BOOK 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 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. The woTo the success of the Trojan expedition Odysseus is only less manly Odysseus. 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 Heraklês 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 Chrysâór. 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 This name, like Telemachos, Têlephos and Telephassa, 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. 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 formerly begun. In the long contest which follows he is renowned chiefly for his wisdom and his eloquence. In the council none has greater power; and his cool unimpassioned sobriety 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. 405 CHAP. the Wan With the fall of Ilion Odysseus at once appears in another aspect. Odysseus He is now the man who longs to see his wife, who cannot tarry derer. 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 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 BOOK II. Odysseus and Aiolos. 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 Poseidon 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 Laistrygonians, 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 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 shaggyfleeced rams, the white clouds which belong to the Phaiakian regions are seen stealing away, until at last from under the hugest beast of the flock the sun himself emerges, only to draw down on himself another savage attack from the madly rushing storm-cloud. 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. The incidents which follow the departure of Odysseus from the island of Aiolos are a picture of a violent gale 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 empty-handed while Odysseus has received from the king of the winds vast treasures which would enrich them all. This notion THE ENEMIES OF ODYSSEUS. 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. 407 СНАР. In the city of the Laistrygonians, Lamos, a name connected with The Laistrygothe Greek Lamuroi and the Latin Lemures, the seizers and swal- nians. lowers, we see 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 like thunder-clouds greeting each other with their mysterious voices.. Kirkê. In the land of the Lotos-eaters Odysseus encounters dangers The Lotosof another kind. The myth carries us to the many emblems of the eaters, and reproductive powers of nature, of which the Lotos is one of the most prominent. It here becomes the forbidden fruit, and the eating of it so poisons the blood as to take away all memory and care for home and kinsfolk, for law, right, and duty. The sensual inducements held out by the Lotophagoi are, in short, those by which Venus tempts Tanhaüser into her home in the Horselberg; and the degradation of the bard answers to the dreamy indolence of the groups who make life one long holiday in the Lotos land. The Venus of the mediaval story is but another form of Kirkê, the queen of Aiaia; but the sloth and sensuality of the Lotos-eaters here turns its victims into actual swine, while the spell is a tangible poison poured by Kirkê into their cups. The rod which she uses as the instrument of transformation gives a further significance to the story. From these swinish pleasures they are awakened only through the 1 Worsley, Odyssey, x. 234. BOOK II. Odysseus and Kalypso. interference of Odysseus, who has received from Hermes an antidote which deprives the charms of Kirkê of all power to hurt him. The Heraklês of Prodikos is after all the Heraklês whom we see in the myths of Echidna or of the daughters of Thestios, and thus Odysseus dallies with Kirkê as he listens also to the song of the Seirens. True, he has not forgotten his home or his wife, but he is ready to avail. himself of all enjoyments which will not hinder him from reaching. home at last. So he tarries with Kirkê and with the fairer Kalypso, whose beautiful abode is the palace of Tara Bai in the Hindu legend, while she herself is Ursula, the moon, wandering, like Asterodia, among the myriad stars,-the lovely being who throws a veil over the Sun while he sojourns in her peaceful home. From the abode of Kirkê Odysseus betakes himself to the regions of Hades, where from Teiresias he learns that he may yet escape from the anger of Poseidôn, if he and his comrades will but abstain from hurting the cattle of Helios in the island of Thrinakia—or in other words, as we have seen, if they will not waste time by the way. Coming back to Kirkê he is further warned against other foes in the air and the waters in the Seirens and Skylla and Charybdis. Worse than all, however, is the fate which awaits him in Thrinakia. The storm which is sent after the death of the oxen of Helios destroys all his ships and all his comrades, and Odysseus alone reaches the island of Kalypso, who, like Eôs, promises him immortality if he will but tarry with her for ever. But it may not be. The yearning for his home and his wife may be repressed for a time, but it cannot be extinguished; and Athênê has exacted from Zeus an oath that Odysseus shall assuredly be avenged of all who have wronged him. So at the bidding of Hermes Kalypso helps Odysseus to build a raft, which bears him towards Scheria, until Poseidôn again hurls him from it. But Ino Leukothea is at hand to save him, and he is at last thrown up almost dead on the shore of the Phaiakian land, where Athênê brings Nausikaâ to his rescue. He is now in the true cloudland of his friends, where everything is beautiful and radiant; and in one of the magic ships of Alkinoös he is wafted to Ithaka, and landed on his native soil, buried in a profound slumber. Here the wanderer of twenty years, who finds himself an outcast from his own home, where the suitors have been wasting his substance with riotous living, prepares for his last great work of vengeance, and for a battle which answers to the fatal conflict between Achilleus and Hektor. He is himself but just returned from the search and the recovery of a stolen treasure; but before he can rest in peace, there remains yet another woman whom he must rescue, and another treasure on which he must |