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Front Page Titles (by Subject) LIB. XI. - The English Works, vol. X (Iliad and Odyssey)
LIB. XI. - Homer, The English Works, vol. X (Iliad and Odyssey) [1839]Edition used:The English Works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury; Now First Collected and Edited by Sir William Molesworth, Bart., (London: Bohn, 1839-45). 11 vols. Vol. 10.
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LIB. XI.
Ulysses’ descent into Hell, and discourses with the ghosts of the deceased heros. - When we were come unto the sea-side, where
- Our ship lay, which we shov’d into the deep;
- We rear our mast, pull up our sails, and bear
- Aboard with us one male, one female sheep.
- 5And so for Hell we stood, with fears in mind,
- And tears in eye. But the fair Circe sent,
- To bear us company, a good fore-wind,
- That kept our sails full all the way we went.
- To winds and steerage we our way commend,
- 10And careless sit from morning till ’twas dark;
- Then found ourselves at th’ Ocean’s farthest end,
- Where up to land the wind had forc’d our bark.
- Here dwell the Cimbers, hid in clouds and mist,
- Whom thou, O Phœbus, with thy golden eye,
- 15Nor coming from the sky to earth e’er seest,
- Then with my sword i’ th’ ground I digg’d a pit,
- And round about it wine with honey pour;
- And round again pure wine pour after it,
- Then water pure. O’er all I sprinkle flour;
- 25And vowed, to those feeble folk, to kill,
- As soon as I to Ithaca should come,
- A barren heifer, and the altar fill
- With many more good things I had at home.
- And promis’d to Tiresias alone
- 30A fat black ewe, the best in all my cotes.
- When I my vows and pray’rs had rightly done,
- Of both the victims straight I cut the throats.
- Their reeking blood streamed down into the pit;
- Out come the ghosts; maids, youths, decrepid age,
- 35And tender virgins, they all scented it;
- And warriors clad in gory arms, all rage,
- And rushing out of Hell, with hideous cry,
- About the blood bustling they go and turn,
- Which not a little frighted me. Then I
- 40Bade flay the victims, and their bodies burn,
- And say their pray’rs to Pluto and his queen.
- With sword in hand I sat on the pit’s brink,
- Resolv’d till I Tiresias had seen,
- That not a ghost a drop of blood should drink.
- 45First came my soldier Elpenor’s spirit,
- Which left the body just when we set sail,
- So that we had no leisure to inter it;
- His heavy fate I did with tears bewail.
- How now, quoth I, Elpenor? art thou here
- 50Already? Couldst thou me so much outstrip?
- I first came forth, and left thee in the rear,
- Hast thou on foot outgone my good black ship?
- Then said Elpenor: Issue of Jove, divine
- Ulysses, I had come along with th’ bark,
- 55But that the Devil and excess of wine
- Made me to fall, and break my neck i’ th’ dark.
- I went to bed late by a ladder steep,
- At top o’ th’ house the room was where I lay;
- Wak’d at the noise of parting, half asleep,
- 60Headlong I hither came, the nearest way.
- Now I adjure you by your father, and
- Your wife, and son, and all his seed to come,
- (For I assured am that you will land
- Where Circe dwells before your going home),
- 65To see I have the rites due to the dead.
- Fear th’ anger of the Gods above, and burn
- My body with my arms, from foot to head,
- And cast on earth to cover o’er my urn.
- This done, for men hereafter sailing by,
- 70Raise me a little tomb of earth by th’ shore,
- That they may eas’ly see where ’tis I lie.
- Lastly, upon it upright plant my oar.
- All this, quoth I, I’ll do upon my word.
- Thus we discours’d amongst the shades. He stood
- 75While I continued with my naked sword
- To keep the sprites from tasting of the blood.
- Then came Anticlia my mother’s ghost.
- Alive I left her, when to Troy I sail’d,
- To fight against it in the Argive host.
