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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031287745 
 
4^^ ^^ventures 
 
 R€TOLD 
 BY 
 
 /(t.Raiiger-Gull 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
 THE HYPOCRITE, 
 
 Seventh Edition. 2s. 6d. 
 
 BACK TO LILAC LAND. 
 
 Second Edition. 6s. 
 
 MISS MALEVOLENT. 
 
 Second Edition. 3s. 6d. 
 
 THE CIGARETTE SMOKER. 
 
 Second Edition. 2s. 6d. 
 
 FROM THE BOOK BEAUTIFUL. 
 
 Being Old Lights Re-lit. 3s. 6d. 
 
 IN PREPARATION. 
 
 THE SERF. A Tale of the Times of 
 King Stephen. 
 
 HIS GRACE'S GRACE. A Story 
 
 of Oxford Life. 
 
Page 32. 
 
 HE STARED STEADILY AT THEM WITH HIS SINGLE EYE 
 FOR A FULL MINUTE. 
 
 Fi-ontispiece. 
 
THE 
 
 ADVENTURES OF ULYSSES 
 
 THE WANDERER 
 
 Sn ®\x> Stocks 1Retol^ b^ 
 
 C. RANGER-GULL 
 
 author of 
 
 "the hypocrite," "from the book beautiful," 
 
 "back to lilac land," etc. 
 
 BY 
 
 W. G. ME IN 
 
 GREENING and COMPANY, Ltd. 
 
 20 CECIL COURT, CHARING CROSS ROAD 
 
 1902 
 
 T 
 
HERBERT BEERBOHM TREE 
 
 IN APPRECIATION OF HIS SCHOLARSHIP 
 
 IN ADMIRATION OF HIS ART 
 
 TO ONE OF THE FEW GREAT ARTISTS 
 
 WHO HAS NEVER BEEN UNTRUE 
 
 TO THE HIGHEST IDEALS OF HIS CALLING 
 
 AND IN SPECIAL MEMORY 
 
 OF THE FIRST NIGHT OF " HAMLET" 
 
 AT MANCHESTER 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Foreword ...... 9 
 
 Brief Account of Principal Characters 
 
 IN the Odyssey . . . -13 
 
 The First Episode — How They blinded the 
 
 Son of Poseidon . . . .21 
 
 The Second Episode— The Adventure of 
 
 the Palace in the Wood . . -39 
 
 The Third Episode — How Ulysses walked 
 IN Hell, and of the Adventure of 
 the Sirens and Scylla . . .48 
 
 The Fourth Episode — How Ulysses lost 
 HIS Merry Men and came a Waif to 
 Calypso with the Shining Hair . 63 
 
 The Last Episode — How the King came 
 
 Home again after the Long Years . 80 
 
 A Note on Homer and Ulysses . . 98 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 HE STARED STEADILY AT THEM WITH HIS SINGLE EYE 
 
 FOR A FULL MINUTE . . . Frontispiece 
 
 THEN HE CAME SWIFTLY UPON THE GLEAMING PALACE 
 
 facing page 45 
 
 THEN HE WAS, IN AN INSTANT MOMENT, 
 AWARE OF A MORE THAN MORTAL 
 PRESENCE .... ,,49 
 
 THEY CAME TO THE BRINK OF THE RIVER ,, £2 
 
 "WHO AM I THAT I CAN COMBAT THE 
 WILL OF ZEUS OR THE HARDNESS OF 
 YOUR HEART?" ... j, 78 
 
 "nay, if you LOVE ME," HE SAID, "NONE 
 
 OF THAT, MY FRIEND" . . * ,, 83 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 Seven fair and illustrious cities of the dim, 
 ancient world, Argos, Athence, Chios, Colophon, 
 Salamis, Rhodos, Smyrna, fought a war of 
 words over Homers birthplace. 
 
 Each claimed the honour. 
 
 And if , indeed, such an accident of chance con- 
 fers an honour upon a town, then the birthplace 
 of the Greatest Poet of all time should be a 
 place of pilgrimage. 
 
 For, among the weavers of Epos, Drama, and 
 Romance, he who was called Melesegenes is first 
 of all and wears an imperishable crown. 
 
 For yooo years his fame has streamed down the 
 ages. 
 
 The world has changed. Great empires have 
 risen, flowered and passed. Christianity came, 
 flooding mankind with light, at a time when, 
 though Hom.er was a dim, tradition, his work 
 was a living force in the world. When Christ 
 was born, Homerus was dead 900 years. 
 
 A man with such immensity of glory ceases to 
 be a man. He becomes a Force. 
 
 Of the two imperishable monuments Homer has 
 
 left us, the decision of critical scholarship has 
 
 placed the Iliad first. It has been said that the 
 
 Iliad is like the midday, the Odyssey like the 
 
 9 
 
10 FOREWORD 
 
 setting sun. Both are of equal splendour, though 
 the latter has lost its noonday heat. 
 
 But I would take that adroit simile and draw 
 another meaning from it. 
 
 When deferred, expected night at last ap- 
 proaches, when the sun paints the weary west 
 with faery pictures of glowing seas, of golden 
 islands hanging in the sky, of lonely magic water- 
 ways unsailed by mortal keels ; then, indeed, there 
 comes into the heart and brain another warmth, — 
 the mysterious quickening of Romance. 
 
 For I think that the ringing sound of arms, the 
 vibrant thriddings of bows, the clash of heroes, are 
 far less wonderful than the long, lonely wander- 
 ings of Ulysses. 
 
 Through all the Odyssey the winds are blowing, 
 the seas moaning, and the estranged sad spectres 
 of the night flit noiselessly across the printed page. 
 
 Through new lands, among new peoples^friends 
 and foes — touching at green islands set like 
 emeralds in wine-coloured seas, the immortal 
 mariner moves to the music of his creatoi^s verse. 
 The Siren^ voices, the Fairy's enchanted wine, the 
 Twin Monsters of the Strait pass and are for- 
 gotten. 
 
 His wife's tears bid him ever towards home. 
 
 I sometimes have wondered if Vergil thought 
 of Ulysses when he made his own lesser wanderer 
 say : — 
 
 " Per varies casus per tot discrimena rerum, 
 Tendimus in Latium, sedes ubifata quietas 
 Ostetiduni." 
 
FOREWORD II 
 
 And now, since we are to have, on that so 
 magical a stage, a concrete picture : since we are 
 to take away another storied memory from beneath 
 the copper dome, T feel that the story of Ulysses 
 may once more be told in English. 
 
 A fine poet, a great player, are to give us an 
 Ulysses who must perforce be not only full of the 
 spirit of his own age of myth, but instinct with the 
 spirit of this. 
 
 That is as inevitable as it is interesting. 
 
 The " Gentle Elia " (how one wishes one could 
 
 find a better name for him — but custom makes 
 
 cowards of us all) has written his own version of 
 
 the Odyssey. / cannot emulate that. But I think 
 
 T can at least be useful. 
 
 There are three stages of knowing Homer : the 
 time when one dog's ears and dogrells him at 
 school^ the time when one loves him, a literary 
 love! at Oxford, and the time when the va et 
 vient of life in great capitals wakes the dormant 
 Ulysses in the heart of every artist, and he begins 
 to understand. 
 
 " The long day wanes : the slow moon climbs : the deep 
 Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends, 
 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. 
 Push off, and sitting well in order smite 
 The sounding furrows ; for my purpose holds 
 
 To sail beyond the sunset " 
 
 C. RANGER-GULL. 
 
A BRIEF ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS IN THE 
 WANDERINGS OF ULYSSES, ACCORD- 
 ING TO THE ANCIENT WRITERS AND 
 LEGENDS. 
 
 Ulysses. The hero of Homer's great poem 
 was known to the Greeks under the name of 
 Odysseus. He was king of the pastoral islands 
 of Ithaca and Dulichium. Most of the petty 
 Greek chieftains became suitors for the hand of 
 the beautiful Helen, and Ulysses was among the 
 number, but withdrew when he realised the 
 smallness of his chances. He then married 
 Penelope, the daughter of Icarius, and at the 
 same time joined with the other unsuccessful 
 lovers of Helen in a sworn league for her future 
 protection should she ever stand in need of it. 
 He then returned to Ithaca with his bride. The 
 rape of Helen soon compelled him to leave Pene- 
 lope and join the other Grecian princes in the 
 great war against Troy. He endeavoured to 
 avoid the summons by pretending madness. 
 13 
 
14 PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS 
 
 Yoking a horse and a bull together, he began 
 to plough the sands of the sea shore. The 
 messenger who was sent to him took Tele- 
 machus, the infant son of Ulysses, and placed 
 the child in the direct course of the plough, in 
 this way circumventing his design. Ulysses was 
 one of the most prominent figures during the 
 Trojan war, his valour, and still more his 
 cunning, making him of supreme importance 
 in the councils of the princes. After the Trojan 
 war Ulysses set sail for home, and at this period 
 of his career the story of the Odyssey begins. 
 He was driven by malevolent winds on to the 
 shores of Africa, where he and his mariners 
 were captured by the one-eyed giant, Poly- 
 phemus, who ate five of the band. Ulysses 
 escaped by thrusting a stake into the giant's 
 eye and then leaving the cave in which he was 
 confined by crawling under the bellies of the 
 sheep when the Cyclops led them to pasture. 
 He next arrives at ^olia, and ^olus gave him, 
 imprisoned in bags, all the evil winds which 
 were likely to obstruct his safe return home- 
 wards. The sailors, curious to know what the 
 bags contained, opened them, and the im- 
 prisoned winds, rushing out with fearful 
 violence, destroyed the whole fleet save only 
 the vessel which bore Ulysses. The ship was 
 thrown on the shores of the Goddess Circe's 
 enchanted island, and the companions of Ulysses 
 were changed into swine by the enchantress. 
 Ulysses escaped the like fate by means of a 
 
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS 15 
 
 magic herb he had received from Mercury, and 
 forced the goddess to bring his friends to their 
 original shape. He then yielded to her solicita- 
 tions and made her the mother of Telegonus. 
 The next stage of his adventures brings him to 
 Hades, where he goes to consult the shade of 
 the wise Tiresias as to the means of reaching 
 home in safety. He passes the terrible coasts 
 of the Sirens unhurt, and escaped the monsters 
 Scylla and Charybdis by a series of narrow 
 chances. In Sicily his sailors, urged by extreme 
 hunger, killed some of Apollo's cattle, and the 
 Sun-God in revenge destroyed all his com- 
 panions and also his ship. Ulysses alone 
 escaped on a raft and swam to the shores of 
 an island belonging to Calypso, with whom he 
 lived a lotos life as husband for seven years. 
 The gods eventually interfered, and Ulysses, 
 once more properly equipped, set out on his 
 travels again. However, Neptune (Poseidon), 
 the lord of the sea, still remembered the injury 
 done to his son, the giant Polyphemus, and 
 wrecked this ship also. Ulysses was cast up 
 on the island of the Phceacians, where he was 
 hospitably received by King Alcinous and his 
 daughter the Princess Nausicaa, and at last sent 
 home in safety to his own kingdom after an 
 absence of more than twenty years. The 
 Goddess Athene befriended him, and informed 
 him that his palace was crowded with de- 
 bauched and insolent suitors for the hand of 
 Queen Penelope, but that his wife was still 
 
1 6 PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS 
 
 faithful and unceasingly mourned his loss. 
 Adopting the advice of the goddess, he dis- 
 guised himself in rags to see for himself the 
 state of his home. He then slew the suitors 
 and lived quietly at home for the remaining 
 sixteen years of his adventurous life. Tradi- 
 tion says that he at last met his death at the 
 hands of his illegitimate son Telegonus. 
 
 Penelope. A famous Graecian princess, wife 
 of Ulysses. She married at about the same time 
 that Helen wedded King Menelaus, and returned 
 home to Ithaca with her husband against the 
 wishes of her father Icarius of Sparta. During 
 the long absence of Ulysses she was besieged 
 by suitors for her hand, who established them- 
 selves in the palace. She became practically 
 their prisoner, and was compelled to dissimulate 
 and put them off by various excuses. She 
 managed to keep her importunate guests in 
 some sort of good humour by giving out that 
 she would make a choice among them as soon 
 as she had completed a piece of tapestry on 
 which she was engaged. Each night she undid 
 the stitches she had worked in the daytime. 
 On the return of Ulysses she was, of course, 
 freed from the suitors by her husband. Accord- 
 ing to some ancient writers, after the death of 
 Ulysses she married Telegonus, Ulysses' son 
 by the Goddess Circe. Her name Penelope 
 sprung from some river-birds who were called 
 " Penelopes." 
 
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS 17 
 
 Telemachus. The son of Ulysses and Pene- 
 lope. When his father left for the Trojan war 
 Telemachus was but an infant, but at the close 
 of the campaign he went to seek him and to 
 obtain what information he could about his 
 father's absence. When Ulysses returned home 
 in disguise Athene brought son and parent to- 
 gether, and the two concerted means to rid the 
 palace of the suitors. After the death of Ulysses, 
 Telemachus is said to have gone to the island 
 of Circe and married the enchantress, formerly 
 his father's mistress. A son called Latinus 
 sprung from this union. 
 
 Athene (Minerva). The Goddess of 
 Wisdom was born from Zeus' brain without 
 a mother. She sprang from his head in 
 full armour. She was the most powerful of 
 the goddesses and the friend of mankind. 
 She was the patroness of Ulysses, and it 
 was believed she first invented ships. Her 
 chastity was inviolable. Her worship was 
 universal, 
 
 Zeus (Jupiter). Chief of all the gods. His 
 attitude towards Ulysses was friendly owing to 
 the persuasion of his daughter Athene. 
 
 Poseidon (Neptune) was the Sea God and 
 next in power to Zeus. He was the father of 
 the giant Polyphemus whom Ulysses blinded, 
 and is the consistent enemy of Ulysses through- 
 
 B 
 
1 8 PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS 
 
 out the whole Odyssey. Neptune was the brother 
 of Zeus. 
 
 Hermes (Mercury) was the messenger of 
 the gods and a son of Zeus. He was 
 especially the patron of travellers and well 
 disposed to Ulysses. 
 
 TiRESlAS was in life a celebrated sooth- 
 sayer and philosopher of Thebes. His wisdom 
 was universal. Having inadvertently seen the 
 Goddess Athene bathing in the fountain of 
 Hippocrene, he was blinded. Ulysses visited 
 his spirit in Hades, in order to obtain 
 his advice as to the journey homewards to 
 Ithaca. 
 
 Circe. An enchantress celebrated for her 
 knowledge of the magic properties of herbs. 
 She was of extreme personal beauty. In girl- 
 hood she married the prince of Colchis, whom 
 she murdered to obtain his kingdom. She was 
 thereon banished to the fairy island of .^Esea. 
 When Ulysses visited her shores she changed 
 his companions into swine, but Ulysses was 
 protected by the magic virtues of a herb called 
 moly. Ulysses spent a year in the arms of 
 Circe, and she gave birth to a son called 
 Telegonus. 
 
 Calypso. One of the daughters of Atlas, was 
 known as the " bright-haired Goddess of Silence,'* 
 
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS 19 
 
 and was queen of the lost island of Ogygia. 
 Ulysses spent seven years with her, and she 
 bore him two sons. By order of Zeus, Hermes 
 was sent to the island ordering Ulysses to leave 
 his voluptuous sloth, and Calypso, who was in- 
 consolable at his loss, was forced to allow him 
 to depart. The legend runs that the goddess 
 offered him the gift of immortality if he would 
 remain with her. 
 
 SCYLLA and Charybdis. Scylla was a terrible 
 female monster who devoured six of Ulysses' 
 crew, though the hero himself escaped her. 
 Below the waist she was composed of creatures 
 like dogs who never ceased barking. She was 
 supported by twelve feet and had six different 
 heads. The monster dwelt in a cave under the 
 sea on one side of a narrow strait off the coast 
 of Sicily. On the other side of the strait was 
 the great whirlpool CHARYBDIS. It was invested 
 with a personality by Homer, and Charybdis 
 was said to be a giantess who sucked down 
 ships as they passed. 
 
 The Sirens. Monsters with sweet alluring 
 voices who inhabited a small island near Sicily. 
 They had bodies like great birds, according to 
 some writers, with the heads of beautiful women. 
 Whosoever heard their magic song must go to 
 them and remain with them for ever. Ulysses 
 escaped the enchantment by causing himself to 
 be bound to the ship's mast. 
 
