the Prelude Pallas Athene appears, conveying the impression of a
statue and forthwith producing the right frame of mind in the hearer,
by the original song of thirty measures all in c.--After her
disappearance Penelope's suitors assemble and form a plot to destroy
Telemachus, the queen's son, of whom they are afraid. Hyperion,
Telemachus' intimate friend tries to frustrate their plans, but in
{382} vain. When left alone he reproaches himself bitterly for his
treachery to his friend and decides to warn him. Hyperion too is in
love with the queen, but he is at the same time deeply attached to her
noble son, who at this juncture is seen arriving in a vessel, in which
he is setting out in quest of his father Odysseus.--Hyperion entreats
Telemachus to let him accompany him on this dangerous voyage, but the
latter begs him to remain with his lonely mother and embarks after
taking a tender leave of Hyperion.

Then the scenery changes. The first act takes place in a bay of the
isle of Ithaca, in which Odysseus has landed after many years of
fruitless wandering. He has fallen asleep near a grotto, which is the
abode of nymphs; beside him lie the gifts of the Phaeaces. On the
heights the hut of old Eumaeus, Odysseus' steward is seen. He sits on
a bench beside the aged Laertes, Odysseus' father, awaiting his master.
Shepherds, dancing and frolicking past him laugh and mock at the
faithful servant's belief in Odysseus' return.

By and by Odysseus half awakes from the deep slumber, into which the
gods have thrown him; the whole country seems to be enveloped in mist
and he does not recognize it, although the songs of the peasants fill
him with thoughts of his youth and his home. Dreamily he sinks back on
his couch, while Pallas appears attired in beggar's garb, which she
throws off and is seen clad fantastically in the costume of a royal
shepherdess. She {383} waves her hand, and the mist clears away when
the whole country is seen bathed in moonlight and Odysseus opening his
eyes recognizes mount Neriton and his own beloved island. Blinded with
tears he kisses the sacred soil, and returns thanks to the gods, who
have at last led him back to his home.

Suddenly he hears Eumaeus' voice, and finding the beggar's cloak, which
the goddess has left him, he wraps himself in it, and hides his weapons
and the treasures of the Phaeaces in the grotto. Eumaeus loudly
bewails Penelope's fate, and curses the wicked suitors. At the sa