Page 237 - the-odyssey

when I had picked my men to surprise the enemy with an
ambuscade I never gave death so much as a thought, but
was the first to leap forward and spear all whom I could
overtake. Such was I in battle, but I did not care about farm
work, nor the frugal home life of those who would bring up
children. My delight was in ships, fighting, javelins, and ar-
rows—things that most men shudder to think of; but one
man likes one thing and another another, and this was what
I was most naturally inclined to. Before the Achaeans went
to Troy, nine times was I in command of men and ships on
foreign service, and I amassed much wealth. I had my pick
of the spoil in the first instance, and much more was allot-
ted to me later on.
‘My house grew apace and I became a great man among
the Cretans, but when Jove counselled that terrible expedi-
tion, in which so many perished, the people required me
and Idomeneus to lead their ships to Troy, and there was
no way out of it, for they insisted on our doing so. There we
fought for nine whole years, but in the tenth we sacked the
city of Priam and sailed home again as heaven dispersed us.
Then it was that Jove devised evil against me. I spent but one
month happily with my children, wife, and property, and
then I conceived the idea of making a descent on Egypt, so
I fitted out a fine fleet and manned it. I had nine ships, and
the people flocked to fill them. For six days I and my men
made feast, and I found them many victims both for sacri-
fice to the gods and for themselves, but on the seventh day
we went on board and set sail from Crete with a fair North
wind behind us though we were going down a river. Noth-

The Odyssey