The <I>Odyssey</I>
Page 45
out of his bed alongside Helen in her beautiful tresses—
and after the well-loved son of Odysseus saw him
he hurriedly put on a shining tunic that covered
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his frame and he tossed a bulky cloak on his thick-set
shoulders, war-chief style, to go out and meet him.
Telemakhos, loved by godlike Odysseus, told him,
“Atreus’s son Menelaos, Zeus-fed lord of your people,
send me off right now to the cherished land of my Fathers.
Already my heart’s longing to go to my own house.”
Menelaos, good at a war-cry, answered by saying,
“I won’t hold you here, Telemakhos, not long,
now that you’re yearning for home. I would be angry
at other hosts who went too far to be friendly—
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or very unfriendly. Balance is better in all things.
It’s just as wrong to rush off a stranger unwilling
to go as to hold one back who’s anxious to leave you.
Befriend the stranger at hand; send the stranger who wants that.
The Riches of Hellas
♦ “But stay till I load your car with beautiful presents—
gaze at them here with your own eyes! I’ll order the women
to make you a meal from plentiful stores in our great house.
It’s praise and honor for both for us, yes and a great help
to dine here well before you travel far on the endless
earth. If you choose to pass through the center of Argos
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and Hellas, I’ll join you myself: I’ll harness a horse-team
and take you to men’s cities. No one will send us
away as we came, they’ll give us presents to haul off,
maybe a tripod of well-worked bronze or a cauldron,
maybe a pair of mules or a goblet of pure gold.”
Losing the Self
But now Telemakhos gave him a sensible answer.
“Atreus’s son Menelaos, Zeus-fed lord of your people,
I choose to go home right now. The day that I set out
I left no one behind to guard my belongings.
Let me not lose myself as I look for my godlike
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Father—or lose the priceless wealth in my great hall.”
Soon as he heard that, Menelaos, good at a war-cry,
promptly told his wife and all of the handmaids
to make him a meal from plentiful stores in the great house.
Boethous’s son Eteoneus came to him quite close—
he’d risen from bed, he lived not far from his master—
and Menelaos, good at a war-cry, told him to kindle
a fire and roast the meat. The man heard and obeyed him.
Wealth from the Treasure Room
His lord went down to a room beautifully scented,
and not alone: Megapenthes and Helen joined him.
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Soon as they came to the place where treasure was laid out,
the son of Atreus took a two-handled goblet
and told his son Megapenthes to carry the silver
bowl as Helen, meanwhile, went to the coffers
of richly embroidered robes, the work of her own hand.
A goddess-like woman, Helen took up and carried
the largest robe, the one most finely embroidered.
It shone like a star and had settled under the others.
The Best Wine-Bowl, the Finest Robe
They went back through the house. Approaching Telemakhos
now the light-haired Menelaos spoke up and asked him,
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“Telemakhos, pray that Zeus, the husband of Here
and loud thunderer, takes you home as your heart hopes.
Now from all the treasure that lies in my household
I’ll give you the best, the one most stunning and precious:
I’ll give you the well-wrought wine-bowl, solidly silver
except for the edges, finished in gold by a deathless
God, Hephaistos. The war-chief and ruler of Sidon,
Phaidimos gave me the bowl when his house was my shelter.
Then I was traveling home; I want to bestow it on you now.”
The war-chief son of Atreus, after he’d spoken,
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placed the two-handled cup in his hands. Strong Megapenthes
brought the wine-bowl of dazzling silver and set it
before him. Her cheeks lovely, Helen approached him,
the splendid robe in her hands. She said to him outright,
“Dear child, I’ll give you a present also to help you
recall the hands of Helen. At the hour of your longed-for
wedding your bride can wear it. Till then it should settle
close to your well-loved mother at home. May you gladly
arrive in your well-built house in the land of your fathers.”
She stopped and gave him the robe. He took it with pleasure.
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A war-chief himself, Peisistratos laid out the presents
with care in the chariot’s gift-chest, gazing at each one.
A Last Dinner
Then light-haired Menelaos led them straight to the palace.
They sat down there on thrones and chairs in the great hall.
A maid brought them water, she poured from a pitcher
of stunning gold, and they washed their hands in her silver
basin. She set out polished tables before them.
An honored housekeeper brought them bread and arranged it.
She laid out plenty of foods, gracious and giving.
Boethous’s son carved the meat and set out the right shares.
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Pouring the wine was a son of highly praised Menelaos.
Their hands went out to the good things lying before them.
Last Good-Byes
After the craving for food and drink was behind them,
Telemakhos yoked the horses promptly with Nestor’s
well-known son and they mounted the colorful chariot.
They drove along to the gate, the portico echoed
and light-haired Menelaos, Atreus’s son, was behind them,
his right hand holding the honey-minded wine in a golden
goblet to pour for the Gods as the chariot left there.
