Scroll 21
Athena now put it in
Penelope's mind to make the suitors try their skill with the bow
and with the iron axes, in contest among themselves, as a means of
bringing about their destruction. She went upstairs and got the store
room key, which was made of bronze and had a handle of ivory; she
then went with her maidens into the store room at the end of the
house, where her husband's treasures of gold, bronze, and
wrought iron were kept, and where was also his bow, and the quiver
full of deadly arrows that had been given him by a friend whom he had
met in
Lacedaemon - Iphitos the son of Eurytos. The two fell in with
one another in
Messene at the house of Ortilokhos, where Odysseus was
staying in order to recover a debt that was owing from the whole
dêmos; for the Messenians had carried off three hundred
sheep from
Ithaca, and had sailed away with them and with their
shepherds. In quest of these Odysseus took a long journey while still
quite young, for his father and the other chieftains sent him on a
mission to recover them. Iphitos had gone there also to try and get
back twelve brood mares that he had lost, and the mule foals that
were running with them. These mares were the death of him in the end,
for when he went to the house of Zeus’ son, mighty Herakles, who
performed such prodigies of valor, Herakles to his shame killed him,
though he was his guest, for he feared not heaven's vengeance,
nor yet respected his own table which he had set before Iphitos, but
killed him in spite of everything, and kept the mares himself. It was
when claiming these that Iphitos met Odysseus, and gave him the bow
which mighty Eurytos had been used to carry, and which on his death
had been left by him to his son. Odysseus gave him in return a sword
and a spear, and this was the beginning of a fast friendship,
although they never visited at one another's houses, for
Zeus’ son Herakles killed Iphitos ere they could do so. This
bow, then, given him by Iphitos, had not been taken with him by
Odysseus when he sailed for
Troy; he had used it so long as he had
been at home, but had left it behind as having been a keepsake from a
valued friend.
Penelope presently reached the oak
threshold of the store room; the carpenter had planed this duly, and
had drawn a line on it so as to get it quite straight; he had then
set the door posts into it and hung the doors. She loosed the strap
from the handle of the door, put in the key, and drove it straight
home to shoot back the bolts that held the doors; these flew open
with a noise like a bull bellowing in a meadow, and Penelope stepped
upon the raised platform, where the chests stood in which the fair
linen and clothes were laid by along with fragrant herbs: reaching
thence, she took down the bow with its bow case from the peg on which
it hung. She sat down with it on her knees, weeping bitterly as she
took the bow out of its case, and when her tears had relieved her,
she went to the room where the suitors were, carrying the bow and the
quiver, with the many deadly arrows that were inside it. Along with
her came her maidens, bearing a chest that contained much iron and
bronze which her husband had won as prizes. When she reached the
suitors, she stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of
the room, holding a veil before her face, and with a maid on either
side of her. Then she said:
"Listen to me you suitors, who
persist in abusing the hospitality of this house because its owner
has been long absent, and without other pretext than that you want to
marry me; this, then, being the prize that you are contending for, I
will bring out the mighty bow of Odysseus, and whomsoever of you
shall string it most easily and send his arrow through each one of
twelve axes, him will I follow and quit this house of my lawful
husband, so goodly, and so abounding in wealth. But even so I doubt
not that I shall remember it in my dreams."
As she spoke, she told Eumaios to
set the bow and the pieces of iron before the suitors, and Eumaios
wept as he took them to do as she had bidden him. Hard by, the
stockman wept also when he saw his master's bow, but Antinoos
scolded them. "You country louts," said he, "silly simpletons; why
should you add to the sorrows of your mistress by crying in this way?
She has enough to grieve her in the loss of her husband; sit still,
therefore, and eat your dinners in silence, or go outside if you want
to cry, and leave the bow behind you. We suitors shall have to
contend [athlos] for it with might and main, for we
shall find it no light matter to string such a bow as this is. There
is not a man of us all who is such another as Odysseus; for I have
seen him and remember him, though I was then only a
child."
This was what he said, but all the
time he was expecting to be able to string the bow and shoot through
the iron, whereas in fact he was to be the first that should taste of
the arrows from the hands of Odysseus, whom he was dishonoring in his
own house - egging the others on to do so also.
Then Telemakhos spoke. "Great
heavens!" he exclaimed, "Zeus must have robbed me of my senses. Here
is my dear and excellent mother saying she will quit this house and
marry again, yet I am laughing and enjoying myself as though there
were nothing happening. But, suitors, as the contest
[athlos] has been agreed upon, let it go forward. It
is for a woman whose peer is not to be found in
Pylos,
Argos, or
Mycenae, nor yet in
Ithaca nor on the mainland. You know this as well
as I do; what need have I to speak in praise [ainos]
of my mother? Come on, then, make no excuses for delay, but let us
see whether you can string the bow or no. I too will make trial of
it, for if I can string it and shoot through the iron, I shall not
suffer my mother to quit this house with a stranger, not if I can win
the prizes which my father won before me."
