Chapter 19 : The Odyssey / Rendered into English prose for…

Minerva travels to Lacedaemon to urge Telemachus to return to Ithaca immediately. She warns him that the suitors are consuming his estate and that his mother Penelope is being pressured by her family to marry Eurymachus. Minerva alerts him to an ambush set by the suitors in the strait between Ithaca and Samos, advising him to sail by night, keep clear of the islands, and seek refuge with the loyal swineherd Eumaeus upon arrival. Waking Pisistratus, Telemachus prepares to leave. Menelaus and Helen host a final meal for them and present costly gifts, including a silver mixing bowl and an embroidered robe. As they depart, an eagle carrying a stolen goose flies past on the right, which Helen interprets as an omen that Ulysses will return to exact vengeance on the suitors. Telemachus and Pisistratus drive their chariot to Pherae and then to Pylos. To avoid delay from Nestor, Telemachus asks to be taken straight to his ship. While sacrificing on board, he meets Theoclymenus, a prophet fleeing Argos after killing a kinsman. Theoclymenus asks for protection from his pursuers, and Telemachus grants him passage. The ship sets sail for Ithaca with a favorable wind sent by Minerva, dodging the locations where the suitors might lie in wait. Meanwhile in Ithaca, Ulysses tests Eumaeus by proposing to beg among the suitors and work in their service. Eumaeus strongly advises against this plan, describing the dangerous arrogance of the suitors and promising that Telemachus will care for him upon his return. Ulysses inquires about his parents. Eumaeus explains that Ulysses' mother died of grief for her missing son and that his father Laertes lives in deep sorrow. Eumaeus then relates his own life story. He was born a prince on the island of Syra, but his Phoenician nurse betrayed him, agreeing to kidnap him in exchange for passage home. After she died at sea during their voyage, the Phoenicians brought him to Ithaca and sold him to Laertes, where he was raised alongside Ulysses' sister Ctimene. Telemachus reaches the coast of Ithaca safely and instructs his crew to sail the ship onward to the city. Theoclymenus asks where he should go, and a hawk carrying a dove flies by on the right. Theoclymenus interprets the bird as an auspicious sign that Telemachus' royal lineage will remain supreme in Ithaca. Telemachus entrusts the exile to his loyal companion Piraeus, who agrees to harbor him. Telemachus puts on his sandals, retrieves his spear, and sets out on foot toward the swineherd's shelter.