In the morning, a crowd of slaves entered the feast hall and began to clean it up for the feast of the suitors. Eurycleia sent the slaves to fetch water, ordered them to wash the floor, cover the benches with new purple blankets and wash the dishes. Soon Telemachus left his chambers and, having asked Eurycleia how the wanderer spent the night, went to the city square. Eumaeus, Philotius and Melantius brought goats, sheep, pigs and a cow for the suitors' feast. Eumaeus and Philotius greeted the wanderer cordially, pitying him for having to wander the world homeless. Philotius remembered Odysseus, he felt sorry for his master. Looking at the stranger, he thought: is his master really forced to wander homeless in a foreign land? Eumaeus and Philotius began to pray to the gods to bring Odysseus home. Odysseus wanted to console his faithful servants and said, turning to Philotius:
“I swear to you by the great Zeus and the sacred hearth in the palace of Odysseus that before you have time to leave here, Odysseus will return home and you will see how he will take revenge on the violent suitors.”
But if Eumaeus and Philotius were friendly with the wanderer, the rude Melantius again began to insult him and threatened to beat him if he did not leave Odysseus’s house. Odysseus did not say anything to Melantius, but only frowned menacingly.
Finally, the grooms began to gather. They planned to kill Telemachus, but a sign sent by God stopped them. The grooms sat down at the table and the feast began. Telemachus placed a bench and table in the doorway for Odysseus and ordered food and wine to be served to him; At the same time, the young son of Odysseus said menacingly:
- Wanderer! Sit here and feast quietly with my guests. Know that I will not allow anyone to insult you! My house is not some tavern where all sorts of rabble gather, but the palace of King Odysseus.
He heard the words of Telemachus Antinous and boldly exclaimed:
- Friends! Let him threaten us if he wants, Telemachus! If Zeus had not sent us a terrible sign, we would have pacified him forever and he would no longer be such a hated talker!
Telemachus did not respond to this threat. He sat silently and waited for Odysseus to give him the signal. The goddess Athena further aroused the riot of the suitors, so that the thirst for revenge would burn more strongly in the chest of Odysseus. Prompted by her, one of the suitors, Ctesippus, exclaimed:
- Listen to what I tell you! The wanderer received a lot of food and wine from Telemachus. We should give him something too. I have already prepared a sop for him.
With these Words, Ctesippus grabbed the cow's leg and threw it forcefully at Odysseus. He barely managed to dodge the blow. Telemachus shouted menacingly to Ctesippus:
- You're lucky that you missed! I would have hit you with my spear more accurately, and your father would have had to prepare not a wedding for you, but a funeral. I tell you all once again that I will not allow guests to be insulted here, in my house.
The suitors did not answer, but Agelay began to advise them to stop insulting the wanderer.
Suddenly the goddess Athena aroused mad laughter among the suitors and clouded their minds. They began to laugh wildly. Their faces turned pale, their eyes were clouded with tears, melancholy lay on their hearts like a heavy burden. Like wild animals, they began to devour raw meat. The suitors began to mock Telemachus in their madness. But Telemachus sat silently, not paying attention to their ridicule. From her chambers, Penelope heard the frantic cries of the suitors over a bountiful feast. But no one has ever prepared such a feast for people as the goddess Athena and Penelope’s husband prepared for the suitors.
Finally, Penelope got up and went to the storeroom where Odysseus' treasures were kept. There she took out the tight bow of Odysseus. This bow once belonged to Eurytus,[1] and was given to Odysseus by Eurytus’ son, Iphitus. Taking a bow and a quiver full of arrows, Penelope went to the banquet hall. Standing there near the column, she said to the suitors:
- Listen to me! I brought you the bow of Odysseus. Whichever of you draws this bow and shoots an arrow so that it flies through twelve rings, I will marry him.
Penelope gave the bow of Odysseus to Eumaeus. He wept bitterly when he saw his master's bow, and took it to the suitors. Faithful Philotius also began to cry. The suitors were angry with them because they were shedding tears for Odysseus. Telemachus strengthened the poles with rings in the ground and leveled them. He was the first to try to string the bow; He bent it three times, but could not tighten the bowstring. He wanted to bend it a fourth time, but Odysseus nodded his head to him, and Telemachus stopped his attempts. The grooms decided to take turns trying to pull the bow tight. Leyod tried first, but he couldn't even bend the bow a little, it was so tight. Antinous then called Melantius and ordered him to bring lard to grease the onions. Antinous thought that an onion greased with lard would bend more easily. But the attempts of the suitors were in vain; none of them could pull the bowstring.
At this time, Eumaeus and Philotius left the hall, followed by Odysseus. In the courtyard he stopped the faithful servants and revealed to them who he was, showing a scar on his leg from a wound inflicted by a boar. Eumaeus and Philotius were delighted and began to cover his hands and feet with kisses. Odysseus calmed them down. He ordered Eumaeus, the minute he took the bow, to go to Eurycleia and tell her to lock up the maids and not let them out anywhere. Odysseus ordered Philotius to lock the gates tightly. Having given these orders, Odysseus returned to the banquet hall and calmly sat down in his place in the doorway.
When Odysseus returned, Eurymachus, having greased the onion with lard, warmed it over the fire. Having warmed up the bow, Eurymachus tried to bend it, but could not. Seeing that all their attempts were in vain, the suitors decided to leave the bow and try to bend it the next day, but now it was better to continue the feast. Then Odysseus suddenly turned to the suitors with a request to allow him to try to string the bow. The suitors, hearing this request, began to mock him. Secretly they were afraid that the stranger would disgrace them. Penelope began to insist that the wanderer be given a bow. She was interrupted by Telemachus, who asked his mother to go to her chambers, and ordered Eumaeus to give the bow to Odysseus. The suitors raised a furious cry when Eumaeus carried the bow. Eumaeus was frightened, but Telemachus shouted at him menacingly and ordered him to take the bow to the wanderer. Having given the bow to Odysseus, Eumaeus hastily went to Eurycleia and conveyed Odysseus’ command to her. Filotius locked the gate tightly.
Odysseus took his bow and began to carefully examine it; This is how a singer examines his cithara when preparing to begin chanting. Without the slightest difficulty, Odysseus bent his bow and pulled the string, then tested with his finger whether it was tight. The bowstring rang menacingly. The suitors turned pale. A clap of thunder sounded from the sky - then Zeus gave a sign to Odysseus. Joy filled his heart. Odysseus took an arrow and, without getting up from his place, fired it at the target. The arrow flew through all twelve rings. Turning to Telemachus, Odysseus exclaimed:
- Telemachus! Your guest has not put you to shame! You saw that I didn’t work long, stringing the bow. No, my strength is still intact! Now we will prepare a new treat for the grooms. Now another one will sound at our cithara feast!
Odysseus signaled to Telemachus, frowning. Telemachus girded himself with a sword and, taking a spear in his hands, stood next to Odysseus, armed with sparkling copper.
Odysseus threw off his rags, stood on the threshold right at the door, poured arrows from his quiver onto the floor at his feet and shouted to the suitors:
— I hit the first target successfully! Now I have chosen a new target, at which no one has ever sent arrows. The arrowhead Apollo will help me get into it!
Thus exclaiming, Odysseus shot an arrow at Antinous. An arrow hit him in the throat and pierced him right through just as Antinous was about to drink a cup of wine. Antinous staggered, bleeding, he pushed the table, knocked it over and fell dead. The suitors jumped up screaming. They rushed to the weapons that had previously hung on the walls, but there were no weapons. Odysseus once again shouted menacingly at them:
- Ah, despicable dogs! Did you think that I wouldn't come back? What will you rob with impunity? No, now death awaits you all!
In vain Eurymachus begged Odysseus to spare them, to accept a rich payment from them for everything that the suitors had plundered, but Odysseus did not want to listen to anything. He was burning with a thirst for revenge. The suitors realized that they would have to defend themselves. They drew their swords and tried to protect themselves from Odysseus' arrows with tables. Eurymachus rushed with a sword in his hands at Odysseus, but an arrow pierced his chest, and he fell dead to the floor. Amphinos rushed at Odysseus, but was struck by Telemachus with a spear. Having killed Amphinomus, Telemachus ran for the weapon. He brought out from the storeroom four helmets, four shields and eight spears for Odysseus, himself, Eumaeus and Philotius. Odysseus, while Telemachus went for weapons, sent arrow after arrow at the suitors. Each fired arrow brought death to one of the suitors, one after another they fell dead to the floor. But then Telemachus came with a weapon. Odysseus armed himself, and Telemachus, Eumaeus and Philotius stood next to him, shaking their spears.
The traitor Melantius noticed Telemachus going for weapons; He secretly crept into the storeroom and took out twelve shields and spears there, since Telemachus, hurrying to his father, forgot to lock the doors to the storeroom. The grooms also armed themselves. Odysseus was frightened when he suddenly saw them armed. He realized that someone had gotten them a weapon. Fortunately, Eumaeus noticed Melantius sneaking for weapons and told Odysseus about this. He ordered Eumaeus and Philotius to seize Melanthius in the storeroom and lock him there, tying him tightly with rope. Eumaeus and Philotius quietly crept up to the storeroom and, when Melantius was taking weapons out of it, they grabbed him, threw him to the floor and, bending his arms and legs over his back, tied him up, then hung him from the ceiling beam in the storeroom and said with a mockery:
- Now take care of your weapons, Melantius! We have arranged a soft bed for you, now you will not sleep through the dawn.
Having said this, they seized weapons and hurried to the aid of Odysseus, who at that time was holding back the onslaught of the suitors with Telemachus.
At that moment, Pallas Athena appeared to Odysseus under the guise of a Mentor. Odysseus began to call Mentor for help, and the suitors threatened him with death if he helped Odysseus.
Athena became even more angry with the suitors. Having reproached Odysseus for not fighting the suitors as bravely as he fought at Troy, she suddenly turned into a swallow, flew up and sat on the beam above the suitors. The suitors attacked Odysseus three times, throwing spears at him, Telemachus and two faithful servants, but Athena deflected the suitors’ spears. Odysseus and his comrades struck four suitors each time. Philotius killed the daring Ctesippus with a blow of his spear and, triumphant, exclaimed:
- Now shut up, you impudent scolder! I gave you a nice gift for that cow's leg with which you so kindly treated Odysseus.
One after another, the suitors fell, struck to death. Suddenly Athena shook her terrible aegis over their heads. In horror, the suitors began to rush in all directions like crazy; This is how bulls rush around the pasture when whole swarms of gadflies sting them in the summer. Like falcons killing doves, Odysseus, Telemachus, Eumaeus and Philotius beat the suitors. The dying suitors raised a terrible cry. They could not hide anywhere. Leiod ran up to Odysseus and began to beg him for mercy, but Odysseus did not spare him and cut off his head with a blow of his sword. Only the singer Phemias, who sang against his will to the suitors, was spared by Odysseus at the request of Telemachus, and he also spared the herald Medont, who hid under a cow’s skin. Odysseus ordered Phemius and Medont to go out into the courtyard and wait for him there. Odysseus began to look around to see if any of the suitors were still left, but all of them had already been killed, not one of them was saved.
Odysseus then ordered to call Eurycleia. She immediately came to the call of her master and saw him, covered in blood, standing among the corpses of the suitors, like a lion tearing apart the bulls. Odysseus ordered Eurycleia to call on those slaves who had committed the offense of sympathizing with the suitors. Eurycleia summoned twelve slaves. They came and, with loud crying, began to carry out, by order of Odysseus, the corpses of the suitors and lay them one next to the other in the portico of the palace. The slaves carried out the corpses and washed the entire banquet hall, and when they had done all this, Odysseus ordered them to be put to death. All the guilty slaves were hanged and atoned for their crime against Odysseus and Penelope with death. Odysseus and the traitor Melantius were put to a painful execution.
When the slaves and Melantius suffered the well-deserved punishment, Odysseus ordered Eurycleia to bring cleansing incense and fumigate the entire banquet hall with it. All the slaves of Odysseus gathered; They surrounded their master and kissed his hands and feet, rejoicing at his return. Odysseus himself cried when he saw his household again.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru