The Story of the Odyssey | Page 5

heart's desire!"
So spake the old man, and Telemachus was glad at his speech. Then he
rose up and said:--
"I have great trouble in my heart, men of Ithaca, for first my father,
whom ye all loved, is dead; and next the princes of the islands come
hither, making suit to my mother, but she waits ever for the return of
her husband. And they devour all our substance; nor is Ulysses here to
defend it, and I, in truth, am not able. And this is a grievous wrong, and
not to be borne."
Then he dashed his sceptre on the ground, and sat down weeping. And
Antinous, who was one of the suitors, rose up and said:--
"Nay, Telemachus, blame not us, but blame thy mother, who indeed is
crafty above all women. For now this is the fourth year that we have
come suing for her hand, and she has cheated us with hopes. Hear now
this that she did. She set up a great web for weaving, and said to us:
'Listen, ye that are my suitors. Hasten not my marriage till I finish this
web to be a burial cloth for Laertes [Footnote: La-er'-tes.], the father of
Ulysses, for indeed it would be foul shame if he who has won great
possessions should lack this honour.' So she spake, and for three years

she cheated us, for what she wove in the day she unravelled at night.
But when the fourth year was come, one of her maidens told us of the
matter, and we came upon her by night and found her unravelling what
she had woven in the day. Then did she finish it, much against her will.
Send away, therefore, thy mother, and bid her marry whom she will.
But till this be done we will not depart."
Then answered Telemachus: "How can I send away against her will her
who bare me and brought me up? I cannot do this thing."
So he spake; and there came two eagles, which flew abreast till they
came over the assembly. Then did they wheel in the air, and shook out
from each many feathers, and tare each other, and so departed.
Then cried Alitherses [Footnote: A-li-ther'-ses.], the prophet: "Beware,
ye suitors, for great trouble is coming to you, and to others also. And as
for Ulysses, I said when he went to Troy that he should return after
twenty years; and so it shall be."
And when the suitors would not listen, Telemachus said: "Give me a
ship and twenty rowers, that I may go to Pylos and to Sparta; perhaps I
may hear news of my father. And if I hear that he is dead, then will I
come back hither and raise up a mound for him and give my mother to
a husband."
Having thus spoken, he sat down, and Mentor [Footnote: Men'-tor.],
whom Ulysses, when he departed, set over his household, rose up in the
midst, and spake, saying: "Now henceforth never let any king be kind
and gentle in his heart or minded to work righteousness. Let him rather
be a hard man and unrighteous. For now no man of all the people
whose lord he was remembereth Ulysses. Yet he was gentle as a father.
If the suitors are minded to do evil deeds, I hinder them not. They do
them at the peril of their own heads. It is with the people that I am
wroth, to see how they sit speechless, and cry not shame upon the
suitors; and yet they are many in number, and the suitors are few."
Then Leocritus [Footnote: Le-oc'-ri-tus.], who was one of the suitors,
answered: "Surely thy wits wander, O Mentor, that thou biddest the

people put us down. Of a truth, if Ulysses himself should come back,
and should seek to drive the suitors from the hall, it would fare ill with
him. An evil fate would he meet, if he fought with them. As for the
people, let them go to their own houses. Let Mentor speed the young
man's voyage, for he is a friend of his house. Yet I doubt whether he
will ever accomplish it."
So he spake, and the assembly was dismissed.
But Telemachus went apart to the shore of the sea, and he washed his
hands in the water of the sea, and prayed to Athene, saying: "Hear me,
thou who didst come yesterday to the house, and bid me take a ship,
and sail across the sea, seeking tidings of my father! The people delay
my purpose, and the suitors stir them up in the wickedness of their
hearts."
And while he prayed, Athene stood by him, like to Mentor in shape and
speech. She spake, saying: "Thou art not without spirit, and