The Odyssey: Book 22 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIBJCEKLMNOPQ HRSTTUDVSWXYZA2OOB2C 2D2OE2F2C2G2H2E2I2DI 2YJ2NK2L2M2N2J2O2P2B KDG2Q2H2SR2BDH2OH2OO TA2Q2OS2T2R2QN2E2N2U 2GQ2E2V2KEH2BH2DEW2H 2J2BX2IY2MR2ODH2OZ2O H2ST2Z2H2H2DN2EDRE2H 2GA3QOB3ODR2H2N2C3D3 BE3H2BH2H2H2BH2GF3G3 FBBQ2G2OOH3M2BI3OC2U EH2H2BOQ2H2N2H2R2M2G 2J3RC2OF3H2F3K3C2BL3 R2M3N3O3P3H2E2R2PF3B SB2NH2ZQ3G2TNG2R3BH2 DG2H2N2H2R2K3F3H2S3R 2KT3BJ3R2BF3N2E2U3WL 3SG2V3R2C2N2W3R2B2X3 SY3OKJ2BJ2W3BH2R2Z3F 3W3TOR2OR2R2K3R2OC3F 3H2F3X2BOH2H2N2H2DA4 H2U3R2G2B4N3C2C4N2N2 UR2R2R2UR2FR2DQBZE2H 2H2D4E4N2R2H2F4G4KN2 K3R2FUDODE2H4DOM2N2B BC4N2H2BH2OI4MF3H2BP B2BBBPBH2H2WJ4H2R2DB 3OFR2H2PT3K4BE2BR2H2 OH2B2H2N2R2A2F3H2H2M| Then Ulysses tore off his rags and sprang on to the broad | A |
| pavement with his bow and his quiver full of arrows He shed the | B |
| arrows on to the ground at his feet and said The mighty contest is | C |
| at an end I will now see whether Apollo will vouchsafe it to me to | D |
| hit another mark which no man has yet hit | E |
| On this he aimed a deadly arrow at Antinous who was about to take | F |
| up a two handled gold cup to drink his wine and already had it in | G |
| his hands He had no thought of death who amongst all the revellers | H |
| would think that one man however brave would stand alone among so | I |
| many and kill him The arrow struck Antinous in the throat and the | B |
| point went clean through his neck so that he fell over and the cup | J |
| dropped from his hand while a thick stream of blood gushed from his | C |
| nostrils He kicked the table from him and upset the things on it | E |
| so that the bread and roasted meats were all soiled as they fell | K |
| over on to the ground The suitors were in an uproar when they saw | L |
| that a man had been hit they sprang in dismay one and all of them | M |
| from their seats and looked everywhere towards the walls but there | N |
| was neither shield nor spear and they rebuked Ulysses very angrily | O |
| Stranger said they you shall pay for shooting people in this way | P |
| om yi you shall see no other contest you are a doomed man he whom | Q |
| you have slain was the foremost youth in Ithaca and the vultures | H |
| shall devour you for having killed him | R |
| Thus they spoke for they thought that he had killed Antinous by | S |
| mistake and did not perceive that death was hanging over the head | T |
| of every one of them But Ulysses glared at them and said | T |
| Dogs did you think that I should not come back from Troy You have | U |
| wasted my substance have forced my women servants to lie with you | D |
| and have wooed my wife while I was still living You have feared | V |
| neither Cod nor man and now you shall die | S |
| They turned pale with fear as he spoke and every man looked round | W |
| about to see whither he might fly for safety but Eurymachus alone | X |
| spoke | Y |
| If you are Ulysses said he then what you have said is just | Z |
| We have done much wrong on your lands and in your house But | A2 |
| Antinous who was the head and front of the offending lies low already | O |
| It was all his doing It was not that he wanted to marry Penelope | O |
| he did not so much care about that what he wanted was something quite | B2 |
| different and Jove has not vouchsafed it to him he wanted to kill | C2 |
| your son and to be chief man in Ithaca Now therefore that he has | D2 |
| met the death which was his due spare the lives of your people We | O |
| will make everything good among ourselves and pay you in full for all | E2 |
| that we have eaten and drunk Each one of us shall pay you a fine | F2 |
| worth twenty oxen and we will keep on giving you gold and bronze till | C2 |
| your heart is softened Until we have done this no one can complain of | G2 |
| your being enraged against us | H2 |
| Ulysses again glared at him and said Though you should give me all | E2 |
| that you have in the world both now and all that you ever shall | I2 |
| have I will not stay my hand till I have paid all of you in full You | D |
| must fight or fly for your lives and fly not a man of you shall | I2 |
| Their hearts sank as they heard him but Eurymachus again spoke | Y |
| saying | J2 |
| My friends this man will give us no quarter He will stand where | N |
| he is and shoot us down till he has killed every man among us Let | K2 |
| us then show fight draw your swords and hold up the tables to shield | L2 |
| you from his arrows Let us have at him with a rush to drive him from | M2 |
