Book XXII

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The killing of the wooers.

Then Odysseus of many counsels stripped him of his rags and

leaped on to the great threshold with his bow and quiver

full of arrows, and poured forth all the swift shafts there

before his feet, and spake among the wooers:

'Lo, now is this terrible trial ended at last; and now will

I know of another mark, which never yet man has smitten, if

perchance I may hit it and Apollo grant me renown.'

With that he pointed the bitter arrow at Antinous. Now he

was about raising to his lips a fair twy-eared chalice of

gold, and behold, he was handling it to drink of the wine,

and death was far from his thoughts. For who among men at

feast would deem that one man amongst so many, how hardy

soever he were, would bring on him foul death and black

fate? But Odysseus aimed and smote him with the arrow in

the throat, and the point passed clean out through his

delicate neck, and he fell sidelong and the cup dropped

from his hand as he was smitten, and at once through his

nostrils there came up a thick jet of slain man's blood,

and quickly he spurned the table from him with his foot,

and spilt the food on the ground, and the bread and the

roast flesh were defiled. Then the wooers raised a clamour

through the halls when they saw the man fallen, and they

leaped from their high seats, as men stirred by fear, all

through the hall, peering everywhere along the well-builded

walls, and nowhere was there a shield or mighty spear to

lay hold on. Then they reviled Odysseus with angry words:

'Stranger, thou shootest at men to thy hurt. Never again

shalt thou enter other lists, now is utter doom assured

thee. Yea, for now hast thou slain the man that was far the

best of all the noble youths in Ithaca; wherefore vultures

shall devour thee here.'

So each one spake, for indeed they thought that Odysseus

had not slain him wilfully; but they knew not in their

folly that on their own heads, each and all of them, the

bands of death had been made fast. Then Odysseus of many

counsels looked fiercely on them, and spake:

'Ye dogs, ye said in your hearts that I should never more

come home from the land of the Trojans, in that ye wasted

my house, and lay with the maidservants by force, and

traitorously wooed my wife while I was yet alive, and ye

had no fear of the gods, that hold the wide heaven, nor of

the indignation of men hereafter. But now the bands of

death have been made fast upon you one and all.'

Even so he spake, and pale fear gat hold on the limbs of

all, and each man looked about, where he might shun utter

doom. And Eurymachus alone answered him, and spake: 'If

thou art indeed Odysseus of Ithaca, come home again, with

right thou speakest thus, of all that the Achaeans have

wrought, many infatuate deeds in thy halls and many in the

field. Howbeit, he now lies dead that is to blame for all,

Antinous; for he brought all these things upon us, not as

longing very greatly for the marriage nor needing it sore,

but with another purpose, that Cronion has not fulfilled

for him, namely, that he might himself be king over all the

land of stablished Ithaca, and he was to have lain in wait

for thy son and killed him. But now he is slain after his

deserving, and do thou spare thy people, even thine own;

and we will hereafter go about the township and yield thee

amends for all that has been eaten and drunken in thy

halls, each for himself bringing atonement of twenty oxen

worth, and requiting thee in gold and bronze till thy heart

is softened, but till then none may blame thee that thou

art angry.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on him, and

said: 'Eurymachus, not even if ye gave me all your

heritage, all that ye now have, and whatsoever else ye

might in any wise add thereto, not even so would I

henceforth hold my hands from slaying, ere the wooers had

paid for all their transgressions. And now the choice lies

before you, whether to fight in fair battle or to fly, if

any may avoid death and the fates. But there be some,

methinks, that shall not escape from utter doom.'

He spake, and their knees were straightway loosened and

their hearts melted within them. And Eurymachus spake among

them yet again:

'Friends, it is plain that this man will not hold his

unconquerable hands, but now that he has caught up the

polished bow and quiver, he will shoot from the smooth

threshold, till he has slain us all; wherefore let us take

thought for the delight of battle. Draw your blades, and

hold up the tables to ward off the arrows of swift death,

and let us all have at him with one accord, and drive him,

if it may be, from the threshold and the doorway and then

go through the city, and quickly would the cry be raised.

Thereby should this man soon have shot his latest bolt.'

