{"id":114,"date":"2021-05-26T09:19:24","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T13:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/odyssey\/chapter\/book-viii\/"},"modified":"2022-02-01T10:51:50","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T15:51:50","slug":"8","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/chapter\/8\/","title":{"raw":"Book VIII","rendered":"Book VIII"},"content":{"raw":"

Argument<\/b><\/h2>\r\nThe Ph\u00e6acians consult on the subject of Ulysses. Preparation is made for his departure. Antino\u00fcs entertains them at his table. Games follow the entertainment. Demodocus the bard sings, first the loves of Mars and Venus, then the introduction of the wooden horse into Troy. Ulysses, much affected by his song, is questioned by Alcino\u00fcs, whence, and who he is, and what is the cause of his sorrow.\r\n\r\nBut when Aurora, daughter of the dawn,\r\nBlush\u2019d in the East, then from his bed arose\r\nThe sacred might of the Ph\u00e6acian King.\r\nThen uprose also, city-waster Chief,\r\nUlysses, whom the King Alcino\u00fcs\r\nLed forth to council at the ships convened.\r\nThere, side by side, on polish\u2019d stones they sat\r\nFrequent; meantime, Minerva in the form\r\nOf King Alcino\u00fcs\u2019 herald ranged the town,\r\nWith purpose to accelerate the return\r\nOf brave Ulysses to his native home,\r\nAnd thus to ev\u2019ry Chief the Goddess spake.\r\nPh\u00e6acian Chiefs and Senators, away!\r\nHaste all to council on the stranger held,\r\nWho hath of late beneath Alcino\u00fcs\u2019 roof\r\nOur King arrived, a wand\u2019rer o\u2019er the Deep,\r\nBut, in his form, majestic as a God.\r\nSo saying, she roused the people, and at once\r\nThe seats of all the senate-court were fill\u2019d\r\nWith fast-assembling throngs, no few of whom\r\nHad mark\u2019d Ulysses with admiring eyes.\r\nThen, Pallas o\u2019er his head and shoulders broad\r\nDiffusing grace celestial, his whole form\r\nDilated, and to the statelier height advanced,\r\nThat worthier of all rev\u2019rence he might seem\r\nTo the Ph\u00e6acians, and might many a feat\r\nAtchieve, with which they should assay his force.\r\nWhen, therefore, the assembly now was full,\r\nAlcino\u00fcs, them addressing, thus began.\r\nPh\u00e6acian Chiefs and Senators! I speak\r\nThe dictates of my mind, therefore attend.\r\nThis guest, unknown to me, hath, wand\u2019ring, found\r\nMy palace, either from the East arrived,\r\nOr from some nation on our western side.\r\nSafe conduct home he asks, and our consent\r\nHere wishes ratified, whose quick return\r\nBe it our part, as usual, to promote;\r\nFor at no time the stranger, from what coast\r\nSoe\u2019er, who hath resorted to our doors,\r\nHath long complain\u2019d of his detention here.\r\nHaste\u2014draw ye down into the sacred Deep\r\nA vessel of prime speed, and, from among\r\nThe people, fifty and two youths select,\r\nApproved the best; then, lashing fast the oars,\r\nLeave her, that at my palace ye may make\r\nShort feast, for which myself will all provide.\r\nThus I enjoin the crew; but as for those\r\nOf sceptred rank, I bid them all alike\r\nTo my own board, that here we may regale\r\nThe stranger nobly, and let none refuse.\r\nCall, too, Demodocus, the bard divine,\r\nTo share my banquet, whom the Gods have blest\r\nWith pow\u2019rs of song delectable, unmatch\u2019d\r\nBy any, when his genius once is fired.\r\nHe ceas\u2019d, and led the way, whom follow\u2019d all\r\nThe sceptred senators, while to the house\r\nAn herald hasted of the bard divine.\r\nThen, fifty mariners and two, from all\r\nThe rest selected, to the coast repair\u2019d,\r\nAnd, from her station on the sea-bank, launched\r\nThe galley down into the sacred Deep.\r\nThey placed the canvas and the mast on board,\r\nArranged the oars, unfurl\u2019d the shining sail,\r\nAnd, leaving her in depth of water moor\u2019d,\r\nAll sought the palace of Alcino\u00fcs.\r\nThere, soon, the portico, the court, the hall\r\nWere fill\u2019d with multitudes of young and old,\r\nFor whose regale the mighty monarch slew\r\nTwo beeves, twelve sheep, and twice four fatted brawns.\r\nThey slay\u2019d them first, then busily their task\r\nAdminist\u2019ring, prepared the joyous feast.\r\nAnd now the herald came, leading with care\r\nThe tuneful bard; dear to the muse was he,\r\nWho yet appointed him both good and ill;\r\nTook from him sight, but gave him strains divine.\r\nFor him, Pontono\u00fcs in the midst disposed\r\nAn argent-studded throne, thrusting it close\r\nTo a tall column, where he hung his lyre\r\nAbove his head, and taught him where it hung.\r\nHe set before him, next, a polish\u2019d board\r\nAnd basket, and a goblet fill\u2019d with wine\r\nFor his own use, and at his own command.\r\nThen, all assail\u2019d at once the ready feast,\r\nAnd when nor hunger more nor thirst they felt,\r\nThen came the muse, and roused the bard to sing\r\nExploits of men renown\u2019d; it was a song,\r\nIn that day, to the highest heav\u2019n extoll\u2019d.\r\nHe sang of a dispute kindled between\r\nThe son of Peleus, and Laertes\u2019[footnote]Agamemnon having inquired at Delphos, at what time the Trojan war would end, was answered that the conclusion of it should happen at a time when a dispute should arise between two of his principal commanders. That dispute occurred at the time here alluded to, Achilles recommending force as most likely to reduce the city, and Ulysses stratagem.[\/footnote] son,\r\nBoth seated at a feast held to the Gods.\r\nThat contest Agamemnon, King of men,\r\nBetween the noblest of Achaia\u2019s host\r\nHearing, rejoiced; for when in Pytho erst\r\nHe pass\u2019d the marble threshold to consult\r\nThe oracle of Apollo, such dispute\r\nThe voice divine had to his ear announced;\r\nFor then it was that, first, the storm of war\r\nCame rolling on, ordain\u2019d long time to afflict\r\nTroy and the Greecians, by the will of Jove.\r\nSo sang the bard illustrious; then his robe\r\nOf purple dye with both hands o\u2019er his head\r\nUlysses drew, behind its ample folds\r\nVeiling his face, through fear to be observed\r\nBy the Ph\u00e6acians weeping at the song;\r\nAnd ever as the bard harmonious ceased,\r\nHe wiped his tears, and, drawing from his brows\r\nThe mantle, pour\u2019d libation to the Gods.\r\nBut when the Chiefs (for they delighted heard\r\nThose sounds) solicited again the bard,\r\nAnd he renew\u2019d the strain, then cov\u2019ring close\r\nHis count\u2019nance, as before, Ulysses wept.\r\nThus, unperceiv\u2019d by all, the Hero mourn\u2019d,\r\nSave by Alcino\u00fcs; he alone his tears,\r\n(Beside him seated) mark\u2019d, and his deep sighs\r\nO\u2019erhearing, the Ph\u00e6acians thus bespake.\r\nPh\u00e6acia\u2019s Chiefs and Senators, attend!\r\nWe have regaled sufficient, and the harp\r\nHeard to satiety, companion sweet\r\nAnd seasonable of the festive hour.\r\nNow go we forth for honourable proof\r\nOf our address in games of ev\u2019ry kind,\r\nThat this our guest may to his friends report,\r\nAt home arriv\u2019d, that none like us have learn\u2019d\r\nTo leap, to box, to wrestle, and to run.\r\nSo saying, he led them forth, whose steps the guests\r\nAll follow\u2019d, and the herald hanging high\r\nThe sprightly lyre, took by his hand the bard\r\nDemodocus, whom he the self-same way\r\nConducted forth, by which the Chiefs had gone\r\nThemselves, for that great spectacle prepared.\r\nThey sought the forum; countless swarm\u2019d the throng\r\nBehind them as they went, and many a youth\r\nStrong and courageous to the strife arose.\r\nUpstood Acroneus and Ocyalus,\r\nElatreus, Nauteus, Prymneus, after whom\r\nAnchialus with Anabeesineus\r\nArose, Eretmeus, Ponteus, Proreus bold,\r\nAmphialus and Th\u00f6on. Then arose,\r\nIn aspect dread as homicidal Mars,\r\nEuryalus, and for his graceful form\r\n(After Laodamas) distinguish\u2019d most\r\nOf all Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons, Naubolides.\r\nThree also from Alcino\u00fcs sprung, arose,\r\nLaodamas, his eldest; Halius, next,\r\nHis second-born; and godlike Clytoneus.\r\nOf these, some started for the runner\u2019s prize.\r\nThey gave the race its limits.[footnote]\u03a4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c3\u03b9 \u03b4\u2019 \u03b1\u03c0\u03bf \u03bd\u03c5\u03c3\u03bf\u03b7\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf \u03b4\u03c1\u03bf\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2\u2014This expression is by the commentators generally understood to be significant of the effort which they made at starting, but it is not improbable that it relates merely to the measurement of the course, otherwise, \u03ba\u03b1\u03c1\u03c0\u03b1\u03bb\u03b9\u03bc\u03c9\u03c2 \u03b5\u03c0\u03b5\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf will be tautologous.[\/footnote] All at once\r\nAlong the dusty champaign swift they flew.\r\nBut Clytoneus, illustrious youth, outstripp\u2019d\r\nAll competition; far as mules surpass\r\nSlow oxen furrowing the fallow ground,\r\nSo far before all others he arrived\r\nVictorious, where the throng\u2019d spectators stood.\r\nSome tried the wrestler\u2019s toil severe, in which\r\nEuryalus superior proved to all.\r\nIn the long leap Amphialus prevail\u2019d;\r\nElatreus most successful hurled the quoit,\r\nAnd at the cestus,[footnote]In boxing.