Odysseus, his descent into hell, and discourses with the ghosts of the
deceased heroes.
“Now when we had gone down to the ship and to the sea, first of all we
drew the ship unto the fair salt water and placed the mast and sails in
the black ship, and took those sheep and put them therein, and
ourselves too climbed on board, sorrowing, and shedding big tears. And
in the wake of our dark-prowed ship she sent a favouring wind that
filled the sails, a kindly escort,—even Circe of the braided tresses, a
dread goddess of human speech. And we set in order all the gear
throughout the ship and sat us down; and the wind and the helmsman
guided our barque. And all day long her sails were stretched in her
seafaring; and the sun sank and all the ways were darkened.
“She came to the limits of the world, to the deep-flowing Oceanus.
There is the land and the city of the Cimmerians, shrouded in mist and
cloud, and never does the shining sun look down on them with his rays,
neither when he climbs up the starry heavens, nor when again he turns
earthward from the firmament, but deadly night is outspread over
miserable mortals. Thither we came and ran the ship ashore and took out
the sheep; but for our part we held on our way along the stream of
Oceanus, till we came to the place which Circe had declared to us.
“There Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, but I drew my sharp
sword from my thigh, and dug a pit, as it were a cubit in length and
breadth, and about it poured a drink-offering to all the dead, first
with mead and thereafter with sweet wine, and for the third time with
water. And I sprinkled white meal thereon, and entreated with many
prayers the strengthless heads of the dead, and promised that on my
return to Ithaca I would offer in my halls a barren heifer, the best I
had, and fill the pyre with treasure, and apart unto Teiresias alone
sacrifice a black ram without spot, the fairest of my flock. But when I
had besought the tribes of the dead with vows and prayers, I took the
sheep and cut their throats over the trench, and the dark blood flowed
forth, and lo, the spirits of the dead that be departed gathered them
from out of Erebus. Brides and youths unwed, and old men of many and
evil days, and tender maidens with grief yet fresh at heart; and many
there were, wounded with bronze-shod spears, men slain in fight with
their bloody mail about them. And these many ghosts flocked together
from every side about the trench with a wondrous cry, and pale fear gat
hold on me. Then did I speak to my company and command them to flay the
sheep that lay slain by the pitiless sword, and to consume them with
fire, and to make prayer to the gods, to mighty Hades and to dread
Persephone, and myself I drew the sharp sword from my thigh and sat
there, suffering not the strengthless heads of the dead to draw nigh to
the blood, ere I had word of Teiresias.
“And first came the soul of Elpenor, my companion, that had not yet
been buried beneath the wide-wayed earth; for we left the corpse behind
us in the hall of Circe, unwept and unburied, seeing that another task
was instant on us. At the sight of him I wept and had compassion on
him, and uttering my voice spake to him winged words: ‘Elpenor, how
hast thou come beneath the darkness and the shadow? Thou hast come
fleeter on foot than I in my black ship.’
“So spake I, and with a moan he answered me, saying: ‘Son of Laertes,
of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, an evil doom of some god
was my bane and wine out of measure. When I laid me down on the
house-top of Circe I minded me not to descend again by the way of the
tall ladder, but fell right down from the roof, and my neck was broken
off from the bones of the spine, and my spirit went down to the house
of Hades. And now I pray thee in the name of those whom we left, who
are no more with us, thy wife, and thy sire who cherished thee when as
yet thou wert a little one, and Telemachus, whom thou didst leave in
thy halls alone; forasmuch as I know that on thy way hence from out the
dwelling of Hades, thou wilt stay thy well-wrought ship at the isle
Aeaean, even then, my lord, I charge thee to think on me. Leave me not
unwept and unburied as thou goest hence, nor turn thy back upon me,
lest haply I bring on thee the anger of the gods. Nay, burn me there
with mine armour, all that is mine, and pile me a barrow on the shore
of the grey sea, the grave of a luckless man, that even men unborn may
hear my story. Fulfil me this and plant upon the barrow mine oar,
wherewith I rowed in the days of my life, while yet I was among my
fellows.’
“Even so he spake, and I answered him saying: ‘All this, luckless man,
will I perform for thee and do.’
