The Odyssey: Book 24 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEDFGCCHIFJKFLFMN OIPCQRSITNTINUQVWXYQ ZVA2FB2C2D2TPE2ATQTH QFFTIIF2G2H2I2ALJ2TA TK2PL2M2TXONN2K2OTIQ FITCNTTO2P2L2DTADQ2Z R2VS2PT2AU2V2VDW2IX2 IDGV2AY2CVTLIIZ2TCOT TCS2N2TPCV2RTV2ICA3P M2A3FDFFWCTCFTTIY2K2 NIITTCB3ICIC3FFVIZ2D VADD3IWTVFVNI2IT2TIC GJE3JZ2VIIVA3IFIAINF ICLT2O2ZF3IIN2T2T2T2 VNIT2NJ2NVICIIG3T2IT 2IIIN2T2T2ZIIH3VVCIC VI3T2T2WIT2VI2IT2X2V J3VWIIT2VIWK2CT2M2T2 IN2J2DIT2K3PCH3T2IIZ IIIT2IANIVIIL3IT2FOI IT2T2T2CF3CF3IM2JIK2 M3DNFNF3T2IT2T2ICCKI DIIFNN3DT2VCCIT2PIT2 IM2K2T2NL3T2IT2I2ZO3 ZIVT2N3P3Q3IZC2CIIIT 2IT2ICT2ANT2IR3VVZII T2T2T2IT2NCT2DOWT2T2 CIICNINCFI T2| Then Mercury of Cyllene summoned the ghosts of the suitors and in | A |
| his hand he held the fair golden wand with which he seals men's eyes | B |
| in sleep or wakes them just as he pleases with this he roused the | C |
| ghosts and led them while they followed whining and gibbering | D |
| behind him As bats fly squealing in the hollow of some great cave | E |
| when one of them has fallen out of the cluster in which they hang | D |
| even so did the ghosts whine and squeal as Mercury the healer of | F |
| sorrow led them down into the dark abode of death When they had | G |
| passed the waters of Oceanus and the rock Leucas they came to the | C |
| gates of the sun and the land of dreams whereon they reached the | C |
| meadow of asphodel where dwell the souls and shadows of them that | H |
| can labour no more | I |
| Here they found the ghost of Achilles son of Peleus with those of | F |
| Patroclus Antilochus and Ajax who was the finest and handsomest man | J |
| of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus himself | K |
| They gathered round the ghost of the son of Peleus and the ghost of | F |
| Agamemnon joined them sorrowing bitterly Round him were gathered | L |
| also the ghosts of those who had perished with him in the house of | F |
| Aeisthus and the ghost of Achilles spoke first | M |
| Son of Atreus it said we used to say that Jove had loved you | N |
| better from first to last than any other hero for you were captain | O |
| over many and brave men when we were all fighting together before | I |
| Troy yet the hand of death which no mortal can escape was laid upon | P |
| you all too early Better for you had you fallen at Troy in the | C |
| hey day of your renown for the Achaeans would have built a mound over | Q |
| your ashes and your son would have been heir to your good name | R |
| whereas it has now been your lot to come to a most miserable end | S |
| Happy son of Peleus answered the ghost of Agamemnon for | I |
| having died at Troy far from Argos while the bravest of the Trojans | T |
| and the Achaeans fell round you fighting for your body There you | N |
| lay in the whirling clouds of dust all huge and hugely heedless | T |
| now of your chivalry We fought the whole of the livelong day nor | I |
| should we ever have left off if Jove had not sent a hurricane to | N |
| stay us Then when we had borne you to the ships out of the fray | U |
| we laid you on your bed and cleansed your fair skin with warm water | Q |
| and with ointments The Danaans tore their hair and wept bitterly | V |
| round about you Your mother when she heard came with her immortal | W |
| nymphs from out of the sea and the sound of a great wailing went | X |
| forth over the waters so that the Achaeans quaked for fear They would | Y |
| have fled panic stricken to their ships had not wise old Nestor | Q |
| whose counsel was ever truest checked them saying 'Hold Argives fly | Z |
| not sons of the Achaeans this is his mother coming from the sea | V |
| with her immortal nymphs to view the body of her son ' | A2 |
| Thus he spoke and the Achaeans feared no more The daughters of | F |
| the old man of the sea stood round you weeping bitterly and clothed | B2 |
| you in immortal raiment The nine muses also came and lifted up | C2 |
| their sweet voices in lament calling and answering one another there | D2 |
| was not an Argive but wept for pity of the dirge they chaunted Days | T |
| and nights seven and ten we mourned you mortals and immortals but on | P |
| the eighteenth day we gave you to the flames and many a fat sheep | E2 |
| with many an ox did we slay in sacrifice around you You were burnt in | A |
| raiment of the gods with rich resins and with honey while heroes | T |
