Homeric Poems

HOMERIC POEMS. This title is commonly given to the whole cycle of the early Greek epics, including the Odyssey and the Iliad as well as the rejected epics. In the article HOMER a full discussion is given of the "Homeric question." For bibliographical information also the reader is referred to the article HOMER. In the present article will be found merely (I) a discussion of the cyclic poems other than the Iliad and the Odyssey, (2) an analysis of the plots of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

The Rejected Epics.

As soon as the two great wholes, Iliad and Odyssey, were given exclusive rank as "Homer" at the Panathenaea the rest of the heroic epos fell, it would seem, quickly into neglect. The subject matter indeed was used freely by the tragedians, who carefully avoid the Iliad and Odyssey, but though the names of many epics or groups of story are preserved, the poems themselves have perished utterly except for a few meagre fragments (about 120 scattered lines altogether) and those in a very rough and unscholarly form. The Homeric rules of metre, language and subject matter are carelessly ignored, pre sumably because the attention of scholars was concentrated on the two great poems. We hear much in later times of various "cycles," "the Trojan cycle," "the Theban cycle," and "the Epic cycle" as a whole. The epic cycle is a "ring" or collection, cover ing the whole epic saga ; the Trojan or Theban is that part of it which deals with Troy or Thebes. Thus a certain Proclus (pre sumably the Neo-Platonic philosopher, 5th century A.D.) in his Chrestomatheia Grammatike, or Compendium of Literature, in cluded "an account of the so-called Epic cycle, beginning with the Marriage of Heaven and Earth, and . . . made complete out of various poets" till it ends with the death of Odysseus at the hands of his son Telegonus.

Among the Tabulae Iliacae in Jahn's Bilderchroniken (1873) there is a large relief (No. 1) illustrating scenes in the history of the Trojan War, drawn up for school use by the grammarian Theodorus, probably in the I st century B.C. It is called T/.t Lc `Oµiipov, "an arrangement of Homer," and is duly "made up out of various poets." Thus the post-Homeric part of the "Trojan Cycle" is taken from "the Aethiopis according to Arctinus, the so-called Little Iliad according to Lesches of Pyrrha and the Sack of Ilium according to Stesichorus." Elsewhere we hear of the Sack of Ilium by (or "according to") Arctinus of Miletus. Evi dently the Sack of Ilium is a fixed mass of legend, a traditional subject, which the cycle-maker could tell "according to" the ver sion of any one of its successive composers, even at times prefer ring a lyric poet like Stesichorus to any of the epic writers.

The Tabulae Iliacae refer to a large number of these ancient poems, more indeed than we can identify from the fragments (cf. Jahn, No. VI.). Those poems whose names are known are at tributed by Athenaeus and Pausanias, our earliest authorities, to various authors. Athenaeus refers to "him who made the Tita nomachy, whether Eumelus or Arctinus or whatever name he prefers"; "him who made the Cypria, Hegesias or Stasinus or Cyprias"; but he generally leaves the author anonymous: `0 TO i' 'AXicµacc wiZa 1rociaas, o roes Noorovs irotriaas. Occasion ally we find a plural : of T7jv `HpaaXelav 01 TWv Ktnrptwv irotriraL (Eratosthenes ap. Strabo 688: Schol. v. on Od. xvi. 57). This means, not of course "the committee which com posed the Heracleia," but "the various poets or `makers' who made versions of the Heracleia." An epitome of Proclus' account of the poems which formed the sources of his Epic cycle is given partly in Photius' Bibliotheca (c 85o A.D.), partly in the Venetian scholia. The epitome gives a definite list of poems each with a definite author: the Iliad by Homer, Aethiopis by Arctinus of Miletus, Little Iliad by Lesches of Mitylene, Sack of Ilium by Arctinus, Nostoi or Homecomings by Agias of Trozen, Odyssey by Homer and Telegonia by Eugam mon of Cyrene. This definiteness is apparently the result of epito mizing the longer and more doubtful accounts given by earlier authorities ; and references to these same poems elsewhere show that they were far from definite wholes. The same incidents are quoted now from the Sack and now from the Little Iliad. Simi larly an attempt to give definite dates to the separate poets breaks down on examination.

