The Odyssey: Book 11 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCADEFGBHIJKHLMNOEH OPQHRSTUVWXYHLNZA2B2 B2AC2MC2D2MMAE2F2HG2 D2AF2H2I2J2AC2HHD2ND 2K2MD2L2D2EM2C2L2MD2 HM2N2O2EOOP2ED2ENQ2R 2EAHD2ED2EM2HMS2MT2C 2MNU2F2C2HV2C2M2MMMM 2W2D2X2F2C2Y2HONZ2NM A3D2B3MMC2MC3MD2HG2D 2D2D2HMMMMD3OHC2Y2E3 K2AMF2HK2C2V2D2F2MD2 F3C2HD2G3HX2EH3L2MMF 2I3J3F2D2HDD2C2MZ2F2 MF2L2AMWB3L2D2D2V2F2 K3L2MHD2F2D2D2MG2F2H HD2HMD2L2L3MC3L2L2EM MF2MMHM3HQD2F2D2HMF2 F2D2LMAB3EG3QL2WN3MD 2O3F2MMP3MP3K2F2AAWQ Q3X2HF2F2F2H3R3D2F2D F2F2D2MD2D2L2E3D2X2N 2L2EF2ES3T3D2F2C2G2F 2S2D2HBL2F2MG2X2F2WA F2F2F2D2D2D2C2U3MV3C 2F2F2W3F2F2W3N3D2X3Y 3F2HD2MG2C2F2MC2HMHD 2D2MD2C2HF2AL2F2F2AF 2C2F2D2D2F2F2Z3A4LHB 4F2C2H2K2MNAF2D2T2ML 2F2MM3F2D2D2A4D2MC4M D4HC2HD2D2D2L2W3HF2A D2MAW3F2F2L2F2F2AC2F 2L2G2F2E4D2MG3HEF2EF 4G4MHD2QANMMF2D2MD2A F2HD2D2F4F2AD2MD2MMF 2E3AF2CND2MD2D4H4C2N K2D2MF2I4G2J4HHHT| Then when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into | A |
| the water and got her mast and sails into her we also put the sheep | B |
| on board and took our places weeping and in great distress of mind | C |
| Circe that great and cunning goddess sent us a fair wind that blew | A |
| dead aft and stayed steadily with us keeping our sails all the time | D |
| well filled so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship's gear and | E |
| let her go as the wind and helmsman headed her All day long her sails | F |
| were full as she held her course over the sea but when the sun went | G |
| down and darkness was over all the earth we got into the deep | B |
| waters of the river Oceanus where lie the land and city of the | H |
| Cimmerians who live enshrouded in mist and darkness which the rays | I |
| of the sun never pierce neither at his rising nor as he goes down | J |
| again out of the heavens but the poor wretches live in one long | K |
| melancholy night When we got there we beached the ship took the | H |
| sheep out of her and went along by the waters of Oceanus till we came | L |
| to the place of which Circe had told us | M |
| Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims while I drew my | N |
| sword and dug the trench a cubit each way I made a drink offering | O |
| to all the dead first with honey and milk then with wine and | E |
| thirdly with water and I sprinkled white barley meal over the | H |
| whole praying earnestly to the poor feckless ghosts and promising | O |
| them that when I got back to Ithaca I would sacrifice a barren | P |
| heifer for them the best I had and would load the pyre with good | Q |
| things I also particularly promised that Teiresias should have a | H |
| black sheep to himself the best in all my flocks When I had prayed | R |
| sufficiently to the dead I cut the throats of the two sheep and let | S |
| the blood run into the trench whereon the ghosts came trooping up | T |
| from Erebus brides young bachelors old men worn out with toil | U |
| maids who had been crossed in love and brave men who had been | V |
| killed in battle with their armour still smirched with blood they | W |
| came from every quarter and flitted round the trench with a strange | X |
| kind of screaming sound that made me turn pale with fear When I saw | Y |
| them coming I told the men to be quick and flay the carcasses of the | H |
| two dead sheep and make burnt offerings of them and at the same | L |
| time to repeat prayers to Hades and to Proserpine but I sat where I | N |
| was with my sword drawn and would not let the poor feckless ghosts | Z |
| come near the blood till Teiresias should have answered my questions | A2 |
| The first ghost 'that came was that of my comrade Elpenor for he | B2 |
| had not yet been laid beneath the earth We had left his body | B2 |
| unwaked and unburied in Circe's house for we had had too much else to | A |
| do I was very sorry for him and cried when I saw him 'Elpenor ' | C2 |
| said I 'how did you come down here into this gloom and darkness | M |
| You have here on foot quicker than I have with my ship ' | C2 |
| 'Sir ' he answered with a groan 'it was all bad luck and my own | D2 |
| unspeakable drunkenness I was lying asleep on the top of Circe's | M |
| house and never thought of coming down again by the great staircase | M |
| but fell right off the roof and broke my neck so my soul down to | A |
| the house of Hades And now I beseech you by all those whom you have | E2 |