| the pavement and doorway we can then get through into the town and | N2 |
| raise such an alarm as shall soon stay his shooting | J2 |
| As he spoke he drew his keen blade of bronze sharpened on both | O2 |
| sides and with a loud cry sprang towards Ulysses but Ulysses | P2 |
| instantly shot an arrow into his breast that caught him by the | B |
| nipple and fixed itself in his liver He dropped his sword and fell | K |
| doubled up over his table The cup and all the meats went over on to | D |
| the ground as he smote the earth with his forehead in the agonies of | G2 |
| death and he kicked the stool with his feet until his eyes were | Q2 |
| closed in darkness | H2 |
| Then Amphinomus drew his sword and made straight at Ulysses to try | S |
| and get him away from the door but Telemachus was too quick for | R2 |
| him and struck him from behind the spear caught him between the | B |
| shoulders and went right through his chest so that he fell heavily to | D |
| the ground and struck the earth with his forehead Then Telemachus | H2 |
| sprang away from him leaving his spear still in the body for he | O |
| feared that if he stayed to draw it out some one of the Achaeans | H2 |
| might come up and hack at him with his sword or knock him down so he | O |
| set off at a run and immediately was at his father's side Then he | O |
| said | T |
| Father let me bring you a shield two spears and a brass helmet | A2 |
| for your temples I will arm myself as well and will bring other | Q2 |
| armour for the swineherd and the stockman for we had better be | O |
| armed | S2 |
| Run and fetch them answered Ulysses while my arrows hold out | T2 |
| or when I am alone they may get me away from the door | R2 |
| Telemachus did as his father said and went off to the store room | Q |
| where the armour was kept He chose four shields eight spears and | N2 |
| four brass helmets with horse hair plumes He brought them with all | E2 |
| speed to his father and armed himself first while the stockman and | N2 |
| the swineherd also put on their armour and took their places near | U2 |
| Ulysses Meanwhile Ulysses as long as his arrows lasted had been | G |
| shooting the suitors one by one and they fell thick on one another | Q2 |
| when his arrows gave out he set the bow to stand against the end wall | E2 |
| of the house by the door post and hung a shield four hides thick | V2 |
| about his shoulders on his comely head he set his helmet well | K |
| wrought with a crest of horse hair that nodded menacingly above it | E |
| and he grasped two redoubtable bronze shod spears | H2 |
| Now there was a trap door on the wall while at one end of the | B |
| pavement there was an exit leading to a narrow passage and this | H2 |
| exit was closed by a well made door Ulysses told Philoetius to | D |
| stand by this door and guard it for only one person could attack it | E |
| at a time But Agelaus shouted out Cannot some one go up to the trap | W2 |
| door and tell the people what is going on Help would come at once | H2 |
| and we should soon make an end of this man and his shooting | J2 |
| This may not be Agelaus answered Melanthius the mouth of the | B |
| narrow passage is dangerously near the entrance to the outer court | X2 |
| One brave man could prevent any number from getting in But I know | I |
| what I will do I will bring you arms from the store room for I am | Y2 |
| sure it is there that Ulysses and his son have put them | M |
| On this the goatherd Melanthius went by back passages to the store | R2 |
| room of Ulysses house There he chose twelve shields with as many | O |
| helmets and spears and brought them back as fast as he could to | D |
| give them to the suitors Ulysses' heart began to fail him when he saw | H2 |
| the suitors putting on their armour and brandishing their spears He | O |
| saw the greatness of the danger and said to Telemachus Some one | Z2 |
| of the women inside is helping the suitors against us or it may be | O |
| Melanthius | H2 |
| Telemachus answered The fault father is mine and mine only I | S |
| left the store room door open and they have kept a sharper look out | T2 |
| than I have Go Eumaeus put the door to and see whether it is one | Z2 |
| of the women who is doing this or whether as I suspect it is | H2 |
| Melanthius the son of Dolius | H2 |
| Thus did they converse Meanwhile Melanthius was again going to | D |
| the store room to fetch more armour but the swineherd saw him and | N2 |
| said to Ulysses who was beside him Ulysses noble son of Laertes it | E |
