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21 - The Odyssey - Homer · Classic Adventure Books Library

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Book twenty one. Minerva now put it in Penelope's mind to make the suitors
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try their skill with the bow and with the iron axes in contest among themselves,
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as a means of bringing about their destruction. She went upstairs and got
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the store room key, which was made of bronze and had a handle of
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ivory. She then went with her maidens into the store room at the end
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of the house, where her husband's treasures of gold, bronze and wrought iron
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were kept, and where was also his bow and the quiver full of deadly
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arrows that had been given him by a friend whom he had met in Lazi
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Damon Iphithus, the son of Eurytus. The two fell in with one another
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in Messine at the house of Orticholus, where Ulysses was staying, in order
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to recover a debt that was owing from the whole people, for the Messenians
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had carried off three hundred sheep from Ithaca and had sailed away with them and
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with their shepherds in quest of these. Ulysses took a long journey while still
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quite young, for his father and the other chieftains sent him on a mission
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to recover them. Ephythus had gone there also to try to get back twelve
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brute mares that he had lost, and the mule folds that were running with
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them. These mares were the death of him in the end, for when
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he went to the house of Jove's son Mighty Hercules, who performed such prodigies
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of valor, Hercules, to his shame, killed him, though he was
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his guest, for he feared not Heaven's vengeance, nor yet respected his own
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table, which he had set before Iphythus, but killed him in spite of
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everything, and kept the mares himself. It was when claiming these that Yoppethus
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met Ulysses and gave him the bow which Mighty Eurytus had been used to carry,
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and which on his death had been left by him to his son.
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Ulysses gave him in return a sword and as, and this was the beginning
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of a fast friendship, although they never visited at one another's houses, for
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Jove's son Hercules killed Iphythus ere they could do so. This bow, then
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given him by Iphythus, had not been taken with him by Ulysses when he
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sailed for Troy. He had used it so long as he had been at
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home, but had left it behind as having been a keepsake from a valued
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friend. Penelope presently reached the oaked threshold of the storeroom. The carpenter had
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planned this, Julie, and had drawn a line on it so as to
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get it quite straight. He had then set the doorposts into it and hung
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the doors. She loosed the strap from the handle of the door, put
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in the key, and drove it straight home to shoot back the bolts that
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held the doors. These flew open with a noise like a bull bellowing in
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a meadow. Andy stepped upon the raised platform where the chests stood, in
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which the fair linen and clothes were laid by, along with fragrant herbs.
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Reaching thence, she took down the bow with its bowcase from the peg on
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which it hung. She sat down with it on her knees, weeping bitterly
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as she took the bow out of its case, and when her tears had
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relieved her, she went to the cloister where the suitors were carrying the bow
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and a quiver with the many deadly arrows that were inside it. Along with
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her came her maidens, bearing a chest that contained much iron and bronze,
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which her husband had won as prizes. When she reached the suitors, she
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stood by one of the bearing posts supporting the roof of the cloister, holding
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a whale before her face, and with a mate on either side of her.
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Then she said, listen to me, you suitors, who persist in
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a using the hospitality of this house because its owner has been long absent,
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and without other pretext than that you want to marry me. This, then,
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being the prize that you are contending for, I will bring out the
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mighty bow of Ulysses, and whomsoever of you shall string it most easily and
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send his arrow through each one of twelve axes him will I follow and quit
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this house of my lawful husband, so goodly and so abounding in wealth.
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But even so I doubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams.
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As she spoke, she told Eumanus to set the bow and the pieces of
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iron before the suitors, and Eumenus wept as he took them to do as
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she had bidden him. Hard By the stockman wept also when he saw his
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master's bow. But Antinuous scolded them, you country a lots, said he,
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silly importance, Why should you add to the sorrows of your mistress by
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crying. In this way, she has enough to grieve her in the loss
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of her husband. Sit still, therefore, and eat your dinners in silence,
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or go outside if you want to cry, and leave the bow behind
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you. We suitors shall have to contend for it with might and main,
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for we shall find it no light matter to string such a bow as this
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his. There is not a man of us all who is such another as
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Ulysses, for I have seen him and remember him, though I was then
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only a child. This was all he said. But all the time he
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was expecting to be able to string the bow and shoot through the iron,
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whereas in fact he was to be the first that should taste of the arrows
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from the hands of Ulysses, whom he was dishonoring in his own house,
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aching the others on to do so also. Then Telemachus spoke great heavens.
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He exclaimed, Jove must have robbed me of my senses. Here is my
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dear and excellent mother, saying she will quit this house and marry again.
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Yet I am laughing and enjoying myself, as though there were nothing happening,
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but suitors as the contest has been agreed upon, let it go forward.
