PENELOPÊ.

and Sisyphos. The process is the same as that which converted the flashing weapon of Chrysâôr into the poisoned arrows of Herakles, Odysseus, and Philoktêtês.

173

CHAP.
III.

lopê.

But Odysseus, the suitor of Helen, is known especially as Odysseus the husband of Penelopê, who weaves by day the beautiful and Peneweb of cirri clouds which is undone again during the night; and it is as the weaver that she defeats the schemes of the suitors in that long contest which runs parallel to the great conflict at Ilion. For the departure of the Achaian chieftains at Troy is the departure of the light after sundown; and the powers of darkness as necessarily assail Penelopê as they fight to retain Helen in the city of Priam and Paris. How then could she withstand their importunities except by devising some such condition as that of the finishing of a web which cannot be seen completed except by the light of the sun,-in other words, until Odysseus should have come back? Regarded thus, Penelopê is the faithful bride of the sun, pure and unsullied in her truthfulness as Athênê herself, and cherishing the memory of Odysseus through weary years of sorrow and suffering. As such, the poet of the Odyssey has chosen to exhibit her; but there were legends which spoke of Pan as the offspring of Penelopê and Hermes, or of Penelopê and all the suitors together. Of this myth, which simply exhibits the evening twilight and the darkness as the parents of the breeze which murmurs softly in the night, it is enough to say that we have no right to put it down as necessarily of later growth than the myth which forms the subject of the Odyssey. There is nothing to be urged against, there is much to be urged for, the priority of such myths as Kephalos and Prokris, Dêmêtêr and Persephonê, over by far the larger number of legends noticed or narrated in our Homeric poems; and if one story is to be pronounced of later growth than another, the verdict must be based on other and more conclusive evidence than the mere fact that it happens not to be mentioned in our Iliad or Odyssey. Penelopê indeed is only the dawn or the evening light: and Aphroditê is but another aspect of Athênê. As such, Penelopê is thrown by her parents into the sea at her birth, and she becomes Anadyomenê when the sea-birds, from

BOOK

II.

The womanly Odysseus.

which she was also said to have her name, raise her up on their cloud-like wings. As such also, when Odysseus has been slain by Telegonos,' she becomes the wife of his murderer, either in Aiaia or in Leukê where Helen is also wedded to Achilleus.

To the success of the Trojan expedition Odysseus is only less necessary than the great chieftain of Phthia; and hence we have the same story of his unwillingness to engage in it which we find in the story of Achilleus. In this case as in the other it is a work to be done for the profit of others, not his own. It is in short a task undertaken against his will; and it answers strictly to the servitude of Phoibos in the house of Admêtos, or the subjection of Herakles to the bidding of Eurystheus. With the idea of the yoke thus laid upon them is closely connected that notion of weakness to which the Homeric hymn points when it speaks of the nymphs as wrapping Phoibos in the white swaddling-clothes before he became Chrysâôr. This raiment becomes a disguise, and thus the workmen jeer at Theseus for his girlish appearance, and Achilleus is found in woman's garb by those who come to take him to Ilion. The idea of disguise, however, readily suggests that of feigned madness, and as such it comes before us in the story of Odysseus, who is described as sowing salt behind a plough drawn by an ox and an ass. The trick is found out by Palamedes, who, placing the infant Telemachos in his way, makes Odysseus turn the plough aside and avoid him. He is now bound to attempt the rescue of Helen, as he and all her suitors had sworn to do when they sought her hand. At Troy, however, he is but one of many Achaian chieftains, although he is second only to Achilleus; and thus he goes with Menelaos to Ilion to demand the surrender of Helen, before the strife is formally begun. In the long contest which follows he is renowned chiefly for his wisdom and his eloquence. In the council

This name, like Telemachos, Têlephos and Têlephassa, denotes the farreaching spears (rays) of the sun and as Helios and Phoibos became the lords of life and death, of the light and darkness which depends on the orb of

the sun, it follows that all who die are slain by these gods. Hence Odysseus not less than his enemies must be slain by Phoibos or somebody who represents him.

ODYSSEUS AND HIS COMRADES.

III.

175 none has greater power; and his cool unimpassioned sobriety CHAP. stands out in singular contrast with the fierce impetuosity of Achilleus. He can also serve, if need be, as a spy, and in ambush none are more formidable. With him, according to one tradition, originated that device of the wooden horse which simply reproduces the Argo on dry land. As the ship bears the confederated Achaians who contrive to win a welcome from the Kolchian king, so the wooden horse carries all the bravest of the Argives on their errand of death to the Trojans and of rescue to Helen, whose wealth is the Golden Fleece.

derer.

