great oath not to tell you until the twelfth day came, or when

  you yourself noticed his absence and heard he had set sail,

  so that you would not mar your lovely skin with weeping.

  Come now, wash yourself and put on clean clothes, and750

  go up into the rooms above with your women servants,

  and pray to Athena, daughter of Zeus who wields the aegis,

  and she will perhaps keep Telemachus safe, even from death.

  But do not trouble a troubled old man. I do not think that

  the line of Arceisius’ son is wholly hated by the blessed755

  gods; there will doubtless be someone to come after him

  and inherit his high-roofed palace and his rich lands beyond.’

  So she spoke, and stilled Penelope’s groans and checked her

  eyes’ weeping. So she washed herself and put on clean clothes,

  and went up to her rooms with some serving-women, and760

  put grains of barley in a basket and prayed to Athena:

  ‘Hear me, daughter of Zeus who wields the aegis,* Atrytone!*

  If ever Odysseus, man of many wiles, burnt for you

  in his halls the fat thigh-bones of oxen or of sheep,

  remember that now, and rescue my dear son for me;765

  save him from the evil schemes of these arrogant suitors.’

  So she spoke, and cried out, and the goddess heard her prayer.

  But in the shadowy halls the suitors broke into a great uproar,

  and this is what one of the arrogant young men would say:

  ‘For sure, this much-courted queen is preparing a wedding770

  for us, and knows nothing of the death planned for her son.’

  That is what they said, not knowing what had happened.

  Among them Antinous spoke out and addressed them:

  ‘You are all mad! Give up this wild, arrogant talk, all

  of it, in case someone goes inside and carries tales there.775

  Now, let us all get up and say nothing, and put that plan

  into action, the one that we all devised and agreed upon.’

  So he spoke, and picked out twenty of the best men, and

  set off towards his swift ship and the shore of the sea.

  First they dragged the ship down to the salt sea’s waters,780

  and stepped the mast with its sail in the black ship,

  and then fitted the oars into their leather straps, all in

  their proper order, and then spread the white sail; and

  high-spirited attendants brought their war-gear for them.

  They moored the ship well out in the water, disembarked,785

  ate their supper, and waited for the evening to come.

  Meanwhile wise Penelope was lying in her upper room

  without nourishment, refusing to touch food or drink,

  brooding on whether her excellent son would escape

  death, or if he would be laid low by the arrogant suitors.790

  As a lion ponders when it is cornered by a gang of men,

  terrified as it sees the circle being drawn stealthily round it,

  so Penelope brooded, until refreshing sleep came over her;

  she sank back and fell asleep, and all her joints were eased.

  But now the goddess grey-eyed Athena had different plans:795

  she formed a phantom, making it in shape like a woman

  called Iphthime, daughter of great-hearted Icarius, whom

  Eumelus had taken to wife, he who had his house in Pherae.*

  She sent this phantom to the palace of godlike Odysseus

  so that Penelope, still lamenting and groaning, would800

  cease from her weeping and tearful wailing.

  It entered her bedchamber by pulling the strap on the

  door-bolt, and standing above her head addressed her:

  ‘Are you asleep, Penelope, troubled in your heart?

  It surely cannot be that the gods who live a life of ease805

  intend to let you weep and grieve while your son is even now

  on his way home; in their eyes he has done nothing wrong.’

  Circumspect Penelope answered her, though she was

  still deep in sweet slumber, and at the gate of dreams:

  ‘Sister, why are you here? You never visited us much810

  before, for you live in a palace that is very far distant.

  You tell me to forget my misery and the many pangs

  that afflict me in my heart and mind—I who, first, have

  lost a noble, lion-hearted husband, one supreme among

  the Danaans in all kinds of manliness, a good man, whose815

  fame spreads widely through Hellas and the heart of Argos.

  And now my beloved son has gone away in a hollow ship—

  still a child, knowing nothing of hard toil or public debate.

  It is for him that I lament more than for his father, it is

  for him I tremble, fearing what may befall him, either820

  in the country where he has gone or on the open sea;

  he has many enemies who are making plots against him,

  desperate to kill him before he returns to his native land.’

  The shadowy phantom then answered and addressed her:

  ‘Do not despair, and do not let your heart be over-fearful.825

  An escort goes with him, one that other men have prayed

  to come and stand by them, for she has the power; this is

  Pallas Athena, who has pity on you in your lamentations,

  and it is she who sent me here to bring this message to you.’

  Circumspect Penelope in turn answered and addressed her:830

  ‘If you are indeed divine and have heard a goddess’ voice,

  give me now a true account also of that other, pitiable man:

  is he still alive somewhere, and does he look on the light of

  the sun, or is he by now dead, and in the house of Hades?’

  The shadowy phantom then answered and addressed her:835

  ‘I cannot speak to you with any truth about him, whether

  he is alive or dead; and idle talk is a dangerous thing.’

