Book XXII

1But he stripped himself of his rags, Odysseus of the many designs,¹

and leapt to the great threshold with the bow and the quiver

full of arrows, and poured out the swift shafts

there at his feet, and spoke among the suitors:

5"So: that contest-past-all-contest is accomplished.²

Now for another mark — one no man has ever hit —

and I shall know if I strike it: if Apollo gives me that glory."

He spoke, and leveled the bitter arrow at Antinous.

And he — he was that instant lifting a beautiful cup,

10a golden one, two-eared, turning it in his hands

to drink the wine; and slaughter was not in his thoughts:³

for who would think, among men at dinner, that one man

in the middle of many — however strong he might be —

would bring on him foul death and the black doom?

15But Odysseus took aim at his throat, and shot,

and the point went clean on through the soft of the neck.

He sagged to one side; the cup dropped out of his hand

as the arrow hit; and at once a thick jet came

up through his nostrils — human blood; and quick, with a kick,

20he shoved the table from him and spilled the food to the floor:

the bread and the roast meats fouled in it. And the suitors

broke into uproar through the house when they saw the man fallen;

up from their chairs they started, driven through the hall,

eyes darting every way along the well-built walls —

25and nowhere was there a shield or a strong spear to seize.⁴

And they raged at Odysseus with words of fury:

"Stranger, you shoot at men — and it will cost you! No more contests

for you: now your own sheer destruction is certain.

The man you have killed was the very noblest of the young men

30of Ithaca. For this the vultures will eat you — here."

So each man guessed: for indeed they thought he had killed

the man unwilling. The fools — they had not seen it yet:

that on every one of them the cords of death were fastened.⁵

Then, glaring from under his brows, Odysseus of the many designs replied:

35"You dogs! You kept on saying I would never come home again⁶

out of the land of Troy: and so you sheared away my house,

and lay with my slave-women by force,

and courted my own wife while I was still alive,

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven

40nor any vengeance of men, to come hereafter.

Now on you — on all of you — the cords of death are fastened."

So he spoke; and the pale terror took hold of them all,

and every man peered round for a way to escape sheer destruction.

Only Eurymachus found words, and answered him:

45"If you are truly Odysseus of Ithaca, come home again,⁷

then all you say is just — all the Achaeans have done,

reckless things in plenty in the hall, in plenty on the land.

But there he lies — the man to blame for everything:

Antinous. He was the one who set these doings on —

50not so much needing the marriage, or wanting it,

but with another purpose, which the son of Cronos never granted:

to be king himself in the land of well-built Ithaca,

and to ambush your son and kill him.

Now he is killed, as was his portion. You — spare your own

55people; and we hereafter, making it good through the land,

all that has been drunk and eaten in your halls,

each of us bringing a payment of twenty oxen's worth,

will pay you back in bronze and gold, until your heart

is warmed. Till then, no one could blame your anger."⁸

60Then, glaring from under his brows, Odysseus of the many designs replied:

"Eurymachus — not if you handed over all your patrimonies,

everything you now have, and added more from elsewhere,

not even so would I hold my hands back from the killing

before the suitors had paid for the whole trespass.⁹

65Now the choice lies before you: fight me face to face,

or run — whoever can slip his death and doom.

But I do not think one man of you escapes sheer destruction."

So he spoke; and their knees went slack where they stood, and their hearts.

And Eurymachus called out among them a second time:

70"Friends — this man will not now hold his invincible hands.

He has the polished bow and the quiver: he will shoot

from the smooth threshold until he has killed us all.

Then let our minds be on battle! Draw your swords,

put up the tables against the arrows of quick death,

75and let us all go at him in one body — see if we can

shove him off the threshold and out of the doors,

then through the town, and the alarm raised at once!