- 80Now seeing her, exceedingly I wail’d;
- And though I grieved were to keep away
- My mother from the loved blood, yet still
- In the same posture patiently I stay,
- Till I might know Tiresias his will.
- 85Then came the soul of old Tiresias,
- And of the gilded staff he had in’s hand.
- Poor man, quoth he, perceiving what I was,
- What brought thee hither to this ugly land?
- Stand back awhile, and take your sword away,
- 90That I may drink, and the unerring word
- Of Fate deliver to you. I obey,
- Retire, and up I put my trusty sword.
- Then said the good old prophet: You are come,
- Honour’d Ulysses, to enquire of me,
- 95What the Gods say about your going home.
- I tell you true, ’twill not be easily.
- I think you’ll not escape at sea unseen
- Of angry Neptune, who I do not doubt
- Will do his worst, and make you feel his spleen,
- 100For Polyphemus’ eye which you put out.
- Yet for all that, you may to Ithaca
- Safely return, if you can but command
- Your passion when in th’ isle Thrinacia,
- An island lying in your way you land;
- 105There feed the kine of the all-seeing Sun,
- And flocks of goodly sheep. Hurt none of these.
- Then shall your ship her course with safety run
- At length to Ithaca, though not with ease.
- But if you touch them, I denounce a wreck
- 110To your good ship, and death to all your crew.
- And though yourself may happen to come back
- At last, and this unhappy fate eschew,
- ’Twill be alone, and in a ship not yours;
- Besides that, when you are returned home
- 115You’ll fall into the danger of the wooers,
- Who for your wife’s and meat’s sake thither come.
- But you will be reveng’d of these; and when
- You shall have made away these wooers, go
- With oar on shoulder, to a land where men
- 120Inhabit that the briny sea not know,
- Nor ever mingle salt with what they eat,
- Nor ever saw the ship with crimson face,
- Nor yet those wings which do the water beat,
- Call’d oars, to make your good ship go apace.
- 125Now mark me well, when thou shalt meet a man
- Just at the end of Neptune’s utmost bound,
- Bearing upon his shoulder a corn-fan,
- Stick down thy lusty oar upon the ground;
- There sacrifice to the world’s admiral,
- 130For new admittance, a ram, boar, and bull;
- Then home again, and offer unto all
- The Gods by name an hundred oxen full.
- Your death will not ungentle be, for which
- Age shall prepare you, and your soul unglue
- 135Insensibly. Your people shall be rich
- Which round about you dwell. All this is true.
- Tiresias, quoth I, when he had done,
- ’Tis well. My mother yonder I espy
- Amongst the shades; she knoweth not her son;
- 140What shall I do to make her know ’tis I?
- That, quoth he, I can tell you easily.
- What soul soever you admit to drink,
- To what you ask will make a true reply;
- Those you put back, back into Hell will slink.
- 145The prophet having thus my fate foretold,
- Into the house of Pluto back retir’d.
- I o’er the blood my former posture hold,
- But let my mother drink as she desir’d.
- She knew me then, and wept. My son, said she,
- 150How came you to this place of ours so dark?
- Th’ ocean and so many gulphs there be
- ’Twixt you and us, that but with a good bark
- No living man can pass. Come you but now
- From Troy, and all this while have wand’ring been,
- 155You and your company? You have, I trow,
- Your wife Penelope by this time seen.
- Mother, said I, the cause I came this way
- Was to ask counsel of Tiresias.
- Since I with Agamemnon went to Troy,
- 160In Ithaca or Greece I never was.
- But, mother, tell me, pray you, how came you
- Unto this place? Was it by sickness long?
- Or did Diana with a death undue
- Send you down hither to this feeble throng?
- 165And tell me if my father and my son
- Remain as formerly in their estate;
- Or that some prince of Greece my wife have won,
- Supposing me now cast away by fate?
- Tell me besides, whether Penelope
- 170Remain at home together with my son,
- Assisting him to rule my family;
- Or whether she be married, and gone?
