Iphitus, the stranger. Cruel wretch! Who reverenced not the vengeance of the gods, Nor what was due to his own board, at which He placed his guest, and slew him afterward, And in his stables kept the goodly mares. ’Twas when this guest was seeking for his steeds He met Ulysses, and bestowed on him The bow, which mighty Eurytus once bore, And dying in his lofty palace left The weapon to his son. Ulysses gave In turn a trenchant sword and massive lance, A pledge of kindly hospitality, Begun, but not continued till they sat Each at the other’s table; for the son Of Jove first took the life of him who gave The bow, the godlike son of Eurytus. That bow Ulysses, when he went to war In his black galleys, never took with him, But left it in his palace, to be kept In memory of a beloved friend, And only bore it in his own domain.
Now when the glorious lady reached the room, And stood upon the threshold, wrought of oak And polished by the workman’s cunning hand, Who stretched the line upon it, and set up Its posts, and hung its shining doors, she loosed With a quick touch the thong that held the ring, Put in the key, and with a careful aim Struck back the sounding bolts. As when a bull Roars in the field, such sound the beautiful doors, Struck with the key, gave forth, and instantly They opened to her. Up the lofty floor She stepped, where stood the coffer that contained The perfumed garments. Reaching forth her hand, The queen took down the bow, that hung within Its shining case, and sat her down, and laid The case upon her knees, and, drawing forth The monarch’s bow, she wept aloud. As soon As that new gush of tears had ceased to fall, Back to the hall she went, and that proud throng Of suitors, bearing in her hand the bow Unstrung, and quiver, where the arrows lay Many and deadly. Her attendant maids Brought also down a coffer, where were laid Much brass and steel, provided by the king For games like these. The glorious lady then, In presence of the suitors, stood beside The columns that upheld the stately roof. She held a lustrous veil before her cheeks, And, while on either side of her a maid Stood modestly, bespake the suitors thus:—