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It is for a woman whose peer is not to be found in pylas Argos
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or my scene, nor yet in Ithaca, nor on mainland. You know
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this as well as I do. What need have I to speak in praise
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of my mother? Come on, then, make no excuses for delay,
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But let us see whether you can string the bow or no, I too
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will make trial of it. For if I can string it and shoot through
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the iron, I shall not suffer my mother to quit this house with a
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stranger, not if I can win the prizes which my father won before me.
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As he spoke, he sprang from his seat, threw his crimson cloak
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from him, and took his sword from his shoulder. First he set the
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axis in a row in a long groove, which he had dug for them
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and had weighed straight by line. Then he stamped the earth tight round them,
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and everyone was surprised when he saw him set up so orderly, though
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he had never seen anything of the kind Before this done, he went on
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to the pavement to make trial of the bow. Thrice did he tug at
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it, trying with all his might to draw the string and thrice he had
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to leave off, though he had hoped to string the bow and shoot through
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the iron. He was trying for the fourth time and would have strung it
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had not Ulysses made a sign to check him in spite of all his eagerness,
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So he said, alas, I shall either be always feeble and of
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no prowess, or I am too young and have not yet reached my full
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strength so as to be able to hold my if any one attacks me.
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You others, therefore, who are stronger than I, make trial of the
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bow and get this contest settled. On this, he put the bow down,
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letting it lean against the door that led into the house, with the
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arrow standing against the top of the bow. Then he sat down on a
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seat from which he had risen, and Antinouis said, come on, each
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of you, in his turn, going to words, to ride from the
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place at which the cup bearer when he is handing round the wine. The
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rest agreed, and Laodes, son of Oenop's, was the first to rise.
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He was sacrificial priest to the suitors and sat in a corner near the
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mixing bowl. He was the only man who hated their evil deeds and was
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indignant with the others, he was now the first to take the bow and
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arrow. So he went on to the payment to make his trial. But
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he could not string the bow, for his hands were weak and unused to
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hard work. They therefore soon grew tired, and he said to the suitors,
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my friends, I cannot string it. Let another have it. This
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bow shall take the life and soul out of many a chief among us,
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for it is better to die than to live, after having missed the prize
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that we have so long striven for, and which has brought us so long
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together. Some one of us is even now hoping and praying that he may
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marry Penelope. But when he has seen this bow and tried it, let
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him woo and make bridal offerings to some other woman, and let Penelope marry
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who ever makes her the best offer, and whose lut it is to win
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her. On this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the
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door, with the arrow standing against the tip of the bow. Then he
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took his seat again on the seat from which he had risen, and Antinous
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rebuked him, saying, lay odies, what are you talking about. Your
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words are monstrous and intolerable. It makes me angry to listen to you,
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shall then this bow take the life of many a chief among us, merely
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because you cannot bend it yourself. True, you were not born to be
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an archer. But there are others who will soon string it. Then he
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said to Melanthius, the goatherd, look sharp, Light a fire in the
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court, and set a seat hard by with a sheepskin on it. Bring
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us also a large ball of lard from what they have in a house.
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Let us warm the bow and grease it. We will then make trial of
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it again and bring the contest to an end. Melanthius lit the fire and
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set a seat covered with sheepskins beside it. He also brought a great ball
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of lard from what they had in the house, and the suitors warmed the
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bow and again made trial of it. But they were none of them nearly
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strong enough to string it. Nevertheless, there still remained Antinuous and Eurymachus,
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who were the ringleaders among the suitors, and much the foremost among them all.
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Then, the swineherd and the stockman left the cloisters together, and Ulysses
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followed them. When they had got outside the gates, and youter yard Ulysses
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said to them quietly, Stockman, and you swineherd, I have something in
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my mind which I am in doubt whether to say or no, But I
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think I will say it. What manner of men would you be to stand
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by Ulysses if some God should bring him back here? All of a sudden,
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Say which you are disposed to do, to side with the suitors or
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with Ulysses. Father Jove answered the stockman would indeed that you might so obtain
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it. If some God were but to bring Ulysses back, you should see
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with what might and main I would fight for him. In like words,
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Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that Ulysses might return. When therefore he saw
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for certain what mind they were of Ulysses said, it is I Ulysses who
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am here. I have suffered much, but at last, in the twentieth
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year, I am come back to my own country. I find that you
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two, alone, of all my servants, are glad that I should do
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so, for I have not heard any of the others praying for my return
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to you two. Therefore will I unfold the truth as it shall be,
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if Heaven shall deliver the suitors into my hands. I will find wives for
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both of you, will give you house and holding close to my own,
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and you shall be to me as though you were brothers and friends of Telemachus.
