Thus they conferr'd; and now Areta bade
Her fair attendants dress a fleecy couch
Beneath the portico, with purple rugs
Resplendent, and with arras spread beneath,
And over all with cloaks of shaggy pile.
Forth went the maidens, bearing each a torch,
And, as she bade, prepar'd in haste a couch
Of depth commodious; then, returning, gave
Ulysses welcome summons to repose:
Rise, stranger! all is ready; come to rest.
So they; thrice welcome to Ulysses seem'd
Their invitation, and his sculptur'd couch,
Beneath the sounding portico prepar'd,
With willing feet the toil-worn hero sought;
But far within th' interiour palace slept
Alcinoüs, and, lodg'd in royal state,
The queen, his virtuous consort, at his side.
Alcinoüs to bestow on him his daughter, because it would have seemed harsh to refuse her. His prayer, expressive as it is of his impatience to return, and of his gratitude to the person who furnishes him with means of doing so, is an indirect indeed, but a delicate and sufficient answer.-Dacier.
ARGUMENT OF THE EIGHTH BOOK.
The Phæacians consult on the subject of Ulysses. Preparation is made for his departure. Antinous entertains them at his table. Games follow the entertainment. Demodocus, the bard, sings first the loves of Mars and Venus, then the introduction of the wooden horse into Troy. Ulysses, much affected by his song, is questioned by Alcinoüs, whence, and who he is, and what is the cause of his sorrow.
SOON as Aurora, daughter of the dawn
Look'd forth, upsprang Phæacia's mighty king,
And from his couch the town-destroying chief
Ulysses hasted, whom Alcinoüs led
To early council at the ships conven'd.
Arriving, side by side on polish'd stones
They sat; mean-time, Minerva in the form
Of king Alcinoüs' herald rang'd the town,
With purpose to accelerate the return
Of brave Ulysses to his native home,
And thus to ev'ry chief the Goddess spake*:
Phæacian chiefs and senators, away!
To council hasting, hear a stranger's tale,
A guest of king Alcinoüs, new-arriv'd,
A shipwreck'd wand'rer hither, of a form
Superiour, and majestic as a God.
So saying, she rous'd the people, and at once
The seats of all the senate-court were fill'd
With fast-assembling throngs, no few of whom
Had mark'd Ulysses with admiring eyes.
Then, Pallas o'er his head and shoulders broad
Diffusing grace celestial, his whole form
Dilated, and to statelier height advanc'd,
That worthier of all rev'rence he might seem
To the Phæacians, and might many a feat
Achieve, with which they should his force assayt.
By Minerva we are to understand here, either a rumour that a very intelligent stranger had arrived in their country, on whose account they are called together, or that the Phæacians, by their natural discernment finding Ulysses to be a person of that description, a rarity among themselves, assemble for satisfaction of their curiosity, and to prove if the account of him be a true one.-Eustathius.-C.
†The poet pluralizes the single effort with the discus, probably because, though Ulysses performed no feat beside, he offered himself to a trial in many others, excepting against the foot-race only. Minerva therefore thus improves his figure that it may evidence the justness of his pretensions.
When, therefore, the assembly now was full, Alcinoüs, thus addressing them, began:
Phæacian chiefs and senators attend,
That I may speak as my best judgement bids.
This guest, unknown to me, hath, wand'ring, found
My palace, either from the East arriv'd,
Or from some nation on our western side.
Safe conduct home he asks, and our consent
Here wishes ratified, whose quick return
Be it our part, as usual, to promote;
For at no time the stranger, from what coast
Soe'er, who hath resorted to our doors,
Hath long complain'd of his detention here.
Haste-draw ye down into the sacred Deep
A vessel of prime speed, and, from among
The people, fifty and two youths select,
Approv'd the best; then, lashing fast the oars,
Leave her, that at my palace ye may make
Short feast, for which myself will all provide.
Thus I enjoin the crew; but as for those
Of sceptred rank, I bid them all alike
Το my own board, that here we may regale
The stranger nobly, and let none refuse.
Call, too, Demodocus, the bard divine,
To share my banquet, whom the Gods have blest
With pow'rs of song delectable, what theme
Soe'er his animated fancy choose.
He ceas'd, and led the way, whom follow'd all The sceptred senators, and at his house
Mean-time a herald sought the bard divine.
Then, fifty mariners and two, from all
The rest selected, to the coast repair'd,
And, from her station on the sea-bank, launch'd
The galley down into the sacred Deep.
They plac'd the canvass and the mast on board,
Arrang'd the oars, unfurl'd the shining sail,
And, leaving her in depth of water moor'd,
Resorted to the sov'reign's grand abode.
There soon the portico, the court, the hall
Were fill'd with multitudes of young and old,
For whose regale the mighty monarch slew
Two beeves, twelve sheep, and twice four fatted
They flay'd them first, then busily their task
Administ'ring, prepar'd the joyous feast.
And now the herald thither led with care
The tuneful bard; him partially the Muse
And dearly lov'd, yet gave him good and ill;
She quench'd his sight, but gave him strains divine*.
* As in the Iliad, says Eustathius, the poet deals out good and evil from his two casks respectively, so here he represents the Muse as dispensing the same mixture to Demodocus. And it was the opi
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