Homer (Lombardo, trans) - Odyssey (Menelaus & Proteus); (Suitors & Agamemnon in Hades) lyrics

Menelaus & Proteus (4.512-599) Ί will do all these things, just as you say. But tell me this, and tell me the truth: Did all the Achaeans make it home in their ships, All those whom Nestor and I left at Troy? 515 Or did any die on shipboard, or in their friends' arms, After winding up the war?' “ to which Proteus said: ‘Why, son of Atreus, ask me about this? You don't need to know. Nor do I think You will be free from tears once you have heard it. 520 Many were k**ed in the war. You were there And know who they were. Many, too, survived. On the homeward journey two heroes died. Another still lives, perhaps, held back by the sea. ‘Ajax went down among his long-oared ships. 525 Poseidon had driven him onto Gyrae's rocks But saved him from the sea. He would have escaped, Despite Athena's hatred, but he lost his wits And boasted loudly that he had survived the deep In spite of the gods. Poseidon heard this boast, 530 And with his trident he struck Gyrae's rock And broke it asunder. One part held firm, But the other part, upon which Ajax sat In his blind arrogance, fell into the gulf And took Ajax with it. And so he perished, 535 His lungs full of saltwater. Your brother, though, Outran the fates in his hollow ships, With the help of Hera. But when he was nearing Malea's heights, a stormwind caught him And carried him groaning over the teeming sea 540 To the frontier of the land where Thyestes once lived And after him Thyestes' son, Aegisthus. Then the gods gave him a following wind And safe pa**age homeward. Agamemnon Rejoiced to set foot on his ancestral land. 545 Pie fell to the ground and kissed the good earth And hot tears of joy streamed from his eyes, So glad was he to see his homeland again. But from a high lookout a watchman saw him. Aegisthus had treacherously posted him there 550 And promised a reward of two bars of gold. He had been keeping watch for a year by then So that Agamemnon would not slip by unseen And unleash his might, and now he reported His news to Aegisthus, who acted quickly 555 And set a trap. He chose his twenty best men And had them wait in ambush. Opposite them, On the hall's farther side, he had a feast prepared, And then he drove off in his chariot, Brooding darkly, to invite Agamemnon. 560 So he brought Agamemnon up to the palace Unaware of his doom and slaughtered him The way an ox is slaughtered at the stall. None of Agamemnon's men was left alive, Nor any of Aegisthus'. All were slain in the hall.' 565 “Proteus spoke, and my heart was shattered. I wept and wept as I sat on the sand, losing All desire to live and see the light of the sun. When I could not weep or flail about any more, The unerring Old Man of the Sea addressed me: 570 ‘Weep no more, son of Atreus. We gain nothing By such prolonged bouts of grief. Instead, Go as quickly as you can to your native land. Either Aegisthus will still be alive, or Orestes may have beat you to it and k**ed him, 575 And you may happen to arrive during his funeral.' “These words warmed my heart, although I was still in shock. Then I asked him: Ί know now what became of these two, But who is the third man, the one who's alive, 580 But held back by the sea, or perhaps is dead. I want to hear about him, despite my grief.' “Proteus answered me without hesitation: ‘It is Laertes' son, whose home is in Ithaca. I saw him on an island, shedding salt tears, 585 In the halls of Calypso, who keeps him there Against his will. He has no way to get home To his native land. He has no ships left, No crew to row him over the sea's broad back. As for you, Menelaus, Zeus' cherished king, 590 You are not destined to die and to meet your fate In bluegra** Argos. The immortals will take you To the ends of the earth and the Elysian Fields, Where Rhadamanthus lives and life is easiest. No snow, nor storm, nor heavy rain comes there, 595 But a sighing wind from the West always blows Off the Ocean, a cooling breeze for men. For Helen is your wife, and in the gods' eyes You are the son-in-law of great Zeus himself.' Suitors and Agamemnon in Hades (24.1-212) Hermes, meanwhile, was calling forth The ghosts of the suitors. He held the wand He uses to charm mortal eyes to sleep And make sleepers awake; and with this beautiful, Golden wand he marshaled the ghosts, 5 Who followed along squeaking and gibbering. Bats deep inside an eerie cave Flit and gibber when one of them falls From the cluster clinging to the rock overhead. So too these ghosts, as