Odysseus: The Oath

by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

  She looked at me and in a faint voice said: ‘He is cursed . . . he will die.’ I glanced up at the image of the goddess and it seemed to me that her eyes were closed, loath to witness such horror. As I was staring at that stone face, Calchas’ voice rang out in my mind: this was the most powerful idol of the entire world, the sacred image that made the city that possessed her invincible against any human or divine force, except one: the hand of Fate!

  I prayed in my heart that my goddess would not abandon me and would continue to hold her hand on my head . . . We took Cassandra back with us, to the ruins of palace where all the prisoners were being held. Agamemnon, our supreme leader, claimed her for himself. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and in the flickering light of the conflagration I saw a figure at the top of the ramp: wanax Menelaus. His hair red as fire, his armour bloodied, he was leading proud Helen by her hand, her breasts bared. He had possessed her, they say, in the bedroom spattered with the blood of Deiphobus, her last husband after Paris. When the palace had fallen, the Trojan prince had rushed to defend his own home and there, at Helen’s feet, he had been slain.

  THE DAWN of the following day illuminated a desolate expanse. A grey desert streaked with whispers of stagnant smoke. Mount Ida hulked against the leaden sky, her peak hidden, encircled by ashen fog. The Scamander and Simoeis flowed sluggishly, thick with slime and mud. There was no strip of land that had not been slashed or wounded, not a single building in glorious Troy that stood where it once had. No forest had survived the years of axes chopping down trunks for the pyres of the dead. Victory had the bitter tang of blind violence and the wailing of women and children was as keen as a sacrificial blade, shrill and incessant. Only the three black-veiled Moirai rejoiced, dancing over the field of death, appearing and vanishing in the dull morning air.

  Our great endeavour had drowned in a sea of tears.

  The spoils distributed, the women and the weapons divided, wanax Agamemnon, grey-faced, convened the council of kings and princes. He proposed that we offer solemn sacrifice to the gods to appease the shades of the dead and to make the outcome of our return voyages favourable. Nestor, lord of Pylos, dissented, saying that we must all leave immediately, before the harsh winter weather set in. Once we were safely back in our homelands, we could offer sacred hecatombs. Many agreed with him. After much dispute, it was decided that each of us should be free to remain or leave at once.

  I joined the latter, so eager was I to begin my return voyage, to forget these ten long years of life lost, of weeping and burning, of solitary vigils steeped in aching nostalgia, of friends lost, of spent ashes that the wind had carried off over the sea.

  Of the twelve ships I had set off with, only seven returned with me now. We burned the others, because the men who had left Ithaca with me and had sat at those long oars were gone. They were dead. They now lie beneath the deserted fields of Troy. Weeping, we shouted out the name of each one of them ten times, so the wind would carry him all the way to the home of his distant parents, still waiting for news, choked with dread.

  We thus set sail and rapidly reached Tenedos, as the sun, finally free of the black shroud of smoke, came out and lit up the sea. I took a deep breath and it felt like a return to life. For an instant I caught a glimpse of a fabulous glittering of bronze, silver and orichalch: my precious treasure, my share of the spoils, hidden under the planks at the prow. But the moment was fleeting. Black clouds soon gathered at the centre of the sky and a cold wind started to blow.

  I felt a sharp pain piercing my heart then, heard a voice and a bolt of thunder echoing from the mountains. Who was calling me? I found out instantly, when I turned to look at the shore we had just left.

  I shouted out: ‘Strike the sails! Dismast! Return to your oars, we’re going back!’

  My men obeyed my command. The ships turned, lining up one behind the other. The prows furrowed waves that boiled higher and higher, tipped with foam. The shore was slowly getting closer; the mound on the Rhoetean promontory guided me in. My ship gained the shore and the men dropped anchor. I think they understood. I took the armour of Achilles from the bow and bound it all together with a thick rope: his storied shield, the embossed greaves, the shining breastplate, the crested helmet and the invincible sword. I jumped off the ship and my feet touched the gravel on the sea bottom. It took enormous effort for me to move forward and the weight of the bronze dragged me back every time a breaking wave pulled away powerfully from the shore.

  I bent my back like an ox under the yoke, breathing hard, forcing one foot in front of the other until I finally made it to the beach. My brow and my face and my hair were dripping with seawater, huge drops that clouded my sight.