Then this man would soon have shot his last."¹⁰

So speaking, he drew his sharp sword,

80bronze, two-edged, and leapt at him

with a blood-freezing yell. But in the same instant noble Odysseus

let the arrow fly, and struck his chest beside the nipple,

and drove the swift shaft into his liver. Out of his hand

the sword dropped to the ground; he doubled over the table

85and crumpled, sprawling across it, and spilled the food to the floor

and the two-eared cup. His forehead beat the earth

in his heart's agony; both feet kicked out,

rattling the chair; and the mist poured down over his eyes.¹¹

Then Amphinomus went for glorious Odysseus,

90charging him head-on, his sharp sword drawn,

to see if he might give way from the doors. But Telemachus

was too quick: he caught him from behind with the bronze spear

square between the shoulders, and drove it through his chest,

and he fell with a crash, and struck the ground full with his forehead.¹²

95And Telemachus sprang back, leaving the long-shadowed spear

there in Amphinomus: for he feared that as he pulled

the long spear out, some Achaean might rush in

and cut him with a sword, or strike him as he stooped.

He ran, and came quickly to his dear father,

100and standing close he spoke winged words:

"Father — now I will bring you a shield and two spears

and a helmet all of bronze, fitted to your temples;

and I will arm myself as I go, and give the swineherd

the same, and the cowherd. Armored is better."

105Then Odysseus of the many designs answered him:

"Run — bring them, while I still have arrows to fight with,

or they will force me from the doors, one man alone."

So he spoke; and Telemachus obeyed his dear father

and went to the storeroom where the famous arms were lying.

110He took out four shields, and eight spears,

and four bronze helmets thick with horsehair,

and came carrying them fast to his dear father.

He girded the bronze on his own body first,

and in the same way the two slaves put on the fine armor,

115and they took their stand around Odysseus — the deep mind, the shifting counsels.¹³

And he, so long as he had arrows to fight with,

kept aiming, and dropping suitors in his own house,

one man after another: they fell in heaps.

But when the arrows failed the master archer,

120he leaned the bow against the doorpost of the strong-built hall,

to stand there by the shining entrance-wall,

and threw about his shoulders a shield of four hides,

and set on his mighty head a well-made helmet,

horsehair-crested, the plume nodding terror from the top,

125and took up two strong spears, headed with bronze.¹⁴

Now there was a raised side-door in the well-built wall,¹⁵

and level with the top of the threshold of the strong hall

an exit to a passage, closed with well-fitted boards.

Odysseus set the noble swineherd to watch it,

130posted close: it was the single way out.

And Agelaus spoke to them all, putting the word to everyone:

"Friends — could not someone climb through the side-door

and get word to the people, and the alarm be raised at once?

Then this man would soon have shot his last."

135Then Melanthius the goatherd answered him:

"No way, Agelaus, Zeus-nurtured: the fine gates of the courtyard

are terribly near, and the mouth of the passage is cruel:

one man could hold it against all comers — any man with strength in him.

No — wait: let me bring you armor from the storeroom

140to harness you. For it is in there, I am certain — nowhere else —

that Odysseus and his shining son have stowed the arms."¹⁶

So speaking, Melanthius the goatherd climbed up

through the smoke-vents of the hall to the storerooms of Odysseus,

and took out twelve shields, as many spears,

145as many bronze helmets thick with horsehair,

and came back fast and gave them to the suitors.

And then the knees of Odysseus went slack, and his heart,

when he saw them buckling on the armor and brandishing

the long spears in their hands: the work now looked great to him.¹⁷

150And quickly he spoke winged words to Telemachus:

"Telemachus — one of the women in the halls is stoking

the evil war against us — that, or it is Melanthius."

Then clear-headed Telemachus answered him:

"Father, the fault is mine — my own, no other's —

155I left the storeroom's close-fitted door

standing ajar. Their lookout was sharper than I was.¹⁸

Go, noble Eumaeus: close the storeroom door,

and find out whether it is one of the women doing this,

or Dolius' son Melanthius — he is the one I think it is."

160So they spoke to one another of such things.

And Melanthius the goatherd went again to the storeroom

to bring out more fine armor. But the noble swineherd marked him,

and quickly said to Odysseus, standing near:

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

165there he goes again, that ruinous man, the one we guessed:

into the storeroom. Tell me straight out:

do I kill him — if I prove the better man —

or bring him here to you, to pay for the trespasses,

the many, that man has schemed in your house?"