As he spoke he sprang from his
seat, threw his crimson cloak from him, and took his sword from his
shoulder. First he set the axes in a row, in a long groove which he
had dug for them, and had made straight by line. Then he stamped the
earth tight round them, and everyone was surprised when they saw him
set up so orderly, though he had never seen anything of the kind
before. This done, he went on to the pavement to make trial of the
bow; thrice did he tug at it, trying with all his might to draw the
string, and thrice he had to rest his strength
[biê], though he had hoped to string the bow and
shoot through the iron. He was trying forcefully
[biê] for the fourth time, and would have strung
it had not Odysseus made a sign to check him in spite of all his
eagerness. So he said:
"Alas! I shall either be always
feeble and of no prowess, or I am too young, and have not yet reached
my full strength so as to be able to hold my own if any one attacks
me. You others, therefore, who are stronger
[biê] than I, make trial of the bow and get this
contest [athlos] settled."
On this he put the bow down,
letting it lean against the door [that led into the house]
with the arrow standing against the top of the bow. Then he sat down
on the seat from which he had risen, and Antinoos said:
"Come on each of you in his turn,
going towards the right from the place at which the cupbearer begins
when he is handing round the wine."
The rest agreed, and Leiodes son
of Oinops was the first to rise. He was sacrificial priest to the
suitors, and sat in the corner near the mixing-bowl. He was the only
man to whom their evil deeds were hateful [ekhthra]and
was indignant with the others. He was now the first to take the bow
and arrow, so he went on to the pavement to make his trial, but he
could not string the bow, for his hands were weak and unused to hard
work, they therefore soon grew tired, and he said to the suitors, "My
friends, I cannot string it; let another have it; this bow shall take
the life and soul [psukhê] out of many a chief
among us, for it is better to die than to live after having missed
the prize that we have so long striven for, and which has brought us
so long together. Some one of us is even now hoping and praying that
he may marry Penelope, but when he has seen this bow and tried it,
let him woo and make bridal offerings to some other woman, and let
Penelope marry whoever makes her the best offer and whose lot it is
to win her."
On this he put the bow down,
letting it lean against the door, with the arrow standing against the
tip of the bow. Then he took his seat again on the seat from which he
had risen; and Antinoos rebuked him saying:
"Leiodes, what are you talking
about? Your words are monstrous and intolerable; it makes me angry to
listen to you. Shall, then, this bow take the life
[psukhê] of many a chief among us, merely
because you cannot bend it yourself? True, you were not born to be an
archer, but there are others who will soon string it."
Then he said to Melanthios the
goatherd, "Look sharp, light a fire in the court, and set a seat hard
by with a sheep skin on it; bring us also a large ball of lard, from
what they have in the house. Let us warm the bow and grease it; we
will then make trial of it again, and bring the contest
[athlos] to an end."
Melanthios lit the fire, and set
a seat covered with sheep skins beside it. He also brought a great
ball of lard from what they had in the house, and the suitors warmed
the bow and again made trial of it, but they were none of them nearly
strong [biê] enough to string it. Nevertheless
there still remained Antinoos and Eurymakhos, who were the
ringleaders among the suitors and much the foremost in
aretê among them all.
Then the swineherd and the
stockman left the cloisters together, and Odysseus followed them.
When they had got outside the gates and the outer yard, Odysseus said
to them quietly:
"Stockman, and you swineherd, I
have something in my mind which I am in doubt whether to say or no;
but I think I will say it. What manner of men would you be to stand
by Odysseus, if some god should bring him back here all of a sudden?
Say which you are disposed to do - to side with the suitors, or with
Odysseus?"
"Father Zeus," answered the
stockman, "would indeed that you might so ordain it. If some
daimôn were but to bring Odysseus back, you should see
with what might and main I would fight for him."
In like words Eumaios prayed to
all the gods that Odysseus might return; when, therefore, he saw for
certain what mind [noos] they were of, Odysseus said,
"It is I, Odysseus, who am here. I have suffered much, but at last,
in the twentieth year, I am come back to my own country. I find that
you two alone of all my servants are glad that I should do so, for I
have not heard any of the others praying for my return. To you two,
therefore, will I unfold the truth [alêtheia] as
it shall be. If heaven shall deliver the suitors into my hands, I
will find wives for both of you, will give you house and holding
close to my own, and you shall be to me as though you were brothers
and friends of Telemakhos. I will now give you a convincing proof
[sêma] that you may know me and be assured. See,
here is the scar from the boar's tooth that ripped me when I was
out hunting on Mount Parnassus with the sons of
Autolykos."