[\/footnote]<\/sup> last, the noble son\r\nOf Scheria\u2019s King, Laodamas excell\u2019d.\r\nWhen thus with contemplation of the games\r\nAll had been gratified, Alcino\u00fcs\u2019 son\r\nLaodamas, arising, then address\u2019d.\r\nFriends! ask we now the stranger, if he boast\r\nProficiency in aught. His figure seems\r\nNot ill; in thighs, and legs, and arms he shews\r\nMuch strength, and in his brawny neck; nor youth\r\nHath left him yet, though batter\u2019d he appears\r\nWith num\u2019rous troubles, and misfortune-flaw\u2019d.\r\nNor know I hardships in the world so sure\r\nTo break the strongest down, as those by sea.\r\nThen answer thus Euryalus return\u2019d.\r\nThou hast well said, Laodamas; thyself\r\nApproaching, speak to him, and call him forth.\r\nWhich when Alcino\u00fcs\u2019 noble offspring heard,\r\nAdvancing from his seat, amid them all\r\nHe stood, and to Ulysses thus began.\r\nStand forth, oh guest, thou also; prove thy skill\r\n(If any such thou hast) in games like ours,\r\nWhich, likeliest, thou hast learn\u2019d; for greater praise\r\nHath no man, while he lives, than that he know\r\nHis feet to exercise and hands aright.\r\nCome then; make trial; scatter wide thy cares,\r\nWe will not hold thee long; the ship is launch\u2019d\r\nAlready, and the crew stand all prepared.\r\nTo whom replied the wily Chief renown\u2019d\r\nWherefore, as in derision, have ye call\u2019d\r\nMe forth, Laodamas, to these exploits?\r\nNo games have I, but many a grief, at heart,\r\nAnd with far other struggles worn, here sit\r\nDesirous only of conveyance home,\r\nFor which both King and people I implore.\r\nThen him Euryalus aloud reproach\u2019d.\r\nI well believ\u2019d it, friend! in thee the guise\r\nI see not of a man expert in feats\r\nAthletic, of which various are perform\u2019d\r\nIn ev\u2019ry land; thou rather seem\u2019st with ships\r\nFamiliar; one, accustom\u2019d to controul\r\nSome crew of trading mariners; well-learn\u2019d\r\nIn stowage, pilotage, and wealth acquired\r\nBy rapine, but of no gymnastic pow\u2019rs.\r\nTo whom Ulysses, frowning dark, replied.\r\nThou hast ill spoken, sir, and like a man\r\nRegardless whom he wrongs. Therefore the Gods\r\nGive not endowments graceful in each kind,\r\nOf body, mind, and utt\u2019rance, all to one.\r\nThis man in figure less excels, yet Jove\r\nCrowns him with eloquence; his hearers charm\u2019d\r\nBehold him, while with modest confidence\r\nHe bears the prize of fluent speech from all,\r\nAnd in the streets is gazed on as a God!\r\nAnother, in his form the Pow\u2019rs above\r\nResembles, but no grace around his words\r\nTwines itself elegant. So, thou in form\r\nHast excellence to boast; a God, employ\u2019d\r\nTo make a master-piece in human shape,\r\nCould but produce proportions such as thine;\r\nYet hast thou an untutor\u2019d intellect.\r\nThou much hast moved me; thy unhandsome phrase\r\nHath roused my wrath; I am not, as thou say\u2019st,\r\nA novice in these sports, but took the lead\r\nIn all, while youth and strength were on my side.\r\nBut I am now in bands of sorrow held,\r\nAnd of misfortune, having much endured\r\nIn war, and buffeting the boist\u2019rous waves.\r\nYet, though with mis\u2019ry worn, I will essay\r\nMy strength among you; for thy words had teeth\r\nWhose bite hath pinch\u2019d and pain\u2019d me to the proof.\r\nHe said; and mantled as he was, a quoit\r\nUpstarting, seized, in bulk and weight all those\r\nTranscending far, by the Ph\u00e6acians used.\r\nSwiftly he swung, and from his vig\u2019rous hand\r\nSent it. Loud sang the stone, and as it flew\r\nThe maritime Ph\u00e6acians low inclined\r\nTheir heads beneath it; over all the marks,\r\nAnd far beyond them, sped the flying rock.\r\nMinerva, in a human form, the cast\r\nProdigious measur\u2019d, and aloud exclaim\u2019d.\r\nStranger! the blind himself might with his hands\r\nFeel out the \u2019vantage here. Thy quoit disdains\r\nFellowship with a crowd, borne far beyond.\r\nFear not a losing game; Ph\u00e6acian none\r\nWill reach thy measure, much less overcast.\r\nShe ceased; Ulysses, hardy Chief, rejoiced\r\nThat in the circus he had found a judge\r\nSo favorable, and with brisker tone,\r\nAs less in wrath, the multitude address\u2019d.\r\nYoung men, reach this, and I will quickly heave\r\nAnother such, or yet a heavier quoit.\r\nThen, come the man whose courage prompts him forth\r\nTo box, to wrestle with me, or to run;\r\nFor ye have chafed me much, and I decline\r\nNo strife with any here, but challenge all\r\nPh\u00e6acia, save Laodamas alone.\r\nHe is mine host. Who combats with his friend?\r\nTo call to proof of hardiment the man\r\nWho entertains him in a foreign land,\r\nWould but evince the challenger a fool,\r\nWho, so, would cripple his own interest there.\r\nAs for the rest, I none refuse, scorn none,\r\nBut wish for trial of you, and to match\r\nIn opposition fair my force with yours.\r\nThere is no game athletic in the use\r\nOf all mankind, too difficult for me;\r\nI handle well the polish\u2019d bow, and first\r\nAmid a thousand foes strike whom I mark,\r\nAlthough a throng of warriors at my side\r\nImbattled, speed their shafts at the same time.\r\nOf all Achaia\u2019s sons who erst at Troy\r\nDrew bow, the sole who bore the prize from me\r\nWas Philoctetes; I resign it else\r\nTo none now nourish\u2019d with the fruits of earth.\r\nYet mean I no comparison of myself\r\nWith men of antient times, with Hercules,\r\nOr with Oechalian Eurytus, who, both,\r\nThe Gods themselves in archery defied.\r\nSoon, therefore, died huge Eurytus, ere yet\r\nOld age he reach\u2019d; him, angry to be call\u2019d\r\nTo proof of archership, Apollo slew.\r\nBut if ye name the spear, mine flies a length\r\nBy no man\u2019s arrow reach\u2019d; I fear no foil\r\nFrom the Ph\u00e6acians, save in speed alone;\r\nFor I have suffer\u2019d hardships, dash\u2019d and drench\u2019d\r\nBy many a wave, nor had I food on board\r\nAt all times, therefore I am much unstrung.\r\nHe spake; and silent the Ph\u00e6acians sat,\r\nOf whom alone Alcino\u00fcs thus replied.\r\nSince, stranger, not ungraceful is thy speech,\r\nWho hast but vindicated in our ears\r\nThy question\u2019d prowess, angry that this youth\r\nReproach\u2019d thee in the presence of us all,\r\nThat no man qualified to give his voice\r\nIn public, might affront thy courage more;\r\nNow mark me, therefore, that in time to come,\r\nWhile feasting with thy children and thy spouse,\r\nThou may\u2019st inform the Heroes of thy land\r\nEven of our proficiency in arts\r\nBy Jove enjoin\u2019d us in our father\u2019s days.\r\nWe boast not much the boxer\u2019s skill, nor yet\r\nThe wrestler\u2019s; but light-footed in the race\r\nAre we, and navigators well-inform\u2019d.\r\nOur pleasures are the feast, the harp, the dance,\r\nGarments for change; the tepid bath; the bed.\r\nCome, ye Ph\u00e6acians, beyond others skill\u2019d\r\nTo tread the circus with harmonious steps,\r\nCome, play before us; that our guest, arrived\r\nIn his own country, may inform his friends\r\nHow far in seamanship we all excel,\r\nIn running, in the dance, and in the song.\r\nHaste! bring ye to Demodocus his lyre\r\nClear-toned, left somewhere in our hall at home.\r\nSo spake the godlike King, at whose command\r\nThe herald to the palace quick return\u2019d\r\nTo seek the charming lyre. Meantime arose\r\nNine arbiters, appointed to intend\r\nThe whole arrangement of the public games,\r\nTo smooth the circus floor, and give the ring\r\nIts compass, widening the attentive throng.\r\nEre long the herald came, bearing the harp,\r\nWith which Demodocus supplied, advanced\r\nInto the middle area, around whom\r\nStood blooming youths, all skilful in the dance.\r\nWith footsteps justly timed all smote at once\r\nThe sacred floor; Ulysses wonder-fixt,\r\nThe ceaseless play of twinkling[footnote]\r\n\r\nThe Translator is indebted to Mr Grey for an epithet more expressive of the original (\u039c\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c5\u03b3\u03b1\u03c2<\/span>) than any other, perhaps, in all our language. See the Ode on the Progress of Poetry.\r\n
