THE ASSEMBLY
When the morning came, Telemachus bade the heralds call the people
to the assembly. So the heralds called them, and they came in
haste. And when they were gathered together, he went his way to
the place of meeting, holding in his hand a spear, and two dogs
followed him. Then did Athene shed a marvellous grace upon him, so
that all men wondered at him, as he sat him down in his father's
place.
First spake Aegyptus [Footnote: AE-gyp'-tus.], who was bowed with
many years, and was very wise. Four sons he had. One had gone with
Ulysses to Troy, and one was among the suitors of the Queen, and
two abode with their father in the field. He said: "Hearken to me,
men of Ithaca! Never hath an assembly been called in Ithaca since
Ulysses departed. Who now hath called us together? If it be
Telemachus, what doth he want? Hath he heard any tidings of the
coming back of the host? He, methinks, is a true man. May Zeus be
with him and grant him his heart's desire!"
So spake the old man, and Telemachus was glad at his speech. Then
he rose up and said:--
"I have great trouble in my heart, men of Ithaca, for first my
father, whom ye all loved, is dead; and next the princes of the
islands come hither, making suit to my mother, but she waits ever
for the return of her husband. And they devour all our substance;
nor is Ulysses here to defend it, and I, in truth, am not able.
And this is a grievous wrong, and not to be borne."
Then he dashed his sceptre on the ground, and sat down weeping.
And Antinous, who was one of the suitors, rose up and said:--
"Nay, Telemachus, blame not us, but blame thy mother, who indeed
is crafty above all women. For now this is the fourth year that we
have come suing for her hand, and she has cheated us with hopes.
Hear now this that she did. She set up a great web for weaving,
and said to us: 'Listen, ye that are my suitors. Hasten not my
marriage till I finish this web to be a burial cloth for Laertes
[Footnote: La-er'-tes.], the father of Ulysses, for indeed it
would be foul shame if he who has won great possessions should
lack this honour.' So she spake, and for three years she cheated
us, for what she wove in the day she unravelled at night. But when
the fourth year was come, one of her maidens told us of the
matter, and we came upon her by night and found her unravelling
what she had woven in the day. Then did she finish it, much
against her will. Send away, therefore, thy mother, and bid her
marry whom she will. But till this be done we will not depart."
Then answered Telemachus: "How can I send away against her will
her who bare me and brought me up? I cannot do this thing."
So he spake; and there came two eagles, which flew abreast till
they came over the assembly. Then did they wheel in the air, and
shook out from each many feathers, and tare each other, and so
departed.
Then cried Alitherses [Footnote: A-li-ther'-ses.], the prophet:
"Beware, ye suitors, for great trouble is coming to you, and to
others also. And as for Ulysses, I said when he went to Troy that
he should return after twenty years; and so it shall be."
And when the suitors would not listen, Telemachus said: "Give me a
ship and twenty rowers, that I may go to Pylos and to Sparta;
perhaps I may hear news of my father. And if I hear that he is
dead, then will I come back hither and raise up a mound for him
and give my mother to a husband."
Having thus spoken, he sat down, and Mentor [Footnote: Men'-tor.],
whom Ulysses, when he departed, set over his household, rose up in
the midst, and spake, saying: "Now henceforth never let any king
be kind and gentle in his heart or minded to work righteousness.
Let him rather be a hard man and unrighteous. For now no man of
all the people whose lord he was remembereth Ulysses. Yet he was
gentle as a father. If the suitors are minded to do evil deeds, I
hinder them not. They do them at the peril of their own heads. It
is with the people that I am wroth, to see how they sit
speechless, and cry not shame upon the suitors; and yet they are
many in number, and the suitors are few."
Then Leocritus [Footnote: Le-oc'-ri-tus.], who was one of the
suitors, answered: "Surely thy wits wander, O Mentor, that thou
biddest the people put us down. Of a truth, if Ulysses himself
should come back, and should seek to drive the suitors from the
hall, it would fare ill with him. An evil fate would he meet, if
he fought with them. As for the people, let them go to their own
houses. Let Mentor speed the young man's voyage, for he is a
friend of his house. Yet I doubt whether he will ever accomplish
it."