  There before me rose the immense burial mound of Great Ajax, bulwark of the Achaians. I laid the shining armour of Achilles on the altar that covered his ashes. Ten times I shouted his name, raising my voice higher than the howling wind. Zeus thundered. My tears mixed with those of the sky.

  Author’s Note

  This novel and its sequel are inspired by the Trojan Epic Cycle and tell the story of Odysseus, son of Laertes, king of Ithaca, from his birth to his last journey.

  Odysseus is the absolute protagonist of the Iliad as well as the Odyssey, which is completely dedicated to him, but he is also central to the other poems in the cycle, which were oral poems at their origin and were perhaps put into writing around the 8th century BC. These have been completely lost, except for a few surviving fragments. This collection of ancient Greek epic poems still existed in Roman times and narrated the events preceding the Trojan War, the nine-year siege, the fall of Troy at Odysseus’ hand thanks to the strategy of the horse, and the epilogue of the war, when the main heroes of the Iliad attempt to return to their homelands. Nearly all of these return journeys end in tragedy, and are remembered in part in Book 3 of the Odyssey, and also in Book 11, when Odysseus, like a shaman, calls up the shades of the dead from Hades.

  Through the poems of this cycle, the figure of Odysseus was recovered by a poet of Cyrene named Eugammon in the 7th century BC, became known to 5th-century BC Greek dramatists like Aeschylus, Sophocles and above all Euripides, and was picked up again in Hellenistic times (3rd century BC) by Lycophron. Time and time again, over the centuries, great poets and writers, including Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Pascoli, Joyce and Cavafy, have brought him to life.

  Clearly, each of these authors and poets, writing in very different ages and separated by great spans of time, have interpreted the figure of the hero in a wholly personal way, reflecting the writer’s own historical period and creating a mirror for the men of his age, bringing Odysseus alive as a paradigm of humanity.

  We therefore cannot – although this is often exactly what has been done – attribute specific qualities, vices and virtues to the figure of Odysseus that actually are a more accurate reflection of the epoch of the writer himself, who interprets our wandering hero according to the mores and mentality of his own time.

  For this reason, I’ve tried to abide by the figure of Odysseus as reported by Homer, as he appears in the Iliad and the Odyssey and not in any later works. The way I see him is, of course, another interpretation, but this is, after all, the greatest characteristic of the ‘classics’, that they speak to men of all ages, maintaining their value and their vitality intact.

  The language I’ve used is meant to transport the reader back to the ambience of the Homeric tradition. As far as possible, the syntax is simple and refrains from using complex sentence structures and concepts which are too abstract. Odysseus’ story is narrated in a realistic key, not yet filtered or processed by the rich formulas of oral poetry in later centuries.

  I’ve written this story with deep respect for the very ancient sources from which it takes inspiration, but I’ve decided to narrate Odysseus’ tale using the voice of the protagonist in the first person, and thus in a very personal, ‘realistic’ form. In other words, I’ve tried to describe the facts and the events that might actually have gen
erated the epic and mythological tales. The description that I give of Troy is largely based on the hypotheses of the late Manfred Korfmann, the German archaeologist who identified the ruins and walls on the hill of Hisarlik in Turkey as the citadel of Troy, at the foot of which an extensive ‘lower city’ lay, surrounded by a mud-brick wall and a ditch.

  As far as the names of the characters are concerned, for the English-language version I’ve preferred the Latin spellings, with a few exceptions which remain in Greek: Odysseus instead of Ulysses, Autolykos instead of Autolycus, Skaian instead of Scaean Gates, Achaia and Achaians instead of Achaea and Achaeans.

  As for the historical veracity of the Trojan War, it’s difficult to say whether it was really ever fought and why it became the subject of such a vast epic cycle of literature. Today, most scholars believe that the Homeric poems reflect the distant echo of an event that actually occurred, perhaps the last common endeavour of a world that was already in its death throes. We cannot exclude the hypothesis that the war itself, as long and difficult as it was and with such massive loss of life, and the resulting extended absence of kings and aristocrats, was the cause of the decline of the peoples and civilizations that fought it. Perhaps, then, a handful of Mycenaean barons assaulting a stronghold on the Hellespont straits were transformed by Homer into a gathering of giants, their endeavours remembered in an epic tale that lies at the very roots of the history of Western culture.

