threshold,--which long ago the carpenter had smoothed with skill and
leveled to the line, fitting the posts thereto and setting the shining
doors,--then quickly from its ring she loosed the strap, thrust in the
key, and with a careful aim shot back the door-bolts. As a bull roars when
feeding in the field, so roared the goodly door touched by the key, and
open flew before her. She stepped to a raised dais where stood some chests
in which lay fragrant garments. Thence reaching up, she took from its peg
the bow in the glittering case which held it. And now she sat her down and
laid the case upon her lap, and loudly weeping drew her lord's bow forth.
But when she had had her fill of tears and sighs, she hastened to the hall
to meet the lordly suitors, bearing in hand the curved bow and the quiver
for the arrows, and many grievous shafts were in it still. Beside her,
damsels bore a box in which lay many a piece of steel and bronze,
implements of her lord's for games like these. And when the royal lady
reached the suitors, she stood beside a column of the strong-built roof,
holding before her face her delicate wimple, the while a faithful damsel
stood on either hand. And straightway she addressed the suitors, speaking
thus:--
"Hearken, you haughty suitors who beset this house, eating and drinking
ever, now my husband is long gone; no word of excuse can you suggest
except your wish to marry me and win me for your wife. Well then, my
suitors,--since before you stands your prize,--I offer you the mighty bow
of prince Ulysses; and whoever with his hands shall lightliest bend the
bow and shoot through all twelve axes, him will I follow and forsake this
home, this bridal home, so very beautiful and full of wealth, a place I
think I ever shall remember, even in my dreams."
So saying, she bade Eumæus, the noble swineherd, deliver to the suitors
the bow and the gray steel. With tears Eumæus took the arms and laid them
down before them. Near by, the neatherd also wept to see his master's bow.
But Antinous rebuked them, and spoke to them and said,--
"You stupid boors, who only mind the passing minute, wretched pair, what
do you mean by shedding tears, troubling this lady's heart, when already
her heart is prostrated with grief at losing her dear husband? Sit down
and eat in silence, or else go forth and weep, but leave the bow behind, a
dread ordeal for the suitors; for I am sure this polished bow will not be
bent with ease. There is not a man of all now here so powerful as Ulysses.
I saw him once myself, and well recall him, though I was then a child."
He spoke, but in his breast his heart was hoping to draw the string and
send an arrow through the steel; yet he was to be the first to taste the
shaft of good Ulysses, whom he now wronged though seated in his hall,
while to like outrage he encouraged all his comrades. To these now spoke
revered Telemachus:--
"Ha! Zeus the son of Cronos has made me play the fool! My mother--and wise
she is--says she will follow some strange man and quit this house; and I
but laugh and in my silly soul am glad. Come then, you suitors, since
before you stands your prize, a lady whose like cannot be found throughout
Achaian land, in sacred Pylos, Argos, or Mycenæ, in Ithaca itself, or the
dark mainland, as you yourselves well know,--what needs my mother
praise?--come then, delay not with excuse nor longer hesitate to bend the
bow, but let us learn what is to be. I too might try the bow. And if I
stretch it and send an arrow through the steel, then with no shame to me
my honored mother may forsake this house and follow some one else, leaving
me here behind; for I shall then be able to wield my father's arms."
He spoke, and flung his red cloak from his shoulders, rising full height,
and put away the sharp sword also from his shoulder. First then he set the
axes, marking one long furrow for them all, aligned by cord. The earth on
the two sides he stamped down flat. Surprise filled all beholders to see
how properly he set them, though he had never seen the game before. Then
he went and stood upon the threshold and began to try the bow. Three times
he made it tremble as he sought to make it bend. Three times he slacked
his strain, still hoping in his heart to draw the string and send an arrow
through the steel. And now he might have drawn it by force of a fourth
tug, had not Ulysses shaken his head and stayed the eager boy. So to the
suitors once more spoke revered Telemachus:--
"Fie! Shall I ever be a coward and a weakling, or am I still but young and
cannot trust my arm to right me with the man who wrongs me first? But
come, you who are stronger men than I, come try the bow and end the
contest."
So saying, he laid by the bow and stood it on the ground, leaning it on
the firm-set polished door. The swift shaft, too, he likewise leaned
against the bow's fair knob, and once more took the seat from which he
first arose. Then said to them Antinous, Eupeithes' son,--
"Rise up in order all, from left to right, beginning where the cupbearer
begins to pour the wine."
