Book 7

1 So much-enduring noble Odysseus prayed there, while the strength of the two mules carried the girl to the town. When she came to the glorious house of her father, she halted at the gateway, and her brothers gathered around her, like the immortals, and unyoked the mules from the wagon and carried the clothes inside. She went to her own chamber, and an old woman from Apeire lit a fire for her, her chambermaid Eurymedusa, whom curved ships had once brought from Apeire. The people had chosen her from the spoils as a prize for Alcinous, because he ruled over all the Phaeacians, and the people listened to him as to a god. She had nursed white-armed Nausicaa in the palace. She lit the fire for her and made ready her supper in her room.

14 Then Odysseus set out to go to the city; and Athena, with kind intent toward Odysseus, poured a thick mist around him, so that none of the great-spirited Phaeacians who met him might jeer at him or ask him who he was. But just as he was about to enter the lovely city, the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, met him, in the likeness of a young girl carrying a pitcher. She stood before him, and noble Odysseus questioned her:

22 “My child, would you lead me to the house of a man called Alcinous, who rules among the people here? For I am a stranger who has suffered much, and I have come here from far away, from a distant land; and so I know no one among the people who hold this city and this land.”

27 Then the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, said to him: “Then I will show you the house you ask me for, stranger, old father, since it lies near the house of my own excellent father. But walk on in silence, just so, and I will lead the way; and do not look at anyone or ask questions. For these people do not care much for strangers, nor do they welcome and make friends with anyone who comes from elsewhere. They trust in their swift ships, and cross the great gulf of the sea, since the Earth-shaker has granted them that; and their ships are as swift as a wing or a thought.”

37 So Pallas Athena spoke and quickly led the way, and he followed in the goddess’s footsteps. And the Phaeacians, famed for ships, did not notice him as he went through the town among them; for lovely-haired Athena, the dread goddess, would not allow it, but poured a wondrous mist over him, with kind intent in her heart. And Odysseus marveled at the harbors and the balanced ships, and at the meeting places of the heroes themselves, and the long high walls, fitted with palisades, a wonder to see. But when they came to the glorious house of the king, the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, was the first to speak:

48 “Here, stranger, old father, is the house you asked me to show you. You will find the Zeus-nurtured kings feasting at a banquet. Go in, and have no fear in your heart; for a bold man comes off better in everything, even if he is a stranger from somewhere else. You will find the queen first in the hall. Arete is the name she is called by; and she comes of the same parents who begot King Alcinous. First Poseidon the Earth-shaker fathered Nausithous on Periboea, the most beautiful of women, the youngest daughter of great-hearted Eurymedon, who was once king over the proud-hearted Giants. But he destroyed his reckless people and was destroyed himself. Poseidon lay with Periboea, and she bore him a son, great-spirited Nausithous, who ruled over the Phaeacians; and Nausithous had two sons, Rhexenor and Alcinous. Rhexenor had no son, and Apollo of the silver bow struck him down in his hall when he was newly married, and he left only one child, a daughter, Arete. Alcinous made her his wife, and he honors her as no other woman on earth is honored, of all the women who now keep house under their husbands. So she has been honored from the heart, and still is, by her dear children and by Alcinous himself and by the people, who look on her as a goddess and greet her with words of welcome when she walks through the town. For she herself is not lacking in good sense, and she settles quarrels for those she favors, even quarrels among men. If she is kindly disposed to you in her heart, then there is hope that you will see your friends and reach your high-roofed house and your own native land.”

78 So gray-eyed Athena spoke and went away over the barren sea, and left lovely Scheria, and came to Marathon and to Athens of the wide streets, and went into the strong house of Erechtheus. But Odysseus went toward the famous house of Alcinous, and his heart was full of many thoughts as he stood there, before he reached the threshold of bronze. For there was a gleam as of the sun or of the moon through the high-roofed house of great-hearted Alcinous. Walls of bronze ran this way and that, from the threshold to the inmost room, with a frieze of blue enamel around them; golden doors closed in the strong house; silver doorposts stood on the bronze threshold, with a silver lintel above, and a golden handle on the door. On either side were gold and silver dogs, which Hephaestus had made with cunning skill, to guard the house of great-hearted Alcinous, and they were immortal and ageless all their days. Inside, chairs were set along the wall this way and that, from the threshold right through to the inmost room, and on them were spread fine coverlets, well woven, the work of women. There the leaders of the Phaeacians used to sit, drinking and eating, for they had plenty all year round. And golden statues of young men stood on well-built pedestals, holding blazing torches in their hands, to light the feasters through the house by night. He has fifty serving women in the house: some grind the yellow grain at the mill, and others weave at the loom, or sit and twirl the spindle, their hands moving like the leaves of a tall poplar; and from the close-woven linen the liquid oil drips off. As far as the Phaeacians are skilled beyond all men in driving a swift ship over the sea, so far are their women skilled at the loom; for Athena has given them, beyond all others, knowledge of beautiful handiwork and good sense. Outside the courtyard, near the doors, is a great orchard of four acres, with a fence running around it on both sides. There tall trees grow, in full bloom, pears and pomegranates and apple trees with shining fruit, and sweet figs and flourishing olives. Their fruit never perishes or fails, winter or summer, all the year round; the West Wind is always blowing, bringing some to bud and ripening others. Pear ripens upon pear, apple upon apple, cluster upon cluster of grapes, and fig upon fig. There too his fruitful vineyard is planted. In one part of it, a warm patch on level ground, grapes are drying in the sun; others they are gathering, and others treading; and in front are unripe grapes just shedding their blossom, and others turning dark. And there by the farthest row trim garden beds grow, of every kind, bright all the year round. And in it there are two springs: one runs through the whole garden, and the other on the far side runs under the threshold of the courtyard toward the high house, and from it the townspeople draw their water. Such were the glorious gifts of the gods in the house of Alcinous.

133 There much-enduring noble Odysseus stood and gazed. And when he had gazed his fill at everything in his heart, he quickly crossed the threshold into the house. He found the leaders and counselors of the Phaeacians pouring drink offerings from their cups to the keen-sighted slayer of Argus, to whom they always poured the last offering when they were thinking of bed. Then much-enduring noble Odysseus went through the house, wrapped in the thick mist that Athena had poured around him, until he came to Arete and to King Alcinous. Odysseus threw his arms around Arete’s knees, and at that moment the wondrous mist flowed back from him. They all fell silent through the house when they saw the man, and they marveled as they looked at him. And Odysseus made his entreaty:

146 “Arete, daughter of godlike Rhexenor, I have come to your husband and to your knees after many toils, and to these feasters. May the gods grant them prosperity while they live, and may each of them hand down to his children the wealth in his halls and the honors the people have given him. But for me, speed my passage home, so that I may reach my native land quickly, since for a long time now I have been suffering hardships far from my friends.”

153 So saying, he sat down on the hearth in the ashes beside the fire; and they all fell silent and were still. At last the old hero Echeneus spoke among them, who was the eldest of the Phaeacians and excelled in speech, knowing many things of old. With good intent he addressed the assembly and said: “Alcinous, this is not well, and it is not fitting, that a stranger should sit on the ground at the hearth in the ashes, while these men hold back, waiting for your word. Come, raise the stranger up and seat him on a silver-studded chair, and tell the heralds to mix wine, so that we may pour an offering to Zeus who delights in thunder, who walks beside suppliants, who are to be revered. And let the housekeeper give the stranger supper from what there is inside.”

167 When the sacred strength of Alcinous heard this, he took wise Odysseus, the crafty-minded, by the hand and raised him from the hearth and seated him on a shining chair, making his son, manly Laodamas, stand up, who sat beside him and whom he loved most. A maid brought water in a lovely golden pitcher and poured it over a silver basin for him to wash his hands, and drew up a polished table beside him. The revered housekeeper brought bread and set it before him, and many dishes besides, giving freely of what she had. And much-enduring noble Odysseus drank and ate. Then the strength of Alcinous spoke to the herald:

179 “Pontonous, mix a bowl and serve the wine to everyone throughout the hall, so that we may pour an offering to Zeus who delights in thunder, who walks beside suppliants, who are to be revered.”

182 So he spoke, and Pontonous mixed the heart-cheering wine, and served it out to all, first pouring a few drops into each cup. But when they had poured their offerings and drunk as much as their hearts desired, Alcinous addressed them and said:

186 “Hear me, leaders and counselors of the Phaeacians, so that I may say what the heart in my breast commands me. Now that you have feasted, go home and lie down to rest. In the morning we will call more of the elders together and entertain the stranger in the palace and make fine sacrifices to the gods, and then we will think about his passage home, so that the stranger may reach his native land under our escort without toil or pain, with joy, and quickly, even if he comes from very far away, and suffer no evil or harm on the way before he sets foot on his own land. There, after that, he will suffer whatever Fate and the heavy Spinners spun for him with their thread at his birth, when his mother bore him. But if he is one of the immortals come down from heaven, then the gods are planning something else. For always until now the gods have shown themselves to us plainly, when we offer them glorious hecatombs, and they feast beside us, sitting where we sit. And if some traveler going alone meets one of them, they do not hide themselves; for we are near to them, as the Cyclopes are and the savage tribes of the Giants.”

207 Odysseus of many wiles answered him: “Alcinous, put that thought out of your mind. I am not like the immortals who hold the wide sky, either in form or in stature, but like mortal men. Whoever you know among men who bears the most misery, those are the men I would equal in my sorrows. And I could tell you of still more evils, all that I have toiled through by the will of the gods. But let me eat my supper, grieving as I am; for there is nothing more shameless than the hateful belly, which forces a man to remember it, however worn out he is and with grief in his heart, as I have grief in my heart; and yet it always bids me eat and drink, and makes me forget all I have suffered, and tells me to fill it. But you, make haste at the break of dawn to set me, unlucky man, on my native land, after all I have suffered. Let life leave me, once I have seen my possessions, my servants, and my great high-roofed house.”