  Characters and Places

  ODYSSEUS AND HIS FAMILY

  Amphithea – queen of Acarnania, wife to Autolykos, mother of Anticlea, grandmother of Odysseus

  Anticlea – queen mother of Ithaca, wife to Laertes, mother of Odysseus

  Arcesius – father of Laertes, husband to Chalcomedusa, grandfather of Odysseus

  Autolykos – king of Acarnania, husband to Amphithea, father of Anticlea, grandfather of Odysseus

  Chalcomedusa – mother of Laertes, wife to Arcesius, grandmother of Odysseus

  Laertes – king of Ithaca before Odysseus, only son of Arcesius, husband to Anticlea, father of Odysseus. Argonaut.

  Odysseus – king of Ithaca and of the Ionian islands, only son of Laertes and Anticlea, husband to Penelope, father of Telemachus. Inventor of the stratagem of the Trojan Horse, he thus became known as ptoliethros, ‘destroyer of cities’. Homer’s Iliad also calls him ‘divine’, ‘very patient’ and ‘of cunning intelligence’. His adventures during his long and dramatic journey back to Ithaca give rise to the second Homeric poem, the Odyssey.

  Penelope – queen of Ithaca, daughter of Icarius and Polycaste of Sparta, wife to Odysseus, mother of Telemachus

  Telemachus – prince of Ithaca, only son of Odysseus and Penelope

  GODS, GODDESSES AND SUPERNATURAL BEINGS

  Aphrodite – goddess of love; she convinces Paris to name her the fairest of three goddesses (Athena, Aphrodite and Hera). In exchange she promises him he will possess the most beautiful woman in the world.

  Apollo – god of sun and light, an archer. God of prophecy. Sides with Troy in the Trojan War.

  Ares – god of war. On the side of the Trojans in the war.

  Athena – daughter of Zeus, from whose brain she sprang directly, fully armed. Goddess of wisdom and protectress of Odysseus.

  Boreas – the north wind

  Cerberus – three-headed dog of Hades

  Chaera – personification of Death Hephaestus – the blacksmith of the gods. Forges the armour of Achilles.

  Hera – sister and wife of Zeus. Protectress of the family and pregnant women. In the Trojan War, she was on the Achaians’ side.

  Moirai – the three Fates, who control the thread of life of every mortal from birth to death

  Persephone – daughter of Demeter, goddess of nature and the earth. Kidnapped by Hades, she lives six months in the Underworld with her husband and six months on the earth with her mother. Symbol of the seasons.

  Poseidon – brother of Zeus, son of Kronos. God of the sea and the ocean.

  Thanatos – personification of Death

  Zeus – father of all the gods, husband to Hera, son of Kronos. Personification of thunder and lightning.

  CHARACTERS

  Achilles – prince of Phthia, son of Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis. The greatest hero of the Achaian army. A prophecy foretold that he would have to choose either a long but obscure life or a short but glorious one.

  Admetus – king of Pherai in Thessaly, husband to Alcestis, father of Eumelus. Argonaut.

  Adrastus – king of Argus, father-in-law of Tydeus, grandfather of Diomedes

  Aeetes – king of Colchis, father of Medea

  Aegialia – wife to Diomedes

  Aeneas – prince of Dardania, son of Anchises and goddess Aphrodite, cousin to Hector. Ally of Troy.

  Agamemnon – king of Mycenae, high king of the Achaians, son of Atreus, brother of Menelaus, husband to Clytaemnestra, father of Iphigenia

  Ajax Oileus – prince of Locris, close friend of Great Ajax

  Ajax son of Telamon (Great Ajax) – prince of Salamis, half-brother of Teucer, cousin of Achilles. The strongest hero of the Achaians after Achilles.

  Alcestis – queen of Pherai, wife to Admetus, mother of Eumelus. She agrees to die in her husband’s place and is saved by Hercules.

  Amphiaraus – seer, from Argus. One of the ‘Seven Against Thebes’. Argonaut.