| left behind you though they are not here by your wife by the father | F2 |
| who brought you up when you were a child and by Telemachus who is the | H |
| one hope of your house do what I shall now ask you I know that | G2 |
| when you leave this limbo you will again hold your ship for the Aeaean | D2 |
| island Do not go thence leaving me unwaked and unburied behind you | A |
| or I may bring heaven's anger upon you but burn me with whatever | F2 |
| armour I have build a barrow for me on the sea shore that may tell | H2 |
| people in days to come what a poor unlucky fellow I was and plant | I2 |
| over my grave the oar I used to row with when I was yet alive and with | J2 |
| my messmates ' And I said 'My poor fellow I will do all that you | A |
| have asked of me ' | C2 |
| Thus then did we sit and hold sad talk with one another I on the | H |
| one side of the trench with my sword held over the blood and the | H |
| ghost of my comrade saying all this to me from the other side Then | D2 |
| came the ghost of my dead mother Anticlea daughter to Autolycus I | N |
| had left her alive when I set out for Troy and was moved to tears when | D2 |
| I saw her but even so for all my sorrow I would not let her come | K2 |
| near the blood till I had asked my questions of Teiresias | M |
| Then came also the ghost of Theban Teiresias with his golden | D2 |
| sceptre in his hand He knew me and said 'Ulysses noble son of | L2 |
| Laertes why poor man have you left the light of day and come down | D2 |
| to visit the dead in this sad place Stand back from the trench and | E |
| withdraw your sword that I may drink of the blood and answer your | M2 |
| questions truly ' | C2 |
| So I drew back and sheathed my sword whereon when he had drank of | L2 |
| the blood he began with his prophecy | M |
| You want to know ' said he 'about your return home but heaven | D2 |
| will make this hard for you I do not think that you will escape the | H |
| eye of Neptune who still nurses his bitter grudge against you for | M2 |
| having blinded his son Still after much suffering you may get home | N2 |
| if you can restrain yourself and your companions when your ship | O2 |
| reaches the Thrinacian island where you will find the sheep and | E |
| cattle belonging to the sun who sees and gives ear to everything | O |
| If you leave these flocks unharmed and think of nothing but of getting | O |
| home you may yet after much hardship reach Ithaca but if you harm | P2 |
| them then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your ship and | E |
| of your men Even though you may yourself escape you will return in | D2 |
| bad plight after losing all your men in another man's ship and | E |
| you will find trouble in your house which will be overrun by | N |
| high handed people who are devouring your substance under the pretext | Q2 |
| of paying court and making presents to your wife | R2 |
| 'When you get home you will take your revenge on these suitors and | E |
| after you have killed them by force or fraud in your own house you | A |
| must take a well made oar and carry it on and on till you come to a | H |
| country where the people have never heard of the sea and do not even | D2 |
| mix salt with their food nor do they know anything about ships and | E |
| oars that are as the wings of a ship I will give you this certain | D2 |
| token which cannot escape your notice A wayfarer will meet you and | E |
| will say it must be a winnowing shovel that you have got upon your | M2 |
| shoulder on this you must fix the oar in the ground and sacrifice a | H |
| ram a bull and a boar to Neptune Then go home and offer hecatombs | M |
| to an the gods in heaven one after the other As for yourself death | S2 |
| shall come to you from the sea and your life shall ebb away very | M |
| gently when you are full of years and peace of mind and your people | T2 |
| shall bless you All that I have said will come true ' | C2 |
| 'This ' I answered 'must be as it may please heaven but tell me | M |
| and tell me and tell me true I see my poor mother's ghost close by | N |
| us she is sitting by the blood without saying a word and though I am | U2 |
| her own son she does not remember me and speak to me tell me Sir | F2 |
| how I can make her know me ' | C2 |
| 'That ' said he 'I can soon do Any ghost that you let taste of the | H |
| blood will talk with you like a reasonable being but if you do not | V2 |