20 PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS 
 
 Polyphemus. The son of Poseidon. He 
 was the giant king of the Cyclopes who were 
 workers in the forge of Vulcan and made 
 armour for the gods. Ulysses and his com- 
 panions blinded him in order to escape from 
 the cavern where he had imprisoned them. 
 
 Antinous. a native gentleman of Ithaca, 
 one of Penelope's most persistent suitors. 
 When Ulysses came home disguised as a 
 beggar Antinous struck him. He was the first 
 to fall by Ulysses' bow. 
 
 EURYCLEA. The nurse of Ulysses in his 
 infancy, and one of the first to recognise him 
 on his return from his wanderings. She was in 
 her youth the lovely daughter of Ops of 
 Ithaca. 
 
 EUM^US. The herdsman and steward of 
 Ulysses who knew his master on his return 
 after an absence of twenty years. He was the 
 king's right-hand man in the plot against, and 
 fight with, the suitors of Penelope. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF ULYSSES 
 
 THE FIRST EPISODE 
 
 How They blinded the Son of Poseidon 
 
 A WARM mild wind, laden with sweet scents, blew 
 over the sailors from the island, which now lay far 
 astern. 
 
 In the weary west the charmed sunset still 
 lingered over Lotus Land. 
 
 A rosy flush lay on the snow-capped mountains 
 which were yet spectral in the last lights of the 
 day, but looking out over the bows the sky was 
 dark purple changing into black, and where it met 
 the sea there was a white gleam of foam. 
 
 The companions of Ulysses sat idle from the 
 oars, for the wind filled the belly of the sail and 
 there was no need for rowing. A curious silence 
 brooded over them all. No one spoke to his 
 fellow. The faces of all were sad, and in the eyes of 
 some the fire of an unutterable regret burnt steadily. 
 
 The heads of all were turned towards the island, 
 which was fast disappearing from their view. 
 Some of the men shaded their eyes with their 
 hands in one last long look of farewell. 
 
 As the curtain of the dark fell upon the sea, the 
 warm offshore wind died away. A colder breeze. 
 
22 THE FIRST EPISODE 
 
 full of the sea-smell itself, came down over the 
 port bow ; it moaned through the cordage, and 
 little waves began to hiss under the cutwater. 
 
 Every now and again the wind freshened rapidly. 
 The mournful whistling became a sudden snarling 
 of trumpets. The ship and crew seemed to have 
 passed over the limits of a tableau. Not only was 
 it a quick elemental change of scene, but the 
 change had its influence with the spectators. 
 
 The sad fire — if the glow of regret is indeed a 
 fire — died out of heavy eyes half veiled by 
 weary lids. The sea-light dawned once more 
 upon the faces of the mariners, the bright warm 
 blood moved swiftly in their veins. 
 
 One man ran to the steering oar to give an aid 
 to the helmsman as the ship went about on the 
 starboard tack, three more stood by the sheet, a 
 hum of talk rose from the waist of the boat. 
 Ulysses stood in the bows looking forward into the 
 night. His tall, lean figure was bent forward, and 
 his arm was thrown round the gilded boss of the 
 prow. His eyes were deep set in his head, and his 
 brow was furrowed with the innumerable wrinkles 
 which come to the man who lives a life of hard- 
 ship and striving. 
 
 Yet the long years of battle and wandering, a 
 life of shocks ! had only intensified the alertness 
 of his pose. He seemed, as he looked out into the 
 night, a personification of "readiness." A crisp 
 dark beard grew round his throat, and the veins on 
 his bare brown arms were like blue enamel round 
 a column of bronze. 
 
THE FIRST EPISODE 23 
 
 When the ship went about again he came down 
 into the body of the ship and helped to pull upon 
 the brace. Though he was no taller than many of 
 his men, and leaner than most, in physical strength 
 as well as in intellect he was first and chief. The 
 mighty muscles leapt up on his arms as he strained 
 on the taut rope. 
 
 The ship slanted away down the wind into the 
 night. The men gathered round their captain. 
 " Comrades," he said to them in a singularly sweet 
 and musical voice, " once more we adventure the 
 deep, and no man knows what shall befall us. To 
 our island home in the west, to dear Ithaca ! if the 
 gods so will it. Our wives weep for us on our de- 
 serted hearthstone. Our little ones are noble youths 
 ere now, and may Zeus bring us safe home at last. 
 Yet much it misdoubts me that there are other 
 perils in store for us ere we hear the long breakers 
 beat upon the shores of Ithaca and see the morn- 
 ing sun run down the wooded sides of Neriton. 
 Be that as the Fates will it, let us keep always 
 courage, gaiety, and the quiet mind." 
 
 " We are well away from there," said one of the 
 men, nodding vaguely towards the stern. 
 
 " That are we," said another ; " that cursed fruit 
 is honeysweet in my mouth still. It stole away 
 our brains and made us as women, we ! the men 
 who fought in Troyland." 
 
 "Of what profit is it to look to the past, 
 Phocion ? " said Ulysses. " We did eat and sleep 
 and forget, but it is over. The sea wind is salt 
 once more upon our faces. Let us eat the night 
 
24 THE FIRST EPISODE 
 
 meal, and then I will choose a watch and the rest 
 may sleep. Hand me the cup — To to-morrow's 
 dawn ! " 
 
 Then one of the sailors took dried goat's flesh 
 and fruit from a locker in the stern, and by the 
 light of a torch of sawn sandal wood they fell to 
 eating. Great bunches of purple grapes lay before 
 each sailor, but they had brought none of the 
 magic lotus fruit with them to steal away their 
 vigour and thicken their blood. 
 
 Then they lay down to sleep under coverings of 
 skins. Two men went to the great steering oar, 
 three men watched amidship by the braces, and 
 Ulysses himself wrapped a woollen cloak round 
 him and went once more into the bows. 
 
 Alone there with the wind his thoughts once 
 more went back to his far distant home. He 
 thought with longing of his old father Laertes, of 
 the child Telemachus playing in the marble court- 
 yard of the sunny palace on the hill. A deep 
 sigh shuddered out from his lips as his thoughts 
 fell upon the lonely Queen Penelope. "Wife of 
 mine," he thought, ''shall I ever lie beside you 
 more? Is there silver in your bright hair now? 
 Are your thoughts to mewards as mine to you ? 
 Perchance another rules in my palace and sits at 
 my seat Are your lips another's now? The 
 great tears are blinding me. Courage!" 
 
 Bending his head upon his breast, Ulysses 
 prayed long and earnestly to his awful patroness, 
 the Goddess Athene, that she would still keep 
 ward over his fortunes and guide him safely home. 
 
THE FIRST EPISODE 25 
 
 The night wore on and became very silent. The 
 ship seemed to be moving swiftly and surely, 
 though the wind had dropped and the voice of the 
 waves was hushed. It seemed to the watcher in 
 the bows that the ship was moving in the path of 
 some strong current. 
 
 A curious white mist suddenly rolled over the 
 still surface of the sea, thick and ghostly. The 
 mast and sail, which was now drooping and life- 
 less, swayed through it like giant spectres. 
 Ulysses could see none of his companions, but 
 when he hailed the watch the voice of Phocion 
 came back to him through the ghostly curtain, 
 curiously thick and muffled. 
 
 "The mist thickens, my captain," said the 
 sailor. " Can you see aught ahead ? " 
 
 " I can see nothing, Phocion," shouted Ulysses ; 
 "the mist is like wool. But I think it is a land 
 mist come out to meet us. There should be land 
 ahead." 
 
 " I hear no surf or the rolling of waves," said 
 Phocion. " May Zeus guide the boat, for mortal 
 men are of no avail to-night." 
 
 The ship moved on swiftly as if guided by in- 
 visible hands towards some goal, and still the 
 expectant mariners heard no sound. 
 
 Quite suddenly, and without the slightest warn- 
 ing, a vivid copper-coloured flash of lightning 
 illuminated the ship. For an instant in the hard 
 lurid light Ulysses saw the whole of the vessel in 
 a distinct picture. 
 
 Every detail was manifest — the mast, the cord- 
 
26 THE FIRST EPISODE 
 
 age, the sleeping sailors below, the watching group 
 by the shrouds, and, right away astern, the startled 
 helmsmen motionless as statues of bronze. 
 
 Then with a long grinding noise the ship seemed 
 suddenly lifted up in the water, jerked forward, and 
 then dropped again. She began to heel over a 
 little out of the perpendicular, and then remained 
 still, stranded upon an unknown and mysterious 
 shore, where the waves were all asleep. Still 
 the white mist circled round them. 
 
 " Comrades," said Ulysses, " we are brought here 
 by no chance of wind and waves. Some god has 
 done this thing, but whether for weal or woe I 
 cannot tell. Let us land upon the beach and lie 
 down with our weapons within sound of the sea 
 till dawn. At sunrise we shall know where the 
 god has brought us." 
 
 They landed at the order, and with the supreme 
 indifference of the adventurer lay upon the shore 
 and slept out the remainder of the night. But 
 Ulysses had a prescience of harm, and was full 
 of sinister forebodings. He did not sleep, but 
 paced through the mist all night in a little beaten 
 track among the boulders. He prayed long and 
 earnestly to Athene. 
 
 When the first faint hintings of dawn brightened 
 through the mist a little breeze arose, and before 
 the sky was more than faintly flushed with day 
 the night fog was blown away like thistle- 
 down. 
 
 As the sun climbed up the sky the companions 
 found that they had been carried to a scene of 
 
THE FIRST EPISODE 27 
 
 singular beauty. They were on an island, a small, 
 rich place at the mouth of a great bay. Rich level 
 grass meadows, green as bright enamel and brilliant 
 with flowers, sloped gently down to the violet sea. 
 Behind was a thickly-wooded hill, at the foot of 
 which was a sparkling spring surrounded by a 
 tall grove of poplar trees. 
 
 In the leafy wood the wild goats leapt under the 
 wild vine trees like Pan at play, as fearless of the 
 intruders as if they had never seen men before. 
 All the bright morning the sailors made the wood 
 ring with happy laughter as they speared the goats 
 for a feast. All trouble passed from their minds, 
 and as the spears flashed swiftly through the 
 green wood the shrill, jocund voices of the hunters 
 made all the island musical. Ulysses plunged 
 into a translucent pool at the foot of the spring, 
 and the cool water flashed like diamonds over his 
 strong brown arms, and he looked indeed as if he 
 were some river-god and this his fairy home. , 
 
 All day long they feasted and drank wine which 
 they had brought in skins from Lotus Land. When 
 night was falling, very still and gentle, they saw 
 the blue smoke of fires over the bay, on the main- 
 land, about a mile away, and the bleating of many 
 sheep and the lowing of herds came to them over 
 the wine-coloured sea. 
 
 Ever and again voices could be heard — strange 
 resonant voices. " That must be the country of 
 some strange gods," the sailors said to each other. 
 " Those are no mortal voices. We are come into 
 some great peril." Before they slept they sacri- 
 
28 THE FIRST EPISODE 
 
 ficed a goat on the seashore to Zeus, that he 
 might guard them from any coming harm. 
 
 In the morning the king prepared for action. 
 It was necessary to find upon what shores they 
 had arrived, to get direction of Ithaca, and if 
 treasure was to be won by force or guile, to 
 take the opportunity which chance or the gods 
 had sent. 
 
 Ulysses chose twelve of his men, tried veterans 
 with nerves of steel, old comrades who had fought 
 with him for Helen on the windy plains of Troy. 
 With these old never-strikes he embarked on the 
 ship. He left Phocion as leader of the remainder 
 of the crew, and taking Elpenor with him as 
 second in command, they got out six sweeps, three 
 on each side of the ship, and rowed slowly over the 
 glassy bay. 
 
 The mainland, on the shore where they landed, 
 was a wild rocky place, and there was a broad 
 road winding away up to the higher pasture lands. 
 The road was made of great rocks beaten into 
 smoothness, and fresh spoor of cattle showed that 
 not long since a great herd had passed to the up- 
 land feeding grounds. 
 
 Directly in front of them as they landed was a 
 high cave. It was fringed with laurel bushes, which 
 grew on ledges in the cliff side. 
 
 Before the cave a great wall had been built in a 
 square, forming a courtyard. The wall was built 
 with enormous masses of rock, and fenced with a 
 palisade of pine trunks and massive boles of oak. 
 There was no sign of any living thing. Slowly 
 
THE FIRST EPISODE 29 
 
 and cautiously the party crept up to the wall. 
 Their weapons were in readiness as they stole 
 through the gateway. Within the square formed 
 by the wall they could see that it was a vast cattle 
 pen. " This must be the dwelling of some giant," 
 said Elpenor ; " men do not build like this. On 
 what strange place have we chanced ? " He looked 
 inquiringly at Ulysses when he had spoken, and 
 a ring of eager faces turned towards him whose 
 wisdom was never at fault, the favourite of 
 Athene. 
 
 " I think, comrades," said Ulysses, " that we 
 have been driven to the shores of the Cyclopes. 
 They are mighty giants, who work in the forge 
 of Vulcan making armour for the gods. Now 
 this cave must be the dwelling of one of them, and 
 I like not where we are. Let us but go within for a 
 short time and take what we can find, and then 
 hasten back to the island. The Cyclopes have no 
 boats and cannot follow us. But it would go hard 
 with us were we found, for they are crafty and 
 cruel monsters." 
 
 With hasty, curious footsteps they crossed the 
 echoing flags of the courtyard and entered the 
 cave. As the shadow of the entrance fell upon 
 them and the chill of the air inside struck on their 
 faces, more than one would have gladly stayed in 
 the warm outside sunshine. It was an ill-omened, 
 sinister place this lair of giants. 
 
 A pungent ammoniacal smell made them 
 cough and shudder as they crossed the threshold. 
 Ulysses turned with a grim smile to his followers. 
 
30 THE FIRST EPISODE 
 
 " Thank the gods we are seamen and sons of the 
 fresh wind. This Cyclops lives like a swine in a 
 stye." The large entrance to the cave gave a 
 fair light within, and their eyes soon became ac- 
 customed to it. Along one side of the cave were 
 folds of fat lambs and kids who bleated lustily 
 at them. At the end of the cave was a great 
 couch of skins by the ashes of a pine fire. Bones 
 and scraps of flesh were piled round, relics of some 
 great orgy, and a sickly stench of decay came from 
 the debris. 
 
 Piles of wicker baskets were loaded with huge 
 yellow cheeses, and there were many copper milk 
 pails and bowls brimful of whey. 
 
 The sailors rejoiced at such an abundance of 
 good cheer, and they killed one of the fattest of the 
 lambs and lit a fire to roast it. 
 
 "The giant will not return till even," said 
 Elpenor, " and by then we shall be far away. We 
 will make a good meal now, and then load the ship 
 with cheeses and drive off the best of the lambs. 
 Our comrades will welcome us home this night, for 
 we shall be full-handed ! " 
 
 So, careless of danger, they sat them down in 
 that perilous place and made merry on the giant's 
 cheer. They had brought skins of wine with them, 
 and they drank in mockery to their absent host. 
 
 In the middle of the feast one of the men 
 suddenly laid down his cup. " Hearken," he 
 said uneasily, "do you hear anything, friends?" 
 
 " I hear nothing," said Ulysses. " What sound 
 did you hear ? " 
 
THE FIRST EPISODE 31 
 
 "A distant sound, I thought," answered the 
 man, "as if the earth shook." 
 
 " There is nothing," said a third at length ; but 
 a certain constraint fell upon them all, and 
 anxiety clouded their faces. 
 
 " Let us begone," said Ulysses at length. " There 
 is what I do not like in the air. I fear evil." 
 
 He had but hardly made an end of speaking 
 when all of them there were struck rigid with 
 apprehension. A distant but rapidly-nearing 
 sound assailed their ears, a heavy crunching sound 
 like the blows of a great hammer upon the earth, 
 save that each succeeding blow was louder than 
 the last. They stood irresolute for one fatal 
 moment, and then started to run towards the 
 mouth of the cave. 
 
 The noise filled all the air, which hummed and 
 trembled with it. They reached the entrance, but 
 too late. Even as the first man came out into 
 the afternoon sunlight, a great herd of cattle came 
 pouring into the courtyard. Behind them, tower- 
 ing over the wall, as tall as the tallest pine on 
 the slopes of Hymettus, strode Polyphemus, the 
 giant king of the Cyclopes, son of the God 
 Poseidon. 
 
 The giant was naked to the waist, where he wore 
 a girdle of skins. One great eye burned in the 
 centre of his forehead, and a row of sharp, white 
 teeth were framed by thick dribbling lips, like the 
 lips of a cow. 
 
