down came the sandstorms and swept him back into the desert; and then
all was calm and cloudless as before.
Then he cried to Athene, "Shall I never see my mother more, and the
blue ripple of the sea and the sunny hills of Hellas?"
So he prayed, and after he had prayed there was a great silence.
And Perseus stood still awhile and waited, and said, "Surely I am not
here but by the will of the gods, for Athené will not lie. Were not
these sandals to lead me in the right road?"
Then suddenly his ears were opened and he heard the sound of running
water. And Perseus laughed for joy, and leapt down the cliff and drank
of the cool water, and ate of the dates, and slept on the turf, and
leapt up and went forward again, but not toward the north this time.
For he said, "Surely Athene hath sent me hither, and will not have me
go homeward yet. What if there be another noble deed to be done before
I see the sunny hills of Hellas?"
So Perseus flew along the shore above the sea, and at the dawn of a
day he looked towards the cliffs. At the water's edge, under a black
rock, he saw a white image stand.
"This," thought he, "must surely be the statue of some sea-god. I will
go near and see."
And he came near, but when he came it was no statue he found, but a
maiden of flesh and blood, for he could see her tresses streaming in
the breeze. And as he came closer still, he could see how she shrank
and shivered when the waves sprinkled her with cold salt spray.
Her arms were spread above her head and fastened to the rock with
chains of brass, and her head drooped either with sleep or weariness
or grief. But now and then she looked up and wailed, and called her
mother.
Yet she did not see Perseus, for the cap of darkness was on his head.
In his heart pity and indignation, Perseus drew near and looked upon
the maid. Her cheeks were darker than his, and her hair was blue-black
like a hyacinth.
Perseus thought, "I have never seen so beautiful a maiden, no, not in
all our isles. Surely she is a king's daughter. She is too fair, at
least, to have done any wrong. I will speak to her," and, lifting the
magic hat from his head, he flashed into her sight. She shrieked with
terror, but Perseus cried, "Do not fear me, fair one. What cruel men
have bound you? But first I will set you free."
And he tore at the fetters, but they were too strong for him, while
the maiden cried, "Touch me not. I am a victim for the sea-gods. They
will slay you if you dare to set me free."
"Let them try," said Perseus, and drawing his sword he cut through the
brass as if it had been flax.
"Now," he said, "you belong to me, and not to these sea-gods,
whosoever they may be."
But she only called the more on her mother. Then he clasped her in his
arms, and cried, "Where are these sea-gods, cruel and unjust, who doom
fair maids to death? Let them measure their strength against mine. But
tell me, maiden, who you are, and what dark fate brought you here."
And she answered, weeping, "I am the daughter of a King, and my mother
is the Queen with the beautiful tresses, and they call me Andromeda.
I stand here to atone for my mother's sin, for she boasted of me once
that I was fairer than the Queen of the Fishes. So she in her wrath
sent the sea-floods and wasted all the land. And now I must be
devoured by a sea-monster to atone for a sin which I never committed."
But Perseus laughed and said, "A sea-monster! I have fought with worse
than he."
Andromeda looked up at him, and new hope was kindled in her heart, so
proud and fair did he stand, with one hand round her, and in the other
the glittering sword.
But still she sighed and said, "Why will you die, young as you are? Go
you your way, I must go mine."
Perseus cried, "Not so: I slew the Gorgon by the help of the gods, and
not without them do I come hither to slay this monster, with that same
Gorgon's head. Yet hide your eyes when I leave you, lest the sight of
it freeze you too to stone."
But the maiden answered nothing, for she could not believe his words.
Then suddenly looking up, she pointed to the sea and shrieked, "There
he comes with the sunrise as they said. I must die now. Oh go!" And
she tried to thrust him away.
And Perseus said, "I go, yet promise me one thing ere I go,--that if
I slay this beast you will be my wife and come back with me to my
kingdom, for I am a King's son. Promise me, and seal it with a kiss."
Then she lifted up her face and kissed him, and Perseus laughed for
joy and flew upward, while Andromeda crouched trembling on the rock.
On came the great sea-monster, lazily breasting the ripple and
stopping at times by creek or headland. His great sides were fringed
with clustering shells and seaweeds, and the water gurgled in and out
of his wide jaws as he rolled along. At last he saw Andromeda and shot
forward to take his prey.