| is that scoundrel Melanthius just as we suspected who is going to | D |
| the store room Say shall I kill him if I can get the better of him | R |
| or shall I bring him here that you may take your own revenge for all | E2 |
| the many wrongs that he has done in your house | H2 |
| Ulysses answered Telemachus and I will hold these suitors in | G |
| check no matter what they do go back both of you and bind | A3 |
| Melanthius' hands and feet behind him Throw him into the store room | Q |
| and make the door fast behind you then fasten a noose about his body | O |
| and string him close up to the rafters from a high bearing post | B3 |
| that he may linger on in an agony | O |
| Thus did he speak and they did even as he had said they went to | D |
| the store room which they entered before Melanthius saw them for | R2 |
| he was busy searching for arms in the innermost part of the room so | H2 |
| the two took their stand on either side of the door and waited By and | N2 |
| by Melanthius came out with a helmet in one hand and an old | C3 |
| dry rotted shield in the other which had been borne by Laertes when | D3 |
| he was young but which had been long since thrown aside and the | B |
| straps had become unsewn on this the two seized him dragged him back | E3 |
| by the hair and threw him struggling to the ground They bent his | H2 |
| hands and feet well behind his back and bound them tight with a | B |
| painful bond as Ulysses had told them then they fastened a noose | H2 |
| about his body and strung him up from a high pillar till he was | H2 |
| close up to the rafters and over him did you then vaunt O | H2 |
| swineherd Eumaeus saying Melanthius you will pass the night on a | B |
| soft bed as you deserve You will know very well when morning comes | H2 |
| from the streams of Oceanus and it is time for you to be driving in | G |
| your goats for the suitors to feast on | F3 |
| There then they left him in very cruel bondage and having put | G3 |
| on their armour they closed the door behind them and went back to take | F |
| their places by the side of Ulysses whereon the four men stood in the | B |
| cloister fierce and full of fury nevertheless those who were in the | B |
| body of the court were still both brave and many Then Jove's daughter | Q2 |
| Minerva came up to them having assumed the voice and form of | G2 |
| Mentor Ulysses was glad when he saw her and said Mentor lend me | O |
| your help and forget not your old comrade nor the many good turns he | O |
| has done you Besides you are my age mate | H3 |
| But all the time he felt sure it was Minerva and the suitors from | M2 |
| the other side raised an uproar when they saw her Agelaus was the | B |
| first to reproach her Mentor he cried do not let Ulysses beguile | I3 |
| you into siding with him and fighting the suitors This is what we | O |
| will do when we have killed these people father and son we will | C2 |
| kill you too You shall pay for it with your head and when we have | U |
| killed you we will take all you have in doors or out and bring it | E |
| into hotch pot with Ulysses' property we will not let your sons | H2 |
| live in your house nor your daughters nor shall your widow | H2 |
| continue to live in the city of Ithaca | B |
| This made Minerva still more furious so she scolded Ulysses very | O |
| angrily Ulysses said she your strength and prowess are no longer | Q2 |
| what they were when you fought for nine long years among the Trojans | H2 |
| about the noble lady Helen You killed many a man in those days and | N2 |
| it was through your stratagem that Priam's city was taken How comes | H2 |
| it that you are so lamentably less valiant now that you are on your | R2 |
| own ground face to face with the suitors in your own house Come | M2 |
| on my good fellow stand by my side and see how Mentor son of | G2 |
| Alcinous shall fight your foes and requite your kindnesses conferred | J3 |
| upon him | R |
| But she would not give him full victory as yet for she wished still | C2 |
| further to prove his own prowess and that of his brave son so she | O |
| flew up to one of the rafters in the roof of the cloister and sat upon | F3 |
| it in the form of a swallow | H2 |
| Meanwhile Agelaus son of Damastor Eurynomus Amphimedon | F3 |
| Demoptolemus Pisander and Polybus son of Polyctor bore the brunt | K3 |
| of the fight upon the suitors' side of all those who were still | C2 |
| fighting for their lives they were by far the most valiant for the | B |
| others had already fallen under the arrows of Ulysses Agelaus shouted | L3 |