  So it spoke, and slipped away past the bolt in the doorpost,

  into the winds’ breath. Icarius’ daughter started up from

  sleep, and her heart was warmed by the unmistakable840

  dream that had sped to her in the darkness of the night.

  Meanwhile the suitors had embarked and were sailing over

  the watery pathways, bent on sudden death for Telemachus.

  There is a rocky island, set in the middle of the strait, not large,

  halfway between Ithaca and rugged Samos, called Asteris;845

  it has a harbour with two mouths that offers shelter to ships,

  and there the Achaeans waited in ambush for Telemachus.

  BOOK FIVE

  Now Dawn rose from the bed she shared with lordly Tithonus,*

  to bring light to immortals and to mortals alike, and

  the gods took their seats for an assembly; among them

  was Zeus the high-thunderer, whose power is supreme.

  Athena spoke first, recalling Odysseus’ many troubles,5

  concerned that he was still in the house of the nymph:

  ‘Father Zeus and all you other blessed gods who live for ever,

  let no staff-holding king ever feel the need to be gentle

  and kindly ever again, or to have right thoughts in his mind,

  but let him be always harsh, unjust in his acts, seeing that10

  no one now remembers godlike Odysseus among the people

  he used to rule; yet he was like a gentle father to them.

  Now he lies on an island, suffering cruel anguish,

  in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who holds him there

  by constraint; he cannot reach his native land, because15

  he has no oared ships at hand, nor any companions

  who might accompany him over the broad back of the sea.

  Now, to add to this, men are determined to kill his beloved son

  as he returns home; he has gone to find news of his father,

  sailing to sacred Pylos and to splendid Lacedaemon.’20

  Zeus who gathers the clouds answered and addressed her:

  ‘My child, what words have escaped the barrier of your teeth!

  Did you not devise this plan yourself, intending that

  Odysseus should return and take vengeance on these men?

  As for Telemachus, use your art to send him back (for you can25

  do this), so that he reaches his native land quite unharmed, and

  the suitors sail back in their ship without achieving their aim.’

  So he spoke, and addressed his dear son Hermes:

  ‘Hermes, you are my messenger in other matters, so now

  go and tell the nymph with lovely hair of my unerring plan,30

  that Odysseus of the enduring spirit must return home.

  He will go without the safe-conduct of gods or mortals,

  but sailing on a raft which he has lashed together; after much

  hardship, on the twentieth day he will reach fertile Scheria,*

  land of the Phaeacians, who are close in kin to the gods.35

  They will honour him in their hearts as if he were a god,

  and will convey him in a ship back to his native land,

  giving him much bronze and gold and clothing, more than

  he could ever have won for himself from Troy as his due

  share of the booty, if he had returned without mishap.40

  In this way it is his destiny to see his dear ones, and again

  come to the land of his fathers and his high-roofed house.’

  So he spoke, and the guide, slayer of Argus,* did not disobey.

  Immediately he bound under his feet his beautiful sandals,

  golden and deathless, that carried him over the watery deep45

  and the boundless earth, keeping pace with the wind’s blasts.

  He picked up the wand with which he charms the eyes of

  those he chooses, while others he rouses from their sleep.

  With this in hand, the mighty slayer of Argus flew off;

  dropping from the upper air he landed on Pieria,* then50

  swooped down to the sea, speeding over the waves like the

  bird that wets its fast-beating wings with brine as it hunts

  after fish, ranging over dangerous gulfs of the restless sea.

  Just like this bird, Hermes rode over wave after wave;

  and when he had made his way to the faraway island,55

  he stepped out of the violet-tinged sea on to land, and

  walked until he reached the great cavern where the nymph

  with lovely hair lived; and he found her at home.

  A great fire was ablaze on her hearth, and the scent of

  burning cedar-wood and juniper logs drifted far across60

  the island. She was inside, singing in her lovely voice,

  as she went to and fro at her loom, weaving with a

  golden shuttle. Around the cavern there grew a luxuriant wood,

  alder and black poplar and sweet-smelling cypress,

  and in the trees were the roosts of long-winged birds:65

  owls and hawks and cormorants with long tongues,

  birds of the deep, whose business is with the sea.

  Around the hollow cavern was trained a flourishing

  garden-vine, heavily loaded with grapes; and by it

  four springs flowed with bright water, channelled close70

  to each other but directed to run on differing courses.

  Around these, soft meadows of violets and wild celery

  grew in abundance; even an immortal who chanced to

  visit might wonder at the sight, and delight his heart.

  The guide, slayer of Argus, stood and marvelled; and when75

  he had gazed at everything and admired it in his heart he

  went at once into the wide cave. Calypso, bright among

  goddesses, did not fail to recognize him in front of her,

  for the immortal gods are not unknown to each other,

  even if one of them has his home far from the rest.80

  But Hermes did not find great-hearted Odysseus within;

  he was sitting on the seashore and weeping as was his custom,

  tearing at his heart with tears and groans and anguish, and

  all the time as he wept looking out over the restless sea.

