against the palace walls, all shining white.
He slung the four-fold shield across his shoulders,
and put the well-made helmet on his head.
The crest of horsehair gave a fearsome nod.
He grasped a bronze-tipped spear in either hand.
There was a back gate in the castle walls,
providing access to the passageway,
with tightly fitted doors. Odysseus
ordered the noble swineherd to stand there
to guard it—there was only one way out.130
Agelaus called out to all the suitors.
“Friends, one of us should slip out through that gate
and quickly tell the people, raise alarms.
That soon would put a stop to this man’s shooting.”
Melanthius the goatherd answered, “No!
My lord, that entryway is much too narrow,
and dangerously near the palace doors.
One man, if he was brave, could keep it guarded
against us all. So I will bring you armor
out of the storeroom, which I think is where140
those two, our enemies, have hidden it.”
Melanthius the goatherd climbed up past
the arrow-slits inside the castle walls,
into the chamber. There he took twelve shields,
twelve spears and twelve bronze helmets, each one crested
with horsehair. Then he hurried back downstairs
and handed all the weapons to the suitors.
Odysseus could see that they had arms;
their spears were brandished. His heart stopped, his legs
trembled—he was so shocked at their presumption.150
At once his words flew out to tell his son,
“One of the women, or Melanthius,
is waging war against us, in my house!”
Wisely Telemachus owned up at once.
“Father, it was my fault, I am to blame.
I left the heavy storeroom door ajar.
Someone on their side must have kept good watch.
Go there, Eumaeus, shut the door, and see
if any of the women are against us,
or else, as I suspect, Melanthius.”160
Meanwhile, Melanthius was going back
to get more weapons from the room. The swineherd
saw him and told Odysseus,
“My Lord,
that little sneak, the man we all suspected,
is going to the stores! Odysseus,
you always have a plan for what to do:
so should I kill him, as I think is best,
or bring him here to you, so you can punish
his many crimes against you in your house?”
Odysseus already had a plan.170
“Telemachus and I will keep the suitors
trapped in the hall—however much they rage.
You two, truss up his hands and feet behind him,
drag him inside the storeroom, string him up,
tying a knotted rope high on the column,
and hoist him to the rafters. Torture him
with hours of agony before he dies.”
His word was their command; they hurried off,
and reached the weaponry. Melanthius
was unaware of them. As he was searching180
for arms, they stopped on each side of the door
and waited. When he stepped across the threshold,
holding a lovely helmet in one hand,
and in the other hand, a rusty shield,
once carried by Laertes in his youth,
but now in storage, with its seams all loose.
The two men jumped on him and grabbed his hair
to drag him in and threw him on the floor,
shaking with fear. They bound his hands and feet
and yanked them painfully behind his back,190
just as the lord of suffering had told them.
They tied him with a knotted rope and hoisted
his body up the column to the rafters.
Swineherd Eumaeus, you began to mock him:
“Keep watch the whole night through, Melanthius,
tucked up in this soft bed—it serves you right!
And wait there for the golden throne of Dawn
leaving the sea, that hour when you would lead
your goats to this house for the suitors’ dinner.”
There he was left, bound cruelly and stretched.200
The herdsmen armed themselves and left the room,
shutting the door, and joined their cunning leader.
They stood there on the threshold, tense with purpose,
just four against so many men inside.
The child of Zeus, Athena, came to meet them;
her voice and looks resembled those of Mentor.
Odysseus was happy when he saw her,
and said, “Remember our old friendship, Mentor!
I have been good to you since we were boys.
So help me now!” He guessed it was Athena,210
who rouses armies.
From the hall, the suitors
shouted their opposition. Agelaus
called, “Mentor, do not let Odysseus
sway you to help him and to fight against us.
I think this is how things will go. When we
have killed this father and his son, you will
die also, if you do as you intend,
and pay with your own life for all your plots.
Our bronze will strip your life away from you,
and we will seize whatever you may own220
and mix it with the loot we get from here.
Your sons will not survive here in these halls,
nor will your wife and daughters still walk free
in Ithaca.”
At that Athena’s heart
became enraged, and angrily she scolded
Odysseus. “Where is your courage now?
You fought nine years on end against the Trojans,
for white-armed Helen, Zeus’ favorite child.
You slaughtered many men when war was raging,
and formed the plan that made the city fall.230
Now you are home at last, how can you flinch
from being brave and using proper force
against these suitors? Come now, stand by me
and watch how Mentor, son of Alcimus,
will treat your enemies as recompense
for all your service.”
But she did not grant
decisive victory; she kept on testing
Odysseus’ courage, and his son’s.
She flew up like a swallow through the smoke
and nestled in the rafters of the roof.240
Now Agelaus, Demoptolemus,
Eurynomus, Pisander, Amphimedon,
and Polybus were urging on the suitors.
Those were the most heroic of the group
who still survived and battled for their lives:
the others were defeated by the bow
and raining arrows. Agelaus told them,
“That Mentor’s boasts were empty, friends! He left,
and they are all alone there at the entrance.
Now force this cruel man to stay his hands.250
Do not hurl spears at him all in a mass,
but you six must shoot first and pray Lord Zeus
we strike Odysseus and win the fight.
Once he is down, the others will be nothing.”
The six men threw their spears as he had said;
at once Athena made their efforts fail.
One pierced the doorpost of the palace hall,
another hit the closely fitted door,
another’s spear of ash and heavy bronze
fell on the wall. The group of four avoided260
all of the suitors’ spears. Odysseus
had waited long enough.
“My friends,” he said,
“they want to slaughter us and strip our arms!
Avenge my former wrongs, and save your lives!
Now shoot!”
They hurled their spears at once and hit.
Odysseus killed Demoptolemus;
Telemachus, Euryades; the swineherd
slaughtered Elatus, and the cowherd killed
Pisander. They all fell and bit the earth.
The other suitors huddled in a corner;270
the four rushed up and from the corpses pulled
their spears. Again the suitors threw their weapons;
again Athena made them fail. One spear
struck at the doorpost, and another pierced
the door; another ash spear hit the wall.
Amphimedon’s blow grazed Telemachus
right by the wrist: the bronze tore through his skin.
Ctesippus hurled his spear; it only scratched
the swineherd’s shoulder, just above his shield,
flew past and fell down on the floor behind him.280
The competent, sharp-eyed Odysseus
and his companions hurled their piercing spears
into the swarming throng. The city-sacker
skewered Eurydamas; Telemachus