| to them and said My friends he will soon have to leave off for | R2 |
| Mentor has gone away after having done nothing for him but brag | M3 |
| They are standing at the doors unsupported Do not aim at him all at | N3 |
| once but six of you throw your spears first and see if you cannot | O3 |
| cover yourselves with glory by killing him When he has fallen we need | P3 |
| not be uneasy about the others | H2 |
| They threw their spears as he bade them but Minerva made them all | E2 |
| of no effect One hit the door post another went against the door | R2 |
| the pointed shaft of another struck the wall and as soon as they | P |
| had avoided all the spears of the suitors Ulysses said to his own men | F3 |
| My friends I should say we too had better let drive into the | B |
| middle of them or they will crown all the harm they have done us by | S |
| us outright | B2 |
| They therefore aimed straight in front of them and threw their | N |
| spears Ulysses killed Demoptolemus Telemachus Euryades Eumaeus | H2 |
| Elatus while the stockman killed Pisander These all bit the dust | Z |
| and as the others drew back into a corner Ulysses and his men rushed | Q3 |
| forward and regained their spears by drawing them from the bodies of | G2 |
| the dead | T |
| The suitors now aimed a second time but again Minerva made their | N |
| weapons for the most part without effect One hit a bearing post of | G2 |
| the cloister another went against the door while the pointed shaft | R3 |
| of another struck the wall Still Amphimedon just took a piece of the | B |
| top skin from off Telemachus's wrist and Ctesippus managed to graze | H2 |
| Eumaeus's shoulder above his shield but the spear went on and fell to | D |
| the ground Then Ulysses and his men let drive into the crowd of | G2 |
| suitors Ulysses hit Eurydamas Telemachus Amphimedon and Eumaeus | H2 |
| Polybus After this the stockman hit Ctesippus in the breast and | N2 |
| taunted him saying Foul mouthed son of Polytherses do not be so | H2 |
| foolish as to talk wickedly another time but let heaven direct your | R2 |
| speech for the gods are far stronger than men I make you a present | K3 |
| of this advice to repay you for the foot which you gave Ulysses when | F3 |
| he was begging about in his own house | H2 |
| Thus spoke the stockman and Ulysses struck the son of Damastor with | S3 |
| a spear in close fight while Telemachus hit Leocritus son of Evenor | R2 |
| in the belly and the dart went clean through him so that he fell | K |
| forward full on his face upon the ground Then Minerva from her seat | T3 |
| on the rafter held up her deadly aegis and the hearts of the | B |
| suitors quailed They fled to the other end of the court like a herd | J3 |
| of cattle maddened by the gadfly in early summer when the days are | R2 |
| at their longest As eagle beaked crook taloned vultures from the | B |
| mountains swoop down on the smaller birds that cower in flocks upon | F3 |
| the ground and kill them for they cannot either fight or fly and | N2 |
| lookers on enjoy the sport even so did Ulysses and his men fall | E2 |
| upon the suitors and smite them on every side They made a horrible | U3 |
| groaning as their brains were being battered in and the ground | W |
| seethed with their blood | L3 |
| Leiodes then caught the knees of Ulysses and said Ulysses I | S |
| beseech you have mercy upon me and spare me I never wronged any of | G2 |
| the women in your house either in word or deed and I tried to stop | V3 |
| the others I saw them but they would not listen and now they are | R2 |
| paying for their folly I was their sacrificing priest if you kill | C2 |
| me I shall die without having done anything to deserve it and | N2 |
| shall have got no thanks for all the good that I did | W3 |
| Ulysses looked sternly at him and answered If you were their | R2 |
| sacrificing priest you must have prayed many a time that it might | B2 |
| be long before I got home again and that you might marry my wife | X3 |
| and have children by her Therefore you shall die | S |
| With these words he picked up the sword that Agelaus had dropped | Y3 |
| when he was being killed and which was lying upon the ground Then he | O |
| struck Leiodes on the back of his neck so that his head fell | K |
| rolling in the dust while he was yet speaking | J2 |
| The minstrel Phemius son of Terpes he who had been forced by the | B |
| suitors to sing to them now tried to save his life He was standing | J2 |
| near towards the trap door and held his lyre in his hand He did | W3 |
