Odyssey by Homer

Author:Homer
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi
Tags: Ancient Greek Drama
Publisher: Richer Resources Publications
Published: 2010-10-05T04:00:00+00:00

XIV

Odysseus Meets Eumaeus

[Odysseus leaves the harbour and moves inland to the farm of the swine-herd; Eumaeus welcomes Odysseus and prepares a meal for him; Eumaeus talks about his absent master; Odysseus assures Eumaeus that his master will return, but Eumaeus does not believe him; Odysseus tells Eumaeus a long made-up story about his identity and his adventures in Egypt and elsewhere, saying he has heard news of Odysseus’ return; Eumaeus still does not believe him; the other swineherds arrive; Eumaeus prepares a sacrifice and a meal; Odysseus tells another story about an incident in the Trojan War; Eumaeus prepares a bed for Odysseus, then goes outside to guard the boars.]

Odysseus left the harbour, taking the rough path

into the woods and across the hills, to the place

where Athena told him he would meet the swineherd,

who was, of all the servants lord Odysseus had,

the one who took best care of his possessions.

He found him sitting in the front part of his house,

a built-up courtyard with a panoramic view,

a large, fine place, with cleared land all around.

The swineherd built it by himself to house the pigs,

property belonging to his absent master. 10

He hadn’t told his mistress or old man Laertes.

He’d made it from huge stones, with a thorn hedge on top [10]

and surrounded on the outside with close-set stakes

facing both ways, made by splitting oaks apart,

leaving the dark heart of the wood. Inside the yard,

he’d packed twelve sties together to house the pigs.

In each one fifty wallowing swine were penned,

sows for breeding. The boars, far fewer of them,

stayed outside. The feasting of the noble suitors

kept their numbers low, for the swineherd always sent 20

the finest of all fattened hogs for them to eat.

Three hundred and sixty boars were there—four dogs, [20]

fierce as wild animals, always lay beside them.

These the swineherd, a splendid man, had raised himself.

He was trimming off a piece of coloured ox-hide,

shaping sandals for his feet. Three of his fellows

had gone off, herding pigs in different directions.

He’d had to send a fourth man to the city

with a boar to be butchered for the suitors,

so they could feast on meat to their heart’s content. 30

All of a sudden the dogs observed Odysseus.

They howled and ran at him, barking furiously. [30]

Odysseus was alert enough to drop his staff

and sit. Still, he’d have been severely mauled

in his own farmyard, but the swineherd ran up fast

behind them, dropping the leather in his hands.

Charging through the gate and shouting at his dogs,

he scattered them in a hail of stones here and there.

Then he spoke out to his master:

“Old man,

those dogs would’ve ripped at you in no time, 40

and then you’d have heaped the blame on me.

Well, I’ve got other troubles from the gods,

things to grieve about. For as I stay here,

raising fat pigs for other men to eat,

I’m full of sorrow for my noble master, [40]

who’s probably going hungry somewhere,

as he wanders through the lands and cities

where men speak a foreign tongue, if, in fact,

he’s still alive and looking at the sunlight.

But follow me, old man. Come in the hut.

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