They, with noisy mirth, Feasted deliciously, for they had slain Many a fat victim; but a sadder feast Than, soon, the Goddess and the warrior Chief Should furnish for them, none shall ever share. Of which their crimes had furnish'd first the cause. FOOTNOTES: [88] That is, how shall I escape the vengeance of their kindred? [89] Aĕdon, Cleothera, Merope. [90] μυελον ανδρων. [91] The new moon. [92] He is often called--πατηρ ανδρων τε θεων τε. [93] Household Gods who presided over the hearth. [94] A smile of displeasure. [95] Who had sought refuge in the ship of Telemachus when he left Sparta, and came with him to Ithaca. BOOK XXI ARGUMENT Penelope proposes to the suitors a contest with the bow, herself the prize. They prove unable to bend the bow; when Ulysses having with some difficulty possessed himself of it, manages it with the utmost ease, and dispatches his arrow through twelve rings erected for the trial. Minerva, now, Goddess cærulean-eyed, Prompted Icarius' daughter, the discrete Penelope, with bow and rings to prove Her suitors in Ulysses' courts, a game Terrible in conclusion to them all. First, taking in her hand the brazen key Well-forged, and fitted with an iv'ry grasp, Attended by the women of her train She sought her inmost chamber, the recess In which she kept the treasures of her Lord, 10 His brass, his gold, and steel elaborate. Here lay his stubborn bow, and quiver fill'd With num'rous shafts, a fatal store. That bow He had received and quiver from the hand Of godlike Iphitus Eurytides, Whom, in Messenia,[96] in the house he met Of brave Orsilochus. Ulysses came Demanding payment of arrearage due From all that land; for a Messenian fleet Had borne from Ithaca three hundred sheep, 20 With all their shepherds; for which cause, ere yet Adult, he voyaged to that distant shore, Deputed by his sire, and by the Chiefs Of Ithaca, to make the just demand. But Iphitus had thither come to seek Twelve mares and twelve mule colts which he had lost, A search that cost him soon a bloody death. For, coming to the house of Hercules The valiant task-performing son of Jove, He perish'd there, slain by his cruel host 30 Who, heedless of heav'n's wrath, and of the rights Of his own board, first fed, then slaughter'd him; For in _his_ house the mares and colts were hidden. He, therefore, occupied in that concern, Meeting Ulysses there, gave him the bow Which, erst, huge Eurytus had borne, and which Himself had from his dying sire received. Ulysses, in return, on him bestowed A spear and sword, pledges of future love And hospitality; but never more 40 They met each other at the friendly board, For, ere that hour arrived, the son of Jove