| not know whether to fly out of the cloister and sit down by the | B |
| altar of Jove that was in the outer court and on which both Laertes | H2 |
| and Ulysses had offered up the thigh bones of many an ox or whether | R2 |
| to go straight up to Ulysses and embrace his knees but in the end | Z3 |
| he deemed it best to embrace Ulysses' knees So he laid his lyre on | F3 |
| the ground the ground between the mixing bowl and the silver studded | W3 |
| seat then going up to Ulysses he caught hold of his knees and said | T |
| Ulysses I beseech you have mercy on me and spare me You will be | O |
| sorry for it afterwards if you kill a bard who can sing both for | R2 |
| gods and men as I can I make all my lays myself and heaven visits me | O |
| with every kind of inspiration I would sing to you as though you were | R2 |
| a god do not therefore be in such a hurry to cut my head off Your | R2 |
| own son Telemachus will tell you that I did not want to frequent | K3 |
| your house and sing to the suitors after their meals but they were | R2 |
| too many and too strong for me so they made me | O |
| Telemachus heard him and at once went up to his father Hold | C3 |
| he cried the man is guiltless do him no hurt and we will Medon | F3 |
| too who was always good to me when I was a boy unless Philoetius | H2 |
| or Eumaeus has already killed him or he has fallen in your way when | F3 |
| you were raging about the court | X2 |
| Medon caught these words of Telemachus for he was crouching under a | B |
| seat beneath which he had hidden by covering himself up with a freshly | O |
| flayed heifer's hide so he threw off the hide went up to Telemachus | H2 |
| and laid hold of his knees | H2 |
| Here I am my dear sir said he stay your hand therefore and | N2 |
| tell your father or he will kill me in his rage against the suitors | H2 |
| for having wasted his substance and been so foolishly disrespectful to | D |
| yourself | A4 |
| Ulysses smiled at him and answered Fear not Telemachus has | H2 |
| saved your life that you may know in future and tell other people | U3 |
| how greatly better good deeds prosper than evil ones Go therefore | R2 |
| outside the cloisters into the outer court and be out of the way of | G2 |
| the slaughter you and the bard while I finish my work here inside | B4 |
| The pair went into the outer court as fast as they could and sat | N3 |
| down by Jove's great altar looking fearfully round and still | C2 |
| expecting that they would be killed Then Ulysses searched the whole | C4 |
| court carefully over to see if anyone had managed to hide himself and | N2 |
| was still living but he found them all lying in the dust and | N2 |
| weltering in their blood They were like fishes which fishermen have | U |
| netted out of the sea and thrown upon the beach to lie gasping for | R2 |
| water till the heat of the sun makes an end of them Even so were | R2 |
| the suitors lying all huddled up one against the other | R2 |
| Then Ulysses said to Telemachus Call nurse Euryclea I have | U |
| something to say to her | R2 |
| Telemachus went and knocked at the door of the women's room Make | F |
| haste said he you old woman who have been set over all the other | R2 |
| women in the house Come outside my father wishes to speak to you | D |
| When Euryclea heard this she unfastened the door of the women's room | Q |
| and came out following Telemachus She found Ulysses among the | B |
| corpses bespattered with blood and filth like a lion that has just | Z |
| been devouring an ox and his breast and both his cheeks are all | E2 |
| bloody so that he is a fearful sight even so was Ulysses | H2 |
| besmirched from head to foot with gore When she saw all the corpses | H2 |
| and such a quantity of blood she was beginning to cry out for joy | D4 |
| for she saw that a great deed had been done but Ulysses checked | E4 |
| her Old woman said he rejoice in silence restrain yourself and | N2 |
| do not make any noise about it it is an unholy thing to vaunt over | R2 |
| dead men Heaven's doom and their own evil deeds have brought these | H2 |
| men to destruction for they respected no man in the whole world | F4 |
| neither rich nor poor who came near them and they have come to a bad | G4 |
| end as a punishment for their wickedness and folly Now however tell | K |
| me which of the women in the house have misconducted themselves and | N2 |
| who are innocent | K3 |
| I will tell you the truth my son answered Euryclea There are | R2 |