“Even so we twain were sitting holding sad discourse, I on the one
side, stretching forth my sword over the blood, while on the other side
the ghost of my friend told all his tale.
“Anon came up the soul of my mother dead, Anticleia, the daughter of
Autolycus the great-hearted, whom I left alive when I departed for
sacred Ilios. At the sight of her I wept, and was moved with
compassion, yet even so, for all my sore grief, I suffered her not to
draw nigh to the blood, ere I had word of Teiresias.
“Anon came the soul of Theban Teiresias, with a golden sceptre in his
hand, and he knew me and spake unto me: ‘Son of Laertes, of the seed of
Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, what seekest thou NOW, wretched man,
wherefore hast thou left the sunlight and come hither to behold the
dead and a land desolate of joy? Nay, hold off from the ditch and draw
back thy sharp sword, that I may drink of the blood and tell thee
sooth.’
“So spake he and I put up my silver-studded sword into the sheath, and
when he had drunk the dark blood, even then did the noble seer speak
unto me, saying: Thou art asking of thy sweet returning, great
Odysseus, but that will the god make hard for thee; for methinks thou
shalt not pass unheeded by the Shaker of the Earth, who hath laid up
wrath in his heart against thee, for rage at the blinding of his dear
son. Yet even so, through many troubles, ye may come home, if thou wilt
restrain thy spirit and the spirit of thy men so soon as thou shalt
bring thy well-wrought ship nigh to the isle Thrinacia, fleeing the sea
of violet blue, when ye find the herds of Helios grazing and his brave
flocks, of Helios who overseeth all and overheareth all things. If thou
doest these no hurt, being heedful of thy return, so may ye yet reach
Ithaca, albeit in evil case. But if thou hurtest them, I foreshow ruin
for thy ship and for thy men, and even though thou shalt thyself
escape, late shalt thou return in evil plight, with the loss of all thy
company, on board the ship of strangers, and thou shalt find sorrows in
thy house, even proud men that devour thy living, while they woo thy
godlike wife and offer the gifts of wooing. Yet I tell thee, on thy
coming thou shalt avenge their violence. But when thou hast slain the
wooers in thy halls, whether by guile, or openly with the edge of the
sword, thereafter go thy way, taking with thee a shapen oar, till thou
shalt come to such men as know not the sea, neither eat meat savoured
with salt; yea, nor have they knowledge of ships of purple cheek, nor
shapen oars which serve for wings to ships. And I will give thee a most
manifest token, which cannot escape thee. In the day when another
wayfarer shall meet thee and say that thou hast a winnowing fan on thy
stout shoulder, even then make fast thy shapen oar in the earth and do
goodly sacrifice to the lord Poseidon, even with a ram and a bull and a
boar, the mate of swine, and depart for home and offer holy hecatombs
to the deathless gods that keep the wide heaven, to each in order due.
And from the sea shall thine own death come, the gentlest death that
may be, which shall end thee foredone with smooth old age, and the folk
shall dwell happily around thee. This that I say is sooth.’
“So spake he, and I answered him, saying: ‘Teiresias, all these
threads, methinks, the gods themselves have spun. But come, declare me
this and plainly tell me all. I see here the spirit of my mother dead;
lo, she sits in silence near the blood, nor deigns to look her son in
the face nor speak to him! Tell me, prince, how may she know me again
that I am he?’
“So spake I, and anon he answered me, and said: ‘I will tell thee an
easy saying, and will put it in thy heart. Whomsoever of the dead that
be departed thou shalt suffer to draw nigh to the blood, he shall tell
thee sooth; but if thou shalt grudge any, that one shall go to his own
place again.’ Therewith the spirit of the prince Teiresias went back
within the house of Hades, when he had told all his oracles. But I
abode there steadfastly, till my mother drew nigh and drank the dark
blood; and at once she knew me, and bewailing herself spake to me
winged words:
“‘Dear child, how didst thou come beneath the darkness and the shadow,
thou that art a living man? Grievous is the sight of these things to
the living, for between us and you are great rivers and dreadful
streams; first, Oceanus, which can no wise be crossed on foot, but only
if one have a well wrought ship. Art thou but now come hither with thy
ship and thy company in thy long wanderings from Troy? and hast thou
not yet reached Ithaca, nor seen thy wife in thy halls?’