| let them have any blood they will go away again ' | C2 |
| On this the ghost of Teiresias went back to the house of Hades for | M2 |
| his prophecyings had now been spoken but I sat still where I was | M |
| until my mother came up and tasted the blood Then she knew me at once | M |
| and spoke fondly to me saying 'My son how did you come down to this | M |
| abode of darkness while you are still alive It is a hard thing for | M2 |
| the living to see these places for between us and them there are | W2 |
| great and terrible waters and there is Oceanus which no man can | D2 |
| cross on foot but he must have a good ship to take him Are you all | X2 |
| this time trying to find your way home from Troy and have you never | F2 |
| yet got back to Ithaca nor seen your wife in your own house ' | C2 |
| 'Mother ' said I 'I was forced to come here to consult the ghost | Y2 |
| of the Theban prophet Teiresias I have never yet been near the | H |
| Achaean land nor set foot on my native country and I have had nothing | O |
| but one long series of misfortunes from the very first day that I | N |
| set out with Agamemnon for Ilius the land of noble steeds to fight | Z2 |
| the Trojans But tell me and tell me true in what way did you die | N |
| Did you have a long illness or did heaven vouchsafe you a gentle easy | M |
| passage to eternity Tell me also about my father and the son whom | A3 |
| I left behind me is my property still in their hands or has some one | D2 |
| else got hold of it who thinks that I shall not return to claim it | B3 |
| Tell me again what my wife intends doing and in what mind she is | M |
| does she live with my son and guard my estate securely or has she | M |
| made the best match she could and married again ' | C2 |
| My mother answered 'Your wife still remains in your house but she | M |
| is in great distress of mind and spends her whole time in tears both | C3 |
| night and day No one as yet has got possession of your fine property | M |
| and Telemachus still holds your lands undisturbed He has to entertain | D2 |
| largely as of course he must considering his position as a | H |
| magistrate and how every one invites him your father remains at | G2 |
| his old place in the country and never goes near the town He has no | D2 |
| comfortable bed nor bedding in the winter he sleeps on the floor in | D2 |
| front of the fire with the men and goes about all in rags but in | D2 |
| summer when the warm weather comes on again he lies out in the | H |
| vineyard on a bed of vine leaves thrown anyhow upon the ground He | M |
| grieves continually about your never having come home and suffers | M |
| more and more as he grows older As for my own end it was in this | M |
| wise heaven did not take me swiftly and painlessly in my own house | M |
| nor was I attacked by any illness such as those that generally wear | D3 |
| people out and kill them but my longing to know what you were doing | O |
| and the force of my affection for you this it was that was the | H |
| death of me ' | C2 |
| Then I tried to find some way of embracing my mother's ghost | Y2 |
| Thrice I sprang towards her and tried to clasp her in my arms but | E3 |
| each time she flitted from my embrace as it were a dream or phantom | K2 |
| and being touched to the quick I said to her 'Mother why do you | A |
| not stay still when I would embrace you If we could throw our arms | M |
| around one another we might find sad comfort in the sharing of our | F2 |
| sorrows even in the house of Hades does Proserpine want to lay a | H |
| still further load of grief upon me by mocking me with a phantom | K2 |
| only ' | C2 |
| 'My son ' she answered 'most ill fated of all mankind it is not | V2 |
| Proserpine that is beguiling you but all people are like this when | D2 |
| they are dead The sinews no longer hold the flesh and bones together | F2 |
| these perish in the fierceness of consuming fire as soon as life has | M |
| left the body and the soul flits away as though it were a dream Now | D2 |
| however go back to the light of day as soon as you can and note | F3 |
| all these things that you may tell them to your wife hereafter ' | C2 |
| Thus did we converse and anon Proserpine sent up the ghosts of the | H |
| wives and daughters of all the most famous men They gathered in | D2 |
| crowds about the blood and I considered how I might question them | G3 |