226 So he spoke, and they all praised his words and urged that the stranger be sent home, since he had spoken fittingly. But when they had poured their offerings and drunk as much as their hearts desired, they went to rest, each to his own house. But noble Odysseus was left behind in the hall, and beside him sat Arete and Alcinous, godlike in looks; and the maids cleared away the dishes of the feast. Then white-armed Arete was the first to speak; for she had recognized the mantle and the tunic when she saw the beautiful clothes, which she herself had made with her women. And she spoke to him, and her words had wings:

237 “Stranger, first I will ask you this myself. Who are you, and where are you from? Who gave you these clothes? Did you not say you came here wandering over the sea?”

240 Odysseus of many wiles answered her: “It is hard, my queen, to tell my sorrows from beginning to end, for the gods of heaven have given me many. But I will tell you this, what you ask and inquire. There is an island, Ogygia, that lies far off in the sea. There lives the daughter of Atlas, wily Calypso, lovely-haired, a dread goddess; and no one, god or mortal man, has dealings with her. But some god brought me, unlucky man, to her hearth, alone, after Zeus had struck my swift ship with white lightning and shattered it in the middle of the wine-dark sea. There all my other good companions perished, but I clasped the keel of my curved ship in my arms and was carried along for nine days; and on the tenth, in the black night, the gods brought me to the island of Ogygia, where Calypso lives, lovely-haired, a dread goddess. She took me in and loved me and cared for me with kindness, and she said she would make me immortal and ageless all my days; but she never won over the heart in my breast. There I stayed seven years without a break, and my tears were always wetting the immortal clothes that Calypso had given me. But when the eighth year came around, then she urged me and told me to go home, either because of a message from Zeus, or because her own mind had changed. She sent me off on a raft lashed with many bonds, and gave me much, bread and sweet wine, and dressed me in immortal clothes, and sent a wind blowing behind me, gentle and warm. Seventeen days I sailed, crossing the sea, and on the eighteenth the shadowy mountains of your land came into sight, and my heart was glad, ill-fated as I was; for I was still to meet with much misery, which Poseidon the Earth-shaker stirred up against me. He roused the winds against me and bound up my path, and stirred up the sea beyond telling, and the waves would not let me ride on the raft, groaning heavily as I was. Then the storm scattered it; but I swam and cut my way across this gulf, until the wind and the water carried me and brought me to your land. There, as I was coming ashore, the waves would have overpowered me and dashed me against great rocks in a cheerless place; but I drew back and swam again, until I came to a river, where the place seemed best to me, clear of rocks, with shelter from the wind. I fell down there, gathering my strength, and immortal night came on. I went out of the Zeus-fed river and away from it and slept among the bushes, and heaped leaves around me; and a god poured endless sleep over me. There among the leaves, sick at heart, I slept all night, and into the morning, and to midday. The sun was sinking when sweet sleep let me go. And I saw your daughter’s maids playing on the shore, and she was among them, like a goddess. I made my entreaty to her, and she did not fall short of good sense, though you would not expect it of someone so young; for the young are always thoughtless. She gave me bread in plenty and sparkling wine, and had me bathed in the river, and gave me these clothes. This, grieving though I am, I have told you truly.”

298 Then Alcinous answered him and said: “Stranger, in this at least my daughter did not think rightly: that she did not bring you to our house with her women, though it was to her first that you made your entreaty.”

302 Odysseus of many wiles answered him: “Hero, do not blame your excellent daughter for this. She did tell me to follow with her women, but I would not, for fear and shame, in case your heart should grow angry when you saw it; for we tribes of men on the earth are quick to jealousy.”

308 Then Alcinous answered him and said: “Stranger, the heart in my breast is not such as to be angry without cause; it is better for all things to be in due measure. Father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo, if only, being such a man as you are, and thinking as I think, you would take my daughter and be called my son-in-law, and stay here! I would give you a house and possessions, if you were willing to stay; but no one of the Phaeacians will keep you here against your will: may that never be pleasing to father Zeus. As for your passage home, so that you may know it well, I appoint tomorrow. Then you will lie, overcome by sleep, while they row you over the calm sea, until you reach your native land and your house, or wherever you wish to go, even if it lies much farther off than Euboea, which those of our people who saw it say is the farthest of all lands, when they carried red-haired Rhadamanthys to visit Tityus, son of Earth. They went there, and finished the journey without toil on that same day, and made the trip back home again. You will see for yourself, and know in your heart, how far my ships are the best, and my young men, at tossing up the sea with the oar blade.”

329 So he spoke, and much-enduring noble Odysseus was glad, and he prayed, and spoke and called on the god by name: “Father Zeus, may Alcinous bring to pass all that he has said! Then his fame would never be quenched over the grain-giving land, and I would reach my native land.”

334 So they spoke with one another, and white-armed Arete told her maids to set up a bed in the portico and to lay fine purple blankets on it, and spread rugs over them, and put woolly cloaks on top for him to wrap himself in. They went out of the hall with torches in their hands; and when they had busily spread the strong bed, they came and stood beside Odysseus and urged him: “Get up and go to bed, stranger; your bed is made.”

343 So they spoke, and it seemed welcome to him to lie down. So much-enduring noble Odysseus slept there on the corded bed in the echoing portico; and Alcinous lay down in the inmost room of the high house, and beside him the lady his wife had made ready the bed and shared it.