Homer : The Underworld ( Odyssey - Rhapsody 11 )

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?'

ὣς φαμένη ψυχὴ μὲν ἔβη δόμον Ἄϊδος εἴσω Τειρεσίαο ἄνακτος͵ ἐπεὶ κατὰ θέσφατ΄ ἔλεξεν· αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν αὐτοῦ μένον ἔμπεδον͵ ὄφρ΄ ἐπὶ μήτηρ ἤλυθε καὶ πίεν αἷμα κελαινεφές· αὐτίκα δ΄ ἔγνω καί μ΄ ὀλοφυρομένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα· τέκνον ἐμόν͵ πῶς ἦλθες ὑπὸ ζόφον ἠερόεντα ζωὸς ἐών; χαλεπὸν δὲ τάδε ζωοῖσιν ὁρᾶσθαι. μέσσῳ γὰρ μεγάλοι ποταμοὶ καὶ δεινὰ ῥέεθρα͵ Ὠκεανὸς μὲν πρῶτα͵ τὸν οὔ πως ἔστι περῆσαι πεζὸν ἐόντ΄͵ ἢν μή τις ἔχῃ εὐεργέα νῆα. ἦ νῦν δὴ Τροίηθεν ἀλώμενος ἐνθάδ΄ ἱκάνεις νηΐ τε καὶ ἑτάροισι πολὺν χρόνον; οὐδέ πω ἦλθες εἰς Ἰθάκην οὐδ΄ εἶδες ἐνὶ μεγάροισι γυναῖκα;

Ὣς ἔφατ΄͵ αὐτὰρ ἐγώ μιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπον· μῆτερ ἐμή͵ χρειώ με κατήγαγεν εἰς Ἀΐδαο ψυχῇ χρησόμενον Θηβαίου Τειρεσίαο· οὐ γάρ πω σχεδὸν ἦλθον Ἀχαιΐδος οὐδέ πω ἁμῆς γῆς ἐπέβην͵ ἀλλ΄ αἰὲν ἔχων ἀλάλημαι ὀϊζύν͵ ἐξ οὗ τὰ πρώτισθ΄ ἑπόμην Ἀγαμέμνονι δίῳ Ἴλιον εἰς εὔπωλον͵ ἵνα Τρώεσσι μαχοίμην. ἀλλ΄ ἄγε μοι τόδε εἰπὲ καὶ ἀτρεκέως κατάλεξον· τίς νύ σε κὴρ ἐδάμασσε τανηλεγέος θανάτοιο; ἢ δολιχὴ νοῦσος͵ ἦ Ἄρτεμις ἰοχέαιρα οἷσ΄ ἀγανοῖσι βέλεσσιν ἐποιχομένη κατέπεφνεν; εἰπὲ δέ μοι πατρός τε καὶ υἱέος͵ ὃν κατέλειπον͵ ἢ ἔτι πὰρ κείνοισιν ἐμὸν γέρας͵ ἦέ τις ἤδη ἀνδρῶν ἄλλος ἔχει͵ ἐμὲ δ΄ οὐκέτι φασὶ νέεσθαι. εἰπὲ δέ μοι μνηστῆς ἀλόχου βουλήν τε νόον τε͵ ἠὲ μένει παρὰ παιδὶ καὶ ἔμπεδα πάντα φυλάσσει͵ ἦ ἤδη μιν ἔγημεν Ἀχαιῶν ὅς τις ἄριστος.

Homer Bilingual Anthology : THE UNDERWORLD - 6

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