- Your wife, said she, does still continue there;
- For your long absence weepeth days and nights.
- 175Your son still holds his own, and makes good cheer;
- Oft he invited is, and oft invites.
- Your father from his vineyard never budges;
- Rich coverlets and bedding he refuses;
- Ne’er comes to the town; in winter with his drudges
- 180To lay him down, sleep by th’ fire he uses.
- In vile array in summer-time he creeps,
- Till vintage pass, about his fruit-trees round,
- And visits them each one; at night he sleeps
- On bed of heaped leaves upon the ground.
- 185Thus lies he griev’d and pining with the thought
- Of your sad fate; afflicted too with age.
- The like sad thoughts me also hither brought:
- I neither died by Diana’s rage,
- Nor any long-consuming malady;
- 190But very woe, thinking that you were dead,
- My noble, dear Ulysses, made me die;
- My soul thus hither from my body fled.
- When she had spoken, I would very fain
- Have ta’en her in my arms; three times I grasp’d
- 195At the beloved shadow, but in vain.
- Mine arms I closed, but did nothing clasp.
- Sore griev’d hereat, I said unto my mother,
- I am your son, why do you fly me so?
- Why may we not, embracing one another,
- 200Although in Hell, give ease unto our woe?
- Hath Proserpine, my sorrows to augment,
- Sent me a phantom in my mother’s stead?
- Oh no, quoth she, my son, she’d no intent
- T’ abuse you. ’Tis the nature of the dead.
- 205We are no longer sinews, flesh, and bones,
- We are substances incorporeal,
- All that ’s consumed i’ th’ fun’ral fire; when once
- That’s done, it in itself stands several;
- Flies like a dream. No, go your ways to th’ light,
- 210And tell all I have told you to your wife,
- That she may know in this perpetual night
- The dead enjoy an everlasting life.
- When we had thus discours’d, the ladies came,
- Sent out by Proserpine to taste the blood;
- 215Daughters and wives to princes of great fame,
- And round about me at the pit they stood.
- But I to know each one that came to drink,
- Studied awhile; then thought this counsel best,
- With sword in hand t’ abide upon the brink,
- 220Whilst one was drinking to keep off the rest.
- There was not one but I enquired her name
- And pedigree. All told me who they were.
- And first of all the well-born Tyro came,
- Who said Salmoneus was her ancestor,
- 225And that of Cretheus she had been the wife,
- And on Enipeus had enamour’d been
- Once on a time whilst she remained in life;
- On Enipeus, fair’st stream that e’er was seen,
- Upon whose bank, Neptune, that chanc’d to spy her,
- 230On Enipeus’ sweet stream drew her aside,
- And at the river’s mouth laid him down by her,
- Between two waves rais’d high, their deed to hide.
- When he love’s work had done, Thou shalt, said he,
- Ere th’ year be ended, bring forth children twain,
- 235Who princes both of great renown shall be.
- I Neptune am; the Gods ne’er work in vain.
- See you that they be educated well,
- Till they shall be at man’s estate arriv’d.
- So go you home: my name you must not tell.
- 240This said, into the rolling sea he div’d.
- Her time being come, she was delivered
- Of two great boys, Neleus and Pelias,
- Who for the service of high Jove were bred.
- One king of Pyle, th’ other of Iolcas was.
- 245The noble lady Tyro, besides these,
- Did many other goodly children bear:
- Amatheon, and Æson, and Pheres,
- But these her husband Cretheus’ children were.
- Next came the daughter of Æsopus (who
- 250Through Theban fertile plains and meadows runs)
- Antiope. Of Jove she boasteth too,
- That by him she conceived had two sons;
- Their names were Zethus and Amphion. They
- The founders were of Thebes; with walls and towers,
- 255And sev’n strong gates they fenc’d it ev’ry way
- Against invasion from all neighb’ring powers.
- Amphitrion’s wife Alcmena there I saw,
- That lov’d by Jove brought Hercules to life.
- And the king Cretheus’ daughter Megara,
- 260That was the mighty Hercules his wife.
- I saw there also the unfortunate
- Mother of Œdipus, Jocasta bright,
- That blindly did a horrid act, by fate,
- Which the Gods’ pleasure was should come to light.
- 265Not knowing him, she married her own son;
- Not knowing him, he his own father slew:
- When they perceived both what they had done,
- She hang’d herself; her Furies him pursue.
- Chloris I saw, whom Neleus did wed
- 270For beauty, got by the son of Joseus,
- And with great dower he gain’d her to his bed;
- Her father Amphion rul’d Orchomenus.
- She queen of Pyle, by Neleus had three boys;
- Nestor, Chronius, Periclumenus;
- 275And one fair daughter to make full their joys,
- Pero by name, for beauty wondrous.
- The princes round about were suitors to her;
- But Iphiclus had Neleus’ cattle ta’en,
- And Neleus was resolved to bestow her
- 280On him that could his herds fetch back again.
- There was a prophet undertook the task;
- But ta’en by clowns, and into prison pent,
- For answering Iphyclus t’ all he could ask
- Was freed, and did the thing he underwent.
- 285I saw the wife too of Tyndareus there,
- Fair Leda; she two twins unto him bare,
- Pollux, good cuffer; Castor, cavalier:
- Twins, and alive, though under ground they are,
- And have obtained of their father Jove
- 290Both to be canonized Gods; but so,
- As he that is to-day in heaven above,
- Shall be to-morrow amongst men below.
- Iphimedea, Alciæus’ wife,
- I saw, that did two sons to Neptune bear,
- 295Otus and Ephialtes; of short life;
- The greatest and the fairest that ever were
- Except Orion; each at nine years old
- Between the shoulders was nine cubits wide,
- And was in length nine cubits four times told,
- 300And all the Gods in heaven terrified;
- And threat’ned them with war, and heav’n to storm
- They Ossa set upon Olympus high,
- And Pelius on Ossa, and so form
- Against the sky a mighty battery;
- 305And surely they had storm’d it had they been
- At man’s estate; their beards were not yet grown;
- Apollo kill’d them with his arrows keen,
- Ere on their cheeks appeared any down.
- Phædra and Procris there I also saw,
- 310And Minos’ daughter Ariadne, whom
- Theseus was bringing towards Attica
- From Creta, but he could not bring her home;
- Diana killed her in Dia isle
- On Bacchus’ quarrel. There I did behold
- 315Mæra and Clymene, and th’ woman vile
- Eryphile, that her own husband sold.
- To name the ladies all I saw, would make
- My tale to last all night. ’Tis bed-time now,
- Here or aboard, though not till you think fit;
- 320Till you think fit, and give command to row.
- This said, the company deep silence seiz’d,
- Delighted with the things they heard him speak.
- The queen herself, Arete, no less pleas’d,
- At last resolv’d the silence thus to break.
- 325Princes, what think you of this man so rare,
- His look, his stature, and his noble heart?
- My guest he is, but you have all a share
- In th’ honour of this visit. Ere he part
- Make him a present to relieve his need.
- 330Be liberal, have no respect to thrift;
- For you the Gods from fear of want have freed
- With wealth abundant. Do not pinch your gift.
- Old Echinous said: The queen says right;
- We shall do well her counsel to obey.
- 335But since in king Alcinous lies the might,
- ’Tis better first to hear what he will say.
- Then said Alcinous, It shall be so,
- Unless I bear the name of king in vain;
- Let not the stranger till to-morrow go;
- 340Till we prepare our gift he must remain.
- As for his passage we will all provide,
- And chiefly I that do the sceptre bear.
- To whom the wise Ulysses thus replied:
- Renown’d Alcinous, that reignest here,
- 345Though a whole year you should command my stay,
- It will not trouble me. Nay, that I’d chuse,
- Since you intend to send me rich away:
- For I am sure I shall no honour lose
- By coming richly home. Kings that have store
- 350Of wealth, are better commonly obey’d,
- And by their subjects are respected more,
- Than those whose treasuries and chests are void.
- There be, the king said, many that can lie;
- But there is form and sense in all you say;
- 355Both your own fate you tell with harmony,
- And of the Greeks with whom you went to Troy.
- I should be well content to sit up here
- All the night long, so you would undertake
- To tell me ev’ry thing that you saw there.
- 360To him Ulysses then did answer make:
- Renowned king Alcinous, you know
- There is a time for talk, a time for rest;
- But since you long to hear, I’ll tell you now
- Whom else I saw, and what fate them oppress’d.
- 365And first the saddest end of those that had
- Escap’d the fury of the enemy,
- And in their countries landed were and glad,
- Were murder’d by a woman’s treachery.
- The female ghosts scatter’d by Proserpine,
- 370Some one way, some another; thither came
- Atrides’ soul, first of the masculine,
- And others with him, whose fates were the same.
- No sooner he the blood had tasted, but
- He knew me, sorely wept, and would have cast
- 375His arms about my waist, but could not do’t,
- For now, alas, his strength was gone and past.
- I griev’d to see him, and thus to him said:
- King Agamemnon, what fate brought you hither?
- Were you by Neptune on the sea betray’d.
- 380And hither sent by fury of the weather?
- Or landing to find booty, met with death?
- Or else besieging of some town were slain?
- Or for fair women were bereav’d of breath?
- Then Agamemnon answer’d me again:
- 385Noble Ulysses, I lost not my life
- By Neptune’s fury, nor in fight at land
- For booty or for women; but my wife
- Did basely kill me by Ægistus’ hand.
- At my first landing he invited me,
- 390And slew me then when I at supper sate.
- Just as a man would kill a cow, so he
- Kill’d me. There’s no such woful death as that.
- My friends were butcher’d like so many swine,
- Which when within a mighty rich man’s hall
- 395Numbers of men invited are to dine
- At wedding, or at feast, are made to fall.
- You very many men have seen to die
- In ranged battle, and in single fight,
- But never felt such pity certainly
- 400As you had felt, had you but seen this sight,
- How we ’mongst tables on the ground did lie,
- That ran with blood. But my heart most did rue
- To hear Cassandra, Priam’s daughter, cry,
- Whom close beside me Clytemnestra slew.
- 405Then, though I were at the last gasp, I tried
- If groping I might find my fallen sword;
- But the curs’d woman push’d it from my side.
- I died; to close mine eyes she’d not afford.
- Nothing so cruel as a woman yet
- 410Did nature e’er produce; a thought so ill
- In any other breast did never sit,
- As her own loving husband’s blood to spill.
- Yet this my wife, to the eternal shame
- Of all the sex, (not only of the bad,
- 415But ev’n of those that have no evil fame),
- Betray’d my life, and of my death was glad.
- Jove meant to Atreus’ seed, said I, great spite
- By womankind. By Helen first. At Troy,
- For her sake, many lost their lives in fight,
- 320And Clytemnestra now did you betray.
- Therefore, said Agamemnon, never trust
- A woman more, although she be your own.
- Tell her not all you think: somewhat you must;
- And somewhat keep t’ yourself to her unknown.
- 325But you, Ulysses, need not fear your wife,
- Icareus’ daughter, fair Penelope;
- She loves you better than to take your life:
- A wife so wise will scorn disloyalty.
- When we for Troy set forth together, then
- 430She gave suck to your son; but he is grown
- A man by this time, and takes place with men;
- Is rich, and one day shall his father own,
- And he and you at home embrace each other.
- But I was not allow’d my son to see,
- 435But was first murder’d by his wicked mother.
- Now hear ye; if you will be rul’d by me,
- Let no man know beforehand, when and where
- You mean to land in Ithaca. Beware
- Of suffering your bark in sight t’ appear.
- 440Remember still, women unfaithful are.
- But tell me, have you nothing all this while
- Heard of my son Orestes? Whether he
- At Sparta with his uncle be, or Pyle?
- For dead he is not, I know certainly.
- 445Alas, said I, Atrides, how should I,
- That wand’ring was at sea, hear any news
- Whether alive or dead he be? Or why
- Should I with tales uncertain you abuse?
- Discoursing thus, and weeping there we stood,
- 450When great Achilles’ soul appear’d to us;
- And with him also the two spirits good
- Of stout Patroclus and Antilochus.
- The soul of Ajax, son of Telamon,
- Was also there, who ’mongst those warriors tall
- 455The goodliest person was, except the son
- Of Peleus, who did much excel them all.
- Achilles drank, and presently me knew,
- And said, Ulysses, what brought you to Hell?
- What plot upon the dead you hither drew,
- 460Where none but shades of wretched mortals dwell?
- Achilles, said I, I was forc’d to come
- T’ inquire of th’ wizard, old Tiresias,
- What the Fates say about my going home,
- Whether or no, and how ’twill come to pass.
- 465For since I came from Troy I have not seen
- Nor Ithaca, nor any Grecian shore;
- For toss’d and cross’d at sea I still have been;
- But you are now as well as heretofore.
- Like any God we honour’d you at Troy,
- 470And here among the ghosts you are obeyed.
- Death hath not chang’d your state; you still enjoy
- A regal power. To this Achilles said:
- Talk not to me of honour here in Hell;
- I’d rather serve a clown on earth for bread,
- 475Than be, of all things incorporeal,
- That are, or ever shall be, supreme head.
- But tell me of my son, Neoptolemus;
- Whether he came to Troy, and how he fought;
- And of my aged father, Peleus,
- 480Whether he keep his place, or be put out.
- For since much time his vigour hath decay’d,
- Some foe, it may be, hath usurp’d his place
- In Pthia, and in Hellas where he sway’d,
- And put him, with his people, in disgrace.
- 485But were I now above, and strong as then,
- When for the Greeks I fought at Ilium,
- And slew so many of their bravest men,
- And to my aged father’s house should come;
- If there I were, ’twould not be very long
- 490Before I made some of their hearts to ache,
- That go about to do my father wrong,
- And would by force his honour from him take.
- When he had done, I made him answer thus:
- Concerning Peleus I can nothing say;
- 495But of your son, stout Neoptolemus,
- I know enough: ’twas I brought him to Troy
- From Scyros’ isle. In council, always he
- First spake his mind, and never spake but well.
- Nestor and I, sometimes, and only we,
- 500Th’ advice he gave were able to refel.
- In fight, he sought no shelter in the throng,
- But ever out he ran before the rest,
- To show his courage and his strength among
- Those foes that were in Troy esteem’d the best.
- 505The names of all he slew I cannot tell;
- They are too many. But ’twas by his sword
- That great Eurypylus in battle fell,
- Of all the Trojan aids the goodli’st lord,
- Excepting Memnon. After, when we were
- 510Within the wooden horse concealed, and I
- The power had of ordering all things there,
- I never saw your son to wipe his eye,
- Or to wax pale, as many of us did.
- He never longed to be set on land
- 515From out the hole in which we all lay hid;
- And to his hilt he often put his hand,
- And often to his spear. And when at last
- We won, and rifled had the town of Troy,
- He home into his country safely passed,
- 520His ship well-laden with his part o’ th’ prey.
- And which is more, he came off safe and sound;
- Though Mars each way threw deaths and wounds about
- Amongst the crowd, he ne’er received wound,
- Neither from them that shot, nor them that fought.
- 525This said, the swift Achilles’ soul retir’d,
- Strutting into the mead of Asphodel,
- Proud of his son, to hear what he desir’d.
- Then other grieved souls their stories tell.
- Only the soul of Ajax stood off mute
- 530And sullen, because I did from him bear
- Achilles’ armour in that sad dispute,
- Where Pallas and the Trojans judges were.
- I would I had not had that victory,
- Which cost the life of him that was the most
- 535Admir’d by all, for form and chivalry,
- Except Achilles, in the Argive host.
- I gently to him spake Ajax, said I,
- Forget that cursed armour now at last;
- And since you dead are, let your anger die:
- 540For why, the Gods determin’d had to cast
- Those arms amongst us for a punishment,
- Offended with us, what e’er was the matter,
- And us’d them as an engine, with intent
- Our greatest tower, which was yourself, to batter.
- 545For whom the Argives did lament no less
- Than for Achilles, Thetis’ son. Come nigh,
- And hear what I can answer, and suppress
- Your mighty heart awhile. So ended I.
- To this just nothing he replied, but went
- 550Int’ Erebus ’mongst other shadows dim;
- Yet there, I think, he would have been content
- To speak to me, if I to speak to him.
- But I desired others’ souls to see.
- Then Minos there, the son of Jove, I saw,
- 555With golden sceptre, dealing equity
- To souls that stood and sat to hear the law.
- Next after him, I saw the great Orion;
- A mighty club he carried in his hand;
- And hunted the wild boar, and bear, and lion,
- 560Which when he lived he had kill’d on land.
- There also saw I Titius. He lay
- Upon his back, stretch’d out full acres nine.
- He the fair Leto had, upon the way
- To Pytho, injur’d; Leto, Jove’s concubine.
- 565Two vultures on his breast, on each side one,
- Sate dipping of their beaks into his liver.
- He stirreth not, but lets them still alone;
- And thus devouring it, they stay for ever.
- And Tantalus I saw up to the chin
- 570In water clear, and longing sore to drink;
- But as he bow’d himself to take it in,
- Some devil always made the water sink.
- Close o’er his head hung pleasant fruit, and ripe
- Pears and pomegranates, olives, apples, figs,
- 575Which ever when he ready was to gripe,
- A sudden wind still whisk’d away the twigs.
- And Sisyphus I saw, who ’gainst the hill,
- With hands and feet, a heavy stone doth roll;
- But when unto the top he brings it, still
- 580The naughty stone falls back into the hole.
- Then to ’t he goes afresh, with no less pain
- He heaves and sweats, and dusty is all o’er;
- And when ’tis up, he labour’d has in vain,
- For still it serves him as it did before.
- 585Then Hercules I saw,—I mean his sprite,
- For he is with th’ immortal Gods above,
- And taken has to wife Hebe the bright,
- Daughter of Juno, and of mighty Jove.
- The dead about him made a fearful cry,
- 590Like frighted fowl. A golden belt he wore,
- With wild beasts wrought, and slaughters cunningly,
- The like shall never be, nor was before.
- He saw, and knew me presently, and spake:
- Renown’d Ulysses, why left you the light?
- 595Alas, were you constrain’d to undertake
- This task as I was, by a meaner wight?
- Who, though Jove’s son I was, did me constrain
- Full many other labours t’undergo.
- But he thought this would put me to most pain,
- 600Th’ infernal dog upon the earth to show.
- I did it though, and dragg’d him up to th’ light,
- By Mercury’s and by Athena’s aid.
- Having thus said, he vanish’d out of sight
- ’Mongst other phantoms. But I still there stay’d,
- 605Hoping more heroes of th’ old time to see;
- And more had surely seen of heavenly race,
- Theseus, Pirythous, whom t’ had pleased me,
- If longer I had dar’d to keep my place.
- For then, from out of Hell, with hideous cry,
- 610Thousands of souls about me gathered,
- And frighted me; but most afraid was I,
- Lest Proserpine should send out Gorgon’s head.
- Then went I to my ship and company,
- And for a while our oars at sea we plied:
- 615But after we were on the main, then we
- A fair gale had, and pass’d the ocean wide.
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