat, were spilt and scattered far and wide, and his head slammed on the ground. Revulsion, anguish in his heart, with both feet kicking out, he downed his chair, while the shrouding wave of mist closed on his eyes.
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"Father let me bring you a shield and spear, a pair of spears, a helmet. I can arm on the run myself; I'll give outfits to Eumaeus and this cowherd. Better to have equipment." Said Odysseus:
• Literature and.Your
.Life
What other "last stands" from movies and television shows are brought to mind by Eurymachus' brave but hollow words?
He drew his own sword as he spoke, a broadsword of fine bronze,
The Odyssey, Part 2, Odysseus' Revenge ♦ 911 ..
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"Run then, while I hold them off with arrows as long as the arrows last. When all are gone if I'm alone they can dislodge me." Quick upon his father's word Telemachus 1515 ran to the room where spears and armor lay. He caught up four light shields, four pairs of spears, four helms of war high-plumed with flowing manes, and ran back, loaded down, to his father's side. He was the first to pull a helmet on 1520 and slide his bare arm in a buckler strap. The servants armed themselves, and all three took their stand beside the master of battle. 912 ♦ The Epic
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Think of a catch that fishermen haul in to a half-moon bay in a fine-meshed net from the whitecaps of the sea: how all are poured out on the sand, in throes for the salt sea. twitching their cold lives away in Helios' fiery air: so lay the suitors heaped on one another.
Penelope's Test
♦ Literary Focus How does the epic simile In lines 15351539 help you to Picture the scene in your imagination?
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Penelope tests Odysseus to prove that he really is her husband. 1540
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Critical Viewing Do you think the fight against the suitors was a "fair fight"? Why or why not? [Make a Judgment; Support]
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While he had arrows he aimed and shot, and every shot brought down one of his huddling enemies. But when all barbs had flown from the bowman's fist, he leaned his bow in the bright entryway beside the door, and armed: a four-ply shield hard on his shoulder, and a crested helm, horsetailed, nodding stormy upon his head, then took his tough and bronze-shod spears. . .
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0 Aided by Athena, Odysseus, Telemachus, Eumaeus, and another faithful herdsman kill all the suitors.
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Greathearted Odysseus. home at last, was being bathed now by Eurynome and rubbed with golden oil, and clothed again in a fresh tunic and a cloak. Athena lent him beauty, head to foot. She made him taller, and massive, too, with crisping hair in curls like petals of wild hyacinth but all red-golden. Think of gold infused on silver by a craftsman, whose fine art Hephaestus 20 taught him, or Athena: one whose work moves to delight: just so she lavished beauty over Odysseus' head and shoulders. He sat then in the same chair by the pillar, facing his silent wife, and said: "Strange woman, the immortals of Olympus made you hard. harder than any. Who else in the world would keep aloof as you do from her husband if he returned to her from years of trouble. cast on his own land in the twentieth year? Nurse, make up a bed for me to sleep on. Her heart is iron In her breast." Penelope
And Odysseus looked around him, narrow eyed. for any others who had lain hidden while death's black fury passed.
spoke to Odysseus now. She said:
In blood and dust he saw that crowd all fallen, many and many slain. The Odyssey, Part 2, Odysseus' Revenge ♦ 913
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"Strange man, if man you are . This is no pride on my part nor scorn for you—not even wonder, merely. I know so well how you—how he—appeared boarding the ship for Troy. But all the same Make up his bed for him, Eurycleia. Place it outside the bedchamber my lord
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20. Hephaestus (hi (es' las): God of tire and the forge and of metalworking.
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With this she tried him to the breaking point. and he turned on her in a flash raging: "Woman, by heaven you've stung me now! Who dared to move my bed? No builder had the skill for that—unless a god came down to turn the trick. No mortal in his best days could budge it with a crowbar. There is our pact and pledge, our secret sign, built into that bed—my handiwork and no one else's! An old trunk of olive grew like a pillar on the building plot, and I laid out our bedroom round that tree, lined up the stone walls, built the walls and roof, gave it a doorway and smooth-fitting doors. Then I lopped off the silvery leaves and branches, hewed and shaped that stump from the roots up into a bedpost, drilled it, let it serve as model for the rest. I planed them all, Inlaid them all with silver, gold and ivory, and stretched a bed between—a pliant web of oxhide thongs dyed crimson. There's our sign! I know no more. Could someone else's hand have sawn that trunk and dragged the frame away?"
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Their secret! as she heard it told, her knees grew tremulous and weak, her heart failed her. With eyes brimming tears she ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck, and kissed him. murmuring: "Do not rage at me, Odysseus! No one ever matched your caution! Think what difficulty the gods gave: they denied us life together in our prime and flowering years, kept us from crossing into age together. Forgive me, don't be angry. I could not welcome you with love on sight! I armed myself long ago against the frauds of men, impostors who might come—and all those many whose underhanded ways bring evil onl .. But here and now, what sign could be so clear
Media Connection Modern-Day Epics In film, the term epic applies to a movie of great scope and spectacle that features a heroic character who takes part In thrilling adventures. Lavish sets, enormous casts, and spectacular action—such as the parting of the Red Sea in the 1956 film The Ten Commandments—are hallmarks
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1/ Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo in the epic film Star Wars.
of epic films.The advent of the wide screen in the 1950's ushered in a number of epics whose panoramic action was ideal for the new giant screens.Among those epics were Ben Hur (1959), El Cid (1961), Cleopatra (1963), and Zulu (1964). More recent epic films include Roots (1977), a chronicle of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century black life from enslavement to Reconstruction after the Civil War; Star Wars (1977), a depiction of adventures in a distant galaxy; and Raiders of the Lost Ark (198 I ), a film featuring the hair-raising adventures of Indiana Jones.What epic movies have you seen? What qualifies them to be called epic films?