“Even so she spake, and I answered her, and said: ‘O my mother,
necessity was on me to come down to the house of Hades to seek to the
spirit of Theban Teiresias. For not yet have I drawn near to the
Achaean shore, nor yet have I set foot on mine own country, but have
been wandering evermore in affliction, from the day that first I went
with goodly Agamemnon to Ilios of the fair steeds, to do battle with
the Trojans. But come, declare me this and plainly tell it all. What
doom overcame thee of death that lays men at their length? Was it a
slow disease, or did Artemis the archer slay thee with the visitation
of her gentle shafts? And tell me of my father and my son, that I left
behind me; doth my honour yet abide with them, or hath another already
taken it, while they say that I shall come home no more? And tell me of
my wedded wife, of her counsel and her purpose, doth she abide with her
son and keep all secure, or hath she already wedded the best of the
Achaeans?’
“Even so I spake, and anon my lady mother answered me: ‘Yea verily, she
abideth with steadfast spirit in thy halls; and wearily for her the
nights wane always and the days in shedding of tears. But the fair
honour that is thine no man hath yet taken; but Telemachus sits at
peace on his demesne, and feasts at equal banquets, whereof it is meet
that a judge partake, for all men bid him to their house. And thy
father abides there in the field, and goes not down to the town, nor
lies he on bedding or rugs or shining blankets, but all the winter he
sleeps, where sleep the thralls in the house, in the ashes by the fire,
and is clad in sorry raiment. But when the summer comes and the rich
harvest-tide, his beds of fallen leaves are strewn lowly all about the
knoll of his vineyard plot. There he lies sorrowing and nurses his
mighty grief, for long desire of thy return, and old age withal comes
heavy upon him. Yea and even so did I too perish and meet my doom. It
was not the archer goddess of the keen sight, who slew me in my halls
with the visitation of her gentle shafts, nor did any sickness come
upon me, such as chiefly with a sad wasting draws the spirit from the
limbs; nay, it was my sore longing for thee, and for thy counsels,
great Odysseus, and for thy loving-kindness, that reft me of sweet
life.’
“So spake she, and I mused in my heart and would fain have embraced the
spirit of my mother dead. Thrice I sprang towards her, and was minded
to embrace her; thrice she flitted from my hands as a shadow or even as
a dream, and sharp grief arose ever at my heart. And uttering my voice
I spake to her winged words:
“‘Mother mine, wherefore dost thou not abide me who am eager to clasp
thee, that even in Hades we twain may cast our arms each about the
other, and have our fill of chill lament? Is this but a phantom that
the high goddess Persephone hath sent me, to the end that I may groan
for more exceeding sorrow?’
“So spake I, and my lady mother answered me anon: ‘Ah me, my child, of
all men most ill-fated, Persephone, the daughter of Zeus, doth in no
wise deceive thee, but even on this wise it is with mortals when they
die. For the sinews no more bind together the flesh and the bones, but
the great force of burning fire abolishes these, so soon as the life
hath left the white bones, and the spirit like a dream flies forth and
hovers near. But haste with all thine heart toward the sunlight, and
mark all this, that even hereafter thou mayest tell it to thy wife.’
“Thus we twain held discourse together; and lo, the women came up, for
the high goddess Persephone sent them forth, all they that had been the
wives and daughters of mighty men. And they gathered and flocked about
the black blood, and I took counsel how I might question them each one.
And this was the counsel that showed best in my sight. I drew my long
hanger from my stalwart thigh, and suffered them not all at one time to
drink of the dark blood. So they drew nigh one by one, and each
declared her lineage, and I made question of all.
