{"id":127,"date":"2021-05-26T09:19:26","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T13:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/odyssey\/chapter\/book-xxi\/"},"modified":"2022-02-01T10:54:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T15:54:36","slug":"21","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/chapter\/21\/","title":{"raw":"Book XXI","rendered":"Book XXI"},"content":{"raw":"

Argument<\/b><\/h2>\r\nPenelope proposes to the suitors a contest with the bow, herself the prize. They prove unable to bend the bow; when Ulysses having with some difficulty possessed himself of it, manages it with the utmost ease, and dispatches his arrow through twelve rings erected for the trial.\r\n\r\nMinerva, now, Goddess c\u00e6rulean-eyed,\r\nPrompted Icarius\u2019 daughter, the discrete\r\nPenelope, with bow and rings to prove\r\nHer suitors in Ulysses\u2019 courts, a game\r\nTerrible in conclusion to them all.\r\nFirst, taking in her hand the brazen key\r\nWell-forged, and fitted with an iv\u2019ry grasp,\r\nAttended by the women of her train\r\nShe sought her inmost chamber, the recess\r\nIn which she kept the treasures of her Lord,\r\nHis brass, his gold, and steel elaborate.\r\nHere lay his stubborn bow, and quiver fill\u2019d\r\nWith num\u2019rous shafts, a fatal store. That bow\r\nHe had received and quiver from the hand\r\nOf godlike Iphitus Eurytides,\r\nWhom, in Messenia,[footnote]A province of Laconia.[\/footnote]<\/sup> in the house he met\r\nOf brave Orsilochus. Ulysses came\r\nDemanding payment of arrearage due\r\nFrom all that land; for a Messenian fleet\r\nHad borne from Ithaca three hundred sheep,\r\nWith all their shepherds; for which cause, ere yet\r\nAdult, he voyaged to that distant shore,\r\nDeputed by his sire, and by the Chiefs\r\nOf Ithaca, to make the just demand.\r\nBut Iphitus had thither come to seek\r\nTwelve mares and twelve mule colts which he had lost,\r\nA search that cost him soon a bloody death.\r\nFor, coming to the house of Hercules\r\nThe valiant task-performing son of Jove,\r\nHe perish\u2019d there, slain by his cruel host\r\nWho, heedless of heav\u2019n\u2019s wrath, and of the rights\r\nOf his own board, first fed, then slaughter\u2019d him;\r\nFor in his<\/i> house the mares and colts were hidden.\r\nHe, therefore, occupied in that concern,\r\nMeeting Ulysses there, gave him the bow\r\nWhich, erst, huge Eurytus had borne, and which\r\nHimself had from his dying sire received.\r\nUlysses, in return, on him bestowed\r\nA spear and sword, pledges of future love\r\nAnd hospitality; but never more\r\nThey met each other at the friendly board,\r\nFor, ere that hour arrived, the son of Jove\r\nSlew his own guest, the godlike Iphitus.\r\nThus came the bow into Ulysses\u2019 hands,\r\nWhich, never in his gallant barks he bore\r\nTo battle with him, (though he used it oft\r\nIn times of peace) but left it safely stored\r\nAt home, a dear memorial of his friend.\r\nSoon as, divinest of her sex, arrived\r\nAt that same chamber, with her foot she press\u2019d\r\nThe oaken threshold bright, on which the hand\r\nOf no mean architect had stretch\u2019d the line,\r\nWho had erected also on each side\r\nThe posts on which the splendid portals hung,\r\nShe loos\u2019d the ring and brace, then introduced\r\nThe key, and aiming at them from without,[footnote]The reader will of course observe, that the whole of this process implies a sort of mechanism very different from that with which we are acquainted.\u2014The translation, I believe, is exact.[\/footnote]<\/sup>\r\nStruck back the bolts. The portals, at that stroke,\r\nSent forth a tone deep as the pastur\u2019d bull\u2019s,\r\nAnd flew wide open. She, ascending, next,\r\nThe elevated floor on which the chests\r\nThat held her own fragrant apparel stood,\r\nWith lifted hand aloft took down the bow\r\nIn its embroider\u2019d bow-case safe enclosed.\r\nThen, sitting there, she lay\u2019d it on her knees,\r\nWeeping aloud, and drew it from the case.\r\nThus weeping over it long time she sat,\r\nTill satiate, at the last, with grief and tears,\r\nDescending by the palace steps she sought\r\nAgain the haughty suitors, with the bow\r\nElastic, and the quiver in her hand\r\nReplete with pointed shafts, a deadly store.\r\nHer maidens, as she went, bore after her\r\nA coffer fill\u2019d with prizes by her Lord,\r\nMuch brass and steel; and when at length she came,\r\nLoveliest of women, where the suitors sat,\r\nBetween the pillars of the stately dome\r\nPausing, before her beauteous face she held\r\nHer lucid veil, and by two matrons chaste\r\nSupported, the assembly thus address\u2019d.\r\nYe noble suitors hear, who rudely haunt\r\nThis palace of a Chief long absent hence,\r\nWhose substance ye have now long time consumed,\r\nNor palliative have yet contrived, or could,\r\nSave your ambition to make me a bride\u2014\r\nAttend this game to which I call you forth.\r\nNow suitors! prove yourselves with this huge bow\r\nOf wide-renown\u2019d Ulysses; he who draws\r\nEasiest the bow, and who his arrow sends\r\nThrough twice six rings, he takes me to his home,\r\nAnd I must leave this mansion of my youth\r\nPlenteous, magnificent, which, doubtless, oft\r\nI shall remember even in my dreams.\r\nSo saying, she bade Eum\u00e6us lay the bow\r\nBefore them, and the twice six rings of steel.\r\nHe wept, received them, and obey\u2019d; nor wept\r\nThe herdsman less, seeing the bow which erst\r\nHis Lord had occupied; when at their tears\r\nIndignant, thus, Antino\u00fcs began.\r\nYe rural drones, whose purblind eyes see not\r\nBeyond the present hour, egregious fools!\r\nWhy weeping trouble ye the Queen, too much\r\nBefore afflicted for her husband lost?\r\nEither partake the banquet silently,\r\nOr else go weep abroad, leaving the bow,\r\nThat stubborn test, to us; for none, I judge,\r\nNone here shall bend this polish\u2019d bow with ease,\r\nSince in this whole assembly I discern\r\nNone like Ulysses, whom myself have seen\r\nAnd recollect, though I was then a boy.\r\nHe said, but in his heart, meantime, the hope\r\nCherish\u2019d, that he should bend, himself, the bow,\r\nAnd pass the rings; yet was he destin\u2019d first\r\nOf all that company to taste the steel\r\nOf brave Ulysses\u2019 shaft, whom in that house\r\nHe had so oft dishonour\u2019d, and had urged\r\nSo oft all others to the like offence.\r\nAmidst them, then, the sacred might arose\r\nOf young Telemachus, who thus began.\r\nSaturnian Jove questionless hath deprived\r\nMe of all reason. My own mother, fam\u2019d\r\nFor wisdom as she is, makes known to all\r\nHer purpose to abandon this abode\r\nAnd follow a new mate, while, heedless, I\r\nTrifle and laugh as I were still a child.