isle from his wedded
wife and to make him forget Ithaca; but she cannot. Strong is his
aspiration, he is eager to break the trance of the fair nymph, and the
Gods must help him, when he is ready to help himself. Else, indeed,
they were not Gods. Then there is the second obstacle, Neptune; he,
"only one," cannot hold out "against all," for the All now decrees the
restoration of the wanderer. Verily it is the voice of the totality,
which is here uttered by Zeus, ordering the return of Ulysses; the
reason of the world we may also call it, if that will help the little
brain take in the great thought.

But we must not forget the other side. This divine power is not simply
external; the mighty hand of Zeus is not going to pick up Ulysses from
Calypso's island, and set him down in Ithaca. He must return through
himself, yet must fit into the providential order. Both sides are
touched upon by Zeus; Ulysses "excels mortals in intelligence," and he
will now require it all; but he also "gives sacrifices to the Gods
exceedingly," that is, he seeks to find out the will of the Gods and
adjust himself thereto. Intellect and piety both he has, often in
conflict, but in concord at last. With that keen understanding of his
he will repeatedly fall into doubt concerning the divine purpose; but
out of doubt he rises into a new harmony.

When the decree of the Highest has been given, Pallas at once organizes
the return of Ulysses, and therewith the poem. This falls into three
large divisions:--

I. Pallas goes to Ithaca to rouse Telemachus, who is just entering
manhood, to be a second Ulysses. He is to give the divine warning to
the guilty suitors; then he is to go to Pylos and Sparta in order to
inquire about his father, who is the great pattern for the son. Thus we
have a book of education for the Homeric youth whose learning came
through example and through the living word of wisdom from the lips of
the old and experienced man. This part embraces the first four Books,
which may be called the Telemachiad.

II. Mercury is sent to Calypso to bid the nymph release Ulysses, who at
once makes his raft and starts on his voyage homeward. In this second
part we shall have the entire story of the Hero from the time he leaves
Troy, till he reaches Ithaca in the 13th Book. As Telemachus the youth
is to have his period of education (_Lehrjahre_), so Ulysses the man is
to have his experience of the journey of life (_Wanderjahre_). Both
parts belon