"Run and fetch them," answered Ulysses, "while my arrows hold out,or when I am alone they may get me away from the door."Telemachus did as his father said, and went off to the store roomwhere the armour was kept. He chose four shields, eight spears, andfour brass helmets with horse-hair plumes. He brought them with allspeed to his father, and armed himself first, while the stockman andthe swineherd also put on their armour, and took their places nearUlysses. Meanwhile Ulysses, as long as his arrows lasted, had beenshooting the suitors one by one, and they fell thick on one another:when his arrows gave out, he set the bow to stand against the end wallof the house by the door post, and hung a shield four hides thickabout his shoulders; on his comely head he set his helmet, wellwrought with a crest of horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it,and he grasped two redoubtable bronze-shod spears.Now there was a trap door on the wall, while at one end of thepavement there was an exit leading to a narrow passage, and thisexit was closed by a well-made door. Ulysses told Philoetius tostand by this door and guard it, for only one person could attack itat a time. But Agelaus shouted out, "Cannot some one go up to the trapdoor and tell the people what is going on? Help would come at once,and we should soon make an end of this man and his shooting.""This may not be, Agelaus," answered Melanthius, "the mouth of thenarrow passage is dangerously near the entrance to the outer court.One brave man could prevent any number from getting in. But I knowwhat I will do, I will bring you arms from the store room, for I amsure it is there that Ulysses and his son have put them."On this the goatherd Melanthius went by back passages to the storeroom of Ulysses, house. There he chose twelve shields, with as manyhelmets and spears, and brought them back as fast as he could togive them to the suitors. Ulysses' heart began to fail him when he sawthe suitors putting on their armour and brandishing their spears. Hesaw the greatness of the danger, and said to Telemachus, "Some oneof the women inside is helping the suitors against us, or it may beMelanthius."Telemachus answered, "The fault, father, is mine, and mine only; Ileft the store room door open, and they have kept a sharper look outthan I have. Go, Eumaeus, put the door to, and see whether it is oneof the women who is doing this, or whether, as I suspect, it isMelanthius the son of Dolius."Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Melanthius was again going tothe store room to fetch more armour, but the swineherd saw him andsaid to Ulysses who was beside him, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, itis that scoundrel Melanthius, just as we suspected, who is going tothe store room. Say, shall I kill him, if I can get the better of him,or shall I bring him here that you may take your own revenge for allthe many wrongs that he has done in your house?"Ulysses answered, "Telemachus and I will hold these suitors incheck, no matter what they do; go back both of you and bindMelanthius' hands and feet behind him. Throw him into the store roomand make the door fast behind you; then fasten a noose about his body,and string him close up to the rafters from a high bearing-post,that he may linger on in an agony."Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said; they went tothe store room, which they entered before Melanthius saw them, forhe was busy searching for arms in the innermost part of the room, sothe two took their stand on either side of the door and waited. By andby Melanthius came out with a helmet in one hand, and an olddry-rotted shield in the other, which had been borne by Laertes whenhe was young, but which had been long since thrown aside, and thestraps had become unsewn; on this the two seized him, dragged him backby the hair, and threw him struggling to the ground. They bent hishands and feet well behind his back, and bound them tight with apainful bond as Ulysses had told them; then they fastened a nooseabout his body and strung him up from a high pillar till he wasclose up to the rafters, and over him did you then vaunt, Oswineherd Eumaeus, saying, "Melanthius, you will pass the night on asoft bed as you deserve. You will know very well when morning comesfrom the streams of Oceanus, and it is time for you to be driving inyour goats for the suitors to feast on."There, then, they left him in very cruel bondage, and having puton their armour they closed the door behind them and went back to taketheir places by the side of Ulysses; whereon the four men stood in thecloister, fierce and full of fury; nevertheless, those who were in thebody of the court were still both brave and many. Then Jove's daughterMinerva came up to them, having assumed the voice and form ofMentor. Ulysses was glad when he saw her and said, "Mentor, lend meyour help, and forget not your old comrade, nor the many good turns hehas done you. Besides, you are my age-mate."But all the time he felt sure it was Minerva, and the suitors fromthe other side raised an uproar when they saw her. Agelaus was thefirst to reproach her. "Mentor," he cried, "do not let Ulysses beguileyou into siding with him and fighting the suitors. This is what wewill do: when we have killed these people, father and son, we willkill you too. You shall pay for it with your head, and when we havekilled you, we will take all you have, in doors or out, and bring itinto hotch-pot with Ulysses' property; we will not let your sonslive in your house, nor your daughters, nor shall your widowcontinue to live in the city of Ithaca."This made Minerva still more furious, so she scolded Ulysses veryangrily. "Ulysses," said she, "your strength and prowess are no longerwhat they were when you fought for nine long years among the Trojansabout the noble lady Helen. You killed many a man in those days, andit was through your stratagem that Priam's city was taken. How comesit that you are so lamentably less valiant now that you are on yourown