170Then Odysseus of the many designs answered him:

"I and Telemachus will hold the lordly suitors

penned inside the hall, rage as they may.

You two: twist his feet and hands behind him,

throw him into the storeroom, tie boards fast at his back,

175make a braided rope fast to him, and haul him

up the tall pillar, up close to the roof-beams —

so that he lives on a long while, suffering hard pains."¹⁹

So he spoke; and they listened well and obeyed:

they went to the storeroom — the man inside did not see them —

180and there he was, hunting armor in the room's far corner,

while the two of them stood waiting either side of the doorposts.

And as Melanthius the goatherd came over the threshold,

in one hand carrying a beautiful helmet,

in the other a broad shield, an old one, mottled with mildew —

185the hero Laertes' shield, which he carried in his young days,

long since laid by, the stitches of its straps rotted out —²⁰

the two of them sprang and seized him, and dragged him in by the hair,

and threw him to the floor for all his anguish of heart,

and bound his feet and hands with a heart-grieving knot,

190wrenched hard behind him, through and through, as ordered

by Laertes' son, much-enduring noble Odysseus;

then they made a braided rope fast to him, and hauled him

up the tall pillar, up close to the roof-beams.

And taunting him you spoke, Eumaeus the swineherd:²¹

195"Now you will keep watch indeed, Melanthius — the whole night through,

stretched out on the sort of soft bed you deserve;

and the early-born one out of Ocean's streams will not

slip past you as she comes, on her golden throne, at the hour

you drive in goats for the suitors, to make their feast in the hall."

200So he was left there, racked in the deadly binding;

and the two got into their armor, shut the shining door,

and went back to Odysseus — the deep mind, the shifting counsels.

There they stood, breathing fury: on the threshold

four men; inside the hall, many men, and good ones.

205And now Athena, daughter of Zeus, came near them,

likened to Mentor in body and in voice.

Odysseus was glad at the sight of her, and said:

"Mentor — beat off ruin! Remember your old companion,

who did you good service — and you my own age-mate!"²²

210So he spoke, guessing it was Athena, rouser of armies.

And the suitors on their side bellowed through the hall,

Agelaus, Damastor's son, first to threaten her:

"Mentor — don't let Odysseus talk you around

into fighting the suitors and defending him.

215For here is how I think our purpose will be accomplished:

when we have killed these two, father and son,

you will be killed with them — for the things you are minded

to do in this hall. Your own head will pay the price.

And when the bronze has stripped the force from all of you,

220everything you own, indoors and out,

we will pool with the goods of Odysseus. Your sons

we will not let live in your halls; your daughters

and your true-hearted wife will not walk free in the town of Ithaca."²³

So he spoke; and Athena's heart grew angrier yet,

225and she lashed Odysseus with words of fury:

"Odysseus — where is your strength gone? Where is the fight in you —

you who for Helen's sake, the white-armed, the nobly fathered,

nine years on end battled the Trojans without a break

and killed many men in the terrible fighting?

230By your counsel the wide-wayed city of Priam was taken!

How is it that now, come home to your own house and goods,

face to face with the suitors, you whimper about being brave?²⁴

Here, old friend — stand by me and watch the work,

and learn what kind of man, among enemy fighters,

235Mentor, Alcimus' son, is at repaying kindness."

She spoke — and did not yet grant victory outright to either side,

but went on testing the strength and fight

of Odysseus and of his glorious son.

And she herself darted up to the roof-beam of the smoke-stained hall

240and perched there — like a swallow, face-on.²⁵

Now Agelaus, Damastor's son, rallied the suitors,

with Eurynomus, Amphimedon, Demoptolemus,

Peisander Polyctor's son, and Polybus the shrewd:

for these were far the best of the suitors in prowess,

245of all who still lived and fought for their lives —

the rest the bow and the crowding arrows had brought down.

And Agelaus spoke to them all, putting the word to everyone:

"Friends — now this man's invincible hands will stop.

Mentor has left him — after the empty boasting —

250and they are alone at the outer doors.

So do not throw your long spears all together:

come — you six throw first, and see if Zeus

will grant that Odysseus be hit, and we win the glory.