It is noteworthy that the poems about the Sack of Troy seem to be pro-Trojan or at least anti-Greek in sympathy. As in Euripides' Trojan Women, all possible cruelties and crimes are attributed to the conquerors. This may be due merely to the nature of the theme. Any poet telling of the sack of a town, whether he takes the romantic tone of the Little Iliad or the tragic tone of the Sack of Ilium, is fairly sure to make the most of the sufferings of the conquered women and children; but we may observe also that the alleged authors are mostly drawn from towns outside the traditional Homeric birthplaces; and that Miletus, for instance, the city of Ionian science and commerce, may have regarded with some feeling of opposition the barbarous glories of the old towns which it had outstripped.

It is not to be supposed that these poems of the Trojan cycle, in their late versions, were true representatives of the rejected epic literature. The true rock from which the Iliad was hewn is lost. The Theban epics, especially the Thebais, seem to have come nearest to the Iliad in general esteem, and to have been largely used in the final make-up of that poem; next to them in impor tance, perhaps, were Thessalian lays about the ship Argo (ram, µiXovaa, Od. xii. 7o) and Argive lays about Heracles. The Titanomachies and poems about the origin of the world belong to the Hesiodic group rather than the Homeric.

Plot of the Iliad.

I. (Aocµos. Wm.) Chryses, priest of Apollo, comes to the Greek camp with ransom, to buy back from Agamemnon his captive daughter, Chryseis. Scornfully refused, he prays to Apollo to avenge his daughter's wrong. Apollo sends pestilence on the host. After nine days Achilles calls an assembly, discovers the cause of the pestilence, and demands that Chryseis be restored to her father. Agamemnon consents, but takes instead Achilles' own prize, Briseis. Achilles renounces his allegiance. His mother Thetis persuades Zeus to make the Greeks rue the wrong done to her son.

II. (''Ovapos. Bocwrca, KaTaXoyos TWv vEWv.) Zeus upon beguiles Agamemnon with a dream to begin a pitched bat tle. Agamemnon, to try the temper of his men, proposes to abandon the expedition; they, led by a demagogue, Thersites, are only too ready to do so ; but Odysseus beats Thersites and rallies them. There follows a Catalogue of the Greek ships as they were marshalled at Aulis before starting to Troy (484-760), and of the Trojans and their allies (816-877).

III. ("OpKOC. TEGXOO'Koiria. MeveXaov cal IlapLSos govoyaxia.) Iii. ("OpKOC. TEGXOO'Koiria. MeveXaov cal IlapLSos govoyaxia.) Paris challenges Menelaus to single combat for Helen ; a truce is proclaimed. Helen and Priam watch the Greek army from the Walls of Troy. Paris is nearly slain, but saved by Aphrodite.

IV. (`OpKiwv yXvacs. "'Ayc u uvovos Eircircaiacs.) Athena, to injure the Trojans, persuades Pandarus, son of Lycaon, to break the truce by treacherously shooting Menelaus. Wrath of Agamem non : he marshals the host and the armies join battle, the Trojans now involved in a curse.

V. (Ocoµ176ovs apurmia.) Diomedes' day: he makes great slaughter of the Trojans, especially of the traitor Pandarus by a wound through the mouth (29o-296). He wounds Aphrodite, who is protecting her son Aeneas, and sends her weeping to Olympus. He is beaten back from Troy by Apollo. Ares helps the Trojans; the Greeks are failing, when Athena mounts in Diomedes' chariot and they charge and wound Ares, who flies with a shout like ten thousand men.

VI. ("EKTopos Kai' 'AvSpoµaXns 6juXia.) Hector goes back to Troy to bid the women make a great procession and prayer to Athena. Meanwhile Diomedes and the Lycian Glaucus are about to fight, when they recognize one another as hereditary guest friends, and part with gifts. Hector gives his message, says f are well to his wife Andromache and their child, who is frightened of his father's plume ; he collects Paris and goes back to the battle never to return.

VII. (" EKTopos Cal AiavTos µovoµaXia. NEKp&h' avaip€acs.)Vii. (" EKTopos Cal AiavTos µovoµaXia. NEKp&h' avaip€acs.) Hector challenges all the Greeks; the lot falls on Ajax; the fight is indecisive and they part with gifts. In Troy Antenor urges that, since they now fight with a curse upon them, they give back Helen and her treasure and ask for peace. Paris will not give up Helen, but offers to restore the treasure and add more. This offer is sent next day to the Greeks and refused; a truce is made for the burial of the dead; the Greeks build a wall round the ships. A wine ship comes from Lemnos and the Greeks lie on the shore drinking.

VIII. (KOXos Zeus, to fulfill his promise, commands the Viii. (KOXos Zeus, to fulfill his promise, commands the gods to keep away from the battle and himself comes to the top of Mt. Ida. He weighs the fates of Greeks and Trojans and drives the Greeks back with thunderbolts. Agamemnon and Teucer resist desperately; Poseidon, and then Hera and Athena, try again to help the Greeks, but are warned back. The Trojans bivouac on the field and their fires surround the Greek camp.

IX. (IIpEaOEia lrpos 'AXeXXEa. Airac.) At a secret meeting of the chiefs, Agamemnon again offers to abandon the expedition and set his followers free; Diomedes and Nestor insist on continu ing. Watches are set lest the Trojans attack by night. Agamemnon next offers to make atonement to Achilles and implore his f or giveness, to return Briseis untouched, and splendid gifts with her. Odysseus, Ajax and Achilles' old tutor Phoenix go to beseech Achilles, who passionately refuses all their offers and declares he will sail for home on the morrow. Phoenix stays with him; the other envoys return.

X. (AoXwvEia.) Agamemnon and Menelaus call the chiefs to watch by the trench. Odysseus and Diomedes go out as spies. They capture and kill a Trojan spy, Dolon; by his information they surprise the camp of the Thracians, kill Rhesus, take his horses and escape.

XI. ('Aya. u ovos apcarela.) Agamemnon by desperate valour beats back the Trojans until he is wounded. Diomedes and Odysseus, rallying the Greeks, are both wounded ; then Machaon and Eurypylus. Achilles, seeing the wounded Machaon pass, sends Patroclus to enquire. Nestor urges on Patroclus that Achilles should either return to the war or send Patroclus with the Myrmidons.

XII. (TECXo,uaXia.) The Trojans assault the Greek wall. Asius' Xii. (TECXo,uaXia.) The Trojans assault the Greek wall. Asius' chariot charge is defeated; Sarpedon tears down a turret; at last Hector breaks through one of the gates, and the Trojans rush in.

XIII. (Ma Eiri Ta .s vavaiv.) Poseidon, hidden from Zeus, Xiii. (Ma Eiri Ta .s vavaiv.) Poseidon, hidden from Zeus, encourages the Greeks. The two Ajaces and, above all, the grey haired Idomeneus uphold the battle. The Trojans waver but rally.

XIV. (Ocos &Tram.) Nestor and the wounded chiefs throw Xiv. (Ocos &Tram.) Nestor and the wounded chiefs throw themselves again into the battle. Meantime Hera, having borrowed the magic girdle of Aphrodite and persuaded Sleep to help her, beguiles Zeus from his watch and sends him to sleep. Poseidon openly aids the Greeks; Hector is felled by a great stone and the Trojans driven back.

XV. (IlaXi(4cs irapa TC O' vECVV.) Zeus awakes. At his bidding Poseidon retires, Apollo puts new strength into Hector and, bear ing his aegis, leads the Trojans on past the wall and up to the ships. Patroclus returns to Achilles and implores him with tears to help the Greeks. Ajax with a great naval ramming-pole, leaping from ship to ship, is holding the Trojans back, when Hector brings fire to burn the ship of Protesilaus.

