Sobbing desperately
the girls came, weeping, clutching at each other.
They carried out the bodies of the dead
and piled them up on top of one another,
under the roof outside. Odysseus450
instructed them and forced them to continue.
And then they cleaned his lovely chairs and tables
with wet absorbent sponges, while the prince
and herdsmen with their shovels scraped away
the mess to make the sturdy floor all clean.
The girls picked up the trash and took it out.
The men created order in the house
and set it all to rights, then led the girls
outside and trapped them—they could not escape—
between the courtyard wall and the rotunda.460
Showing initiative, Telemachus
insisted,
“I refuse to grant these girls
a clean death, since they poured down shame on me
and Mother, when they lay beside the suitors.”
At that, he wound a piece of sailor’s rope
round the rotunda and round the mighty pillar,
stretched up so high no foot could touch the ground.
As doves or thrushes spread their wings to fly
home to their nests, but someone sets a trap—
they crash into a net, a bitter bedtime;470
just so the girls, their heads all in a row,
were strung up with the noose around their necks
to make their death an agony. They gasped,
feet twitching for a while, but not for long.
Then the men took Melanthius outside
and with curved bronze cut off his nose and ears
and ripped away his genitals, to feed
raw to the dogs. Still full of rage, they chopped
his hands and feet off. Then they washed their own,
and they went back inside.
Odysseus480
told his beloved nurse, “Now bring me fire
and sulfur, as a cure for evil things,
and I will fumigate the house. And call
Penelope, her slaves, and all the slave girls
inside the house.”
She answered with affection,
“Yes, dear, all this is good. But let me bring
a cloak and shirt for you. You should not stand here
your strong back covered only with those rags.
That would be wrong!”
Odysseus, the master
of every cunning scheme, replied, “No, first490
I need a fire here, to smoke the hall.”
His loving slave complied and brought the fire
and sulfur, and Odysseus made smoke,
and fumigated every room inside
the house and yard. Meanwhile, the old nurse ran
all through the palace summoning the women.
By torchlight they came out from their apartments,
to greet Odysseus with open arms.
They kissed his face and took him by the hands
in welcome. He was seized by sweet desire500
to weep, and in his heart he knew them all.
BOOK 23
The Olive Tree Bed
Chuckling with glee, the old slave climbed upstairs
to tell the queen that her beloved husband
was home. Her weak old knees felt stronger now;
with buoyant steps she went and stood beside
her mistress, at her head, and said,
“Dear child,
wake up and see! At long last you have got
your wish come true! Odysseus has come!
He is right here inside this house! At last!
He slaughtered all the suitors who were wasting
his property and threatening his son!”10
But cautiously Penelope replied,
“You poor old thing! The gods have made you crazy.
They have the power to turn the sanest person
mad, or make fools turn wise. You used to be
so sensible, but they have damaged you.
Why else would you be mocking me like this,
with silly stories, in my time of grief?
Why did you wake me from the sleep that sweetly
wrapped round my eyes? I have not slept so soundly
since my Odysseus marched off to see20
that cursed town—Evilium. Go back!
If any other slave comes here to wake me
and tell me all this nonsense, I will send her
back down at once, and I will not be gentle.
Your old age will protect you from worse scolding.”
But Eurycleia answered with affection,
“Dear child, I am not mocking you. I am
telling the truth: Odysseus is here!
He is the stranger that they all abused.
Telemachus has known for quite some time,30
but sensibly he kept his father’s plans
a secret, so Odysseus could take
revenge for all their violence and pride.”
Penelope was overjoyed; she jumped
from bed and hugged the nurse, and started crying.
Her words flew fast.
“Dear Nanny! If this is
the truth, if he has come back to this house,
how could he have attacked those shameless suitors,
when he is just one man, and there were always
so many crowded in there?”
Eurycleia40
answered, “I did not see or learn the details.
I heard the sound of screaming from the men
as they were killed. We huddled in our room
and kept the doors tight shut, until your son
called me—his father sent him. Then I saw
Odysseus surrounded by dead bodies.
They lay on top of one another, sprawled
across the solid floor. You would have been
thrilled if you saw him, like a lion, drenched
in blood and gore. Now they are all piled up50
out by the courtyard gates, and he is burning
a mighty fire to fumigate the palace,
restoring all its loveliness. He sent me
to fetch you. Come with me, so both of you
can start to live in happiness. You have
endured such misery. Your wish came true!
He is alive! He has come home again,
and found you and your son, and he has taken
revenge on all the suitors who abused him.”
Penelope said carefully, “Do not60
start gloating. As you know, my son and I
would be delighted if he came. We all would.
However, what you say cannot be true.
Some god has killed the suitors out of anger
at their abuse of power and their pride.
They failed to show respect to visitors,
both good and bad. Their foolishness has killed them.
But my Odysseus has lost his home,
and far away from Greece, he lost his life.”
The nurse replied, “Dear child! How can you say70
your husband will not come, when he is here,
beside the hearth? Your heart has always been
mistrustful. But I have clear evidence!
When I was washing him, I felt the scar
made when the boar impaled him with its tusk.
I tried to tell you, but he grabbed my throat
and stopped me spoiling all his plans. Come with me.
I swear on my own life: if I am lying,
then kill me.”
Wise Penelope said, “Nanny,
it must be hard for you to understand80
the ways of gods, despite your cleverness.
But let us go to meet my son, so I
can see the suitors dead, and see the man
who killed them.”
So she went downstairs. Her heart
could not decide if she should keep her distance
as she was questioning her own dear husband,
or go right up to him and kiss his face
and hold his hands in hers. She crossed the threshold
and sat across from him beside the wall,
in firelight. He sat beside the pillar, 90
and kept his eyes down, waiting to find out
whether the woman who once shared his bed
would speak to him. She sat in silence, stunned.
Sometimes when she was glancing at his face
it seemed like him; but then his dirty clothes
were unfamiliar. Telemachus
scolded her.
“Mother! Cruel, heartless Mother!
Why are you doing this, rejecting Father?
Why do you not go over, sit beside him,
and talk to him? No woman in the world100
would be so obstinate! To keep your distance
from him when he has come back after twenty
long years of suffering! Your heart is always
harder than rock!”
But thoughtfully she answered,