The rest are no concern, once that man falls."²⁶

255So he spoke; and they all threw as he ordered,

hungry for it. And Athena made every cast come to nothing:

one man's spear struck the doorpost of the strong-built hall,

another's the close-fitted door itself,

another's ash shaft, heavy with bronze, slammed into the wall.

260And when they had weathered the suitors' spears,

much-enduring noble Odysseus began among his men:

"Friends — now it is mine to say it: throw!

Into the crowd of the suitors — men wild to strip our corpses

on top of the wrongs they did before."²⁷

265So he spoke; and they all threw their sharp spears,

aiming straight ahead: Odysseus killed Demoptolemus;

Telemachus, Euryades; the swineherd, Elatus;

and the man in charge of the cattle killed Peisander.

All of those together bit the vast floor with their teeth,

270and the suitors fell back into the deep of the hall;

and the others charged, and pulled their spears from the corpses.

Again the suitors threw their sharp spears,

hungry for it; and Athena made the many casts come to nothing:

one man's spear struck the doorpost of the strong-built hall,

275another's the close-fitted door itself,

another's ash shaft, heavy with bronze, slammed into the wall.

But Amphimedon caught Telemachus on the wrist —

a graze: the bronze just broke the surface of the skin;

and Ctesippus, over the shield, scratched Eumaeus

280on the shoulder with his long spear: it skipped and fell to earth.²⁸

Then those around Odysseus — the deep mind, the shifting counsels —

threw their sharp spears into the crowd of the suitors:

and this time Eurydamas fell to Odysseus, sacker of cities;

Amphimedon to Telemachus; Polybus to the swineherd;

285and then Ctesippus fell to the man in charge of the cattle,

struck full in the chest; and he crowed over him:

"Son of Polytherses — you lover of a good jeer! — never again

give way to your folly and talk big. Leave the word

to the gods: they are far stronger than you.

290This is your guest-gift in return — to match the ox-hoof

you gave godlike Odysseus once, when he begged through his own hall."²⁹

So spoke the herdsman of the spiral-horned cattle. And Odysseus

wounded Damastor's son, close in, with the long spear;

and Telemachus wounded Leocritus, Evenor's son,

295clean in the flank with his spear, and drove the bronze through:

he pitched forward and struck the ground full with his forehead.

And now Athena raised the aegis that wastes mankind,³⁰

high from the roof; and their wits scattered in terror,

and they stampeded through the hall like a herd of cattle

300when the darting gadfly falls on them and whirls them wild

in the season of spring, when the long days come in.

And the others — like vultures with hooked claws and curving beaks

that come down out of the mountains on the smaller birds:

these skim the plain, cowering away from the clouds,

305but the vultures stoop and kill them; no defense,

no flight — and men delight to watch the hunting:

so those four, rushing the suitors through the house,

struck them down left and right; and hideous groaning rose

as heads were smashed, and the whole floor smoked with blood.

310But Leodes ran in and caught Odysseus by the knees,

and clasping them in supplication spoke winged words:

"By your knees, Odysseus — respect me, pity me!

I tell you I never said a word to any woman

in your halls, never did one reckless thing — no: I kept trying

315to stop the others, the suitors, when one would do such things.

But they would not listen, would not hold their hands from evil,

and so through their own recklessness they have met an ugly fate.

And I, their sacrifice-diviner, having done nothing,

am to lie down with them: no thanks, hereafter, for good service!"³¹

320Then, glaring from under his brows, Odysseus of the many designs replied:

"If you declare yourself their sacrifice-diviner,

then many a time, no doubt, you must have prayed in my halls

that the accomplishment of my sweet homecoming be far away —

that my dear wife go with you, and bear you children.

325For that you shall not slip beneath a death that lays men low."³²

So speaking, he took up in his strong hand a sword

that lay there — Agelaus had dropped it to the ground

as he was killed — and drove it through the middle of his neck:

and while he was still speaking, his head mixed with the dust.³³

330But the singer still dodged the black doom — Terpes' son,

Phemius, who sang among the suitors under compulsion.³⁴

He stood with the clear lyre in his hands

close by the side-door, and his mind was split two ways:

whether to slip out of the hall to the great altar of Zeus

335of the Courtyard, and sit there on the masoned stone

where Laertes and Odysseus had burned so many

thighbones of oxen — or rush forward and clasp Odysseus' knees.