\r\n\r\n\u201cTo brisk notes in cadence beating,\r\nGlance their many-twinkling<\/i> feet\u201d\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n[\/footnote] feet admired.\r\nThen, tuning his sweet chords, Demodocus\r\nA jocund strain began, his theme, the loves\r\nOf Mars and Cytherea chaplet-crown\u2019d;\r\nHow first, clandestine, they embraced beneath\r\nThe roof of Vulcan, her, by many a gift\r\nSeduced, Mars won, and with adult\u2019rous lust\r\nThe bed dishonour\u2019d of the King of fire.\r\nThe sun, a witness of their amorous sport,\r\nBore swift the tale to Vulcan; he, apprized\r\nOf that foul deed, at once his smithy sought,\r\nIn secret darkness of his inmost soul\r\nContriving vengeance; to the stock he heav\u2019d\r\nHis anvil huge, on which he forged a snare\r\nOf bands indissoluble, by no art\r\nTo be untied, durance for ever firm.\r\nThe net prepared, he bore it, fiery-wroth,\r\nTo his own chamber and his nuptial couch,\r\nWhere, stretching them from post to post, he wrapp\u2019d\r\nWith those fine meshes all his bed around,\r\nAnd hung them num\u2019rous from the roof, diffused\r\nLike spiders\u2019 filaments, which not the Gods\r\nThemselves could see, so subtle were the toils.\r\nWhen thus he had encircled all his bed\r\nOn ev\u2019ry side, he feign\u2019d a journey thence\r\nTo Lemnos, of all cities that adorn\r\nThe earth, the city that he favours most.\r\nNor kept the God of the resplendent reins\r\nMars, drowsy watch, but seeing that the famed\r\nArtificer of heav\u2019n had left his home,\r\nFlew to the house of Vulcan, hot to enjoy\r\nThe Goddess with the wreath-encircled brows.\r\nShe, newly from her potent Sire return\u2019d\r\nThe son of Saturn, sat. Mars, ent\u2019ring, seiz\u2019d\r\nHer hand, hung on it, and thus urg\u2019d his suit.\r\nTo bed, my fair, and let us love! for lo!\r\nThine husband is from home, to Lemnos gone,\r\nAnd to the Sintians, men of barb\u2019rous speech.\r\nHe spake, nor she was loth, but bedward too\r\nLike him inclined; so then, to bed they went,\r\nAnd as they lay\u2019d them down, down stream\u2019d the net\r\nAround them, labour exquisite of hands\r\nBy ingenuity divine inform\u2019d.\r\nSmall room they found, so prison\u2019d; not a limb\r\nCould either lift, or move, but felt at once\r\nEntanglement from which was no escape.\r\nAnd now the glorious artist, ere he yet\r\nHad reach\u2019d the Lemnian isle, limping, return\u2019d\r\nFrom his feign\u2019d journey, for his spy the sun\r\nHad told him all. With aching heart he sought\r\nHis home, and, standing in the vestibule,\r\nFrantic with indignation roar\u2019d to heav\u2019n,\r\nAnd roar\u2019d again, summoning all the Gods.\u2014\r\nOh Jove! and all ye Pow\u2019rs for ever blest!\r\nHere; hither look, that ye may view a sight\r\nLudicrous, yet too monstrous to be borne,\r\nHow Venus always with dishonour loads\r\nHer cripple spouse, doating on fiery Mars!\r\nAnd wherefore? for that he is fair in form\r\nAnd sound of foot, I ricket-boned and weak.\r\nWhose fault is this? Their fault, and theirs alone\r\nWho gave me being; ill-employ\u2019d were they\r\nBegetting me, one, better far unborn.\r\nSee where they couch together on my bed\r\nLascivious! ah, sight hateful to my eyes!\r\nYet cooler wishes will they feel, I ween,\r\nTo press my bed hereafter; here to sleep\r\nWill little please them, fondly as they love.\r\nBut these my toils and tangles will suffice\r\nTo hold them here, till Jove shall yield me back\r\nComplete, the sum of all my nuptial gifts\r\nPaid to him for the shameless strumpet\u2019s sake\r\nHis daughter, as incontinent as fair.\r\nHe said, and in the brazen-floor\u2019d abode\r\nOf Jove the Gods assembled. Neptune came\r\nEarth-circling Pow\u2019r; came Hermes friend of man,\r\nAnd, regent of the far-commanding bow,\r\nApollo also came; but chaste reserve\r\nBashful kept all the Goddesses at home.\r\nThe Gods, by whose beneficence all live,\r\nStood in the portal; infinite arose\r\nThe laugh of heav\u2019n, all looking down intent\r\nOn that shrewd project of the smith divine,\r\nAnd, turning to each other, thus they said.\r\nBad works speed ill. The slow o\u2019ertakes the swift.\r\nSo Vulcan, tardy as he is, by craft\r\nHath outstript Mars, although the fleetest far\r\nOf all who dwell in heav\u2019n, and the light-heel\u2019d\r\nMust pay the adult\u2019rer\u2019s forfeit to the lame.\r\nSo spake the Pow\u2019rs immortal; then the King\r\nOf radiant shafts thus question\u2019d Mercury.\r\nJove\u2019s son, heaven\u2019s herald, Hermes, bounteous God!\r\nWould\u2019st thou<\/i> such stricture close of bands endure\r\nFor golden Venus lying at thy side?\r\nWhom answer\u2019d thus the messenger of heav\u2019n\r\nArcher divine! yea, and with all my heart;\r\nAnd be the bands which wind us round about\r\nThrice these innumerable, and let all\r\nThe Gods and Goddesses in heav\u2019n look on,\r\nSo I may clasp Vulcan\u2019s fair spouse the while.\r\nHe spake; then laugh\u2019d the Immortal Pow\u2019rs again.\r\nBut not so Neptune; he with earnest suit\r\nThe glorious artist urged to the release\r\nOf Mars, and thus in accents wing\u2019d he said.\r\nLoose him; accept my promise; he shall pay\r\nFull recompense in presence of us all.\r\nThen thus the limping smith far-famed replied.\r\nEarth-circler Neptune, spare me that request.\r\nLame suitor, lame security.[footnote]The original line has received such a variety of interpretations, that a Translator seems free to choose. It has, however, a proverbial turn, which I have endeavoured to preserve, and have adopted the sense of the words which appears best to accord with what immediately follows. Vulcan pleads his own inability to enforce the demand, as a circumstance that made Neptune\u2019s promise unacceptable.[\/footnote] <\/sup>What bands\r\nCould I devise for thee among the Gods,\r\nShould Mars, emancipated once, escape,\r\nLeaving both debt and durance, far behind?\r\nHim answer\u2019d then the Shaker of the shores.\r\nI tell thee, Vulcan, that if Mars by flight\r\nShun payment, I will pay, myself, the fine.\r\nTo whom the glorious artist of the skies.\r\nThou must not, canst not, shalt not be refused.\r\nSo saying, the might of Vulcan loos\u2019d the snare,\r\nAnd they, detain\u2019d by those coercive bands\r\nNo longer, from the couch upstarting, flew,\r\nMars into Thrace, and to her Paphian home\r\nThe Queen of smiles, where deep in myrtle groves\r\nHer incense-breathing altar stands embow\u2019r\u2019d.\r\nHer there, the Graces laved, and oils diffused\r\nO\u2019er all her form, ambrosial, such as add\r\nFresh beauty to the Gods for ever young,\r\nAnd cloath\u2019d her in the loveliest robes of heav\u2019n.\r\nSuch was the theme of the illustrious bard.\r\nUlysses with delight that song, and all\r\nThe maritime Ph\u00e6acian concourse heard.\r\nAlcino\u00fcs, then, (for in the dance they pass\u2019d\r\nAll others) call\u2019d his sons to dance alone,\r\nHalius and Laodamas; they gave\r\nThe purple ball into their hands, the work\r\nExact of Polybus; one, re-supine,\r\nUpcast it high toward the dusky clouds,\r\nThe other, springing into air, with ease\r\nReceived it, ere he sank to earth again.\r\nWhen thus they oft had sported with the ball\r\nThrown upward, next, with nimble interchange\r\nThey pass\u2019d it to each other many a time,\r\nFooting the plain, while ev\u2019ry youth of all\r\nThe circus clapp\u2019d his hands, and from beneath\r\nThe din of stamping feet fill\u2019d all the air.\r\nThen, turning to Alcino\u00fcs, thus the wise\r\nUlysses spake: Alcino\u00fcs! mighty King!\r\nIllustrious above all Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons!\r\nIncomparable are ye in the dance,\r\nEv\u2019n as thou said\u2019st. Amazement-fixt I stand!\r\nSo he, whom hearing, the imperial might\r\nExulted of Alcino\u00fcs, and aloud\r\nTo his oar-skill\u2019d Ph\u00e6acians thus he spake.\r\nPh\u00e6acian Chiefs and Senators, attend!\r\nWisdom beyond the common stint I mark\r\nIn this our guest; good cause in my account,\r\nFor which we should present him with a pledge\r\nOf hospitality and love. The Chiefs\r\nAre twelve, who, highest in command, controul\r\nThe people, and the thirteenth Chief am I.\r\nBring each a golden talent, with a vest\r\nWell-bleach\u2019d, and tunic; gratified with these,\r\nThe stranger to our banquet shall repair\r\nExulting; bring them all without delay;\r\nAnd let Euryalus by word and gift\r\nAppease him, for his speech was unadvised.\r\nHe ceas\u2019d, whom all applauded, and at once\r\nEach sent his herald forth to bring the gifts,\r\nWhen thus Euryalus his Sire address\u2019d.\r\nAlcino\u00fcs! o\u2019er Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons supreme!\r\nI will appease our guest, as thou command\u2019st.\r\nThis sword shall be his own, the blade all steel.\r\nThe hilt of silver, and the unsullied sheath\r\nOf iv\u2019ry recent from the carver\u2019s hand,\r\nA gift like this he shall not need despise.\r\nSo saying, his silver-studded sword he gave\r\nInto his grasp, and, courteous, thus began.\r\nHail, honour\u2019d stranger! and if word of mine\r\nHave harm\u2019d thee, rashly spoken, let the winds\r\nBear all remembrance of it swift away!\r\nMay the Gods give thee to behold again\r\nThy wife, and to attain thy native shore,\r\nWhence absent long, thou hast so much endured!\r\nTo whom Ulysses, ever-wise, replied.\r\nHail also thou, and may the Gods, my friend,\r\nGrant thee felicity, and may never want\r\nOf this thy sword touch thee in time to come,\r\nBy whose kind phrase appeas\u2019d my wrath subsides!\r\nHe ended, and athwart his shoulders threw\r\nThe weapon bright emboss\u2019d. Now sank the sun,\r\nAnd those rich gifts arrived, which to the house\r\nOf King Alcino\u00fcs the heralds bore.\r\nAlcino\u00fcs\u2019 sons receiv\u2019d them, and beside\r\nTheir royal mother placed the precious charge.\r\nThe King then led the way, at whose abode\r\nArrived, again they press\u2019d their lofty thrones,\r\nAnd to Areta thus the monarch spake.\r\nHaste, bring a coffer; bring thy best, and store\r\nA mantle and a sumptuous vest within;\r\nWarm for him, next, a brazen bath, by which\r\nRefresh\u2019d, and viewing in fair order placed\r\nThe noble gifts by the Ph\u00e6acian Lords\r\nConferr\u2019d on him, he may the more enjoy\r\nOur banquet, and the bard\u2019s harmonious song.\r\nI give him also this my golden cup\r\nSplendid, elaborate; that, while he lives\r\nWhat time he pours libation forth to Jove\r\nAnd all the Gods, he may remember me.