Therewith he drew his sharp two-edged sword of bronze, and

leapt on Odysseus with a terrible cry, but in the same

moment goodly Odysseus shot the arrow forth and struck him

on the breast by the pap, and drave the swift shaft into

his liver. So he let the sword fall from his hand, and

grovelling over the table he bowed and fell, and spilt the

food and the two-handled cup on the floor. And in his agony

he smote the ground with his brow, and spurning with both

his feet he overthrew the high seat, and the mist of death

was shed upon his eyes.

Then Amphinomus made at renowned Odysseus, setting straight

at him, and drew his sharp sword, if perchance he might

make him give ground from the door. But Telemachus was

beforehand with him, and cast and smote him from behind

with a bronze-shod spear between the shoulders, and drave

it out through the breast, and he fell with a crash and

struck the ground full with his forehead. Then Telemachus

sprang away, leaving the long spear fixed in Amphinomus,

for he greatly dreaded lest one of the Achaeans might run

upon him with his blade, and stab him as he drew forth the

spear, or smite him with a down stroke {*} of the sword. So

he started and ran and came quickly to his father, and

stood by him, and spake winged words:

{* Or, reading [Greek], smite him as he stooped over the

corpse.}

'Father, lo, now I will bring thee a shield and two spears

and a helmet all of bronze, close fitting on the temples,

and when I return I will arm myself, and likewise give arms

to the swineherd and to the neatherd yonder: for it is

better to be clad in full armour.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Run and

bring them while I have arrows to defend me, lest they

thrust me from the doorway, one man against them all.'

So he spake, and Telemachus obeyed his dear father, and

went forth to the chamber, where his famous weapons were

lying. Thence he took out four shields and eight spears,

and four helmets of bronze, with thick plumes of horse

hair, and he started to bring them and came quickly to his

father. Now he girded the gear of bronze about his own body

first, and in like manner the two thralls did on the goodly

armour, and stood beside the wise and crafty Odysseus. Now

he, so long as he had arrows to defend him, kept aiming and

smote the wooers one by one in his house, and they fell

thick one upon another. But when the arrows failed the

prince in his archery, he leaned his bow against the

doorpost of the stablished hall, against the shining faces

of the entrance. As for him he girt his fourfold shield

about his shoulders and bound on his mighty head a well

wrought helmet, with horse hair crest, and terribly the

plume waved aloft. And he grasped two mighty spears tipped

with bronze.

Now there was in the well-builded wall a certain postern

raised above the floor, and there by the topmost level of

the threshold of the stablished hall, was a way into an

open passage, closed by well-fitted folding doors. So

Odysseus bade the goodly swineherd stand near thereto and

watch the way, for thither there was but one approach. Then

Agelaus spake among them, and declared his word to all:

'Friends, will not some man climb up to the postern, and

give word to the people, and a cry would be raised

straightway; so should this man soon have shot his latest

bolt?'

Then Melanthius, the goatherd, answered him, saying: 'It

may in no wise be, prince Agelaus; for the fair gate of the

courtyard is terribly nigh, and perilous is the entrance to

the passage, and one man, if he were valiant, might keep

back a host. But come, let me bring you armour from the

inner chamber, that ye may be clad in hauberks, for,

methinks, within that room and not elsewhere did Odysseus

and his renowned son lay by the arms.'

Therewith Melanthius, the goatherd, climbed up by the

clerestory of the hall to the inner chambers of Odysseus,

whence he took twelve shields and as many spears, and as

many helmets of bronze with thick plumes of horse hair, and

he came forth and brought them speedily, and gave them to

the wooers. Then the knees of Odysseus were loosened and

his heart melted within him, when he saw them girding on

the armour and brandishing the long spears in their hands,

and great, he saw, was the adventure. Quickly he spake to

Telemachus winged words:

'Telemachus, sure I am that one of the women in the halls

is stirring up an evil battle against us, or perchance it

is Melanthius.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him: 'My father, it is I that

have erred herein and none other is to blame, for I left

the well-fitted door of the chamber open, and there has

been one of them but too quick to spy it. Go now, goodly

Eumaeus, and close the door of the chamber, and mark if it

be indeed one of the women that does this mischief, or

Melanthius, son of Dolius, as methinks it is.'