 Under his arm Polyphemus carried a bundle of 
 young sapling trees, which he had brought for 
 
32 THE FIRST EPISODE 
 
 faggots for his fire. He threw them on the floor of 
 the courtyard by the mouth of the cave with a 
 great crash. The adventurers crouched away at 
 the back of the cave in the darkness as the giant 
 entered. 
 
 He drove all the ewes of his flock before him, 
 leaving the rams outside in the court. Then he 
 took a great bole of rock, which scarce twenty 
 teams of horses could have moved, and closed the 
 mouth of the cave. 
 
 With a great sigh of weariness, which echoed 
 like a hissing wind and blew the silent bats which 
 hung to the roof this way and that in a frightened 
 eddy of wings, he sank down upon his couch of 
 skins. The giant had brought some of the fire- 
 wood into the cave with him and he threw it into 
 the embers. 
 
 A resinous piece of wood suddenly caught the 
 flame and flared up, filling the cavern with red 
 light. One of the sailors dropped his spear with 
 a loud clatter as the flames made plain the figure 
 of the monster. 
 
 Polyphemus turned his head and saw them. 
 
 He stared steadily at them with his single eye 
 for full a minute. A cruel smiled played on his 
 face. 
 
 "Who are you, strangers?" he said at length, 
 in a thick, low voice like the swell of a great 
 organ. " Merchants, are you ? Pirates ? And 
 whence come you along the paths of the sea ? " 
 
 Then Ulysses spoke in a smooth voice of con- 
 ciliation. "We are Greeks, oh lord, soldiers of 
 
THE FIRST EPISODE 33 
 
 Agamemnon's army, bound for home over the seas 
 from Troy. Bad weather has driven us out of 
 our course, and so we have come to you and beg 
 you to be our honoured host. Oh, great lord, 
 have reverence for the gods, for Zeus himself is 
 the god of hospitality." 
 
 Then the giant smiled cunningly. "You are 
 a man of little wit, stranger," he said, "or else 
 you have indeed come from the very end of the 
 world. I pay no heed to Zeus, for I am stronger 
 than he. But now, tell me, where is your 
 ship?" 
 
 But Ulysses, the wary one, saw the snare and 
 answered humbly, "The great Poseidon, god 
 of the deep, wrecked our ship upon the rocks, 
 and we alone survive of all our company." 
 
 The giant looked fixedly at the trembling band 
 for a moment. Then, with a sudden movement, 
 he snatched among the mariners and grasped 
 two of them in his mighty hand. 
 
 The swift horror remained with them in all their 
 after life. He stripped the clothes from each like 
 a man strips the scales from a prawn with one 
 quick twirl of his fingers. 
 
 Then he dashed the quivering bodies upon the 
 ground so that the yellow paste of the brains 
 smeared the stone — save for the horrid crunching 
 of bone and flesh, and the liquid gurgle of the 
 monster's throat as he made his frightful meal, 
 there was no sound in the cave. 
 
 Then he fell into a foul sleep. 
 
 Three times during the long night did Ulysses 
 C 
 
34 THE FIRST EPISODE 
 
 draw his sword to plunge it into the monster's 
 heart, three times did he sheathe it again. For 
 in his wisdom he knew that if he killed Poly- 
 phemus no one could ever move away the great 
 stone which shut them from the outside world. 
 
 In the morning Elpenor and one other died, and 
 the giant drove his flocks to pasture and closed 
 up the heroes in the cave. 
 
 Then Ulysses comforted the dying hearts of 
 his men, and as Polyphemus strode away over 
 the hills whistling to his cattle, he made a plan 
 for one last bid for freedom. 
 
 Leaning against the wall of the cave was a 
 great club of hard wood which the monster had 
 put there to dry. It was an olive-tree trunk as 
 big as the great spar of a ship. 
 
 This they took and sharpened with their swords, 
 and hardened it in the flame of the fire and hid 
 it carefully away. Then very sadly the sailors 
 cast lots as to who should be the four to help the 
 captain. All day long they sat in the foetid cave 
 and prayed to the gods for an alms of aid. And 
 their hearts were leaden for love of their valiant 
 comrades. 
 
 At eventime two more heroes died. 
 
 Then Ulysses rose, and though his knees were 
 weak and his face blanched with agony, he spoke 
 in a smooth voice. " My Lord Cyclops," he said, 
 " I have filled this bowl with wine which we 
 brought with us. I pray you drink, and perchance 
 your heart may be touched and you will let us go." 
 
 So the giant took the bowl from the king, and 
 
THE FIRST EPISODE 35 
 
 as Ulysses went near him his breath reeked of 
 carrion and blood. He drank the wine, which 
 was a sweet and drowsy vintage from the Lotus 
 Island. " Give me more," he cried thickly, " and 
 say how you are named, for I will grant you a 
 favour." 
 
 Ulysses filled the bowl for him three times. 
 " Oh, my lord," he said, " my friends and parents 
 call me Noman, for that is my name. Now, great 
 lord, your boon." 
 
 The giant leered at the hero with drunken 
 cunning. " Noman, since that is your name 
 Noman, you shall die last of all, and the others 
 first. That is your boon ! " 
 
 And once more he sank into his sleep, gorged 
 with blood and wine. 
 
 The hours wore on and the flames of the fire 
 sank into a bright red glow. The loud stertorous 
 breathing of the monster became more deep and 
 regular. Very silently the five rose from among 
 the rest and stole towards the fire with the great 
 stake. They pressed it into the heart of the white 
 hot embers and sat watching it change from black 
 to crimson, while little sparks ran up and down 
 the sides like flies upon the wall. 
 
 When the spar was just about to burst into 
 flame they drew it out, and with quick, nervous 
 footsteps carried it to where Polyphemus lay 
 sleeping. The glow from the hot hard wood 
 played upon that vast blood-smeared counten- 
 ance and the yellow wrinkled lid which veiled 
 the cruel eye. 
 
36 THE FIRST EPISODE 
 
 Ulysses directed the point to the exact centre 
 of the foul skin, and then with their old battle 
 cry of " Helen ! " the five heroes pressed it home 
 through the hissing, steaming eyeball, turning it 
 round and round until everything was burned 
 away. 
 
 They had just time to leap aside when the giant 
 rose in horrid agony. His cries of rage and pain 
 were like the cries of a thousand tortured beasts, 
 and the din was so great that pieces of rock began 
 to fall from the roof of the cave. He spun round 
 in his torture, beating upon the walls with his arms 
 and head until they were a raw and bleeding 
 wound. 
 
 At this awful sound mighty footsteps were heard 
 outside the cave as the other giants rushed down 
 from the hills. There came great and terrible 
 voices shouting together, and it was as though a 
 great storm was racing through the world. 
 
 " What ails you, brother, that you call us from 
 sleep in the night? " cried the giants. 
 
 " Help ! help ! brothers. Noman is murdering 
 me. I die!" 
 
 A chorus of thunderous laughter came rolling 
 back. " If Noman harms thee, then how should 
 we aid thee, brother ? 'Tis the gods who have sent 
 thee a sickness which thou must endure." 
 
 And now, through an aperture high up in the 
 cave, the light began to whiten, and showed day 
 was at hand. The footsteps of the Cyclopes grew 
 faint and ceased, but Polyphemus lay moaning by 
 the great stone which closed the entrance. 
 
THE FIRST EPISODE 37 
 
 The morning light grew stronger, and a breeze 
 stole in, fresh and clean, and played upon the faces 
 of the prisoners. 
 
 The ewes began to bleat, for their milking time 
 was at hand, and the rams cried out for freedom 
 and the green pastures of the hill. 
 
 The giant moved aside the stone to let them go 
 and in the morning sunlight the sailors could see 
 that he felt over them with his hands so that no 
 men should mingle with them and so escape. 
 
 First the ewes went out and then the young 
 rams, and last of all the great old rams, patriarchs 
 of the flock, began to move slowly towards the 
 door. 
 
 Then courage came back to Ulysses, and with it 
 all his cunning. Stooping low under the belly of 
 a great beast, he motioned to his friends to do 
 likewise, and, slowly, in this way, holding to the 
 fleece of the rams, they moved out of the cave. 
 They could feel the rams tremble when the giant's 
 hands ranged over the wool of their backs, but 
 nevertheless they came safely out into the light, 
 and stole down to where their ship yet lay at 
 anchor. 
 
 The air of the morning was like wine to them, 
 and the face of the water as dear as the face of a 
 well-beloved wife as they ran over the bright 
 yellow sand. 
 
 Then from the stern of the boat Ulysses cried 
 out in a great voice of triumph. At that sound 
 the monster came stumbling from his cave, reeling 
 like a drunken man, and calling on his father 
 
38 THE FIRST EPISODE 
 
 Poseidon, Lord of the Sea, to avenge him on his 
 enemies. He took up the stone that had barred 
 the cave and threw it far out into the water, but it 
 overshot the boat and did not harm the heroes, 
 though the wave of its descent flung the ship from 
 side to side as if it were a piece of driftwood. 
 The mariners bent to the oars, and the vessels 
 moved away from that accursed shore, slowly at 
 first but more swiftly as their tired arms grew 
 strong with the chance of safety, and the wine of 
 hope flowed in their veins once more. 
 
 They saw the sightless face of Polyphemus 
 working horribly, his mouth opening and shutting 
 like a dying fish as he looked heavenwards and 
 implored his mighty father's aid. 
 
 And after a space of mourning for the brave 
 dead the heroes set out again over the sad grey 
 seas, seeking Ithaca. 
 
 But the heart of King Ulysses was sick and 
 weary, for he dreaded the wrath to come, and most 
 of all he longed for home. 
 
THE SECOND EPISODE 
 
 The Adventure of the Palace in the 
 Wood 
 
 Ulysses slowly mounted the wooded hill. The 
 path which rose towards the summit wound in and 
 out through thick undergrowth, and his feet made 
 no sound upon the green moss of the track. 
 
 He had his spear ready for any game that he 
 might chance on, but for half a day he saw no 
 living thing save a few mailed lizards that lay 
 open-eyed upon a stone. 
 
 No birds twittered in the forest on the mountain- 
 side, only the wild bees sang in the stillness like 
 jewels with voices. 
 
 How beautiful the wood was ! and how mysteri- 
 ous also. Ulysses felt a quickening of the pulses 
 which did not come from fear, and a strange ex- 
 citement possessed him which arose from he knew 
 not what cause. 
 
 The trees in the forest were very old and grew 
 thickly together. The trunks were painted delicate 
 greens, greys and browns by lichens, and the foliage 
 overhead met and made a roof of bright leaves. 
 Beneath this canopy there was a sort of twilight 
 like the gloom in the temple of Zeus at Sparta. 
 
 39 
 
4° THE SECOND EPISODE 
 
 Ulysses toiled on and up. After a time the 
 trees began to open out and grow less thickly. 
 The moss-carpet began to be rocky and uneasy to 
 walk upon, so that Ulysses knew that he must be 
 nearing the top. 
 
 At last he climbed a few worn boulders and 
 stood alone upon the peak. From that great 
 height he could discern the sea on all sides of the 
 island. Beyond the thick woodlands below, the 
 yellow sands of the shore went out to meet the 
 water, and the king could see the ship riding at 
 anchor and a small boat plying from it to a tiny 
 group of black dots upon the beach. 
 
 Ulysses sent his gaze circling slowly over the 
 unbroken green of the woods. When his roving 
 glance fell upon the very centre of the island he 
 started suddenly and shaded his eyes from the 
 sunlight with both hands. A thick column of blue 
 smoke was rising from among the trees, and look- 
 ing more intently than before he could see the 
 gleam of white marble here and there through the 
 greenwood, and catch the sunlight glinting upon 
 copper. 
 
 He had learned what he came to know ; there 
 was life upon the island. But of what kind? 
 Did some fearful monster lurk yonder, three miles 
 away in the forest. Another Cyclops, perchance, 
 or some angry god wroth at a disturbance of his 
 privacy. 
 
 The still smoke rose into the soft air and a great 
 calm seemed to brood over the place. No birds 
 flew about the roofs. 
 
THE SECOND EPISODE 41 
 
 He began to retrace his steps down towards his 
 comrades on the shore to tell them what he had 
 seen. 
 
 The wood was as still as before, but when he 
 came to the meadow lands below he dropped 
 quickly behind a clump of fern, for his keen eyes 
 had seen a smooth brown flank not far away. A 
 great stag was drinking at a little stream which 
 sang its way down from the mountain to the sea. 
 They had touched at the island with very little 
 food left, and the king had promised that he would 
 return with spoils from hunting. 
 
 Just as the beast raised his head from the water 
 the spear flashed like a gleam of light from the 
 clump of fern, and the quarry stumbled, clattering 
 among the stones with a sob. 
 
 Then Ulysses made a rope of willow twigs and 
 tied the stag's feet together and brought him to 
 the ship. 
 
 Only half the crew were upon the shore, for the 
 rest had gone to explore the inward parts of the 
 island with Eurylochus as their leader. 
 
 They skinned the stag and made a fire, and 
 roasted the sweet flesh upon their spear points. 
 While they sat eating, a man with a white face 
 came running over the shore towards them, and as 
 they saw him come they rose with their arms in 
 fear, for they knew that once more they had come 
 to some dangerous and evil place, and that a 
 deadly peril lurked in the forest. 
 
 They saw he who ran was Eurylochus, and that 
 he ran in terror. 
 
42 THE SECOND EPISODE 
 
 But none followed him in pursuit, nor did any 
 arrow come singing like a bee from the shelter of 
 the neighbouring trees. 
 
 Eurylochus rushed up to them and sank ex- 
 hausted by the fire. Ulysses gave him wine, and 
 motioned the others to ask no questions but to let 
 the man tell his tale in his own way. For he 
 knew it would be more vivid so. 
 
 " More evil, comrades ! " he sobbed out at last, 
 " and good men and true lost to us for ever. 
 Know you where we have landed ? This accursed 
 place is .^Esea, the home of the Goddess Circe, and 
 I have seen her face to face." 
 
 Ulysses started violently, and despair crept into 
 his eyes as he motioned Eurylochus to proceed. 
 
 " We went up through the valleys," said the 
 lieutenant, " and entered the wood. After we had 
 walked long, and were thirsty and weary, we came 
 to an open glade in which stood the house of Circe. 
 It was built of polished marble with copper roofs, 
 and the trees made a thick wall on all sides of the 
 glade. A very strange, silent place ! All round 
 the house were lions and mountain wolves playing 
 with each other. We turned to fly in fear, but the 
 beasts fawned upon us with gentle paws and waving 
 tails, and we saw their eyes were sad and tame, and 
 they were all unlike the beasts of the field. They 
 were as dogs at supper begging for food from their 
 masters. But it was an awful sight never- 
 theless. 
 
 " Now, as we stood waiting in the porch, we 
 heard a sweet low song inside the palace, sweeter 
 
THE SECOND EPISODE 43 
 
 than any mortal song, like the flutes and harps of 
 the gods. Then we looked in, and we saw the 
 goddess weaving at a golden loom, and going up 
 and down before it as she sang. And Polites — oh, 
 dear Polites ! — called out to her, and the song 
 ceased, and Circe came out to us, and bade us 
 enter, and her beauty was like moonlight. Then 
 the men went in, but I remained, mindful of the 
 Cyclops and fearing harm. So I sat down in the 
 wood, and the beasts played round me, and the 
 lions licked my hands with their hard rough 
 tongues. But I could see what was toward in the 
 palace hall. 
 
 " The goddess led them to rich couches and chairs, 
 and she prepared a drink for them of golden honey 
 and purple wine, white fresh cheese, and meal of 
 corn. But she poured a brew of magic herbs 
 into the drink, and when they had passed the bowl 
 from hand to hand and drunk she waved a wand 
 of cedar wood over them." 
 
 He stopped, choking with emotion and shaking 
 with horror at what he had seen. He covered his 
 face with his hands. 
 
 Ulysses placed a firm hand upon his shoulder, 
 and he took up his tale once more. " And when 
 she waved her wand behold a horror ! For 
 suddenly my comrades dwindled, and were changed 
 to swine. The bristles of swine grew out upon 
 them, and they grunted like swine, but still the 
 souls of men shone out of their eyes. And she 
 drove them away into a pen, and threw them 
 beech nuts, laughing most musically. And I, 
 
44 THE SECOND EPISODE 
 
 the unhappy one, fled and am come hither with 
 my tale." 
 