\r\nHe ended, at whose words Areta bade\r\nHer maidens with dispatch place o\u2019er the fire\r\nA tripod ample-womb\u2019d; obedient they\r\nAdvanced a laver to the glowing hearth,\r\nWater infused, and kindled wood beneath\r\nThe flames encircling bright the bellied vase,\r\nWarm\u2019d soon the flood within. Meantime, the Queen\r\nProducing from her chamber-stores a chest\r\nAll-elegant, within it placed the gold,\r\nAnd raiment, gifts of the Ph\u00e6acian Chiefs,\r\nWith her own gifts, the mantle and the vest,\r\nAnd in wing\u2019d accents to Ulysses said.\r\nNow take, thyself, the coffer\u2019s lid in charge;\r\nGirdle it quickly with a cord, lest loss\r\nBefall thee on thy way, while thou perchance\r\nShalt sleep secure on board the sable bark.\r\nWhich when Ulysses heard, Hero renown\u2019d,\r\nAdjusting close the lid, he cast a cord\r\nAround it which with many a mazy knot\r\nHe tied, by Circe taught him long before.\r\nAnd now, the mistress of the household charge\r\nSummon\u2019d him to his bath; glad he beheld\r\nThe steaming vase, uncustom\u2019d to its use\r\nE\u2019er since his voyage from the isle of fair\r\nCalypso, although, while a guest with her,\r\nEver familiar with it, as a God.\r\nLaved by attendant damsels, and with oil\r\nRefresh\u2019d, he put his sumptuous tunic on\r\nAnd mantle, and proceeding from the bath\r\nTo the symposium, join\u2019d the num\u2019rous guests;\r\nBut, as he pass\u2019d, the Princess all divine\r\nBeside the pillars of the portal, lost\r\nIn admiration of his graceful form,\r\nStood, and in accents wing\u2019d him thus address\u2019d.\r\nHail, stranger! at thy native home arrived\r\nRemember me, thy first deliv\u2019rer here.\r\nTo whom Ulysses, ever-wise, replied.\r\nNausicaa! daughter of the noble King\r\nAlcino\u00fcs! So may Jove, high-thund\u2019ring mate\r\nOf Juno, grant me to behold again\r\nMy native land, and my delightful home,\r\nAs, even there, I will present my vows\r\nTo thee, adoring thee as I adore\r\nThe Gods themselves, virgin, by whom I live!\r\nHe said, and on his throne beside the King\r\nAlcino\u00fcs sat. And now they portion\u2019d out\r\nThe feast to all, and charg\u2019d the cups with wine,\r\nAnd introducing by his hand the bard\r\nPh\u00e6acia\u2019s glory, at the column\u2019s side\r\nThe herald placed Demodocus again.\r\nThen, carving forth a portion from the loins\r\nOf a huge brawn, of which uneaten still\r\nLarge part and delicate remain\u2019d, thus spake\r\nUlysses\u2014Herald! bear it to the bard\r\nFor his regale, whom I will soon embrace\r\nIn spite of sorrow; for respect is due\r\nAnd veneration to the sacred bard\r\nFrom all mankind, for that the muse inspires\r\nHerself his song, and loves the tuneful tribe.\r\nHe ended, and the herald bore his charge\r\nTo the old hero who with joy received\r\nThat meed of honour at the bearer\u2019s hand.\r\nThen, all, at once, assail\u2019d the ready feast,\r\nAnd hunger now, and thirst both satisfied,\r\nThus to Demodocus Ulysses spake.\r\nDemodocus! I give thee praise above\r\nAll mortals, for that either thee the muse\r\nJove\u2019s daughter teaches, or the King, himself,\r\nApollo; since thou so record\u2019st the fate,\r\nWith such clear method, of Achaia\u2019s host,\r\nTheir deeds heroic, and their num\u2019rous toils,\r\nAs thou hadst present been thyself, or learnt\r\nFrom others present there, the glorious tale.\r\nCome, then, proceed; that rare invention sing,\r\nThe horse of wood, which by Minerva\u2019s aid\r\nEpeus framed, and which Ulysses erst\r\nConvey\u2019d into the citadel of Troy\r\nWith warriors fill\u2019d, who lay\u2019d all Ilium waste.\r\nThese things rehearse regular, and myself\r\nWill, instant, publish in the ears of all\r\nThy fame, reporting thee a bard to whom\r\nApollo free imparts celestial song.\r\nHe ended; then Apollo with full force\r\nRush\u2019d on Demodocus, and he began\r\nWhat time the Greeks, first firing their own camp\r\nSteer\u2019d all their galleys from the shore of Troy.\r\nAlready, in the horse conceal\u2019d, his band\r\nAround Ulysses sat; for Ilium\u2019s sons\r\nThemselves had drawn it to the citadel.\r\nAnd there the mischief stood. Then, strife arose\r\nAmong the Trojans compassing the horse,\r\nAnd threefold was the doubt; whether to cleave\r\nThe hollow trunk asunder, or updrawn\r\nAloft, to cast it headlong from the rocks,\r\nOr to permit the enormous image, kept\r\nEntire, to stand an off\u2019ring to the Gods,\r\nWhich was their destined course; for Fate had fix\u2019d\r\nTheir ruin sure, when once they had received\r\nWithin their walls that engine huge, in which\r\nSat all the bravest Greecians with the fate\r\nOf Ilium charged, and slaughter of her sons.\r\nHe sang, how, from the horse effused, the Greeks\r\nLeft their capacious ambush, and the town\r\nMade desolate. To others, in his song,\r\nHe gave the praise of wasting all beside,\r\nBut told how, fierce as Mars, Ulysses join\u2019d\r\nWith godlike Menelaus, to the house\r\nFlew of Deiphobus; him there engaged\r\nIn direst fight he sang, and through the aid\r\nOf glorious Pallas, conqu\u2019ror over all.\r\nSo sang the bard illustrious, at whose song\r\nUlysses melted, and tear after tear\r\nFell on his cheeks. As when a woman weeps,\r\nHer husband, who hath fallen in defence\r\nOf his own city and his babes before\r\nThe gates; she, sinking, folds him in her arms\r\nAnd, gazing on him as he pants and dies,\r\nShrieks at the sight; meantime, the enemy\r\nSmiting her shoulders with the spear to toil\r\nCommand her and to bondage far away,\r\nAnd her cheek fades with horror at the sound;\r\nUlysses, so, from his moist lids let fall,\r\nThe frequent tear. Unnoticed by the rest\r\nThose drops, but not by King Alcino\u00fcs, fell\r\nWho, seated at his side, his heavy sighs\r\nRemark\u2019d, and the Ph\u00e6acians thus bespake.\r\nPh\u00e6acian Chiefs and Senators attend!\r\nNow let Demodocus enjoin his harp\r\nSilence, for not alike grateful to all\r\nHis music sounds; during our feast, and since\r\nThe bard divine began, continual flow\r\nThe stranger\u2019s sorrows, by remembrance caused\r\nOf some great woe which wraps his soul around.\r\nThen, let the bard suspend his song, that all\r\n(As most befits th\u2019 occasion) may rejoice,\r\nBoth guest and hosts together; since we make\r\nThis voyage, and these gifts confer, in proof\r\nOf hospitality and unfeign\u2019d love,\r\nJudging, with all wise men, the stranger-guest\r\nAnd suppliant worthy of a brother\u2019s place.\r\nAnd thou conceal not, artfully reserv\u2019d,\r\nWhat I shall ask, far better plain declared\r\nThan smother\u2019d close; who art thou? speak thy name,\r\nThe name by which thy father, mother, friends\r\nAnd fellow-citizens, with all who dwell\r\nAround thy native city, in times past\r\nHave known thee; for of all things human none\r\nLives altogether nameless, whether good\r\nOr whether bad, but ev\u2019ry man receives\r\nEv\u2019n in the moment of his birth, a name.\r\nThy country, people, city, tell; the mark\r\nAt which my ships, intelligent, shall aim,\r\nThat they may bear thee thither; for our ships\r\nNo pilot need or helm, as ships are wont,\r\nBut know, themselves, our purpose; know beside\r\nAll cities, and all fruitful regions well\r\nOf all the earth, and with dark clouds involv\u2019d\r\nPlough rapid the rough Deep, fearless of harm,\r\n(Whate\u2019er betide) and of disast\u2019rous wreck.\r\nYet thus, long since, my father I have heard\r\nNausitho\u00fcs speaking; Neptune, he would say,\r\nIs angry with us, for that safe we bear\r\nStrangers of ev\u2019ry nation to their home;\r\nAnd he foretold a time when he would smite\r\nIn vengeance some Ph\u00e6acian gallant bark\r\nReturning after convoy of her charge,\r\nAnd fix her in the sable flood, transform\u2019d\r\nInto a mountain, right before the town.\r\nSo spake my hoary Sire, which let the God\r\nAt his own pleasure do, or leave undone.\r\nBut tell me truth, and plainly. Where have been\r\nThy wand\u2019rings? in what regions of the earth\r\nHast thou arrived? what nations hast thou seen,\r\nWhat cities? say, how many hast thou found\r\nHarsh, savage and unjust? how many, kind\r\nTo strangers, and disposed to fear the Gods?\r\nSay also, from what secret grief of heart\r\nThy sorrows flow, oft as thou hear\u2019st the fate\r\nOf the Achaians, or of Ilium sung?\r\nThat fate the Gods prepared; they spin the thread\r\nOf man\u2019s destruction, that in after days\r\nThe bard may make the sad event his theme.\r\nPerish\u2019d thy father or thy brother there?\r\nOr hast thou at the siege of Ilium lost\r\nFather-in-law, or son-in-law? for such\r\nAre next and dearest to us after those\r\nWho share our own descent; or was the dead\r\nThy bosom-friend, whose heart was as thy own?\r\nFor worthy as a brother of our love\r\nThe constant friend and the discrete I deem.","rendered":"

Argument<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Ph\u00e6acians consult on the subject of Ulysses. Preparation is made for his departure. Antino\u00fcs entertains them at his table. Games follow the entertainment. Demodocus the bard sings, first the loves of Mars and Venus, then the introduction of the wooden horse into Troy. Ulysses, much affected by his song, is questioned by Alcino\u00fcs, whence, and who he is, and what is the cause of his sorrow.<\/p>\n

But when Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
\nBlush\u2019d in the East, then from his bed arose
\nThe sacred might of the Ph\u00e6acian King.