XVI. (IlaTpoKXEia.) At Patroclus' entreaty Achilles, though Xvi. (IlaTpoKXEia.) At Patroclus' entreaty Achilles, though he will not himself fight till Agamemnon offers atonement, gives his chariot and armour to Patroclus and bids him drive the Trojans back but not go further, when once the camp is clear. Patroclus with the Myrmidons routs the Trojans, kills Sarpedon and many others, and pursues right up to the wall of Troy, where he is stopped by Apollo. He kills Hector's charioteer ; then, dazed by Apollo, and wounded by Euphorbus, he is slain by Hector, while Automedon with the immortal horses of Peleus flies to the ships.

XVII. (MEVEXecov apto mia.) Hector strips Achilles' armour Xvii. (MEVEXecov apto mia.) Hector strips Achilles' armour from the corpse of Patroclus. A desperate battle arises about the body. Antilochus is sent to bear the news to Achilles. The im mortal horses stand weeping for Patroclus and then return to the battle. At last Menelaus recovers the body, and bears it back to the ships while the Ajaces cover his retreat.

XVIII. (`O7rXoirocia.) Antilochus gives the news: despair of Xviii. (`O7rXoirocia.) Antilochus gives the news: despair of Achilles. His mother Thetis rises from the sea to help. "Give me armour that I may slay Hector." "My son, it is written, that when Hector dies you die." "Would I were dead now, who failed to save my friend." So Thetis goes to beg Hephaestus to make her son new armour. The Trojans are pressing on to recover the body of Patroclus, when Achilles shouts his war cry from the trench and they stop. They encamp on the plain. The Greeks bring the body to Achilles' tent and prepare it for burial. The Shield of Achilles is described (356-617).

XIX. Achilles receives the arms. He calls an assembly, reXix. Achilles receives the arms. He calls an assembly, re- nounces his wrath and demands instant battle. Agamemnon con fesses his fault and offers gifts of atonement. The army eat before battle, but Achilles will not eat till Hector is slain. He mounts his chariot and calls to the immortal horses : "Bear me safe through this battle ; do not leave me dead as you left Patroclus." And the horse Xanthus speaks : "Yes, this one time ; but never again. Your death is close." "I know it," he answers and drives with a shout into the battle.

XX. (0eoµaxia.) His promise fulfilled, Zeus now allows the gods to mix in the battle as they choose, while he watches from Olympus. Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, Hephaestus help the Greeks ; Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Leto, Aphrodite and the river Xanthus the Trojans. Achilles on foot fights with Aeneas, who is saved by Poseidon to be hereafter king and father of kings to the Trojans ; with Polydorus, whom he kills, and with Hector, who is saved by Apollo. He puts the Trojans to flight.

XXI. (Maxn iraparroraµcos.) Achilles drives the Trojans, part Xxi. (Maxn iraparroraµcos.) Achilles drives the Trojans, part into the city, part into the River Xanthus. He kills Lycaon, though a suppliant, and takes twelve youths to be sacrificed at the pyre of Patroclus. He kills Asteropaeus, and mocks at his River ancestor. The river Xanthus, choked with dead, rises in flood against Achilles to beat down his shield and drown him. There is a battle of water and fire. The gods are again in strife on the plain. Then all vanish except Apollo who tempts Achilles away from the city till the fugitives are safe within the gates.

XXII. ("EKTopos Hector alone stays outside, awaitXxii. ("EKTopos Hector alone stays outside, await- ing Achilles, while his parents implore him to come in. As Achilles comes he turns to fly, and is pursued three times round the city; then he stands. Zeus weighs the fates of the two men in his scales, and Hector's fate falls Apollo deserts him, while Athena, taking the shape of his brother Deiphobus, betrays him. When both have thrown their spears she sends that of Achilles back to him. Achilles kills Hector and refuses his dying prayer for burial. He drags the dead body behind his chariot to the ships, while Hector's parents and wife make lamentation on the city wall.