And as he weighed it, this seemed to him the better way:

to take hold of the knees of Laertes' son Odysseus.

340So he set the hollow lyre down on the ground

between the mixing-bowl and the silver-studded chair,³⁵

and rushed forward himself and caught Odysseus by the knees,

and clasping them in supplication spoke winged words:

"By your knees, Odysseus — respect me, pity me!

345On you yourself the grief will fall hereafter, if you kill

a singer — me — who sing for gods and for men.

I am self-taught: a god has planted in my heart³⁶

all the pathways of song; and I am fit to sing beside you

as beside a god. Do not be hungry to cut my throat.

350And Telemachus would tell you this — your own dear son:

that it was never by my will, never for want of mine,

that I came to your house to sing at the suitors' feasts:

they were more, and stronger — they marched me here by force."

And the sacred strength of Telemachus heard him,

355and quickly spoke to his father, standing near:

"Stop! He is guiltless — do not cut him with the bronze.

And Medon the herald let us save as well, who always

cared for me in our house when I was a child —

unless Philoetius has killed him already, or the swineherd,

360or he met you as you stormed along the hall."³⁷

So he spoke; and Medon heard him — a man of sensible mind —

for he lay cowering under a chair, wrapped up

in a fresh-flayed oxhide, dodging the black doom.

Up from under the chair he came at once, stripped off the oxhide,

365and rushed forward and caught Telemachus by the knees,

and clasping them in supplication spoke winged words:

"Friend — here I am: myself! Hold back, and tell your father,

before in his overmastering strength he cuts me down with the sharp bronze

in his rage at the suitor-men — the men who sheared away

370his goods in the halls, and honored you not at all, the fools."³⁸

And Odysseus of the many designs smiled at him and said:

"Take heart: this man has pulled you clear and saved you —

so you may know in your heart, and tell another too,

how doing good outruns doing evil, and by far.

375Now out of the hall with you, and sit in the courtyard,

away from the slaughter — you and the singer of many songs —

while I finish in the house the work that I must."³⁹

So he spoke; and the two of them went out of the hall

and sat down by the altar of great Zeus,

380peering about on every side, expecting death each moment.

And Odysseus peered through his own house, for any man

still living, hiding there, dodging the black doom.

But he saw them all, the whole count of them, in blood and dust

fallen — so many, like fish that fishermen⁴⁰

385have hauled from the gray sea in the mesh of a net

onto the curved beach: heaped on the sand they lie,

all of them, aching for the waves of the sea,

and the shining Sun takes the life out of them:

so the suitors lay heaped on one another.

390Then Odysseus of the many designs said to Telemachus:

"Telemachus — go, call me the nurse Eurycleia,

so I can tell her the word that is on my mind."

So he spoke; and Telemachus obeyed his dear father,

and rattling the door he called the nurse Eurycleia:

395"Up with you, and come, old woman born long ago —

you who are overseer of our serving-women in the halls.

Come: my father calls you; he has something to say."

So he spoke; and for her the word stayed wingless.⁴¹

She opened the doors of the well-settled halls

400and came; and Telemachus led the way before her.

And she found Odysseus among the bodies of the slain,

spattered with blood and gore, like a lion⁴²

that comes from feeding on an ox of the farmstead:

all his chest, and his cheeks on either side,

405are bloody, and he is terrible to look in the face:

so was Odysseus spattered — feet, and hands above them.

And she — when she saw the corpses and the sea of blood,

she opened her mouth to raise the cry of triumph: such a work

she saw accomplished. But Odysseus checked her, and held her back,

410hot as she was, and spoke winged words to her:

"In your own heart rejoice, old woman — and hold it in: no cries.

It is unholy to glory over slaughtered men.

These men the doom of the gods has broken, and their own ruthless deeds:

for they honored nobody on this earth,

415bad man or good, whoever came among them —

and so through their own recklessness they have met an ugly fate.