Standing close to their horses he hailed them and told them,
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“Young men, be happy and take my greetings to Nestor,
a shepherd of people. The man was kind as a father
all that time we sons of Akhaians fought with the Trojans.”
Telemakhos promptly gave him a sensible answer.
“Gladly, you Zeus-fed man, and just as you say it:
we’ll tell all that to Nestor the hour we arrive there.
If only I’d find Odysseus too in my Ithakan household!
I’d tell him the way I found such wholeness of friendship
before I left you and brought home plenty of good gifts.”
Wild Eagle and Tame Goose
♦ Just as he spoke a bird flew by on his right side.
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An eagle carried a large white goose in its talons,
a tame goose from the yard. Women had cried out,
all of the men gave chase, but after it came close
the eagle veered to the right, in front of the horses.
They watched it with joy, all their spirits were warming,
and Nestor’s son Peisistratos started by asking,
“Now Menelaos, nourished by Zeus, lord of your people,
say if the sign from God was for you or for us two?”
Loved by Ares, Menelaos pondered the question:
how could he know and render the sign in the right way?
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Her long robe flowing, Helen spoke out before him.
“Listen! I’ll prophesy myself what the deathless
Gods thrust in my heart, the way I think it will happen.
The eagle that clutched a goose raised in our own yard
came from the mountains, its place of birth, of its nestlings.
Odysseus too will wander far and suffer a great deal
before he returns for revenge—or now he’s already
home and planting harm for all of the suitors.”
Then Telemakhos gave her a sensible answer.
“May loud-thundering Zeus, the husband of Here,
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arrange that! I’d pray to Helen herself as a Goddess.”
Chariot Travel
He stopped and lashed the horses. Both of them swiftly
made for the plain when they’d galloped fast through the city.
The double yoke they bore rattled the whole day.
After sunset, when all the roadways were darker,
they came to Pherai and entered Diokles’ household,
the son of Ortilokhos, born as a child to Alpheios.
They spent the night in his house, welcomed like strangers.
When newborn Dawn came on with her rose-fingered daylight,
they yoked the horse-team, mounted the colorful chariot,
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drove along through the gate as the portico echoed,
and lashed the horses. They took off gladly with spirit.
The Need to Get Home Fast
In time they were racing close to the high city of Pulos.
Telemakhos spoke to the son of Nestor and asked him,
“Son of Nestor, how will you pledge what I ask you
and make it happen? We claim to be friends for a long time
because our Fathers were friends. We’re also the same age
and all our travels have made us more of the same mind.
While Zeus cares for you, stop at my ship: I want to be left there.
The old one would keep me against my will in the palace,
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♦ he’d longed to regale me. I must be home in a hurry.”
He stopped and the son of Nestor heartily mulled it.
How could he promise and bring this off in the right way?
He pondered a while and then it seemed to him better
to turn their team to the race-fast ship at the seashore.
In time he loaded astern the beautiful presents,
garments and gold, the wealth Menelaos had given.
He heartened Telemakhos—words with a feathery swiftness—
“Hurry aboard now, tell your crewmen the same thing
before I arrive back home with news for my Father.
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Both in my heart and mind I certainly know this:
my Father’s spirit is overbearing, he won’t let
go himself; he’ll race here and call you, he won’t go
back without you! For now he’ll really be angry.”
He spoke that way and drove the fine-coated horses
back to the city of Pulos, quickly reaching his own house.
Telemakhos heartened his crewmen now and he told them,
“Stow our gear in order, you men, in the black ship.
Let’s board ourselves and get underway in a hurry.”
He spoke that way, they heard him well and obeyed him.
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All of them soon boarded and sat at the oar-locks.
The Son of a Man Once Rich
While he worked, offered victims and prayed to Athene
close to the stern, a man approached from a far land,
a stranger in flight from Argos—he’d murdered a man there.
♦ A seer, the stranger came from the line of Melampous
who lived one time in Pulos, a mother of sheep-flocks.
Wealthy in Pulos, the house he’d owned was outstanding.
But later he fled to another land, far from his country
and highly spirited Neleus, the grandest person alive then,
who’d kept much of Melampous’s wealth for a whole year
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by force. Melampous was bound in Phulakos’s great hall,
tightly chained, meanwhile, suffering great pain
because of Neleus’s daughter. That folly and passion
were put in his brain by Erinus, the home-killing Goddess.
A Woman Won for the Winner’s Brother
Yet he escaped from doom: he herded the mooing
cows from Phulake down to Pulos, making the godlike
Neleus pay for his brutal acts and taking the daughter
home—to marry his brother! Then he was gone to another
land for his lot was to live in horse-pasturing Argos.
A Seer’s Bloodline
Melampous now would rule great numbers of Argives.
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He took a wife there, built his house with a high roof
♦ and fathered Antiphates and Mantios, powerful children.
Antiphates fathered Oikleies, a man with a great heart.
Oikleies fathered Amphiaraos, a rouser of armed men,
heartily loved by Apollo and Zeus, who carries the great shield—