Book XVI

1But the two in the hut, Odysseus and the noble swineherd,

had lit a fire and were readying breakfast at dawn,

and had sent the herdsmen out with the gathered swine;

and around Telemachus the yapping dogs went fawning,¹

5and did not bark as he came. And noble Odysseus noticed

the dogs fawning, and the sound of footsteps came to him.

At once he spoke winged words to Eumaeus:

"Eumaeus, surely some companion of yours is coming,

or another man well known, since the dogs are not barking

10but fawn around him; and I hear the thud of feet."

The word was not all spoken when his own dear son

stood in the gateway. The swineherd sprang up amazed,

and out of his hands fell the vessels he was busy with,²

mixing the sparkling wine. He went to meet his master,

15and kissed his head, and both his beautiful eyes,

and both his hands; and a warm tear fell from him.

And as a father, in the fullness of his heart, embraces his son³

come from a far country in the tenth year,

an only son, late-born, for whom he has suffered many sorrows —

20so then the noble swineherd took godlike Telemachus

in his arms and kissed him all over, as one escaped from death;

and sobbing he spoke winged words to him:

"You have come, Telemachus — sweet light! I told myself⁴

I would never see you again, once you had gone by ship to Pylos.

25Come in now, come, dear child, so my heart may take

its joy of looking at you, newly here from elsewhere.

You do not often visit the farm and the herdsmen;

you stay in town: so, it seems, it has pleased your heart —

to look on that deadly crowd of the suitor-men."

30Then clear-headed Telemachus answered him:

"So be it, old father. It is for your sake I have come here,⁵

to see you with my eyes, and to hear you tell me

whether my mother still remains in the halls, or by now

some other man has married her, and Odysseus' bed

35lies empty of sleepers, holding only foul spider-webs."⁶

Then the swineherd answered him, a leader of men:

"Indeed she remains, with an enduring heart,

in your own halls; and always in misery

her nights and her days waste away in weeping."

40So speaking, he took the bronze spear from him,

and Telemachus went in and crossed the stone threshold.

As he came on, his father Odysseus yielded his seat;⁷

but Telemachus, from his side, checked him and said:

"Sit, stranger. We will find a seat elsewhere

45in our own farmstead. Here is the man who will set one."

So he spoke; and Odysseus went back and sat down. And the swineherd

strewed green brushwood under, and a fleece on top,

and there the dear son of Odysseus seated himself.

And the swineherd set before them platters of roasted

50meat, which they had left from their eating the day before,

and briskly heaped up bread in the baskets,

and mixed honey-sweet wine in an ivy-wood bowl,

and himself sat down opposite godlike Odysseus.

And their hands went out to the good things spread before them.

55But when they had put away desire for food and drink,

then Telemachus spoke to the noble swineherd:

"Old father, where has this guest of yours come from? How did sailors⁸

bring him to Ithaca? Who did they claim to be?

For I hardly think he came here on foot."

60And you answered him, Eumaeus the swineherd:

"Then I will tell you, child, the whole truth of it.

He claims his birth from Crete of the wide dancing-grounds,

and says he has wandered rolling through many cities

of mortal men: so a god has spun it for him.

65Now, run off from a ship of Thesprotian men,

he has come to my farmstead; and I put him in your hands.⁹

Do as you will. He declares himself your suppliant."

Then clear-headed Telemachus answered him:

"Eumaeus, this word of yours cuts to the heart.

70How am I to receive this guest in my house?¹⁰

I am young myself, and have no faith yet in my hands

to defend a man, when someone picks a quarrel first.

And my mother's heart is divided in her breast, two ways:¹¹

whether to stay here with me and keep the house,

75respecting her husband's bed and the voice of the people,

or to follow now whichever of the Achaeans is best

among her suitors in the halls, and offers the most.

But as for this guest, since he has come to your house,

I will dress him in a cloak and a tunic, fine clothing,¹²

80and give him a two-edged sword, and sandals for his feet,

and send him wherever his heart and spirit bid him go.

Or if you will, keep him and care for him at the farmstead,

and I will send clothing here, and all his bread

to eat, so he will not wear you down, you and your men.

85But in among the suitors I would not let him

go: too reckless is the insolence they carry —

they would mock him, and it would be a terrible grief to me.

It is hard for one man to get anything done among many,

even a strong man: they are far the more powerful."

90Then much-enduring noble Odysseus spoke to him:

"Friend — since surely it is right for me to answer also —

truly my heart is eaten through as I listen,

hearing you tell what reckless things the suitors

devise in the halls, against the will of such a man as you.

95Tell me: do you bow to it willingly, or do the people

through the land hate you, following the voice of a god?