Hermes led them 10 Down the cold, dank ways, past The streams of Ocean, past the White Rock, Past the Gates of the Sun and the Land of Dreams, Until they came to the Meadow of Asphodel, Where the spirits of the dead dwell, phantoms 15 Of men outworn. Here was the ghost of Achilles, And those of Patroclus, of flawless Antilochus, And of Ajax, the best of the Achaeans After Achilles, Peleus' incomparable son. These ghosts gathered around Achilles 20 And were joined by the ghost of Agamemnon, Son of Atreus, grieving, he himself surrounded By the ghosts of those who had died with him And met their fate in the house of Aegisthus. The son of Peleus was the first to greet him: 25 “Son of Atreus, we believed that you of all heroes Were dear to thundering Zeus your whole fife through, For you were the lord of the great army at Troy, Where we Greeks endured a bitter campaign. But you too had an early rendezvous with d**h, 30 Which no man can escape once he is bom. How much better to have died at Troy With all the honor you commanded there! The entire Greek army would have raised you a tomb, And you would have won glory for your son as well. 35 As it was, you were doomed to a most pitiable d**h.” And the ghost of Agamemnon answered: “Godlike Achilles, you did have the good fortune To die in Troy, far from Argos. Around you fell Some of the best Greeks and Trojans of their time, 40 Fighting for your body, as you lay there In the howling dust of war, one of the great, Your horsemanship forgotten. We fought all day And would never have stopped, had not Zeus Halted us with a great storm. Then we bore your body 45 Back to the ships and laid it on a bier, and cleansed Your beautiful flesh with warm water and ointments, And the men shed many hot tears and cut their hair. Then your mother heard, and she came from the sea With her saltwater women, and an eerie cry 50 Rose over the deep. The troops panicked, And they would have run for the ships, had not A man who was wise in the old ways stopped them, Nestor, whose counsel had prevailed before. Full of concern, he called out to the troops: 55 ‘Argives and Achaeans, halt! This is no time to flee. It is his mother, with her immortal nymphs, Come from the sea to mourn her dead son.' “When he said that the troops settled down. Then the daughters of the Old Man'of the Sea 60 Stood all around you and wailed piteously, And they dressed you in immortal clothing. And the Muses, all nine, chanted the dirge, Singing responsively in beautiful voices. You couldn't have seen a dry eye in the army, 65 So poignant was the song of the Muses. For seventeen days we mourned you like that, Men and gods together. On the eighteenth day We gave you to the fire, slaughtering sheep And homed cattle around you. You were burned 70 In the clothing of the gods, with rich unguents And sweet honey, and many Greek heroes Paraded in arms around your burning pyre, Both infantry and charioteers, And the sound of their marching rose to heaven. 75 When the fire had consumed you, We gathered your white bones at dawn, Achilles, And laid them in unmixed wine and unguents. Your mother had given us a goiden um, A gift of Dionysus, she said, made by Hephaestus. 80 In this urn he your white bones, Achilles, Mingled with those of the dead Patroclus. Just apart he the bones of Antilochus Whom you honored most after Patroclus died. Over them all we spearmen of the great army 85 Heaped an immense and perfect barrow On a headland beside the broad HeUespont So that it might be seen from far out at sea By men now and men to come. Your mother, Thetis, Had collected beautiful prizes from the gods 90 And now set them down in the middle of the field To honor the best of the Achaean athletes. You have been to many heroes' funeral games Where young men contend for prizes, But you would have marveled at the sight 95 Of the beautiful prizes silver-footed Thetis Set out for you. You were very dear to the gods. Not even in d**h have you lost your name, Achilles, nor your honor among men. But what did I get for winding up the war? 100 Zeus worked out for me a ghasdy d**h At the hands of Aegisthus and my murderous wife.” As these two heroes talked with each other, Quicksilver Hermes was leading down The ghosts of the suitors k**ed by Odysseus. 