The Odyssey of Homer Part 12

That fate the G.o.ds prepared; they spin the thread 710 Of man's destruction, that in after days The bard may make the sad event his theme.

Perish'd thy father or thy brother there?

Or hast thou at the siege of Ilium lost Father-in-law, or son-in-law? for such Are next and dearest to us after those Who share our own descent; or was the dead Thy bosom-friend, whose heart was as thy own?

For worthy as a brother of our love The constant friend and the discrete I deem. 720

FOOTNOTES:

[27] Agamemnon having inquired at Delphos, at what time the Trojan war would end, was answered that the conclusion of it should happen at a time when a dispute should arise between two of his princ.i.p.al commanders. That dispute occurred at the time here alluded to, Achilles recommending force as most likely to reduce the city, and Ulysses stratagem.

[28] ???s? d' ap? ??s??? tetat? d????--This expression is by the commentators generally understood to be significant of the effort which they made at starting, but it is not improbable that it relates merely to the measurement of the course, otherwise, ?a?pa???? epet??t? will be tautologous.

[29] In boxing.

[30] The Translator is indebted to Mr Grey for an epithet more expressive of the original (?a?a???a?) than any other, perhaps, in all our language. See the Ode on the Progress of Poetry.

"To brisk notes in cadence beating, Glance their _many-twinkling_ feet"

[31] The original line has received such a variety of interpretations, that a Translator seems free to choose. It has, however, a proverbial turn, which I have endeavoured to preserve, and have adopted the sense of the words which appears best to accord with what immediately follows.

Vulcan pleads his own inability to enforce the demand, as a circ.u.mstance that made Neptune's promise unacceptable.

BOOK IX

ARGUMENT

Ulysses discovers himself to the Phaeacians, and begins the history of his adventures. He destroys Ismarus, city of the Ciconians; arrives among the Lotophagi; and afterwards at the land of the Cyclops. He is imprisoned by Polypheme in his cave, who devours six of his companions; intoxicates the monster with wine, blinds him while he sleeps, and escapes from him.

Then answer, thus, Ulysses wise return'd.

Alcinous! King! ill.u.s.trious above all Phaeacia's sons, pleasant it is to hear A bard like this, sweet as the G.o.ds in song.

The world, in my account, no sight affords More gratifying than a people blest With cheerfulness and peace, a palace throng'd With guests in order ranged, list'ning to sounds Melodious, and the steaming tables spread With plenteous viands, while the cups, with wine 10 From br.i.m.m.i.n.g beakers fill'd, pa.s.s brisk around.

No lovelier sight know I. But thou, it seems, Thy thoughts hast turn'd to ask me whence my groans And tears, that I may sorrow still the more.

What first, what next, what last shall I rehea.r.s.e, On whom the G.o.ds have show'r'd such various woes?

Learn first my name, that even in this land Remote I may be known, and that escaped From all adversity, I may requite Hereafter, this your hospitable care 20 At my own home, however distant hence.

I am Ulysses, fear'd in all the earth For subtlest wisdom, and renown'd to heaven, The offspring of Laertes; my abode Is sun-burnt Ithaca; there waving stands The mountain Neritus his num'rous boughs, And it is neighbour'd close by cl.u.s.t'ring isles All populous; thence Samos is beheld, Dulichium, and Zacynthus forest-clad.

Flat on the Deep she lies, farthest removed 30 Toward the West, while, situate apart, Her sister islands face the rising day; Rugged she is, but fruitful nurse of sons Magnanimous; nor shall these eyes behold, Elsewhere, an object dear and sweet as she.

Calypso, beauteous G.o.ddess, in her grot Detain'd me, wishing me her own espoused; aeaean Circe also, skill'd profound In potent arts, within her palace long Detain'd me, wishing me her own espoused; 40 But never could they warp my constant mind.

So much our parents and our native soil Attract us most, even although our lot Be fair and plenteous in a foreign land.

But come--my painful voyage, such as Jove Gave me from Ilium, I will now relate.

From Troy the winds bore me to Ismarus, City of the Ciconians; them I slew, And laid their city waste; whence bringing forth Much spoil with all their wives, I portion'd it 50 With equal hand, and each received a share.

Next, I exhorted to immediate flight My people; but in vain; they madly scorn'd My sober counsel, and much wine they drank, And sheep and beeves slew num'rous on the sh.o.r.e.