Or have you some fault to find with brothers — those a man

trusts to fight beside him, though a great feud rise?

Ah, would that I were as young as this anger of mine,¹³

100or were a son of blameless Odysseus, or the man himself —

then straightway might some stranger cut the head from my neck¹⁴

if I did not walk into the hall of Laertes' son

Odysseus, and become an evil to every man of them.

105And if they overpowered me by their numbers, alone as I am,

I would rather die cut down in my own halls

than look on forever at these disgraceful doings:

guests roughly handled, and men hauling the slave-women¹⁵

shamefully through the beautiful house,

110and wine drawn off and squandered, and them eating my bread

idly, recklessly, endlessly — for a work never to be finished."

Then clear-headed Telemachus answered him:

"Then I will tell you, stranger, exactly how it is.

It is not that the whole people hates me and bears a grudge,

115nor have I fault to find with brothers — those a man

trusts to fight beside him, though a great feud rise.

For so the son of Cronos has made ours a line of only sons:¹⁶

Arceisius fathered Laertes, an only son;

his father got Odysseus, an only son; and Odysseus

120fathered only me, and left me in the halls, and had no joy of me.

And that is why enemies past counting are in the house.

All the great men who hold power among the islands —¹⁷

Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus —

and all who lord it through rocky Ithaca:

125so many woo my mother, and wear this house away.

And she neither refuses the marriage she loathes, nor can she

bring it to an end. And they eat on, wasting

my house. Soon they will tear me to pieces too.

But surely these things lie on the knees of the gods.

130Old father, you go — quickly — and tell steady-hearted Penelope

that I am safe for her, and have come back from Pylos.

I will stay here. And you return to this place

when you have told her — her only. Let none of the other Achaeans

learn it: for there are many devising evil against me."

135And you answered him, Eumaeus the swineherd:

"I know. I understand. You order a man who is thinking it too.¹⁸

But come, tell me this, and tell it to me truly:

shall I go the same road with the news to Laertes

as well? Poor man — for a long while, for all his great grief

140for Odysseus, he still would oversee the field-works, and in the house

would drink and eat with the slaves, whenever the heart within him bade.

But now, from the day you went by ship to Pylos,

they say he no longer eats and drinks as before,

nor looks to the field-works, but with moaning and groaning

145sits mourning; and the flesh wastes away around his bones."¹⁹

Then clear-headed Telemachus answered him:

"The harder for it; but all the same we will let him be, though it grieves us.

For if everything whatever could be had for the choosing by mortals,²⁰

we would choose first the day of my father's homecoming.

150No — give your message and come back; do not go wandering

over the fields after him. But tell my mother

to send her handmaid, the housekeeper, quickly —

and secretly: she could carry the news to the old man."

He spoke, and roused the swineherd, who took his sandals in his hands,

155bound them under his feet, and set off for the city. And it did not

escape Athena, that Eumaeus the swineherd was gone from the farm:

she came near; and in body she was like a woman

beautiful and tall, and skilled in glorious handwork.²¹

She stood at the door of the hut, showing herself to Odysseus;

160but Telemachus did not see her before him, did not sense her —

for the gods do not appear manifest to everyone —²²

but Odysseus saw her, and the dogs: and they did not bark,

but whimpered and shrank in fear to the far side of the farmstead.

She signaled with her brows; and noble Odysseus understood,

165and came out of the hall, past the great wall of the yard,

and stood before her; and Athena said to him:

"Zeus-born son of Laertes, Odysseus of the many devices:

now speak your word to your son. Hide it no longer —

so that you two may fit death and doom to the suitors

170and go to the famous city. And I myself

will not be long away from you: I am hungry for battle."²³

She spoke, and Athena touched him with her golden wand.

First she laid a well-washed mantle and a tunic

about his chest, and filled out his frame and his youth:

175dark color came back to his skin, his jaws grew full,

and the beard about his chin turned blue-black again.

That done, she went away again; and Odysseus

went into the hut. His dear son was struck with wonder,

and turned his eyes aside, afraid, in case it was a god,

180and lifting his voice he spoke winged words to him:

"Stranger, you look other to me now than a moment ago:

you wear other clothes; your skin is not the same.

Surely you are some god, one of those who hold wide heaven.

Be gracious, then! — and we will give you pleasing sacrifices,

185and wrought gifts of gold. Only spare us."²⁴

Then much-enduring noble Odysseus answered him:

"I am no god. Why do you liken me to the immortals?

No: I am your father — for whose sake you go groaning²⁵

and suffer many pains, and take men's violence on yourself."