But come now, name me the women of the halls:

which of them dishonor me, and which are guiltless."⁴³

Then the dear nurse Eurycleia answered him:

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

You have fifty serving-women in your halls —

slave-women we have taught to work their work,

to card the wool and to bear the lot of slavery.

Of these, twelve in all have walked the road of shamelessness:

425no respect for me — none for Penelope herself.

Telemachus is only newly grown; his mother

would not let him give commands to the serving-women.

But come — let me climb to the bright upper room

and tell your wife. Some god has laid a sleep on her."⁴⁴

430Then Odysseus of the many designs answered her:

"Do not wake her yet. Tell them to come here —

the women who all this while contrived their shamelessness."

So he spoke; and the old woman went off down the hall

to carry word to the women and hurry them along.

435And he called Telemachus to his side, and the cowherd,

and the swineherd, and spoke winged words to them:

"Begin carrying out the dead, and set the women to it;

and after that, the beautiful chairs and the tables —

have them cleaned with water and porous sponges.

440And when you have set the whole house in order,

lead the serving-women out of the strong-built hall

to the spot between the roundhouse and the good courtyard fence,

and cut them down with the long swords, till you have stripped

the life from all of them, and they have forgotten Aphrodite —

445the sweetness they took under the suitors, coupling in secret."⁴⁵

So he spoke; and the women came in a huddle, all of them,

wailing terribly, the big tears streaming down.

First they carried out the corpses of the dead

and laid them under the portico of the well-fenced courtyard,

450propping them against each other; and Odysseus commanded,

hurrying the work himself; and they carried them out — under force.⁴⁶

And after that they cleaned the beautiful chairs and the tables

with water and porous sponges;

and Telemachus, with the cowherd and the swineherd,

455scraped the floor of the strong-founded house

with hoes, and the slave-women carried the scrapings out of doors.

And when they had set the whole hall in order,

they led the serving-women out of the strong-built hall

to the spot between the roundhouse and the good courtyard fence,

460and penned them in the narrow place, where there was no way out.

And clear-headed Telemachus began, and spoke among them:

"By no clean death will I take the lives of these —

these who poured their insults on my head,

on my own mother, and slept beside the suitors."⁴⁷

465So he spoke; and he made the cable of a dark-prowed ship

fast to a great pillar, and flung it round the roundhouse,

stretched taut, up high, so no foot could reach the ground.

And as when thrushes with their long wings, or doves,

strike into a snare set up in a thicket,

470heading in to roost, and a hateful bed receives them:

so the women held their heads in a row, and round every

neck a noose was laid, that they might die most pitiably.

They kicked out with their feet a little while — not very long.⁴⁸

And Melanthius they dragged out through the porch and the courtyard:

475they sliced away his nose and ears with the pitiless bronze

and tore out his genitals, raw meat for the dogs to share,

and lopped off his hands and feet in their fury of heart.⁴⁹

Then they washed their own hands and feet

and went into the house to Odysseus: the work was accomplished.

480And he spoke to the dear nurse Eurycleia:

"Bring sulfur, old woman — the cure of evils — and bring me fire,

so I can fume the hall with it. And bid Penelope

come down to me, with her attendant women;

and rouse all the serving-women in the house to come."⁵⁰

485Then the dear nurse Eurycleia answered him:

"Yes, my child — all this you have said as it should be.

But come, let me bring you clothes, a cloak and a tunic:

do not stand in your halls like this, with your broad shoulders

wrapped in rags. That would be a thing to blame."⁵¹

490Then Odysseus of the many designs answered her:

"First of all: let there be fire for me in the hall."

So he spoke; and the dear nurse Eurycleia did not disobey,

but brought the fire and the sulfur; and Odysseus

fumed through and through the hall, the house, the courtyard.⁵²

495And the old woman went off up through the beautiful house of Odysseus

to carry word to the women and hurry them along;

and out of the hall they came, torches in their hands,⁵³

and they poured around Odysseus, and embraced him,

and kissed his head and his shoulders, welcoming him,

500catching and clasping his hands; and a sweet longing seized him

to weep and to sob: for in his heart he knew them all.