Even so they spake one to the other. And Melanthius, the

goatherd, went yet again to the chamber to bring the fair

armour. But the goodly swineherd was ware thereof, and

quickly he spake to Odysseus who stood nigh him:

'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus, of many

devices, lo, there again is that baleful man, whom we

ourselves suspect, going to the chamber; do thou tell me

truly, shall I slay him if I prove the better man, or bring

him hither to thee, that he may pay for the many

transgressions that he has devised in thy house?'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered saying: 'Verily, I

and Telemachus will keep the proud wooers within the halls,

for all their fury, but do ye twain tie his feet and arms

behind his back and cast him into the chamber, and close

the doors after you,{*} and make fast to his body a twisted

rope, and drag him up the lofty pillar till he be near the

roof beams, that he may hang there and live for long, and

suffer grievous torment.'

{* Or, as Mr. Merry suggests in his note, 'tie boards

behind him' as a method of torture. He compares Aristoph.

Thesm. 931,940.}

So he spake, and they gave good heed and hearkened. So they

went forth to the chamber, but the goatherd who was within

knew not of their coming. Now he was seeking for the armour

in the secret place of the chamber, but they twain stood in

waiting on either side the doorposts. And when Melanthius,

the goatherd, was crossing the threshold with a goodly helm

in one hand, and in the other a wide shield and an old,

stained with rust, the shield of the hero Laertes that he

bare when he was young--but at that time it was laid by,

and the seams of the straps were loosened,--then the twain

rushed on him and caught him, and dragged him in by the

hair, and cast him on the floor in sorrowful plight, and

bound him hand and foot in a bitter bond, tightly winding

each limb behind his back, even as the son of Laertes bade

them, the steadfast goodly Odysseus. And they made fast to

his body a twisted rope, and dragged him up the lofty

pillar till he came near the roof beams. Then didst thou

speak to him and gird at him, swineherd Eumaeus:

'Now in good truth, Melanthius, shalt thou watch all night,

lying in a soft bed as beseems thee, nor shall the

early-born Dawn escape thy ken, when she comes forth from

the streams of Oceanus, on her golden throne, in the hour

when thou art wont to drive the goats to make a meal for

the wooers in the halls.'

So he was left there, stretched tight in the deadly bond.

But they twain got into their harness, and closed the

shining door, and went to Odysseus, wise and crafty chief.

There they stood breathing fury, four men by the threshold,

while those others within the halls were many and good

warriors. Then Athene, daughter of Zeus, drew nigh them,

like Mentor in fashion and in voice, and Odysseus was glad

when he saw her and spake, saying:

'Mentor, ward from us hurt, and remember me thy dear

companion, that befriended thee often, and thou art of like

age with me.'

So he spake, deeming the while that it was Athene, summoner

of the host. But the wooers on the other side shouted in

the halls, and first Agelaus son of Damastor rebuked

Athene, saying:

'Mentor, let not the speech of Odysseus beguile thee to

fight against the wooers, and to succour him. For methinks

that on this wise we shall work our will. When we shall

have slain these men, father and son, thereafter shalt thou

perish with them, such deeds thou art set on doing in these

halls; nay, with thine own head shalt thou pay the price.

But when with the sword we shall have overcome your

violence, we will mingle all thy possessions, all that thou

hast at home or in the field, with the wealth of Odysseus,

and we will not suffer thy sons nor thy daughters to dwell

in the halls, nor thy good wife to gad about in the town of

Ithaca.'

So spake he, and Athene was mightily angered at heart, and

chid Odysseus in wrathful words: 'Odysseus, thou hast no

more steadfast might nor any prowess, as when for nine

whole years continually thou didst battle with the Trojans

for high born Helen, of the white arms, and many men thou

slewest in terrible warfare, and by thy device the

wide-wayed city of Priam was taken. How then, now that thou

art come to thy house and thine own possessions, dost thou

bewail thee and art of feeble courage to stand before the

wooers? Nay, come hither, friend, and stand by me, and I

will show thee a thing, that thou mayest know what manner

of man is Mentor, son of Alcimus, to repay good deeds in

the ranks of foemen.'

She spake, and gave him not yet clear victory in full, but

still for a while made trial of the might and prowess of

Odysseus and his renowned son. As for her she flew up to

the roof timber of the murky hall, in such fashion as a

swallow flies, and there sat down.