190So speaking, he kissed his son, and down his cheeks

a tear fell to the ground. Before, he had held them back, always.²⁶

But Telemachus — for he did not yet believe it was his father —

found words again, and said to him in answer:

"You are not Odysseus, not my father. A god is casting²⁷

195a spell on me, so I may sob and grieve still more.

No mortal man could ever contrive these things

by his own wit — not unless a god in person came

and made him young or old at a stroke, at will.

Just now, I know, you were old, and meanly dressed;

200and now you are like the gods who hold wide heaven."

Then Odysseus of the many designs answered him:

"Telemachus, it is not right, when your own father is here,

to marvel at him past measure, or stand amazed.

No other Odysseus will ever come to you here:

205he is I — such as you see, having suffered, having wandered long —

come in the twentieth year to my father's land.²⁸

But this — this is the work of Athena, driver of the spoil,²⁹

who makes of me whatever she wills — for she has the power —

now like a beggar man, and now again

210like a young man with fine clothes upon his body.

It is easy for the gods who hold wide heaven

to glorify a mortal man — or to break him."

So speaking he sat down; and Telemachus,

flinging his arms around his noble father, wept and shed tears,

215and in both of them rose the longing for lament.

They cried shrill, in bursts thicker than the cries of birds —³⁰

of ospreys, or of vultures with crooked talons, whose young

the country people have taken from the nest before they were fledged:

so pitifully the tears fell from beneath their brows.

220And the light of the sun would have gone down on their weeping

had not Telemachus suddenly spoken to his father:

"What ship was it, dear father, whose sailors brought you

here to Ithaca? Who did they claim to be?

For I hardly think you came here on foot."³¹

225Then much-enduring noble Odysseus spoke to him:

"Then I will tell you, child, the truth of it.

The Phaeacians brought me, famed for their ships, who give³²

passage to other men too, whoever comes to them.

They carried me asleep in a fast ship over the sea

230and set me down in Ithaca, and gave me shining gifts,

bronze and gold in plenty, and woven clothing —

all lying now in caves, by the gods' will.

And I have come here at Athena's prompting,

so we may plan together the slaughter of our enemies.

235Come, count me off the suitors, one by one,

so I may know how many they are, and what men;

then I will weigh it in my blameless heart, and decide

whether we two can stand against them by ourselves,

alone, or should look for others."

240Then clear-headed Telemachus answered him:

"Father, I have always heard your great fame:

a spearman with your hands, and weighty in counsel.

But what you say is too great. Awe holds me. It could not be³³

for two men to fight with many, and strong men too.

245The suitors are no exact ten, nor two tens only,

but many more. You shall have the count here and now.

From Dulichium, two-and-fifty young men,³⁴

chosen, and six serving-men follow with them;

from Same there are four-and-twenty men;

250from Zacynthus, twenty young Achaeans;

and from Ithaca itself, twelve, all of them the best;

and with them are Medon the herald, and the godlike singer,

and two henchmen skilled in the carving of meats.

If we come against all of these inside the house,

255beware: your avenging of their violence could cost too bitter, too grim a price.

No — you, if you can think of some defender,

think of one who would stand by us two with a willing heart."

Then much-enduring noble Odysseus answered him:

"Then I will tell you — mark me now, and listen.

260Consider: will Athena, with father Zeus beside her,³⁵

be enough for us two? Or shall I think of some other defender?"

Then clear-headed Telemachus answered him:

"Good defenders indeed, those two you name,

though they sit high among the clouds; and they rule

265all others — men in their power, and the deathless gods."

Then much-enduring noble Odysseus answered him:

"Those two will not stand long apart from the strong

din of battle, when between the suitors and ourselves

the war-strength of Ares is put to trial in my halls.

270But you, for now: go home at the showing of the dawn

and mix among the overweening suitors;

and later the swineherd will bring me to the city,

looking like a beggar, wretched and old.

And if they treat me shamefully in the house, let the heart³⁶

275in your breast endure it while I suffer —

even if they drag me by the feet through the hall to the door,

or throw things and hit me: look on, and hold yourself in.

Tell them, yes, to stop their follies —

win at them with gentle words. They will not listen,

280not at all: for their fated day is standing near.

And another thing I will tell you: lay it up in your heart.

When Athena of the many counsels puts it in my mind,

I will nod to you with my head; and when you see it,

take all the weapons of war that lie about the hall

285and store them up in the corner of the high chamber —

all of them; and when the suitors miss them and ask you,

talk them around with soft words:

'I laid them out of the smoke: they no longer looked like the arms³⁷

Odysseus left behind when he went to Troy —

290they are fouled over, as far as the breath of the fire reached.

