be worse for them. But I can read these omens180
better than you can. Many birds go flying
in sunlight, and not all are meaningful.
Odysseus is dead, away from home.
I wish that you had died with him, to stop
your forecasts! You are making this boy angry,
hoping that he will give your household gifts.
But let me tell you this, which will come true.
You may know many ancient forms of wisdom,
but if you tease this boy and make him angry,
he will be hurt, and never get to act190
on any of these prophecies of yours.
And, old man, we will make you pay so much
your heart will break, your pain will cut so deep.
I will advise Telemachus myself,
in front of everyone, to send his mother
back to her father’s family, to fix
her wedding, and the gifts a well-loved daughter
should have. Unless he does that, we will never
cease from this torturous courtship. We are not
afraid of anyone, much less this boy200
with his long speeches, nor your pointless portents.
They will not come to pass and they will make you
hated. His house will be devoured, and payback
will never come, as long as she frustrates
our hopes of marriage. Meanwhile, we will wait
in daily hope, competing for the prize,
not seeking other women as our wives.”
Telemachus, his mind made up, replied,
“All right, Eurymachus, and all of you.
I will not talk about this anymore.210
The gods and all of you already know.
Just let me have a ship and twenty men
to make a journey with me, out and back,
to Sparta and to sandy Pylos, seeking
news about when my father may come home.
I may hear it from somebody, or from
a voice from Zeus—it often happens so.
If I find out my father is alive
and coming home, I will endure this pain
for one more year. But if I hear that he220
is dead, I will come home to my own land,
and build a tomb and hold the funeral rites
as he deserves, and I will give my mother
to a new husband.”
He sat down, and up
stood Mentor. When Odysseus sailed off,
this was the friend he asked to guard his house
and told the slaves to look to him as master.
Mentor addressed the crowd.
“Now Ithacans!
Listen! This changes everything! Now kings
should never try to judge with righteousness230
or rule their people gently. Kings should always
be cruel, since the people whom he ruled
as kindly as a father, have forgotten
their King Odysseus. I do not blame
the suitors’ overconfidence, rough ways
and violence, in eating up his household;
they risk their lives, supposing that the master
will never come back home. But I do blame
you others, sitting passive, never speaking
against them, though you far outnumber them.”240
Leocritus, Euenor’s son, replied,
“Mentor, for shame! You must have lost your mind!
Fool, telling us to stop our banqueting!
You could not fight us; we outnumber you.
Even if Ithacan Odysseus
came back and found us feasting in his house,
and tried to drive us out, his wife would get
no joy of his return, no matter how
she misses him. If he tried fighting solo
against us, he would die a cruel death.250
So what you said was nonsense. Anyway,
we must disperse, and everyone get busy.
Mentor and Halitherses, since you are
old comrades of his father, you can guide
Telemachus’ journey. I suspect
he will not manage to go anywhere;
he will just wait in Ithaca for news.”
The crowd broke up; the Ithacans went home;
the suitors, to Odysseus’ house.
Telemachus slipped out and at the beach260
he dipped his hands in salty gray seawater,
and asked Athena,
“Goddess, hear my prayer!
Just yesterday you came and ordered me
to sail the hazy sea and find out news
of my long-absent father’s journey home.
The Greeks are wasting everything, especially
these bullying, mean suitors.”
Then Athena
came near him with the voice and guise of Mentor,
and spoke to him with words that flew like birds.
“Telemachus, you will be brave and thoughtful,270
if your own father’s forcefulness runs through you.
How capable he was, in word and deed!
Your journey will succeed, if you are his.
If you are not his son, his true-born son,
I doubt you can achieve what you desire.
And it is rare for sons to be like fathers;
only a few are better, most are worse.
But you will be no coward and no fool.
You do possess your father’s cunning mind,
so there is hope you will do all these things.280
Forget about those foolish suitors’ plans.
They have no brains and no morality.
They do not know black doom will kill them all,
and some day soon: their death is near at hand.
You will achieve the journey that you seek,
since I will go with you, just like a father.
I will equip a good swift ship for you.
Now go back home to where those suitors are,
and get provisions. Pack them in containers:
some wine in jars, and grain, the strength of men,290
in sturdy skins. And I will go through town,
calling for volunteers to come with us.
There are a lot of ships in Ithaca,
both new and old. I will select the best one;
we will equip her quickly and sail fast,
far off across the sea.”
So spoke the goddess,
daughter of Zeus. Telemachus obeyed.
His heart was troubled as he went back home.
He found the arrogant suitors in the hall,
skinning some goats and charring hogs for dinner.300
Antinous began to laugh. He called him,
and seized his hand and spoke these words to him.
“Telemachus, you are being so pigheaded!
Why not put all your troubles from your heart?
Come eat and drink with me, just as before.
You know the Greeks will fix it all for you.
They will select a ship and crew, and soon
you will reach Pylos, where you hope to hear
word of your father.”
But the boy was wary,
and said, “Antinous, I cannot eat;310
I have no peace or joy when I am with
you selfish suitors. Is it not enough
that you destroyed my rich inheritance
when I was just a little boy? But now
I have grown bigger, and I got advice
from other people, and my heart wells up
with courage. I will try to bring down doom
on your heads here at home or when I go
to Pylos. Yes, I really will go there,
as passenger, although I do not own320
a ship or have a crew—because of you!”
He snatched his hand away. But as they feasted,
the suitors started mocking him and jeering.
With sneers they said,
“Oh no! Telemachus
is going to kill us! He will bring supporters
from Pylos or from Sparta—he is quite
determined! Or indeed he may be fetching
some lethal poisons from the fertile fields
of Ephyra, to mix up in our wine-bowl
and kill us all!”
Another proud young man 330
said, “Well, who knows, perhaps he will get lost
in that curved ship, and die, so far away
from all his family—just like his father.
And what a pity that would be for us!
Then we would have to share out all his wealth,
and give away the house itself to her—
his mother, and the man who marries her.”
The boy went downstairs, to his father’s storeroom,
wide and high-roofed, piled high with gold and bronze
and clothes in chests and fragrant olive oil.340
Down there the jars of vintage wine were stored,
which held the sweet, unmixed and godlike drink,
lined in a row against the wall, in case