Meantime, Ciconians to Ciconians call'd, Their neighbours summoning, a mightier host And braver, natives of the continent, Expert, on horses mounted, to maintain Fierce fight, or if occasion bade, on foot. 60 Num'rous they came as leaves, or vernal flow'rs At day-spring. Then, by the decree of Jove, Misfortune found us. At the ships we stood Piercing each other with the brazen spear, And till the morning brighten'd into noon, Few as we were, we yet withstood them all; But, when the sun verged westward, then the Greeks Fell back, and the Ciconian host prevail'd.

Six warlike Greecians from each galley's crew Perish'd in that dread field; the rest escaped. 70 Thus, after loss of many, we pursued Our course, yet, difficult as was our flight, Went not till first we had invoked by name Our friends, whom the Ciconians had destroy'd.

But cloud-a.s.sembler Jove a.s.sail'd us soon With a tempestuous North-wind; earth alike And sea with storms he overhung, and night Fell fast from heav'n. Their heads deep-plunging oft Our gallies flew, and rent, and rent again Our tatter'd sail-cloth crackled in the wind. 80 We, fearing instant death, within the barks Our canvas lodg'd, and, toiling strenuous, reach'd At length the continent. Two nights we lay Continual there, and two long days, consumed With toil and grief; but when the beauteous morn Bright-hair'd, had brought the third day to a close, (Our masts erected, and white sails unfurl'd) Again we sat on board; meantime, the winds Well managed by the steersman, urged us on.

And now, all danger pa.s.s'd, I had attain'd 90 My native sh.o.r.e, but, doubling in my course Malea, waves and currents and North-winds Constrain'd me devious to Cythera's isle.

Nine days by cruel storms thence was I borne Athwart the fishy Deep, but on the tenth Reach'd the Lotophagi, a race sustain'd On sweetest fruit alone. There quitting ship, We landed and drew water, and the crews Beside the vessels took their ev'ning cheer.

When, hasty, we had thus our strength renew'd, 100 I order'd forth my people to inquire (Two I selected from the rest, with whom I join'd an herald, third) what race of men Might there inhabit. They, departing, mix'd With the Lotophagi; nor hostile aught Or savage the Lotophagi devised Against our friends, but offer'd to their taste The lotus; of which fruit what man soe'er Once tasted, no desire felt he to come With tidings back, or seek his country more, 110 But rather wish'd to feed on lotus still With the Lotophagi, and to renounce All thoughts of home. Them, therefore, I constrain'd Weeping on board, and dragging each beneath The benches, bound him there. Then, all in haste, I urged my people to ascend again Their hollow barks, lest others also, fed With fruit of lotus, should forget their home.

They quick embark'd, and on the benches ranged In order, thresh'd with oars the foamy flood. 120 Thence, o'er the Deep proceeding sad, we reach'd The land at length, where, giant-sized[32] and free From all constraint of law, the Cyclops dwell.

They, trusting to the G.o.ds, plant not, or plough, But earth unsow'd, untill'd, brings forth for them All fruits, wheat, barley, and the vinous grape Large cl.u.s.ter'd, nourish'd by the show'rs of Jove.

No councils they convene, no laws contrive, But in deep caverns dwell, found on the heads Of lofty mountains, judging each supreme 130 His wife and children, heedless of the rest.

In front of the Cyclopean haven lies A level island, not adjoining close Their land, nor yet remote, woody and rude.

There, wild goats breed numberless, by no foot Of man molested; never huntsman there, Inured to winter's cold and hunger, roams The dreary woods, or mountain-tops sublime; No fleecy flocks dwell there, nor plough is known, But the unseeded and unfurrow'd soil, 140 Year after year a wilderness by man Untrodden, food for blatant goats supplies.

For no ships crimson-prow'd the Cyclops own, Nor naval artizan is there, whose toil Might furnish them with oary barks, by which Subsists all distant commerce, and which bear Man o'er the Deep to cities far remote Who might improve the peopled isle, that seems Not steril in itself, but apt to yield, In their due season, fruits of ev'ry kind. 150 For stretch'd beside the h.o.a.ry ocean lie Green meadows moist, where vines would never fail; Light is the land, and they might yearly reap The tallest crops, so unctuous is the glebe.

Safe is its haven also, where no need Of cable is or anchor, or to lash The hawser fast ash.o.r.e, but pushing in His bark, the mariner might there abide Till rising gales should tempt him forth again.

At bottom of the bay runs a clear stream 160 Issuing from a cove hemm'd all around With poplars; down into that bay we steer'd Amid the darkness of the night, some G.o.d Conducting us; for all unseen it lay, Such gloom involved the fleet, nor shone the moon From heav'n to light us, veil'd by pitchy clouds.

Hence, none the isle descried, nor any saw The lofty surge roll'd on the strand, or ere Our vessels struck the ground; but when they struck, Then, low'ring all our sails, we disembark'd, 170 And on the sea-beach slept till dawn appear'd.

