the ship, but leave me here, lest the old man should detain me against my will in his house, longing to entertain me: but it is necessary for me to return immediately."
Thus he spoke; but the son of Nestor considered in his mind, how, having made a promise to him, he might perform it rightly. And thus to him considering it seemed to be better; he turned the horses to the swift ship and the shore of the sea; and he took out [and placed in] the stern of the ship the beautiful presents, the garment and gold, which Menelaus gave him; and urging him, he spoke winged words:
"In haste now embark, and order all thy companions, before I reach home, and inform the old man. For I know this well in my breast and in my mind, how violent is his temper, nor will he let thee go: but he will himself come here to call thee: nor do I think that thou wilt go away empty; for he will be very wrath."
Thus having spoken, he drove the beautiful-haired horses back to the city of the Pylians, and quickly reached the dwelling. And Telemachus commanded his companions, urging them on: "Put in order the tackle, my companions, in the black ship; and let us ourselves embark, that we may perform our voyage."
Thus he spoke; and they heard him well, and obeyed. And they quickly embarked and sat down upon the benches. He indeed was toiling thus, and praying, and he sacrificed to Minerva near the stern of the ship; and a foreigner came near him, flying from Argos, a prophet, having slain a man:[1] but he was a descendant of the race of Melampus, who formerly dwelt in Pylos, the mother of sheep, opulent, inhabiting a very excellent house amongst the Pylians: then indeed he came to another people, flying his country, and magnanimous Neleus, most illustrious of the living, who kept his great possessions for a whole year by force: but he in the mean time
- ↑ On this exile of murderers the student will do well to consult Müller's Eumenides, § 44, p. 129, &c. He remarks that "in the Heroic age the punishment for homicide was on the whole more severe than in the Attic courts and Platonic scheme of laws. For," as he observes in reference to the present passage of Homer. "the pursuit of vengeance was carried beyond the frontiers; neither was it limited in its operation as by Attic law, but was exercised in all its relentlessness; even in foreign countries the fugitive murderer was in constant apprehension of the avenger."