Now Agelaus, son of Damastor, urged on the wooers, and

likewise Eurynomus and Amphimedon and Demoptolemus and

Peisandrus son of Polyctor, and wise Polybus, for these

were in valiancy far the best men of the wooers, that still

lived and fought for their lives; for the rest had fallen

already beneath the bow and the thick rain of arrows. Then

Agelaus spake among them, and made known his word to all:

'Friends, now at last will this man hold his unconquerable

hands. Lo, now has Mentor left him and spoken but vain

boasts, and these remain alone at the entrance of the

doors. Wherefore now, throw not your long spears all

together, but come, do ye six cast first, if perchance Zeus

may grant us to smite Odysseus and win renown. Of the rest

will we take no heed, so soon as that man shall have

fallen.'

So he spake and they all cast their javelins, as he bade

them, eagerly; but behold, Athene so wrought that they were

all in vain. One man smote the doorpost of the stablished

hall, and another the well-fastened door, and the ashen

spear of yet another wooer, heavy with bronze, stuck fast

in the wall. So when they had avoided all the spears of the

wooers, the steadfast goodly Odysseus began first to speak

among them:

'Friends, now my word is that we too cast and hurl into the

press of the wooers, that are mad to slay and strip us

beyond the measure of their former iniquities.'

So he spake, and they all took good aim and threw their

sharp spears, and Odysseus smote Demoptolemus, and

Telemachus Euryades, and the swineherd slew Elatus, and the

neatherd Peisandrus. Thus they all bit the wide floor with

their teeth, and the wooers fell back into the inmost part

of the hall. But the others dashed upon them and drew forth

the shafts from the bodies of the dead.

Then once more the wooers threw their sharp spears eagerly;

but behold, Athene so wrought that many of them were in

vain. One man smote the door-post of the stablished hall,

and another the well-fastened door, and the ashen spear of

another wooer, heavy with bronze, struck in the wall. Yet

Amphimedon hit Telemachus on the hand by the wrist lightly,

and the shaft of bronze wounded the surface of the skin.

And Ctesippus grazed the shoulder of Eumaeus with a long

spear high above the shield, and the spear flew over and

fell to the ground. Then again Odysseus, the wise and

crafty, he and his men cast their swift spears into the

press of the wooers, and now once more Odysseus, waster of

cities, smote Eurydamas, and Telemachus Amphimedon, and the

swineherd slew Polybus, and last, the neatherd struck

Ctesippus in the breast and boasted over him, saying:

'O son of Polytherses, thou lover of jeering, never give

place at all to folly to speak so big, but leave thy case

to the gods, since in truth they are far mightier than

thou. This gift is thy recompense for the ox-foot that thou

gavest of late to the divine Odysseus, when he went begging

through the house.'

So spake the keeper of the shambling kine. Next Odysseus

wounded the son of Damastor in close fight with his long

spear, and Telemachus wounded Leocritus son of Euenor,

right in the flank with his lance, and drave the bronze

point clean through, that he fell prone and struck the

ground full with his forehead. Then Athene held up her

destroying aegis on high from the roof, and their minds

were scared, and they fled through the hall, like a drove

of kine that the flitting gadfly falls upon and scatters

hither and thither in spring time, when the long days

begin. But the others set on like vultures of crooked claws

and curved beak, that come forth from the mountains and

dash upon smaller birds, and these scour low in the plain,

stooping in terror from the clouds, while the vultures

pounce on them and slay them, and there is no help nor way

of flight, and men are glad at the sport; even so did the

company of Odysseus set upon the wooers and smite them

right and left through the hall; and there rose a hideous

moaning as their heads were smitten, and the floor all ran

with blood.

Now Leiodes took hold of the knees of Odysseus eagerly, and

besought him and spake winged words: 'I entreat thee by thy

knees, Odysseus, and do thou show mercy on me and have

pity. For never yet, I say, have I wronged a maiden in thy

halls by froward word or deed, nay I bade the other wooers

refrain, whoso of them wrought thus. But they hearkened not

unto me to keep their hands from evil. Wherefore they have

met a shameful death through their own infatuate deeds.

Yet I, the soothsayer among them, that have wrought no

evil, shall fall even as they, for no grace abides for good

deeds done.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels looked askance at him, and

said: 'If indeed thou dost avow thee to be the soothsayer

of these men, thou art like to have often prayed in the

halls that the issue of a glad return might be far from me,

and that my dear wife should follow thee and bear thee

children; wherefore thou shalt not escape the bitterness of

death.'