So he spake, and the assembly was dismissed.
But Telemachus went apart to the shore of the sea, and he washed
his hands in the water of the sea, and prayed to Athene, saying:
"Hear me, thou who didst come yesterday to the house, and bid me
take a ship, and sail across the sea, seeking tidings of my
father! The people delay my purpose, and the suitors stir them up
in the wickedness of their hearts."
And while he prayed, Athene stood by him, like to Mentor in shape
and speech. She spake, saying: "Thou art not without spirit, and
art like to be a true son of Ulysses and Penelope. Therefore, I
have good hopes that this journey of which thou speakest will not
be in vain. But as for the suitors, think not of them, for they
talk folly, and know not of the doom that is even now close upon
them. Go, therefore, and talk with the suitors as before, and get
ready food for a journey, wine and meal. And I will gather men who
will offer themselves freely for the journey, and I will find a
ship also, the best in Ithaca."
Then Telemachus returned to the house, and the suitors were
flaying goats and singeing swine in the court. And Antinous caught
him by the hand and said, "Eat and drink, Telemachus, and we will
find a ship and rowers for thee, that thou mayest go where thou
wilt, to inquire for thy father."
But Telemachus answered: "Think ye that I will eat and drink with
you, who so shamefully waste my substance? Be sure of this, that I
will seek vengeance against you, and if ye deny me a ship, I will
even go in another man's."
So he spake, and dragged his hand from the hand of Antinous.
And another of the suitors said, "Now will Telemachus go and seek
help against us from Pylos or from Sparta, or may be he will put
poison in our cups, and so destroy us."
And another said: "Perchance he also will perish, as his father
has perished. Then we should divide all his substance, but the
house we should give to his mother and to her husband."
So they spake, mocking him. But he went to the chamber of his
father, in which were ranged many casks of old wine, and gold and
bronze, and clothing and olive oil; and of these things the
prudent Eurycleia, who was the keeper of the house, had care. To
her he spake: "Mother, make ready for me twelve jars of wine, not
of the best, but of that which is next to it, and twenty measures
of barley-meal. At even will I take them, when my mother sleeps,
for I go to Pylos and Sparta; perchance I may hear news of my
father."
But the old woman said, weeping: "What meanest thou, being an only
son, thus to travel abroad? Wilt thou perish, as thy father has
perished? For this evil brood of suitors will plot to slay thee
and divide thy goods. Thou hadst better sit peaceably at home."
Then Telemachus said: "'Tis at the bidding of the gods I go. Only
swear that thou wilt say naught to my mother till eleven or twelve
days be past, unless, perchance, she should ask concerning me."
And the old woman sware that it should be so. And Telemachus went
again among the suitors. But Athene, meanwhile, taking his shape,
had gathered together a crew, and also had borrowed a ship for the
voyage. And, lest the suitors should hinder the thing, she caused
a deep sleep to fall upon them, so that they slept where they sat.
Then she came in the shape of Mentor to the palace, and called
Telemachus forth, saying:
"The rowers are ready; let us go."
Then Athene led the way, and they found the ship's crew upon the
shore. To them spake Telemachus, saying, "Come now, my friends,
let us carry the food on board, for it is all in the chamber, and
no one knoweth of the matter; neither my mother, nor any of the
maidens, but one woman only."
So they went to the house with him, and carried all the provision,
and stowed it in the ship. Then Telemachus climbed the ship and
sat down on the stern, and Athene sat by him.
And when he called to the crew, they made ready to depart. They
raised the pine tree mast, and set it in the hole that was made
for it, and they made it fast with stays. Then they hauled up the
white sails with ropes of ox-hide. And the wind filled out the
sail, and the water seethed about the stem of the ship, as she
hasted through the water. And when all was made fast in the ship,
then they mixed wine in the bowl, and poured out drink offerings
to the gods, especially to Zeus.
So all the night, and till the dawn, the ship sped through the
sea.