 Ulysses rose with a pale set face, and stern hard 
 lines flashed out round his lips. For a moment he 
 prayed in silence to Athene. Then he slung his 
 strung bow upon his shoulder, and loosened the 
 arrows in the quiver, testing each one for a flaw in 
 the shaft. He took his great silver-studded sword 
 and buckled it round his waist. " I alone, my 
 comrades, must go to the palace of the en- 
 chantress," he said. " I have no choice but to 
 go and strive. May the gods preserve you, 
 friends." 
 
 He was preparing to move away when they all 
 entreated him to remain with them, but he would 
 not listen, and as he moved away and was lost to 
 their sight they broke out into loud praises of him 
 among themselves. 
 
 It was ever thus. Their father and captain was 
 first in wisdom and courage, and had always seemed 
 to them more god than man. 
 
 Ulysses passed over the meadows with slow sure 
 step, thinking deeply. The forest closed about 
 him, dark and lonely, and his walk changed. He 
 became alert, walking warily and softly. His keen 
 eyes roved over the untrodden paths, seeking to 
 pierce the mystery of the greenwood. 
 
 He had halted by a brook for a moment, de- 
 bating which path he should venture, when help 
 came to him. 
 
 There was a crash in the tree tops above him, 
 a glittering ball of light fell through the green, 
 
THEN HE CAME SWIFTLY UPON THE GLEAMING PALACE. 
 
 Page 45. 
 
THE SECOND EPISODE 45 
 
 and a wind rushed among the leaves, suddenly 
 rousing all the voices of the wood. 
 
 A young and beautiful man, holding a golden 
 rod, with a slight down upon his lip, came towards 
 him. 
 
 Ulysses knew that the God Hermes had ilashed 
 down from heaven to be his counsellor. He fell 
 upon his knees before the divine messenger. 
 
 " The great Athene has sent me to you, king," 
 said the god, " for she heard your prayer upon the 
 shore, and will deliver you from the forest danger. 
 Here is a sprig of the magic herb moly. Take it 
 in your hand for a safeguard against the wiles of 
 Circe. 
 
 " When you go into the palace she will mix you 
 her enchanted potion, and strike you with her 
 wand. Do you draw your sword, and make as 
 though to slay her. Then she will fear greatly and 
 swear to do you no harm." 
 
 Ulysses took the white flowered talisman, and 
 Hermes vanished among the trees. 
 
 Then he came swiftly upon the gleaming palace, 
 and going up to the marble porch struck upon it 
 with his sword hilt, and called to the goddess. 
 
 She glimmered towards him. Her hair was like 
 a young horse-chestnut fresh from the pod. Her 
 eyes were like pools of violet water, her neck was 
 a tower of ivory, and her lips were red as sunset. 
 
 The flower of evil, the goddess of strange sins ! 
 
 She smiled at the hero, and led him by the hand 
 to a table on which was a golden cup, proffering it 
 to him in welcome. 
 
46 THE SECOND EPISODE 
 
 Ulysses bowed low before her loveliness, and as 
 he drank there was a strange smile in his eyes. 
 
 The enchantress looked at him steadily. For a 
 single moment a ripple of doubt crossed her face, 
 but suddenly she seized her cedarn rod and smote 
 his side, crying, " Get you to the stye, and lie there 
 in filth with your companions." 
 
 Ulysses drew his great sword, and held it over 
 her with menacing eyes. She drooped to him, a 
 very woman 1 and clung round him, weeping, and 
 he could feel her warm heart beating, beating close 
 to his. Her lovely hair fell around her in a golden 
 cloud, and tears streamed down her cheeks as she 
 swore by the gods on the Holy Hill never to harm 
 him. 
 
 And looking on her sinful loveliness the brain of 
 Ulysses burned for her, and he took her lithe body 
 in his strong arms and pressed the blossom of her 
 lips to his. Her arms stole round him, and she 
 called him lord and king. 
 
 Then with a soft smile she led him to the court- 
 yard where the swine lay sleeping in the sun. 
 When the foul beasts saw Ulysses they set up a 
 horrid chorus of grunting, and he raged to see his 
 valiant friends so degraded. But clinging to him, 
 the goddess raised her hand, and the swine vanished, 
 and the goodly mariners stood up among the straw, 
 more straight and tall than before, with all the 
 marks of hardship and travel smoothed from their 
 faces. 
 
 That night the other mariners came up from the 
 shore, guided by Ulysses. And the amber lamps 
 
THE SECOND EPISODE 47 
 
 flared in the hall, and all night till daybreak they 
 made a great feast. They sang in praise of love 
 and wine, and Circe sat at the right hand of the 
 King of Ithaca. 
 
 When the rosy dawn rushed up the sky, the 
 goddess rose. 
 
 The lamps paled in the fresh new light, and the 
 feast was over. 
 
 The mariners lay in sleep about the board, and 
 the purple wine was spilt about them. 
 
 Only the Goddess and the Hero were awake. 
 
 Then she said, " Lord and love, the night is 
 over. The sun climbs the sky, the woodlands 
 awake. But let us go into my scented chamber, 
 my purple chamber where the day never comes. 
 There will we lie in love and sleep and forget the 
 day." 
 
 She led him by the hand over the cool marble 
 floor. The purple curtains fell behind them with a 
 soft noise of falling. All sound was hushed in the 
 courts of the palace, and the whole house was 
 still. 
 
THE THIRD EPISODE 
 
 How Ulysses walked in Hell, and of the 
 Adventure of the Sirens and Scylla 
 
 The King of Ithaca stood all alone on a gloomy 
 barren shore, spear in hand. The sky lowered 
 black overhead, and from the vast yawning hole in 
 the terrible cliff which rose up before him he 
 seemed to hear strange wailings and faint cries 
 coming, so it seemed, from a great distance. 
 
 Had he at last broken away from the loving 
 arms of Circe for this horror ? Stung once more 
 by the latent manhood in his blood, he had roused 
 his energies and left the enchanted island to set 
 out once more upon the weary quest for home. 
 He had bade the goddess farewell and sailed away 
 from the island of sweet lust to seek a ghostly 
 counsellor and to drink deep at that fountain of 
 wisdom which was once the glory of Thebes. 
 
 When Circe had bade him, if he would indeed 
 get back to Ithaca and leave her arms, seek the 
 dead Tiresias in the place of the dead it had 
 seemed an easy thing. 
 
 What were pale ghosts to a warrior of Troyland 
 and the vanquisher of Polyphemus ? If the old seer 
 
THEN HE WAS, IN AN INSTANT MOMEN]', AWARE OF A MORE 
 THAN MORTAL PRESENCE. 
 Pa^e 49. 
 
THE THIRD EPISODE 49 
 
 alone could tell him how to conquer the wrath of 
 Poseidon and win to his wife's arms once more, 
 should he not go with a will ? 
 
 And he had set out with his crew, and the magic 
 wind which Circe gave them had brought them 
 hither over grey sad seas, while they had touched 
 nor oars nor helm. 
 
 And now Ulysses went slowly up to the' fissure 
 in the rock, but a long solitary cry made him reel 
 back trembling as his brave heart had never done 
 before. 
 
 Then he was, in an instant moment, aware of a 
 more than mortal presence. Into that dread 
 place came the awful majesty of the Queen of 
 Heaven, and he fell to the ground before Athene. 
 
 The full flowing river of her speech came down 
 upon him. 
 
 "If thou wouldst hold thy wife once more, 
 Ulysses, and see thy rocky western home, then 
 must thou dare this peril. None can help thee 
 now save thou thyself. So it is decreed by the 
 gods. If so be it that thy courage fails thee now 
 then wilt thou be a wanderer for ever." 
 
 " Lady of Heaven," he said, " I dare not go. 
 Oh, anything but that." 
 
 " Penelope ! " she murmured sweetly. 
 
 " I cannot face the dead." 
 
 " Ithaca." 
 
 " Oh, listen to those wailings in the abyss ! " 
 
 " Thy father Laertes weeps yet for the 
 wanderer." 
 
 " The dead ! The dead are waiting there ! " 
 D 
 
50 THE THIRD EPISODE 
 
 " Men call thee Ulysses ! " said the goddess, 
 and at that word something moved within him 
 and his limbs began to stiffen, and once more the 
 hero felt the spear-shank hard and cold within his 
 grasp. 
 
 He raised his face, and there was once more the 
 old proud light upon it. Athene had gone, and 
 big with his new resolve he stepped towards the 
 blackness. 
 
 A voice came to him, thin, and far down. 
 
 " Ulysses ! Ulysses ! son of Laertes, I wait to 
 guide thee. Hermes, son of Zeus, is with thee. 
 Take courage in both hands and come." 
 
 The king moved forward, and the dark swallowed 
 him up. He stumbled along a descending rock- 
 strewn pathway. In the increasing gloom it 
 seemed to him that he was on the side of a steep 
 hill. A moaning wind encircled him. Now and 
 again a slight gleam was visible from the golden 
 helmet of the god. 
 
 Far far down he saw the leaden livid river of 
 death, and on the sullen tide floated the stately 
 funeral barge of Charon, the ferryman of the dead. 
 
 The wind grew even more mournful and sad as 
 they trod the meadows of asphodel and the grey 
 lilies of the underworld towards the marge of 
 Styx. 
 
 Then the god called out aloud to the ferryman. 
 As his voice echoed over the water, the dusky night 
 became full of the sound of wings, and dark shapes 
 filled the air. The spirits of the dead flapped 
 round them in continual movement. 
 
THE THIRD EPISODE 51 
 
 The ghosts began to call and cry to the living 
 hero. Some had little squeaky voices like bats, 
 others made a louder and more hollow sound. 
 
 The bowlings of the formless increased all round 
 Ulysses. 
 
 The inarticulate found utterance in the in- 
 definite. 
 
 The waves of weird and hopeless voices rose, 
 fell, undulated, now loud and shrill, now sobbing 
 into silence. Little eager whispers filled the hero's 
 ear. 
 
 And to the terror of these great murmurs were 
 added the sight of superhuman outlines, which 
 melted away in the gloom almost as they appeared. 
 Alecto and Tisiphone, the Furies, circled round 
 Ulysses, and Megeara flew through the dark to 
 her sisters. 
 
 A cold hand seemed placed upon the hero's 
 soul. Cries from precipice to precipice, from air 
 to water, went on unceasingly — the melancholy 
 vociferations of the lost ! 
 
 The loquacity of Hell ! 
 
 And in deadly fear, but resolute still, Ulysses 
 struggled on through this great twilight world, 
 open on all sides. As he walked on, the flying 
 outlaws of the tomb seemed to be swarming over 
 him and pressing him to the ground. He struggled 
 beneath the weight of lost souls, but his whirling 
 arms struck nothing but the empty air. 
 
 Fresh clouds of spirits pricked the twilight, 
 increased in size, amalgamated, thickened, and 
 hurried towards him, crying. 
 
52 THE THIRD EPISODE 
 
 They came to the brink of the river. Before 
 them, as they looked out over the water, was no 
 horizon, but an opaque lividity like a wan, moving 
 precipice, a cliff of the night. 
 
 Then the old man Charon bowed to the com- 
 mands of the gods and embarked them on his 
 barge. He gazed on Ulysses with his keen wicked 
 eyes, and his long white beard wagged in hideous 
 mockery at this mortal among the dead. 
 
 The thin pole dipped in and out of the water, 
 and the drops which fell from it were the colour of 
 leaden bullets, for there is no life in the water of 
 Styx. 
 
 Ulysses knelt in the bottom of the boat and 
 shut out Hell from his eyes with his hand. He 
 prayed to Athene for help to endure, and that he 
 might have an answer from the old Seer Tiresias 
 that would lead him safely home at last. 
 
 And now the other bank of the river began to 
 loom up before them and the air began to be 
 silent. 
 
 On the bank, as it seemed to welcome them, 
 stood a tall old man with a golden sceptre in his 
 hand. His face was full of an unutterable sadness, 
 and his eyes were horny and dim with blindness. 
 But his magic staff conducted him safely to the 
 river brink, and in a high shivering voice he hailed 
 Ulysses. 
 
 " Why hast thou come here, O wise one, leaving 
 the happy daylight for this cheerless shore? 
 Noble son of Laertes, I know thy quest, and thus 
 make answer. Father Zeus gave me power, which 
 

 THEY CAME TO THE BRINK OF THE RIVER. 
 
 Page 52. 
 
THE THIRD EPISODE 53 
 
 still remains, and I, an old blind ghost, can see 
 into the future even on the shores of Styx. Thou 
 seekest to know if thou wilt ever catch thy wife 
 in thy strong arms once more, and tread the well- 
 beloved fields of Ithaca. The mighty god of the 
 sea, Poseidon, is wroth with thee arid a malevolent 
 god. For even now his son Polyphemus stumbles 
 a bruised and sightless way among his native hills. 
 But yet you may return after long woes and heavy 
 toil. But one thing bear well in mind, O king, 
 else wilt thou suffer unbelievable things. When 
 thy ship touches at the Island Thrinacia, great 
 herds of cattle will be feeding there on the fresh 
 sweet grass which grows in the goodly upper 
 world. These be the beeves and steers of the 
 divine Helios, the Sun-God, and must be inviolate 
 to men. But if one sacred beast is slain, then thy 
 ship and all thy company will perish. 
 
 " Perchance thou thyself may win Ithaca forlorn, 
 and to find others in thy place, but that I know 
 not. I have spoken." 
 
 Then with a long melancholy cry the figure 
 vanished into the dark. 
 
 But in its place came a shadowy form which 
 made the heart of the hero leap and beat, so it 
 seemed all Hades was filled with the tumult. 
 
 His mother Anticlea stood before him. 
 
 Stretching out her cold, thin hands she spoke. 
 
 " My boy that I suckled, why hast thou come 
 into Hades not yet being dead, for I see that the 
 flesh is still warm upon thee for which I drank 
 to Zeus?" 
 
54 THE THIRD EPISODE 
 
 " Mother of mine, I sought Tiresias the Theban 
 prophet. I have not even yet won Ithaca nor seen 
 the dear ones there. A god is against me. So I 
 came through the spirits of the unburied, and over 
 the dark river to seek counsel of the seer. Knowest 
 thou in this beyond-earth if the beloved Penelope 
 still holds me in her heart ? or is she perhaps here 
 with thee, lost to the sunlight ? " 
 
 The mother of Ulysses answered, " Penelope is 
 as faithful and true as on thy wedding day, but 
 she is in a peril, so haste ye home. And now 
 farewell." Where Ulysses had seen his mother, 
 was but a little grey vapour which swayed and 
 vanished. 
 
 Then the hero called roughly to Charon, and 
 bade him take the pole and urge the barge back to 
 the starting-place. This time, though the multitude 
 of the dead circled over him with cries, begging 
 his help to take them out of Hades, he felt no 
 fear, for his mind was burning with other thoughts. 
 
 He mounted the long cliff side, and at last in 
 the distance saw a faint gleam of light stealing 
 down towards him. In the pale gleam the figure 
 of Hermes was manifest for a moment flitting up 
 to the day before him. 
 
 The cries grew fainter and more faint. The 
 light changed from grey to primrose, from primrose 
 to yellow. The little star which was the mouth of 
 the cave became a sun and then a world, and the 
 yellow turned into the white hot sunshine as Hell 
 faded utterly away. 
 
 On the beach the little blue waves sang on the 
 
THE THIRD EPISODE 55 
 
 yellow sand. The black divers rose lazily on 
 the swell, and the shields round the prow of the 
 ship shone like white fire. 
 
 Once more the vessel of heroes swam over the 
 seas. And now there was another quality in the 
 wind for them, and the world was a new world. 
 
 Their leader had told them that if they obeyed 
 his commands they would win home once more. 
 The news he had brought back from Hades made 
 them sturdy and strong of heart, and they vowed 
 that in all things they would trust in the king who 
 had dared the perils of the underworld. 
 
 Their thoughts turned with a lover's thirst to 
 images of their native land, tranquil skies, the old- 
 remembered meadows, cool brooks, and eternal 
 peace after their long wandering. 
 
 Hope beat high in the heart of Ulysses also. 
 The grey nightmare of Hell was over and in the 
 past, one more memory when in his own halls he 
 would weave his saga. 
 
 He had been near to the awful thing Death. 
 
 He had found that after all it was only Death. 
 
 The ship with a fair wind ran up a lane of light 
 into the setting sun, and when at length the moon 
 had risen and silvered all the sea, Ulysses called 
 the men round him. 
 