As he spoke he drew his rags
aside from the great scar, and when they had examined it thoroughly,
they both of them wept about Odysseus, threw their arms round him and
kissed his head and shoulders, while Odysseus kissed their hands and
faces in return. The sun would have gone down upon their mourning if
Odysseus had not checked them and said:
"Cease your weeping, lest some
one should come outside and see us, and tell those who are within.
When you go in, do so separately, not both together; I will go first,
and do you follow afterwards; Let this moreover be the sign
[sêma] between us; the suitors will all of them
try to prevent me from getting hold of the bow and quiver; do you,
therefore, Eumaios, place it in my hands when you are carrying it
about, and tell the women to close the doors of their apartment. If
they hear any groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house,
they must not come out; they must keep quiet, and stay where they are
at their work. And I charge you, Philoitios, to make fast the doors
of the outer court, and to bind them securely at once."
When he had thus spoken, he went
back to the house and took the seat that he had left. Presently, his
two servants followed him inside.
At this moment the bow was in the
hands of Eurymakhos, who was warming it by the fire, but even so he
could not string it, and he was greatly grieved. He heaved a deep
sigh and said, "I grieve [akhos] for myself and for us
all; I grieve that I shall have to forgo the marriage, but I do not
care nearly so much about this, for there are plenty of other women
in
Ithaca and elsewhere; what I feel most is the fact of our being so
inferior to Odysseus in strength [biê] that we
cannot string his bow. This will disgrace us in the eyes of those who
are yet unborn."
"It shall not be so, Eurymakhos,"
said Antinoos, "and you know it yourself. To-day is the feast of
Apollo throughout all the dêmos; who can string a bow on
such a day as this? Put it on one side - as for the axes they can
stay where they are, for no one is likely to come to the house and
take them away: let the cupbearer go round with his cups, that we may
make our drink-offerings and drop this matter of the bow; we will
tell Melanthios to bring us in some goats tomorrow - the best he has;
we can then offer thigh bones to Apollo the mighty archer, and again
make trial of the bow, so as to bring the contest
[athlos] to an end."
The rest approved his words, and
thereon men servants poured water over the hands of the guests, while
pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine and water and handed it round
after giving every man his drink-offering. Then, when they had made
their offerings and had drunk each as much as he desired, Odysseus
craftily said:
"Suitors of the illustrious
queen, listen that I may speak even as I am minded. I appeal more
especially to Eurymakhos, and to Antinoos who has just spoken with so
much reason. Cease shooting for the present and leave the matter to
the gods, but in the morning let heaven give victory to whom it will.
For the moment, however, give me the bow that I may prove the power
of my hands among you all, and see whether I still have as much
strength as I used to have, or whether travel and neglect have made
an end of it."
This made them all very angry,
for they feared he might string the bow; Antinoos therefore rebuked
him fiercely saying, "Wretched creature, you have not so much as a
grain of sense in your whole body; you ought to think yourself lucky
in being allowed to dine unharmed among your betters, without having
any smaller portion served you than we others have had, and in being
allowed to hear our conversation. No other beggar or stranger has
been allowed to hear what we say among ourselves; the wine must have
been doing you a mischief, as it does with all those drink
immoderately. It was wine that inflamed the Centaur Eurytion when he
was staying with Peirithoos among the Lapiths. When the wine had got
into his head he went mad and did ill deeds about the house of
Peirithoos; this grieved [akhos] the heroes who were
there assembled, so they rushed at him and cut off his ears and
nostrils; then they dragged him through the doorway out of the house,
so he went away crazed, and bore the burden
[atê] of his crime, bereft of understanding.
Henceforth, therefore, there was war between humankind and the
centaurs, but he brought it upon himself through his own drunkenness.
In like manner I can tell you that it will go hardly with you if you
string the bow: you will find no mercy from any one in our
dêmos, for we shall at once ship you off to king
Echetos, who kills every one that comes near him: you will never get
away alive, so drink and keep quiet without getting into a quarrel
with men younger than yourself."
Penelope then spoke to him.
"Antinoos," said she, "it is not right [dikaios] that
you should ill-treat any guest of Telemakhos who comes to this house.
If the stranger should prove strong [biê] enough
to string the mighty bow of Odysseus, can you suppose that he would
take me home with him and make me his wife? Even the man himself can
have no such idea in his mind: none of you need let that disturb his
feasting; it would be out of all reason."