“Then verily did I first see Tyro, sprung of a noble sire, who said
that she was the child of noble Salmoneus, and declared herself the
wife of Cretheus, son of Aeolus. She loved a river, the divine Enipeus,
far the fairest of the floods that run upon the earth, and she would
resort to the fair streams of Enipeus. And it came to pass that the
girdler of the world, the Earth-shaker, put on the shape of the god,
and lay by the lady at the mouths of the whirling stream. Then the dark
wave stood around them like a hill-side bowed, and hid the god and the
mortal woman. And he undid her maiden girdle, and shed a slumber over
her. Now when the god had done the work of love, he clasped her hand
and spake and hailed her:
“‘Woman, be glad in our love, and when the year comes round thou shalt
give birth to glorious children,—for not weak are the embraces of the
gods,—and do thou keep and cherish them. And now go home and hold thy
peace, and tell it not: but behold, I am Poseidon, shaker of the
earth.’
“Therewith he plunged beneath the heaving deep. And she conceived and
bare Pelias and Neleus, who both grew to be mighty men, servants of
Zeus. Pelias dwelt in wide Iolcos, and was rich in flocks; and that
other abode in sandy Pylos. And the queen of women bare yet other sons
to Cretheus, even Aeson and Pheres and Amythaon, whose joy was in
chariots.
“And after her I saw Antiope, daughter of Asopus, and her boast was
that she had slept even in the arms of Zeus, and she bare two sons,
Amphion and Zethus, who founded first the place of seven-gated Thebes,
and they made of it a fenced city, for they might not dwell in spacious
Thebes unfenced, for all their valiancy.
“Next to her I saw Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, who lay in the arms of
mighty Zeus, and bare Heracles of the lion-heart, steadfast in the
fight. And I saw Megara, daughter of Creon, haughty of heart, whom the
strong and tireless son of Amphitryon had to wife.
“And I saw the mother of Oedipodes, fair Epicaste, who wrought a dread
deed unwittingly, being wedded to her own son, and he that had slain
his own father wedded her, and straightway the gods made these things
known to men. Yet he abode in pain in pleasant Thebes, ruling the
Cadmaeans, by reason of the deadly counsels of the gods. But she went
down to the house of Hades, the mighty warder; yea, she tied a noose
from the high beam aloft, being fast holden in sorrow; while for him
she left pains behind full many, even all that the Avengers of a mother
bring to pass.
“And I saw lovely Chloris, whom Neleus wedded on a time for her beauty,
and brought gifts of wooing past number. She was the youngest daughter
of Amphion, son of Iasus, who once ruled mightily in Minyan Orchomenus.
And she was queen of Pylos, and bare glorious children to her lord,
Nestor and Chromius, and princely Periclymenus, and stately Pero too,
the wonder of all men. All that dwelt around were her wooers; but
Neleus would not give her, save to him who should drive off from
Phylace the kine of mighty Iphicles, with shambling gait and broad of
brow, hard cattle to drive. And none but the noble seer[19] took in
hand to drive them; but a grievous fate from the gods fettered him,
even hard bonds and the herdsmen of the wild. But when at length the
months and days were being fulfilled, as the year returned upon his
course, and the seasons came round, then did mighty Iphicles set him
free, when he had spoken out all the oracles; and herein was the
counsel of Zeus being accomplished.
[19] Melampus
“And I saw Lede, the famous bed-fellow of Tyndareus, who bare to
Tyndareus two sons, hardy of heart, Castor tamer of steeds, and
Polydeuces the boxer. These twain yet live, but the quickening earth is
over them; and even in the nether world they have honour at the hand of
Zeus. And they possess their life in turn, living one day and dying the
next, and they have gotten worship even as the gods.
“And after her I beheld Iphimedeia, bed-fellow of Aloeus, who said that
she had lain with Poseidon, and she bare children twain, but short of
life were they, godlike Otus and far-famed Ephialtes. Now these were
the tallest men that earth, the graingiver, ever reared, and far the
goodliest after the renowned Orion. At nine seasons old they were of
breadth nine cubits, and nine fathoms in height. They it was who
threatened to raise even against the immortals in Olympus the din of
stormy war. They strove to pile Ossa on Olympus, and on Ossa Pelion
with the trembling forest leaves, that there might be a pathway to the
sky. Yea, and they would have accomplished it, had they reached the
full measure of manhood. But the son of Zeus, whom Leto of the fair
locks bare, destroyed the twain, ere the down had bloomed beneath their
temples, and darkened their chins with the blossom of youth.