| horse and foot clashed their armour round the pile as you were | Q |
| burning with the tramp as of a great multitude But when the flames | T |
| of heaven had done their work we gathered your white bones at | H |
| daybreak and laid them in ointments and in pure wine Your mother | Q |
| brought us a golden vase to hold them gift of Bacchus and work of | F |
| Vulcan himself in this we mingled your bleached bones with those of | F |
| Patroclus who had gone before you and separate we enclosed also those | T |
| of Antilochus who had been closer to you than any other of your | I |
| comrades now that Patroclus was no more | I |
| Over these the host of the Argives built a noble tomb on a point | F2 |
| jutting out over the open Hellespont that it might be seen from far | G2 |
| out upon the sea by those now living and by them that shall be born | H2 |
| hereafter Your mother begged prizes from the gods and offered them | I2 |
| to be contended for by the noblest of the Achaeans You must have been | A |
| present at the funeral of many a hero when the young men gird | L |
| themselves and make ready to contend for prizes on the death of some | J2 |
| great chieftain but you never saw such prizes as silver footed Thetis | T |
| offered in your honour for the gods loved you well Thus even in | A |
| death your fame Achilles has not been lost and your name lives | T |
| evermore among all mankind But as for me what solace had I when | K2 |
| the days of my fighting were done For Jove willed my destruction on | P |
| my return by the hands of Aegisthus and those of my wicked wife | L2 |
| Thus did they converse and presently Mercury came up to them with | M2 |
| the ghosts of the suitors who had been killed by Ulysses The ghosts | T |
| of Agamemnon and Achilles were astonished at seeing them and went | X |
| up to them at once The ghost of Agamemnon recognized Amphimedon son | O |
| of Melaneus who lived in Ithaca and had been his host so it began to | N |
| talk to him | N2 |
| Amphimedon it said what has happened to all you fine young men | K2 |
| all of an age too that you are come down here under the ground One | O |
| could pick no finer body of men from any city Did Neptune raise his | T |
| winds and waves against you when you were at sea or did your | I |
| enemies make an end of you on the mainland when you were | Q |
| cattle lifting or sheep stealing or while fighting in defence of | F |
| their wives and city Answer my question for I have been your | I |
| guest Do you not remember how I came to your house with Menelaus | T |
| to persuade Ulysses to join us with his ships against Troy It was a | C |
| whole month ere we could resume our voyage for we had hard work to | N |
| persuade Ulysses to come with us | T |
| And the ghost of Amphimedon answered Agamemnon son of Atreus | T |
| king of men I remember everything that you have said and will tell | O2 |
| you fully and accurately about the way in which our end was brought | P2 |
| about Ulysses had been long gone and we were courting his wife | L2 |
| who did not say point blank that she would not marry nor yet bring | D |
| matters to an end for she meant to compass our destruction this | T |
| then was the trick she played us She set up a great tambour frame in | A |
| her room and began to work on an enormous piece of fine needlework | D |
| 'Sweethearts ' said she 'Ulysses is indeed dead still do not | Q2 |
| press me to marry again immediately wait for I would not have my | Z |
| skill in needlework perish unrecorded till I have completed a pall | R2 |
| for the hero Laertes against the time when death shall take him He | V |
| is very rich and the women of the place will talk if he is laid out | S2 |
| without a pall ' This is what she said and we assented whereupon | P |
| we could see her working upon her great web all day long but at night | T2 |
| she would unpick the stitches again by torchlight She fooled us in | A |
| this way for three years without our finding it out but as time | U2 |
| wore on and she was now in her fourth year in the waning of moons and | V2 |
| many days had been accomplished one of her maids who knew what she | V |
| was doing told us and we caught her in the act of undoing her work | D |
| so she had to finish it whether she would or no and when she showed | W2 |
| us the robe she had made after she had had it washed its splendour | I |
| was as that of the sun or moon | X2 |
