Odysseus found the swineherd at his enclosure, which housed the sows and their young in one pen, and the small amount of boars in another. Three dogs were guarding the pigs, and when they saw Odysseus, they ran at him barking. Odysseus dropped to the ground and would have been attacked, if the swineherd had not saved him. The swineherd then started talking to Odysseus (who was a beggar in disguise) and telling his about the master of the house who is gone, and of the suitors who eat Odysseus's pigs. The swineherd, whose name was Eumaios, told Odysseus to go inside, where he would find something to eat and drink. Odysseus thanked the man for the kind welcome and went inside. Again, the swineherd bemoaned the loss of his master and then went to kill two young pigs for Odysseus to eat.
Eumaios cut and cooked the meet and then gave it to Odysseus with a goblet of wine to drink. While Odysseus was eating, Eumaios told who he thought was a beggar of his master's presumed death at Troy and of the men who invade his house and eat his food. When Odysseus had finished the meat, he asked the swineherd to describe his master and name him. Odysseus told the swineherd that he had traveled far and he might have come across Eumaios's beloved master. The swineherd said that many people had come to Ithaca, claiming to have heard word of Odysseus's return, only to lie about Odysseus and stay just for the food. The swineherd said that his master, Odysseus, was dead, and that by now his bones lay on a shore, buried in sand.
When Odysseus heard this, he swore to the swineherd that Odysseus would return before the month ended. The swineherd still insisted that his master was dead, but asked the beggar (really Odysseus) to talk about something else. Eumaios then asked Odysseus to tell his story. Odysseus obliged, and fabricated a tale to tell the swineherd. Odysseus claimed that he was from Crete, son of Castor Hylacides, who used to be great in battle. When the time for the Trojan War came around, the beggar said that he went, commanding a fleet for the Achaians. After ten years of war, the Achaians finally set sail for home, only to be separated at sea. Odysseus told the swineherd about fabricated adventures that the beggar had encountered while trying to make it home. These included: accidentally going into battle near the river of Aigyptos, Praying for mercy to the king of the other side and getting away with his life, but leaving his men to die, being brought back to Phoinicia by an ill-intended man who planned to sell the beggar as a slave, being in a shipwreck and being lost at sea for 10 days, being entertained by the Thesprotians, meeting Odysseus at the palace of this kingdom, and then being put onto a boat where he was treated as a slave. Odysseus said that while the ship he was on was at Ithaca, he jumped over board and swam to shore. There he hid while the sailors looked around for him, but the beggar was not found.
Eumaios was saddened by this long and sad tale, but still refused to believe that his master was alive. At about this time, all of the other pigmen came with their pigs to put them away in the pens. Eumaios ordered one of the men to kill one of the pigs so that they could have a meal to honor the beggar as their guest. A fire was made, the pig was killed, sacrifices were made, the meat was cooked, and then everyone ate. After eating, they all drank wine, and the beggar recounted a war story that included Odysseus. After everyone was full and they had all eaten, a bed was made for the beggar/Odysseus by the fire, and everyone went to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment