Homer’s
Odyssey – Book XI (The Descent to the Underworld)
Then, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into the water and
got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheep on board and took our
places, weeping and in great distress of mind. Circe, that great and cunning
goddess, sent us a fair wind that blew dead aft and stayed steadily with us
keeping our sails all the time well filled; so we did whatever wanted doing to
the ship's gear and let her go as the wind and helmsman headed her. All day
long her sails were full as she held her course over the sea, but when the sun
went down and darkness was over all the earth, we got into the deep waters of
the river Oceanus, where lie the land and city of the Cimmerians who live
enshrouded in mist and darkness which the rays of the sun never pierce neither
at his rising nor as he goes down again out of the heavens, but the poor
wretches live in one long melancholy night. When we got there we beached the
ship, took the sheep out of her, and went along by the waters of Oceanus till
we came to the place of which Circe had told us.
"Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew my sword and
dug the trench a cubit each way. I made a drink-offering to all the dead, first
with honey and milk, then with wine, and thirdly with water, and I sprinkled
white barley meal over the whole, praying earnestly to the poor feckless
ghosts, and promising them that when I got back to Ithaca I would sacrifice a
barren heifer for them, the best I had, and would load the pyre with good
things. I also particularly promised that Teiresias should have a black sheep
to himself, the best in all my flocks. When I had prayed sufficiently to the
dead, I cut the throats of the two sheep and let the blood run into the trench,
whereon the ghosts came trooping up from Erebus- brides, young bachelors, old
men worn out with toil, maids who had been crossed in love, and brave men who
had been killed in battle, with their armour still smirched with blood; they
came from every quarter and flitted round the trench with a strange kind of
screaming sound that made me turn pale with fear. When I saw them coming I told
the men to be quick and flay the carcasses of the two dead sheep and make burnt
offerings of them, and at the same time to repeat prayers to Hades and to
Proserpine; but I sat where I was with my sword drawn and would not let the
poor feckless ghosts come near the blood till Teiresias should have answered my
questions.
"The first ghost 'that came was that of my comrade Elpenor, for he had not
yet been laid beneath the earth. We had left his body unwaked and unburied in
Circe's house, for we had had too much else to do. I was very sorry for him,
and cried when I saw him: 'Elpenor,' said I, 'how did you come down here into
this gloom and darkness? You have here on foot quicker than I have with my
ship.'
"'Sir,' he answered with a groan, 'it was all bad luck, and my own
unspeakable drunkenness. I was lying asleep on the top of Circe's house, and
never thought of coming down again by the great staircase but fell right off
the roof and broke my neck, so my soul down to the house of Hades. And now I
beseech you by all those whom you have left behind you, though they are not
here, by your wife, by the father who brought you up when you were a child, and
by Telemachus who is the one hope of your house, do what I shall now ask you. I
know that when you leave this limbo you will again hold your ship for the
Aeaean island. Do not go thence leaving me unwaked and unburied behind you, or
I may bring heaven's anger upon you; but burn me with whatever armour I have,
build a barrow for me on the sea shore, that may tell people in days to come
what a poor unlucky fellow I was, and plant over my grave the oar I used to row
with when I was yet alive and with my messmates.' And I said, 'My poor fellow,
I will do all that you have asked of me.'
"Thus, then, did we sit and hold sad talk with one another, I on the one
side of the trench with my sword held over the blood, and the ghost of my
comrade saying all this to me from the other side. Then came the ghost of my
dead mother Anticlea, daughter to Autolycus. I had left her alive when I set
out for Troy and was moved to tears when I saw her, but even so, for all my
sorrow I would not let her come near the blood till I had asked my questions of
Teiresias.
"Then came also the ghost of Theban Teiresias, with his golden sceptre in
his hand. He knew me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, why, poor man,
have you left the light of day and come down to visit the dead in this sad
place? Stand back from the trench and withdraw your sword that I may drink of
the blood and answer your questions truly.'
"So I drew back, and sheathed my sword, whereon when he had drank of the
blood he began with his prophecy.
"You want to know,' said he, 'about your return home, but heaven will make
this hard for you. I do not think that you will escape the eye of Neptune, who
still nurses his bitter grudge against you for having blinded his son. Still,
after much suffering you may get home if you can restrain yourself and your
companions when your ship reaches the Thrinacian island, where you will find
the sheep and cattle belonging to the sun, who sees and gives ear to
everything. If you leave these flocks unharmed and think of nothing but of
getting home, you may yet after much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you harm
them, then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your ship and of your men.
Even though you may yourself escape, you will return in bad plight after losing
all your men, [in another man's ship, and you will find trouble in your house,
which will be overrun by high-handed people, who are devouring your substance
under the pretext of paying court and making presents to your wife.
"'When you get home you will take your revenge on these suitors; and after
you have killed them by force or fraud in your own house, you must take a
well-made oar and carry it on and on, till you come to a country where the
people have never heard of the sea and do not even mix salt with their food,
nor do they know anything about ships, and oars that are as the wings of a
ship. I will give you this certain token which cannot escape your notice. A
wayfarer will meet you and will say it must be a winnowing shovel that you have
got upon your shoulder; on this you must fix the oar in the ground and
sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar to Neptune. Then go home and offer
hecatombs to an the gods in heaven one after the other. As for yourself, death
shall come to you from the sea, and your life shall ebb away very gently when
you are full of years and peace of mind, and your people shall bless you. All
that I have said will come true].'
"'This,' I answered, 'must be as it may please heaven, but tell me and
tell me and tell me true, I see my poor mother's ghost close by us; she is
sitting by the blood without saying a word, and though I am her own son she
does not remember me and speak to me; tell me, Sir, how I can make her know
me.'
"'That,' said he, 'I can soon do Any ghost that you let taste of the blood
will talk with you like a reasonable being, but if you do not let them have any
blood they will go away again.'
"On this the ghost of Teiresias went back to the house of Hades, for his
prophecyings had now been spoken, but I sat still where I was until my mother
came up and tasted the blood. Then she knew me at once and spoke fondly to me,
saying, 'My son, how did you come down to this abode of darkness while you are
still alive? It is a hard thing for the living to see these places, for between
us and them there are great and terrible waters, and there is Oceanus, which no
man can cross on foot, but he must have a good ship to take him. Are you all
this time trying to find your way home from Troy, and have you never yet got
back to Ithaca nor seen your wife in your own house?'
"'Mother,' said I, 'I was forced to come here to consult the ghost of the
Theban prophet Teiresias. I have never yet been near the Achaean land nor set
foot on my native country, and I have had nothing but one long series of
misfortunes from the very first day that I set out with Agamemnon for Ilius,
the land of noble steeds, to fight the Trojans. But tell me, and tell me true,
in what way did you die? Did you have a long illness, or did heaven vouchsafe
you a gentle easy passage to eternity? Tell me also about my father, and the
son whom I left behind me; is my property still in their hands, or has some one
else got hold of it, who thinks that I shall not return to claim it? Tell me
again what my wife intends doing, and in what mind she is; does she live with
my son and guard my estate securely, or has she made the best match she could
and married again?'
"My mother answered, 'Your wife still remains in your house, but she is in
great distress of mind and spends her whole time in tears both night and day.
No one as yet has got possession of your fine property, and Telemachus still
holds your lands undisturbed. He has to entertain largely, as of course he
must, considering his position as a magistrate, and how every one invites him;
your father remains at his old place in the country and never goes near the
town. He has no comfortable bed nor bedding; in the winter he sleeps on the
floor in front of the fire with the men and goes about all in rags, but in
summer, when the warm weather comes on again, he lies out in the vineyard on a
bed of vine leaves thrown anyhow upon the ground. He grieves continually about
your never having come home, and suffers more and more as he grows older. As
for my own end it was in this wise: heaven did not take me swiftly and
painlessly in my own house, nor was I attacked by any illness such as those
that generally wear people out and kill them, but my longing to know what you
were doing and the force of my affection for you- this it was that was the
death of me.'
"Then I tried to find some way of embracing my mother's ghost. Thrice I
sprang towards her and tried to clasp her in my arms, but each time she flitted
from my embrace as it were a dream or phantom, and being touched to the quick I
said to her, 'Mother, why do you not stay still when I would embrace you? If we
could throw our arms around one another we might find sad comfort in the
sharing of our sorrows even in the house of Hades; does Proserpine want to lay
a still further load of grief upon me by mocking me with a phantom only?'
