Counting the Suitors

26“Dear father, tell me in what galley came
The mariners who brought you. Of what race
Claim they to be? For certainly, I think,
You came not hither travelling on foot.”

27Odysseus, the great sufferer, thus replied:
“My son, you shall be answered faithfully.
Men of a race renowned for seamanship,
Phaeacians, brought me hither. They convey
Abroad the strangers coming to their isle,
And, bearing me in one of their swift barques
Across the sea, they landed me asleep
In Ithaca. Rich were the gifts they gave —
Much brass and gold, and garments from the loom;
These, so the gods have counselled, lie concealed
Among the hollow rocks, and I am come,
Obeying Athena, to consult with you
How to destroy our enemies. Give now
The number of the suitors; let me know
How many there may be, and who they are,
That with a careful judgment I may weigh
The question whether we shall fall on them —
We two alone —or must we seek allies.”

28Then spoke discreet Telemachus again:
“O father, I have heard of your great fame
My whole life long —how mighty is your arm,
How wise your counsels. You have said great things,
And I am thunderstruck. It cannot be
That two alone should stand before a crowd
Of valiant men. They are not merely ten —
These suitors —nor twice ten, but many more;
Hear, then, their number. From Dulichium come
Fifty and two, the flower of all its youth,
With whom are six attendants. Samos sends
Twice twelve, and twenty more Achaian chiefs
Come from Zacynthus. Twelve from Ithaca;
The noblest of the isle are these —with whom
Medon the herald comes —a bard whose song
Is heavenly —and two servants skilled to spread
The banquet. Should we in the palace halls
Assault all these, I fear lest the revenge
For all your wrongs would end most bitterly
And grievously for you. Now, if your thought
Be turned to some ally, bethink you who
Will combat for us with a willing heart.”