  Calypso, bright among goddesses, seated Hermes on85

  a lustrous, shining chair, and began to question him:

  ‘Hermes of the golden wand, what brings you here to me?

  You are a welcome and honoured guest, but you have not

  come often before this. Speak what is in your mind; my heart

  tells me to fulfil it—if I can, that is, and if it may be fulfilled.90

  But follow me in, so I may put gifts of hospitality before you.’

  So the goddess spoke, and set a table beside Hermes and

  loaded it with ambrosia, and mixed red nectar* for him; and

  the guide, slayer of Argus, set about eating and drinking.

  When he had finished eating, and satisfied his heart with95

  food, he answered Calypso, addressing her in these words:

  ‘You ask me, goddess to god, why I have come. Well,

  I will give you a true account, since that is what you ask.

  It was Zeus who sent me here, though I had no wish to—

  who would willingly cross such an indescribably vast tract100

  of salt water? There is no city of mortals hereabouts, men

  who make holy offerings and perfect hecatombs to the gods.

  But there is no way that another god can secretly frustrate

  the intention of aegis-wielding Zeus, or cause it to fail.

  He says there is a man living here with you, the most pitiable105

  of all those who fought for nine years around the city of

  Priam, and in the tenth sacked it and set out for home.

  But during their homecoming they caused affront to Athena,*

  who stirred up a terrible storm and huge waves against them.

  All the rest of them, his excellent companions, perished,110

  but the wind and waves bore him away and brought him here.

  It is this man that Zeus now orders you to send on his way

  without delay; it is not his destiny to die here, far from his

  loved ones, but it is still his fate to see his people again and

  to return to the land of his fathers and his high-roofed house.’115

  So he spoke, and Calypso, bright among goddesses,

  shuddered and addressed him in winged words:

  ‘You are hard, you gods, and envious beyond all others,

  bearing a grudge against any goddess who takes a man

  openly to her bed, if she desires to make him her husband.120

  It was so when Dawn with the rosy fingers chose Orion;*

  the gods who live an easy life bore a grudge against her*

  until finally chaste Artemis of the golden throne pursued

  him in Ortygia and killed him with her gentle shafts.

  It was so when Demeter of the lovely hair yielded to125

  passion and coupled in love with Iasion,* in a thrice-

  ploughed field. It was not long before Zeus found out

  and killed him with a cast of his flashing thunderbolt.

  And now it is my turn; you gods begrudge me that I have a

  mortal here, a man I rescued as he bestrode his ship’s keel,130

  alone, after Zeus had hurled a flashing thunderbolt at his

  swift ship and shattered it far out on the wine-dark sea.

  Then all the rest of them, his good companions, perished,

  but the wind and waves bore him away and brought him here.

  I made him welcome and cared for him, and I promised135

  to make him immortal and ageless for all his days.

  But since there is no way a god can secretly frustrate

  the intention of aegis-wielding Zeus or cause it to fail,

  well, let him come to grief, if Zeus so urges and orders,

  on the restless sea. Yet I will not help him go, I will not,140

  for I have no oared ships at hand, nor any companions

  who might convey him over the broad back of the sea.

  But I will gladly give him advice, and not hide anything,

  so that, completely unharmed, he may reach his native land.’

  Then in turn the guide, slayer of Argus, addressed her:145

  ‘Very well, send him now on his way; and beware of Zeus’

  anger, lest he grow resentful hereafter and bear hard on you.’

  So the mighty slayer of Argus spoke, and went on his way,

  and the revered nymph went in search of great-hearted

  Odysseus, now that she had heard the message from Zeus.150

  She found him sitting on the seashore; his eyes were never

  without tears, and his sweet life drained away as he grieved

  for a way home, since the nymph no longer pleased him.

  He spent his nights in her hollow cavern, but by constraint,

  since she desired him, while he had no love for her.155

  All his days he passed sitting on rocks on the seashore,

  tearing at his heart with tears and groans and anguish,

  forever weeping and looking out over the restless sea.

  Standing beside him she, bright among goddesses, spoke:

  ‘Ill-fated man, please do not grieve forever, and do not let your life160

  wither here, for now I am willing* to send you on your way.

  So come, cut down some long timbers with a bronze axe

  and shape them into a wide raft, and then fix decking on top

  of them, so that it may carry you across the misty open sea.

  To satisfy your needs I shall stow on board bread and water165

  and red wine, such as will keep hunger away; and I shall

  provide you with clothing, and send you a following breeze,

  so that you may reach your native land quite unharmed—

  if the gods who inhabit the broad high sky will it, they who

  have more power than I in making plans and carrying them out.’ 170

  So she spoke, and much-enduring glorious Odysseus

  shuddered, and addressed her in winged words: ‘Goddess,

 

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