in blood.”
Odysseus scowled back and said,
“You little dog! I will soon go and tell
Telemachus what you have said, so he
can slice you limb from limb!”
That made the women340
tremble with fear; they thought he spoke the truth.
They scattered through the house. He took his stand
beside the braziers to keep them lit,
and looked at all the suitors. In his heart
he formed his plans, which soon would be fulfilled.
Athena wanted pain to sink down deep
inside Odysseus. She made the suitors
keep taunting him. Eurymachus was jeering
to make the others laugh.
“Now listen, suitors!
I have an intuition that this man350
has come into Odysseus’ house
through some god’s will. His head is shining brightly
under the lanterns’ light—perhaps because
he is completely bald!”
And then he turned
and asked Odysseus, the city-sacker,
“Stranger, if I was hiring, would you like
to labor on a distant farm for me?
You would be paid for sure, if you could plant
tall trees, and build stone walls, and I would give you
your meals all year and clothes, including footwear.360
But you are only skilled at wickedness.
You have no wish to work. You like to beg,
traipsing around to stuff your greedy belly.”
Crafty Odysseus said, “How I wish,
Eurymachus, that we could have a contest
in springtime in the meadow, when the days
are growing longer; I would have a scythe
of perfect curvature and so would you.
The grass would be abundant; we would test
our skill by working all day long, not eating 370
until late evening. Or if we could plow
using a pair of fine and well-fed oxen,
strong and both equal in their power to pull,
and if we had four acres of good soil,
then you would see if I know how to cut
a furrow straight. Or if Zeus suddenly
made war begin tomorrow, and I had
two spears, a shield, and a helmet all of bronze
close-fitted to my head, you would see me
amid the throng of fighters at the front—380
and you would not hurl insults at my belly.
You act aggressive, and you think you are
a big strong man, because you spend your time
among this tiny group of lowborn louts.
But if Odysseus appeared, the doors—
which are quite wide—would start to seem too narrow,
as you were struggling to get away.”
Scowling with rage, Eurymachus replied,
“You nasty hobo! I will make you pay
for showing off in front of all of us.390
You should be scared! The wine has made you stupid,
or maybe you are always talking nonsense;
or you are all puffed up from having won
over the beggar Irus!”
Then he hurled
a footstool at Odysseus, who ducked
behind Amphinomus in fear; it hit
the right hand of the slave boy serving wine;
the wine jug fell and clattered on the ground.
The boy fell backwards on the dust and moaned.
The suitors’ shouts resounded through the shadows:400
“Too bad this foreign drifter did not die
before he came here causing all this bother!
These arguments with beggars are disrupting
our banquet; it is spoiling our nice evening.
This silly fuss is dominating things.”
Telemachus spoke up with dignity.
“Most noble lords! This is insanity.
Perhaps you dined too well, or else some god
is stirring you. Now you have finished dinner,
go home and sleep, whenever you are ready.410
I will not force you out.”
They bit their lips,
surprised at the self-confidence he showed.
Amphinomus, the famous son of Nisus,
grandson of Lord Aretias, spoke out
to all of them.
“My friends! What he has said
was fair; no one need take offense. Do not
abuse the stranger, nor the slaves who work
in great Odysseus’ house. The boy
should fill the cups with wine, so we can pour
libations, then go home. Telemachus420
can take care of the stranger—after all,
the beggar came to his house.”
They agreed.
And Moulius, the slave Amphinomus
had brought there from Dulichium, mixed wine
for all of them and shared the drinks around.
They poured libations to the gods and sipped
the cheering wine. When they had had enough,
each of them went back home, to his own bed.
BOOK 19
The Queen and the Beggar
Odysseus was left there in the hall,
and with Athena, he was hatching plans
for how to kill the suitors. Words flew fast:
“Telemachus, we have to get the weapons
and hide them. When the suitors see them gone
and question you, come up with good excuses.
You can explain, ‘The soot had damaged them;
when King Odysseus marched off to Troy
their metal gleamed; now they are growing dull.
I put them safe away from all that smoke.10
Some spirit also warned me if you drink
too much and argue, you could hurt each other,
dishonoring your banquet and your courtship.
Weapons themselves can tempt a man to fight.’”
Telemachus obeyed his father’s word.
He summoned Eurycleia, and he told her,
“Shut up the women in their rooms, while I
carry my father’s weapons to the storeroom.
They have got dirty since my father left
when I was just a little boy. I want20
to keep them safe, protected from the smoke.”
The loving nurse said, “Child, I wish you would
take charge of all the household management
and guard the wealth. Which girl should bring the torch?
You said the slaves were not allowed to walk
in front of you.”
He said, “This stranger will.
A man who eats my bread must work for me,
even if he has come from far away.”
She made no answer but locked up the doors
that led inside the hall. Odysseus30
and his bright boy jumped up and got the helmets
and studded shields and pointed spears. Athena
stood by them with a golden lamp; she made
majestic light. Telemachus said,
“Father,
my eyes have noticed something very strange.
The palace walls, the handsome fir-wood rafters
and crossbeams and the pillars high above
are visible, as if a fire were lit.
Some god from heaven must be in the house.”
But cautiously Odysseus replied,40
“Hush, no more questions, discipline your thoughts.
This is the way of gods from Mount Olympus.
You need to go to bed. I will stay here,
to aggravate the slave girls and your mother,
and make her cry, and let her question me.”
Telemachus went through the hall, lit up
by blazing torches, to his room. Sleep came,
and there he lay till Dawn. Odysseus
stayed in the hall, still plotting with Athena
how to destroy the suitors.
Then the queen,50
her wits about her, came down from her room,
like Artemis or golden Aphrodite.
Slaves pulled her usual chair beside the fire;
it was inlaid with whorls of ivory
and silver, crafted by Icmalius,
who had attached a footstool, all in one.
A great big fleece was laid across the chair,
and pensively Penelope sat down.
The white-armed slave girls came and cleared away
the piles of bread, the tables, and the cups,60
from which the arrogant suitors had been drinking.
They threw the embers from the braziers
onto the floor, and heaped fresh wood inside them
for light and warmth.
And then Melantho scolded
Odysseus again. “Hey! Stranger! Will you
keep causing trouble, roaming round our house
at night and spying on us women here?
Get out, you tramp! Be happy with your meal!
Or you will soon get pelted with a torch!