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