105 When Hermes and these ghosts drew near, The two heroes were amazed and went up to see Who they were. The ghost of Agamemnon Recognized one of them, Amphimedon, Who had been his host in Ithaca, and called out: 110 “Amphimedon! Why have you come down Beneath the dark earth, you and your company, All men of rank, all the same age? It's as if Someone had hand-picked the city's best men. Did Poseidon sink your ships and drown you 115 In the wind-whipped waves? Was it that, or Did an enemy destroy you on land As you cut off their cattle and flocks of sheep— Or as they fought for their city and women? Tell me. Remember who is asking— 120 An old friend of your house. I came there With godlike Menelaus to urge Odysseus To sail with the fleet to Ilion. A full month That journey to Ithaca took us—hard work Persuading Odysseus, destroyer of cities.” 125 The ghost of Amphimedon responded: “Son of Atreus, most glorious Agamemnon, I remember all that, just as you tell it, And I will tell you exactly what happened to us, And how it ended in our bitter d**h. 130 We were courting the wife of Odysseus, Long gone by then. She loathed the thought Of remarrying, but she wouldn't give us a yes or no. Her mind was bent on d**h and darkness for us. Here is one of the tricks she dreamed up: 135 She set up a loom in the hall and started weaving— A huge, fine-threaded piece—and then came out and said: ‘Young men—my suitors, since Odysseus is dead— Eager as you are to marry me, you must wait Until I finish this robe—it would be a shame 140 To waste my spinning—a shroud for the hero Laertes, when d**h's doom lays him low. I fear the Achaean women would reproach me If he should lie shroudless for all his wealth.' “We went along with this appeal to our honor. 145 Every day she would weave at the great loom, And every night she would unweave by torchlight. She fooled us for three years with her craft. But in the fourth year, as the seasons rolled by, And the moons waned, and the days dragged on, 150 One of her women who knew all about it Told us, and we caught her unweaving The gloried shroud. Then we forced her to finish it. When it was done she washed it and showed it to us, And it shone like the sun or the moon. 155 It was then That some evil spirit brought Odysseus From who knows where to the border of his land, Where the swineherd lived. Odysseus' son Put in from Pylos in his black ship and joined him. These two, after they had plotted an ugly d**h 160 For the suitors, came up to the town, first Telemachus And then later Odysseus, led by the swineherd, Who brought his master wearing tattered clothes, Looking for all the world like a miserable old beggar, Leaning on a staff, his rags hanging off him. 165 None of us could know who he was, not even The older men, when he showed up like that. We threw things at him and gave him a hard time. He just took it, pelted and taunted in his own house, Until, prompted by Zeus, he and Telemachus 170 Removed all the weapons from the hall And locked them away in a storeroom. Then he showed all his cunning. He told his wife To set before the suitors his bow and grey iron— Implements for a contest, and for our ill-fated d**h. 175 None of us were able to string that bow. We couldn't even come close. When it came Around to Odysseus, we cried out and objected, ‘Don't give the bow to that beggar, No matter what he says!' Telemachus alone 180 Urged him on and encouraged him to take it. And he did. The great Odysseus Took the bow, strung it easily, and shot an arrow Straight through the iron. Then he stood on the threshold, Poured the arrows out, and glaring around him 185 He shot Lord Antinous. And then he shot others, With perfect aim, and we fell thick and fast. You could see that some god was helping them, The way they raged through the hall, cutting us down Right and left; and you could hear 190 The hideous groans of men as their heads Were bashed in. The floor smoked with blood. That's how we died, Agamemnon. Our bodies Still lie uncared for in Odysseus' halls. Word has not yet reached our friends and family, 195 Who could wash the black blood from our wounds And lay us out with wailing, as is due the dead.” And the ghost of Agamemnon responded: “Well done, Odysseus, Laertes' wily son! You won a wife of great character 200 In Icarius' daughter. What a mind she has, A woman beyond reproach! How well Penelope Kept in her heart her husband, Odysseus. And so her virtue's fame will never perish, And the gods will make among men on earth 205 A song of praise for steadfast Penelope. But Tyndareus' daughter was evil to tlje core. k**ing her own husband, and her song will be A song of scorn, bringing i 11-repute To all women, even the virtuous.” 210 That was the drift of their talk as they stood In the Dark Lord's hails deep under the earth.