"'My son,' she answered, 'most ill-fated of all mankind, it is not
Proserpine that is beguiling you, but all people are like this when they are
dead. The sinews no longer hold the flesh and bones together; these perish in
the fierceness of consuming fire as soon as life has left the body, and the
soul flits away as though it were a dream. Now, however, go back to the light
of day as soon as you can, and note all these things that you may tell them to
your wife hereafter.'
"Thus did we converse, and anon Proserpine sent up the ghosts of the wives
and daughters of all the most famous men. They gathered in crowds about the
blood, and I considered how I might question them severally. In the end I
deemed that it would be best to draw the keen blade that hung by my sturdy
thigh, and keep them from all drinking the blood at once. So they came up one
after the other, and each one as I questioned her told me her race and lineage.
"The first I saw was Tyro. She was daughter of Salmoneus and wife of
Cretheus the son of Aeolus. She fell in love with the river Enipeus who is much
the most beautiful river in the whole world. Once when she was taking a walk by
his side as usual, Neptune, disguised as her lover, lay with her at the mouth
of the river, and a huge blue wave arched itself like a mountain over them to
hide both woman and god, whereon he loosed her virgin girdle and laid her in a
deep slumber. When the god had accomplished the deed of love, he took her hand
in his own and said, 'Tyro, rejoice in all good will; the embraces of the gods
are not fruitless, and you will have fine twins about this time twelve months.
Take great care of them. I am Neptune, so now go home, but hold your tongue and
do not tell any one.'
"Then he dived under the sea, and she in due course bore Pelias and
Neleus, who both of them served Jove with all their might. Pelias was a great
breeder of sheep and lived in Iolcus, but the other lived in Pylos. The rest of
her children were by Cretheus, namely, Aeson, Pheres, and Amythaon, who was a
mighty warrior and charioteer.
"Next to her I saw Antiope, daughter to Asopus, who could boast of having
slept in the arms of even Jove himself, and who bore him two sons Amphion and
Zethus. These founded Thebes with its seven gates, and built a wall all round
it; for strong though they were they could not hold Thebes till they had walled
it.
"Then I saw Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, who also bore to Jove
indomitable Hercules; and Megara who was daughter to great King Creon, and
married the redoubtable son of Amphitryon.
"I also saw fair Epicaste mother of king OEdipodes whose awful lot it was
to marry her own son without suspecting it. He married her after having killed
his father, but the gods proclaimed the whole story to the world; whereon he
remained king of Thebes, in great grief for the spite the gods had borne him;
but Epicaste went to the house of the mighty jailor Hades, having hanged
herself for grief, and the avenging spirits haunted him as for an outraged
mother- to his ruing bitterly thereafter.
"Then I saw Chloris, whom Neleus married for her beauty, having given
priceless presents for her. She was youngest daughter to Amphion son of Iasus
and king of Minyan Orchomenus, and was Queen in Pylos. She bore Nestor,
Chromius, and Periclymenus, and she also bore that marvellously lovely woman
Pero, who was wooed by all the country round; but Neleus would only give her to
him who should raid the cattle of Iphicles from the grazing grounds of Phylace,
and this was a hard task. The only man who would undertake to raid them was a
certain excellent seer, but the will of heaven was against him, for the rangers
of the cattle caught him and put him in prison; nevertheless when a full year
had passed and the same season came round again, Iphicles set him at liberty,
after he had expounded all the oracles of heaven. Thus, then, was the will of
Jove accomplished.
"And I saw Leda the wife of Tyndarus, who bore him two famous sons, Castor
breaker of horses, and Pollux the mighty boxer. Both these heroes are lying
under the earth, though they are still alive, for by a special dispensation of
Jove, they die and come to life again, each one of them every other day
throughout all time, and they have the rank of gods.
"After her I saw Iphimedeia wife of Aloeus who boasted the embrace of
Neptune. She bore two sons Otus and Ephialtes, but both were short lived. They
were the finest children that were ever born in this world, and the best looking,
Orion only excepted; for at nine years old they were nine fathoms high, and
measured nine cubits round the chest. They threatened to make war with the gods
in Olympus, and tried to set Mount Ossa on the top of Mount Olympus, and Mount
Pelion on the top of Ossa, that they might scale heaven itself, and they would
have done it too if they had been grown up, but Apollo, son of Leto, killed
both of them, before they had got so much as a sign of hair upon their cheeks
or chin.
