man and swineherd polished the pavement of the stout-built house with scrapers; and the handmaidens carried away [the dirt], and put it out of doors. But when they had put in order the whole palace throughout, leading out the handmaidens from the well-made palace, between the dome, and the spotless court of the hall, they shut them up in a narrow place, from whence it was not possible to escape. And prudent Telemachus began to address them:
"I would not indeed take away the life of these [women] with a pure death,[1] these, who have poured reproaches upon my head, and upon my mother, and have slept with the suitors."
Thus he spoke; and fastening the cable of an azure-prowed ship to a tall column, he threw it round the dome, stretching it out on high, that no one might reach the ground with her feet. But as when either broad-winged thrushes or doves strike against a net, which stood in a thicket, as they are entering their nest, and a hateful bed has received them: so they held their heads in order, and around all their necks were cords, that they might die as miserably as possible. And they struggled convulsively with their feet for a little while, not very long. And they brought Melanthius out through the vestibule and the hall; his nostrils and ears they cut off with the cruel brass; and his secret parts they drew out, for the dogs to eat raw, and they lopped off his hands and feet, with wrathful mind. They then having washed their hands and feet, went to the house, to Ulysses: and the work was completed. But he addressed the dear nurse Euryclea:
"Bring sulphur, O old woman, as a remedy for ills,[2] and bring me fire, that I may fumigate the palace: and do thou desire Penelope to come hither, with her women attendants: and order all the handmaidens in the house to come."
But him the dear nurse Euryclea addressed in turn: "Of a truth, indeed, my child, hast thou spoken these things rightly. But come, I will bring thee garments, both a cloak
- ↑ Eustathius observes, καθαρὸς μὲν ὁ διὰ ξίφους ἐδόκει θάνατος, μιαρὸς δὲ ὁ ἀγχονιμαῖος. Nevertheless, hanging, in later days, was the favourite death with the heroines of tragedy.
- ↑ It was customary to make a lustration in a house in which murder or slaughter had been committed. The student will find illustrations in Lomeier de Lustration. § xxx.