| Then some malicious god conveyed Ulysses to the upland farm where | I |
| his swineherd lives Thither presently came also his son returning | D |
| from a voyage to Pylos and the two came to the town when they had | G |
| hatched their plot for our destruction Telemachus came first and | V2 |
| then after him accompanied by the swineherd came Ulysses clad in | A |
| rags and leaning on a staff as though he were some miserable old | Y2 |
| beggar He came so unexpectedly that none of us knew him not even the | C |
| older ones among us and we reviled him and threw things at him He | V |
| endured both being struck and insulted without a word though he was | T |
| in his own house but when the will of Aegis bearing Jove inspired | L |
| him he and Telemachus took the armour and hid it in an inner chamber | I |
| bolting the doors behind them Then he cunningly made his wife offer | I |
| his bow and a quantity of iron to be contended for by us ill fated | Z2 |
| suitors and this was the beginning of our end for not one of us | T |
| could string the bow nor nearly do so When it was about to reach the | C |
| hands of Ulysses we all of us shouted out that it should not be given | O |
| him no matter what he might say but Telemachus insisted on his | T |
| having it When he had got it in his hands he strung it with ease | T |
| and sent his arrow through the iron Then he stood on the floor of the | C |
| cloister and poured his arrows on the ground glaring fiercely about | S2 |
| him First he killed Antinous and then aiming straight before him | N2 |
| he let fly his deadly darts and they fell thick on one another It was | T |
| plain that some one of the gods was helping them for they fell upon | P |
| us with might and main throughout the cloisters and there was a | C |
| hideous sound of groaning as our brains were being battered in and | V2 |
| the ground seethed with our blood This Agamemnon is how we came | R |
| by our end and our bodies are lying still un cared for in the house | T |
| of Ulysses for our friends at home do not yet know what has happened | V2 |
| so that they cannot lay us out and wash the black blood from our | I |
| wounds making moan over us according to the offices due to the | C |
| departed | A3 |
| Happy Ulysses son of Laertes replied the ghost of Agamemnon | P |
| you are indeed blessed in the possession of a wife endowed with | M2 |
| such rare excellence of understanding and so faithful to her wedded | A3 |
| lord as Penelope the daughter of Icarius The fame therefore of | F |
| her virtue shall never die and the immortals shall compose a song | D |
| that shall be welcome to all mankind in honour of the constancy of | F |
| Penelope How far otherwise was the wickedness of the daughter of | F |
| Tyndareus who killed her lawful husband her song shall be hateful | W |
| among men for she has brought disgrace on all womankind even on the | C |
| good ones | T |
| Thus did they converse in the house of Hades deep down within the | C |
| bowels of the earth Meanwhile Ulysses and the others passed out of | F |
| the town and soon reached the fair and well tilled farm of Laertes | T |
| which he had reclaimed with infinite labour Here was his house | T |
| with a lean to running all round it where the slaves who worked for | I |
| him slept and sat and ate while inside the house there was an old | Y2 |
| Sicel woman who looked after him in this his country farm When | K2 |
| Ulysses got there he said to his son and to the other two | N |
| Go to the house and kill the best pig that you can find for | I |
| dinner Meanwhile I want to see whether my father will know me or | I |
| fail to recognize me after so long an absence | T |
| He then took off his armour and gave it to Eumaeus and Philoetius | T |
| who went straight on to the house while he turned off into the | C |
| vineyard to make trial of his father As he went down into the great | B3 |
| orchard he did not see Dolius nor any of his sons nor of the other | I |
| bondsmen for they were all gathering thorns to make a fence for the | C |
| vineyard at the place where the old man had told them he therefore | I |
| found his father alone hoeing a vine He had on a dirty old shirt | C3 |
| patched and very shabby his legs were bound round with thongs of | F |
| oxhide to save him from the brambles and he also wore sleeves of | F |