"Then I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair Ariadne daughter of the
magician Minos, whom Theseus was carrying off from Crete to Athens, but he did
not enjoy her, for before he could do so Diana killed her in the island of Dia
on account of what Bacchus had said against her.
"I also saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle, who sold her own
husband for gold. But it would take me all night if I were to name every single
one of the wives and daughters of heroes whom I saw, and it is time for me to
go to bed, either on board ship with my crew, or here. As for my escort, heaven
and yourselves will see to it."
Here he ended, and the guests sat all of them enthralled and speechless
throughout the covered cloister. Then Arete said to them:
"What do you think of this man, O Phaecians? Is he not tall and good
looking, and is he not Clever? True, he is my own guest, but all of you share
in the distinction. Do not he a hurry to send him away, nor niggardly in the
presents you make to one who is in such great need, for heaven has blessed all
of you with great abundance."
Then spoke the aged hero Echeneus who was one of the oldest men among them,
"My friends," said he, "what our august queen has just said to
us is both reasonable and to the purpose, therefore be persuaded by it; but the
decision whether in word or deed rests ultimately with King Alcinous."
"The thing shall be done," exclaimed Alcinous, "as surely as I
still live and reign over the Phaeacians. Our guest is indeed very anxious to
get home, still we must persuade him to remain with us until to-morrow, by
which time I shall be able to get together the whole sum that I mean to give
him. As regards- his escort it will be a matter for you all, and mine above all
others as the chief person among you."
And Ulysses answered, "King Alcinous, if you were to bid me to stay here
for a whole twelve months, and then speed me on my way, loaded with your noble
gifts, I should obey you gladly and it would redound greatly to my advantage,
for I should return fuller-handed to my own people, and should thus be more
respected and beloved by all who see me when I get back to Ithaca."
"Ulysses," replied Alcinous, "not one of us who sees you has any
idea that you are a charlatan or a swindler. I know there are many people going
about who tell such plausible stories that it is very hard to see through them,
but there is a style about your language which assures me of your good
disposition. Moreover you have told the story of your own misfortunes, and
those of the Argives, as though you were a practised bard; but tell me, and
tell me true, whether you saw any of the mighty heroes who went to Troy at the
same time with yourself, and perished there. The evenings are still at their
longest, and it is not yet bed time- go on, therefore, with your divine story,
for I could stay here listening till to-morrow morning, so long as you will
continue to tell us of your adventures."
"Alcinous," answered Ulysses, "there is a time for making
speeches, and a time for going to bed; nevertheless, since you so desire, I
will not refrain from telling you the still sadder tale of those of my comrades
who did not fall fighting with the Trojans, but perished on their return,
through the treachery of a wicked woman.
"When Proserpine had dismissed the female ghosts in all directions, the
ghost of Agamemnon son of Atreus came sadly up tome, surrounded by those who
had perished with him in the house of Aegisthus. As soon as he had tasted the
blood he knew me, and weeping bitterly stretched out his arms towards me to
embrace me; but he had no strength nor substance any more, and I too wept and
pitied him as I beheld him. 'How did you come by your death,' said I, 'King
Agamemnon? Did Neptune raise his winds and waves against you when you were at
sea, or did your enemies make an end of you on the mainland when you were
cattle-lifting or sheep-stealing, or while they were fighting in defence of
their wives and city?'
"'Ulysses,' he answered, 'noble son of Laertes, was not lost at sea in any
storm of Neptune's raising, nor did my foes despatch me upon the mainland, but
Aegisthus and my wicked wife were the death of me between them. He asked me to
his house, feasted me, and then butchered me most miserably as though I were a
fat beast in a slaughter house, while all around me my comrades were slain like
sheep or pigs for the wedding breakfast, or picnic, or gorgeous banquet of some
great nobleman. You must have seen numbers of men killed either in a general
engagement, or in single combat, but you never saw anything so truly pitiable as
the way in which we fell in that cloister, with the mixing-bowl and the loaded
tables lying all about, and the ground reeking with our-blood. I heard Priam's
daughter Cassandra scream as Clytemnestra killed her close beside me. I lay
dying upon the earth with the sword in my body, and raised my hands to kill the
slut of a murderess, but she slipped away from me; she would not even close my
lips nor my eyes when I was dying, for there is nothing in this world so cruel
and so shameless as a woman when she has fallen into such guilt as hers was.