\r\nBut come, ye suitors! since the prize is such,\r\nA woman like to whom none can be found\r\nThis day in all Achaia; on the shores\r\nOf sacred Pylus; in the cities proud\r\nOf Argos or Mycen\u00e6; or even here\r\nIn Ithaca; or yet within the walls\r\nOf black Epirus; and since this yourselves\r\nKnow also, wherefore should I speak her praise?\r\nCome then, delay not, waste not time in vain\r\nExcuses, turn not from the proof, but bend\r\nThe bow, that thus the issue may be known.\r\nI also will, myself, that task essay;\r\nAnd should I bend the bow, and pass the rings,\r\nThen shall not my illustrious mother leave\r\nHer son forlorn, forsaking this abode\r\nTo follow a new spouse, while I remain\r\nDisconsolate, although of age to bear,\r\nSuccessful as my sire, the prize away.\r\nSo saying, he started from his seat, cast off\r\nHis purple cloak, and lay\u2019d his sword aside,\r\nThen fix\u2019d, himself, the rings, furrowing the earth\r\nBy line, and op\u2019ning one long trench for all,\r\nAnd stamping close the glebe. Amazement seized\r\nAll present, seeing with how prompt a skill\r\nHe executed, though untaught, his task.\r\nThen, hasting to the portal, there he stood.\r\nThrice, struggling, he essay\u2019d to bend the bow,\r\nAnd thrice desisted, hoping still to draw\r\nThe bow-string home, and shoot through all the rings.[footnote]This first attempt of Telemachus and the suitors was not an attempt to shoot, but to lodge the bow-string on the opposite horn, the bow having been released at one end, and slackened while it was laid by.[\/footnote]<\/sup>\r\nAnd now the fourth time striving with full force\r\nHe had prevail\u2019d to string it, but his sire\r\nForbad his eager efforts by a sign.\r\nThen thus the royal youth to all around\u2014\r\nGods! either I shall prove of little force\r\nHereafter, and for manly feats unapt,\r\nOr I am yet too young, and have not strength\r\nTo quell the aggressor\u2019s contumely. But come\u2014\r\n(For ye have strength surpassing mine) try ye\r\nThe bow, and bring this contest to an end.\r\nHe ceas\u2019d, and set the bow down on the floor,\r\nReclining it against the shaven pannels smooth\r\nThat lined the wall; the arrow next he placed,\r\nLeaning against the bow\u2019s bright-polish\u2019d horn,\r\nAnd to the seat, whence he had ris\u2019n, return\u2019d.\r\nThen thus Eupithes\u2019 son, Antino\u00fcs spake.\r\nMy friends! come forth successive from the right,[footnote]Antino\u00fcs prescribes to them this manner of rising to the trial for the good omen\u2019s sake, the left-hand being held unpropitious.[\/footnote]<\/sup>\r\nWhere he who ministers the cup begins.\r\nSo spake Antino\u00fcs, and his counsel pleased.\r\nThen, first, Leiodes, \u0152nop\u2019s son, arose.\r\nHe was their soothsayer, and ever sat\r\nBeside the beaker, inmost of them all.\r\nTo him alone, of all, licentious deeds\r\nWere odious, and, with indignation fired,\r\nHe witness\u2019d the excesses of the rest.\r\nHe then took foremost up the shaft and bow,\r\nAnd, station\u2019d at the portal, strove to bend\r\nBut bent it not, fatiguing, first, his hands\r\nDelicate and uncustom\u2019d to the toil.\r\nHe ceased, and the assembly thus bespake.\r\nMy friends, I speed not; let another try;\r\nFor many Princes shall this bow of life\r\nBereave, since death more eligible seems,\r\nFar more, than loss of her, for whom we meet\r\nContinual here, expecting still the prize.\r\nSome suitor, haply, at this moment, hopes\r\nThat he shall wed whom long he hath desired,\r\nUlysses\u2019 wife, Penelope; let him\r\nEssay the bow, and, trial made, address\r\nHis spousal offers to some other fair\r\nAmong the long-stoled Princesses of Greece,\r\nThis Princess leaving his, whose proffer\u2019d gifts\r\nShall please her most, and whom the Fates ordain.\r\nHe said, and set the bow down on the floor,\r\nReclining it against the shaven pannels smooth\r\nThat lined the wall; the arrow, next, he placed,\r\nLeaning against the bow\u2019s bright-polish\u2019d horn,\r\nAnd to the seat whence he had ris\u2019n return\u2019d.\r\nThen him Antino\u00fcs, angry, thus reproved.\r\nWhat word, Leiodes, grating to our ears\r\nHath scap\u2019d thy lips? I hear it with disdain.\r\nShall this bow fatal prove to many a Prince,\r\nBecause thou hast, thyself, too feeble proved\r\nTo bend it? no. Thou wast not born to bend\r\nThe unpliant bow, or to direct the shaft,\r\nBut here are nobler who shall soon prevail.\r\nHe said, and to Melanthius gave command,\r\nThe goat-herd. Hence, Melanthius, kindle fire;\r\nBeside it place, with fleeces spread, a form\r\nOf length commodious; from within procure\r\nA large round cake of suet next, with which\r\nWhen we have chafed and suppled the tough bow\r\nBefore the fire, we will again essay\r\nTo bend it, and decide the doubtful strife.\r\nHe ended, and Melanthius, kindling fire\r\nBeside it placed, with fleeces spread, a form\r\nOf length commodious; next, he brought a cake\r\nAmple and round of suet from within,\r\nWith which they chafed the bow, then tried again\r\nTo bend, but bent it not; superior strength\r\nTo theirs that task required. Yet two, the rest\r\nIn force surpassing, made no trial yet,\r\nAntino\u00fcs, and Eurymachus the brave.\r\nThen went the herdsman and the swine-herd forth\r\nTogether; after whom, the glorious Chief\r\nHimself the house left also, and when all\r\nWithout the court had met, with gentle speech\r\nUlysses, then, the faithful pair address\u2019d.\r\nHerdsman! and thou, Eum\u00e6us! shall I keep\r\nA certain secret close, or shall I speak\r\nOutright? my spirit prompts me, and I will.\r\nWhat welcome should Ulysses at your hands\r\nReceive, arriving suddenly at home,\r\nSome God his guide; would ye the suitors aid,\r\nOr would ye aid Ulysses? answer true.\r\nThen thus the chief intendant of his herds.\r\nWould Jove but grant me my desire, to see\r\nOnce more the Hero, and would some kind Pow\u2019r,\r\nRestore him, I would shew thee soon an arm\r\nStrenuous to serve him, and a dauntless heart.\r\nEum\u00e6us, also, fervently implored\r\nThe Gods in pray\u2019r, that they would render back\r\nUlysses to his home. He, then, convinced\r\nOf their unfeigning honesty, began.\r\nBehold him! I am he myself, arrived\r\nAfter long suff\u2019rings in the twentieth year!\r\nI know how welcome to yourselves alone\r\nOf all my train I come, for I have heard\r\nNone others praying for my safe return.\r\nI therefore tell you truth; should heav\u2019n subdue\r\nThe suitors under me, ye shall receive\r\nEach at my hands a bride, with lands and house\r\nNear to my own, and ye shall be thenceforth\r\nDear friends and brothers of the Prince my son.\r\nLo! also this indisputable proof\r\nThat ye may know and trust me. View it here.\r\nIt is the scar which in Parnassus erst\r\n(Where with the sons I hunted of renown\u2019d\r\nAutolycus) I from a boar received.\r\nSo saying, he stripp\u2019d his tatters, and unveil\u2019d\r\nThe whole broad scar; then, soon as they had seen\r\nAnd surely recognized the mark, each cast\r\nHis arms around Ulysses, wept, embraced\r\nAnd press\u2019d him to his bosom, kissing oft\r\nHis brows and shoulders, who as oft their hands\r\nAnd foreheads kiss\u2019d, nor had the setting sun\r\nBeheld them satisfied, but that himself\r\nUlysses thus admonished them, and said.\r\nCease now from tears, lest any, coming forth,\r\nMark and report them to our foes within.\r\nNow, to the hall again, but one by one,\r\nNot all at once, I foremost, then yourselves,\r\nAnd this shall be the sign. Full well I know\r\nThat, all unanimous, they will oppose\r\nDeliv\u2019ry of the bow and shafts to me;\r\nBut thou, (proceeding with it to my seat)\r\nEum\u00e6us, noble friend! shalt give the bow\r\nInto my grasp; then bid the women close\r\nThe massy doors, and should they hear a groan\r\nOr other noise made by the Princes shut\r\nWithin the hall, let none set step abroad,\r\nBut all work silent. Be the palace-door\r\nThy charge, my good Phil\u0153tius! key it fast\r\nWithout a moment\u2019s pause, and fix the brace.[footnote]The \u03b4\u03b5\u03c3\u03bc\u1f78\u03c2 seems to have been a strap designed to close the only aperture by which the bolt could be displaced, and the door opened.[\/footnote]<\/sup>\r\nHe ended, and, returning to the hall,\r\nResumed his seat; nor stay\u2019d his servants long\r\nWithout, but follow\u2019d their illustrious Lord.\r\nEurymachus was busily employ\u2019d\r\nTurning the bow, and chafing it before\r\nThe sprightly blaze, but, after all, could find\r\nNo pow\u2019r to bend it. Disappointment wrung\r\nA groan from his proud heart, and thus he said.\r\nAlas! not only for myself I grieve,\r\nBut grieve for all. Nor, though I mourn the loss\r\nOf such a bride, mourn I that loss alone,\r\n(For lovely Greecians may be found no few\r\nIn Ithaca, and in the neighbour isles)\r\nBut should we so inferior prove at last\r\nTo brave Ulysses, that no force of ours\r\nCan bend his bow, we are for ever shamed.\r\nTo whom Antino\u00fcs, thus, Eupithes\u2019 son.\r\nNot so; (as even thou art well-assured\r\nThyself, Eurymachus!) but Ph\u0153bus claims\r\nThis day his own. Who then, on such a day,\r\nWould strive to bend it? Let it rather rest.\r\nAnd should we leave the rings where now they stand,\r\nI trust that none ent\u2019ring Ulysses\u2019 house\r\nWill dare displace them. Cup-bearer, attend!\r\nServe all with wine, that, first, libation made,\r\nWe may religiously lay down the bow.\r\nCommand ye too Melanthius, that he drive\r\nHither the fairest goats of all his flocks\r\nAt dawn of day, that burning first, the thighs\r\nTo the ethereal archer, we may make\r\nNew trial, and decide, at length, the strife.\r\nSo spake Antino\u00fcs, and his counsel pleased.\r\nThe heralds, then, pour\u2019d water on their hands,\r\nWhile youths crown\u2019d high the goblets which they bore\r\nFrom right to left, distributing to all.\r\nWhen each had made libation, and had drunk\r\nTill well sufficed, then, artful to effect\r\nHis shrewd designs, Ulysses thus began.\r\nHear, O ye suitors of the illustrious Queen,\r\nMy bosom\u2019s dictates. But I shall entreat\r\nChiefly Eurymachus and the godlike youth\r\nAntino\u00fcs, whose advice is wisely giv\u2019n.\r\nTamper no longer with the bow, but leave\r\nThe matter with the Gods, who shall decide\r\nThe strife to-morrow, fav\u2019ring whom they will.\r\nMeantime, grant me<\/i> the polish\u2019d bow, that I\r\nMay trial make among you of my force,\r\nIf I retain it still in like degree\r\nAs erst, or whether wand\u2019ring and defect\r\nOf nourishment have worn it all away.\r\nHe said, whom they with indignation heard\r\nExtreme, alarm\u2019d lest he should bend the bow,\r\nAnd sternly thus Antino\u00fcs replied.\r\nDesperate vagabond! ah wretch deprived\r\nOf reason utterly! art not content?\r\nEsteem\u2019st it not distinction proud enough\r\nTo feast with us the nobles of the land?\r\nNone robs thee of thy share, thou witnessest\r\nOur whole discourse, which, save thyself alone,\r\nNo needy vagrant is allow\u2019d to hear.\r\nThou art befool\u2019d by wine, as many have been,\r\nWide-throated drinkers, unrestrain\u2019d by rule.\r\nWine in the mansion of the mighty Chief\r\nPiritho\u00fcs, made the valiant Centaur mad\r\nEurytion, at the Lapith\u00e6an feast.[footnote]When Piritho\u00fcs, one of the Lapith\u00e6, married Hippodamia, daughter of Adrastus, he invited the Centaurs to the wedding. The Centaurs, intoxicated with wine, attempted to ravish the wives of the Lapith\u00e6, who in resentment of that insult, slew them.[\/footnote]<\/sup>\r\nHe drank to drunkenness, and being drunk,\r\nCommitted great enormities beneath\r\nPiritho\u00fcs\u2019 roof, and such as fill\u2019d with rage\r\nThe Hero-guests; who therefore by his feet\r\nDragg\u2019d him right through the vestibule, amerced\r\nOf nose and ears, and he departed thence\r\nProvoked to frenzy by that foul disgrace,\r\nWhence war between the human kind arose\r\nAnd the bold Centaurs\u2014but he first incurred\r\nBy his ebriety that mulct severe.\r\nGreat evil, also, if thou bend the bow,\r\nTo thee I prophesy; for thou shalt find\r\nAdvocate or protector none in all\r\nThis people, but we will dispatch thee hence\r\nIncontinent on board a sable bark\r\nTo Echetus, the scourge of human kind,\r\nFrom whom is no escape. Drink then in peace,\r\nAnd contest shun with younger men than thou.\r\nHim answer\u2019d, then, Penelope discrete.\r\nAntino\u00fcs! neither seemly were the deed\r\nNor just, to maim or harm whatever guest\r\nWhom here arrived Telemachus receives.\r\nCanst thou expect, that should he even prove\r\nStronger than ye, and bend the massy bow,\r\nHe will conduct me hence to his own home,\r\nAnd make me his own bride? No such design\r\nHis heart conceives, or hope; nor let a dread\r\nSo vain the mind of any overcloud\r\nWho banquets here, since it dishonours me.\r\nSo she; to whom Eurymachus reply\u2019d,\r\nOffspring of Polybus. O matchless Queen!\r\nIcarius\u2019 prudent daughter! none suspects\r\nThat thou wilt wed with him; a mate so mean\r\nShould ill become thee; but we fear the tongues\r\nOf either sex, lest some Achaian say\r\nHereafter, (one inferior far to us)\r\nAh! how unworthy are they to compare\r\nWith him whose wife they seek! to bend his bow\r\nPass\u2019d all their pow\u2019r, yet this poor vagabond,\r\nArriving from what country none can tell,\r\nBent it with ease, and shot through all the rings.\r\nSo will they speak, and so shall we be shamed.\r\nThen answer, thus, Penelope return\u2019d.\r\nNo fair report, Eurymachus, attends\r\nTheir names or can, who, riotous as ye,\r\nThe house dishonour, and consume the wealth\r\nOf such a Chief. Why shame ye thus yourselves<\/i>?