And a greater fear the son of Cronos put into my heart:

that in your wine you might raise a quarrel among you

and wound one another, and shame the feast

and the wooing. For iron of itself draws a man on.'³⁸

295But for us two alone leave out two swords, two spears,

and two oxhide shields for our hands to seize,

so we can rush and take them up; and the suitors —

Pallas Athena and Zeus the counselor will daze them.

And another thing I will tell you: lay it up in your heart.

300If you are truly mine, and truly of our blood,³⁹

then let no one hear that Odysseus is within —

not Laertes: he is not to know it; nor the swineherd,

nor any of the household; no — not Penelope herself.

You and I alone will learn the set of the women;

305and we might test this or that man of the slaves as well:⁴⁰

where one honors the two of us, and fears us in his heart,

and where one cares nothing, and slights you — such as you are."

Then his shining son spoke out and answered him:

"Father — you will come to know my heart hereafter,

310I think; there is no slackness in me — none.

But I do not believe this plan will be a profit

to us both. Think again, I urge you.⁴¹

You will be a long time going round the farms and testing

each man, one by one; and meanwhile in the halls, at their ease,

315they eat through our goods with a high hand, and spare nothing.

The women — yes, I would have you find out

which ones dishonor you, and which are guiltless.

But the men about the farmsteads — I for one would rather

we not test them now. Keep that work for later,

320if you truly know some sign from Zeus who bears the aegis."

So they spoke to each other of such things.

And meanwhile the well-built ship was putting in to Ithaca,

the ship that carried Telemachus from Pylos with all his companions.

When they had come inside the deep harbor,

325they hauled the black ship up onto the land,

and high-spirited henchmen carried off their gear

and took the beautiful gifts straight to Clytius' house.⁴²

And they sent a herald ahead to the house of Odysseus

to bring the news to watchful-minded Penelope —

330that Telemachus was in the country, and had ordered the ship

to sail on to the city — lest the strong queen

take fright at heart, and let the soft tear fall.

And the two of them met, the herald and the noble swineherd,

come on the same errand, to bring the woman word.

335But when they reached the house of the godlike king,

the herald spoke out in the midst of the slave-women:⁴³

"Already, O queen, your dear son has come home."

But the swineherd stood close to Penelope and told her

everything her dear son had charged him to say.

340And when he had delivered the whole of his commission,

he went his way to his swine, and left the walls and the hall.

But the suitors were downcast, dejected in spirit,

and came out of the hall past the great wall of the yard,

and there before the gates they sat themselves down.

345And Eurymachus, Polybus' son, began to speak among them:

"Friends, here is a great work brought off insolently —

this voyage of Telemachus. We swore it would never be done.⁴⁴

Come — let us drag down a black ship, the best we have,

and gather seamen for rowers, to carry word

350quickly to those two out there: come home at speed."

He had not finished speaking when Amphinomus, turning⁴⁵

in his place, saw the ship inside the deep harbor,

the crew furling the sail and holding the oars in their hands.

He broke into easy laughter and called to his companions:

355"No need now to send any message. They are in.

Either some god told them, or they saw the ship themselves

passing by — and could not catch her."

So he spoke; and they rose and went to the shore of the sea.

Quickly the men hauled the black ship up onto the land,

360and high-spirited henchmen carried off their gear;

and they themselves went in a body to the assembly-place, and allowed

no one else to sit among them, young or old.⁴⁶

And Antinous spoke among them, Eupeithes' son:

"Damn it all — see how the gods have slipped this man out of harm's reach!⁴⁷

365Day after day our watchers sat on the windy headlands,

relief upon relief of them; and with the sun gone down

we never passed a night ashore, but afloat on the sea

in our fast ship we waited for the bright Dawn,

lying in ambush for Telemachus, to take him

370and kill him. And all the while some god has brought him home.

Then let us here devise a wretched death

for Telemachus — not let him slip between our hands. For I tell you,

while he lives, this business of ours will not be brought off.

He is shrewd himself now, in counsel and in mind,

375and the people no longer look on us with any favor.⁴⁸

Act, then — before he can call the Achaeans together

to assembly. He will not hang back, I promise you:

he will keep his anger; he will stand up among them all and tell

how we wove sheer murder for him — and could not catch him.

380And they will not praise us, hearing of evil deeds.

Beware they do not do us harm, and drive us

out of our own country, and we come to the land of strangers.

Take him first: catch him in the field, far from the city,

or on the road. His livelihood and goods we hold ourselves,

385dividing them share and share among us; the house

we would give his mother to keep — hers and the man who weds her.⁴⁹

But if this word displeases you, and you choose instead

that he live, and keep all that was his father's —

then let us not go on gathering here to eat away

390his store of pleasant things. Let each man from his own hall

court her with bride-gifts, seeking her; and she then

may wed the man who gives the most, and comes as her fate."