Soon as Aurora, daughter of the dawn, Look'd rosy forth, we with admiring eyes The isle survey'd, roaming it wide around.

Meantime, the nymphs, Jove's daughters, roused the goats Bred on the mountains, to supply with food The partners of my toils; then, bringing forth Bows and long-pointed javelins from the ships, Divided all into three sep'rate bands We struck them, and the G.o.ds gave us much prey. 180 Twelve ships attended me, and ev'ry ship Nine goats received by lot; myself alone Selected ten. All day, till set of sun, We eating sat goat's flesh, and drinking wine Delicious, without stint; for dearth was none Of ruddy wine on board, but much remain'd, With which my people had their jars supplied What time we sack'd Ciconian Ismarus.

Thence looking forth toward the neighbour-land Where dwell the Cyclops, rising smoke we saw, 190 And voices heard, their own, and of their flocks.

Now sank the sun, and (night o'ershadowing all) We slept along the sh.o.r.e; but when again The rosy-finger'd daughter of the dawn Look'd forth, my crews convened, I thus began.

Companions of my course! here rest ye all, Save my own crew, with whom I will explore This people, whether wild, they be, unjust, And to contention giv'n, or well-disposed To strangers, and a race who fear the G.o.ds. 200 So speaking, I embark'd, and bade embark My followers, throwing, quick, the hawsers loose.

They, ent'ring at my word, the benches fill'd Well-ranged, and thresh'd with oars the foamy flood.

Attaining soon that neighbour-land, we found At its extremity, fast by the sea, A cavern, lofty, and dark-brow'd above With laurels; in that cavern slumb'ring lay Much cattle, sheep and goats, and a broad court Enclosed it, fenced with stones from quarries hewn, 210 With spiry firs, and oaks of ample bough.

Here dwelt a giant vast, who far remote His flocks fed solitary, converse none Desiring, sullen, savage, and unjust.

Monster, in truth, he was, hideous in form, Resembling less a man by Ceres' gift Sustain'd, than some aspiring mountain-crag Tufted with wood, and standing all alone.

Enjoining, then, my people to abide Fast by the ship which they should closely guard, 220 I went, but not without a goat-skin fill'd With sable wine which I had erst received From Maron, offspring of Evanthes, priest Of Phbus guardian G.o.d of Ismarus, Because, through rev'rence of him, we had saved Himself, his wife and children; for he dwelt Amid the grove umbrageous of his G.o.d.

He gave me, therefore, n.o.ble gifts; from him Sev'n talents I received of beaten gold, A beaker, argent all, and after these 230 No fewer than twelve jars with wine replete, Rich, unadult'rate, drink for G.o.ds; nor knew One servant, male or female, of that wine In all his house; none knew it, save himself, His wife, and the intendant of his stores.

Oft as they drank that luscious juice, he slaked A single cup with twenty from the stream, And, even then, the beaker breath'd abroad A scent celestial, which whoever smelt, Thenceforth no pleasure found it to abstain. 240 Charged with an ample goat-skin of this wine I went, and with a wallet well supplied, But felt a sudden presage in my soul That, haply, with terrific force endued, Some savage would appear, strange to the laws And privileges of the human race.

Few steps convey'd us to his den, but him We found not; he his flocks pastur'd abroad.

His cavern ent'ring, we with wonder gazed Around on all; his strainers hung with cheese 250 Distended wide; with lambs and kids his penns Close-throng'd we saw, and folded separate The various charge; the eldest all apart, Apart the middle-aged, and the new-yean'd Also apart. His pails and bowls with whey Swam all, neat vessels into which he milk'd.

Me then my friends first importuned to take A portion of his cheeses, then to drive Forth from the sheep-cotes to the rapid bark His kids and lambs, and plow the brine again. 260 But me they moved not, happier had they moved!

I wish'd to see him, and to gain, perchance, Some pledge of hospitality at his hands, Whose form was such, as should not much bespeak When he appear'd, our confidence or love.

Then, kindling fire, we offer'd to the G.o.ds, And of his cheeses eating, patient sat Till home he trudged from pasture. Charged he came With dry wood bundled, an enormous load Fuel by which to sup. Loud crash'd the thorns 270 Which down he cast before the cavern's mouth, To whose interior nooks we trembling flew.

At once he drove into his s.p.a.cious cave His batten'd flock, all those which gave him milk, But all the males, both rams and goats, he left Abroad, excluded from the cavern-yard.