Then down from the height of the air fell Perseus like a shooting
star, down to the crests of the waves, while Andromeda hid her face as
he shouted, and then there was silence for a while.
When at last she looked up trembling, Andromeda saw Perseus springing
towards her, and instead of the monster, a long black rock, with the
sea rippling quietly round it.
Who then so proud as Perseus, as he leapt back to the rock and lifted
his fair Andromeda in his arms and flew with her to the cliff-top, as
a falcon carries a dove! Who so proud as Perseus, and who so joyful as
the people of the land!
And the King and the Queen came, and all the people came with songs
and dances to receive Andromeda back again, as one alive from the
dead.
Then the King said to Perseus, "Hero of the Hellens, stay here with me
and be my son-in-law, and I will give you the half of my kingdom."
"I will be your son-in-law," said Perseus, "but of your kingdom will I
have none, for I long after the pleasant land of Greece, and my mother
who waits for me at home."
Then said the King, "You must not take my daughter away at once, for
she is to us as one alive from the dead. Stay with us here a year, and
after that you shall return with honor."
And Perseus consented, but before he went to the palace he bade the
people bring stones and wood and build an altar to Athené, and there
he offered bullocks and rams. Then they made a great wedding feast,
which lasted seven whole days.
But on the eighth night Perseus dreamed a dream. He saw standing
beside him Athené as he had seen her seven long years before, and she
stood and called him by name, and said, "Perseus, you have played
the man, and see, you have your reward. Now give me the sword and the
sandals, and the hat of darkness, that I may give them back to those
to whom they belong. But the Gorgon's head you shall keep a while, for
you will need it in your land of Hellas."
And Perseus rose to give her the sword, and the cap, and the sandals,
but he woke and his dream vanished away. Yet it was not altogether a
dream, for the goat-skin with the head was in its place, but the sword
and the cap and the sandals were gone, and Perseus never saw them
more.
V
HOW PERSEUS CAME HOME AGAIN
When a year was ended, Perseus rowed away in a noble galley, and in
it he put Andromeda and all her dowry of jewels and rich shawls and
spices from the East, and great was the weeping when they rowed away.
And when Perseus reached the land, of Hellas he left his galley on the
beach, and went up as of old. He embraced his mother and Dictys, and
they wept over each other, for it was seven years and more since they
had parted.
Then Perseus went out and up to the hall of Polydectes, and underneath
the goat-skin he bore the Gorgon's head.
When he came to the hall, Polydectes sat at the table, and all his
nobles on either side, feasting on fish and goats' flesh, and drinking
blood-red wine.
Perseus stood upon the threshold and called to the King by name. But
none of the guests knew the stranger, for he was changed by his long
journey. He had gone out a boy, and he was come home a hero.
But Polydectes the Wicked, knew him, and scornfully he called, "Ah,
foundling! have you found it more easy to promise than to fulfil?"
"Those whom the gods help fulfil their promises," said Perseus, as
he drew back the goat-skin and held aloft the Gorgon's head, saying,
"Behold!"
Pale grew Polydectes and his guests as they looked upon that dreadful
face. They tried to rise from their seats, but from their seats they
never rose, but stiffened, each man where he sat, into a ring of cold
gray stones.
Then Perseus turned and left them, and went down to his galley in
the bay. He gave the kingdom to good Dictys, and sailed away with his
mother and his bride. And Perseus rowed westward till he came to his
old home, and there he found that his grandfather had fled.
The heart of Perseus yearned after his grandfather, and he said,
"Surely he will love me now that I am come home with honor. I will go
and find him and bring him back, and we will reign together in peace."
So Perseus sailed away, and at last he came to the land where his
grandfather dwelt, and all the people were in the fields, and there
was feasting and all kinds of games.
Then Perseus did not tell his name, but went up to the games unknown,
for he said, "If I carry away the prize in the games, my grandfather's
heart will be softened towards me."
And when the games began, Perseus was the best of all at running and
leaping, and wrestling and throwing. And he won four crowns and took
them.
Then he said to himself, "There is a fifth crown to be won. I will win
that also, and lay them all upon the knees of my grandfather."
So he took the stones and hurled them five fathoms beyond all the
rest. And the people shouted, "There has never been such a hurler in
this land!"
Again Perseus put out all his strength and hurled. But a gust of wind
came from the sea and carried the quoit aside, far beyond all the
rest. And it fell on the foot of his grandfather, and he swooned away
with the pain.
Perseus shrieked and ran up to him, but when they lifted the old man
up, he was dead. Then Perseus rent his clothes and cast dust on his
head, and wept a long while for his grandfather.
At last he rose and called to all people aloud and said, "The gods are
true: what they have ordained must be; I am Perseus the grandson
of this dead man." Then he told them how a prophet had said that he
should kill his grandfather.
So they made great mourning for the old King, and burnt him on a right
rich pile.
And Perseus went to the temple and was purified from the guilt of his
death, because he had done it unknowingly.
Then he went home and reigned well with Andromeda, and they had four
sons and three daughters.
And when they died, the ancients say that Athené took them up to the
sky. All night long Perseus and Andromeda shine as a beacon for
wandering sailors, but all day long they feast with the gods, on the
still blue peaks in the home of the Immortals.
ODYSSEUS
ADAPTED BY JEANIE LANG
I
HOW ODYSSEUS LEFT TROYLAND AND SAILED FOR HIS KINGDOM PAST THE LAND OF
THE LOTUS EATERS
In the days of long ago there reigned over Ithaca, a rugged little
island in the sea to the west of Greece, a King whose name was
Odysseus.
Odysseus feared no man. Stronger and braver than other men was he,
wiser, and more full of clever devices. Far and wide he was known as
Odysseus of the many counsels. Wise, also, was his Queen, Penelope,
and she was as fair as she was wise, and as good as she was fair.
While their only child, a boy named Telemachus, was still a baby,
there was a very great war in Troyland, a country far across the sea.
The brother of the overlord of all Greece beseiged Troy, and the kings
and princes of his land came to help him. Many came from afar, but
none from a more distant kingdom than Odysseus. Wife and child and old
father he left behind him and sailed away with his black-prowed ships
to fight in Troyland.
For ten years the siege of Troy went on, and of the heroes who fought
there, none was braver than Odysseus. Clad as a beggar he went into
the city and found out much to help the Greek armies. With his long
sword he fought his way out again, and left many of the men of Troy
lying dead behind him. And many other brave feats did Odysseus do.
After long years of fighting, Troy at last was taken. With much rich
plunder the besiegers sailed homewards, and Odysseus set sail for his
rocky island, with its great mountain, and its forests of trembling
leaves.
Of gladness and of longing his heart was full. With a great love he
loved his fair wife and little son and old father, and his little
kingdom by the sea was very dear to him.
"I can see nought beside sweeter than a man's own country," he said.
Very soon he hoped to see his dear land again, but many a long and
weary day was to pass ere Odysseus came home.
Odysseus was a warrior, and always he would choose to fight rather
than to be at peace.
As he sailed on his homeward way, winds drove his ships near the
shore. He and his company landed, sacked the nearest city, and slew
the people. Much rich plunder they took, but ere they could return to
their ships, a host of people came from inland. In the early morning,
thick as leaves and flowers in the spring they came, and fell upon
Odysseus and his men.
All day they fought, but as the sun went down the people of the land
won the fight. Back to their ships went Odysseus and his men. Out of
each ship were six men slain. While they were yet sad at heart and
weary from the fight, a terrible tempest arose.
Land and sea were blotted out, the ships were driven headlong, and
their sails were torn to shreds by the might of the storm. For two
days and two nights the ships were at the mercy of the tempests. At
dawn on the third day, the storm passed away, and Odysseus and his men
set up their masts and hoisted their white sails, and drove homeward
before the wind.
So he would have come safely to his own country, but a strong current
and a fierce north wind swept the ships from their course. For nine
days were they driven far from their homeland, across the deep sea.
On the tenth day they reached the Land of the Lotus Eaters. The
dwellers in that land fed on the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus
flower. Those who ate the lotus ceased to remember that there was a
past or a future. All duties they forgot, and all sadness. All day
long they would sit and dream and dream idle, happy dreams that never
ended.
Here Odysseus and his men landed and drew water. Three of his warriors
Odysseus sent into the country to see what manner of men dwelt there.
To them the Lotus Eaters gave their honey-sweet food, and no sooner
had each man eaten than he had no wish ever to return to the ships. He
longed for ever to stay in that pleasant land, eating the lotus fruit,
and dreaming the happy hours away.
Back to the ships Odysseus dragged the unwilling men, weeping that
they must leave so much joy behind. Beneath the benches of his ship he
tightly bound them, and swiftly he made his ships sail from the shore,
lest yet others of his company might eat of the lotus and forget their
homes and their kindred.
Soon they had all embarked, and, with heavy hearts, the men of Ithaca
smote the gray sea-water with their long oars, and sped away from the
land of forgetfulness and of sweet day-dreams.
II
HOW ODYSSEUS CAME TO THE LAND OF THE CYCLÔPES, AND HIS ADVENTURES
THERE
On and on across the waves sailed the dark-prowed ships of Odysseus,
until again they came to land.
It was the Land of the Cyclôpes, a savage and lawless people, who
never planted, nor plowed, nor sowed, and whose fields yet gave them
rich harvests of wheat and of barley, and vines with heavy clusters of
grapes. In deep caves, high up on the hills, these people dwelt, and
each man ruled his own wife and children, but himself knew no ruler.
Outside the harbor of the Land of the Cyclôpes lay a thickly wooded
island. No hunters went there, for the Cyclôpes owned neither ships
nor boats, so that many goats roamed unharmed through the woods and
cropped the fresh green grass.
It was a green and pleasant land. Rich meadows stretched down to the
sea, the vines grew strong and fruitful, and there was a fair harbor
where ships might be run right on to the beach. At the head of the
harbor was a well of clear water flowing out of a cave, and with
poplars growing around it. Thither Odysseus directed his ships. It was
dark night, with no moon to guide, and mist lay deep on either side,
yet they passed the breakers and rolling surf without knowing it, and
anchored safely on the beach.
All night they slept, and when rosy dawn came they explored the island
and slew with their bows and long spears many of the wild goats of the
woods.
All the livelong day Odysseus and his men sat and feasted. As they ate
and drank, they looked across the water at the Land of the Cyclôpes,
where the smoke of wood fires curled up to the sky, and from whence
they could hear the sound of men's voices and the bleating of
sheep and goats. When darkness fell, they lay down to sleep on the
sea-beach, and when morning dawned Odysseus called his men together
and said to them: "Stay here, all the rest of you, my dear companions,
but I will go with my own ship and my ship's company and see what kind
of men are those who dwell in this land across the harbor."
So saying, he climbed into his ship, and his men rowed him across to
the Land of the Cyclôpes. When they were near the shore they saw a
great cave by the sea. It was roofed in with green laurel boughs and
seemed to be meant for a fold to shelter sheep and goats. Round about
it a high outer wall was firmly built with stones, and with tall and
leafy pines and oak-trees.
In this cave, all alone with his flocks and herds, dwelt a huge and
hideous one-eyed giant. Polyphemus was his name, and his father was
Poseidon, god of the sea.
Taking twelve of his best men with him, Odysseus left the others to
guard the ship and sallied forth to the giant's cave. With him he
carried a goat-skin full of precious wine, dark red, and sweet and
strong, and a large sack of corn.
Soon they came to the cave, but Polyphemus was not there. He had taken
off his flocks to graze in the green meadows, leaving behind him in
the cave folds full of lambs and kids. The walls of the cave were
lined with cheeses, and there were great pans full of whey, and giant
bowls full of milk.
"Let us first of all take the cheeses," said the men of Odysseus to
their King, "and carry them to the ships. Then let us return and drive
all the kids and lambs from their folds down to the shore, and sail
with them in our swift ships homeward over the sea."
But Odysseus would not listen to what they said. He was too great
hearted to steal into the cave like a thief and take away the giant's
goods without first seeing whether Polyphemus might not treat him as
a friend, receiving from him the corn and wine he had brought, and
giving him gifts in return.
So they kindled a fire, and dined on some of the cheeses, and sat
waiting for the giant to return.
Towards evening he came, driving his flocks before him, and carrying
on his back a huge load of firewood, which he cast down on the floor
with such a thunderous noise that Odysseus and his men fled in fear
and hid themselves in the darkest corners of the cave. When he had
driven his sheep inside, Polyphemus lifted from the ground a rock so
huge that two-and-twenty four-wheeled wagons could not have borne it,
and with it blocked the doorway. Then, sitting down, he milked the
ewes and bleating goats, and placed the lambs and kids each beside its
own mother.
Half of the milk he curdled and placed in wicker baskets to make into
cheeses, and the other half he left in great pails to drink when he
should have supper. When all this was done, he kindled a fire, and
when the flames had lit up the dark-walled cave he spied Odysseus and
his men.
"Strangers, who are ye?" he asked, in his great, rumbling voice.
"Whence sail ye over the watery ways? Are ye merchants? or are ye
sea-robbers who rove over the sea, risking your own lives and bringing
evil to other men?"
The sound of the giant's voice, and his hideous face filled the hearts
of the men with terror, but Odysseus made answer: "From Troy we
come, seeking our home, but driven hither by winds and waves. Men of
Agamemnon, the renowned and most mightily victorious Greek general,
are we, yet to thee we come and humbly beg for friendship."
At this the giant, who had nothing but cruelty in his heart, mocked at
Odysseus.
"Thou art a fool," said he, "and I shall not spare either thee or thy
company. But tell me where thou didst leave thy good ship? Was it near
here, or at the far end of the island?"
But Odysseus of the many counsels knew that the giant asked the
question only to bring evil on the men who stayed by the ship, and so
he answered: "My ship was broken in pieces by the storm and cast up on
the rocks on the shore, but I, with these my men, escaped from death."
Not one word said Polyphemus in reply, but sprang up, clutched hold of
two of the men, and dashed their brains out on the stone floor. Then
he cut them up, and made ready his supper, eating the two men, bones
and all, as if he had been a starving lion, and taking great draughts
of the milk from the giant pails. When his meal was done, he stretched
himself on the ground beside his sheep and goats, and slept.
In helpless horror Odysseus and his men had watched the dreadful
sight, but when the monster slept they began to make plans for their
escape. At first Odysseus thought it might be best to take his sharp
sword and stab Polyphemus in the breast. But then he knew that even
were he thus to slay the giant, he and his men must die. For strength
was not left them to roll away the rock from the cave's mouth, and so
they must perish like rats in a trap.
All night they thought what they should do, but could think of nought
that would avail, and so they could only moan in their bitterness of
heart and wait for the dawn. When dawn's rosy fingers touched the sky,
Polyphemus awoke. He kindled a fire, and milked his flocks, and gave
each ewe her lamb. When this work was done he snatched yet other two
men, dashed their brains out, and made of them his morning meal. After
the meal, he lifted the stone from the door, drove the flocks out, and
set the stone back again. Then, with a loud shout, he turned his sheep
and goats towards the hills and left Odysseus and his remaining eight
men imprisoned in the cave, plotting and planning how to get away, and
how to avenge the death of their comrades.
At last Odysseus thought of a plan. By the sheepfold there lay a huge
club of green olive wood that Polyphemus had cut and was keeping
until it should be dry enough to use as a staff. So huge was it
that Odysseus and his men likened it to the mast of a great merchant
vessel. From this club Odysseus cut a large piece and gave it to his
men to fine down and make even. While they did this, Odysseus himself
sharpened it to a point and hardened the point in the fire. When it
was ready, they hid it amongst the rubbish on the floor of the cave.
Then Odysseus made his men draw lots who should help him to lift this
bar and drive it into the eye of the giant as he slept, and the lot
fell upon the four men that Odysseus would himself have chosen.
In the evening Polyphemus came down from the hills with his flocks and
drove them all inside the cave. Then he lifted the great doorstone and
blocked the doorway, milked the ewes and goats, and gave each lamb and
kid to its mother. This done, he seized other two of the men, dashed
out their brains, and made ready his supper.
From the shadows of the cave Odysseus now stepped forward, bearing in
his hands an ivy bowl, full of the dark red wine.
"Drink wine after thy feast of men's flesh," said Odysseus, "and see
what manner of drink this was that our ship held."
Polyphemus grasped the bowl, gulped down the strong wine, and smacked
his great lips over its sweetness.
"Give me more," he cried, "and tell me thy name straightway, that I
may give thee a gift. Mighty clusters of grapes do the vines of our
land bear for us, but this is a rill of very nectar and ambrosia."
Again Odysseus gave him the bowl full of wine, and yet again, until
the strong wine went to the giant's head and made him stupid.
Then said Odysseus: "Thou didst ask me my name, and didst say that
thou wouldst give me a gift. Noman is my name, and Noman they call me,
my father and mother and all my fellows."
Then answered the giant out of his pitiless heart: "I will eat thy
fellows first, Noman, and thee the last of all. That shall be thy
gift."
Soon the wine made him so sleepy that he sank backwards with his great
face upturned and fell fast asleep.