Page:The Odyssey of Homer, with the Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice (Buckley 1853).djvu/267

29—67. taking his spear, he placed it against the lofty column, and he himself went in, and passed over the stone threshold.

And him did the nurse Euryclea behold much the first, as she was spreading fleeces upon the variegated thrones: then weeping she went straight forward; and the other handmaidens of wretched Ulysses were assembled around him, and embracing him they kissed his head and shoulders. And prudent Penelope came from her chamber, like unto Diana and golden Venus: and she threw her arms around her dear son, weeping. And she kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes; and lamenting addressed to him winged words:

"Thou art come, O Telemachus, my sweet light: I did not think that I should behold thee any more, when thou didst go in a ship to Pylos secretly, against my will, to inquire for thy dear father; but come, tell me what sight thou hast encountered."

But her prudent Telemachus answered in turn: "O my mother, do not raise grief unto me, nor excite the heart within the breast of me, who have escaped bitter destruction. But having washed thyself, and taken clean garments for thy body, [ascending to the upper-rooms with thy women attendants,] vow to all the gods that thou wilt offer up sacred hecatombs, if Jove will by any means execute deeds of vengeance. But I will go to the place of meeting, that I may invite a stranger, who attended me from thence, as I was coming hither. Him I sent on indeed with my godlike companions: and I ordered Piræus, leading him home, to entertain him, and honour him heartily, until I should come."

Thus he spoke; but the word was unwinged. But she, having washed herself, [and] taken clean garments for her body, vowed to all the gods, that she would offer up sacred hecatombs, if by any means Jove would execute deeds of vengeance. But Telemachus then went through out of the palace, holding his spear: and swift-footed dogs accompanied him. But Minerva shed divine grace upon him: and all the people admired him as he came. And the haughty suitors were assembled around him, speaking good words, but they planned evils deeply in their minds. And he immediately