\r\nThe guest is of athletic frame, well form\u2019d,\r\nAnd large of limb; he boasts him also sprung\r\nFrom noble ancestry. Come then\u2014consent\u2014\r\nGive him the bow, that we may see the proof;\r\nFor thus I say, and thus will I perform;\r\nSure as he bends it, and Apollo gives\r\nTo him that glory, tunic fair and cloak\r\nShall be his meed from me, a javelin keen\r\nTo guard him against men and dogs, a sword\r\nOf double edge, and sandals for his feet,\r\nAnd I will send him whither most he would.\r\nHer answer\u2019d then prudent Telemachus.\r\nMother\u2014the bow is mine; and, save myself,\r\nNo Greek hath right to give it, or refuse.\r\nNone who in rock-bound Ithaca possess\r\nDominion, none in the steed-pastured isles\r\nOf Elis, if I chose to make the bow\r\nHis own for ever, should that choice controul.\r\nBut thou into the house repairing, ply\r\nSpindle and loom, thy province, and enjoin\r\nDiligence to thy maidens; for the bow\r\nIs man\u2019s concern alone, and shall be mine\r\nEspecially, since I am master here.\r\nShe heard astonish\u2019d, and the prudent speech\r\nReposing of her son deep in her heart,\r\nWithdrew; then mounting with her female train\r\nTo her superior chamber, there she wept\r\nHer lost Ulysses, till Minerva bathed\r\nWith balmy dews of sleep her weary lids.\r\nAnd now the noble swine-herd bore the bow\r\nToward Ulysses, but with one voice all\r\nThe suitors, clamorous, reproved the deed,\r\nOf whom a youth, thus, insolent exclaim\u2019d.\r\nThou clumsy swine-herd, whither bear\u2019st the bow,\r\nDelirious wretch? the hounds that thou hast train\u2019d\r\nShall eat thee at thy solitary home\r\nEre long, let but Apollo prove, at last,\r\nPropitious to us, and the Pow\u2019rs of heav\u2019n.\r\nSo they, whom hearing he replaced the bow\r\nWhere erst it stood, terrified at the sound\r\nOf such loud menaces; on the other side\r\nTelemachus as loud assail\u2019d his ear.\r\nFriend! forward with the bow; or soon repent\r\nThat thou obey\u2019dst the many. I will else\r\nWith huge stones drive thee, younger as I am,\r\nBack to the field. My strength surpasses thine.\r\nI would to heav\u2019n that I in force excell\u2019d\r\nAs far, and prowess, every suitor here!\r\nSo would I soon give rude dismission hence\r\nTo some, who live but to imagine harm.\r\nHe ceased, whose words the suitors laughing heard.\r\nAnd, for their sake, in part their wrath resign\u2019d\r\nAgainst Telemachus; then through the hall\r\nEum\u00e6us bore, and to Ulysses\u2019 hand\r\nConsign\u2019d the bow; next, summoning abroad\r\nThe ancient nurse, he gave her thus in charge.\r\nIt is the pleasure of Telemachus,\r\nSage Euryclea! that thou key secure\r\nThe doors; and should you hear, perchance, a groan\r\nOr other noise made by the Princes shut\r\nWithin the hall, let none look, curious, forth,\r\nBut each in quietness pursue her work.\r\nSo he; nor flew his words useless away,\r\nBut she, incontinent, shut fast the doors.\r\nThen, noiseless, sprang Phil\u0153tius forth, who closed\r\nThe portals also of the palace-court.\r\nA ship-rope of \u00c6gyptian reed, it chanced,\r\nLay in the vestibule; with that he braced\r\nThe doors securely, and re-entring fill\u2019d\r\nAgain his seat, but watchful, eyed his Lord.\r\nHe, now, assaying with his hand the bow,\r\nMade curious trial of it ev\u2019ry way,\r\nAnd turn\u2019d it on all sides, lest haply worms\r\nHad in its master\u2019s absence drill\u2019d the horn.\r\nThen thus a suitor to his next remark\u2019d.\r\nHe hath an eye, methinks, exactly skill\u2019d\r\nIn bows, and steals them; or perhaps, at home,\r\nHath such himself, or feels a strong desire\r\nTo make them; so inquisitive the rogue\r\nAdept in mischief, shifts it to and fro!\r\nTo whom another, insolent, replied.\r\nI wish him like prosperity in all\r\nHis efforts, as attends his effort made\r\nOn this same bow, which he shall never bend.\r\nSo they; but when the wary Hero wise\r\nHad made his hand familiar with the bow\r\nPoising it and examining\u2014at once\u2014\r\nAs when in harp and song adept, a bard\r\nUnlab\u2019ring strains the chord to a new lyre,\r\nThe twisted entrails of a sheep below\r\nWith fingers nice inserting, and above,\r\nWith such facility Ulysses bent\r\nHis own huge bow, and with his right hand play\u2019d\r\nThe nerve, which in its quick vibration sang\r\nClear as the swallow\u2019s voice. Keen anguish seized\r\nThe suitors, wan grew ev\u2019ry cheek, and Jove\r\nGave him his rolling thunder for a sign.\r\nThat omen, granted to him by the son\r\nOf wily Saturn, with delight he heard.\r\nHe took a shaft that at the table-side\r\nLay ready drawn; but in his quiver\u2019s womb\r\nThe rest yet slept, by those Achaians proud\r\nTo be, ere long, experienced. True he lodg\u2019d\r\nThe arrow on the centre of the bow,\r\nAnd, occupying still his seat, drew home\r\nNerve and notch\u2019d arrow-head; with stedfast sight\r\nHe aimed and sent it; right through all the rings\r\nFrom first to last the steel-charged weapon flew\r\nIssuing beyond, and to his son he spake.\r\nThou need\u2019st not blush, young Prince, to have received\r\nA guest like me; neither my arrow swerved,\r\nNor labour\u2019d I long time to draw the bow;\r\nMy strength is unimpair\u2019d, not such as these\r\nIn scorn affirm it. But the waning day\r\nCalls us to supper, after which succeeds[footnote]This is an instance of the \u03a3\u03b1\u03c1\u03b4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd \u03bc\u03b1\u03bb\u03b1 \u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd mentioned in Book XX.; such as, perhaps, could not be easily paralleled. I question if there be a passage, either in ancient or modern tragedy, so truly terrible as this seeming levity of Ulysses, in the moment when he was going to begin the slaughter.[\/footnote]<\/sup>\r\nJocund variety, the song, the harp,\r\nWith all that heightens and adorns the feast.\r\nHe said, and with his brows gave him the sign.\r\nAt once the son of the illustrious Chief\r\nSlung his keen faulchion, grasp\u2019d his spear, and stood\r\nArm\u2019d bright for battle at his father\u2019s side.","rendered":"

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

Penelope proposes to the suitors a contest with the bow, herself the prize. They prove unable to bend the bow; when Ulysses having with some difficulty possessed himself of it, manages it with the utmost ease, and dispatches his arrow through twelve rings erected for the trial.<\/p>\n

Minerva, now, Goddess c\u00e6rulean-eyed,
\nPrompted Icarius\u2019 daughter, the discrete
\nPenelope, with bow and rings to prove
\nHer suitors in Ulysses\u2019 courts, a game
\nTerrible in conclusion to them all.