\nThen uprose also, city-waster Chief,
\nUlysses, whom the King Alcino\u00fcs
\nLed forth to council at the ships convened.
\nThere, side by side, on polish\u2019d stones they sat
\nFrequent; meantime, Minerva in the form
\nOf King Alcino\u00fcs\u2019 herald ranged the town,
\nWith purpose to accelerate the return
\nOf brave Ulysses to his native home,
\nAnd thus to ev\u2019ry Chief the Goddess spake.
\nPh\u00e6acian Chiefs and Senators, away!
\nHaste all to council on the stranger held,
\nWho hath of late beneath Alcino\u00fcs\u2019 roof
\nOur King arrived, a wand\u2019rer o\u2019er the Deep,
\nBut, in his form, majestic as a God.
\nSo saying, she roused the people, and at once
\nThe seats of all the senate-court were fill\u2019d
\nWith fast-assembling throngs, no few of whom
\nHad mark\u2019d Ulysses with admiring eyes.
\nThen, Pallas o\u2019er his head and shoulders broad
\nDiffusing grace celestial, his whole form
\nDilated, and to the statelier height advanced,
\nThat worthier of all rev\u2019rence he might seem
\nTo the Ph\u00e6acians, and might many a feat
\nAtchieve, with which they should assay his force.
\nWhen, therefore, the assembly now was full,
\nAlcino\u00fcs, them addressing, thus began.
\nPh\u00e6acian Chiefs and Senators! I speak
\nThe dictates of my mind, therefore attend.
\nThis guest, unknown to me, hath, wand\u2019ring, found
\nMy palace, either from the East arrived,
\nOr from some nation on our western side.
\nSafe conduct home he asks, and our consent
\nHere wishes ratified, whose quick return
\nBe it our part, as usual, to promote;
\nFor at no time the stranger, from what coast
\nSoe\u2019er, who hath resorted to our doors,
\nHath long complain\u2019d of his detention here.
\nHaste\u2014draw ye down into the sacred Deep
\nA vessel of prime speed, and, from among
\nThe people, fifty and two youths select,
\nApproved the best; then, lashing fast the oars,
\nLeave her, that at my palace ye may make
\nShort feast, for which myself will all provide.
\nThus I enjoin the crew; but as for those
\nOf sceptred rank, I bid them all alike
\nTo my own board, that here we may regale
\nThe stranger nobly, and let none refuse.
\nCall, too, Demodocus, the bard divine,
\nTo share my banquet, whom the Gods have blest
\nWith pow\u2019rs of song delectable, unmatch\u2019d
\nBy any, when his genius once is fired.
\nHe ceas\u2019d, and led the way, whom follow\u2019d all
\nThe sceptred senators, while to the house
\nAn herald hasted of the bard divine.
\nThen, fifty mariners and two, from all
\nThe rest selected, to the coast repair\u2019d,
\nAnd, from her station on the sea-bank, launched
\nThe galley down into the sacred Deep.
\nThey placed the canvas and the mast on board,
\nArranged the oars, unfurl\u2019d the shining sail,
\nAnd, leaving her in depth of water moor\u2019d,
\nAll sought the palace of Alcino\u00fcs.
\nThere, soon, the portico, the court, the hall
\nWere fill\u2019d with multitudes of young and old,
\nFor whose regale the mighty monarch slew
\nTwo beeves, twelve sheep, and twice four fatted brawns.
\nThey slay\u2019d them first, then busily their task
\nAdminist\u2019ring, prepared the joyous feast.
\nAnd now the herald came, leading with care
\nThe tuneful bard; dear to the muse was he,
\nWho yet appointed him both good and ill;
\nTook from him sight, but gave him strains divine.
\nFor him, Pontono\u00fcs in the midst disposed
\nAn argent-studded throne, thrusting it close
\nTo a tall column, where he hung his lyre
\nAbove his head, and taught him where it hung.
\nHe set before him, next, a polish\u2019d board
\nAnd basket, and a goblet fill\u2019d with wine
\nFor his own use, and at his own command.
\nThen, all assail\u2019d at once the ready feast,
\nAnd when nor hunger more nor thirst they felt,
\nThen came the muse, and roused the bard to sing
\nExploits of men renown\u2019d; it was a song,
\nIn that day, to the highest heav\u2019n extoll\u2019d.
\nHe sang of a dispute kindled between
\nThe son of Peleus, and Laertes\u2019[1]<\/sup><\/a> son,
\nBoth seated at a feast held to the Gods.
\nThat contest Agamemnon, King of men,
\nBetween the noblest of Achaia\u2019s host
\nHearing, rejoiced; for when in Pytho erst
\nHe pass\u2019d the marble threshold to consult
\nThe oracle of Apollo, such dispute
\nThe voice divine had to his ear announced;
\nFor then it was that, first, the storm of war
\nCame rolling on, ordain\u2019d long time to afflict
\nTroy and the Greecians, by the will of Jove.
\nSo sang the bard illustrious; then his robe
\nOf purple dye with both hands o\u2019er his head
\nUlysses drew, behind its ample folds
\nVeiling his face, through fear to be observed
\nBy the Ph\u00e6acians weeping at the song;
\nAnd ever as the bard harmonious ceased,
\nHe wiped his tears, and, drawing from his brows
\nThe mantle, pour\u2019d libation to the Gods.
\nBut when the Chiefs (for they delighted heard
\nThose sounds) solicited again the bard,
\nAnd he renew\u2019d the strain, then cov\u2019ring close
\nHis count\u2019nance, as before, Ulysses wept.
\nThus, unperceiv\u2019d by all, the Hero mourn\u2019d,
\nSave by Alcino\u00fcs; he alone his tears,
\n(Beside him seated) mark\u2019d, and his deep sighs
\nO\u2019erhearing, the Ph\u00e6acians thus bespake.
\nPh\u00e6acia\u2019s Chiefs and Senators, attend!
\nWe have regaled sufficient, and the harp
\nHeard to satiety, companion sweet
\nAnd seasonable of the festive hour.
\nNow go we forth for honourable proof
\nOf our address in games of ev\u2019ry kind,
\nThat this our guest may to his friends report,
\nAt home arriv\u2019d, that none like us have learn\u2019d
\nTo leap, to box, to wrestle, and to run.
\nSo saying, he led them forth, whose steps the guests
\nAll follow\u2019d, and the herald hanging high
\nThe sprightly lyre, took by his hand the bard
\nDemodocus, whom he the self-same way
\nConducted forth, by which the Chiefs had gone
\nThemselves, for that great spectacle prepared.
\nThey sought the forum; countless swarm\u2019d the throng
\nBehind them as they went, and many a youth
\nStrong and courageous to the strife arose.
\nUpstood Acroneus and Ocyalus,
\nElatreus, Nauteus, Prymneus, after whom
\nAnchialus with Anabeesineus
\nArose, Eretmeus, Ponteus, Proreus bold,
\nAmphialus and Th\u00f6on. Then arose,
\nIn aspect dread as homicidal Mars,
\nEuryalus, and for his graceful form
\n(After Laodamas) distinguish\u2019d most
\nOf all Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons, Naubolides.
\nThree also from Alcino\u00fcs sprung, arose,
\nLaodamas, his eldest; Halius, next,
\nHis second-born; and godlike Clytoneus.
\nOf these, some started for the runner\u2019s prize.
\nThey gave the race its limits.[2]<\/sup><\/a> All at once
\nAlong the dusty champaign swift they flew.
\nBut Clytoneus, illustrious youth, outstripp\u2019d
\nAll competition; far as mules surpass
\nSlow oxen furrowing the fallow ground,
\nSo far before all others he arrived
\nVictorious, where the throng\u2019d spectators stood.
\nSome tried the wrestler\u2019s toil severe, in which
\nEuryalus superior proved to all.
\nIn the long leap Amphialus prevail\u2019d;
\nElatreus most successful hurled the quoit,
\nAnd at the cestus,[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup> last, the noble son
\nOf Scheria\u2019s King, Laodamas excell\u2019d.
\nWhen thus with contemplation of the games
\nAll had been gratified, Alcino\u00fcs\u2019 son
\nLaodamas, arising, then address\u2019d.
\nFriends! ask we now the stranger, if he boast
\nProficiency in aught. His figure seems
\nNot ill; in thighs, and legs, and arms he shews
\nMuch strength, and in his brawny neck; nor youth
\nHath left him yet, though batter\u2019d he appears
\nWith num\u2019rous troubles, and misfortune-flaw\u2019d.