So he spoke; and they all fell silent and still.

Then Amphinomus rose and spoke among them —

395the shining son of Nisus, of the lord Aretias' line,

who from Dulichium, land of wheat and grass,

led the suitors; and beyond the others he pleased

Penelope with his talk, for his mind was set on good.⁵⁰

With good intent he rose and spoke among them:

400"Friends, I for one would have no wish to kill

Telemachus. Dreadful it is to kill the blood of kings.⁵¹

No — first let us ask what is the counsel of the gods.

If the ordinances of great Zeus approve it,

I will kill him myself, and bid all the rest to help;

405but if the gods turn us aside, I say: stop here."

So spoke Amphinomus, and his word pleased them well.

They rose at once and went to the house of Odysseus,

and coming in they sat on the polished chairs.

Then watchful-minded Penelope thought of one thing more:⁵²

410to show herself to the suitors in their overweening insolence.

For she had learned of her son's death plotted in the halls —

the herald Medon told her, who had overheard their counsels.⁵³

She went down to the hall with her attendant women.

And when she reached the suitors, shining among women,

415she stood beside the pillar of the close-built roof,

holding her glistening veil before her cheeks,⁵⁴

and rebuked Antinous, and spoke a word, and named him:

"Antinous — insolence itself, deviser of evils! And they say⁵⁵

that in the land of Ithaca you are the best of your years

420in counsel and in speech. You were never such a man.

Madman! Why do you weave death and doom for

Telemachus, and pay no heed to suppliants — over whom

Zeus stands witness? It is unholy to weave evil against each other.

Do you not know the day your father came here in flight,⁵⁶

425in terror of the people? For they were bitterly enraged,

because he had joined with Taphian pirates

to harry the Thesprotians — men who were our allies.

They wanted to destroy him, to tear the dear heart out of him,

and to swallow his great and pleasing livelihood whole;

430but Odysseus held them back and checked them, hot as they were.

His house you now eat up scot-free; you woo his wife;

you would kill his son; and me you grieve to the core.

Stop, I command you. And command the rest to stop."

Then Eurymachus, Polybus' son, answered her:

435"Daughter of Icarius, watchful-minded Penelope,⁵⁷

take heart. Do not let these things trouble your mind.

The man does not exist, will not exist, cannot be born

who shall lay hands upon your son Telemachus

while I am alive and look upon the light of the earth.

440For I will say this outright, and it will be accomplished:

in an instant his black blood would run down my spear —⁵⁸

that man's. For Odysseus, sacker of cities — many a time

he sat me on his knees, and put roast meat

into my hands, and held the red wine to my lips.

445And so Telemachus is to me by far the dearest

of all men; and I tell him he need not tremble at death —

not from the suitors. From the gods there is no escaping."

So he spoke to soothe her — and was himself preparing the boy's destruction.⁵⁹

But she climbed to her shining upper room,

450and wept there for Odysseus, her dear husband, until

gray-eyed Athena cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids.⁶⁰

And at evening the noble swineherd came back

to Odysseus and his son. They were making their supper,

busy about it, having killed a year-old pig. But Athena

455came and stood close by Laertes' son Odysseus,

and struck him with her wand and made him an old man again,

and dressed his body in miserable clothes — lest the swineherd⁶¹

look at him face to face and know him, and go with the news

to steady-hearted Penelope, not holding it fast in his heart.

460And Telemachus was first to speak to him:

"You have come, noble Eumaeus. What news in the town?

Are the haughty suitors back inside by now,

home from their ambush — or still watching for me on my way?"

And you answered him, Eumaeus the swineherd:

465"I had no mind to ask about that, going down

through the town. My heart said: tell your message

and be quick, and come back here again.

And a swift messenger from your companions overtook me,

a herald — and he spoke to your mother first.

470But this much more I know; this I saw with my eyes.

I was already above the city, where the hill of Hermes⁶²

stands, on my way, when I saw a fast ship coming down

into our harbor. There were many men aboard her,

and she rode heavy with shields and double-pointed spears.

475I thought it was they — but I cannot know."

So he spoke; and the sacred strength of Telemachus smiled,⁶³

and his eyes went to his father — slipping past the swineherd's.

And when they had ceased their labor and made the meal ready,

they feasted; and no man's appetite went short of the equal feast.

480But when they had put away desire for food and drink,

they remembered their beds, and took the gift of sleep.⁶⁴