With the fall of Ilion Odysseus at once appears in another Odysseus aspect. He is now the man who longs to see his wife, who the Wancannot tarry where he is, and who must go on his way homewards in spite of all that may oppose him or seek to weaken the memory of her beauty and her love. On this thread the poet of the Odyssey has strung together the series of adventures, most of which we have already sufficiently examined in the myths under which each naturally falls. These adventures are interwoven with wonderful skill; but they may each be traced to some simple phrase denoting originally the phenomena of the sun's daily or yearly course through the heaven. Among the most remarkable features of the story are the changes in the companions of Odysseus. He sets out from Ilion with a gallant fleet and a goodly company he lands in Ithaka from a beautiful bark with a noble crew but of those who had left Troy with him not one remained—a vivid image of the sun setting among clouds, but the clouds are not the same as those which surrounded him at his birth. These must vanish away and die continually, and a stock of stories to account for each disaster was the inevitable result. The means by which the misfortunes were brought about would also be readily suggested by the daily appearances of the sky. Of all the clouds which are seen in the heavens the delicate vapours which float like islets through the blue seas of air would be the friends of the sun; the black clouds which rudely thrust these aside, or blot them out of sight, would be the enemies who devour his men. The same phenomena would suggest their features.

BOOK
II.

and their raiment, the rough shaggy locks and uncouth
faces of the beings who represent the dark vapours, the pure
white robes and heavenly countenances of the maidens who
dwell in the fair Phaiakian land. Thus the enemies and
friends of the sun attend him throughout his journey, and
the times of peace may at any moment be followed by a time
of war.
But these gloomy storm-clouds, which move like
giants with clubs as high as a ship's mast, all rise from the
sea. In other words they are sons of Poseidôn, and thus is
explained that enmity of Poseidôn for Odysseus which is
partially counteracted by the dawn-goddess Athênê. Hence
also many of the beings whom he encounters are only old
friends or enemies in a new form or dress. There is really
no difference in kind between the Kikones, the Laistry-
gonians, and the Kyklôpes, between the Lotos-eaters, Kirkê,
and the Seirens. It is but a question of the degree of risk
and extent of loss in each case. Thus the Kikones gather
together, like the leaves of the trees in number, and they gain
their victory as the sun goes down in the west. These
beings reappear in more formidable shape on the island
where the Kyklôpes feed their shaggy flocks, the vapours
which lie low and seem to browse upon the hills. Necessarily
they can but pasture their herds, for vines or cornfields they
can have none. It is hard to say how far the details of the
story may not be strictly mythical in their origin. Certain
it seems that when Odysseus, having left eleven ships in the
goat island, approaches the home of the Kyklôpes with only
one, we see the sun drawing near to the huge storm-cloud
with but a single Phaiakian bark by his side. As his orb
passes behind the mass of vapour the giant becomes the
one-eyed or round-faced Kyklops, who devours one by one
the comrades of Odysseus, as the beautiful clouds vanish one
after the other behind this sombre veil. As the vapours
thicken still more, the face of the sun can no longer be seen;
in other words, Polyphêmos has been blinded, and his rage
is seen in the convulsive movements of the vapours, from
beneath which, as from beneath the shaggy-fleeced rams,
the white clouds which belong to the Phaiakian regions are
seen stealing away, until at last from under the hugest beast

THE BAG OF WINDS.

of the flock the sun himself emerges, only to draw down on himself another savage attack from the madly rushing stormcloud. Polyphêmos has been smitten, and as on the discomfiture of Vritra, or the Sphinx, or the Pythian dragon, the mighty waters burst forth, and the ship of Odysseus is well-nigh overwhelmed in the sea.

177

CHAP.

and

III.

The incidents which follow the departure of Odysseus Odysseus from the island of Aiolos are a picture of a violent gale Aiolos. followed by profound calm. Aiolos himself gives to Odysseus a bag containing all the winds, from which he might let out the Zephyr to waft him on his way. As he sleeps, his comrades bewail the evil fate which sends them home emptyhanded while Odysseus has received from the king of the winds vast treasures which would enrich them all. This notion impels them to open the bag, and all the winds of heaven burst forth in wild fury, and carry them back to Aiolia, whence the king drives them away as being under the curse of the gods, and says that henceforth he will not help them more. At once Odysseus is made to relate how his men were now tired out with rowing day and night, because there was not a breath of air to speed them on their voyage.

nians.

In the city of the Laistrygonians, Lamos, a name con- The nected with the Greek Lamuroi and the Latin Lemures, we Laistrygosee simply the awful caves in which the Vritra hides away the stolen cattle of Indra. It is hard by the confines of Day and Night, and round it rise the rocks sheer and smooth from the sea, while two promontories leave a narrow entrance for ships. Within it there is neither wave nor wind, but an awful stillness broken only by the dull sound when

Shepherd calls to shepherd, entering through
The portals, and the other makes answer due,'

like thunder-clouds greeting each other with their mysterious
voices. No cheering sight, however, meets the eye; and
when the men of Odysseus are led by the daughter of
Antiphates the chief into his palace, they gaze with horror
at his wife, who stands before them huge as a rock. By