[351] Theoclymenus by his gift of divination or ‘second sight’ has the future scene before him as if it were already present,—the darkness of death on the heads of the Suitors, the loosing of knees, the wailing cries that burst forth, the tears, the blood bespattering the walls, the shades of the slain passing to Hades.
The shroud of mist covering the feet and knees is found in Celtic belief as a sign of approaching death. If it reaches (as here) to the head it shows that the death is very near. The bespattering of the walls with blood occurs as a portent in the oracle in Hdt.7. 140（“νηούς”) “οἵ που νῦν ἱδρῶτι ῥεούμενοι ἑστήκασι δείματι παλλόμενοι: κατὰ δ᾽ ἀκροτάτοις ὀρόφοισι αἷμα μέλαν κέχυται, προϊδὸν κακότητος ἀνάγκας” (Butcher and Lang, l. c.).Hide browse bar Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position:
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Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.
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