 " Comrades," he said, " with the dawn, if I have 
 kept the reckoning aright, we shall come to the 
 island where the Sirens dwell. Now the Lady 
 Circe warned me against the Sirens, the singers 
 who charm all men with their song. He who 
 
S6 THE THIRD EPISODE 
 
 listens to Parthenope, Ligeia and Leucosia must 
 stay with them for ever, listening spellbound to 
 the song until he dies. And the island is covered 
 with the bones of dead men. To listen is to die. 
 But I wish to hear the voices and to escape the 
 enchantment, and so obey my commands. When 
 we near the island do you all close your ears 
 with wax so that no sound can reach your brains. 
 And take a stout rope and bind me to the mast 
 so that I can in no wise loose myself. And how- 
 soever I may order or entreat you to let me go to 
 the Sirens, if their magic song enchants me, take 
 no heed, but row steadily onwards until the island 
 is far astern. Then only may you set me 
 free." 
 
 As dawn came, a faint grey line upon the horizon 
 showed itself on the starboard bow. At the sight, 
 with some laughter, for it was difficult to believe 
 in the perils of sweet music ! — even for men who 
 had seen the wonders that they had seen — the 
 men began to press yellow wax from the honey- 
 comb into each other's ears. 
 
 Then when no one among them could hear the 
 flapping of the sail or the voice of the sea, nor 
 could tell the meaning of his neighbour's voice, 
 they went up to Ulysses, and with many light- 
 hearted jests bound him to the mast, and because 
 his strength was well known to them they reeved 
 the rope with a treble hitch. No living man 
 could have escaped from such bonds. 
 
 As sailors will, they treated the whole thing as 
 a huge jest, making a mock mutiny of it as they 
 
THE THIRD EPISODE 57 
 
 bound the captain. Ulysses could not help 
 smiling at their mirth. 
 
 After such wise precaution he had no fear, and 
 in his heart of hearts he did not believe that the 
 song of the Sirens would affect him much, though 
 he followed the advice of Circe and made himself 
 a prisoner. 
 
 But a fierce curiosity possessed him. He cursed 
 the slowness of the wind, for, as they bound him, 
 the island was still a low line without colour on 
 the water, and called out to the men to row faster, 
 forgetting that they could not hear him. 
 
 Slowly the grey island became purple, then 
 brown, and at last showed itself a green, low, 
 pleasant land, a place of meadows. 
 
 The wind was behind them, and until they came 
 quite close under the lee of the island Ulysses 
 could hear no voices but those of the wind and 
 waves. Then faintly at first, but rapidly becom- 
 ing more sonorous and sweet, he heard the magic 
 voices which were to ring in his ears in all his 
 after life. 
 
 No words of his at any time could express the 
 loveliness of those voices, of the unutterable 
 sweetness of it, nothing. 
 
 The strains floated over the still sea like harps 
 of heaven. 
 
 All that man had known or desired in life, all 
 the emotions which had stirred the human heart, 
 were blended in those magic voices. The world 
 had nothing more to give ; here, here at last, was 
 the absolute fulfilment of beauty. 
 
S8 THE THIRD EPISODE 
 
 Louder and more piercingly sweet, as the un- 
 conscious sailors bent to the oars in earnest, and 
 the sweat ran down their bare brown backs. 
 
 " Whither away, whither away, whither away ? Fly no more. 
 Whither away from the high green field, and the happy 
 
 blossoming shore ? 
 Day and night to the billow the fountain calls : 
 Down shower the gambolling waterfalls 
 From wandering over the lea." 
 
 The face of Ulysses grew wan and grey as the 
 ship passed a projecting point of rock. On the 
 smooth green turf the three singers were standing. 
 In face and form they were sweet and lovely girls. 
 
 Naked to the waist, they wore long flowing 
 draperies below, and as they sung the rosy bosoms 
 rose and fell with the music, and the lucid throats 
 rippled with song. 
 
 " Mariner, mariner, furl your sails, 
 For here are blissful downs and dales, 
 And merrily, merrily carol the gales. 
 And the spangle dances in bight and bay. 
 And the rainbow forms and flies on the land 
 Over the islands free ; 
 
 And the rainbow lives in the curve of the sand ; 
 Hither, come hither and see." 
 
 And still the ship went on, but more slowly, as it 
 were some force were at work deadening the arms 
 of the rowers. 
 
 Then the shrill loveliness fired the hero's blood, 
 and he knew that he must go to the three lovely 
 singers on the strand. Earth held nothing better 
 than this — to lie for ever with that music in his 
 ears. 
 
THE THIRD EPISODE 59 
 
 "Whither away? listen and stay: mariner, mariner, fly no 
 more." * 
 
 Then, as if drawn by the long cadenced notes as 
 by cords, Ulysses gathered up his mighty strength 
 and strove with his bonds. 
 
 But the sailors had done their work too well, and 
 the rope only cut deeply into the flesh. 
 
 The white arms were stretched out to him in 
 supplication, the song grew more full of unearthly 
 beauty than before — and the ship was slowly pass- 
 ing by. 
 
 Ulysses called out to the crew in an agony of 
 command and entreaty. 
 
 One of the men happened to look up and saw 
 his face. He grinned,' nudged his companion, 
 and turned away. 
 
 The song grew fainter, the three tall figures 
 dwindled. The face of Ulysses grew ashen, and 
 when at length they came to him and cut the ropes 
 he said no word. 
 
 He went alone to the prow of the vessel and 
 looked out over the fair sun-bathed sea, and there 
 were tears in his eyes, and his mouth was softer 
 and more tremulous than it was wont to be. 
 
 So they came away from Parthenope, Ligeia 
 and Leucosia, the Sirens. 
 
 The next day Ulysses called the crew together 
 as before and told them of the new peril that 
 
 * These few lines of the Sirens' song have heen taken from 
 Lord Tennyson's beautifiil poem " The Sea Fairies." 
 
6o THE THIRD EPISODE 
 
 awaited them. For the wise Circe had warned 
 him that after the island of the Sirens he must 
 needs encounter the terrible Scylla, for the ship 
 must pass by her lair on its passage towards 
 Home. 
 
 But Ulysses knew that it was impossible to fight 
 the monster, and that some of the crew were fated 
 to die, but in his wisdom he did not tell them that. 
 
 He finished his sf)eech as follows : — " And so, 
 my friends, the gods ordain that we must face 
 Scylla, and the whirlpool Charybdis. There is no 
 other way. But courage ! always have courage. 
 I who brought you safe from out of the cave of 
 the Cyclops will bring you safe from this also. 
 And so onward and have stout hearts." 
 
 It was a misty day, and everything was shadowy 
 and faint, but the ship moved slowly along a sheer 
 wall of black cliff which towered up above them 
 for a thousand feet or more. The top was lost in 
 the mist. It was a lowering, frightful place. 
 
 One of the sailors gave a shout which echoed 
 back to them in mournful mockery through the 
 mist. 
 
 They rowed on steadily, hugging the cliflf. 
 Ulysses stood in the prow of the boat. He had 
 put on armour and took two spears in his hand. 
 
 His eyes searched the face of the cliff till they 
 ached from the minute scrutiny. 
 
 This waiting for the inevitable was terribly 
 unnerving. Ulysses himself, knowing that some 
 must die, was heavy and sad at heart as they 
 glided along the side of the cliff. 
 
THE THIRD EPISODE 6i 
 
 To the left the great whirlpool seethed and 
 boiled, its outermost convolution scarce a bow-shot 
 away. When it threw up the water the spray 
 dashed up a hundred feet and fell in showers over 
 the sailors, and as the water ran back in the ebb 
 Ulysses could see, far down the black and spinning 
 sides, to where the old witch Charybdis dwelt on 
 the dark sand of the sea bottom. 
 
 Suddenly the end came. A loud barking and 
 howling startled them all so that each man paused 
 on his oar. A pack of hounds were unkenneled, 
 so it seemed, somewhere on the cliff face in the 
 mist. 
 
 Then a sickly musky smell enveloped them, so 
 foul and stale that they coughed and spat even 
 as their blood ran cold with fear. 
 
 Through the curtain of mist, which had suddenly 
 grown very thick, six objects loomed right over 
 the boat. 
 
 Six long tentacles swayed and quivered over the 
 sailors, and at the end of each was a grinning head 
 set with cruel fangs and a little red eager tongue 
 that flickered in and out. 
 
 For a moment the heads hung poised, and then 
 each sought and found its victim. 
 
 Six sailors were slowly drawn out of the boat, 
 shrieking the name of Ulysses for the last time in 
 their death agony. And all the time the barking 
 of the hounds in the obscene womb of the monster 
 went on unceasingly. 
 
 Then the fury of flight came upon them. With 
 bursting brains and red fire before their eyes they 
 
62 THE THIRD EPISODE 
 
 laboured at the great oars until the wood bent and 
 shook and the ship leaped forward like a driven 
 horse. 
 
 And they left the strait of death and came out 
 of the mist into a wide sunlit sea. But still a 
 sound of distant barking came down the wind. 
 
 So Scylla took her horrid toll of heroes. 
 
 But Ulysses called them to prayer and lamenta- 
 tion for the dead. 
 
THE FOURTH EPISODE 
 
 How Ulysses lost his Merry Men and came 
 A Waif to Calypso with the Shining 
 Hair 
 
 The crew sat round a fire of drift-wood. 
 
 There was shelter where they sat, in a natural 
 alcove of rock, but outside the great winds 
 thundered and the wrack flew before the storm 
 and a mighty unceasing roar filled the air. 
 
 The faces of all the sailors wore a sullen look. 
 Hunger had begun to suck the colour from their 
 cheeks, their eyes were prominent and strained, 
 their movements without energy or vigour. 
 
 A rude shelter of sailcloth and various debris 
 that was scattered about seemed to show that 
 for some time, at least, they had made their home 
 in this place where the winds did not come. 
 
 Ulysses was not among them. They were 
 talking in low, discontented tones among them- 
 selves. 
 
 "A whole month," said Eurylochus, "a whole 
 month have we been sea bound in this accursed 
 island. I am sick of islands ! " 
 
 63 
 
64 THE FO UR TH EPISODE 
 
 "Never have we put to shore without some 
 evil thing befalling," said another. " Oh, for 
 Ithaca ! " 
 
 " I doubt we shall ever see Ithaca again," said 
 a third. " We will be wanderers till we die ; that is 
 what I think. And this place is like to be the 
 grave of all of us. I never knew a wind so 
 furious to blow so long. We should sink in an 
 hour did we but put out." 
 
 " There is only food for one day more, and that 
 sparse," said Eurylochus. " For my part, my limbs 
 are heavy as brass and the strength is all gone 
 from me. I could not move an oar now. Man 
 needs meat and wine or the fires of hunger burn 
 the sinews and dry the blood. Brown meat and 
 red wine ! I could fill my belly till the skin 
 cracked ! " 
 
 " The rich brown meat, mate ! Dost mind the 
 soft kids on Circe's island ? By Zeus, I can taste 
 them now ! " 
 
 " Ay and the fat cows, roast till the blood ran 
 out of them like liquid life." 
 
 " I can even smell the smell of the roasting meat 
 now. A welcome smell to a hungry man." 
 
 " Would that we had never left Circe. 'Twas a 
 kind queen, meet for our master! but her girls 
 were kindly in love also." 
 
 " To Hades with the girls ! " said Eurylochus. 
 Thy talk of meat makes me heave with desire." 
 
 He looked round cautiously before he continued. 
 
 "Friends," he said in a low, rapid whisper, "tell 
 me, are ye purposing to starve in the midst of 
 
THE FO UR TH EPISODE 65 
 
 plenty ? Saw ye ever such fat oxen and cows as 
 graze in the pastures above ? " 
 
 " Never did I see such cattle," answered another 
 hungry wight. " Gods ! they would make a feast 
 for kings." 
 
 " And yet pain and sickness is all over us, and 
 we lust for food till we know not what we do ! " 
 
 " Captain's orders ! " 
 
 " Ulysses has lost his cunning for sure, and 
 hunger has turned his brain. He is no more the 
 brave leader of old. He goes wandering alone 
 among the rocks and sleeps all day. And his eye 
 is clouded and courage has left his voice. Friends, 
 shall we die thus ? No man of ye loveth Ulysses 
 better than I love him. Is he not my kinsman 
 indeed? He brought us from the Cyclops' cave 
 and dared the perils of Hell. All this I know and 
 say before you now. But the king is distraught 
 and moody. He does not know what he is doing. 
 He would be the firsl to join us with the merry 
 and grateful word were he to come back and fine 
 the good red beef roasting on the fire and smell 
 the savoury smoke." 
 
 " Ay, captain was never one set against a feast ! 
 He loves good cheer, as becomes a proper fighting 
 man." 
 
 " My mind doubts me, comrades," said another. 
 " Should we not rather trust the king even unto 
 this last thing ? Have we ever found him wanting 
 yet ? Did he not make us promise ? Zeus knows 
 if the thought of hot meat does not tickle my 
 belly as well as thine — more, friend, for thou hast 
 
 E 
 
66 THE FOURTH EPISODE 
 
 a paunch yet and none have I — but I for one trust 
 in the captain. He knows." 
 
 Then Eurylochus took up his spear as if he had 
 decided and the discussion was over. 
 
 "Listen, men," he said. " In all shapes death is 
 a terrible thing. But I would rather die quickly 
 at Scylla's hands than fade into Hades through 
 famine. Hunger is the worst death of all. Come 
 with me and bring your spears. We will choose 
 the best of the herd and sacrifice to the gods. 
 When we reach home again, can we not build a 
 great temple to Helios, and fill it with rich gifts ? 
 The Sun-God, who gives light to all the world, 
 will not grudge us a cow or two. Not he. 'Tis a 
 more genial god than that. Ay, and though we 
 indeed anger the god and he wreck us in the 
 deep 1 I put ye this question — Would ye not 
 rather swallow the cold salt water for a moment 
 and so die, than die for days among the rocks ? " 
 
 His pale face worked with the force of his words. 
 His eyes glistened with a terrible eagerness. As 
 he spoke in a high, quivering nervous tenor, 
 shaking his spear at them, the eagerness crept into 
 their eyes also. 
 
 Famine strangely transforms the human face. 
 They became men with brute's eyes. 
 
 Eurylochus marched away out of the shelter 
 towards the pasture lands, and the others followed 
 him. New strength seemed to come to them as 
 they walked towards the herd, which could be 
 seen, a red brown mass, grazing on a plain some 
 half-mile away. 
 
THE FOURTH EPISODE 67 
 
 The full force of the wind struck and retarded 
 them as they emerged into the open, but it brought 
 the lowing of the cattle to their ears and they 
 pressed on. 
 
 Ulysses lay sleeping about a quarter of a mile 
 from the cove. 
 
 He had wandered away from his companions in 
 great despondency. For four long weeks the gale 
 had roared past the island away to the north. 
 The rain had fallen like spears, the thunder 
 stammered its awful message, the green and white 
 lightning snapped like whips of light. In all this 
 the king saw the finger of evil. He knew that 
 the mighty Poseidon still watched his fortunes 
 with cruel, angry eyes. For this storm was no 
 chance warring of the elements, but came, he knew, 
 directed against him and his fated crew. 
 
 Food had got lower and lower, the men began 
 to grumble, and black looks of reproach met his 
 eyes on every side. 
 
 And all the time the fat cattle of Apollo cropped 
 the tender shoots of the grass, the full udder 
 dropped with creamy milk, and the shining flanks 
 of the great beasts sent an alluring message to the 
 starving men. 
 
 Often Ulysses withdrew into some lonely place 
 and prayed to Athene, but she seemed asleep or 
 weary of his woes, for there came no answering 
 sign. 
 
 On this day hope seemed to have utterly de- 
 parted from him. There was no break in the 
 leaden clouds of the future. 
 
68 THE FOURTH EPISODE 
 
 He had wandered away along the seashore, and 
 fallen asleep from languor and grief, lulled by the 
 great singing of the gale overhead. 
 
 In his sleep he dreamed vividly. He saw the 
 interior of the island. Suddenly, from among a 
 clump of trees, a bright beam of golden light shot 
 up heavenwards. He knew that one of the shep- 
 herd nymphs of Apollo went with some message 
 for the god, and he shivered and moaned in his 
 slumber. 
 
 Then it seemed that he was in a great place of 
 cloud, an immense formless world of mist. And 
 through the mist came a terrible voice which 
 turned him to stone. It was the voice of Apollo 
 crying in anger. 
 
 " Oh, Father Zeus, and all ye gods who dwell 
 upon the hill above the thunder ! punish the 
 comrades of Ulysses for their crime. They have 
 speared my beautiful cows that were my joy and 
 of which I had great pleasure. Whenever I 
 turned my face and shone upon the world I 
 watched them feeding in my island. And now 
 these whelps have slain the finest of all my herd. 
 Vengeance ! Bitter vengeance, or will I go far 
 down into Hell and leave the world in gloom and 
 shine no more upon it. I will make Hades a place 
 of warmth and laughter, and the world all grey 
 and full of death." 
 
 In the midst Ulysses awoke with that angry cry 
 still ringing in his ears. With a sick apprehension 
 he hurried along the slippery boulders to the 
 shelter place where he had left the crew. 
 
THE FOURTH EPISODE 69 
 
 Within a hundred yards of the place he knew 
 the worst. The wind blew a savoury smoke 
 towards him, and his stomach yearned while his 
 brain trembled in fear. 
 
 The men werain high glee when he came round 
 the corner of rock among them, great joints turned 
 upon rough spits, skins and horns encumbered the 
 ground, and the rich fat dropped hissing into the 
 fire. 
 
 A sudden silence fell upon their merriment as 
 the captain came. He spread out his hands with 
 a gesture of despair. 
 
 "Comrades," he said sorrowfully, "ye have 
 chosen to do this thing against my advice, and 
 now it is done we must abide by the deed. I 
 cannot reproach you. Still, I know that we must 
 pay heavily for this sin against the Sun-God. 
 Farewell, Ithaca ! And now it is over let us 
 eat of our unhallowed spoil. It may be that 
 this is our last meal together, comrades." 
 
 As he had finished speaking a strange and 
 ominous thing happened. The blood-stained 
 skins began to creep about like live things 
 upon the ground. 
 
 The red meat over the fire withered and moaned 
 as if in pain. The air was filled with a lowing as 
 of cows. 
 
 Then in mad fear and riotous despair they fell 
 upon the horrid meal with eager, tremulous hands. 
 Ulysses was taken with the madness like the 
 rest, and until sundown they gorged the dripping 
 meat till they could eat no more, and 
 
70 THE FOURTH EPISODE 
 
 their faces were bloated and their eyes were 
 strained 
 
 As the sun sank into the sea with a red and 
 angry face the wind dropped and ceased. A great 
 calm spread over the waters. When the moon rose 
 the ocean was like a sheet of still silver. 
 
 Very hurriedly, whispering among themselves, 
 as though they were afraid of their own voices, 
 they launched the ship and rowed out into the 
 moonlight, racing away from the accursed isle. 
 
 And now the last scene of all came very 
 quickly. 
 
 Ulysses was wont to say that of all the things 
 he had witnessed in his life this was the saddest 
 and most terrible. 
 
 A sudden crackle of thunder pealed over the 
 sky. A fantastic network of lightning played 
 round the ship like lace. 
 
 A dark cloud formed itself directly over the 
 boat, not two mast's lengths above, and all the 
 waves below became like ink in the shadow. For 
 a time it hung there motionless, and then suddenly 
 a mighty wind swooped down on them like a hawk 
 drops out of the sky. The mast snapped like a 
 pipe-stem and crashed upon the deck, braining the 
 helmsman in its fall. A smooth green wave, just 
 slightly bubbling with froth on the crest, but like 
 a hill of oil, rose and swept over the ship. 
 
 Ulysses clung to a stanchion with all his mighty 
 strength, and was just able to battle against the 
 flood. When it passed over him he saw that 
 every man of the crew was in the water. For 
 
THE FO URTH EPISODE 7 1 
 
 a few moments they floated round him with sad 
 cries of farewell, and then one by one they were 
 swept into the Ultimate. 
 
 The timbers of the ship broke away and she fell 
 to pieces. With a loud cry to Athene, Ulysses 
 launched himself on the waves clinging to a great 
 log which had formed part of the keel. A swift 
 current urged him along far away from the scene 
 of the wreck. 
 
 The purpose of the god was accomplished, and 
 the waves fell, and the moonlight shone out clear 
 and still once more. 
 
 On all the waste of waters no sail, no cape nor 
 headland broke the silver monotone. 
 
 Loneliness descended upon the hero like a cloak ; 
 an utter abandonment such as he had never known 
 before in life. 
 
 The water began to grow very cold. 
 
 An awful silence lay over the sea. The terrible 
 jubilant silence of a god revenged ! 
 
 " And so all those well-known, long-tried voices 
 were still ! Never again would Eurylochus drain 
 the full tankard in a kindly health." 
 
 Ulysses bowed his head, and bitter tears welled 
 up into his eyes. 
 
 " Never again would grey old Diphilos stand at 
 the helm of the good ship, sending his keen eyes 
 out over the sounding wastes. How the last 
 mournful cry of Jamenos had echoed through 
 the storm. Young, straight Jamenos who had 
 approached the Cyclops with him, beautiful young 
 Jamenos, with the bold eyes and curiing hair ! 
 
72 THE FO UR TH EPISODE 
 
 And there was old Perdix too, old Perdix 
 with his grin and chuckle and his tales. Never 
 would Perdix sit by the fire and make merry 
 yarns any more. The little twinkling rat-like 
 eyes were stark and glazed now. Perdix stood 
 beside the livid river among the rushing spirits. 
 He would have no jests now." 
 
 He saw them all together, in peril, storm, and 
 quiet weather. His trusty men ! His dear 
 comrades ! 
 
 And now he alone was left, alone, alone, 
 alone. 
 
 Perhaps Athene herself was still with him and 
 had not even yet forgotten her wanderer. As 
 the thought struck along his brain a faint blush 
 of hope began to flush his pallid cheek. 
 
 He floated on and on. Dawn came, waxed 
 strong, waned. Tremulous evening came like a 
 shy novice about to take the veil of night. 
 Night blazed in moonlit splendour once 
 more. 
 
 And at the hour when night stands still and 
 dawn is not yet, the waves, kindlier than before, 
 carried him to the island of Ogygia, where he 
 heard the sea nymphs on the shore singing him a 
 fairy welcome. 
 
 Soft hands drew him from the deep, soft voices 
 welcomed him ; it seemed as if one queenly pre- 
 sence, a tall woman with golden hair which shone, 
 towered among the rest, and he fell into a gentle 
 swoon, a soft surrender to sleep. 
 
THE FOURTH EPISODE 73 
 
 We watch the fleeting isles of shade 
 
 That float upon the sea 
 When 'neath the sun some cloud hath spread 
 
 His purple canopy. 
 The woodbine odours scent the air, 
 
 The cypress' leaves are wet 
 From meadow springs that rise among 
 
 Parsley and violet. 
 Here shall the Wanderer remain ; 
 
 The land of Love's Delight ; 
 Shall here forget the past, the old 
 
 Sad spectres of the night." 
 
 Soft and low the sea-maidens sang while 
 Ulysses lay sleeping — even as they had sung 
 nine long years ago when the sea cast him up 
 on the shores of Calypso's kingdom. 
 
 It was bright sunlight, a great fire of cedar 
 wood burnt on an altar before the cave of the 
 goddess who loved the hero, and the smoke 
 scented all the island. 
 
 Among the grove of stately trees which 
 bordered the smooth pneumatic lawn in front of 
 the cave Ulysses lay sleeping on a bed of fresh- 
 born violets. A purple mantle shot with gold, 
 woven by Calypso, was spread over him. 
 
 The poplars and fragrant cypresses were full of 
 sweet-voiced birds. 
 
 Over the mouth of the cave grew a great vine, 
 and the black grapes drooped and fell from it in 
 their abundance. 
 
 From the centre of the short emerald grass four 
 springs of clear water came up in thin whips and 
 flowed away in flashing rivulets. 
 
 This was the home and kingdom of the Goddess 
 
74 THE FOURTH EPISODE 
 
 Calypso, and was so beautiful a place that the 
 fame of it had even reached Olympus, and the 
 gods knew of the island. 
 
 And nine long years had passed ! It was nine 
 ago years that the pale gaunt waif of the sea — a 
 sad jetsam ! — had swooned upon the yellow sand, 
 while the bright-haired lady of Ogygia had gazed 
 in wonder upon him. 
 
 Circe had enthralled Ulysses for a year in her 
 palace of wine and sorcery and lust. That was 
 a time of fierce sinful pleasures, of wild deliriums. 
 
 The fire had blazed, burnt, and died away in that 
 still marble house in the wood. 
 
 But how different these nine dreamy years ! 
 The mild-eyed, loving goddess lay in the hero's 
 arms each night in tender love and sleep. She 
 was no Circe, but a lady of quieter delights. Her 
 spell was upon him, he was chained to her kind 
 side by a magic influence, but she loved him, and 
 was no Circe. 
 
 Nine long years ! 
 
 Those old valiant mariners from the plains of 
 Troyland were only white bones now, part of the 
 sea-bed. They were far-off, remote, sweet sad 
 memories. 
 
 Calypso was the slow and gracious music to 
 which his life moved now. Often he doubted all 
 the past. They were phantoms all those old half- 
 forgotten people. 
 
 So he lay sleeping among the violets. The 
 scented wind gave a myriad whispers to the 
 poplars. The four springs sang a thin jocund 
 
THE FOURTH EPISODE 75 
 
 song as they burst from the dark rich earth into 
 the sunshine, and within her cave the goddess 
 threw the golden shuttle and made a low croon- 
 ing music as she thought of her stately warrior 
 hard by, and sent him dreams of her white neck 
 and wealth of golden hair. 
 
 She knew he would never leave her now. Her 
 spells were too strong. Her love too great. 
 
 During the first years he had been wont to 
 wander away to a lonely part of the shore. He 
 would sit gazing with haunted eyes out over the 
 sea, and his thoughts went to. Penelope, and he 
 shed a tear for old King Laertes and whispered 
 to little Telemachus. 
 
 But that also was over for him now. Ithaca was 
 but a misty cloud, and the dear ones there but 
 dreams in this island of dreams. 
 
 The face of Ulysses was changed. The hard 
 lines of endeavour, the brown painting of the 
 wind, had gone from it. Noble and beautiful still, 
 but even in sleep it could be seen to have lost its 
 force. 
 
 Suddenly, in the dim recesses of the grove, there 
 was a silence. The birds stopped singing, and the 
 murmur of the insects droned, swelled louder, and 
 died away. 
 
 Nothing was heard for a moment but the trickle 
 of the streams, and then this also faded from sound. 
 
 By the side of the sleeping hero stood the tall 
 white figure of Athene. At her feet yellow flowers 
 broke out like little flames, and her deep, grave 
 eyes were bent full upon Ulysses. 
 
76 THE FOURTH EPISODE 
 
 Perhaps he felt that unearthly majesty above 
 him, for he turned and moaned in his sleep. 
 
 The goddess, like a statue of white marble, 
 stood looking down at him for several moments. 
 Then with a little sigh she stooped and touched 
 his forehead with her long slender fingers. 
 
 The birds began a full-throated ecstasy of song, 
 which filled the wood with a sound as of a myriad 
 tiny flutes. The furry bees went swinging through 
 the sunlit grove with deep organ music, the shrill 
 tinkle of the streams sent its cool message once 
 more into the hot swooning air. 
 
 Where the goddess had stood there was nothing 
 but a clump of yellow crocus and some violets 
 more vivid than the rest. 
 
 Ulysses awoke with sudden stammerings like a 
 frightened child. He looked round him with 
 strange troubled eyes. 
 
 Then slowly he rose up and walked through the 
 wood towards the cave of Calypso. 
 
 Forgotten fingers were upon the latch of his 
 brain, old scenes began to move through it in 
 swift familiar panorama, he was as a man who 
 wakened from a sleep of years. 
 
 One word burst from his lips — " Penelope 1 " His 
 face cleared as though a mist had suddenly dis- 
 persed before it, and his walk quickened into a 
 firm, long stride as he came out on to the 
 lawn. 
 
 He stopped short as he saw the mouth of the 
 cave. Calypso was pacing up and down with her 
 sinuous graceful step, and at her side walked a tali 
 
THE FOURTH EPISODE 77 
 
 young man with a golden wand in his hand and 
 winged sandals upon his feet. 
 
 And Ulysses knew him for the God Hermes who 
 had given him the sacred herb in Circe's island and 
 who had led him down the gloomy ways of Hades. 
 
 They turned and came towards him. 
 
 " He will never wish to go, Hermes," he heard 
 Calypso say as they drew near. 
 
 " King,'' said the god, " I am come to you with 
 a message from Father Zeus. He hath seen you 
 lying in this island with the goddess, and bids 
 me tell you of Ithaca and home once more, that 
 your heart may beat strong within you and you 
 may adventure forth and find your wife Penelope 
 in your ancestral house. And the father pro- 
 mises you divine protection. Your long wander- 
 ings shall be at an end, and you shall come safely 
 to the land of your heart's desire. Is it your will 
 to go and leave the lady ? " 
 
 The goddess laughed a little musical laugh ot 
 certain triumph. 
 
 " Go ! " she cried. " Ah, he will not go, Hermes. 
 Could he not have left me any time these nine 
 long years of love ? Go ! No, my mariner loves 
 too well the soft couches of Ogygia, and these 
 weak arms can yet hold his wisdom captive. 
 How will you answer, my heart's love?" 
 
 " To Ithaca ? " said Ulysses. 
 
 " Yes, to Penelope thy wife, who sorroweth for 
 thee and is in peril," answered the god. 
 
 A bright light flashed into Ulysses' eyes and 
 his cheek was flushed with hope. 
 
78 THE FOURTH EPISODE 
 
 " Now have I tarried too long in this place," he 
 cried. " I know not why, but never before has 
 my heart burned within me as now. Yes, to 
 Ithaca ! back to my father and my wife and the 
 old hills of home ! Zeus be praised, for I who was 
 asleep waken this day, and manhood is mine once 
 more.'' 
 
 Then Calypso drooped her lovely head like a 
 tired flower as the God Hermes flashed up into 
 the sky like a beam of light. 
 
 " I see something of which I know not has 
 come over you, lord of my heart," she said sadly. 
 " I have no more power, save only the power of 
 my deep love for you which you have forgotten. 
 Who am I that I can combat the will of Zeus or 
 the hardness of your heart ? I have loved you 
 well and cherished you, and shall I love you less 
 now ? No, I am no cruel goddess. Go, and my 
 heart be with you ; and what power is mine to 
 aid you that shall you have. I doubt," she said, 
 with a sudden burst of anger, " I doubt you have 
 some greater goddess than I at your side, some 
 lovelier lady, else how could my spell be broken ? 
 But now come within and make a farewell feast with 
 me. My heart is sick and I would die. But one 
 thing I can give you if you will not go. Would 
 you be immortal ? Stay with your lover and 
 that gift is yours. Never shall death touch you 
 or age. I am a goddess and can never die. Am 
 I less beautiful than Penelope, or less kind ? " 
 
 Ulysses answered her pleadings slowly and 
 painfully. 
 
' WHO AM I THAT I CAN COMBAT THE WILL OF ZEUS OR THE 
 HARDNESS OF YOUR HEART?" 
 
 Page 78. 
 
THE FOURTH EPISODE 79 
 
 "My queen and goddess, I know indeed that 
 Penelope can never compare with such immortal 
 loveliness as yours. Yes, she will grow old and 
 wrinkled, and must die. Yet night and day all 
 my heart must go out to her, and I would endure 
 a thousand storms and sorrows to see home once 
 more." 
 
 "Because of my great love for you, go, and 
 may all the gods shower blessings on you and 
 protect you," she said in a low voice, and her 
 eyes were all blind with tears. 
 
 On a red evening Calypso stood alone on a 
 rock that jutted out into the sea. 
 
 A black speck against the setting sun showed 
 clear and far away. 
 
 Then the night fell, and she wandered weeping 
 through her scented avenues. 
 
 But her heart was away on the moaning sea, 
 away with Ulysses the departed. 
 
THE LAST EPISODE 
 
 How THE King came Home again after 
 THE Long Years 
 
 With the tears blinding his eyes, with shaking 
 hands, speechless with the happy thoughts surg- 
 ing in his brain, Ulysses knelt and kissed the 
 dear, dear shores of his own country. 
 
 The same rocky coasts, the same great mountain 
 in the centre of the island raising its head into 
 the clouds, everywhere eternally the same, and how 
 beloved ! was it not all mist and dreams — the long 
 past ? How he heard the Sirens sing, seen the 
 swaying arms of the foul Scylla, and dwelt in love 
 and slumber with Calypso? 
 