| severally In the end I deemed that it would be best to draw the | H |
| keen blade that hung by my sturdy thigh and keep them from all | X2 |
| drinking the blood at once So they came up one after the other and | E |
| each one as I questioned her told me her race and lineage | H3 |
| The first I saw was Tyro She was daughter of Salmoneus and wife of | L2 |
| Cretheus the son of Aeolus She fell in love with the river Enipeus | M |
| who is much the most beautiful river in the whole world Once when she | M |
| was taking a walk by his side as usual Neptune disguised as her | F2 |
| lover lay with her at the mouth of the river and a huge blue wave | I3 |
| arched itself like a mountain over them to hide both woman and god | J3 |
| whereon he loosed her virgin girdle and laid her in a deep slumber | F2 |
| When the god had accomplished the deed of love he took her hand in | D2 |
| his own and said 'Tyro rejoice in all good will the embraces of the | H |
| gods are not fruitless and you will have fine twins about this time | D |
| twelve months Take great care of them I am Neptune so now go | D2 |
| home but hold your tongue and do not tell any one ' | C2 |
| Then he dived under the sea and she in due course bore Pelias | M |
| and Neleus who both of them served Jove with all their might | Z2 |
| Pelias was a great breeder of sheep and lived in Iolcus but the other | F2 |
| lived in Pylos The rest of her children were by Cretheus namely | M |
| Aeson Pheres and Amythaon who was a mighty warrior and charioteer | F2 |
| Next to her I saw Antiope daughter to Asopus who could boast of | L2 |
| having slept in the arms of even Jove himself and who bore him two | A |
| sons Amphion and Zethus These founded Thebes with its seven gates | M |
| and built a wall all round it for strong though they were they | W |
| could not hold Thebes till they had walled it | B3 |
| Then I saw Alcmena the wife of Amphitryon who also bore to Jove | L2 |
| indomitable Hercules and Megara who was daughter to great King Creon | D2 |
| and married the redoubtable son of Amphitryon | D2 |
| I also saw fair Epicaste mother of king OEdipodes whose awful lot | V2 |
| it was to marry her own son without suspecting it He married her | F2 |
| after having killed his father but the gods proclaimed the whole | K3 |
| story to the world whereon he remained king of Thebes in great grief | L2 |
| for the spite the gods had borne him but Epicaste went to the house | M |
| of the mighty jailor Hades having hanged herself for grief and the | H |
| avenging spirits haunted him as for an outraged mother to his ruing | D2 |
| bitterly thereafter | F2 |
| Then I saw Chloris whom Neleus married for her beauty having | D2 |
| given priceless presents for her She was youngest daughter to Amphion | D2 |
| son of Iasus and king of Minyan Orchomenus and was Queen in Pylos | M |
| She bore Nestor Chromius and Periclymenus and she also bore that | G2 |
| marvellously lovely woman Pero who was wooed by all the country | F2 |
| round but Neleus would only give her to him who should raid the | H |
| cattle of Iphicles from the grazing grounds of Phylace and this was a | H |
| hard task The only man who would undertake to raid them was a certain | D2 |
| excellent seer but the will of heaven was against him for the | H |
| rangers of the cattle caught him and put him in prison nevertheless | M |
| when a full year had passed and the same season came round again | D2 |
| Iphicles set him at liberty after he had expounded all the oracles of | L2 |
| heaven Thus then was the will of Jove accomplished | L3 |
| And I saw Leda the wife of Tyndarus who bore him two famous | M |
| sons Castor breaker of horses and Pollux the mighty boxer Both | C3 |
| these heroes are lying under the earth though they are still alive | L2 |
| for by a special dispensation of Jove they die and come to life | L2 |
| again each one of them every other day throughout all time and | E |
| they have the rank of gods | M |
| After her I saw Iphimedeia wife of Aloeus who boasted the embrace | M |
| of Neptune She bore two sons Otus and Ephialtes but both were | F2 |
| short lived They were the finest children that were ever born in this | M |
| world and the best looking Orion only excepted for at nine years | M |
| old they were nine fathoms high and measured nine cubits round the | H |
| chest They threatened to make war with the gods in Olympus and tried | M3 |