| leather he had a goat skin cap on his head and was looking very | V |
| woe begone When Ulysses saw him so worn so old and full of sorrow | I |
| he stood still under a tall pear tree and began to weep He doubted | Z2 |
| whether to embrace him kiss him and tell him all about his having | D |
| come home or whether he should first question him and see what he | V |
| would say In the end he deemed it best to be crafty with him so in | A |
| this mind he went up to his father who was bending down and digging | D |
| about a plant | D3 |
| I see sir said Ulysses that you are an excellent gardener | I |
| what pains you take with it to be sure There is not a single | W |
| plant not a fig tree vine olive pear nor flower bed but bears | T |
| the trace of your attention I trust however that you will not be | V |
| offended if I say that you take better care of your garden than of | F |
| yourself You are old unsavoury and very meanly clad It cannot be | V |
| because you are idle that your master takes such poor care of you | N |
| indeed your face and figure have nothing of the slave about them | I2 |
| and proclaim you of noble birth I should have said that you were | I |
| one of those who should wash well eat well and lie soft at night | T2 |
| as old men have a right to do but tell me and tell me true whose | T |
| bondman are you and in whose garden are you working Tell me also | I |
| about another matter Is this place that I have come to really Ithaca | C |
| I met a man just now who said so but he was a dull fellow and had | G |
| not the patience to hear my story out when I was asking him about an | J |
| old friend of mine whether he was still living or was already dead | E3 |
| and in the house of Hades Believe me when I tell you that this man | J |
| came to my house once when I was in my own country and never yet did | Z2 |
| any stranger come to me whom I liked better He said that his family | V |
| came from Ithaca and that his father was Laertes son of Arceisius | I |
| I received him hospitably making him welcome to all the abundance | I |
| of my house and when he went away I gave him all customary | V |
| presents I gave him seven talents of fine gold and a cup of solid | A3 |
| silver with flowers chased upon it I gave him twelve light cloaks | I |
| and as many pieces of tapestry I also gave him twelve cloaks of | F |
| single fold twelve rugs twelve fair mantles and an equal number | I |
| of shirts To all this I added four good looking women skilled in | A |
| all useful arts and I let him take his choice | I |
| His father shed tears and answered Sir you have indeed come to | N |
| the country that you have named but it is fallen into the hands of | F |
| wicked people All this wealth of presents has been given to no | I |
| purpose If you could have found your friend here alive in Ithaca | C |
| he would have entertained you hospitably and would have required | L |
| your presents amply when you left him as would have been only right | T2 |
| considering what you have already given him But tell me and tell | O2 |
| me true how many years is it since you entertained this guest my | Z |
| unhappy son as ever was Alas He has perished far from his own | F3 |
| country the fishes of the sea have eaten him or he has fallen a prey | I |
| to the birds and wild beasts of some continent Neither his mother | I |
| nor I his father who were his parents could throw our arms about him | N2 |
| and wrap him in his shroud nor could his excellent and richly dowered | T2 |
| wife Penelope bewail her husband as was natural upon his death bed | T2 |
| and close his eyes according to the offices due to the departed But | T2 |
| now tell me truly for I want to know Who and whence are you tell me | V |
| of your town and parents Where is the ship lying that has brought you | N |
| and your men to Ithaca Or were you a passenger on some other man's | I |
| ship and those who brought you here have gone on their way and left | T2 |
| you | N |
| I will tell you everything answered Ulysses quite truly I come | J2 |
| from Alybas where I have a fine house I am son of king Apheidas who | N |
| is the son of Polypemon My own name is Eperitus heaven drove me | V |
| off my course as I was leaving Sicania and I have been carried here | I |
| against my will As for my ship it is lying over yonder off the | C |
| open country outside the town and this is the fifth year since | I |