“And Phaedra and Procris I saw, and fair Ariadne, the daughter of
wizard Minos, whom Theseus on a time was bearing from Crete to the hill
of sacred Athens, yet had he no joy of her; for Artemis slew her ere
that in sea-girt Dia, by reason of the witness of Dionysus.
“And Maera and Clymene I saw, and hateful Eriphyle, who took fine gold
for the price of her dear lord’s life. But I cannot tell or name all
the wives and daughters of the heroes that I saw; ere that, the
immortal night would wane. Nay, it is even now time to sleep, whether I
go to the swift ship to my company or abide here: and for my convoy you
and the gods will care.”
So spake he, and dead silence fell on all, and they were spell-bound
throughout the shadowy halls. Then Arete of the white arms first spake
among them: “Phaeacians, what think you of this man for comeliness and
stature, and within for wisdom of heart? Moreover he is my guest,
though every one of you hath his share in this honour. Wherefore haste
not to send him hence, and stint not these your gifts for one that
stands in such sore need of them; for ye have much treasure stored in
your halls by the grace of the gods.”
Then too spake among them the old man, lord Echeneus, that was an elder
among the Phaeacians: “Friends, behold, the speech of our wise queen is
not wide of the mark, nor far from our deeming, so hearken ye thereto.
But on Alcinous here both word and work depend.”
Then Alcinous made answer, and spake unto him: “Yea, the word that she
hath spoken shall hold, if indeed I am yet to live and bear rule among
the Phaeacians, masters of the oar. Howbeit let the stranger, for all
his craving to return, nevertheless endure to abide until the morrow,
till I make up the full measure of the gift; and men shall care for his
convoy, all men, but I in chief, for mine is the lordship in the land.”
And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: My lord Alcinous,
most notable of all the people, if ye bade me tarry here even for a
year, and would speed my convoy and give me splendid gifts, even that I
would choose; and better would it be for me to come with a fuller hand
to mine own dear country, so should I get more love and worship in the
eyes of all men, whoso should see me after I was returned to Ithaca.”
And Alcinous answered him, saying: “Odysseus, in no wise do we deem
thee, we that look on thee, to be a knave or a cheat, even as the dark
earth rears many such broadcast, fashioning lies whence none can even
see his way therein. But beauty crowns thy words, and wisdom is within
thee; and thy tale, as when a minstrel sings, thou hast told with
skill, the weary woes of all the Argives and of thine own self. But
come, declare me this and plainly tell it all. Didst thou see any of
thy godlike company who went up at the same time with thee to Ilios and
there met their doom? Behold, the night is of great length,
unspeakable, and the time for sleep in the hall is not yet; tell me
therefore of those wondrous deeds. I could abide even till the bright
dawn, so long as thou couldst endure to rehearse me these woes of thine
in the hall.”
And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: “My lord Alcinous,
most notable of all the people, there is a time for many words and
there is a time for sleep. But if thou art eager still to listen, I
would not for my part grudge to tell thee of other things more pitiful
still, even the woes of my comrades, those that perished afterward, for
they had escaped with their lives from the dread war-cry of the
Trojans, but perished in returning by the will of an evil woman.
“Now when holy Persephone had scattered this way and that the spirits
of the women folk, thereafter came the soul of Agamemnon, son of
Atreus, sorrowing; and round him others were gathered, the ghosts of
them who had died with him in the house of Aegisthus and met their
doom. And he knew me straightway when he had drunk the dark blood, yea,
and he wept aloud, and shed big tears as he stretched forth his hands
in his longing to reach me. But it might not be, for he had now no
steadfast strength nor power at all in moving, such as was aforetime in
his supple limbs.
“At the sight of him I wept and was moved with compassion, and uttering
my voice, spake to him winged words: ‘Most renowned son of Atreus,
Agamemnon, king of men, say what doom overcame thee of death that lays
men at their length? Did Poseidon smite thee in thy ships, raising the
dolorous blast of contrary winds, or did unfriendly men do thee hurt
upon the land, whilst thou wert cutting off their oxen and fair flocks
of sheep, or fighting to win a city and the women thereof?’
“So spake I, and straightway he answered, and said unto me: ‘Son of
Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, it was not
Poseidon that smote me in my ships, and raised the dolorous blast of
contrary winds, nor did unfriendly men do me hurt upon the land, but
Aegisthus it was that wrought me death and doom and slew me, with the
aid of my accursed wife, as one slays an ox at the stall, after he had
bidden me to his house, and entertained me at a feast. Even so I died
by a death most pitiful, and round me my company likewise were slain
without ceasing, like swine with glittering tusks which are slaughtered
in the house of a rich and mighty man, whether at a wedding banquet or
a joint-feast or a rich clan-drinking. Ere now hast thou been at the
slaying of many a man, killed in single fight or in strong battle, yet
thou wouldst have sorrowed the most at this sight, how we lay in the
hall round the mixing-bowl and the laden boards, and the floor all ran
with blood. And most pitiful of all that I heard was the voice of the
daughter of Priam, of Cassandra, whom hard by me the crafty
Clytemnestra slew. Then I strove to raise my hands as I was dying upon
the sword, but to earth they fell. And that shameless one turned her
back upon me, and had not the heart to draw down my eyelids with her
fingers nor to close my mouth. So surely is there nought more terrible
and shameless than a woman who imagines such evil in her heart, even as
she too planned a foul deed, fashioning death for her wedded lord.
Verily I had thought to come home most welcome to my children and my
thralls; but she, out of the depth of her evil knowledge, hath shed
shame on herself and on all womankind, which shall be for ever, even on
the upright.’
“Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: ‘Lo now, in very sooth,
hath Zeus of the far-borne voice wreaked wondrous hatred on the seed of
Atreus through the counsels of woman from of old. For Helen’s sake so
many of us perished, and now Clytemnestra hath practised treason
against thee, while yet thou wast afar off.’
“Even so I spake, and anon he answered me, saying: ‘Wherefore do thou
too, never henceforth be soft even to thy wife, neither show her all
the counsel that thou knowest, but a part declare and let part be hid.
Yet shalt not thou, Odysseus, find death at the hand of thy wife, for
she is very discreet and prudent in all her ways, the wise Penelope,
daughter of Icarius. Verily we left her a bride new wed when we went to
the war, and a child was at her breast, who now, methinks, sits in the
ranks of men, happy in his lot, for his dear father shall behold him on
his coming, and he shall embrace his sire as is meet. But us for my
wife, she suffered me not so much as to have my fill of gazing on my
son; ere that she slew me, even her lord. And yet another thing will I
tell thee, and do thou ponder it in thy heart. Put thy ship to land in
secret, and not openly, on the shore of thy dear country; for there is
no more faith in woman. But come, declare me this and plainly tell it
all, if haply ye hear of my son as yet living, either, it may be, in
Orchomenus or in sandy Pylos, or perchance with Menelaus in wide
Sparta, for goodly Orestes hath not yet perished on the earth.’
“Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: ‘Son of Atreus,
wherefore dost thou ask me straitly of these things? Nay I know not at
all, whether he be alive or dead; it is ill to speak words light as
wind.’
“Thus we twain stood sorrowing, holding sad discourse, while the big
tears fell fast: and therewithal came the soul of Achilles, son of
Peleus, and of Patroclus and of noble Antilochus and of Aias, who in
face and form was goodliest of all the Danaans, after the noble son of
Peleus. And the spirit of the son of Aeacus, fleet of foot, knew me
again, and making lament spake to me winged words:
“‘Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, man
overbold, what new deed and hardier than this wilt thou devise in thy
heart? How durst thou come down to the house of Hades, where dwell the
senseless dead, the phantoms of men outworn?’
“So he spake, but I answered him: ‘Achilles, son of Peleus, mightiest
far of the Achaeans, I am come hither to seek to Teiresias, if he may
tell me any counsel, how I may come to rugged Ithaca. For not yet have
I come nigh the Achaean land, nor set foot on mine own soil, but am
still in evil case; while as for thee, Achilles, none other than thou
wast heretofore the most blessed of men, nor shall any be hereafter.
For of old, in the days of thy life, we Argives gave thee one honour
with the gods, and now thou art a great prince here among the dead.
Wherefore let not thy death be any grief to thee, Achilles.’
“Even so I spake, and he straightway answered me, and said: ‘Nay, speak
not comfortably to me of death, oh great Odysseus. Rather would I live
on ground[20] as the hireling of another, with a landless man who had
no great livelihood, than bear sway among all the dead that be
departed. But come, tell me tidings of that lordly son of mine—did he
follow to the war to be a leader or not? And tell me of noble Peleus,
if thou hast heard aught,—is he yet held in worship among the
Myrmidons, or do they dishonour him from Hellas to Phthia, for that old
age binds him hand and foot? For I am no longer his champion under the
sun, so mighty a man as once I was, when in wide Troy I slew the best
of the host, and succoured the Argives. Ah! could I but come for an
hour to my father’s house as then I was, so would I make my might and
hands invincible, to be hateful to many an one of those who do him
despite and keep him from his honour.’
[20] ἐπάρουρος seems to mean “upon the earth,” “above ground,” as
opposed to the dead who are below, rather than “bound to the soil,” in
which sense most commentators take it.
“Even so he spake, but I answered him saying: ‘As for noble Peleus,
verily I have heard nought of him; but concerning thy dear son
Neoptolemus, I will tell thee all the truth, according to thy word. It
was I that led him up out of Scyros in my good hollow ship, in the wake
of the goodly-greaved Achaeans. Now oft as we took counsel around Troy
town, he was ever the first to speak, and no word missed the mark; the
godlike Nestor and I alone surpassed him. But whensoever we Achaeans
did battle on the plain of Troy, he never tarried behind in the throng
or the press of men, but ran out far before us all, yielding to none in
that might of his. And many men he slew in warfare dread; but I could
not tell of all or name their names, even all the host he slew in
succouring the Argives; but, ah, how he smote with the sword that son
of Telephus, the hero Eurypylus, and many Ceteians[21] of his company
were slain around him, by reason of a woman’s bribe. He truly was the
comeliest man that ever I saw, next to goodly Memnon. And again when
we, the best of the Argives, were about to go down into the horse which
Epeus wrought, and the charge of all was laid on me, both to open the
door of our good ambush and to shut the same, then did the other
princes and counsellors of the Danaans wipe away the tears, and the
limbs of each one trembled beneath him, but never once did I see thy
son’s fair face wax pale, nor did he wipe the tears from his cheeks:
but he besought me often to let him go forth from the horse, and kept
handling his sword-hilt, and his heavy bronze-shod spear, and he was
set on mischief against the Trojans. But after we had sacked the steep
city of Priam, he embarked unscathed with his share of the spoil, and
with a noble prize; he was not smitten with the sharp spear, and got no
wound in close fight: and many such chances there be in war, for Ares
rageth confusedly.’
[21] See Lenormant, Premières Civilisations, vol. i. p. 289.
“So I spake, and the spirit of the son of Aeacus, fleet of foot, passed
with great strides along the mead of asphodel, rejoicing in that I had
told him of his son’s renown.
“But lo, other spirits of the dead that be departed stood sorrowing,
and each one asked of those that were dear to them. The soul of Aias,
son of Telamon, alone stood apart being still angry for the victory
wherein I prevailed against him, in the suit by the ships concerning
the arms of Achilles, that his lady mother had set for a prize; and the
sons of the Trojans made award and Pallas Athene. Would that I had
never prevailed and won such a prize! So goodly a head hath the earth
closed over, for the sake of those arms, even over Aias, who in beauty
and in feats of war was of a mould above all the other Danaans, next to
the noble son of Peleus. To him then I spake softly, saying:
“‘Aias, son of noble Telamon, so art thou not even in death to forget
thy wrath against me, by reason of those arms accursed, which the gods
set to be the bane of the Argives? What a tower of strength fell in thy
fall, and we Achaeans cease not to sorrow for thee, even as for the
life of Achilles, son of Peleus! Nay, there is none other to blame, but
Zeus, who hath borne wondrous hate to the army of the Danaan spearsmen,
and laid on thee thy doom. Nay, come hither, my lord, that thou mayest
hear my word and my speech; master thy wrath and thy proud spirit.’
“So I spake, but he answered me not a word and passed to Erebus after
the other spirits of the dead that be departed. Even then, despite his
anger, would he have spoken to me or I to him, but my heart within me
was minded to see the spirits of those others that were departed.
“There then I saw Minos, glorious son of Zeus, wielding a golden
sceptre, giving sentence from his throne to the dead, while they sat
and stood around the prince, asking his dooms through the wide-gated
house of Hades.
“And after him I marked the mighty Orion driving the wild beasts
together over the mead of asphodel, the very beasts that himself had
slain on the lonely hills, with a strong mace all of bronze in his
hands,[22] that is ever unbroken.
[22] ἔχων in strict grammar agrees with αὐτὸς in 574, but this is
merely by attraction, for in sense it refers not to the living man,
but to his phantom.
“And I saw Tityos, son of renowned Earth, lying on a levelled ground,
and he covered nine roods as he lay, and vultures twain beset him one
on either side, and gnawed at his liver, piercing even to the caul, but
he drave them not away with his hands. For he had dealt violently with
Leto, the famous bedfellow of Zeus, as she went up to Pytho through the
fair lawns of Panopeus.
“Moreover I beheld Tantalus in grievous torment, standing in a mere and
the water came nigh unto his chin. And he stood straining as one
athirst, but he might not attain to the water to drink of it. For often
as that old man stooped down in his eagerness to drink, so often the
water was swallowed up and it vanished away, and the black earth still
showed at his feet, for some god parched it evermore. And tall trees
flowering shed their fruit overhead, pears and pomegranates and apple
trees with bright fruit, and sweet figs and olives in their bloom,
whereat when that old man reached out his hands to clutch them, the
wind would toss them to the shadowy clouds.
“Yea and I beheld Sisyphus in strong torment, grasping a monstrous
stone with both his hands. He was pressing thereat with hands and feet,
and trying to roll the stone upward toward the brow of the hill. But
oft as he was about to hurl it over the top, the weight would drive him
back, so once again to the plain rolled the stone, the shameless thing.
And he once more kept heaving and straining, and the sweat the while
was pouring down his limbs, and the dust rose upwards from his head.
“And after him I descried the mighty Heracles, his phantom, I say; but
as for himself he hath joy at the banquet among the deathless gods, and
hath to wife Hebe of the fair ankles, child of great Zeus, and of Here
of the golden sandals. And all about him there was a clamour of the
dead, as it were fowls flying every way in fear, and he like black
Night, with bow uncased, and shaft upon the string, fiercely glancing
around, like one in the act to shoot. And about his breast was an awful
belt, a baldric of gold, whereon wondrous things were wrought, bears
and wild boars and lions with flashing eyes, and strife and battles and
slaughters and murders of men. Nay, now that he hath fashioned this,
never another may he fashion, whoso stored in his craft the device of
that belt! And anon he knew me when his eyes beheld me, and making
lament he spake unto me winged words:
“‘Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices: ah!
wretched one, dost thou too lead such a life of evil doom, as I endured
beneath the rays of the sun? I was the son of Zeus Cronion, yet had I
trouble beyond measure, for I was subdued unto a man far worse than I.
And he enjoined on me hard adventures, yea and on a time he sent me
hither to bring back the hound of hell; for he devised no harder task
for me than this. I lifted the hound and brought him forth from out of
the house of Hades; and Hermes sped me on my way and the grey-eyed
Athene.’
“Therewith he departed again into the house of Hades, but I abode there
still, if perchance some one of the hero folk besides might come, who
died in old time. Yea and I should have seen the men of old, whom I was
fain to look on, Theseus and Peirithous, renowned children of the gods.
But ere that might be the myriad tribes of the dead thronged up
together with wondrous clamour: and pale fear gat hold of me, lest the
high goddess Persephone should send me the head of the Gorgon, that
dread monster, from out of Hades.
“Straightway then I went to the ship, and bade my men mount the vessel,
and loose the hawsers. So speedily they went on board, and sat upon the
benches. And the wave of the flood bore the barque down the stream of
Oceanus, we rowing first, and afterwards the fair wind was our convoy.