| to set Mount Ossa on the top of Mount Olympus and Mount Pelion on the | H |
| top of Ossa that they might scale heaven itself and they would | Q |
| have done it too if they had been grown up but Apollo son of Leto | D2 |
| killed both of them before they had got so much as a sign of hair | F2 |
| upon their cheeks or chin | D2 |
| Then I saw Phaedra and Procris and fair Ariadne daughter of the | H |
| magician Minos whom Theseus was carrying off from Crete to Athens | M |
| but he did not enjoy her for before he could do so Diana killed her | F2 |
| in the island of Dia on account of what Bacchus had said against her | F2 |
| I also saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle who sold her own | D2 |
| husband for gold But it would take me all night if I were to name | L |
| every single one of the wives and daughters of heroes whom I saw | M |
| and it is time for me to go to bed either on board ship with my crew | A |
| or here As for my escort heaven and yourselves will see to it | B3 |
| Here he ended and the guests sat all of them enthralled and | E |
| speechless throughout the covered cloister Then Arete said to them | G3 |
| What do you think of this man O Phaecians Is he not tall and good | Q |
| looking and is he not Clever True he is my own guest but all of | L2 |
| you share in the distinction Do not he a hurry to send him away | W |
| nor niggardly in the presents you make to one who is in such great | N3 |
| need for heaven has blessed all of you with great abundance | M |
| Then spoke the aged hero Echeneus who was one of the oldest men | D2 |
| among them My friends said he what our august queen has just | O3 |
| said to us is both reasonable and to the purpose therefore be | F2 |
| persuaded by it but the decision whether in word or deed rests | M |
| ultimately with King Alcinous | M |
| The thing shall be done exclaimed Alcinous as surely as I still | P3 |
| live and reign over the Phaeacians Our guest is indeed very anxious | M |
| to get home still we must persuade him to remain with us until | P3 |
| to morrow by which time I shall be able to get together the whole sum | K2 |
| that I mean to give him As regards his escort it will be a matter | F2 |
| for you all and mine above all others as the chief person among you | A |
| And Ulysses answered King Alcinous if you were to bid me to | A |
| stay here for a whole twelve months and then speed me on my way | W |
| loaded with your noble gifts I should obey you gladly and it would | Q |
| redound greatly to my advantage for I should return fuller handed | Q3 |
| to my own people and should thus be more respected and beloved by all | X2 |
| who see me when I get back to Ithaca | H |
| Ulysses replied Alcinous not one of us who sees you has any | F2 |
| idea that you are a charlatan or a swindler I know there are many | F2 |
| people going about who tell such plausible stories that it is very | F2 |
| hard to see through them but there is a style about your language | H3 |
| which assures me of your good disposition Moreover you have told | R3 |
| the story of your own misfortunes and those of the Argives as though | D2 |
| you were a practised bard but tell me and tell me true whether | F2 |
| you saw any of the mighty heroes who went to Troy at the same time | D |
| with yourself and perished there The evenings are still at their | F2 |
| longest and it is not yet bed time go on therefore with your | F2 |
| divine story for I could stay here listening till to morrow | D2 |
| morning so long as you will continue to tell us of your adventures | M |
| Alcinous answered Ulysses there is a time for making | D2 |
| speeches and a time for going to bed nevertheless since you so | D2 |
| desire I will not refrain from telling you the still sadder tale of | L2 |
| those of my comrades who did not fall fighting with the Trojans but | E3 |
| perished on their return through the treachery of a wicked woman | D2 |
| When Proserpine had dismissed the female ghosts in all | X2 |
| directions the ghost of Agamemnon son of Atreus came sadly up tome | N2 |
| surrounded by those who had perished with him in the house of | L2 |
| Aegisthus As soon as he had tasted the blood he knew me and | E |
| weeping bitterly stretched out his arms towards me to embrace me | F2 |
| but he had no strength nor substance any more and I too wept and | E |