Fancy murdering her own husband! I thought I was going to be welcomed home by
my children and my servants, but her abominable crime has brought disgrace on
herself and all women who shall come after- even on the good ones.'
"And I said, 'In truth Jove has hated the house of Atreus from first to
last in the matter of their women's counsels. See how many of us fell for
Helen's sake, and now it seems that Clytemnestra hatched mischief against too
during your absence.'
"'Be sure, therefore,' continued Agamemnon, 'and not be too friendly even
with your own wife. Do not tell her all that you know perfectly well yourself.
Tell her a part only, and keep your own counsel about the rest. Not that your
wife, Ulysses, is likely to murder you, for Penelope is a very admirable woman,
and has an excellent nature. We left her a young bride with an infant at her
breast when we set out for Troy. This child no doubt is now grown up happily to
man's estate, and he and his father will have a joyful meeting and embrace one
another as it is right they should do, whereas my wicked wife did not even
allow me the happiness of looking upon my son, but killed me ere I could do so.
Furthermore I say- and lay my saying to your heart- do not tell people when you
are bringing your ship to Ithaca, but steal a march upon them, for after all
this there is no trusting women. But now tell me, and tell me true, can you
give me any news of my son Orestes? Is he in Orchomenus, or at Pylos, or is he
at Sparta with Menelaus- for I presume that he is still living.'
"And I said, 'Agamemnon, why do you ask me? I do not know whether your son
is alive or dead, and it is not right to talk when one does not know.'
"As we two sat weeping and talking thus sadly with one another the ghost
of Achilles came up to us with Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax who was the
finest and goodliest man of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus. The fleet
descendant of Aeacus knew me and spoke piteously, saying, 'Ulysses, noble son of
Laertes, what deed of daring will you undertake next, that you venture down to
the house of Hades among us silly dead, who are but the ghosts of them that can
labour no more?'
"And I said, 'Achilles, son of Peleus, foremost champion of the Achaeans,
I came to consult Teiresias, and see if he could advise me about my return home
to Ithaca, for I have never yet been able to get near the Achaean land, nor to
set foot in my own country, but have been in trouble all the time. As for you,
Achilles, no one was ever yet so fortunate as you have been, nor ever will be,
for you were adored by all us Argives as long as you were alive, and now that
you are here you are a great prince among the dead. Do not, therefore, take it
so much to heart even if you are dead.'
"'Say not a word,' he answered, 'in death's favour; I would rather be a
paid servant in a poor man's house and be above ground than king of kings among
the dead. But give me news about son; is he gone to the wars and will he be a
great soldier, or is this not so? Tell me also if you have heard anything about
my father Peleus- does he still rule among the Myrmidons, or do they show him
no respect throughout Hellas and Phthia now that he is old and his limbs fail
him? Could I but stand by his side, in the light of day, with the same strength
that I had when I killed the bravest of our foes upon the plain of Troy- could
I but be as I then was and go even for a short time to my father's house, any
one who tried to do him violence or supersede him would soon me it.'
"'I have heard nothing,' I answered, 'of Peleus, but I can tell you all
about your son Neoptolemus, for I took him in my own ship from Scyros with the
Achaeans. In our councils of war before Troy he was always first to speak, and
his judgement was unerring. Nestor and I were the only two who could surpass
him; and when it came to fighting on the plain of Troy, he would never remain
with the body of his men, but would dash on far in front, foremost of them all
in valour. Many a man did he kill in battle- I cannot name every single one of
those whom he slew while fighting on the side of the Argives, but will only say
how he killed that valiant hero Eurypylus son of Telephus, who was the
handsomest man I ever saw except Memnon; many others also of the Ceteians fell
around him by reason of a woman's bribes. Moreover, when all the bravest of the
Argives went inside the horse that Epeus had made, and it was left to me to
settle when we should either open the door of our ambuscade, or close it,
though all the other leaders and chief men among the Danaans were drying their
eyes and quaking in every limb, I never once saw him turn pale nor wipe a tear
from his cheek; he was all the time urging me to break out from the horse-
grasping the handle of his sword and his bronze-shod spear, and breathing fury
against the foe. Yet when we had sacked the city of Priam he got his handsome
share of the prize money and went on board (such is the fortune of war) without
a wound upon him, neither from a thrown spear nor in close combat, for the rage
of Mars is a matter of great chance.'