ground, face to face with the suitors in your own house? Comeon, my good fellow, stand by my side and see how Mentor, son ofAlcinous shall fight your foes and requite your kindnesses conferredupon him."But she would not give him full victory as yet, for she wished stillfurther to prove his own prowess and that of his brave son, so sheflew up to one of the rafters in the roof of the cloister and sat uponit in the form of a swallow.Meanwhile Agelaus son of Damastor, Eurynomus, Amphimedon,Demoptolemus, Pisander, and Polybus son of Polyctor bore the bruntof the fight upon the suitors' side; of all those who were stillfighting for their lives they were by far the most valiant, for theothers had already fallen under the arrows of Ulysses. Agelaus shoutedto them and said, "My friends, he will soon have to leave off, forMentor has gone away after having done nothing for him but brag.They are standing at the doors unsupported. Do not aim at him all atonce, but six of you throw your spears first, and see if you cannotcover yourselves with glory by killing him. When he has fallen we neednot be uneasy about the others."They threw their spears as he bade them, but Minerva made them allof no effect. One hit the door post; another went against the door;the pointed shaft of another struck the wall; and as soon as theyhad avoided all the spears of the suitors Ulysses said to his own men,"My friends, I should say we too had better let drive into themiddle of them, or they will crown all the harm they have done us byus outright."They therefore aimed straight in front of them and threw theirspears. Ulysses killed Demoptolemus, Telemachus Euryades, EumaeusElatus, while the stockman killed Pisander. These all bit the dust,and as the others drew back into a corner Ulysses and his men rushedforward and regained their spears by drawing them from the bodies ofthe dead.The suitors now aimed a second time, but again Minerva made theirweapons for the most part without effect. One hit a bearing-post ofthe cloister; another went against the door; while the pointed shaftof another struck the wall. Still, Amphimedon just took a piece of thetop skin from off Telemachus's wrist, and Ctesippus managed to grazeEumaeus's shoulder above his shield; but the spear went on and fell tothe ground. Then Ulysses and his men let drive into the crowd ofsuitors. Ulysses hit Eurydamas, Telemachus Amphimedon, and EumaeusPolybus. After this the stockman hit Ctesippus in the breast, andtaunted him saying, "Foul-mouthed son of Polytherses, do not be sofoolish as to talk wickedly another time, but let heaven direct yourspeech, for the gods are far stronger than men. I make you a presentof this advice to repay you for the foot which you gave Ulysses whenhe was begging about in his own house."Thus spoke the stockman, and Ulysses struck the son of Damastor witha spear in close fight, while Telemachus hit Leocritus son of Evenorin the belly, and the dart went clean through him, so that he fellforward full on his face upon the ground. Then Minerva from her seaton the rafter held up her deadly aegis, and the hearts of thesuitors quailed. They fled to the other end of the court like a herdof cattle maddened by the gadfly in early summer when the days areat their longest. As eagle-beaked, crook-taloned vultures from themountains swoop down on the smaller birds that cower in flocks uponthe ground, and kill them, for they cannot either fight or fly, andlookers on enjoy the sport- even so did Ulysses and his men fallupon the suitors and smite them on every side. They made a horriblegroaning as their brains were being battered in, and the groundseethed with their blood.Leiodes then caught the knees of Ulysses and said, "Ulysses Ibeseech you have mercy upon me and spare me. I never wronged any ofthe women in your house either in word or deed, and I tried to stopthe others. I saw them, but they would not listen, and now they arepaying for their folly. I was their sacrificing priest; if you killme, I shall die without having done anything to deserve it, andshall have got no thanks for all the good that I did."Ulysses looked sternly at him and answered, "If you were theirsacrificing priest, you must have prayed many a time that it mightbe long before I got home again, and that you might marry my wifeand have children by her. Therefore you shall die."With these words he picked up the sword that Agelaus had droppedwhen he was being killed, and which was lying upon the ground. Then hestruck Leiodes on the back of his neck, so that his head fellrolling in the dust while he was yet speaking.The minstrel Phemius son of Terpes- he who had been forced by thesuitors to sing to them- now tried to save his life. He was standingnear towards the trap door, and held his lyre in his hand. He didnot know whether to fly out of the cloister and sit down by thealtar of Jove that was in the outer court, and on which both Laertesand Ulysses had offered up the thigh bones of many an ox, or whetherto go straight up to Ulysses and embrace his knees, but in the endhe deemed it best to embrace Ulysses' knees. So he laid his lyre onthe ground the ground between the mixing-bowl and the silver-studdedseat; then going up to Ulysses he caught hold of his knees and said,"Ulysses, I beseech you have mercy on me and spare me. You will besorry for it afterwards if you kill a bard who can sing both forgods and men as I can. I make all my lays myself, and heaven visits mewith every kind of inspiration. I would sing to you as though you werea god, do not therefore be in such a hurry to cut my head off. Yourown son Telemachus will tell you that I did not want to frequentyour house and sing to the suitors after their meals, but they weretoo many and too strong for me, so they made me."Telemachus heard him, and at once went up to his father. "Hold!"he cried, "the man is guiltless, do him no hurt; and we will Medontoo, who was always good to me when I was a boy, unless Philoetiusor Eumaeus has already killed him, or he has fallen in your way when