| pitied him as I beheld him 'How did you come by your death ' said | S3 |
| I 'King Agamemnon Did Neptune raise his winds and waves against | T3 |
| you when you were at sea or did your enemies make an end of you on | D2 |
| the mainland when you were cattle lifting or sheep stealing or | F2 |
| while they were fighting in defence of their wives and city ' | C2 |
| 'Ulysses ' he answered 'noble son of Laertes was not lost at | G2 |
| sea in any storm of Neptune's raising nor did my foes despatch me | F2 |
| upon the mainland but Aegisthus and my wicked wife were the death | S2 |
| of me between them He asked me to his house feasted me and then | D2 |
| butchered me most miserably as though I were a fat beast in a | H |
| slaughter house while all around me my comrades were slain like sheep | B |
| or pigs for the wedding breakfast or picnic or gorgeous banquet of | L2 |
| some great nobleman You must have seen numbers of men killed either | F2 |
| in a general engagement or in single combat but you never saw | M |
| anything so truly pitiable as the way in which we fell in that | G2 |
| cloister with the mixing bowl and the loaded tables lying all | X2 |
| about and the ground reeking with our blood I heard Priam's daughter | F2 |
| Cassandra scream as Clytemnestra killed her close beside me I lay | W |
| dying upon the earth with the sword in my body and raised my hands to | A |
| kill the slut of a murderess but she slipped away from me she | F2 |
| would not even close my lips nor my eyes when I was dying for there | F2 |
| is nothing in this world so cruel and so shameless as a woman when she | F2 |
| has fallen into such guilt as hers was Fancy murdering her own | D2 |
| husband I thought I was going to be welcomed home by my children | D2 |
| and my servants but her abominable crime has brought disgrace on | D2 |
| herself and all women who shall come after even on the good ones ' | C2 |
| And I said 'In truth Jove has hated the house of Atreus from first | U3 |
| to last in the matter of their women's counsels See how many of us | M |
| fell for Helen's sake and now it seems that Clytemnestra hatched | V3 |
| mischief against too during your absence ' | C2 |
| 'Be sure therefore ' continued Agamemnon 'and not be too friendly | F2 |
| even with your own wife Do not tell her all that you know perfectly | F2 |
| well yourself Tell her a part only and keep your own counsel about | W3 |
| the rest Not that your wife Ulysses is likely to murder you for | F2 |
| Penelope is a very admirable woman and has an excellent nature We | F2 |
| left her a young bride with an infant at her breast when we set out | W3 |
| for Troy This child no doubt is now grown up happily to man's estate | N3 |
| and he and his father will have a joyful meeting and embrace one | D2 |
| another as it is right they should do whereas my wicked wife did | X3 |
| not even allow me the happiness of looking upon my son but killed | Y3 |
| me ere I could do so Furthermore I say and lay my saying to your | F2 |
| heart do not tell people when you are bringing your ship to Ithaca | H |
| but steal a march upon them for after all this there is no trusting | D2 |
| women But now tell me and tell me true can you give me any news | M |
| of my son Orestes Is he in Orchomenus or at Pylos or is he at | G2 |
| Sparta with Menelaus for I presume that he is still living ' | C2 |
| And I said 'Agamemnon why do you ask me I do not know whether | F2 |
| your son is alive or dead and it is not right to talk when one does | M |
| not know ' | C2 |
| As we two sat weeping and talking thus sadly with one another the | H |
| ghost of Achilles came up to us with Patroclus Antilochus and Ajax | M |
| who was the finest and goodliest man of all the Danaans after the | H |
| son of Peleus The fleet descendant of Aeacus knew me and spoke | D2 |
| piteously saying 'Ulysses noble son of Laertes what deed of daring | D2 |
| will you undertake next that you venture down to the house of Hades | M |
| among us silly dead who are but the ghosts of them that can labour no | D2 |
| more ' | C2 |
| And I said 'Achilles son of Peleus foremost champion of the | H |
| Achaeans I came to consult Teiresias and see if he could advise me | F2 |
| about my return home to Ithaca for I have never yet been able to | A |
| get near the Achaean land nor to set foot in my own country but have | L2 |
| been in trouble all the time As for you Achilles no one was ever | F2 |