The Odyssey, Part 2, Penelope's Test ♦ 915
♦ Reading Strategy
as this of our own bed? No other man has ever laid eyes on it only my own slave, Actoris, that my father sent with me as a gift—she kept our door. You make my stiff heart know that I am yours."
Summarize Penelope's test and Odysseus' reaction to what she says.
Now from his breast into his eyes the ache of longing mounted, and he wept at last, his dear wife, clear and faithful, in his arms, longed for as the sunwarmed earth is longed for by a swimmer spent in rough water where his ship went down under Poseidon's blows, gale winds and tons of sea. Few men can keep alive through a big surf to crawl, clotted with brine, on kindly beaches in joy, in joy, knowing the abyssal behind• and so she too rejoiced, her gaze upon her husband, her white arms round him pressed as though forever.
21. abyss (e his) n.: Ocean depths.
The Ending 41/p •?/
Odysseus is reunited with his father. Athena commands that peace prevail between Odysseus and the relatives of the slain suitors. Odysseus has regained his family and his kingdom. €.741
Guide for Responding • LiteratureasaYourt Reader's Response Do you think Odysseus' revenge is justified? Why or why not? Thematic Focus How do you think the problem of the suitors should have been handled? Questions for Research Generate research questions to learn about epic heroes in the literature of other cultures. 916 ♦ The Epic
Check Your Comprehension I. What is the suitors' reaction when Odysseus, still in disguise, takes up the bow? 2. Describe the immediate reaction of the suitors to the killing of Antinous. 3. How does Odysseus get revenge on the suitors? 4. What is Penelope's test, and how does Odysseus pass it?
Guide for Responding •
♦ Critical Thinking
♦ Build Vocabulary
INTERPRET I. What does Odysseus mean in "The Challenge" when he says,"The hour has come to cook their lordships' mutton—/supper by daylight"? [Interpret] 2. What are Odysseus' reasons for slaying all the suitors? [Analyze] 3. Since Odysseus has abandoned his disguise, why does Penelope still need to test him? [Infer] 4. Describe the mood of the scene at the end of "Penelope's Test:' Is it altogether happy or does it include some sadness? Explain. [Support]
USING THE LATIN WORD ROOT
EVALUATE 5. Does Odysseus' success in the contest show that he is a skilled archer or merely that he has a god on his side? Support your answer. [Assess] APPLY 6. Compare justice at the hands of Odysseus with justice in a modern society. [Distinguish]
♦ Reading Strategy SUMMARIZE Summarizing what you have read is a good way to check your understanding. It is also a useful skill when you need to demonstrate your knowledge on a test or when you want to share what you have learned with a friend. I. List the main events in Part 2 in order. 2. For each event you listed, tell what caused it and what was the result of it. 3. Retell Part 2 of the Odyssey in a summary that explains why events occurred as they did.
♦ Literary Focus
Drs tors? sseus
(continued)
EPIC SIMILE An epic simile is a long, elaborate comparison between two dissimilar actions or objects. Many epic similes compare familiar objects and events with imaginative occurrences. Identify three epic similes from Part 2 of the Odyssey and tell what two dissimilar objects or actions each one compares.
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equi-
Keeping in mind that the Latin word root -equimeans "equal:' complete each sentence with one of these words. a. equinox
b. equivalent
I . Two nickels are ? to a dime. 2. At the the day and the night are of the same duration. USING THE WORD BANK: Synonyms Write the letter of the word or phrase that is the best synonym of the first word. I. dissemble: (a) lie, (b) take apart, (c) disguise 2. lithe: (a) limber, (b) thin, (c) agile 3. incredulity: (a) disbelief, (b) naivete, (c) anger 4. bemusing: (a) muddling, (b) entertaining, (c) allowing 5. glowering: (a) shining, (b) scowling, (c) laughing 6. equity: (a) fairness, (b) horses, (c) calmness 7. maudlin: (a) boring, (b) tired, (c) sentimental 8. contempt: (a) scorn, (b) pity, (c) pavillion
+ Build Grammar Skills PARTICIPIAL PHRASES A participial phrase is a phrase that contains a participle and serves as an adjective to modify a noun or pronoun. Practice Copy each excerpt below from Part 2 of the Odyssey in your notebook. Underline the participial phrase, identify the participle as past or present, and draw an arrow from the participial phrase to the noun or pronoun it modifies. I. Crossing the yard, he passed out through the gate in the stockade to face the goddess. 2. Held back too long, the tears ran down his cheeks as he embraced his son. 3. Athena, counseling me, will give me word, and I shall signal to you, nodding ... 4. Then anger made Antinous' heart beat hard, and, glowering under his brows, he answered ...
The Odyssey. Part 2 ♦ 917