So said Antinous, and his saying pleased them. Then first arose Leiodes,
son of Oenops, who was their soothsayer and had his place beside the
goodly mixer, farthest along the hall. To him alone their lawlessness was
hateful; he abhorred the suitor crowd. He it was now who first took up the
bow and the swift shaft; and going to the threshold, he stood and tried
the bow. He could not bend it. Tugging the string wearied his hands,--his
soft, unhorny hands,--and to the suitors thus he spoke:--
"No, friends, I cannot bend it. Let some other take the bow. Ah, many
chiefs this bow shall rob of life and breath! Yet better far to die than
live and still to fail in that for which we constantly are gathered,
waiting expectantly from day to day! Now each man hopes and purposes at
heart to win Penelope, Ulysses' wife. But when he shall have tried the bow
and seen his failure, then to some other fair-robed woman of Achaia let
each go, and offer her his suit and woo her with his gifts. So may
Penelope marry the man who gives her most and comes with fate to favor!"
When he had spoken, he laid by the bow, leaning it on the firm-set
polished door. The swift shaft, too, he likewise leaned against the bow's
fair knob, and once more took the seat from which he first arose. But
Antinous rebuked him, and spoke to him, and said,--
"Leiodes, what words have passed the barrier of your teeth? Strange words
and harsh! Vexatious words to hear! As if this bow must rob our chiefs of
life and breath because you cannot bend it! Why, your good mother did not
bear you for a brandisher of bows and arrows. But others among the lordly
suitors will bend it by and by."
So saying, he gave an order to Melanthius, the goatherd: "Hasten,
Melanthius, and light a fire in the hall and set a long bench near, with
fleeces on it; then bring me the large cake of fat which lies inside the
door, that after we have warmed the bow and greased it well, we young men
may try the bow and end the contest."
He spoke, and straightway Melanthius kindled a steady fire, and set a
bench beside it with a fleece thereon, and brought out the large cake of
fat which lay inside the door, and so the young men warmed the bow and
made their trial. But yet they could not bend it; they fell far short of
power. Antinous, however, still held back, and prince Eurymachus, who were
the suitors' leaders; for they in manly excellence were quite the best of
all.
Meanwhile out of the house at the same moment came two men, princely
Ulysses' herdsmen of the oxen and the swine; and after them came royal
Ulysses also from the house. And when they were outside the gate, beyond
the yard, speaking in gentle words Ulysses said,--
"Neatherd, and you too, swineherd, may I tell a certain tale, or shall I
hide it still? My heart bids me speak. How ready would you be to aid
Ulysses if he should come from somewhere, thus, on a sudden, and a god
should bring him home? Would you support the suitors or Ulysses? Speak
freely, as your heart and spirit bid you speak."
Then said to him the herdsman of the cattle, "O father Zeus, grant this my
prayer! May he return and Heaven be his guide! Then shall you know what
might is mine and how my hands obey."
So prayed Eumæus too to all the Gods, that wise Ulysses might return to
his own home. So when he knew with certainty the heart of each, finding
his words once more Ulysses said,--
"Lo, it is I, through many grievous toils now in the twentieth year come
to my native land! And yet I know that of my servants none but you desire
my coming. From all the rest I have not heard one prayer that I return. To
you then I will truly tell what shall hereafter be. If God by me subdues
the lordly suitors, I will obtain you wives and give you wealth and homes
established near my own; and henceforth in my eyes you shall be friends
and brethren of Telemachus. Come, then, and I will show you too a very
trusty sign,--that you may know me certainly and be assured in heart,--the
scar the boar dealt long ago with his white tusk, when I once journeyed to
Parnassus with Autolycus's sons."
So saying, he drew aside his rags from the great scar. And when the two
beheld and understood it all, their tears burst forth; they threw their
arms round wise Ulysses, and passionately kissed his face and neck. So
likewise did Ulysses kiss their heads and hands. And daylight had gone
down upon their weeping had not Ulysses stayed their tears and said,--
"Have done with grief and wailing, or somebody in coming from the hall may
see, and tell the tale indoors. Nay, go in one by one, not all together. I
will go first, you after. And let this be agreed: the rest within, the
lordly suitors, will not allow me to receive the bow and quiver. But,
noble Eumæus, bring the bow along the room and lay it in my hands. Then
tell the women to lock the hall's close-fitting doors; and if from their
inner room they hear a moaning or a strife within our walls, let no one
venture forth, but stay in silence at her work. And noble Philoetius, in
your care I put the courtyard gates. Bolt with the bar and quickly lash
the fastening."
So saying, Ulysses made his way into the stately house, and went and took
the seat from which he first arose. And soon the serving-men of princely
Ulysses entered too.
Now Eurymachus held the bow and turned it up and down, trying to heat it
at the glowing fire. But still, with all his pains, he could not bend it;
his proud soul groaned aloud. Then bitterly he spoke; these were the words
he said,--
"Ah! here is woe for me and woe for all! Not that I so much mourn missing
the marriage, though vexed I am at that. Still, there are enough more
women of Achaia, both here in sea-girt Ithaca and in the other cities. But
if in strength we fall so short of princely Ulysses that we cannot bend
his bow--oh, the disgrace for future times to know!"
Then said Antinous, Eupeithes' son, "Not so, Eurymachus, and you yourself
know better. To-day throughout the land is the archer-god's high feast.
Who then could bend a bow? Nay, quietly lay it by; and for the axes, what
if we leave them standing? Nobody. I am sure, will carry one away and
trespass on the house of Laertes' son, Ulysses. Come then, and let the
wine-pourer give pious portions to our cups, that after a libation we may
lay aside curved bows. To-morrow morning tell Melanthius, the goatherd, to
drive us here the choicest goats of all his flock; and we will set the
thighs before the archer-god, Apollo, then try the bow and end the
contest."
So said Antinous, and his saying pleased them. Pages poured water on their
hands; young men brimmed bowls with drink and served to all, with a first
pious portion for the cups. And after they had poured and drunk as their
hearts would, then in his subtlety said wise Ulysses,--
"Hearken, you suitors of the illustrious queen, and let me tell you what
the heart within me bids. I beg a special favor of Eurymachus, and great
Antinous too; for his advice was wise, that you now drop the bow and leave
the matter with the Gods, and in the morning God shall grant the power to
whom he may. But give me now the polished bow, and let me in your presence
prove my skill and power and see if I have yet such vigor left as once
there was within my supple limbs, or whether wanderings and neglect have
ruined all."
At these his words all were exceeding wroth, fearing that he might bend
the polished bow. But Antinous rebuked him, and spoke to him and said,
"You scurvy stranger, with not a whit of sense, are you not satisfied to
eat in peace with us, your betters, unstinted in your food and hearing all
we say? Nobody else, stranger or beggar, hears our talk. 'Tis wine that
goads you, honeyed wine, a thing that has brought others trouble, when
taken greedily and drunk without due measure. Wine crazed the Centaur,
famed Eurytion, at the house of bold Peirithous, on his visit to the
Lapithæ. And when his wits were crazed with wine, he madly wrought foul
outrage on the household of Peirithous. So indignation seized the heroes.
Through the porch and out of doors they rushed, dragging Eurytion forth,
shorn by the pitiless sword of ears and nose. Crazed in his wits, he went
his way, bearing in his bewildered heart the burden of his guilt. And
hence arose a feud between the Centaurs and mankind; but the beginning of
the woe he himself caused by wine. Even so I prophesy great harm to you,
if you shall bend the bow. No kindness will you meet from any in our land,
but we will send you by black ship straight to King Echetus, the bane of
all mankind, out of whose hands you never shall come clear. Be quiet,
then, and take your drink! Do not presume to vie with younger men!"
Then said to him heedful Penelope, "Antinous, it is neither honorable nor
fitting to worry strangers who may reach this palace of Telemachus. Do you
suppose the stranger, if he bends the great bow of Ulysses, confident in
his skill and strength of arm, will lead me home and take me for his wife?
He in his inmost soul imagines no such thing. Let none of you sit at the
table disturbed by such a thought; for that could never, never, be!"
Then answered her Eurymachus, the son of Polybus, "Daughter of Icarius,
heedful Penelope, we do not think the man will marry you. Of course that
could not be. And yet we dread the talk of men and women, and fear that
one of the baser sort of the Achaians say,'Men far inferior sue for a good
man's wife, and cannot bend his polished bow. But somebody else--a
wandering beggar--came, and easily bent the bow and sent an arrow through
the steel.' This they will say, to us a shame indeed."
Then said to him heedful Penelope, "Eurymachus, men cannot be in honor in
the land and rudely rob the household of their prince. Why, then, count
this a shame? The stranger is right tall, and well-knit too, and calls
himself the son of a good father. Give him the polished bow, and let us
see. For this I tell you, and it shall be done: if he shall bend it and
Apollo grants his prayer, I will clothe him in a coat and tunic, goodly
garments, give him a pointed spear to keep off dogs and men, a two-edged
sword, and sandals for his feet, and I will send him where his heart and
soul may bid him go."