\nFirst, taking in her hand the brazen key
\nWell-forged, and fitted with an iv\u2019ry grasp,
\nAttended by the women of her train
\nShe sought her inmost chamber, the recess
\nIn which she kept the treasures of her Lord,
\nHis brass, his gold, and steel elaborate.
\nHere lay his stubborn bow, and quiver fill\u2019d
\nWith num\u2019rous shafts, a fatal store. That bow
\nHe had received and quiver from the hand
\nOf godlike Iphitus Eurytides,
\nWhom, in Messenia,[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup> in the house he met
\nOf brave Orsilochus. Ulysses came
\nDemanding payment of arrearage due
\nFrom all that land; for a Messenian fleet
\nHad borne from Ithaca three hundred sheep,
\nWith all their shepherds; for which cause, ere yet
\nAdult, he voyaged to that distant shore,
\nDeputed by his sire, and by the Chiefs
\nOf Ithaca, to make the just demand.
\nBut Iphitus had thither come to seek
\nTwelve mares and twelve mule colts which he had lost,
\nA search that cost him soon a bloody death.
\nFor, coming to the house of Hercules
\nThe valiant task-performing son of Jove,
\nHe perish\u2019d there, slain by his cruel host
\nWho, heedless of heav\u2019n\u2019s wrath, and of the rights
\nOf his own board, first fed, then slaughter\u2019d him;
\nFor in his<\/i> house the mares and colts were hidden.
\nHe, therefore, occupied in that concern,
\nMeeting Ulysses there, gave him the bow
\nWhich, erst, huge Eurytus had borne, and which
\nHimself had from his dying sire received.
\nUlysses, in return, on him bestowed
\nA spear and sword, pledges of future love
\nAnd hospitality; but never more
\nThey met each other at the friendly board,
\nFor, ere that hour arrived, the son of Jove
\nSlew his own guest, the godlike Iphitus.
\nThus came the bow into Ulysses\u2019 hands,
\nWhich, never in his gallant barks he bore
\nTo battle with him, (though he used it oft
\nIn times of peace) but left it safely stored
\nAt home, a dear memorial of his friend.
\nSoon as, divinest of her sex, arrived
\nAt that same chamber, with her foot she press\u2019d
\nThe oaken threshold bright, on which the hand
\nOf no mean architect had stretch\u2019d the line,
\nWho had erected also on each side
\nThe posts on which the splendid portals hung,
\nShe loos\u2019d the ring and brace, then introduced
\nThe key, and aiming at them from without,[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>
\nStruck back the bolts. The portals, at that stroke,
\nSent forth a tone deep as the pastur\u2019d bull\u2019s,
\nAnd flew wide open. She, ascending, next,
\nThe elevated floor on which the chests
\nThat held her own fragrant apparel stood,
\nWith lifted hand aloft took down the bow
\nIn its embroider\u2019d bow-case safe enclosed.
\nThen, sitting there, she lay\u2019d it on her knees,
\nWeeping aloud, and drew it from the case.
\nThus weeping over it long time she sat,
\nTill satiate, at the last, with grief and tears,
\nDescending by the palace steps she sought
\nAgain the haughty suitors, with the bow
\nElastic, and the quiver in her hand
\nReplete with pointed shafts, a deadly store.
\nHer maidens, as she went, bore after her
\nA coffer fill\u2019d with prizes by her Lord,
\nMuch brass and steel; and when at length she came,
\nLoveliest of women, where the suitors sat,
\nBetween the pillars of the stately dome
\nPausing, before her beauteous face she held
\nHer lucid veil, and by two matrons chaste
\nSupported, the assembly thus address\u2019d.
\nYe noble suitors hear, who rudely haunt
\nThis palace of a Chief long absent hence,
\nWhose substance ye have now long time consumed,
\nNor palliative have yet contrived, or could,
\nSave your ambition to make me a bride\u2014
\nAttend this game to which I call you forth.
\nNow suitors! prove yourselves with this huge bow
\nOf wide-renown\u2019d Ulysses; he who draws
\nEasiest the bow, and who his arrow sends
\nThrough twice six rings, he takes me to his home,
\nAnd I must leave this mansion of my youth
\nPlenteous, magnificent, which, doubtless, oft
\nI shall remember even in my dreams.
\nSo saying, she bade Eum\u00e6us lay the bow
\nBefore them, and the twice six rings of steel.
\nHe wept, received them, and obey\u2019d; nor wept
\nThe herdsman less, seeing the bow which erst
\nHis Lord had occupied; when at their tears
\nIndignant, thus, Antino\u00fcs began.
\nYe rural drones, whose purblind eyes see not
\nBeyond the present hour, egregious fools!
\nWhy weeping trouble ye the Queen, too much
\nBefore afflicted for her husband lost?
\nEither partake the banquet silently,
\nOr else go weep abroad, leaving the bow,
\nThat stubborn test, to us; for none, I judge,
\nNone here shall bend this polish\u2019d bow with ease,
\nSince in this whole assembly I discern
\nNone like Ulysses, whom myself have seen
\nAnd recollect, though I was then a boy.
\nHe said, but in his heart, meantime, the hope
\nCherish\u2019d, that he should bend, himself, the bow,
\nAnd pass the rings; yet was he destin\u2019d first
\nOf all that company to taste the steel
\nOf brave Ulysses\u2019 shaft, whom in that house
\nHe had so oft dishonour\u2019d, and had urged
\nSo oft all others to the like offence.
\nAmidst them, then, the sacred might arose
\nOf young Telemachus, who thus began.
\nSaturnian Jove questionless hath deprived
\nMe of all reason. My own mother, fam\u2019d
\nFor wisdom as she is, makes known to all
\nHer purpose to abandon this abode
\nAnd follow a new mate, while, heedless, I
\nTrifle and laugh as I were still a child.