Therewith he caught up a sword in his strong hand, that lay

where Agelaus had let it fall to the ground when he was

slain, and drave it clean through his neck, and as he yet

spake his head fell even to the dust.

But the son of Terpes, the minstrel, still sought how he

might shun black fate, Phemius, who sang among the wooers

of necessity. He stood with the loud lyre in his hand hard

by the postern gate, and his heart was divided within him,

whether he should slip forth from the hall and sit down by

the well-wrought altar of great Zeus of the household

court, whereon Laertes and Odysseus had burnt many pieces

of the thighs of oxen, or should spring forward and beseech

Odysseus by his knees. And as he thought thereupon this

seemed to him the better way, to embrace the knees of

Odysseus, son of Laertes. So he laid the hollow lyre on the

ground between the mixing-bowl and the high seat inlaid

with silver, and himself sprang forward and seized Odysseus

by the knees, and besought him and spake winged words:

'I entreat thee by thy knees, Odysseus, and do thou show

mercy on me and have pity. It will be a sorrow to thyself

in the aftertime if thou slayest me who am a minstrel, and

sing before gods and men. Yea none has taught me but

myself, and the god has put into my heart all manner of

lays, and methinks I sing to thee as to a god, wherefore be

not eager to cut off my head. And Telemachus will testify

of this, thine own dear son, that not by mine own will or

desire did I resort to thy house to sing to the wooers at

their feasts; but being so many and stronger than I they

led me by constraint.'

So he spake, and the mighty prince Telemachus heard him and

quickly spake to his father at his side: 'Hold thy hand,

and wound not this blameless man with the sword; and let us

save also the henchman Medon, that ever had charge of me in

our house when I was a child, unless perchance Philoetius

or the swineherd have already slain him, or he hath met

thee in thy raging through the house.'

So he spake, and Medon, wise of heart, heard him. For he

lay crouching beneath a high seat, clad about in the

new-flayed hide of an ox and shunned black fate. So he rose

up quickly from under the seat, and cast off the ox-hide,

and sprang forth and caught Telemachus by the knees, and

besought him and spake winged words:

'Friend, here am I; prithee stay thy hand and speak to thy

father, lest he harm me with the sharp sword in the

greatness of his strength, out of his anger for the wooers

that wasted his possessions in the halls, and in their

folly held thee in no honour.'

And Odysseus of many counsels smiled on him and said: 'Take

courage, for lo, he has saved thee and delivered thee, that

thou mayst know in thy heart, and tell it even to another,

how far more excellent are good deeds than evil. But go

forth from the halls and sit down in the court apart from

the slaughter, thou and the full-voiced minstrel, till I

have accomplished all that I must needs do in the house.'

Therewith the two went forth and gat them from the hall. So

they sat down by the altar of great Zeus, peering about on

every side, still expecting death. And Odysseus peered all

through the house, to see if any man was yet alive and

hiding away to shun black fate. But he found all the sort

of them fallen in their blood in the dust, like fishes that

the fishermen have drawn forth in the meshes of the net

into a hollow of the beach from out the grey sea, and all

the fish, sore longing for the salt sea waves, are heaped

upon the sand, and the sun shines forth and takes their

life away; so now the wooers lay heaped upon each other.

Then Odysseus of many counsels spake to Telemachus:

'Telemachus, go, call me the nurse Eurycleia, that I may

tell her a word that is on my mind.'

So he spake, and Telemachus obeyed his dear father, and

smote at the door, and spake to the nurse Eurycleia: 'Up

now, aged wife, that overlookest all the women servants in

our halls, come hither, my father calls thee and has

somewhat to say to thee.'

Even so he spake, and wingless her speech remained, and she

opened the doors of the fair-lying halls, and came forth,

and Telemachus led the way before her. So she found

Odysseus among the bodies of the dead, stained with blood

and soil of battle, like a lion that has eaten of an ox of

the homestead and goes on his way, and all his breast and

his cheeks on either side are flecked with blood, and he is

terrible to behold; even so was Odysseus stained, both

hands and feet. Now the nurse, when she saw the bodies of

the dead and the great gore of blood, made ready to cry

aloud for joy, beholding so great an adventure. But

Odysseus checked and held her in her eagerness, and

uttering his voice spake to her winged words:

'Within thine own heart rejoice, old nurse, and be still,

and cry not aloud; for it is an unholy thing to boast over

slain men. Now these hath the destiny of the gods overcome,

and their own cruel deeds, for they honoured none of

earthly men, neither the bad nor yet the good, that came

among them. Wherefore they have met a shameful death

through their own infatuate deeds. But come, tell me the

tale of the women in my halls, which of them dishonour me,

and which be guiltless.'

Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered him: 'Yea now, my

child, I will tell thee all the truth. Thou hast fifty

women-servants in thy halls, that we have taught the ways

of housewifery, how to card wool and to bear bondage. Of

these twelve in all have gone the way of shame, and honour

not me, nor their lady Penelope. And Telemachus hath but

newly come to his strength, and his mother suffered him not

to take command over the women in this house. But now, let

me go aloft to the shining upper chamber, and tell all to

thy wife, on whom some god hath sent a sleep.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Wake

her not yet, but bid the women come hither, who in time

past behaved themselves unseemly.'

So he spake, and the old wife passed through the hall, to

tell the women and to hasten their coming. Then Odysseus

called to him Telemachus, and the neatherd, and the

swineherd, and spake to them winged words:

'Begin ye now to carry out the dead, and bid the women help

you, and thereafter cleanse the fair high seats and the

tables with water and porous sponges. And when ye have set

all the house in order, lead the maidens without the

stablished hall, between the vaulted room and the goodly

fence of the court, and there slay them with your long

blades, till they shall have all given up the ghost and

forgotten the love that of old they had at the bidding of

the wooers, in secret dalliance.'

Even so he spake, and the women came all in a crowd

together, making a terrible lament and shedding big tears.

So first they carried forth the bodies of the slain, and

set them beneath the gallery of the fenced court, and

propped them one on another; and Odysseus himself hasted

the women and directed them, and they carried forth the

dead perforce. Thereafter they cleansed the fair high seats

and the tables with water and porous sponges. And

Telemachus, and the neatherd, and the swineherd, scraped

with spades the floor of the well-builded house, and,

behold, the maidens carried all forth and laid it without

the doors.

Now when they had made an end of setting the hall in order,

they led the maidens forth from the stablished hall, and

drove them up in a narrow space between the vaulted room

and the goodly fence of the court, whence none might avoid;

and wise Telemachus began to speak to his fellows, saying:

'God forbid that I should take these women's lives by a

clean death, these that have poured dishonour on my head

and on my mother, and have lain with the wooers.'

With that word he tied the cable of a dark-prowed ship to a

great pillar and flung it round the vaulted room, and

fastened it aloft, that none might touch the ground with

her feet. And even as when thrushes, long of wing, or doves

fall into a net that is set in a thicket, as they seek to

their roosting-place, and a loathly bed harbours them, even

so the women held their heads all in a row, and about all

their necks nooses were cast, that they might die by the

most pitiful death. And they writhed with their feet for a

little space, but for no long while.

Then they led out Melanthius through the doorway and the

court, and cut off his nostrils and his ears with the

pitiless sword, and drew forth his vitals for the dogs to

devour raw, and cut off his hands and feet in their cruel

anger.

Thereafter they washed their hands and feet, and went into

the house to Odysseus, and all the adventure was over. So

Odysseus called to the good nurse Eurycleia: 'Bring

sulphur, old nurse, that cleanses all pollution and bring

me fire, that I may purify the house with sulphur, and do

thou bid Penelope come here with her handmaidens, and tell

all the women to hasten into the hall.'

Then the good nurse Eurycleia made answer: 'Yea, my child,

herein thou hast spoken aright. But go to, let me bring

thee a mantle and a doublet for raiment, and stand not thus

in the halls with thy broad shoulders wrapped in rags; it

were blame in thee so to do.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'First

let a fire now be made me in the hall.'

So he spake, and the good nurse Eurycleia was not slow to

obey, but brought fire and brimstone; and Odysseus

thoroughly purged the women's chamber and the great hall

and the court.

Then the old wife went through the fair halls of Odysseus

to tell the women, and to hasten their coming. So they came

forth from their chamber with torches in their hands, and

fell about Odysseus, and embraced him and kissed and

clasped his head and shoulders and his hands lovingly, and

a sweet longing came on him to weep and moan, for he

remembered them every one.

Read next: Book XXIII

Read previous: Book XXI

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