| fifty women in the house whom we teach to do things such as carding | F |
| wool and all kinds of household work Of these twelve in all have | U |
| misbehaved and have been wanting in respect to me and also to | D |
| Penelope They showed no disrespect to Telemachus for he has only | O |
| lately grown and his mother never permitted him to give orders to | D |
| the female servants but let me go upstairs and tell your wife all | E2 |
| that has happened for some god has been sending her to sleep | H4 |
| Do not wake her yet answered Ulysses but tell the women who | D |
| have misconducted themselves to come to me | O |
| Euryclea left the cloister to tell the women and make them come | M2 |
| to Ulysses in the meantime he called Telemachus the stockman and | N2 |
| the swineherd Begin said he to remove the dead and make the | B |
| women help you Then get sponges and clean water to swill down the | B |
| tables and seats When you have thoroughly cleansed the whole | C4 |
| cloisters take the women into the space between the domed room and | N2 |
| the wall of the outer court and run them through with your swords | H2 |
| till they are quite dead and have forgotten all about love and the | B |
| way in which they used to lie in secret with the suitors | H2 |
| On this the women came down in a body weeping and wailing bitterly | O |
| First they carried the dead bodies out and propped them up against | I4 |
| one another in the gatehouse Ulysses ordered them about and made them | M |
| do their work quickly so they had to carry the bodies out When | F3 |
| they had done this they cleaned all the tables and seats with sponges | H2 |
| and water while Telemachus and the two others shovelled up the | B |
| blood and dirt from the ground and the women carried it all away | P |
| and put it out of doors Then when they had made the whole place quite | B2 |
| clean and orderly they took the women out and hemmed them in the | B |
| narrow space between the wall of the domed room and that of the | B |
| yard so that they could not get away and Telemachus said to the | B |
| other two I shall not let these women die a clean death for they | P |
| were insolent to me and my mother and used to sleep with the | B |
| suitors | H2 |
| So saying he made a ship's cable fast to one of the bearing posts | H2 |
| that supported the roof of the domed room and secured it all around | W |
| the building at a good height lest any of the women's feet should | J4 |
| touch the ground and as thrushes or doves beat against a net that has | H2 |
| been set for them in a thicket just as they were getting to their | R2 |
| nest and a terrible fate awaits them even so did the women have to | D |
| put their heads in nooses one after the other and die most | B3 |
| miserably Their feet moved convulsively for a while but not for very | O |
| long | F |
| As for Melanthius they took him through the cloister into the inner | R2 |
| court There they cut off his nose and his ears they drew out his | H2 |
| vitals and gave them to the dogs raw and then in their fury they | P |
| cut off his hands and his feet | T3 |
| When they had done this they washed their hands and feet and went | K4 |
| back into the house for all was now over and Ulysses said to the | B |
| dear old nurse Euryclea Bring me sulphur which cleanses all | E2 |
| pollution and fetch fire also that I may burn it and purify the | B |
| cloisters Go moreover and tell Penelope to come here with her | R2 |
| attendants and also all the maid servants that are in the house | H2 |
| All that you have said is true answered Euryclea but let me | O |
| bring you some clean clothes a shirt and cloak Do not keep these | H2 |
| rags on your back any longer It is not right | B2 |
| First light me a fire replied Ulysses | H2 |
| She brought the fire and sulphur as he had bidden her and | N2 |
| Ulysses thoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner and outer | R2 |
| courts Then she went inside to call the women and tell them what | A2 |
| had happened whereon they came from their apartment with torches in | F3 |
| their hands and pressed round Ulysses to embrace him kissing his | H2 |
| head and shoulders and taking hold of his hands It made him feel as | H2 |
| if he should like to weep for he remembered every one of them | M |
Homer
(1)
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About The Odyssey: Book 22
The Odyssey: Book 22 is a poem by Homer. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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