\nBut come, ye suitors! since the prize is such,
\nA woman like to whom none can be found
\nThis day in all Achaia; on the shores
\nOf sacred Pylus; in the cities proud
\nOf Argos or Mycen\u00e6; or even here
\nIn Ithaca; or yet within the walls
\nOf black Epirus; and since this yourselves
\nKnow also, wherefore should I speak her praise?
\nCome then, delay not, waste not time in vain
\nExcuses, turn not from the proof, but bend
\nThe bow, that thus the issue may be known.
\nI also will, myself, that task essay;
\nAnd should I bend the bow, and pass the rings,
\nThen shall not my illustrious mother leave
\nHer son forlorn, forsaking this abode
\nTo follow a new spouse, while I remain
\nDisconsolate, although of age to bear,
\nSuccessful as my sire, the prize away.
\nSo saying, he started from his seat, cast off
\nHis purple cloak, and lay\u2019d his sword aside,
\nThen fix\u2019d, himself, the rings, furrowing the earth
\nBy line, and op\u2019ning one long trench for all,
\nAnd stamping close the glebe. Amazement seized
\nAll present, seeing with how prompt a skill
\nHe executed, though untaught, his task.
\nThen, hasting to the portal, there he stood.
\nThrice, struggling, he essay\u2019d to bend the bow,
\nAnd thrice desisted, hoping still to draw
\nThe bow-string home, and shoot through all the rings.[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>
\nAnd now the fourth time striving with full force
\nHe had prevail\u2019d to string it, but his sire
\nForbad his eager efforts by a sign.
\nThen thus the royal youth to all around\u2014
\nGods! either I shall prove of little force
\nHereafter, and for manly feats unapt,
\nOr I am yet too young, and have not strength
\nTo quell the aggressor\u2019s contumely. But come\u2014
\n(For ye have strength surpassing mine) try ye
\nThe bow, and bring this contest to an end.
\nHe ceas\u2019d, and set the bow down on the floor,
\nReclining it against the shaven pannels smooth
\nThat lined the wall; the arrow next he placed,
\nLeaning against the bow\u2019s bright-polish\u2019d horn,
\nAnd to the seat, whence he had ris\u2019n, return\u2019d.
\nThen thus Eupithes\u2019 son, Antino\u00fcs spake.
\nMy friends! come forth successive from the right,[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>
\nWhere he who ministers the cup begins.
\nSo spake Antino\u00fcs, and his counsel pleased.
\nThen, first, Leiodes, \u0152nop\u2019s son, arose.
\nHe was their soothsayer, and ever sat
\nBeside the beaker, inmost of them all.
\nTo him alone, of all, licentious deeds
\nWere odious, and, with indignation fired,
\nHe witness\u2019d the excesses of the rest.
\nHe then took foremost up the shaft and bow,
\nAnd, station\u2019d at the portal, strove to bend
\nBut bent it not, fatiguing, first, his hands
\nDelicate and uncustom\u2019d to the toil.
\nHe ceased, and the assembly thus bespake.
\nMy friends, I speed not; let another try;
\nFor many Princes shall this bow of life
\nBereave, since death more eligible seems,
\nFar more, than loss of her, for whom we meet
\nContinual here, expecting still the prize.
\nSome suitor, haply, at this moment, hopes
\nThat he shall wed whom long he hath desired,
\nUlysses\u2019 wife, Penelope; let him
\nEssay the bow, and, trial made, address
\nHis spousal offers to some other fair
\nAmong the long-stoled Princesses of Greece,
\nThis Princess leaving his, whose proffer\u2019d gifts
\nShall please her most, and whom the Fates ordain.
\nHe said, and set the bow down on the floor,
\nReclining it against the shaven pannels smooth
\nThat lined the wall; the arrow, next, he placed,
\nLeaning against the bow\u2019s bright-polish\u2019d horn,
\nAnd to the seat whence he had ris\u2019n return\u2019d.
\nThen him Antino\u00fcs, angry, thus reproved.
\nWhat word, Leiodes, grating to our ears
\nHath scap\u2019d thy lips? I hear it with disdain.
\nShall this bow fatal prove to many a Prince,
\nBecause thou hast, thyself, too feeble proved
\nTo bend it? no. Thou wast not born to bend
\nThe unpliant bow, or to direct the shaft,
\nBut here are nobler who shall soon prevail.
\nHe said, and to Melanthius gave command,
\nThe goat-herd. Hence, Melanthius, kindle fire;
\nBeside it place, with fleeces spread, a form
\nOf length commodious; from within procure
\nA large round cake of suet next, with which
\nWhen we have chafed and suppled the tough bow
\nBefore the fire, we will again essay
\nTo bend it, and decide the doubtful strife.
\nHe ended, and Melanthius, kindling fire
\nBeside it placed, with fleeces spread, a form
\nOf length commodious; next, he brought a cake
\nAmple and round of suet from within,
\nWith which they chafed the bow, then tried again
\nTo bend, but bent it not; superior strength
\nTo theirs that task required. Yet two, the rest
\nIn force surpassing, made no trial yet,
\nAntino\u00fcs, and Eurymachus the brave.
\nThen went the herdsman and the swine-herd forth
\nTogether; after whom, the glorious Chief
\nHimself the house left also, and when all
\nWithout the court had met, with gentle speech
\nUlysses, then, the faithful pair address\u2019d.
\nHerdsman! and thou, Eum\u00e6us! shall I keep
\nA certain secret close, or shall I speak
\nOutright? my spirit prompts me, and I will.
\nWhat welcome should Ulysses at your hands
\nReceive, arriving suddenly at home,
\nSome God his guide; would ye the suitors aid,
\nOr would ye aid Ulysses? answer true.
\nThen thus the chief intendant of his herds.
\nWould Jove but grant me my desire, to see
\nOnce more the Hero, and would some kind Pow\u2019r,
\nRestore him, I would shew thee soon an arm
\nStrenuous to serve him, and a dauntless heart.
\nEum\u00e6us, also, fervently implored
\nThe Gods in pray\u2019r, that they would render back
\nUlysses to his home. He, then, convinced
\nOf their unfeigning honesty, began.
\nBehold him! I am he myself, arrived
\nAfter long suff\u2019rings in the twentieth year!
\nI know how welcome to yourselves alone
\nOf all my train I come, for I have heard
\nNone others praying for my safe return.
\nI therefore tell you truth; should heav\u2019n subdue
\nThe suitors under me, ye shall receive
\nEach at my hands a bride, with lands and house
\nNear to my own, and ye shall be thenceforth
\nDear friends and brothers of the Prince my son.
\nLo! also this indisputable proof
\nThat ye may know and trust me. View it here.
\nIt is the scar which in Parnassus erst
\n(Where with the sons I hunted of renown\u2019d
\nAutolycus) I from a boar received.