XXIII. CAOXa Eiri IIa-rpoKXy.) The Myrmidons make a proXxiii. CAOXa Eiri IIa-rpoKXy.) The Myrmidons make a pro- cession round the bier of Patroclus, and hold a funeral feast. That night the ghost of Patroclus appears to Achilles : "Bury me quickly that I may cross the river ; and let your bones lie with mine in the golden jar." Next morning a great pyre is built and the body burnt, with many victims, among them the twelve Trojan youths, "an evil deed." Funeral games in honour of the dead (257-897).

XXIV. ("EKTopos X rpa.) For many nights Achilles has neither Xxiv. ("EKTopos X rpa.) For many nights Achilles has neither sleep nor food. Each day he drags the dead Hector behind his chariot round Patroclus' grave, but Apollo preserves the body from decay. By command of Zeus Thetis warns Achilles of the wrath of the gods. "My son, take food and sleep. Remember your own death is close. Fear the gods, and give back Hector's body for burial." Iris sent from Zeus bids Priam rise from the dust, go to Achilles with ransom and ask for Hector's body. The old king starts by night with a chariot laden with gold, and guided by Hermes finds his way unseen to Achilles' tent. "Achilles, remem ber your own father; I am more wretched than he, and I have done what no man on earth has done before, lifted to my lips the hand that killed my son." Then the two enemies weep to gether in their common misery, and at dawn Priam takes back the dead Hector to Troy, where Andromache, Hecuba and Helen lament over him, and a very great funeral is made.

Plot of the Odyssey.

I. (OEWV ayopa. 'Aenvas irapaiv€acs 7rpos T nX iµaxov.) It is the tenth year after the fall of Troy. Athena reminds the Gods in council of Odysseus, whom Poseidon —now absent—has plagued so long. He is now detained in the Isle of Calypso, while suitors beset his wife and plunder his sub stance. Zeus agrees that Hermes shall be sent to Calypso, while Athena goes to Ithaca and, in the form of Mentor, stirs up Tele machus to call a gathering of the people in protest against the suitors and himself to go in search for his father. In the hall Phemius sings of the sad homecoming of the Greeks from Troy.

II. ('I9aKfaiwv ayopa. TnX€ !Xov aoroSnµia.) In the gath ering Telemachus demands the help of the people against the suitors. Antinous answers that as soon as Penelope gives her hand to one of them they will go. Telemachus demands a ship in which to search for his father, but Leiocritus, a suitor, dismisses the assembly. Athena, disguised as Mentor, gets him a ship. He col lects provisions and, without Penelope's knowledge, starts at night.

III. (Ta &v InXcp.) They come to Pylos and are welcomed Iii. (Ta &v InXcp.) They come to Pylos and are welcomed by the aged Nestor. He knows nothing of Odysseus, but tells of the homecomings of various chiefs, and the death of Agamemnon. Menelaus, who has just returned from great wanderings, may know of Odysseus. At evening the disguised Mentor vanishes and is recognized as divine by Nestor. Telemachus spends the night with Nestor, and starts next day with Peisistratus, son of Nestor, for Sparta. The first night is spent at Pherae.

IV. (Ta Ev AaKESalgovc.) They find Menelaus celebrating the double wedding of a son and a daughter, and are led to his splendid palace. A mention of Odysseus reveals Telemachus to Menelaus, while Helen recognizes him at sight. They talk of Odysseus and are filled with grief till Helen gives them a nepenthe from Egypt. Next day Menelaus relates how Proteus the sea-god told him of the fates of Agamemnon and Ajax the Locrian, and how Odysseus was in the isle of Calypso. Meantime the suitors have learned of Telemachus' expedition and send a ship to ambush him at the isle of Asteris. Penelope hears of her son's voyage and of the plot against him, and weeps till Athena comforts her with a dream.