\nNor know I hardships in the world so sure
\nTo break the strongest down, as those by sea.
\nThen answer thus Euryalus return\u2019d.
\nThou hast well said, Laodamas; thyself
\nApproaching, speak to him, and call him forth.
\nWhich when Alcino\u00fcs\u2019 noble offspring heard,
\nAdvancing from his seat, amid them all
\nHe stood, and to Ulysses thus began.
\nStand forth, oh guest, thou also; prove thy skill
\n(If any such thou hast) in games like ours,
\nWhich, likeliest, thou hast learn\u2019d; for greater praise
\nHath no man, while he lives, than that he know
\nHis feet to exercise and hands aright.
\nCome then; make trial; scatter wide thy cares,
\nWe will not hold thee long; the ship is launch\u2019d
\nAlready, and the crew stand all prepared.
\nTo whom replied the wily Chief renown\u2019d
\nWherefore, as in derision, have ye call\u2019d
\nMe forth, Laodamas, to these exploits?
\nNo games have I, but many a grief, at heart,
\nAnd with far other struggles worn, here sit
\nDesirous only of conveyance home,
\nFor which both King and people I implore.
\nThen him Euryalus aloud reproach\u2019d.
\nI well believ\u2019d it, friend! in thee the guise
\nI see not of a man expert in feats
\nAthletic, of which various are perform\u2019d
\nIn ev\u2019ry land; thou rather seem\u2019st with ships
\nFamiliar; one, accustom\u2019d to controul
\nSome crew of trading mariners; well-learn\u2019d
\nIn stowage, pilotage, and wealth acquired
\nBy rapine, but of no gymnastic pow\u2019rs.
\nTo whom Ulysses, frowning dark, replied.
\nThou hast ill spoken, sir, and like a man
\nRegardless whom he wrongs. Therefore the Gods
\nGive not endowments graceful in each kind,
\nOf body, mind, and utt\u2019rance, all to one.
\nThis man in figure less excels, yet Jove
\nCrowns him with eloquence; his hearers charm\u2019d
\nBehold him, while with modest confidence
\nHe bears the prize of fluent speech from all,
\nAnd in the streets is gazed on as a God!
\nAnother, in his form the Pow\u2019rs above
\nResembles, but no grace around his words
\nTwines itself elegant. So, thou in form
\nHast excellence to boast; a God, employ\u2019d
\nTo make a master-piece in human shape,
\nCould but produce proportions such as thine;
\nYet hast thou an untutor\u2019d intellect.
\nThou much hast moved me; thy unhandsome phrase
\nHath roused my wrath; I am not, as thou say\u2019st,
\nA novice in these sports, but took the lead
\nIn all, while youth and strength were on my side.
\nBut I am now in bands of sorrow held,
\nAnd of misfortune, having much endured
\nIn war, and buffeting the boist\u2019rous waves.
\nYet, though with mis\u2019ry worn, I will essay
\nMy strength among you; for thy words had teeth
\nWhose bite hath pinch\u2019d and pain\u2019d me to the proof.
\nHe said; and mantled as he was, a quoit
\nUpstarting, seized, in bulk and weight all those
\nTranscending far, by the Ph\u00e6acians used.
\nSwiftly he swung, and from his vig\u2019rous hand
\nSent it. Loud sang the stone, and as it flew
\nThe maritime Ph\u00e6acians low inclined
\nTheir heads beneath it; over all the marks,
\nAnd far beyond them, sped the flying rock.
\nMinerva, in a human form, the cast
\nProdigious measur\u2019d, and aloud exclaim\u2019d.
\nStranger! the blind himself might with his hands
\nFeel out the \u2019vantage here. Thy quoit disdains
\nFellowship with a crowd, borne far beyond.
\nFear not a losing game; Ph\u00e6acian none
\nWill reach thy measure, much less overcast.
\nShe ceased; Ulysses, hardy Chief, rejoiced
\nThat in the circus he had found a judge
\nSo favorable, and with brisker tone,
\nAs less in wrath, the multitude address\u2019d.
\nYoung men, reach this, and I will quickly heave
\nAnother such, or yet a heavier quoit.
\nThen, come the man whose courage prompts him forth
\nTo box, to wrestle with me, or to run;
\nFor ye have chafed me much, and I decline
\nNo strife with any here, but challenge all
\nPh\u00e6acia, save Laodamas alone.
\nHe is mine host. Who combats with his friend?
\nTo call to proof of hardiment the man
\nWho entertains him in a foreign land,
\nWould but evince the challenger a fool,
\nWho, so, would cripple his own interest there.
\nAs for the rest, I none refuse, scorn none,
\nBut wish for trial of you, and to match
\nIn opposition fair my force with yours.
\nThere is no game athletic in the use
\nOf all mankind, too difficult for me;
\nI handle well the polish\u2019d bow, and first
\nAmid a thousand foes strike whom I mark,
\nAlthough a throng of warriors at my side
\nImbattled, speed their shafts at the same time.
\nOf all Achaia\u2019s sons who erst at Troy
\nDrew bow, the sole who bore the prize from me
\nWas Philoctetes; I resign it else
\nTo none now nourish\u2019d with the fruits of earth.
\nYet mean I no comparison of myself
\nWith men of antient times, with Hercules,
\nOr with Oechalian Eurytus, who, both,
\nThe Gods themselves in archery defied.
\nSoon, therefore, died huge Eurytus, ere yet
\nOld age he reach\u2019d; him, angry to be call\u2019d
\nTo proof of archership, Apollo slew.
\nBut if ye name the spear, mine flies a length
\nBy no man\u2019s arrow reach\u2019d; I fear no foil
\nFrom the Ph\u00e6acians, save in speed alone;
\nFor I have suffer\u2019d hardships, dash\u2019d and drench\u2019d
\nBy many a wave, nor had I food on board
\nAt all times, therefore I am much unstrung.
\nHe spake; and silent the Ph\u00e6acians sat,
\nOf whom alone Alcino\u00fcs thus replied.
\nSince, stranger, not ungraceful is thy speech,
\nWho hast but vindicated in our ears
\nThy question\u2019d prowess, angry that this youth
\nReproach\u2019d thee in the presence of us all,
\nThat no man qualified to give his voice
\nIn public, might affront thy courage more;
\nNow mark me, therefore, that in time to come,
\nWhile feasting with thy children and thy spouse,
\nThou may\u2019st inform the Heroes of thy land
\nEven of our proficiency in arts
\nBy Jove enjoin\u2019d us in our father\u2019s days.
\nWe boast not much the boxer\u2019s skill, nor yet
\nThe wrestler\u2019s; but light-footed in the race
\nAre we, and navigators well-inform\u2019d.
\nOur pleasures are the feast, the harp, the dance,
\nGarments for change; the tepid bath; the bed.
\nCome, ye Ph\u00e6acians, beyond others skill\u2019d
\nTo tread the circus with harmonious steps,
\nCome, play before us; that our guest, arrived
\nIn his own country, may inform his friends
\nHow far in seamanship we all excel,
\nIn running, in the dance, and in the song.
\nHaste! bring ye to Demodocus his lyre
\nClear-toned, left somewhere in our hall at home.
\nSo spake the godlike King, at whose command
\nThe herald to the palace quick return\u2019d
\nTo seek the charming lyre. Meantime arose
\nNine arbiters, appointed to intend
\nThe whole arrangement of the public games,
\nTo smooth the circus floor, and give the ring
\nIts compass, widening the attentive throng.
\nEre long the herald came, bearing the harp,
\nWith which Demodocus supplied, advanced
\nInto the middle area, around whom
\nStood blooming youths, all skilful in the dance.
\nWith footsteps justly timed all smote at once
\nThe sacred floor; Ulysses wonder-fixt,
\nThe ceaseless play of twinkling[4]<\/sup><\/a> feet admired.
\nThen, tuning his sweet chords, Demodocus
\nA jocund strain began, his theme, the loves
\nOf Mars and Cytherea chaplet-crown\u2019d;
\nHow first, clandestine, they embraced beneath
\nThe roof of Vulcan, her, by many a gift
\nSeduced, Mars won, and with adult\u2019rous lust
\nThe bed dishonour\u2019d of the King of fire.
\nThe sun, a witness of their amorous sport,
\nBore swift the tale to Vulcan; he, apprized
\nOf that foul deed, at once his smithy sought,
\nIn secret darkness of his inmost soul
\nContriving vengeance; to the stock he heav\u2019d
\nHis anvil huge, on which he forged a snare
\nOf bands indissoluble, by no art
\nTo be untied, durance for ever firm.
\nThe net prepared, he bore it, fiery-wroth,
\nTo his own chamber and his nuptial couch,
\nWhere, stretching them from post to post, he wrapp\u2019d
\nWith those fine meshes all his bed around,
\nAnd hung them num\u2019rous from the roof, diffused
\nLike spiders\u2019 filaments, which not the Gods
\nThemselves could see, so subtle were the toils.
\nWhen thus he had encircled all his bed
\nOn ev\u2019ry side, he feign\u2019d a journey thence
\nTo Lemnos, of all cities that adorn
\nThe earth, the city that he favours most.
\nNor kept the God of the resplendent reins
\nMars, drowsy watch, but seeing that the famed
\nArtificer of heav\u2019n had left his home,
\nFlew to the house of Vulcan, hot to enjoy
\nThe Goddess with the wreath-encircled brows.
\nShe, newly from her potent Sire return\u2019d
\nThe son of Saturn, sat. Mars, ent\u2019ring, seiz\u2019d
\nHer hand, hung on it, and thus urg\u2019d his suit.
\nTo bed, my fair, and let us love! for lo!
\nThine husband is from home, to Lemnos gone,
\nAnd to the Sintians, men of barb\u2019rous speech.
\nHe spake, nor she was loth, but bedward too
\nLike him inclined; so then, to bed they went,
\nAnd as they lay\u2019d them down, down stream\u2019d the net
\nAround them, labour exquisite of hands
\nBy ingenuity divine inform\u2019d.
\nSmall room they found, so prison\u2019d; not a limb
\nCould either lift, or move, but felt at once
\nEntanglement from which was no escape.
\nAnd now the glorious artist, ere he yet
\nHad reach\u2019d the Lemnian isle, limping, return\u2019d
\nFrom his feign\u2019d journey, for his spy the sun
\nHad told him all. With aching heart he sought
\nHis home, and, standing in the vestibule,
\nFrantic with indignation roar\u2019d to heav\u2019n,
\nAnd roar\u2019d again, summoning all the Gods.\u2014
\nOh Jove! and all ye Pow\u2019rs for ever blest!
\nHere; hither look, that ye may view a sight
\nLudicrous, yet too monstrous to be borne,
\nHow Venus always with dishonour loads
\nHer cripple spouse, doating on fiery Mars!
\nAnd wherefore? for that he is fair in form
\nAnd sound of foot, I ricket-boned and weak.
\nWhose fault is this? Their fault, and theirs alone
\nWho gave me being; ill-employ\u2019d were they
\nBegetting me, one, better far unborn.
\nSee where they couch together on my bed
\nLascivious! ah, sight hateful to my eyes!
\nYet cooler wishes will they feel, I ween,
\nTo press my bed hereafter; here to sleep
\nWill little please them, fondly as they love.
\nBut these my toils and tangles will suffice
\nTo hold them here, till Jove shall yield me back
\nComplete, the sum of all my nuptial gifts
\nPaid to him for the shameless strumpet\u2019s sake
\nHis daughter, as incontinent as fair.
\nHe said, and in the brazen-floor\u2019d abode
\nOf Jove the Gods assembled. Neptune came
\nEarth-circling Pow\u2019r; came Hermes friend of man,
\nAnd, regent of the far-commanding bow,
\nApollo also came; but chaste reserve
\nBashful kept all the Goddesses at home.
\nThe Gods, by whose beneficence all live,
\nStood in the portal; infinite arose
\nThe laugh of heav\u2019n, all looking down intent
\nOn that shrewd project of the smith divine,
\nAnd, turning to each other, thus they said.
\nBad works speed ill. The slow o\u2019ertakes the swift.
\nSo Vulcan, tardy as he is, by craft
\nHath outstript Mars, although the fleetest far
\nOf all who dwell in heav\u2019n, and the light-heel\u2019d
\nMust pay the adult\u2019rer\u2019s forfeit to the lame.
\nSo spake the Pow\u2019rs immortal; then the King
\nOf radiant shafts thus question\u2019d Mercury.
\nJove\u2019s son, heaven\u2019s herald, Hermes, bounteous God!
\nWould\u2019st thou<\/i> such stricture close of bands endure
\nFor golden Venus lying at thy side?
\nWhom answer\u2019d thus the messenger of heav\u2019n
\nArcher divine! yea, and with all my heart;
\nAnd be the bands which wind us round about
\nThrice these innumerable, and let all
\nThe Gods and Goddesses in heav\u2019n look on,
\nSo I may clasp Vulcan\u2019s fair spouse the while.
\nHe spake; then laugh\u2019d the Immortal Pow\u2019rs again.
\nBut not so Neptune; he with earnest suit
\nThe glorious artist urged to the release
\nOf Mars, and thus in accents wing\u2019d he said.
\nLoose him; accept my promise; he shall pay
\nFull recompense in presence of us all.
\nThen thus the limping smith far-famed replied.
\nEarth-circler Neptune, spare me that request.
\nLame suitor, lame security.[5]<\/sup><\/a> <\/sup>What bands
\nCould I devise for thee among the Gods,
\nShould Mars, emancipated once, escape,
\nLeaving both debt and durance, far behind?
\nHim answer\u2019d then the Shaker of the shores.
\nI tell thee, Vulcan, that if Mars by flight
\nShun payment, I will pay, myself, the fine.
\nTo whom the glorious artist of the skies.
\nThou must not, canst not, shalt not be refused.
\nSo saying, the might of Vulcan loos\u2019d the snare,
\nAnd they, detain\u2019d by those coercive bands
\nNo longer, from the couch upstarting, flew,
\nMars into Thrace, and to her Paphian home
\nThe Queen of smiles, where deep in myrtle groves
\nHer incense-breathing altar stands embow\u2019r\u2019d.
\nHer there, the Graces laved, and oils diffused
\nO\u2019er all her form, ambrosial, such as add
\nFresh beauty to the Gods for ever young,
\nAnd cloath\u2019d her in the loveliest robes of heav\u2019n.
\nSuch was the theme of the illustrious bard.
\nUlysses with delight that song, and all
\nThe maritime Ph\u00e6acian concourse heard.
\nAlcino\u00fcs, then, (for in the dance they pass\u2019d
\nAll others) call\u2019d his sons to dance alone,
\nHalius and Laodamas; they gave
\nThe purple ball into their hands, the work
\nExact of Polybus; one, re-supine,
\nUpcast it high toward the dusky clouds,
\nThe other, springing into air, with ease
\nReceived it, ere he sank to earth again.
\nWhen thus they oft had sported with the ball
\nThrown upward, next, with nimble interchange
\nThey pass\u2019d it to each other many a time,
\nFooting the plain, while ev\u2019ry youth of all
\nThe circus clapp\u2019d his hands, and from beneath
\nThe din of stamping feet fill\u2019d all the air.
\nThen, turning to Alcino\u00fcs, thus the wise
\nUlysses spake: Alcino\u00fcs! mighty King!
\nIllustrious above all Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons!
\nIncomparable are ye in the dance,
\nEv\u2019n as thou said\u2019st. Amazement-fixt I stand!
\nSo he, whom hearing, the imperial might
\nExulted of Alcino\u00fcs, and aloud
\nTo his oar-skill\u2019d Ph\u00e6acians thus he spake.
\nPh\u00e6acian Chiefs and Senators, attend!
\nWisdom beyond the common stint I mark
\nIn this our guest; good cause in my account,
\nFor which we should present him with a pledge
\nOf hospitality and love. The Chiefs
\nAre twelve, who, highest in command, controul
\nThe people, and the thirteenth Chief am I.
\nBring each a golden talent, with a vest
\nWell-bleach\u2019d, and tunic; gratified with these,
\nThe stranger to our banquet shall repair
\nExulting; bring them all without delay;
\nAnd let Euryalus by word and gift
\nAppease him, for his speech was unadvised.
\nHe ceas\u2019d, whom all applauded, and at once
\nEach sent his herald forth to bring the gifts,
\nWhen thus Euryalus his Sire address\u2019d.
\nAlcino\u00fcs! o\u2019er Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons supreme!
\nI will appease our guest, as thou command\u2019st.
\nThis sword shall be his own, the blade all steel.
\nThe hilt of silver, and the unsullied sheath
\nOf iv\u2019ry recent from the carver\u2019s hand,
\nA gift like this he shall not need despise.
\nSo saying, his silver-studded sword he gave
\nInto his grasp, and, courteous, thus began.
\nHail, honour\u2019d stranger! and if word of mine
\nHave harm\u2019d thee, rashly spoken, let the winds
\nBear all remembrance of it swift away!
\nMay the Gods give thee to behold again
\nThy wife, and to attain thy native shore,
\nWhence absent long, thou hast so much endured!
\nTo whom Ulysses, ever-wise, replied.
\nHail also thou, and may the Gods, my friend,
\nGrant thee felicity, and may never want
\nOf this thy sword touch thee in time to come,
\nBy whose kind phrase appeas\u2019d my wrath subsides!
\nHe ended, and athwart his shoulders threw
\nThe weapon bright emboss\u2019d. Now sank the sun,
\nAnd those rich gifts arrived, which to the house
\nOf King Alcino\u00fcs the heralds bore.
\nAlcino\u00fcs\u2019 sons receiv\u2019d them, and beside
\nTheir royal mother placed the precious charge.
\nThe King then led the way, at whose abode
\nArrived, again they press\u2019d their lofty thrones,
\nAnd to Areta thus the monarch spake.
\nHaste, bring a coffer; bring thy best, and store
\nA mantle and a sumptuous vest within;
\nWarm for him, next, a brazen bath, by which
\nRefresh\u2019d, and viewing in fair order placed
\nThe noble gifts by the Ph\u00e6acian Lords
\nConferr\u2019d on him, he may the more enjoy
\nOur banquet, and the bard\u2019s harmonious song.
\nI give him also this my golden cup
\nSplendid, elaborate; that, while he lives
\nWhat time he pours libation forth to Jove
\nAnd all the Gods, he may remember me.
\nHe ended, at whose words Areta bade
\nHer maidens with dispatch place o\u2019er the fire
\nA tripod ample-womb\u2019d; obedient they
\nAdvanced a laver to the glowing hearth,
\nWater infused, and kindled wood beneath
\nThe flames encircling bright the bellied vase,
\nWarm\u2019d soon the flood within. Meantime, the Queen
\nProducing from her chamber-stores a chest
\nAll-elegant, within it placed the gold,
\nAnd raiment, gifts of the Ph\u00e6acian Chiefs,
\nWith her own gifts, the mantle and the vest,
\nAnd in wing\u2019d accents to Ulysses said.
\nNow take, thyself, the coffer\u2019s lid in charge;
\nGirdle it quickly with a cord, lest loss
\nBefall thee on thy way, while thou perchance
\nShalt sleep secure on board the sable bark.
\nWhich when Ulysses heard, Hero renown\u2019d,
\nAdjusting close the lid, he cast a cord
\nAround it which with many a mazy knot
\nHe tied, by Circe taught him long before.
\nAnd now, the mistress of the household charge
\nSummon\u2019d him to his bath; glad he beheld
\nThe steaming vase, uncustom\u2019d to its use
\nE\u2019er since his voyage from the isle of fair
\nCalypso, although, while a guest with her,
\nEver familiar with it, as a God.
