Dolius did the same- warriors by necessity in spite of their greyhair. When they had all put on their armour, they opened the gateand sallied forth, Ulysses leading the way.Then Jove's daughter Minerva came up to them, having assumed theform and voice of Mentor. Ulysses was glad when he saw her, and saidto his son Telemachus, "Telemachus, now that are about to fight inan engagement, which will show every man's mettle, be sure not todisgrace your ancestors, who were eminent for their strength andcourage all the world over.""You say truly, my dear father," answered Telemachus, "and you shallsee, if you will, that I am in no mind to disgrace your family."Laertes was delighted when he heard this. "Good heavens, heexclaimed, "what a day I am enjoying: I do indeed rejoice at it. Myson and grandson are vying with one another in the matter of valour."On this Minerva came close up to him and said, "Son of Arceisius-best friend I have in the world- pray to the blue-eyed damsel, andto Jove her father; then poise your spear and hurl it."As she spoke she infused fresh vigour into him, and when he hadprayed to her he poised his spear and hurled it. He hit Eupeithes'helmet, and the spear went right through it, for the helmet stayedit not, and his armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily tothe ground. Meantime Ulysses and his son fell the front line of thefoe and smote them with their swords and spears; indeed, they wouldhave killed every one of them, and prevented them from ever gettinghome again, only Minerva raised her voice aloud, and made every onepause. "Men of Ithaca," she cried, cease this dreadful war, and settlethe matter at once without further bloodshed."On this pale fear seized every one; they were so frightened thattheir arms dropped from their hands and fell upon the ground at thesound of the goddess's voice, and they fled back to the city for theirlives. But Ulysses gave a great cry, and gathering himself togetherswooped down like a soaring eagle. Then the son of Saturn sent athunderbolt of fire that fell just in front of Minerva, so she said toUlysses, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, stop this warful strife, orJove will be angry with you."Thus spoke Minerva, and Ulysses obeyed her gladly. Then Minervaassumed the form and voice of Mentor, and presently made a covenant ofpeace between the two contending parties.-THE END-BOOK II.NOW when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared,Telemachus rose and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to hiscomely feet, girded his sword about his shoulder, and left his roomlooking like an immortal god. He at once sent the criers round to callthe people in assembly, so they called them and the people gatheredthereon; then, when they were got together, he went to the place ofassembly spear in hand- not alone, for his two hounds went with him.Minerva endowed him with a presence of such divine comeliness that allmarvelled at him as he went by, and when he took his place' in hisfather's seat even the oldest councillors made way for him.Aegyptius, a man bent double with age, and of infinite experience,the first to speak His son Antiphus had gone with Ulysses to Ilius,land of noble steeds, but the savage Cyclops had killed him whenthey were all shut up in the cave, and had cooked his last dinnerfor him, He had three sons left, of whom two still worked on theirfather's land, while the third, Eurynomus, was one of the suitors;nevertheless their father could not get over the loss of Antiphus, andwas still weeping for him when he began his speech."Men of Ithaca," he said, "hear my words. From the day Ulyssesleft us there has been no meeting of our councillors until now; whothen can it be, whether old or young, that finds it so necessary toconvene us? Has he got wind of some host approaching, and does he wishto warn us, or would he speak upon some other matter of public moment?I am sure he is an excellent person, and I hope Jove will grant himhis heart's desire."Telemachus took this speech as of good omen and rose at once, for hewas bursting with what he had to say. He stood in the middle of theassembly and the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff. Then,turning to Aegyptius, "Sir," said he, "it is I, as you will shortlylearn, who have convened you, for it is I who am the most aggrieved. Ihave not got wind of any host approaching about which I would warnyou, nor is there any matter of public moment on which I wouldspeak. My grieveance is purely personal, and turns on two greatmisfortunes which have fallen upon my house. The first of these is theloss of my excellent father, who was chief among all you here present,and was like a father to every one of you; the second is much moreserious, and ere long will be the utter ruin of my estate. The sons ofall the chief men among you are pestering my mother to marry themagainst her will. They are afraid to go to her father Icarius,asking him to choose the one he likes best, and to provide marriagegifts for his daughter, but day by day they keep hanging about myfather's house, sacrificing our oxen, sheep, and fat goats for theirbanquets, and never giving so much as a thought to the quantity ofwine they drink. No estate can stand such recklessness; we have now noUlysses to ward off harm from our doors, and I cannot hold my ownagainst them. I shall never all my days be as good a man as he was,still I would indeed defend myself if I had power to do so, for Icannot stand such treatment any longer; my house is being disgracedand ruined. Have respect, therefore, to your own consciences and topublic opinion. Fear, too, the wrath of heaven, lest the gods shouldbe displeased and turn upon you. I pray you by Jove and Themis, who isthe beginning and the end of councils, [do not] hold back, my friends,and leave me singlehanded- unless it be that my brave father Ulyssesdid some wrong to the Achaeans which you would now avenge on me, byaiding and abetting these suitors. Moreover, if I am to be eaten