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I will now give you convincing proofs that you may know me and be
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assured. See here is the scar from the boar's tooth that ripped me when
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I was out hunting on Mount Parnassus with the sons of Autolysis. As he
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spoke, he drew his rags aside from the great scar. And when they
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had examined it thoroughly, they both of them wept about. Ulysses threw their
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arms around him and kissed his head and shoulders, while Ulysses kissed their hands
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and faces in return. The sun would have gone down upon their mourning if
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Ulysses had not checked them and said, cease your weeping, lest someone should
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come outside and see us, and tell those who are within. When you
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go in, do so separately, not both together. I will go first,
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and do you follow afterwards. Let this moreover be the token between us
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the suitors. Will all of them try to prevent me from getting hold of
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the bow and quiver. Do you, therefore, Eumaneus, place it in
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my hands when you are carrying it about, and tell the women to close
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the doors of their apartment. If they hear any groaning or uproar as of
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men fighting about the house, they must not come out. They must keep
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quiet and stay where they are at their work. And I charge you,
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Philouetius, to make fast the doors of the outer court and to bind them
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securely at once. When he had thus spoken, he went back to the
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house and took the seat that he had left presently. His two servants followed
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him inside. At this moment, the bow was in the hands of Eurymachus,
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who was warming it by the fire. But even so he could not
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string it, and he was greatly grieved. He heaved a deep sigh and
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said, I grieve for myself and for us. I grieve that I shall
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have to forego the marriage. But I do not care nearly so much about
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this, for there are plenty of other women in Ithaca and elsewhere. What
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I feel most is the fact of our being so inferior to Ulysses in strength
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that we cannot string his bow. This will disgrace us in the eyes of
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those who are yet unborn. It shall not be so Eurymachus said, Antinous,
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and you know it yourself. To day is the feast of Apollo throughout
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all the land. Who can string a bow on such a day as this
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put it on one side. As for the axes, they can stay where
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they are, for no one is likely to come to the house and take
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them away. Let the cup bearer go round with his cups, that we
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may make our drink offerings, and drop this matter of the bow. We
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will tell Melanthius to bring us some goats to morrow, the best he has.
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We can then offer thigh bones to Apollo, the mighty archer, and
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again make trial of the bow, as to bring the contest to an end.
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The rest approved his words, and thereon men servants poured water over the
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hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixing poles with wine and water
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and handed it round, after giving every man his drink offering. Then,
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when they had made their offerings and had drunk each as much as he desired,
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Ulysses craftily said, suitors of the illustrious queen, listen that I may
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speak, even as I am minded. I appeal more especially to Eurymachus and
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to Antonius, who has just spoken with so much reason, cease shooting for
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the present, and leave the matter to the gods. But in the morning,
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let Heaven give victory to whom it will. For the moment, however,
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give me the bow, that I may prove the power of my hands
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among you all, and see whether I still have as much strength as I
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used to have, or whether travel and neglect have made an end of it.
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This made them all very angry, for they feared he might string the
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bow. Antinous therefore rebuked him fiercely, saying, wretched creature, you have
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not so much as a grain of sense in your whole body. You ought
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to think yourself lucky in being allowed to dine unharmed among your betters, without
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having any smaller portion served you than we others have had, and in being
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allowed to hear our conversation. No other beggar or stranger has been allowed to
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hear what we have said among ourselves. The wine must have been doing you
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a mischief, as it does with all those drinking immoderately. It was wine
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that inflamed the centure Eurythian when he was staying with Pirithus among the lappy things.
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When the wine had got into his head he went mad and did ill
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deeds about the house of Pirithius. This angered the heroes who were there assembled,
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so they rushed at him and cut off his ears and nostrils. Then
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they dragged him through the doorway out of the house. So he went away
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grazed and bore the burden of his crime, bereft of understanding. Henceforth,
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therefore there was war between mankind and the centaurs. But he brought it upon
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himself through his own drunkenness. In like manner. I can tell you that
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it will go hardly with you. If you string the bow, you will
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find no mercy from anyone here, for we shall at once ship you off
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to King Achithus, who kills every one that comes near him. You will
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never get away alive. So drink and keep quiet without getting into a quarrel
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with men younger than yourself. Penelope then spoke to him. Antinous said,
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she, it is not right that you should ill treat any guests of Telemachus
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who comes to this house. If the stranger should prove strong enough to string
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the mighty bow of Ulysses, can you suppose that he would take me home
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with him and make him his wife even the man himself can have no such
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idea in his mind. None of you need let that disturb his feasting.
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It would be out of all reason. Queen Penelope answered, Eurymachus, we
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do not suppose that this man will take you away with him. It is
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impossible. But we are afraid lest some of the baser sort men or women
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among their achaeans, should go gossiping about and say these suitors are a feeble
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folk. They are paying court to the wife of a brave man whose bow.
