ad given to him
when he set off to go to Ithaka. So the Phaeakians went away, and
Odysseus rested once more in his own land. But when he awoke from his
sleep, he knew not where he was, for Athene had spread a mist on land
and sea. The haven, the rocks, the trees, the pathways wore a strange
look in the dim and gloomy light; but while Odysseus yet pondered
where he should stow away the gifts lest thieves should find them,
there stood before him a glorious form, and he heard a voice, which
said, "Dost thou not know me, Odysseus? I am Pallas Athene, who have
stood by thy side to guard thee in all thy wanderings and deliver thee
from all thy enemies. And now that thou standest again on thine own
land of Ithaka, I have come to thee once more, to bid thee make ready
for the great vengeance, and to bear with patience all that may befall
thee until the hour be come." But Odysseus could scarcely believe that
he was in Ithaka, even though it was Athene who spake to him, until
she scattered the mist and showed him the fair haven with its
broad-spreading olive trees, and the home of the sea nymphs, and the
old hill of Neritos with its wooded sides.

[Illustration: _Menelaus. Paris. Diomedes. Odysseus. Nestor.
Achilles. Agamemnon._
HEROES OF THE TROJAN WAR.]

Then they placed the gifts of the Phaeakians in the cave hard by the
stream of living waters which flowed through it to the sea, and Athene
touched him with a staff, and all the beauty of his form was gone. His
face became seamed with wrinkles, his flashing eyes grew dim, and the
golden locks vanished from his shoulders. His glistening raiment
turned to noisome rags, as Athene put a beggar's wallet on his
shoulder and placed a walking staff in his hand, and showed him the
path which led to the house of the swineherd Eumaius.

So Odysseus went his way, but when he entered the court-yard of
Eumaius in his tattered raiment, the dogs flew at him with loud
barkings, until the swineherd drove them away, and led the stranger
into his dwelling, where he placed a shaggy goat-skin for him to lie
on. "Thou hast welcomed me kindly," said Odysseus, "the gods grant
thee in return thy heart's desire." Then Eumaius answered sadly, "My
friend, I may not despise a stranger though he be even poorer and
meaner than myself, for it is Zeus who sends to us the poor man and
the beggar. Little indeed have I to give, for so it is with bondmen
when the young chiefs lord it in the land. Bu