Then answered her discreet Telemachus, "My mother, no Achaian has better
right than I to give or to refuse the bow to any as I will. And out of all
who rule in rocky Ithaca, or in the islands off toward grazing Elis, none
may oppose my will, even if I wished to put the bows into the stranger's
hands and let him take them once for all away. Then seek your chamber and
attend to matters of your own,--the loom, the distaff,--and bid the women
ply their tasks. Bows are for men, for all, especially for me; for power
within this house rests here."
Amazed, she turned to her own room again, for the wise saying of her son
she laid to heart. And coming to the upper chamber with her maids, she
there bewailed Ulysses, her dear husband, till on her lids clear-eyed
Athene caused a sweet sleep to fall.
Meanwhile the noble swineherd, taking the curved bow, was bearing it away.
But the suitors all broke into uproar in the hall, and a rude youth would
say, "Where are you carrying the curved bow, you miserable swineherd?
Crazy fool! Soon out among the swine, away from men, swift dogs shall eat
you,--dogs you yourself have bred,--will but Apollo and the other
deathless Gods be gracious!" At these their words the bearer of the bow
laid it down where he stood, frightened because the crowd within the hall
cried out upon him. But from the other side Telemachus called threatening
aloud, "Nay, father! Carry on the bow! You cannot well heed all. Take
care, or I, a nimbler man than you, will drive you to the fields with
pelting stones. Superior in strength I am to you. Ah, would I were as much
beyond the others in the house, beyond these suitors, in my skill and
strength of arm! Then would I soon send somebody away in sorrow from my
house; for men work evil here."
He spoke, and all burst into merry laughter and laid aside their bitter
anger with Telemachus. And so the swineherd, bearing the bow along the
hall, drew near to wise Ulysses and put it in his hands; then calling
aside nurse Eurycleia, thus he said,--
"Telemachus bids you, heedful Eurycleia, to lock the hall's close-fitting
doors; and if a woman from the inner room hears moaning or a strife within
our walls, let her not venture forth, but stay in silence at her work."
Such were his words; unwinged, they rested with her. She locked the doors
of the stately hall. Then silently from the house Philoetius stole forth
and straightway barred the gates of the fenced court. Beneath the portico
there lay a curved ship's cable, made of biblus plant. With this he lashed
the gates, then passed indoors himself, and went and took the seat from
which he first arose, eyeing Ulysses. Now Ulysses already held the bow and
turned it round and round, trying it here and there to see if worms had
gnawed the horn while its lord was far away. And glancing at his neighbor
one would say,--
"A sort of fancier and a trickster with the bow this fellow is. No doubt
at home he has himself a bow like that, or means to make one like it. See
how he turns it in his hands this way and that, ready for
mischief,--rascal!"
Then would another rude youth answer thus: "Oh, may he always meet with
luck as good as when he is unable now to bend the bow!"
So talked the suitors. Meantime wise Ulysses, when he had handled the
great bow and scanned it closely,--even as one well skilled to play the
lyre and sing stretches with ease round its new peg a string, securing at
each end the twisted sheep-gut, so without effort did Ulysses string the
mighty bow. Holding it now with his right hand, he tried its cord; and
clear to the touch it sang, voiced like the swallow. Great consternation
came upon the suitors. All faces then changed color. Zeus thundered loud
for signal. And glad was long-tried royal Ulysses to think the son of
crafty Cronos had sent an omen. He picked up a swift shaft which lay
beside him on the table, drawn. Within the hollow quiver still remained
the rest, which the Achaians soon should prove. Then laying the arrow on
the arch, he drew the string and arrow notches, and forth from the bench
on which he sat let fly the shaft, with careful aim, and did not miss an
axe's ring from first to last, but clean through all sped on the
bronze-tipped arrow; and to Telemachus he said,--
"Telemachus, the guest now sitting in your hall brings you no shame. I did
not miss my mark, nor in the bending of the bow make a long labor. My
strength is sound as ever, not what the mocking suitors here despised. But
it is time for the Achaians to make supper ready, while it is daylight
still; and then for us in other ways to make them sport,--with dance and
lyre; for these attend a feast."
He spoke and frowned the sign. His sharp sword then Telemachus girt on,
the son of princely Ulysses clasped his right hand around his spear, and
close beside his father's seat he took his stand, armed with the gleaming
bronze.
