Plotting the Vengeance

29Again Odysseus, the great sufferer, spoke:
“Then will I tell you; listen, and give heed.
Think whether Athena and her father, Zeus,
Suffice not for us. Need we more allies?”

30And then discreet Telemachus rejoined:
“Assuredly the twain whom you have named
Are mighty as allies; for though they sit
On high among the clouds, they yet bear rule
Both over mankind and over the living gods.”

31Once more Odysseus, the great sufferer, spoke:
“Not long will they avoid the fierce affray
When in my halls the strength of war is tried
Between me and the suitor crew. Now go
With early morning to your home, and there
Mingle among the suitors. As for me,
The swineherd afterward shall lead me hence
To town, a wretched beggar seemingly,
And very old. If there they scoff at me
In mine own palace, let your faithful heart
Endure it, though I suffer; though they seize
My feet, and by them drag me to the door,
Or strike at me with weapon-blades, look on
And bear it; yet reprove with gentle words
Their folly. They will never heed reproof;
The day of their destruction is at hand.
And this I tell you further, and be sure
To keep my words in memory. As soon
As Athena, goddess of wise counsel, gives
The warning, I shall nod to you, and you,
When you perceive it, remove at once
All weapons from my halls to a recess
High in an upper chamber. With soft words
Quiet the suitors when they ask you why.
Say, ‘I would take them where there comes no smoke,
Since now they seem no longer like to those
Left by Odysseus when he sailed for Troy,
But soiled and tarnished by the breath of fire.
This graver reason, also, Cronus’ son
Has forced upon my mind —that you by chance,
When full of wine and quarrelling, may wound
Each other, and disgrace the feast, and bring
Shame on your wooing; for the sight of steel
Draws men to bloodshed.’ Say but this, and leave
Two swords for us, two spears, two oxhide shields,
Against the day of combat. Athena then,
And Zeus the All-disposer, will unman
Their hearts. Moreover, let me say to you —
And keep my words in memory —if you be
My son, and of my blood, let no man hear
That now Odysseus is within the isle;
Let not Laertes hear of it, nor him
Who keeps the swine, nor any of the train
Of servants, nor Penelope herself,
While you and I alone search out and prove
The women of the household, and no less
The serving-men, to know who honors us,
And bears us reverence in his heart, and who
Contemns us, and dishonors even you.”

32Then answered his illustrious son and said:
“Father, you yet will know my heart, and find
That of a careless and too easy mood
I am not; but a search like this, I think,
Would profit neither of us, and I pray
That you will well consider it. Long time
Would you go wandering from place to place,
Over your estates, to prove the loyalty
Of everyone, while in your halls at ease
The suitors wastefully consume your wealth.
Yet would I counsel that the women’s faith
Be proved, that the disloyal may be marked
And the innocent go free. As for the men,
I would not now inquire from farm to farm;
That may be done hereafter, if indeed
You have a sign from aegis-bearing Zeus.”