 And by his side once more stood the goddess, 
 serene and beautiful in her benevolent but awful 
 calm. From her lips he had heard that here, even 
 here in his own land, in the fields of his in- 
 heritance, one more supreme effort awaited him. 
 He had learnt how his palace was full of riotous 
 princes, who wooed his wife, the Queen Penelope. 
 He knew how his son, the goodly Prince Tele- 
 machus, was least in his own house, and how wild 
 revel and wantonness ate up his substance. The 
 
 80 
 
THE LAST EPISODE 8i 
 
 queen in peril ! Penelope all but given up to the 
 desires of lust and greed. All his great heart 
 burnt with anger and hate against the suitors, and 
 yet, with a strange dual emotion, beat high with 
 pride for his dear and stainless lady, who still 
 mourned for her husband, and longed against 
 hope for his return. 
 
 He kissed the kindly home-ground, and at that 
 sacred contact a sense of strength and power came 
 to him, a god-like power, that in all his long toils 
 and wanderings he had never known before. 
 
 He became conscious that Athene was speaking 
 to him. " And remember ever, my Ulysses, that 
 now thou hast need of all thy wit and cunning. 
 In all the chances of thy life before never hadst 
 thou need to walk as warily as now. For mere 
 strength and valour unallied to wisdom and cun- 
 ning will avail one nothing against the hundred. 
 But at the hour of need I will be once more with 
 thee if thou doest well and wisely. Courage ! 
 son of Laertes ! 'tis but a little while till the 
 end. Let not thy love and hate master thee until 
 the appointed hour. And now, that thou mayest 
 walk in thy palace and groves unknown for who 
 thou art, I give thee a disguise. And so fare- 
 well until the hour of triumph." 
 
 She stretched out her spear over the kneeling 
 king. The firm flesh dried and wrinkled upon 
 his arms and legs. His hair shrivelled up into 
 grey sparseness and his eyes dimmed. He wore 
 a tattered cloak, a thing of shreds and patches, 
 and an old beggar's staff of ilex was in his hand. 
 
 F 
 
82 THE LAST EPISODE 
 
 But beneath this seeming age and weakness 
 was hidden the true hero as strong and cunning 
 as before. 
 
 The goddess turned into light and was no more, 
 and with slow, tottering footsteps Ulysses took 
 a lonely way among the well-remembered paths 
 of his native hills. 
 
 After an hour's travelling he came out on a 
 smooth pasture land, with a little homestead 
 nestling among a clump of trees. His heart 
 beat eagerly within him, for if perchance after 
 these long years farmer Eumaeus still lived, 
 here he might gain news of his palace and 
 perhaps a friend. 
 
 Eumaeus was once the steward of the estates 
 and a very faithful servant of his master. Ulysses 
 approached the house. In front was a large court- 
 yard, made by a fence of oak and hawthorn 
 boughs, and within were twelve great pens for 
 swine. 
 
 And in the porch sat old Eumaeus himself 
 making himself a pair of sandals, hardly changed 
 in a single feature, though perhaps his eyes were 
 not so bright as in the old times. 
 
 Hearing footsteps, the four iierce dogs which 
 herded the swine rushed out of the yard and leapt 
 angrily at the newcomer. He might have fared 
 badly, for the great beasts were lean and evil- 
 tempered, had not the swineherd ran out to his 
 help and drew them off with curses. 
 
 He turned to Ulysses. " Thank the gods, old 
 fellow," he cried, "that I was near by. A little 
 
THE LAST EPISODE 83 
 
 more and you would have been torn to pieces, 
 and then you would be in an evil plight but I a 
 worse ! Dead would you be and past caring, but 
 I should be disgraced. Heaven knows, I have 
 enough trouble to bear. Here's my lawful master 
 gone in foreign parts these long years — dead as 
 like as not — and I sit here feeding swine for them 
 that are but little better themselves. But come 
 in, come in, old shrew. There's a bite of food 
 for you within, which you need I make no doubt, 
 and then you can tell me your story, for I am a 
 lonely man now and like a crack of talk as well 
 as most." 
 
 The garrulous old fellow pushed him in with 
 busy geniality and sat him down on the goatskin, 
 which was his bed. Then he fetched what meat 
 and wine he could furnish, and they sat down to 
 a frugal meal. 
 
 " What, then, about this lord of yours ? " said 
 Ulysses. " I myself have wandered far these 
 last years. Perhaps I may have met with him, 
 and can give you news." 
 
 The swineherd chuckled. 
 
 " Nay, if you love me," he said, " none of that, 
 my friend. Why, every dirty old man as comes 
 along this way has some such tale to tell. And 
 then my poor lady up in the palace — the gods 
 save her ! — she takes them in and gives them a new 
 cloak or what not, and believes all they say until 
 the next one comes along. No! my dear lord 
 is dead and never shall I look upon the like of him 
 again. By Zeus ! but he was a man if you like ! " 
 
84 THE LAST EPISODE 
 
 " Well, my host, we shall see in the future," said 
 Ulysses, in so significant a tone that the swineherd 
 was startled for a moment. 
 
 The wind had arisen and it was a black stormy 
 night so they went to rest early, and Eumaeus 
 slept soundly till dawn. But all through the 
 silent hours the brain of Ulysses worked like a 
 shuttle in a loom. 
 
 At breakfast-time, while the swineherd was 
 preparing the meal, the dogs began to bark loudly 
 outside, but in a welcome manner, saluting one 
 whom they knew. 
 
 Footsteps were heard crossing the yard, and a 
 tall young man with the first down of manhood on 
 his lip stood in the doorway. 
 
 Eumaeus dropped the bowls in which he had 
 been mixing the wine with a sudden clatter and 
 ran towards the stranger. 
 
 " My young lord," he cried, " oh, my young lord, 
 the sight of you is a welcome one to weary eyes. 
 Come within my poor place. This is but a poor 
 old man who shelters with me for a day or two. 
 Don't mind him, my lord." 
 
 It was Telemachus the son of Ulysses. 
 
 The king rose humbly and offered his seat to 
 his son. 
 
 " Keep your place, old man," said the prince. 
 " The swineherd will find me another. And 
 who may you be, and what do you in Ithaca?" 
 
 Then Ulysses told him a long story. He said 
 that he was a Cretan, and had fought at Troy and 
 was now destitute and a wanderer." 
 
THE LAST EPISODE 8$ 
 
 "Could you not take him to the palace, my 
 lord?" said Eumaeus. "Perhaps he might find 
 some work there." 
 
 " I will clothe him, and arm him with a sword, 
 and give him a little to help him on his way," said 
 Telemachus, "and that most gladly. But I 
 cannot take him to the palace. The suitors would 
 ill-use him because of his age, perhaps they would 
 kill him for sport. I cannot restrain them ; I am 
 young ; and what is one against so many ? More- 
 over, so great is the hate they bear towards me, 
 they would surely slay any guest of mine." 
 
 Then Ulysses rose from his seat and bowed. 
 " Lord," he said, " if I may dare to speak and you 
 will hear, I say foul wrong is wrought against 
 you in your palace, and my blood rages when I 
 think of it." 
 
 " Old fellow, you are right enough," said the boy, 
 sadly. " Oh, for my dead sire ! to sweep these 
 dogs from Ithaca!" 
 
 "Yes, the king!" said Eumaeus, with a deep 
 sigh. 
 
 Suddenly Ulysses saw the tall figure of Athene 
 was standing by his side. 
 
 The other two were looking towards him, but 
 could see nothing of her presence. The goddess 
 looked at him with kindly eyes and touched him 
 with her spear. 
 
 Telemachus and Eumaeus crouched trembling 
 and speechless against the furthest side of the hut. 
 
 The bronze came back to the face of the king, 
 his hair fell from his head in all its old luxuriance, 
 
86 THE LAST EPISODE 
 
 his figure filled out, and he stood before them in 
 his full stature and all the glory of his manhood. 
 
 EumsEus fell upon his knees and covered his 
 eyes with his hand. 
 
 " A god ! a god 1 " he cried, " a god has come 
 to us ! Hail, oh Immortal One, guest of my 
 poor homestead ! " 
 
 Telemachus knelt also. " Oh, Divine stranger, 
 a boon ! Tell me of my dear father, if indeed 
 he lives and knows of the peril of his house. 
 And will he ever come back to sit in his own 
 chair and rule ? " 
 
 Then Ulysses stepped to his son and caught 
 him in his arms and kissed him. 
 
 " Telemachus ! Telemachus ! " he said, " no god 
 am I, but your own dear father come home at 
 last, and I am come with doom and death for 
 the insolent ones about my board ! " 
 
 And when they had all three mingled their 
 happy tears, Telemachus said, " Father, I know 
 how great a warrior you are, and all the world 
 rings with the wisdom and valour of your deeds. 
 But we two can never fight against so many. 
 In all, the princes number a hundred and a score 
 of men ; and they are all trained fighting men, 
 the best from Ithaca and all the neighbouring 
 islands. We must have other aid." 
 
 " Comfort yourself, son," said Ulysses. " Aid 
 we have, and the mightiest of all. Athene her- 
 self watches over my fortunes and will come in 
 the hour of need. She has brought me hither 
 and given me this disguise, and in all the coming 
 
THE LAST EPISODE 87 
 
 contest her voice will help and her arm be for 
 us. Should we need more aid than that?" 
 
 " Truly, my father," said the boy, " we are well 
 favoured, and my heart leaps within me at what 
 is to come." 
 
 As he finished speaking, once more the man- 
 hood of Ulysses left him and only a poor old 
 beggar man stood before the swineherd and the 
 prince. 
 
 " Now will we go to the palace," said Ulysses. 
 " I shall seem but a poor old beggar man, and 
 however the princes may ill-use me I shall do 
 nothing till the time has come and we are ready, 
 and I charge you, my son, and my good friend 
 Eumaeus, that you do nothing to protect me 
 however I am treated. You may check them 
 by words if you can, but no more. And not 
 even the queen herself must know that the 
 king has come home again. 
 
 " And now let us go. The judge is set, the 
 doom begun ; none shall stay it ! " 
 
 And the three went out from the hut over 
 the mountain paths towards the palace. 
 
 The revel was at its height in the courtyard 
 of the palace. Stone seats ran round the wall 
 which enclosed the buildings. Over a low colon- 
 nade the orchard trees drooped into the court, 
 and a huge vine trailed its weight of fruit over 
 the marble. 
 
 The hot afternoon sun sent a vivid colour 
 over everything. Beyond the palace the blue 
 
88 THE LAST EPISODE 
 
 mountains towered into a sky of deeper blue. 
 Purple shadows from the buildings lay upon the 
 white marble, and the long light glittered on a 
 great table piled with golden cups and bowls, 
 holding the debris of the feast. 
 
 A wild uproar and shouting filled the air. 
 
 The court was filled with whirling figures of 
 men and girls half drunk with wine and excite- 
 ment as they moved in the figures of a lascivious 
 dance. 
 
 All the household girls were there with the 
 suitors joining in the feast, and peals of laughter 
 shivered through the sunny air. 
 
 Telemachus sat on a seat apart watching the 
 revel with keen eyes. There was a repressed ex- 
 citement in his face and an eager regard. One of 
 the girls noticed it as she strolled past. She was 
 a slight, fair wanton creature with a mocking 
 smile. 
 
 " How, Lord Telemachus ? " she said, laughing 
 lightly, " are you not going to join us in the fun ? 
 You make a sorry host indeed ! Is not this your 
 palace, and do you leave us without your counten- 
 ance. Oh, shame upon you for a laggard youth 
 when wine and kisses wait you." 
 
 She made an impudent grimace at him and 
 flitted past. But a short time back he would have 
 raged at this impudent salutation from a pretty 
 slave girl who drew a confident strength from the 
 protection of his enemies. But now he hardly 
 heard her, but leant forward again in the attitude 
 of one who watches and waits. 
 
THE LAST EPISODE 89 
 
 Outside the palace gate, on the hot white road, 
 two old men were approaching. One was the 
 swineherd Eumseus and the other a wandering 
 beggar man. 
 
 Just by the threshold of the courtyard an old 
 lean dog, very grey and feeble, lay upon a heap of 
 dung in the sunlight. The mailed horse-flies 
 hovered round him in swarms, but he seemed too 
 weak to drive them away. As the beggar 
 approached he threw his muzzle up into the air 
 with a quick movement. His sightless eyes turned 
 towards the advancing footsteps. With a great 
 effort he scrambled to his feet. The lean tail 
 wagged in tremulous joy, the scarred ears were 
 pricked in welcome. 
 
 He stumbled to the feet of Ulysses. When he 
 touched him the old dog lay down in the dust and 
 with a long sigh he died. 
 
 And this was the first welcome the king had 
 to his palace, and as he went in through the gates 
 his eyes were wet with tears. 
 
 When Telemachus saw the steward he beckoned 
 him to the table and sat beside him while he ate. 
 But Ulysses crouched down by the threshold. 
 Telemachus gave bread and meat to the swine- 
 herd. 
 
 " Go, Eumaeus," he said aloud, " give these broken 
 meats to that poor old beggar man by the gate, 
 and tell him from me that if he lacks he should be 
 bold and go to the princes and ask them for alms. 
 By Zeus ! he will never grow fat if he crouches by 
 the door there ! " 
 
9° THE LAST EPISODE 
 
 Ulysses took the food with a low bow and 
 packed it away in his wallet. 
 
 He rose up grasping his staff, and went totter- 
 ing among the suitors. His lean arms and 
 furrowed, wrinkled face were so piteous, his 
 whining appeal full of such misery, that many of 
 the princes tossed him something. 
 
 At the head of the table a tall and splendid 
 young man was sitting. He was richly dressed in 
 a showy, ostentatious manner. His florid, hand- 
 some face wore a perpetual and evil sneer. His 
 grey eyes were ill-tempered and quarrelsome 
 
 " By the gods, my friends," he cried, with a sneer, 
 " how tender-hearted and compassionate you are 
 grown ! With what lavishness do you bestow the 
 wealth of Ulysses, or rather of the queen, upon this 
 old scarecrow. Such old beasts are no use in this 
 world. Get you gone, you old dog ! " 
 
 With that he hurled a three-legged stool at 
 Ulysses. The stool struck him a heavy blow on 
 his side. 
 
 For a moment the black turmoil in the hero's 
 heart was almost irrepressible. But with an 
 enormous effort of will he overcame it. He stood 
 quite still, with his head sunk upon his breast in 
 humility. 
 
 Now came the girls from out of the house 
 carrying great jars of fresh wine, and copper 
 bowls of water for the mixing, which they put upon 
 the table. 
 
 Here was better sport than an old beggar and his 
 woes, and Ulysses moved aside and was forgotten. 
 
THE LAST EPISODE 91 
 
 But one of the girls touched him on the shoulder. 
 " Wanderer," said she, " the Queen Penelope has 
 seen how Antinous used you from her room 
 within the hall, and she sends me to summon you 
 to her, for she would speak to you." 
 
 Then, with beating heart and footsteps which 
 trembled with no simulated age, the king followed 
 the girl over the threshold of his own palace. 
 
 As he was walking towards the chamber of the 
 queen an old woman came towards them, a very 
 old woman with a lined brown face and little, 
 brilliant twinkling eyes. 
 
 " Poor old man," she said, " it is a shame that 
 they should use your grey hairs so, and abuse 
 the hospitality which is the sacred right of 
 strangers. My lady Penelope sends me to you, 
 and bids me wash your feet in this bowl of water, 
 so that we may purge our house of the stain the 
 prince without has cast upon it. Sit on this 
 stool and I will lave ye." 
 
 So the old nurse Euryclea bathed the feet of 
 her master whom she had dandled in her arms as 
 a child. Suddenly Ulysses made as though he 
 would draw away his foot. He remembered that 
 on his leg he bore a strange-shaped scar made by 
 a savage boar when he was a boy, and he feared 
 the wise old woman would know him by that 
 mark. 
 
 But as she passed her hand along his ankle 
 she touched the mark and turned his foot towards 
 the light and saw it. She dropped his foot quickly, 
 and the basin was overturned and the water ran 
 
92 THE LAST EPISODE 
 
 away over the marble floor. She looked up into 
 the king's face and knew him for all his 
 disguise. 
 
 In a fierce, hurried whisper he bade her be silent 
 for her life and his and the queen's safety. As she 
 vowed, trembling, by Zeus and the gods, to do his 
 bidding, a trumpet snarled suddenly outside on 
 the steps of the palace. 
 
 The riot without died into silence. 
 
 The clear cold voice of a herald began to speak. 
 