outof house and home at all, I had rather you did the eatingyourselves, for I could then take action against you to somepurpose, and serve you with notices from house to house till I gotpaid in full, whereas now I have no remedy."With this Telemachus dashed his staff to the ground and burst intotears. Every one was very sorry for him, but they all sat still and noone ventured to make him an angry answer, save only Antinous, whospoke thus:"Telemachus, insolent braggart that you are, how dare you try tothrow the blame upon us suitors? It is your mother's fault not ours,for she is a very artful woman. This three years past, and close onfour, she has been driving us out of our minds, by encouraging eachone of us, and sending him messages without meaning one word of whatshe says. And then there was that other trick she played us. She setup a great tambour frame in her room, and began to work on an enormouspiece of fine needlework. 'Sweet hearts,' said she, 'Ulysses is indeeddead, still do not press me to marry again immediately, wait- for Iwould not have skill in needlework perish unrecorded- till I havecompleted a pall for the hero Laertes, to be in readiness againstthe time when death shall take him. He is very rich, and the womenof the place will talk if he is laid out without a pall.'"This was what she said, and we assented; whereon we could see herworking on her great web all day long, but at night she would unpickthe stitches again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way forthree years and we never found her out, but as time wore on and shewas now in her fourth year, one of her maids who knew what she wasdoing told us, and we caught her in the act of undoing her work, soshe had to finish it whether she would or no. The suitors,therefore, make you this answer, that both you and the Achaeans mayunderstand-'Send your mother away, and bid her marry the man of herown and of her father's choice'; for I do not know what will happen ifshe goes on plaguing us much longer with the airs she gives herself onthe score of the accomplishments Minerva has taught her, and becauseshe is so clever. We never yet heard of such a woman; we know allabout Tyro, Alcmena, Mycene, and the famous women of old, but theywere nothing to your mother, any one of them. It was not fair of herto treat us in that way, and as long as she continues in the mind withwhich heaven has now endowed her, so long shall we go on eating upyour estate; and I do not see why she should change, for she getsall the honour and glory, and it is you who pay for it, not she.Understand, then, that we will not go back to our lands, neitherhere nor elsewhere, till she has made her choice and married someone or other of us."Telemachus answered, "Antinous, how can I drive the mother whobore me from my father's house? My father is abroad and we do not knowwhether he is alive or dead. It will be hard on me if I have to payIcarius the large sum which I must give him if I insist on sending hisdaughter back to him. Not only will he deal rigorously with me, butheaven will also punish me; for my mother when she leaves the housewill calf on the Erinyes to avenge her; besides, it would not be acreditable thing to do, and I will have nothing to say to it. If youchoose to take offence at this, leave the house and feast elsewhere atone another's houses at your own cost turn and turn about. If, onthe other hand, you elect to persist in spunging upon one man,heaven help me, but Jove shall reckon with you in full, and when youfall in my father's house there shall be no man to avenge you."As he spoke Jove sent two eagles from the top of the mountain, andthey flew on and on with the wind, sailing side by side in their ownlordly flight. When they were right over the middle of the assemblythey wheeled and circled about, beating the air with their wings andglaring death into the eyes of them that were below; then, fightingfiercely and tearing at one another, they flew off towards the rightover the town. The people wondered as they saw them, and asked eachother what an this might be; whereon Halitherses, who was the bestprophet and reader of omens among them, spoke to them plainly and inall honesty, saying:"Hear me, men of Ithaca, and I speak more particularly to thesuitors, for I see mischief brewing for them. Ulysses is not goingto be away much longer; indeed he is close at hand to deal out deathand destruction, not on them alone, but on many another of us who livein Ithaca. Let us then be wise in time, and put a stop to thiswickedness before he comes. Let the suitors do so of their own accord;it will be better for them, for I am not prophesying without dueknowledge; everything has happened to Ulysses as I foretold when theArgives set out for Troy, and he with them. I said that after goingthrough much hardship and losing all his men he should come home againin the twentieth year and that no one would know him; and now all thisis coming true."Eurymachus son of Polybus then said, "Go home, old man, and prophesyto your own children, or it may be worse for them. I can read theseomens myself much better than you can; birds are always flying aboutin the sunshine somewhere or other, but they seldom mean anything.Ulysses has died in a far country, and it is a pity you are not deadalong with him, instead of prating here about omens and adding fuel tothe anger of Telemachus which is fierce enough as it is. I suppose youthink he will give you something for your family, but I tell you-and it shall surely be- when an old man like you, who should knowbetter, talks a young one over till he becomes troublesome, in thefirst place his young friend will only fare so much the worse- he willtake nothing by it, for the suitors will prevent this- and in thenext, we will lay a heavier fine, sir, upon yourself than you willat all like paying, for it will bear hardly upon you. As forTelemachus, I warn him in the presence of you all to send his motherback to her father, who will find her a husband and provide her with