\nSo saying, he stripp\u2019d his tatters, and unveil\u2019d
\nThe whole broad scar; then, soon as they had seen
\nAnd surely recognized the mark, each cast
\nHis arms around Ulysses, wept, embraced
\nAnd press\u2019d him to his bosom, kissing oft
\nHis brows and shoulders, who as oft their hands
\nAnd foreheads kiss\u2019d, nor had the setting sun
\nBeheld them satisfied, but that himself
\nUlysses thus admonished them, and said.
\nCease now from tears, lest any, coming forth,
\nMark and report them to our foes within.
\nNow, to the hall again, but one by one,
\nNot all at once, I foremost, then yourselves,
\nAnd this shall be the sign. Full well I know
\nThat, all unanimous, they will oppose
\nDeliv\u2019ry of the bow and shafts to me;
\nBut thou, (proceeding with it to my seat)
\nEum\u00e6us, noble friend! shalt give the bow
\nInto my grasp; then bid the women close
\nThe massy doors, and should they hear a groan
\nOr other noise made by the Princes shut
\nWithin the hall, let none set step abroad,
\nBut all work silent. Be the palace-door
\nThy charge, my good Phil\u0153tius! key it fast
\nWithout a moment\u2019s pause, and fix the brace.[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>
\nHe ended, and, returning to the hall,
\nResumed his seat; nor stay\u2019d his servants long
\nWithout, but follow\u2019d their illustrious Lord.
\nEurymachus was busily employ\u2019d
\nTurning the bow, and chafing it before
\nThe sprightly blaze, but, after all, could find
\nNo pow\u2019r to bend it. Disappointment wrung
\nA groan from his proud heart, and thus he said.
\nAlas! not only for myself I grieve,
\nBut grieve for all. Nor, though I mourn the loss
\nOf such a bride, mourn I that loss alone,
\n(For lovely Greecians may be found no few
\nIn Ithaca, and in the neighbour isles)
\nBut should we so inferior prove at last
\nTo brave Ulysses, that no force of ours
\nCan bend his bow, we are for ever shamed.
\nTo whom Antino\u00fcs, thus, Eupithes\u2019 son.
\nNot so; (as even thou art well-assured
\nThyself, Eurymachus!) but Ph\u0153bus claims
\nThis day his own. Who then, on such a day,
\nWould strive to bend it? Let it rather rest.
\nAnd should we leave the rings where now they stand,
\nI trust that none ent\u2019ring Ulysses\u2019 house
\nWill dare displace them. Cup-bearer, attend!
\nServe all with wine, that, first, libation made,
\nWe may religiously lay down the bow.
\nCommand ye too Melanthius, that he drive
\nHither the fairest goats of all his flocks
\nAt dawn of day, that burning first, the thighs
\nTo the ethereal archer, we may make
\nNew trial, and decide, at length, the strife.
\nSo spake Antino\u00fcs, and his counsel pleased.
\nThe heralds, then, pour\u2019d water on their hands,
\nWhile youths crown\u2019d high the goblets which they bore
\nFrom right to left, distributing to all.
\nWhen each had made libation, and had drunk
\nTill well sufficed, then, artful to effect
\nHis shrewd designs, Ulysses thus began.
\nHear, O ye suitors of the illustrious Queen,
\nMy bosom\u2019s dictates. But I shall entreat
\nChiefly Eurymachus and the godlike youth
\nAntino\u00fcs, whose advice is wisely giv\u2019n.
\nTamper no longer with the bow, but leave
\nThe matter with the Gods, who shall decide
\nThe strife to-morrow, fav\u2019ring whom they will.
\nMeantime, grant me<\/i> the polish\u2019d bow, that I
\nMay trial make among you of my force,
\nIf I retain it still in like degree
\nAs erst, or whether wand\u2019ring and defect
\nOf nourishment have worn it all away.
\nHe said, whom they with indignation heard
\nExtreme, alarm\u2019d lest he should bend the bow,
\nAnd sternly thus Antino\u00fcs replied.
\nDesperate vagabond! ah wretch deprived
\nOf reason utterly! art not content?
\nEsteem\u2019st it not distinction proud enough
\nTo feast with us the nobles of the land?
\nNone robs thee of thy share, thou witnessest
\nOur whole discourse, which, save thyself alone,
\nNo needy vagrant is allow\u2019d to hear.
\nThou art befool\u2019d by wine, as many have been,
\nWide-throated drinkers, unrestrain\u2019d by rule.
\nWine in the mansion of the mighty Chief
\nPiritho\u00fcs, made the valiant Centaur mad
\nEurytion, at the Lapith\u00e6an feast.[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>
\nHe drank to drunkenness, and being drunk,
\nCommitted great enormities beneath
\nPiritho\u00fcs\u2019 roof, and such as fill\u2019d with rage
\nThe Hero-guests; who therefore by his feet
\nDragg\u2019d him right through the vestibule, amerced
\nOf nose and ears, and he departed thence
\nProvoked to frenzy by that foul disgrace,
\nWhence war between the human kind arose
\nAnd the bold Centaurs\u2014but he first incurred
\nBy his ebriety that mulct severe.
\nGreat evil, also, if thou bend the bow,
\nTo thee I prophesy; for thou shalt find
\nAdvocate or protector none in all
\nThis people, but we will dispatch thee hence
\nIncontinent on board a sable bark
\nTo Echetus, the scourge of human kind,
\nFrom whom is no escape. Drink then in peace,
\nAnd contest shun with younger men than thou.
\nHim answer\u2019d, then, Penelope discrete.
\nAntino\u00fcs! neither seemly were the deed
\nNor just, to maim or harm whatever guest
\nWhom here arrived Telemachus receives.
\nCanst thou expect, that should he even prove
\nStronger than ye, and bend the massy bow,
\nHe will conduct me hence to his own home,
\nAnd make me his own bride? No such design
\nHis heart conceives, or hope; nor let a dread
\nSo vain the mind of any overcloud
\nWho banquets here, since it dishonours me.
\nSo she; to whom Eurymachus reply\u2019d,
\nOffspring of Polybus. O matchless Queen!
\nIcarius\u2019 prudent daughter! none suspects
\nThat thou wilt wed with him; a mate so mean
\nShould ill become thee; but we fear the tongues
\nOf either sex, lest some Achaian say
\nHereafter, (one inferior far to us)
\nAh! how unworthy are they to compare
\nWith him whose wife they seek! to bend his bow
\nPass\u2019d all their pow\u2019r, yet this poor vagabond,
\nArriving from what country none can tell,
\nBent it with ease, and shot through all the rings.
\nSo will they speak, and so shall we be shamed.
\nThen answer, thus, Penelope return\u2019d.
\nNo fair report, Eurymachus, attends
\nTheir names or can, who, riotous as ye,
\nThe house dishonour, and consume the wealth
\nOf such a Chief. Why shame ye thus yourselves<\/i>?
\nThe guest is of athletic frame, well form\u2019d,
\nAnd large of limb; he boasts him also sprung
\nFrom noble ancestry. Come then\u2014consent\u2014
\nGive him the bow, that we may see the proof;
\nFor thus I say, and thus will I perform;
\nSure as he bends it, and Apollo gives
\nTo him that glory, tunic fair and cloak
\nShall be his meed from me, a javelin keen
\nTo guard him against men and dogs, a sword
\nOf double edge, and sandals for his feet,
\nAnd I will send him whither most he would.
\nHer answer\u2019d then prudent Telemachus.
\nMother\u2014the bow is mine; and, save myself,
\nNo Greek hath right to give it, or refuse.
\nNone who in rock-bound Ithaca possess
\nDominion, none in the steed-pastured isles
\nOf Elis, if I chose to make the bow
\nHis own for ever, should that choice controul.
\nBut thou into the house repairing, ply
\nSpindle and loom, thy province, and enjoin
\nDiligence to thy maidens; for the bow
\nIs man\u2019s concern alone, and shall be mine
\nEspecially, since I am master here.
\nShe heard astonish\u2019d, and the prudent speech
\nReposing of her son deep in her heart,
\nWithdrew; then mounting with her female train
\nTo her superior chamber, there she wept
\nHer lost Ulysses, till Minerva bathed
\nWith balmy dews of sleep her weary lids.
\nAnd now the noble swine-herd bore the bow
\nToward Ulysses, but with one voice all
\nThe suitors, clamorous, reproved the deed,
\nOf whom a youth, thus, insolent exclaim\u2019d.
\nThou clumsy swine-herd, whither bear\u2019st the bow,
\nDelirious wretch? the hounds that thou hast train\u2019d
\nShall eat thee at thy solitary home
\nEre long, let but Apollo prove, at last,
\nPropitious to us, and the Pow\u2019rs of heav\u2019n.
\nSo they, whom hearing he replaced the bow
\nWhere erst it stood, terrified at the sound
\nOf such loud menaces; on the other side
\nTelemachus as loud assail\u2019d his ear.
\nFriend! forward with the bow; or soon repent
\nThat thou obey\u2019dst the many. I will else
\nWith huge stones drive thee, younger as I am,
\nBack to the field. My strength surpasses thine.
\nI would to heav\u2019n that I in force excell\u2019d
\nAs far, and prowess, every suitor here!
\nSo would I soon give rude dismission hence
\nTo some, who live but to imagine harm.
\nHe ceased, whose words the suitors laughing heard.
\nAnd, for their sake, in part their wrath resign\u2019d
\nAgainst Telemachus; then through the hall
\nEum\u00e6us bore, and to Ulysses\u2019 hand
\nConsign\u2019d the bow; next, summoning abroad
\nThe ancient nurse, he gave her thus in charge.
\nIt is the pleasure of Telemachus,
\nSage Euryclea! that thou key secure
\nThe doors; and should you hear, perchance, a groan
\nOr other noise made by the Princes shut
\nWithin the hall, let none look, curious, forth,
\nBut each in quietness pursue her work.
\nSo he; nor flew his words useless away,
\nBut she, incontinent, shut fast the doors.
\nThen, noiseless, sprang Phil\u0153tius forth, who closed
\nThe portals also of the palace-court.
\nA ship-rope of \u00c6gyptian reed, it chanced,
\nLay in the vestibule; with that he braced
\nThe doors securely, and re-entring fill\u2019d
\nAgain his seat, but watchful, eyed his Lord.
\nHe, now, assaying with his hand the bow,
\nMade curious trial of it ev\u2019ry way,
\nAnd turn\u2019d it on all sides, lest haply worms
\nHad in its master\u2019s absence drill\u2019d the horn.
\nThen thus a suitor to his next remark\u2019d.
\nHe hath an eye, methinks, exactly skill\u2019d
\nIn bows, and steals them; or perhaps, at home,
\nHath such himself, or feels a strong desire
\nTo make them; so inquisitive the rogue
\nAdept in mischief, shifts it to and fro!
\nTo whom another, insolent, replied.
\nI wish him like prosperity in all
\nHis efforts, as attends his effort made
\nOn this same bow, which he shall never bend.
\nSo they; but when the wary Hero wise
\nHad made his hand familiar with the bow
\nPoising it and examining\u2014at once\u2014
\nAs when in harp and song adept, a bard
\nUnlab\u2019ring strains the chord to a new lyre,
\nThe twisted entrails of a sheep below
\nWith fingers nice inserting, and above,
\nWith such facility Ulysses bent
\nHis own huge bow, and with his right hand play\u2019d
\nThe nerve, which in its quick vibration sang
\nClear as the swallow\u2019s voice. Keen anguish seized
\nThe suitors, wan grew ev\u2019ry cheek, and Jove
\nGave him his rolling thunder for a sign.
\nThat omen, granted to him by the son
\nOf wily Saturn, with delight he heard.
\nHe took a shaft that at the table-side
\nLay ready drawn; but in his quiver\u2019s womb
\nThe rest yet slept, by those Achaians proud
\nTo be, ere long, experienced. True he lodg\u2019d
\nThe arrow on the centre of the bow,
\nAnd, occupying still his seat, drew home
\nNerve and notch\u2019d arrow-head; with stedfast sight
\nHe aimed and sent it; right through all the rings
\nFrom first to last the steel-charged weapon flew
\nIssuing beyond, and to his son he spake.
\nThou need\u2019st not blush, young Prince, to have received
\nA guest like me; neither my arrow swerved,
\nNor labour\u2019d I long time to draw the bow;
\nMy strength is unimpair\u2019d, not such as these
\nIn scorn affirm it. But the waning day
\nCalls us to supper, after which succeeds[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>
\nJocund variety, the song, the harp,
\nWith all that heightens and adorns the feast.
\nHe said, and with his brows gave him the sign.
\nAt once the son of the illustrious Chief
\nSlung his keen faulchion, grasp\u2019d his spear, and stood
\nArm\u2019d bright for battle at his father\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

  1. A province of Laconia. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  2. The reader will of course observe, that the whole of this process implies a sort of mechanism very different from that with which we are acquainted.\u2014The translation, I believe, is exact. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  3. This first attempt of Telemachus and the suitors was not an attempt to shoot, but to lodge the bow-string on the opposite horn, the bow having been released at one end, and slackened while it was laid by. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  4. Antino\u00fcs prescribes to them this manner of rising to the trial for the good omen\u2019s sake, the left-hand being held unpropitious. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  5. The \u03b4\u03b5\u03c3\u03bc\u1f78\u03c2 seems to have been a strap designed to close the only aperture by which the bolt could be displaced, and the door opened. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  6. When Piritho\u00fcs, one of the Lapith\u00e6, married Hippodamia, daughter of Adrastus, he invited the Centaurs to the wedding. The Centaurs, intoxicated with wine, attempted to ravish the wives of the Lapith\u00e6, who in resentment of that insult, slew them. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  7. This is an instance of the \u03a3\u03b1\u03c1\u03b4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd \u03bc\u03b1\u03bb\u03b1 \u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd mentioned in Book XX.; such as, perhaps, could not be easily paralleled. I question if there be a passage, either in ancient or modern tragedy, so truly terrible as this seeming levity of Ulysses, in the moment when he was going to begin the slaughter. ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":299,"menu_order":21,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-127","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\/127","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":4,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/127\/revisions\/261"}],"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\/127\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}