"Eurymakhos," answered Odysseus,
"if you and I were to work one against the other in early summer
[hôra] when the days are at their longest - give
me a good scythe, and take another yourself, and let us see which
will fast the longer or mow the stronger, from dawn till dark when
the mowing grass is about. Or if you will plough against me, let us
each take a yoke of tawny oxen, well-mated and of great strength and
endurance: turn me into a four acre field, and see whether you or I
can drive the straighter furrow. If, again, war were to break out
this day, give me a shield, a couple of spears and a helmet fitting
well upon my temples - you would find me foremost in the fray, and
would cease your gibes about my belly. You are insolent and your
noos is cruel, and you think yourself a great man because you
live in a little world, and that a bad one. If Odysseus comes to his
own again, the doors of his house are wide, but you will find them
narrow when you try to flee through them."
Eurymakhos was furious at all
this. He scowled at him and cried, "You wretch, I will soon pay you
out for daring to say such things to me, and in public too. Has the
wine been getting into your head or do you always babble in this way?
You seem to have lost your wits because you beat the tramp Iros. With
this he caught hold of a footstool, but Odysseus sought protection at
the knees of Amphinomos of Dulichium, for he was afraid. The stool
hit the cupbearer on his right hand and knocked him down: the man
fell with a cry flat on his back, and his wine-jug fell ringing to
the ground. The suitors in the covered room were now in an uproar,
and one would turn towards his neighbor, saying, "I wish the stranger
had gone somewhere else, bad luck to hide, for all the trouble he
gives us. We cannot permit such disturbance about a beggar; if such
ill counsels are to prevail we shall have no more pleasure at our
banquet."
On this Telemakhos came forward
and said, "Sirs, are you mad? Can you not carry your meat and your
liquor decently? Some evil spirit has possessed you. I do not wish to
drive any of you away, but you have had your suppers, and the sooner
you all go home to bed the better."
The suitors bit their lips and
marveled at the boldness of his speech; but Amphinomos the son of
Nisus, who was son to Aretias, said, "Do not let us take offense; it
is reasonable [dikaios], so let us make no answer.
Neither let us do violence to the stranger nor to any of
Odysseus’ servants. Let the cupbearer go round with the
drink-offerings, that we may make them and go home to our rest. As
for the stranger, let us leave Telemakhos to deal with him, for it is
to his house that he has come."
Homer. The Odyssey. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Based on public domain edition, revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. A. C. Fifield, London. 1900 (?).
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