  Anaxibia – queen of Phocis, daughter of Atreus, sister of Agamemnon and Menelaus

  Anchises – king of Dardania, father of Aeneas

  Andromache – princess of Hypoplacian Thebes, daughter of Eetion, wife of Hector, mother of Astyanax

  Antenor – Trojan nobleman, adviser to King Priam. Mediator between the Trojans and the Achaians.

  Antilochus – prince of Pylos, son of Nestor, friend to Odysseus

  Antiphus – comrade of Odysseus

  Argonauts – Achaian heroes who took part in the expedition of the Argo, led by Jason of Iolcus, to win the Golden Fleece in Colchis. The sons of many Argonauts would go on to fight the Trojan War.

  Asclepius – legendary practitioner of the medical arts

  Astyanax – infant son of Hector and Andromache

  Atreidae – the house of Atreus

  Atreides – one of the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon or Menelaus

  Atreus – king of Mycenae, father of Agamemnon and Menelaus

  Automedon – charioteer to Achilles and to Pyrrhus after Achilles’ death

  Balius – one of Achilles’ divine horses, ‘the dappled’

  Briseis – beloved concubine of Achilles, claimed by Agamemnon

  Calchas – priest and seer, adviser to Agamemnon

  Cassandra – princess of Troy, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, sister of Hector, Paris and Deiphobus. She was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, who loved her but was spurned by her; he thus cursed her so that her predictions would never be believed.

  Castor – prince of Sparta, son of Tyndareus and Leda, twin of Pollux, brother of Helen and Clytaemnestra. Argonaut, with his brother Pollux. According to a legend, Castor’s real father was Zeus, who appeared to his mother in the form of a swan.

  Chryseis – daughter of high priest Chryses, taken as a concubine by Agamemnon. His refusal to return her to her father set off a great plague and much strife in the Achaian camp.

  Clytaemnestra – daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, sister of Castor, Pollux and Helen, wife to Agamemnon. According to a legend, her real father was Zeus, who appeared to her mother in the form of a swan.

  Damastes – trainer of Odysseus, a native of Thessaly

  Deiphobus – prince of Troy, son of Priam and Hecuba, brother of Hector and Paris, husband to Helen after Paris’ death

  Diomedes – king of Argus, son of Tydeus, husband to Aegialia, close friend of Odysseus. One of the strongest heroes of Achaia.

  Eetion – king of Hypoplacian Thebes, father of Andromache

  Epeius – builder of the horse of Troy

  Eumelus – prince o
f Pherai, son of Admetus and Alcestis

  Eumeus – swineherd of Laertes

  Euribates – comrade of Odysseus

  Euriclea – nurse to Odysseus, affectionately called ‘mai’ (grandmother) by him

  Eurydice – queen of Pylos, wife to Nestor

  Eurylochus – cousin of Odysseus and his most trusted comrade

  Eurymachus – one of Odysseus’ comrades in the horse of Troy

  Eurystheus – king of Mycenae, cousin of Hercules

  Hector – prince of Troy, eldest son of Priam and Hecuba, brother of Paris and Deiphobus, husband to Andromache, father of Astyanax. Killed in a duel with Achilles.

  Hecuba – queen of Troy, wife of Priam, mother of Hector, Deiphobus, Paris, Cassandra, Polyxena

  Helen – queen of Sparta, daughter of Tyndareus and Leda of Sparta, sister of Clytaemnestra, Castor and Pollux, wife to Menelaus, Paris and Deiphobus. According to a legend, Helen’s real father was Zeus, who appeared to her mother in the form of a swan.

  Hercules – son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, cousin of Eurystheus, who condemned him to perform the twelve labours. Argonaut.

  Hermione – daughter of Menelaus and Helen

  Icarius – brother of Tyndareus of Sparta, husband to Polycaste, father of Penelope

  Ideus – herald of Priam

  Idomeneus – king of Crete. Part of the Trojan expedition.

  Iphigenia – daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra

  Iphitus – brother of Eurystheus, king of Mycenae. Argonaut.

  Jason – prince of Iolcus, leader of the Argonauts, husband to Medea Laocoön – Trojan priest

  Lapiths – a tribe of Thessaly, renowned for their physical size and prowess

  Leda – queen of Sparta, wife of Tyndareus, mother of Castor, Pollux, Helen and Clytaemnestra. Legendary lover of Zeus.

  Lycomedes – king of Scyros, grandfather of Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus)