Counsel Against Reprisal

14She ended, and the much-enduring chief
Odysseus, smiling at her words, bespoke
Telemachus at once, in winged words: —

15“Suffer your mother, O Telemachus,
To prove me; she will know me better soon.
My looks are sordid, and my limbs are wrapped
In tattered raiment, therefore does she think
Meanly of me, and cannot willingly
Believe that I am he. But let us now
Consider what most wisely may be done.
He who has slain, among a tribe of men,
A single one with few to avenge his death,
Flees from his kindred and his native land;
But we have slain the champions of the realm,
The flower of all the youth of Ithaca.
Therefore, I pray you, think what shall be done.”

16And then discreet Telemachus replied:
“Look you to that, dear father; for they say
That you of all mankind were wont to give
The wisest counsels. None of mortal birth
In this was deemed your peer. We follow you
With cheerful hearts; nor will our courage fail,
I think, in aught that lies within our power.”

17Odysseus, the sagacious, answered thus:
“Then will I tell you what I deem most wise.
First take the bath, and then array yourselves
In tunics, bid the palace-maidens choose
Fresh garments; let the godlike bard, who bears
The clear-toned harp, be leader, and strike up
A melody to prompt the festive dance,
That all may say who hear it from without —
Whether the passers by or dwellers near —
‘It is a wedding.’ Else throughout the land
The rumor of the slaughter we have wrought
Among the suitors may have spread before
We reach our wooded farm, and there consult
Beneath the guidance of Olympian Zeus.”