C. THE SLAYING OF THE SUITORS
By F. S. Marvin, R. J. C. Mayor, and F. M. Stowell
Ulysses sprang to the great threshold with the bow and quiver in his hand.
He poured out the arrows at his feet, and shouted to the princes, "So ends
the game you could not play! Now for another mark which no man has ever
hit before!"
With that he shot at Antinous. He, as it chanced, was just lifting a
golden cup from the board, never dreaming that death would meet him there
with all his comrades round him at the feast. But before the wine touched
his lips the arrow struck him in the throat, and the cup dropped from his
hand, and he fell dying to the floor. The princes sprang to their feet
when they saw their comrade fallen, and looked round the walls for armor,
but there was not a spear or shield to be found. Then they turned in fury
on Ulysses: "Madman, are you shooting at men? You have slain the noblest
youth in Ithaca, and you shall not live to draw bow again."
But Ulysses faced them sternly and said, "Dogs, you thought that I should
never return. You have rioted in my home, and outraged the women of my
household, and you have wooed my own wife while I was yet a living man.
You took no thought for the Gods who rule in heaven, nor for the
indignation of men in days hereafter. Now your time is come."
All grew pale as he spoke, and Eurymachus alone found words: "If you are
in truth King Ulysses, your words are just; there have been many shameful
deeds done upon your lands and in your house. But Antinous, who was the
cause of all, lies dead; it was he who lead us on, hoping that he might
take your kingdom for himself. Spare us now that he has met his doom, for
we are your own people; and we will make you full atonement for all that
has been eaten and drunk in your halls."
"Eurymachus, you might give me all you have, but even then I would not
hold my hands until I had taken vengeance for every wrong. You have your
choice. Fight, or fly, if you think that flight can save you."
At that their knees shook beneath them, but Eurymachus cried, "Comrades,
this man will have no mercy. He has got the bow in his hands, and he will
shoot us down from the threshold, so long as there is one of us left
alive. Draw your swords, and guard yourselves, with the tables; and let us
all set upon him at once and drive him from the doorway. If we can reach
the city, we are safe."
As he spoke he drew his sword and sprang forward with a cry; and at the
same moment Ulysses shot. The arrow struck him in the breast, and he
dropped forward over the table, while the mist of death sank upon his
eyes. Then Amphinomus made a rush on the doorway. But Telemachus was too
quick for him; he hurled his spear and struck him from behind between the
shoulders, and he fell crashing on the floor. Telemachus sprang back,
leaving the spear, for he dared not wait to draw it out. He darted to his
father's side. "Father, we ought to have armor; I will go and get weapons
for us."
"Run and bring them," said. Ulysses, "while I have arrows left; when these
are gone I cannot hold the doorway against them all."
So Telemachus ran to the armory and hurried back with helmets and shields
and spears; and he armed himself and made the two servants do the same,
and they took their stand beside the king. While the arrows lasted,
Ulysses shot, and struck down the wooers man by man. And then he leant the
bow against the doorpost, and slung the shield about him and put on the
helmet and took two spears in his hand.
Now there was a postern in the hall, close beside the great doorway and
opening on the corridor. Ulysses had put the swineherd to guard it, and
now the boldest of the suitors said to the rest, "Could not some of us
force a passage there and raise the cry for rescue?"
"Little use in that," said Melanthius, "the great doorway is too close,
and one brave man might stop us all before we reached the court. I have a
better plan. Ulysses and his son have stowed away the weapons, and I think
I know where they are. I will go and fetch you what you need."
With these words he clambered up through the lights of the hall and got
into the armory, and fetched out twelve shields and as many spears and
helmets, and brought them to the princes. The heart of Ulysses misgave him
when he saw the armor and the long spears in their hands; and he felt that
the fight would go hard, and said to Telemachus, "Melanthius or one of the
women has betrayed us."
"Father, it was my fault," said Telemachus; "I left the door of the armory
open, and one of them must have kept sharper watch than I did. Go, Eumæus,
make fast the door, and see whether this is the doing of Melanthius, as I
guess."
While they spoke, Melanthius went again to fetch more armor, and the
swineherd spied him and said, "There is the villain going to the armory,
as we thought; tell me, shall I kill him, if I can master him, or shall I
bring him here to suffer for his sins?" "Telemachus and I will guard the
doorway here," said Ulysses, "and you and the shepherd shall bind him hand
and foot and leave him in the chamber to wait his doom."