V. (KaXvIkovs avrpov. 'Oovaa&,s o-xeSia.) Hermes arrives at the isle of Calypso and gives the message of the gods. Calypso weeps but obeys, and helps Odysseus to build a flat-bottomed boat. The parting of Odysseus and Calypso. On the i8th day he is in sight of Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians, when Posei don, returning from the Aethiopians, sees him and wrecks his boat. The sea-goddess Ino gives him a veil which bears him up till, naked and half-dead, he reaches a river mouth and, covering himself with leaves, falls asleep.

VI. ('OSvaa&ws aPtEcs Els caiaKas.) Nausicaa, daughter of King Alcinous, comes with her maidens to wash clothes at the river mouth. While the clothes are drying they play ball, and their voices wake Odysseus, who comes out and begs for pro tection. They all run away except Nausicaa, who receives him and gives him food and raiment, and tells him the way to her father's house. As she returns he follows at a distance and at evening comes to a grove of Athena outside the walls.

VII. ('OSvaa&ws EiaoSos irpos 'AXKivovv.) Athena, disguised Vii. ('OSvaa&ws EiaoSos irpos 'AXKivovv.) Athena, disguised as a girl, leads Odysseus unseen into Alcinous' splendid hall, where he supplicates the queen, Arete. The king and queen ac cept him, and promise him gifts and a ship to take him home. He tells of his voyage from Calypso's Isle.

VIII. ('OSvaaiws (rim—mats 7rpos (13aiaKas.) A feast is held Viii. ('OSvaaiws (rim—mats 7rpos (13aiaKas.) A feast is held and games, in which Odysseus, being taunted, wins the discus throwing, though he will not otherwise compete. The bard, Demo docus, sings the loves of Ares and Aphrodite. In the evening gifts are brought to Odysseus. Demodocus sings of the taking of Troy at which Odysseus silently sheds tears, but Alcinous marks him and asks his name and race.

IX. ('AXKivov air6Xoyoc. "I am Odysseus, son of Laertes. From Troy we came first to the Cicones, where in raiding I lost 72 men; thence to the land of the Lotus-eaters ; then to the isle of the Cyclops, who killed and ate six of my men, but we blinded his one eye as he lay drunk. So we escaped.

X. (Ta ir€pi Ai6Xov

Kai Aacarpvyovwv Kai KcpKfs.) "Thence to the isle of Aeolus, king of the winds, who gave me the winds, all tied up in bags, except the west-wind, which blew me home wards. But my men thought the bags held treasure, and opened them, so the winds rushed out and drove us away to the land of the Laestrygones, giants and cannibals, where I lost II ships out of 12. Thence to a beautiful wooded island, where we heard a goddess singing in the forest. She was Circe, and she turned into swine the men I sent out ; but Hermes gave me a magic root, and when she struck me with her wand I defied her, and she was subdued to me. There we stayed a year. She told me that be fore reaching home I must go to the land of the dead beyond the ocean and consult the spirit of the seer Teiresias." XI. (NEKVCa.) "I came to the dark land of the Cimmerians and made sacrifice. The ghosts gathered about the blood, but I would suffer none to drink till Teiresias came. The first ghost I saw was my comrade Elpenor, who had been killed by an acci dent just as we started; then came my mother, Anticleia. Teiresias told me of my future fates; my mother, who had died of grief for me, told me of home. Then I saw the beautiful women of the past, and the heroes; Ajax would not speak to me. Then Minos and Orion, and those punished for sin, Tityus, Tantalus, Sisyphus and the shadow of Heracles." XII. (Eapip/Es, ZKVAXa, Xapv(361.s, 336€S `HALov.) "I returnedXii. (Eapip/Es, ZKVAXa, Xapv(361.s, 336€S `HALov.) "I returned to Circe, who told me of my future voyage, and warned me above all not to kill the oxen of the Sun. Thus I stopped my men's ears when we passed the sirens; though I listened myself, tied to the mast. Then we passed the Wandering Rocks and Charybdis the whirlpool, though Scylla took six of my men. Then a tempest held us on shore in Thrinacia for a month, and my companions, starving, at last killed the oxen of the Sun while I was asleep. Then, when we put to sea, came storm and thunderbolt ; my ship and all my men were destroyed ; I was driven back through Charybdis, and escaped clinging to the mast and keel to the isle of Calypso." XIII. ('Obv rc&es avarrXovs rrapa 4ac&Kcov Kai a4tEcs elsXiii. ('Obv rc&es avarrXovs rrapa 4ac&Kcov Kai a4tEcs els 'IO be v.) The story over, the Phaeacians give Odysseus their gifts, and the next evening the ship starts. It arrives before dawn at the harbour of Phorcys, near a cave of the Nymphs; and Odys seus is left asleep on the shore. The ship on its way back is turned by Poseidon into a rock. Odysseus wakes and does not know his own land, till Athena, disguised as a youth, explains to him. She disguises him as an old beggar.