"Queen Penelope," answered
Eurymakhos, "we do not suppose that this man will take you away with
him; it is impossible; but we are afraid lest some of the baser sort,
men or women among the Achaeans, should go gossiping about and say,
‘These suitors are a feeble folk; they are paying court to the
wife of a brave man whose bow not one of them was able to string, and
yet a beggarly tramp who came to the house strung it at once and sent
an arrow through the iron.’ This is what will be said, and it
will be a scandal against us."
"Eurymakhos," Penelope answered,
"people who persist in eating up the estate of a great chieftain and
dishonoring his house must not expect others in the dêmos
to think well of them. Why then should you mind if men talk as
you think they will? This stranger is strong and well-built, he says
moreover that he is of noble birth. Give him the bow, and let us see
whether he can string it or no. I say - and it shall surely be - that
if Apollo grants him the glory of stringing it, I will give him a
cloak and shirt of good wear, with a javelin to keep off dogs and
robbers, and a sharp sword. I will also give him sandals, and will
see him sent safely wherever he wants to go."
Then Telemakhos said, "Mother, I
am the only man either in
Ithaca or in the islands that are over
against Elis who has the right to let any one have the bow or to
refuse it. No one shall force me one way or the other, not even
though I choose to make the stranger a present of the bow outright,
and let him take it away with him. Go, then, within the house and
busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and
the ordering of your servants. This bow is a man's matter, and
mine above all others, for it is I who am master here."
She went wondering back into the
house, and laid her son's saying in her heart. Then going
upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she mourned her dear
husband till Athena sent sweet sleep over her eyelids.
The swineherd now took up the bow
and was for taking it to Odysseus, but the suitors clamored at him
from all parts of the cloisters, and one of them said, "You idiot,
where are you taking the bow to? Are you out of your wits? If Apollo
and the other gods will answer our prayer, your own boarhounds shall
get you into some quiet little place, and worry you to
death."
Eumaios was frightened at the
outcry they all raised, so he put the bow down then and there, but
Telemakhos shouted out at him from the other side of the cloisters,
and threatened him saying, "Father Eumaios, bring the bow on in spite
of them, or young as I am I will pelt you with stones back to the
country, for I am the stronger [biê] man of the
two. I wish I was as much stronger than all the other suitors in the
house as I am than you, I would soon send some of them off sick and
sorry, for they mean mischief."
Thus did he speak, and they all
of them laughed heartily, which put them in a better humor with
Telemakhos; so Eumaios brought the bow on and placed it in the hands
of Odysseus. When he had done this, he called Eurykleia apart and
said to her, "Eurykleia, Telemakhos says you are to close the doors
of the women's apartments. If they hear any groaning or uproar
as of men fighting about the house, they are not to come out, but are
to keep quiet and stay where they are at their work."
Eurykleia did as she was told and
closed the doors of the women's apartments.
Meanwhile Philoitios slipped
quietly out and made fast the gates of the outer court. There was a
ship's cable of papyrus fiber lying in the gatehouse, so he made
the gates fast with it and then came in again, resuming the seat that
he had left, and keeping an eye on Odysseus, who had now got the bow
in his hands, and was turning it every way about, and proving it all
over to see whether the worms had been eating into its two horns
during his absence. Then would one turn towards his neighbor saying,
"This is some tricky old bow-fancier; either he has got one like it
at home, or he wants to make one, in such workmanlike style does the
old vagabond handle it."
Another said, "I hope he may be
no more successful in other things than he is likely to be in
stringing this bow."
But Odysseus, when he had taken
it up and examined it all over, strung it as easily as a skilled bard
strings a new peg of his lyre and makes the twisted gut fast at both
ends. Then he took it in his right hand to prove the string, and it
sang sweetly under his touch like the twittering of a swallow. The
suitors were dismayed [akhos], and turned color as
they heard it; at that moment, moreover, Zeus thundered loudly as a
sign [sêma], and the heart of Odysseus rejoiced
as he heard the omen that the son of scheming Kronos had sent
him.
He took an arrow that was lying
upon the table - for those which the Achaeans were so shortly about
to taste were all inside the quiver - he laid it on the center-piece
of the bow, and drew the notch of the arrow and the string toward
him, still seated on his seat. When he had taken aim he let fly, and
his arrow pierced every one of the handle-holes of the axes from the
first onwards till it had gone right through them, and into the outer
courtyard. Then he said to Telemakhos:
"Your guest has not disgraced
you, Telemakhos. I did not miss what I aimed at, and I was not long
in stringing my bow. I am still strong, and not as the suitors mock
me for being. Now, however, it is time [hôra]
for the Achaeans to prepare supper while there is still daylight, and
then otherwise to disport themselves with song and dance which are
the crowning ornaments of a banquet."
As he spoke he made a sign with
his eyebrows, and Telemakhos girded on his sword, grasped his spear,
and stood armed beside his father's seat.