Return to Ithaca (Adventures of Odysseus Book 6) by Iliffe Glyn

Author:Iliffe, Glyn [Iliffe, Glyn]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781911591788
Publisher: Canelo
Published: 2017-06-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Odysseus Comes Home

It was afternoon when Odysseus and Eumaeus turned a bend on the clifftop path and saw the harbour below them. The last time Odysseus had set eyes on the modest anchorage had been twenty years before, when he had led his fleet to war. Now the only vessels that sat at rest in the calm waters were a few fishing skiffs and a merchant galley, their sails furled and the spars and masts laid out on the decks. The sun was high up in the west, shining down from above the hilltops of Samos on the other side of the straits. It penetrated the clear, blue-green water in the harbour to reveal the brown shapes of plant life on the sandy seabed. The crooked wooden jetty was empty, and there was not a single person on the beach or the road that led up to the town.

‘What is it?’ Eumaeus asked, wondering why the old beggar had paused at the top of the cliff.

‘I was just thinking how beautiful the place looks. All of it. The water, the sand, the sun on the backs of the trees…’

The swineherd stared down at the harbour as if expecting to see something new.

‘You must have witnessed some dark and terrible places to find beauty in that.’

‘I have, my friend. I have.’

They continued along the stony path, Odysseus leaning heavily on his staff with each step. His muscles ached and, despite the gentle warmth of the sun, he felt the coldness in his prematurely aged bones and joints. But he cared little for such distractions. He was home. He had seen his son and spoken with him, and had not been rejected. Now all that remained between him and peace was an army of young nobles. And Penelope.

The path began to descend, becoming a series of stone stairs as it led down to the northern end of the crescent-shaped beach. As he took each step with caution, his body complaining with every movement, his thoughts returned to Telemachus. He was heartened by the lad’s determination to defeat the suitors, whom he hated passionately. And yet years of powerlessness had weakened his confidence. To Telemachus, the number of suitors, their aggressive temperament, and the fact that each one had been taught in the art of warfare since childhood – as all noblemen were – were obstacles his imagination just could not overcome.

It was then that Odysseus most regretted his long absence. It was not that Telemachus had lacked a tutor. Mentor had taught him all that was required to become a man of rank in Greek society, but a boy needed his father to teach him who he really was, to understand his roots and draw strength from them.

Worryingly, Telemachus had shown all the emotional and mental fragility of an orphan or a bastard. And yet Odysseus was surprised how quickly he had responded to his father’s encouragement. Just being back on his home soil had helped Odysseus overcome the doubts that had undermined him during his imprisonment on Ogygia.

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