XIV. ('08vc r&Os rrpos Evµacov `QutAia.) He finds the hut ofXiv. ('08vc r&Os rrpos Evµacov `QutAia.) He finds the hut of his old swineherd, Eumaeus, and is welcomed as a stranger. They talk of Odysseus. He tells false stories, how he is a Cretan, and how he has seen Odysseus, who will soon return. Eumaeus thinks both Odysseus and Telemachus are dead, but remains true to them. The night is very cold, and Odysseus borrows a cloak.

XV. (T fXEµaXov rrpos Ei uaeov i4 c cs.) Telemachus in Sparta is warned by Athena of the suitors' ambush. He returns with Peisistratus to Menelaus and to Nestor. There he leaves Peisis tratus and takes with him Theoclymenus, an Argive seer now in exile. He escapes the ambush and lands in Ithaca far from the city. Meantime Eumaeus, the child of a prince, taken by slavers, has told Odysseus the story of his life, and discussed how Odys seus is to go to the city safely.

XVI. ('Avayvwpceµos 'O8wan&&os brro Tr)Xe tow.) TelemaXvi. ('Avayvwpceµos 'O8wan&&os brro Tr)Xe tow.) Telema- chus arrives at the hut, and sends Eumaeus to the city to tell his mother of his safe return. Alone with Telemachus, Odysseus —retransformed by Athena—reveals himself, and they discuss the battle against the suitors. The suitors' ambush-ship returns baffled. Eumaeus comes back to the hut.

XVII. (TfXE,uaXov Erravo8os Els I9&Kriv.) Telemachus reXvii. (TfXE,uaXov Erravo8os Els I9&Kriv.) Telemachus re- turns to the palace and brings Theoclymenus as a guest. He tells Penelope what he has heard from Menelaus. Theoclymenus prophesies that Odysseus is alive. Odysseus arrives, disguised as a beggar; only the old dog Argus, lying neglected on the dunghill, recognizes him and dies. Odysseus is insulted by the goatherd Melanthius. At the feast he receives food from the suitors, though Antinous throws a stool at him. He promises to speak to Penelope at nightfall.

XVIII. ('08uorFCos Kai ''Ipov rrvy n .) The suitors incite anXviii. ('08uorFCos Kai ''Ipov rrvy n .) The suitors incite an- other beggar, Irus, to drive Odysseus off the threshold. Odys seus almost kills him with a blow. Penelope rebukes the suitors for their unkindness to the beggar, and makes them bring her gifts, as suitors should. The handmaid Melantho insults Odys seus and Eurymachus throws a footstool at him.