Upheaving, next, a rocky barrier huge To his cave's mouth, he thrust it home. That weight Not all the oxen from its place had moved Of twenty and two wains; with such a rock 280 Immense his den he closed. Then down he sat, And as he milk'd his ewes and bleating goats All in their turns, her yeanling gave to each; Coagulating, then, with brisk dispatch, The half of his new milk, he thrust the curd Into his wicker sieves, but stored the rest In pans and bowls--his customary drink.

His labours thus perform'd, he kindled, last, His fuel, and discerning _us_, enquired, Who are ye, strangers? from what distant sh.o.r.e 290 Roam ye the waters? traffic ye? or bound To no one port, wander, as pirates use, At large the Deep, exposing life themselves, And enemies of all mankind beside?

He ceased; we, dash'd with terrour, heard the growl Of his big voice, and view'd his form uncouth, To whom, though sore appall'd, I thus replied.

Of Greece are we, and, bound from Ilium home, Have wander'd wide the expanse of ocean, sport For ev'ry wind, and driven from our course, 300 Have here arrived; so stood the will of Jove.

We boast ourselves of Agamemnon's train, The son of Atreus, at this hour the Chief Beyond all others under heav'n renown'd, So great a city he hath sack'd and slain Such num'rous foes; but since we reach, at last, Thy knees, we beg such hospitable fare, Or other gift, as guests are wont to obtain.

Ill.u.s.trious lord! respect the G.o.ds, and us Thy suitors; suppliants are the care of Jove 310 The hospitable; he their wrongs resents And where the stranger sojourns, there is he.

I ceas'd, when answer thus he, fierce, return'd.

Friend! either thou art fool, or hast arrived Indeed from far, who bidd'st me fear the G.o.ds Lest they be wroth. The Cyclops little heeds Jove aegis-arm'd, or all the Pow'rs of heav'n.

Our race is mightier far; nor shall myself, Through fear of Jove's hostility, abstain From thee or thine, unless my choice be such. 320 But tell me now. Where touch'd thy gallant bark Our country, on thy first arrival here?

Remote or nigh? for I would learn the truth.

So spake he, tempting me; but, artful, thus I answer'd, penetrating his intent.

My vessel, Neptune, Shaker of the sh.o.r.es, At yonder utmost promontory dash'd In pieces, hurling her against the rocks With winds that blew right thither from the sea, And I, with these alone, escaped alive. 330 So I, to whom, relentless, answer none He deign'd, but, with his arms extended, sprang Toward my people, of whom seizing two At once, like whelps against his cavern-floor He dash'd them, and their brains spread on the ground.

These, piece-meal hewn, for supper he prepared, And, like a mountain-lion, neither flesh Nor entrails left, nor yet their marrowy bones.

We, viewing that tremendous sight, upraised Our hands to Jove, all hope and courage lost. 340 When thus the Cyclops had with human flesh Fill'd his capacious belly, and had quaff'd Much undiluted milk, among his flocks Out-stretch'd immense, he press'd his cavern-floor.

Me, then, my courage prompted to approach The monster with my sword drawn from the sheath, And to transfix him where the vitals wrap The liver; but maturer thoughts forbad.

For so, we also had incurred a death Tremendous, wanting pow'r to thrust aside 350 The rocky ma.s.s that closed his cavern-mouth By force of hand alone. Thus many a sigh Heaving, we watch'd the dawn. But when, at length, Aurora, day-spring's daughter rosy-palm'd Look'd forth, then, kindling fire, his flocks he milk'd In order, and her yeanling kid or lamb Thrust under each. When thus he had perform'd His wonted task, two seizing, as before, He slew them for his next obscene regale.

His dinner ended, from the cave he drove 360 His fatted flocks abroad, moving with ease That pond'rous barrier, and replacing it As he had only closed a quiver's lid.

Then, hissing them along, he drove his flocks Toward the mountain, and me left, the while, Deep ruminating how I best might take Vengeance, and by the aid of Pallas win Deathless renown. This counsel pleas'd me most.

Beside the sheep-cote lay a ma.s.sy club Hewn by the Cyclops from an olive stock, 370 Green, but which dried, should serve him for a staff.

To us consid'ring it, that staff appear'd Tall as the mast of a huge trading bark, Impell'd by twenty rowers o'er the Deep.

Such seem'd its length to us, and such its bulk.

Part amputating, (an whole fathom's length) I gave my men that portion, with command To shave it smooth. They smooth'd it, and myself, Shaping its blunt extremity to a point, Season'd it in the fire; then cov'ring close 380 The weapon, hid it under litter'd straw, For much lay scatter'd on the cavern-floor.

And now I bade my people cast the lot Who of us all should take the pointed brand, And grind it in his eye when next he slept.