Village books

He has always a keen eye to money; indeed the whole
Odyssey turns on what is substantially a money quarrel, so this time
without the prompting of Minerva he does one of the very few
sensible things which he does, on his own account, throughout the
whole poem.
Supper is now served, and when it is over, Ulysses, pressed by
Alcinous, announces his name and begins the story of his adventures.
It is with profound regret that I find myself unable to quote any of
the fascinating episodes with which his narrative abounds, but I
have said I was going to lecture on the humour of Homer--that is to
say of the Iliad and the Odyssey--and must not be diverted from my
subject. I cannot, however, resist the account which Ulysses gives
of his meeting with his mother in Hades, the place of departed
spirits, which he has visited by the advice of Circe. His mother
comes up to him and asks him how he managed to get into Hades, being
still alive. I will translate freely, but quite closely, from
Ulysses' own words, as spoken to the Phaeacians.


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