"When I had told him this, the ghost of Achilles strode off across a
meadow full of asphodel, exulting over what I had said concerning the prowess
of his son.
"The ghosts of other dead men stood near me and told me each his own
melancholy tale; but that of Ajax son of Telamon alone held aloof- still angry
with me for having won the cause in our dispute about the armour of Achilles.
Thetis had offered it as a prize, but the Trojan prisoners and Minerva were the
judges. Would that I had never gained the day in such a contest, for it cost
the life of Ajax, who was foremost of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus,
alike in stature and prowess.
"When I saw him I tried to pacify him and said, 'Ajax, will you not forget
and forgive even in death, but must the judgement about that hateful armour
still rankle with you? It cost us Argives dear enough to lose such a tower of
strength as you were to us. We mourned you as much as we mourned Achilles son
of Peleus himself, nor can the blame be laid on anything but on the spite which
Jove bore against the Danaans, for it was this that made him counsel your
destruction- come hither, therefore, bring your proud spirit into subjection,
and hear what I can tell you.'
"He would not answer, but turned away to Erebus and to the other ghosts;
nevertheless, I should have made him talk to me in spite of his being so angry,
or I should have gone talking to him, only that there were still others among
the dead whom I desired to see.
"Then I saw Minos son of Jove with his golden sceptre in his hand sitting
in judgement on the dead, and the ghosts were gathered sitting and standing
round him in the spacious house of Hades, to learn his sentences upon them.
"After him I saw huge Orion in a meadow full of asphodel driving the
ghosts of the wild beasts that he had killed upon the mountains, and he had a
great bronze club in his hand, unbreakable for ever and ever.
"And I saw Tityus son of Gaia stretched upon the plain and covering some
nine acres of ground. Two vultures on either side of him were digging their
beaks into his liver, and he kept on trying to beat them off with his hands,
but could not; for he had violated Jove's mistress Leto as she was going through
Panopeus on her way to Pytho.
"I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus, who stood in a lake that
reached his chin; he was dying to quench his thirst, but could never reach the
water, for whenever the poor creature stooped to drink, it dried up and vanished,
so that there was nothing but dry ground- parched by the spite of heaven. There
were tall trees, moreover, that shed their fruit over his head- pears,
pomegranates, apples, sweet figs and juicy olives, but whenever the poor
creature stretched out his hand to take some, the wind tossed the branches back
again to the clouds.
"And I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising his prodigious stone with
both his hands. With hands and feet he' tried to roll it up to the top of the
hill, but always, just before he could roll it over on to the other side, its
weight would be too much for him, and the pitiless stone would come thundering
down again on to the plain. Then he would begin trying to push it up hill
again, and the sweat ran off him and the steam rose after him.
"After him I saw mighty Hercules, but it was his phantom only, for he is
feasting ever with the immortal gods, and has lovely Hebe to wife, who is
daughter of Jove and Juno. The ghosts were screaming round him like scared
birds flying all whithers. He looked black as night with his bare bow in his
hands and his arrow on the string, glaring around as though ever on the point
of taking aim. About his breast there was a wondrous golden belt adorned in the
most marvellous fashion with bears, wild boars, and lions with gleaming eyes;
there was also war, battle, and death. The man who made that belt, do what he
might, would never be able to make another like it. Hercules knew me at once
when he saw me, and spoke piteously, saying, my poor Ulysses, noble son of
Laertes, are you too leading the same sorry kind of life that I did when I was
above ground? I was son of Jove, but I went through an infinity of suffering,
for I became bondsman to one who was far beneath me- a low fellow who set me
all manner of labours. He once sent me here to fetch the hell-hound- for he did
not think he could find anything harder for me than this, but I got the hound
out of Hades and brought him to him, for Mercury and Minerva helped me.'
"On this Hercules went down again into the house of Hades, but I stayed
where I was in case some other of the mighty dead should come to me. And I
should have seen still other of them that are gone before, whom I would fain
have seen- Theseus and Pirithous glorious children of the gods, but so many
thousands of ghosts came round me and uttered such appalling cries, that I was
panic stricken lest Proserpine should send up from the house of Hades the head
of that awful monster Gorgon. On this I hastened back to my ship and ordered my
men to go on board at once and loose the hawsers; so they embarked and took
their places, whereon the ship went down the stream of the river Oceanus. We
had to row at first, but presently a fair wind sprang up.