 Thus says the Queen Penelope : " To-morrow 
 will I make an end of all. In the forenoon I will 
 choose from among the princes whom I will wed. 
 Too long have ye rioted within the palace and 
 eaten up the substance of myself and my son. I 
 am aweary. And since there is no other way, 
 to-morrow I will choose. Ye shall take the great 
 bow of the King Ulysses from its cover. And he 
 who can shoot an arrow through twelve axes in a 
 row — even as Ulysses was wont to do — him will I 
 wed." 
 
 " Nurse ! " whispered Ulysses, " the king will 
 be here before any can bend that bow. Now go 
 into the queen and tell her that the old man is 
 sick and begs leave to wait upon her another time. 
 And comfort her with an omen that you have seen, 
 but tell her nothing. And now farewell. There is 
 much to do ere dawn." 
 
 There was a silence of consternation in the great 
 banqueting hall of the palace. 
 
 Penelope from her seat upon the raised steps 
 
THE LAST EPISODE 93 
 
 beneath the richly-decorated wall at the end 
 smiled faintly to herself. 
 
 The twelve axes stood in a row, driven into 
 sockets in the pavement. The suitors stood in 
 two long rows on either side. 
 
 Antinous, the strongest of them all, held a great 
 polished bow. His face blazed with anger and was 
 red with shame. 
 
 All eyes were centred on him. No one saw old 
 Eumaeus steal out into the porch and silently lower 
 the heavy bars of the door and lash them tight 
 with cords. 
 
 " Ah ! " cried Antinous, " I know now why 
 neither any of you nor I myself can bend this 
 bow. It is not the great strength of Ulysses, for I 
 am stronger than he ever was. This is Apollo's 
 festival, the Archer-God, and it is useless to strive 
 to bend this bow to-day. Let us sacrifice to 
 Helios to-day, and then to-morrow come again 
 to the trial." 
 
 Then the old beggar man came forward. 
 
 " My lords," he said, " I pray you give me the bow, 
 since you have done your trial for to-day. I was 
 once strong in my youth. Let me have this 
 honour." 
 
 Antinous scowled at him, and stepped toward 
 him to strike such insolence, but the clear voice of 
 Penelope called sharply down the lane of men, — 
 
 " Who insults even the meanest in my palace ? 
 Have more regard, sir, for I am still queen here. 
 Give the old man the bow since that is his whim." 
 
 Antinous was cowed, but still murmured, when 
 
94 THE LAST EPISODE 
 
 Telemachus stepped quickly up to him. The boy 
 seemed taller, his eyes shone with a cold, fierce 
 light they had never seen in them before. His 
 voice rang with a new authority. 
 
 " Be silent, sir ! " he said in a keen, threatening 
 voice. " The bow is mine, and mine alone, to give 
 or refuse as I decide. Mother, the trial is over for 
 to-day. Go with your maidens into your own 
 chamber. I will see to this old man, and I am 
 master here and will be so." 
 
 With a frightened pride and wonder the queen 
 withdrew. 
 
 The suitors began to whisper to each other, 
 wondering what this might mean. Their con- 
 fidence seemed to be slipping away from them. 
 Each and all felt uneasy. There was some strange 
 iufluence in the air which sapped their courage and 
 silenced the loud insolent words which were ever 
 on their lips. 
 
 The shadow of death was creeping into the 
 hall. 
 
 The great marble room suddenly grew cold. 
 The old beggar came up to the splendid Antinous 
 and took the bow from his ui;resisting hand. 
 
 As he plucked the string the gods spake at last. 
 A crash of thunder pealed among them. There 
 was a moment's silence, and then the bow-string 
 rang beneath the hero's touch as clear as the note 
 of a swallow. 
 
 And in a strange light, which glowed out from 
 the walls and great pillars of bronze, the princes 
 saw no beggar, but a noble form with bronzed face 
 
THE LAST EPISODE 95 
 
 and flashing eyes, and they knew the king had 
 come home again. 
 
 Ulysses motioned to his son, and Telemachus 
 drew his sword and with a great shout rushed up 
 the hall after his father. 
 
 They turned and stood on the steps. 
 
 An arrow sang like a flying wasp, and Antinous 
 lay dying on the floor. 
 
 Then the princes rushed to the walls where 
 their armour and swords were wont to hang, but 
 all the pegs were bare. 
 
 Only above the steps where Ulysses stood were 
 three spears and three shields, and as they gazed 
 in cold fear Eumaeus leapt upon the steps and the 
 three girded on the armour. 
 
 Again the great bow sang, and Amphinomus 
 lay dead. 
 
 Then Telemachus with a great shout drove his 
 spear through the fat Ctessipus, and he fell gurgling 
 his life away. 
 
 But one of the suitors, Melanthius, climbed up 
 a pillar through one of the lanterns of the hall and 
 clambered over the roofs to the armoury unseen 
 by Ulysses. 
 
 And while the deadly arrows sped with bitter 
 mocking words towards the cowering throng, he 
 gathered a great sheaf of spears and flung them 
 down among his comrades. 
 
 They seized upon the spears with a fierce cry of 
 joy, and Ulysses' heart failed him where he stood 
 for there were still many living. 
 
 They began to run up the hall towards the steps. 
 
96 THE LAST EPISODE 
 
 Then at last Athene saw that her time had 
 come, and she lifted her terrible war shield which 
 brings death to the sons of men. 
 
 And the flight of spears all went far wide of 
 the mark, and some fell with a rattle upon the 
 floor. 
 
 With one cry of triumph the king leapt like 
 light among the crowd. Hither and there flashed 
 the three swords like swooping vultures, and 
 Athene took all power from the princes, and one 
 by one they screamed and met their doom. 
 
 And soon the din of battle died away, and save 
 for a faint moaning the hall was silent. 
 
 And the princes, the pride of the islands, lay 
 fallen in dust and blood, heaped one on the other, 
 like a great catch of fishes turned out from a 
 fisherman's nets upon the shore. 
 
 Eumaeus went to the door of the hall and cut 
 the lashings, and raised the bars so that the sun- 
 light came slanting in great beams. The dust 
 danced in the light rays like a powder of tiny 
 lives. 
 
 Then Ulysses called the servants and bade 
 them carry the bodies away. And he ordered 
 Euryclea to wash the blood-stained floors, and 
 to bring sulphur and torches that the place might 
 be purified. 
 
 And that night great beacons flared on the hills, 
 and far out to sea the fishermen saw them and 
 said, " Surely the king has come home again." 
 
 And while the music rang though the lighted 
 palace and the people passed before the gates 
 
THE LAST EPISODE 97 
 
 shouting for joy, old Euryclea spread the 
 marriage bed of the king by the light of flam- 
 ing torches. 
 
 And when all was prepared, the old nurse went 
 to Ulysses and Penelope and led them to the 
 door of the marriage chamber, as she had led 
 them twenty years before. 
 
 Then the music ceased in the palace halls and 
 silence fell over all the house. 
 
A NOTE ON 
 HOMER AND ULYSSES 
 
 The uncertainty which prevails as to the actual birthplace 
 of Homer also extends to the exact period at which he 
 flourished. Doubts have been expressed by some modern 
 scholars as to whether the poet ever existed as a person- 
 ality. The view that the Iliad and Odyssey were not the 
 work of an individual, but merely a collection of old folk- 
 lore verse welded into a whole by many hands, made 
 compact by ages, a self-born epic rising from crystallised 
 tradition, is, however, not a tenable one, and need not be 
 discussed here. 
 
 As far as we are able to place the poet in his period 
 correctly, we can say with some certainty that he flourished 
 at a time between 800 and 900 years before the birth 
 of Christ. 
 
 The Arundelian marbles fix his era at 907 years before 
 the dawn of Christianity. About the life of the most 
 ancient of all poets nothing whatever is known. There is a 
 tradition that he had a school of followers in the Island 
 of Chios, and we have early records of celebrations held 
 there in his honour every few years. But no proof what- 
 ever exists of the truth of the supposition, though up 
 to quite modern times the islanders maintained and 
 believed in it. 
 
 In the same way must be treated the story of Homer's 
 
 blindness. It is a legend which cannot be proved or 
 
 disproved. Yet ^ a time when literature must have 
 
 been almost purely oral, his blindness need have been no 
 
 98 
 
HOMER AND ULYSSES 99 
 
 bar to the exercise of his talent. It has been said, and 
 the theory is at least an interesting one, that the music 
 and sonance of Homer's lines came from the fact that 
 they were composed to be spoken rather than read. That 
 the blindness of Milton did not in any way detract from 
 the grandeur of his verse is an undoubted fact, and yet 
 Milton had to speak every line before he could have it 
 recorded by others. 
 
 We can deduce something of Homer from his work. 
 That he must have been a travelled man seems indubit- 
 able. To this day the modern Ulysses or Menelaus, 
 standing on the bridge of his tramp steamer, can see 
 the headlands, islands, and capes, unchanged from 3000 
 years ago. That Homer was a man of deep feeling, was 
 possessed of the " artistic temperament " in a very marked 
 degree, seems equally clear. Nothing can be more 
 delicate and touching than his handling of Penelope. 
 Other ancient writers have represented the wife of Ulysses 
 as an abandoned harlot, and said that her husband repudi- 
 ated her for incontinence during his absence. Homer, 
 with a far surer, finer touch, made her a model for wives 
 to emulate and husbands to desire. The whole of the 
 home-coming scenes in the Odyssey could only have been 
 written by a man who was no mere materialist. 
 
 When Homer wrote, human nature was much less pro- 
 found a thing than it has since become. And yet, though 
 men's motives were entirely different, men's actions sprang 
 from less subtle causes than now. Homer was a psycho- 
 logist of the first class. He knew his fellow-men. In all 
 Romance no one can point to a finer and more consistent 
 character-study than that of Ulysses. Shakespeare has 
 drawn no more vivid picture of a single temperament. 
 Homer must have mixed with mankind, observed them 
 closely, been an acute and untiring observer. 
 
 The absolutely original temper of his mind is extra- 
 ordinary. For we must remember that Homer could 
 hardly have had any models to inform his choice of 
 subjects or direct his style. Yet none of his imitators, 
 
100 HOMER AND ULYSSES 
 
 and there have been many, were able, even in their 
 happiest moments, even to approach him. As he was 
 the first poet, so he was the greatest, and we may well 
 conclude he will remain so until men themselves are 
 things of the past. 
 
 In the ancient world, when we get into the actual 
 periods of recorded history, we find a worship of Homer 
 universally existing. His works reposed under the pillow 
 of Alexander together with the sword which had made 
 him great. The conqueror enshrined the Iliad in the 
 richest casket of the vanquished Persian king. Altars 
 smoked in Homer's honour all over Greece, he was 
 venerated as a god. But speculations about Homer 
 have, after all, but little value. We know nothing, and 
 we shall never now know anything about him. 
 
 He remains a glorious and mysterious fact. We have 
 the priceless legacy of this Being, and that is enough. 
 
 ULYSSES 
 
 Even Euclid, the inventor of concrete logical processes, 
 is forced to begin with axioms and definitions that are 
 absurd. Once allow them, and everything proceeds to 
 a brilliant triumph of mentality ; but in order to build 
 a basis in a vacuum, one has to swallow a dose of 
 nonsense first. 
 
 It must be confessed that in order to estimate the 
 character-drawing employed by Homer to create Ulysses, 
 we must swallow the supernatural influences which sur- 
 rounded him. Put them out of the question and the hero 
 lacks perspective and becomes a doll. Let it be granted 
 that Minerva stood beside the wanderer. " Her clear 
 and bared limbs o'erthwarted with the brazen-headed 
 spear." Let us but believe with Homer that the careless 
 Gods lie beside their nectar on the hill, and hurl their 
 bolts far below into the valleys of men, then the man 
 Ulysses shines out clear and full of colour, an absolute 
 achievement in Art. 
 
HOMER AND ULYSSES loi 
 
 An ancient Norse pick-axe has been discovered, bear- 
 ing the following inscription : — 
 
 " Either I nuillfind a way or make one" 
 
 and a broken helmet was once found in Battle Abbey, 
 engraved with this crest : — 
 
 " L'espoir est ma force." 
 
 The Master Mariner might have owned them both. 
 The first quality which we marvel at in our analysis of 
 Ulysses' character is the extraordinary resource which he 
 displays throughout all his wanderings. His qualities of 
 passive endurance, his enormous courage, his mental 
 agility — the very cream of cunning, are all component 
 parts of his unfailing readiness to take sudden advantage 
 of his opportunity. For him all tides were at flood to 
 lead on to fortune. 
 
 Charybdis sucks down his stout ship into the womb of 
 the sea, he makes a raft of the restored keel. 
 
 He estimates the brain power of the stupid Cyclops at 
 its exact value, and escapes the vengeance of his com- 
 panions by a pun. And there is a well-defined touch of 
 fatalism in Ulysses also. When the irreparable blunder 
 has been committed by his sailors, and Apollo's sacred 
 beeves are smoking on the spit, he knows that he and 
 all his men must pay heavily for their disregard of Circe's 
 warning. It is inevitable. Nothing can turn aside the 
 coming anger of the Sun-God. So Ulysses, being hungry, 
 though innocent of the initial sacrilege, makes his un- 
 hallowed meal with the rest. He must endure the pain, 
 so plucks the pelf also. To enlarge upon his courage 
 and endurance were unnecessary. The Odyssey is one 
 long psean of them both. His sagacity is manifest so 
 vividly in all his actions that even Zeus, father of 
 Heaven, says to Athene, " No, daughter, I could never 
 forget Ulysses, the -wisest worldling of them all." But 
 what of Ulysses as a Sybarite ? The hero " Mulierose," 
 
102 HOMER AND ULYSSES 
 
 to borrow from the Cloister and the Hearth, the lover of 
 ladies, " propt on beds of amaranth and moly," while white 
 enchanted arms hold him a willing captive ? I have heard 
 it remarked that here the Ionian father of poets has gone 
 astray. People have said to me that Ulysses loved his 
 wife too well to dwell contented on the spicy downs of 
 Lotos Land, that he was too taut and hardy a man. But 
 Homer did not err in his study of temperament. 
 
 How can one judge the man of 3000 years ago'by the 
 standards of to-day? In the ages when hosts joined in 
 battle for the fair body of Helen men looked on women 
 with other eyes than ours. Heaven and hell were very 
 material places, pleasure was a very material, tangible, 
 understandable thing and a lovely woman a gift from the 
 Gods. 
 
 Ulysses strove for Ithaca through storm and wrack, and 
 when Fortune sent him to Calypso, or beached his ship on 
 Circe's fairy isle, he was content to rest a little while. 
 He yielded, like others of the wise. Socrates studied 
 under Aspasia, and Aspasia ruled the world under the 
 name of Pericles. 
 
 It is in trying to fit the temperament of an ancient to 
 a modern that the majority of people must always fail to 
 understand a great piece of contemporary literature. One 
 may sift the instances of modern temperament and com- 
 ment on them, but one should not try to mould the residue 
 into a like form. The Bible story paints King David, for 
 example, as a truculent, bloodthirsty, canting monster — 
 a complete portrait. The immorality and stupidity lies 
 in trying to reconcile his Old Testament enormities with 
 the revelations of the New. 
 
 So with Ulysses, Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa, and even 
 in later years the legendary Erippe, all fall truly, artistic- 
 ally and naturally into the mosaic of the hero's life. 
 
 One interesting point in the pleasure-loving side of 
 Ulysses' nature should by no means be disregarded. Not 
 only did he take eagerly such joys as the Fates appor- 
 tioned, but he was a true and discriminating Sybarite. 
 
HOMER AND ULYSSES 103 
 
 We find him taking stringent precautions against 
 disaster from the Sirens, yet determined to enjoy the 
 luxury of their song. It is a pleasure not to be missed 
 and not to be paid for. In after years we may imagine 
 him relating his unique and delicious experience to his 
 friends with an undoubted complacency. 
 
 In the commendable and ancient virtues of filial love, 
 a cardinal virtue in the old world, a forgotten duty to-day, 
 Ulysses was singularly strong. His tenderest inquiries 
 in Hades, the most passionate expressions of affection, are 
 protested to the shade of Anticlea, his mother. One of 
 the most touching scenes in the Odyssey is the meeting 
 between Ulysses and Laertes, his father, after the long 
 wanderings are over. " He flung his arms around Ms 
 father and cried out, ' Oh, my father, T am here indeed 
 once more. I have come back to you at last / Dry your 
 tears, for mine is the victory-^ " 
 
 A many-sided man . Hard as a diamond and as bright, 
 with every facet in his many-sided nature cut and polished 
 by the hand of a master. C R. G. 
 
 THE END 
 
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