\nLaved by attendant damsels, and with oil
\nRefresh\u2019d, he put his sumptuous tunic on
\nAnd mantle, and proceeding from the bath
\nTo the symposium, join\u2019d the num\u2019rous guests;
\nBut, as he pass\u2019d, the Princess all divine
\nBeside the pillars of the portal, lost
\nIn admiration of his graceful form,
\nStood, and in accents wing\u2019d him thus address\u2019d.
\nHail, stranger! at thy native home arrived
\nRemember me, thy first deliv\u2019rer here.
\nTo whom Ulysses, ever-wise, replied.
\nNausicaa! daughter of the noble King
\nAlcino\u00fcs! So may Jove, high-thund\u2019ring mate
\nOf Juno, grant me to behold again
\nMy native land, and my delightful home,
\nAs, even there, I will present my vows
\nTo thee, adoring thee as I adore
\nThe Gods themselves, virgin, by whom I live!
\nHe said, and on his throne beside the King
\nAlcino\u00fcs sat. And now they portion\u2019d out
\nThe feast to all, and charg\u2019d the cups with wine,
\nAnd introducing by his hand the bard
\nPh\u00e6acia\u2019s glory, at the column\u2019s side
\nThe herald placed Demodocus again.
\nThen, carving forth a portion from the loins
\nOf a huge brawn, of which uneaten still
\nLarge part and delicate remain\u2019d, thus spake
\nUlysses\u2014Herald! bear it to the bard
\nFor his regale, whom I will soon embrace
\nIn spite of sorrow; for respect is due
\nAnd veneration to the sacred bard
\nFrom all mankind, for that the muse inspires
\nHerself his song, and loves the tuneful tribe.
\nHe ended, and the herald bore his charge
\nTo the old hero who with joy received
\nThat meed of honour at the bearer\u2019s hand.
\nThen, all, at once, assail\u2019d the ready feast,
\nAnd hunger now, and thirst both satisfied,
\nThus to Demodocus Ulysses spake.
\nDemodocus! I give thee praise above
\nAll mortals, for that either thee the muse
\nJove\u2019s daughter teaches, or the King, himself,
\nApollo; since thou so record\u2019st the fate,
\nWith such clear method, of Achaia\u2019s host,
\nTheir deeds heroic, and their num\u2019rous toils,
\nAs thou hadst present been thyself, or learnt
\nFrom others present there, the glorious tale.
\nCome, then, proceed; that rare invention sing,
\nThe horse of wood, which by Minerva\u2019s aid
\nEpeus framed, and which Ulysses erst
\nConvey\u2019d into the citadel of Troy
\nWith warriors fill\u2019d, who lay\u2019d all Ilium waste.
\nThese things rehearse regular, and myself
\nWill, instant, publish in the ears of all
\nThy fame, reporting thee a bard to whom
\nApollo free imparts celestial song.
\nHe ended; then Apollo with full force
\nRush\u2019d on Demodocus, and he began
\nWhat time the Greeks, first firing their own camp
\nSteer\u2019d all their galleys from the shore of Troy.
\nAlready, in the horse conceal\u2019d, his band
\nAround Ulysses sat; for Ilium\u2019s sons
\nThemselves had drawn it to the citadel.
\nAnd there the mischief stood. Then, strife arose
\nAmong the Trojans compassing the horse,
\nAnd threefold was the doubt; whether to cleave
\nThe hollow trunk asunder, or updrawn
\nAloft, to cast it headlong from the rocks,
\nOr to permit the enormous image, kept
\nEntire, to stand an off\u2019ring to the Gods,
\nWhich was their destined course; for Fate had fix\u2019d
\nTheir ruin sure, when once they had received
\nWithin their walls that engine huge, in which
\nSat all the bravest Greecians with the fate
\nOf Ilium charged, and slaughter of her sons.
\nHe sang, how, from the horse effused, the Greeks
\nLeft their capacious ambush, and the town
\nMade desolate. To others, in his song,
\nHe gave the praise of wasting all beside,
\nBut told how, fierce as Mars, Ulysses join\u2019d
\nWith godlike Menelaus, to the house
\nFlew of Deiphobus; him there engaged
\nIn direst fight he sang, and through the aid
\nOf glorious Pallas, conqu\u2019ror over all.
\nSo sang the bard illustrious, at whose song
\nUlysses melted, and tear after tear
\nFell on his cheeks. As when a woman weeps,
\nHer husband, who hath fallen in defence
\nOf his own city and his babes before
\nThe gates; she, sinking, folds him in her arms
\nAnd, gazing on him as he pants and dies,
\nShrieks at the sight; meantime, the enemy
\nSmiting her shoulders with the spear to toil
\nCommand her and to bondage far away,
\nAnd her cheek fades with horror at the sound;
\nUlysses, so, from his moist lids let fall,
\nThe frequent tear. Unnoticed by the rest
\nThose drops, but not by King Alcino\u00fcs, fell
\nWho, seated at his side, his heavy sighs
\nRemark\u2019d, and the Ph\u00e6acians thus bespake.
\nPh\u00e6acian Chiefs and Senators attend!
\nNow let Demodocus enjoin his harp
\nSilence, for not alike grateful to all
\nHis music sounds; during our feast, and since
\nThe bard divine began, continual flow
\nThe stranger\u2019s sorrows, by remembrance caused
\nOf some great woe which wraps his soul around.
\nThen, let the bard suspend his song, that all
\n(As most befits th\u2019 occasion) may rejoice,
\nBoth guest and hosts together; since we make
\nThis voyage, and these gifts confer, in proof
\nOf hospitality and unfeign\u2019d love,
\nJudging, with all wise men, the stranger-guest
\nAnd suppliant worthy of a brother\u2019s place.
\nAnd thou conceal not, artfully reserv\u2019d,
\nWhat I shall ask, far better plain declared
\nThan smother\u2019d close; who art thou? speak thy name,
\nThe name by which thy father, mother, friends
\nAnd fellow-citizens, with all who dwell
\nAround thy native city, in times past
\nHave known thee; for of all things human none
\nLives altogether nameless, whether good
\nOr whether bad, but ev\u2019ry man receives
\nEv\u2019n in the moment of his birth, a name.
\nThy country, people, city, tell; the mark
\nAt which my ships, intelligent, shall aim,
\nThat they may bear thee thither; for our ships
\nNo pilot need or helm, as ships are wont,
\nBut know, themselves, our purpose; know beside
\nAll cities, and all fruitful regions well
\nOf all the earth, and with dark clouds involv\u2019d
\nPlough rapid the rough Deep, fearless of harm,
\n(Whate\u2019er betide) and of disast\u2019rous wreck.
\nYet thus, long since, my father I have heard
\nNausitho\u00fcs speaking; Neptune, he would say,
\nIs angry with us, for that safe we bear
\nStrangers of ev\u2019ry nation to their home;
\nAnd he foretold a time when he would smite
\nIn vengeance some Ph\u00e6acian gallant bark
\nReturning after convoy of her charge,
\nAnd fix her in the sable flood, transform\u2019d
\nInto a mountain, right before the town.
\nSo spake my hoary Sire, which let the God
\nAt his own pleasure do, or leave undone.
\nBut tell me truth, and plainly. Where have been
\nThy wand\u2019rings? in what regions of the earth
\nHast thou arrived? what nations hast thou seen,
\nWhat cities? say, how many hast thou found
\nHarsh, savage and unjust? how many, kind
\nTo strangers, and disposed to fear the Gods?
\nSay also, from what secret grief of heart
\nThy sorrows flow, oft as thou hear\u2019st the fate
\nOf the Achaians, or of Ilium sung?
\nThat fate the Gods prepared; they spin the thread
\nOf man\u2019s destruction, that in after days
\nThe bard may make the sad event his theme.
\nPerish\u2019d thy father or thy brother there?
\nOr hast thou at the siege of Ilium lost
\nFather-in-law, or son-in-law? for such
\nAre next and dearest to us after those
\nWho share our own descent; or was the dead
\nThy bosom-friend, whose heart was as thy own?
\nFor worthy as a brother of our love
\nThe constant friend and the discrete I deem.<\/p>\n

  1. Agamemnon having inquired at Delphos, at what time the Trojan war would end, was answered that the conclusion of it should happen at a time when a dispute should arise between two of his principal commanders. That dispute occurred at the time here alluded to, Achilles recommending force as most likely to reduce the city, and Ulysses stratagem. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  2. \u03a4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c3\u03b9 \u03b4\u2019 \u03b1\u03c0\u03bf \u03bd\u03c5\u03c3\u03bf\u03b7\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf \u03b4\u03c1\u03bf\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2\u2014This expression is by the commentators generally understood to be significant of the effort which they made at starting, but it is not improbable that it relates merely to the measurement of the course, otherwise, \u03ba\u03b1\u03c1\u03c0\u03b1\u03bb\u03b9\u03bc\u03c9\u03c2 \u03b5\u03c0\u03b5\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf will be tautologous. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  3. In boxing. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  4. \r\n\r\nThe Translator is indebted to Mr Grey for an epithet more expressive of the original (\u039c\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c5\u03b3\u03b1\u03c2<\/span>) than any other, perhaps, in all our language. See the Ode on the Progress of Poetry.\r\n
    \r\n\r\n\u201cTo brisk notes in cadence beating,\r\nGlance their many-twinkling<\/i> feet\u201d\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n ↵<\/a><\/li>
  5. The original line has received such a variety of interpretations, that a Translator seems free to choose. It has, however, a proverbial turn, which I have endeavoured to preserve, and have adopted the sense of the words which appears best to accord with what immediately follows. Vulcan pleads his own inability to enforce the demand, as a circumstance that made Neptune\u2019s promise unacceptable. ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":299,"menu_order":8,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-114","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/114\/revisions\/247"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/114\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}