| yet so fortunate as you have been nor ever will be for you were | F2 |
| adored by all us Argives as long as you were alive and now that you | A |
| are here you are a great prince among the dead Do not therefore | F2 |
| take it so much to heart even if you are dead ' | C2 |
| 'Say not a word ' he answered 'in death's favour I would rather | F2 |
| be a paid servant in a poor man's house and be above ground than | D2 |
| king of kings among the dead But give me news about son is he gone | D2 |
| to the wars and will he be a great soldier or is this not so Tell me | F2 |
| also if you have heard anything about my father Peleus does he | F2 |
| still rule among the Myrmidons or do they show him no respect | Z3 |
| throughout Hellas and Phthia now that he is old and his limbs fail | A4 |
| him Could I but stand by his side in the light of day with the same | L |
| strength that I had when I killed the bravest of our foes upon the | H |
| plain of Troy could I but be as I then was and go even for a short | B4 |
| time to my father's house any one who tried to do him violence or | F2 |
| supersede him would soon me it ' | C2 |
| 'I have heard nothing ' I answered 'of Peleus but I can tell | H2 |
| you all about your son Neoptolemus for I took him in my own ship from | K2 |
| Scyros with the Achaeans In our councils of war before Troy he was | M |
| always first to speak and his judgement was unerring Nestor and I | N |
| were the only two who could surpass him and when it came to | A |
| fighting on the plain of Troy he would never remain with the body | F2 |
| of his men but would dash on far in front foremost of them all in | D2 |
| valour Many a man did he kill in battle I cannot name every single | T2 |
| one of those whom he slew while fighting on the side of the Argives | M |
| but will only say how he killed that valiant hero Eurypylus son of | L2 |
| Telephus who was the handsomest man I ever saw except Memnon many | F2 |
| others also of the Ceteians fell around him by reason of a woman's | M |
| bribes Moreover when all the bravest of the Argives went inside | M3 |
| the horse that Epeus had made and it was left to me to settle when we | F2 |
| should either open the door of our ambuscade or close it though | D2 |
| all the other leaders and chief men among the Danaans were drying | D2 |
| their eyes and quaking in every limb I never once saw him turn pale | A4 |
| nor wipe a tear from his cheek he was all the time urging me to break | D2 |
| out from the horse grasping the handle of his sword and his | M |
| bronze shod spear and breathing fury against the foe Yet when we had | C4 |
| sacked the city of Priam he got his handsome share of the prize | M |
| money and went on board such is the fortune of war without a wound | D4 |
| upon him neither from a thrown spear nor in close combat for the | H |
| rage of Mars is a matter of great chance ' | C2 |
| When I had told him this the ghost of Achilles strode off across a | H |
| meadow full of asphodel exulting over what I had said concerning | D2 |
| the prowess of his son | D2 |
| The ghosts of other dead men stood near me and told me each his own | D2 |
| melancholy tale but that of Ajax son of Telamon alone held aloof | L2 |
| still angry with me for having won the cause in our dispute about | W3 |
| the armour of Achilles Thetis had offered it as a prize but the | H |
| Trojan prisoners and Minerva were the judges Would that I had never | F2 |
| gained the day in such a contest for it cost the life of Ajax who | A |
| was foremost of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus alike in | D2 |
| stature and prowess | M |
| When I saw him I tried to pacify him and said 'Ajax will you | A |
| not forget and forgive even in death but must the judgement about | W3 |
| that hateful armour still rankle with you It cost us Argives dear | F2 |
| enough to lose such a tower of strength as you were to us We | F2 |
| mourned you as much as we mourned Achilles son of Peleus himself | L2 |
| nor can the blame be laid on anything but on the spite which Jove bore | F2 |
| against the Danaans for it was this that made him counsel your | F2 |
| destruction come hither therefore bring your proud spirit into | A |
| subjection and hear what I can tell you ' | C2 |
| He would not answer but turned away to Erebus and to the other | F2 |
| ghosts nevertheless I should have made him talk to me in spite of | L2 |
| his being so angry or I should have gone talking to him only that | G2 |
| there were still others among the dead whom I desired to see | F2 |
| Then I saw Minos son of Jove with his golden sceptre in his hand | E4 |
| sitting in judgement on the dead and the ghosts were gathered sitting | D2 |
| and standing round him in the spacious house of Hades to learn his | M |
| sentences upon them | G3 |
| After him I saw huge Orion in a meadow full of asphodel driving the | H |
| ghosts of the wild beasts that he had killed upon the mountains and | E |
| he had a great bronze club in his hand unbreakable for ever and ever | F2 |
| And I saw Tityus son of Gaia stretched upon the plain and | E |
| covering some nine acres of ground Two vultures on either side of him | F4 |
| were digging their beaks into his liver and he kept on trying to beat | G4 |
| them off with his hands but could not for he had violated Jove's | M |
| mistress Leto as she was going through Panopeus on her way to Pytho | H |
| I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus who stood in a lake | D2 |
| that reached his chin he was dying to quench his thirst but could | Q |
| never reach the water for whenever the poor creature stooped to | A |
| drink it dried up and vanished so that there was nothing but dry | N |
| ground parched by the spite of heaven There were tall trees | M |
| moreover that shed their fruit over his head pears pomegranates | M |
| apples sweet figs and juicy olives but whenever the poor creature | F2 |
| stretched out his hand to take some the wind tossed the branches back | D2 |
| again to the clouds | M |
| And I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising his prodigious stone | D2 |
| with both his hands With hands and feet he' tried to roll it up to | A |
| the top of the hill but always just before he could roll it over | F2 |
| on to the other side its weight would be too much for him and the | H |
| pitiless stone would come thundering down again on to the plain | D2 |
| Then he would begin trying to push it up hill again and the sweat ran | D2 |
| off him and the steam rose after him | F4 |
| After him I saw mighty Hercules but it was his phantom only for | F2 |
| he is feasting ever with the immortal gods and has lovely Hebe to | A |
| wife who is daughter of Jove and Juno The ghosts were screaming | D2 |
| round him like scared birds flying all whithers He looked black as | M |
| night with his bare bow in his hands and his arrow on the string | D2 |
| glaring around as though ever on the point of taking aim About his | M |
| breast there was a wondrous golden belt adorned in the most marvellous | M |
| fashion with bears wild boars and lions with gleaming eyes there | F2 |
| was also war battle and death The man who made that belt do what | E3 |
| he might would never be able to make another like it Hercules knew | A |
| me at once when he saw me and spoke piteously saying my poor | F2 |
| Ulysses noble son of Laertes are you too leading the same sorry kind | C |
| of life that I did when I was above ground I was son of Jove but I | N |
| went through an infinity of suffering for I became bondsman to one | D2 |
| who was far beneath me a low fellow who set me all manner of labours | M |
| He once sent me here to fetch the hell hound for he did not think | D2 |
| he could find anything harder for me than this but I got the hound | D4 |
| out of Hades and brought him to him for Mercury and Minerva helped | H4 |
| me ' | C2 |
| On this Hercules went down again into the house of Hades but I | N |
| stayed where I was in case some other of the mighty dead should come | K2 |
| to me And I should have seen still other of them that are gone | D2 |
| before whom I would fain have seen Theseus and Pirithous glorious | M |
| children of the gods but so many thousands of ghosts came round me | F2 |
| and uttered such appalling cries that I was panic stricken lest | I4 |
| Proserpine should send up from the house of Hades the head of that | G2 |
| awful monster Gorgon On this I hastened back to my ship and ordered | J4 |
| my men to go on board at once and loose the hawsers so they | H |
| embarked and took their places whereon the ship went down the | H |
| stream of the river Oceanus We had to row at first but presently a | H |
| fair wind sprang up | T |
Homer
(1)
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