XIX. ('08wrx HFCOc Kai bµtXla. Ta vtirrpa.) OdysXix. ('08wrx HFCOc Kai bµtXla. Ta vtirrpa.) Odys- seus, with Telemachus, removes the weapons from the Hall. Me lantho girds at him but Penelope calls him to her, and tells how she made the suitors agree to wait till she should have finished her web; but now they have found her undoing it during the night, and will wait no more. Odysseus tells her he is a Cretan: he says that Odysseus—whom he describes exactly—will return this very year on the day that ends one month and begins an other (i.e., on the morrow). The old nurse Eurycleia washes his feet and recognizes him by a scar on the knee ; but he warns her to silence. Penelope arranges that she will agree to wed the suitor who can bend Odysseus' bow and shoot through the sockets of twelve axe-heads.

xx. (Ta rrpb T1]s µvriornpo4ovias.) Odysseus lies sleepless, listening to the weeping of Penelope, till Athena comforts him. The palace is prepared for the feast of Apollo and the new moon (the winter solstice at the end of the 19th year). The suitors conspire in the agora against Telemachus, but are deterred by bad omens, and return to feast. One throws a cow's foot at Odysseus. Theoclymenus the seer feels that there is sudden darkness on the hall, and blood and a sound of weeping, and ghosts hurrying toward the darkness. The suitors mock him, but he goes from them.

XXI. (ToEov Nag.) Penelope brings out Odysseus' old bow,Xxi. (ToEov Nag.) Penelope brings out Odysseus' old bow, and proposes the trial to the suitors. Eumaeus and the cowherd Philoetius weep at the thought of their master. First Leiodes the bard tries the bow in vain; then many others. Antinous bids the goatherd grease and warm it. Meantime Odysseus outside reveals himself to the swineherd and cowherd. Eurymachus tries the bow. Antinous puts off further trial till after the feast. Then Odysseus begs to be allowed to try; the suitors refuse, but Pene lope insists. Eumaeus gives him the bow; Eurycleia shuts the postern and Philoetius the other door of the hall. Odysseus bends the bow and shoots straight through the holes in twelve axe heads. Telemachus, fully armed, leaps up beside him on the threshold.

XXII. "Now for another target that noneXxii. "Now for another target that none has ever struck!" He shoots Antinous through the throat, then Eurymachus, then others till he has no arrows left. Telemachus has brought spears and armour for four; and Odysseus, Tele machus, Eumaeus and Philoetius arm. Meantime the suitors have sent the goatherd, Melanthius, to bring arms for them ; he has brought twelve sets, when the other herds catch him and tie him to a post. There is a great fight with spears, while Athena watches in the shape of a swallow, and all the suitors are slain except the bard and the herald, who were innocent. Odysseus has the corpses removed, twelve guilty bondmaids hanged, and Melanthius mutilated and slain. Then he burns sulphur and puri fies the hall.

XXIII. vrro IIrp/EX6rras xvayvwpcaµos.) PenelopeXxiii. vrro IIrp/EX6rras xvayvwpcaµos.) Penelope is awakened from sleep by Eurycleia with the news. She comes down to the hall, sees what has been done, but she cannot be lieve: "her eyes stay like horn or iron." Odysseus, much hurt, makes the men and the faithful handmaids dance and make merry, so that the slaying may not be known outside. When he comes back to Penelope she tests him by ordering that his bed be brought outside the chamber. "Now who has moved my bed, which I built on a stump of olive?" At that she knows him, and throws herself in tears into his arms. "Forgive me. All these years I have schooled myself not to be deceived by some stranger who should pretend to be you !" So they were rejoined, and came again to their ancient marriage-bed. Through the long night they lay and Odysseus told his story. In the morning he set off with his son and the herdsmen to see his father Laertes.

XXIV. (NEKtna bEvrEpa. Zrrovbal.) The souls of the suitors,Xxiv. (NEKtna bEvrEpa. Zrrovbal.) The souls of the suitors, guided by Hermes to the shades, meet Agamemnon and Achilles, and tell their story. Odysseus meantime finds Laertes working in his orchard, in much poverty, and reveals himself. In the city the news of the slaying is known, and the kindred of the suitors come out to Laertes' farm for vengeance, led by Eupeithes, father of Antinous. A battle begins and Laertes slays Eupeithes, but Athena stops the strife and makes an oath of peace between Odysseus and his enemies. (G. G. A. M.)