He ended; they approved his words, and bade Set forward on his homeward way the guest Who spake so wisely. When they all had made Libations and had drunk, they each withdrew To sleep at home, and left the noble chief Ulysses in the palace, where with him Aretè and her godlike husband sat, While from the feast the maidens bore away The chargers. The white-armed Aretè then Began to speak; for when she cast her eyes On the fair garments which Ulysses wore, She knew the mantle and the tunic well, Wrought by herself and her attendant maids, And thus with winged words bespake the chief:—
“Stranger, I first must ask thee who thou art, And of what race of men. From whom hast thou Received those garments? Sure thou dost not say That thou art come from wandering o’er the sea.”
Ulysses, the sagacious, answered thus:— “ ’Twere hard, O sovereign lady, to relate In order all my sufferings, for the gods Of heaven have made them many; yet will I Tell all thou askest of me, and obey Thy bidding. Far within the ocean lies An island named Ogygia, where abides Calypso, artful goddess, with bright locks, Daughter of Atlas, and of dreaded power. No god consorts with her, nor anyone Of mortal birth. But me in my distress Some god conveyed alone to her abode, When, launching his white lightning, Jupiter Had cloven in the midst of the black sea My galley. There my gallant comrades all Perished, but I in both my arms held fast The keel of my good ship, and floated on Nine days till, on the tenth, in the dark night, The gods had brought me to Ogygia’s isle, Where dwells Calypso of the radiant hair