| Ulysses left my country Poor fellow yet the omens were good for | I |
| him when he left me The birds all flew on our right hands and both | G3 |
| he and I rejoiced to see them as we parted for we had every hope that | T2 |
| we should have another friendly meeting and exchange presents | I |
| A dark cloud of sorrow fell upon Laertes as he listened He filled | T2 |
| both hands with the dust from off the ground and poured it over his | I |
| grey head groaning heavily as he did so The heart of Ulysses was | I |
| touched and his nostrils quivered as he looked upon his father | I |
| then he sprang towards him flung his arms about him and kissed him | N2 |
| saying I am he father about whom you are asking I have returned | T2 |
| after having been away for twenty years But cease your sighing and | T2 |
| lamentation we have no time to lose for I should tell you that I | Z |
| have been killing the suitors in my house to punish them for their | I |
| insolence and crimes | I |
| If you really are my son Ulysses replied Laertes and have | H3 |
| come back again you must give me such manifest proof of your identity | V |
| as shall convince me | V |
| First observe this scar answered Ulysses which I got from a | C |
| boar's tusk when I was hunting on Mount Parnassus You and my mother | I |
| had sent me to Autolycus my mother's father to receive the | C |
| presents which when he was over here he had promised to give me | V |
| Furthermore I will point out to you the trees in the vineyard which | I3 |
| you gave me and I asked you all about them as I followed you round | T2 |
| the garden We went over them all and you told me their names and | T2 |
| what they all were You gave me thirteen pear trees ten apple | W |
| trees and forty fig trees you also said you would give me fifty rows | I |
| of vines there was corn planted between each row and they yield | T2 |
| grapes of every kind when the heat of heaven has been laid heavy | V |
| upon them | I2 |
| Laertes' strength failed him when he heard the convincing proofs | I |
| which his son had given him He threw his arms about him and | T2 |
| Ulysses had to support him or he would have gone off into a swoon | X2 |
| but as soon as he came to and was beginning to recover his senses he | V |
| said O father Jove then you gods are still in Olympus after all if | J3 |
| the suitors have really been punished for their insolence and folly | V |
| Nevertheless I am much afraid that I shall have all the townspeople | W |
| of Ithaca up here directly and they will be sending messengers | I |
| everywhere throughout the cities of the Cephallenians | I |
| Ulysses answered Take heart and do not trouble yourself about | T2 |
| that but let us go into the house hard by your garden I have already | V |
| told Telemachus Philoetius and Eumaeus to go on there and get dinner | I |
| ready as soon as possible | W |
| Thus conversing the two made their way towards the house When | K2 |
| they got there they found Telemachus with the stockman and the | C |
| swineherd cutting up meat and mixing wine with water Then the old | T2 |
| Sicel woman took Laertes inside and washed him and anointed him with | M2 |
| oil She put him on a good cloak and Minerva came up to him and | T2 |
| gave him a more imposing presence making him taller and stouter | I |
| than before When he came back his son was surprised to see him | N2 |
| looking so like an immortal and said to him My dear father some | J2 |
| one of the gods has been making you much taller and better looking | D |
| Laertes answered Would by Father Jove Minerva and Apollo | I |
| that I were the man I was when I ruled among the Cephallenians and | T2 |
| took Nericum that strong fortress on the foreland If I were still | K3 |
| what I then was and had been in our house yesterday with my armour on | P |
| I should have been able to stand by you and help you against the | C |
| suitors I should have killed a great many of them and you would have | H3 |
| rejoiced to see it | T2 |
| Thus did they converse but the others when they had finished their | I |
| work and the feast was ready left off working and took each his | I |
| proper place on the benches and seats Then they began eating by | Z |
| and by old Dolius and his sons left their work and came up for | I |
| their mother the Sicel woman who looked after Laertes now that he was | I |
| growing old had been to fetch them When they saw Ulysses and were | I |
| certain it was he they stood there lost in astonishment but | T2 |
| Ulysses scolded them good naturedly and said Sit down to your | I |
| dinner old man and never mind about your surprise we have been | A |
| wanting to begin for some time and have been waiting for you | N |
| Then Dolius put out both his hands and went up to Ulysses Sir | I |
| said he seizing his master's hand and kissing it at the wrist we | V |
| have long been wishing you home and now heaven has restored you to us | I |
| after we had given up hoping All hail therefore and may the gods | I |
| prosper you But tell me does Penelope already know of your return | L3 |
| or shall we send some one to tell her | I |
| Old man answered Ulysses she knows already so you need not | T2 |
| trouble about that On this he took his seat and the sons of | F |
| Dolius gathered round Ulysses to give him greeting and embrace him one | O |
| after the other then they took their seats in due order near Dolius | I |
| their father | I |
| While they were thus busy getting their dinner ready Rumour went | T2 |
| round the town and noised abroad the terrible fate that had | T2 |
| befallen the suitors as soon therefore as the people heard of it | T2 |
| they gathered from every quarter groaning and hooting before the | C |
| house of Ulysses They took the dead away buried every man his own | F3 |
| and put the bodies of those who came from elsewhere on board the | C |
| fishing vessels for the fishermen to take each of them to his own | F3 |
| place They then met angrily in the place of assembly and when they | I |
| were got together Eupeithes rose to speak He was overwhelmed with | M2 |
| grief for the death of his son Antinous who had been the first man | J |
| killed by Ulysses so he said weeping bitterly My friend this | I |
| man has done the Achaeans great wrong He took many of our best men | K2 |
| away with him in his fleet and he has lost both ships and men now | M3 |
| moreover on his return he has been killing all the foremost men among | D |
| the Cephallenians Let us be up and doing before he can get away to | N |
| Pylos or to Elis where the Epeans rule or we shall be ashamed of | F |
| ourselves for ever afterwards It will be an everlasting disgrace to | N |
| us if we do not avenge the murder of our sons and brothers For my own | F3 |
| part I should have no mote pleasure in life but had rather die at | T2 |
| once Let us be up then and after them before they can cross over | I |
| to the mainland | T2 |
| He wept as he spoke and every one pitied him But Medon and the bard | T2 |
| Phemius had now woke up and came to them from the house of Ulysses | I |
| Every one was astonished at seeing them but they stood in the | C |
| middle of the assembly and Medon said Hear me men of Ithaca | C |
| Ulysses did not do these things against the will of heaven I myself | K |
| saw an immortal god take the form of Mentor and stand beside him This | I |
| god appeared now in front of him encouraging him and now going | D |
| furiously about the court and attacking the suitors whereon they | I |
| fell thick on one another | I |
| On this pale fear laid hold of them and old Halitherses son of | F |
| Mastor rose to speak for he was the only man among them who knew | N |
| both past and future so he spoke to them plainly and in all | N3 |
| honesty saying | D |
| Men of Ithaca it is all your own fault that things have turned out | T2 |
| as they have you would not listen to me nor yet to Mentor when we | V |
| bade you check the folly of your sons who were doing much wrong in the | C |
| wantonness of their hearts wasting the substance and dishonouring the | C |
| wife of a chieftain who they thought would not return Now however | I |
| let it be as I say and do as I tell you Do not go out against | T2 |
| Ulysses or you may find that you have been drawing down evil on | P |
| your own heads | I |
| This was what he said and more than half raised a loud shout and | T2 |
| at once left the assembly But the rest stayed where they were for | I |
| the speech of Halitherses displeased them and they sided with | M2 |
| Eupeithes they therefore hurried off for their armour and when | K2 |
| they had armed themselves they met together in front of the city and | T2 |
| Eupeithes led them on in their folly He thought he was going to | N |
| avenge the murder of his son whereas in truth he was never to return | L3 |
| but was himself to perish in his attempt | T2 |
| Then Minerva said to Jove Father son of Saturn king of kings | I |
| answer me this question What do you propose to do Will you set | T2 |
| them fighting still further or will you make peace between them | I2 |
| And Jove answered My child why should you ask me Was it not by | Z |
| your own arrangement that Ulysses came home and took his revenge | O3 |
| upon the suitors Do whatever you like but I will tell you what I | Z |
| think will be most reasonable arrangement Now that Ulysses is | I |
| revenged let them swear to a solemn covenant in virtue of which he | V |
| shall continue to rule while we cause the others to forgive and | T2 |
| forget the massacre of their sons and brothers Let them then all | N3 |
| become friends as heretofore and let peace and plenty reign | P3 |
| This was what Minerva was already eager to bring about so down | Q3 |
| she darted from off the topmost summits of Olympus | I |
| Now when Laertes and the others had done dinner Ulysses began by | Z |
| saying Some of you go out and see if they are not getting close up | C2 |
| to us So one of Dolius's sons went as he was bid Standing on the | C |
| threshold he could see them all quite near and said to Ulysses Here | I |
| they are let us put on our armour at once | I |
| They put on their armour as fast as they could that is to say | I |
| Ulysses his three men and the six sons of Dolius Laertes also and | T2 |
| Dolius did the same warriors by necessity in spite of their grey | I |
| hair When they had all put on their armour they opened the gate | T2 |
| and sallied forth Ulysses leading the way | I |
| Then Jove's daughter Minerva came up to them having assumed the | C |
| form and voice of Mentor Ulysses was glad when he saw her and said | T2 |
| to his son Telemachus Telemachus now that are about to fight in | A |
| an engagement which will show every man's mettle be sure not to | N |
| disgrace your ancestors who were eminent for their strength and | T2 |
| courage all the world over | I |
| You say truly my dear father answered Telemachus and you shall | R3 |
| see if you will that I am in no mind to disgrace your family | V |
| Laertes was delighted when he heard this Good heavens he | V |
| exclaimed what a day I am enjoying I do indeed rejoice at it My | Z |
| son and grandson are vying with one another in the matter of valour | I |
| On this Minerva came close up to him and said Son of Arceisius | I |
| best friend I have in the world pray to the blue eyed damsel and | T2 |
| to Jove her father then poise your spear and hurl it | T2 |
| As she spoke she infused fresh vigour into him and when he had | T2 |
| prayed to her he poised his spear and hurled it He hit Eupeithes' | I |
| helmet and the spear went right through it for the helmet stayed | T2 |
| it not and his armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to | N |
| the ground Meantime Ulysses and his son fell the front line of the | C |
| foe and smote them with their swords and spears indeed they would | T2 |
| have killed every one of them and prevented them from ever getting | D |
| home again only Minerva raised her voice aloud and made every one | O |
| pause Men of Ithaca she cried cease this dreadful war and settle | W |
| the matter at once without further bloodshed | T2 |
| On this pale fear seized every one they were so frightened that | T2 |
| their arms dropped from their hands and fell upon the ground at the | C |
| sound of the goddess's voice and they fled back to the city for their | I |
| lives But Ulysses gave a great cry and gathering himself together | I |
| swooped down like a soaring eagle Then the son of Saturn sent a | C |
| thunderbolt of fire that fell just in front of Minerva so she said to | N |
| Ulysses Ulysses noble son of Laertes stop this warful strife or | I |
| Jove will be angry with you | N |
| Thus spoke Minerva and Ulysses obeyed her gladly Then Minerva | C |
| assumed the form and voice of Mentor and presently made a covenant of | F |
| peace between the two contending parties | I |
| - | |
| - | |
| THE END | T2 |
Homer
(1)
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About The Odyssey: Book 24
The Odyssey: Book 24 is a poem by Homer. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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