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Not one of them was a to string, and yet a beggarly tramp
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who came to the house strung it at once and sent an arrow through the
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iron. This is what will be said, and it will be a scandal
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against us. Eurymachus Penelope answered, people who persist in eating up the estate
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of a great chieftain and dishonoring his house must not expect others to think well
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of them. Why then, should you mind if men talk as you think
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they will. This stranger is strong and well built. He says, moreover
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that he is of noble birth. Give him the bow, and let us
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see whether he can string it or no, I say, and it shall
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surely be that if Apollo vouchsafes him the glory of stringing it, I will
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give him a cloak and a shirt of good wear, with the javelin to
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keep off dogs and robbers, and a sharp sword. I will also give
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him sandals, and will see him send safely wherever he wants to go.
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Then, Telemachus said mother, I am the only man, either in Ithaca
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or in the islands that are over against Elis, who has the right to
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let any one have the bow or to refuse it. No one shall force
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me one way or the other, not even though I choose to make the
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stranger a present of the bow outright and let him take it away with him.
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Go then within the house, and busy yourself with your daily duties,
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your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants. This bow
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is a man's matter, and mine above all others, for it is I
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who am master. Here. She went, wandering back into the house and
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laid her sons, saying in her heart. Then going upstairs with her handmaids
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into her room, she mourned her dear husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over
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her. The Swinehertz now took up the bow and was for taking it to
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Ulysses. But the suitors clamored at him from all parts of the cloisters,
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and one of them said, you idiot, where are you taking the bow
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to? Are you out of your wits? If Apollo and the other gods
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will grant our prayer, your own boarhounds shall get you into some quiet little
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place and worry you to death. Eumaeus was frightened at the outcry they all
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raised, so he put the bow down then and there. But Telemachus shouted
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out at him from the other side of the cloisters and threatened him, saying,
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father, Eumaeus, bring the bow on in spite of them, or
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young as I am, I will pelt you with stones back to the country.
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For I am the better man of the two. I wish I was
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as much stronger than all the other suitors in a house as I am than
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you. I would soon send some of them off, sick and sorry for
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their mean mischief. Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed
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heartily, which put them in a better humor with Telemachus. So Eumaeus brought
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the bow on and placed it in the hands of Ulysses. When he had
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done this, he called Eurycleia apart, and said to her, Eurycleia,
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Telemachus says, you are to close the doors of the women's apartments. If
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they hear any groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house, they
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are not to come out, but are to keep quiet and stay where they
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are at their work. Euryclea did as she was told and closed the doors
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of the women's apartments. Meanwhile, Philoetius slipped quietly on and made fast the
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gates of the outer court. There was a ship's cable of biblus fiber lying
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in the gatehouse, so he made the gates fast with it, and then
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came in again, resuming the seat that he had left, and keeping an
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eye on Ulysses, who had now got the bow in his hands and was
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turning it every way about and proving it all over to see whether the worms
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had been eating into its two horns during his absence. Then would one turn
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towards his neighbor, saying, this is some tricky old bow fancier. Either
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he has got one leged at home, or he wants to make one in
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such workman light style. Does the old vagabond handle it? Another said,
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I hope he may be no more successful in other things than he is likely
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to be in stringing this bow. But Ulysses, when he had taken it
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up and examined it all over, strung it as easily as a skilled bart
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strings a new peg of his lyre and makes the twisted gut fast at both
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ends. Then he took it in his right hand to prove the string,
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and it sang sweetly under his touch, like the twittering of a swallow.
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The suitors were dismayed and turned color as they heard it at that moment.
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Moreover, Jove thundered loudly as a sign, and the heart of Ulysses rejoiced
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as he heard the omen that the son of scheming Saturn had sent him.
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He took an arrow that was lying upon the table, for those which the
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Achaeans were so shortly about to taste were all inside the quiver. He laid
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it on the centerpiece of the bow, and drew the notch of the arrow
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and a string toward him, still seated on his seat. When he had
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taken aim, he let fly, and his arrow pierced every one of the
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handle holes of the axes, from the first onwards. Till it had gone
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right through them and into the outer courtyard. Then he said to Telemachus,
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your guest has not disgraced you. Lemachus, I did not miss what I
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aimed at, and I was not long in stringing my bow. I am
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still strong, and not as the suitors twit me with being. Now,
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however, it is time for the Achaeans to prepare supper while there is still
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daylight, and then otherwise to disport themselves with song and dance, which are
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the crowning ornaments of a banquet. As he spoke, he made a sign
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with his eyebrows, and Telemachus girded on his sword, grasped his spear,
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and stood on beside his father's seat. End of Book twenty one