Female voices of the Odyssey

Euryclee II Lady, I beg you kill me, Banish me from the palace I was the one to betray you No one else knew anything  From his design to look for his father's news I plead guilty I was the one to distribute the flour  And the sweetest wine for the ship  He had me give serment That I wouldn't reveal you anything Before twelve days had gone In order to stop you scratching  Your beautiful face  Go Lady, return to your chambers Bath and dress in clean robes Pray for advice and counsel To the daughter of ZEus the mighty one, Athena for only her will save him Do not worry the old Laerte For the gods, surely love His bloodline, his race and his name To reign of these lands For a long time to come.  Lucette C. Bailliet  All rights reserved 

This day will be marked with a black stone I am cursed by the gods To lose so young my husband  And now my son  I thought these last few days He had taken refuge On the lands of his father To escape the pretenders' harassment  I was betrayed by everyone They all lied to me  He has borrowed Neomon boat  In search of adventures They say he has gone to Pylos and Sparta Against Antinoos wishes And now, Antinoos wants to kill him On the his return to Ithaca I stood in front of Medon my knees knocking  My eyes teary , my heart breaking I couldn't talk to him He continued his rant against my son How he wanted information  On the fate of his father While I was terrified that the horses of the seaS Would take him away in the watery underworld And thus erase any trace of his family name  In the living world With these thoughts I was devoured by anxiety My ignorant women lamented with me I was angry with them For all of them had lied to me  I started to...

Idothee  I am the daughter of Prothee the prophet of Pharo For a month, Menelaus's fleet had been stranded On our island, food running scarce, no winds  Despair setting in the men and their King Realising the gods wouldn't let them  Sail back to their birth country Day after day I spied on him My heart finding interest in his fate I betrayed my father for him I told him how to trap him, Force him to reveal what he knew It wouldn't be an easy feat For my father is a talented shapeshifter The golden hero would need the help  Of three of his best men I killed four of my father's precious seals Skinned them so the mortals  Could hide in their skins My father swam to the shore Counted his flock as usual No knowing the deceitful trick  Played on him Fell asleep among them The four mortals seized him Trying holding on him  In his many shapes, he took From a fierce lion, To a fire-breathing dragon, Then to a bellicose hippopotamus, Not to forget morphing into...

Helen I - a sad feast As usual, Menelaus, my husband Once in his cups bored to death  Our guests with his mauling tales That took him to Egyptos And the massacre of his brother On his return from the war He had them in tears I had to come down from my chambers A chair was advanced for me With the silver basket and the golden spindle Given to me by Alcandra, Polybe's spouse I remember her fondly ,  Her generosity knew no equal  But enough of this reminiscing I am here to ask our guests To reveal their identities  For by their behaviour  We know they are Royal  The younger one Reminds me of the great Ulysses Is it even possible?  He is in search of his father How many catastrophes  Am I responsible for? This is indeed a sad time Please excuse my tears  I can't talk any longer  I'm choking with regrets  Of so many heroes dead Everyone is so distraught  I have to soothe the assembly By pouring in the wine  A powerful drug give...

The tale of Clymnestra wife of Agamemnon, told by Nestor under the spell  of Athena for Telemachus edification  Ah, Telemachus listen well Take heed, you may profit from this tale: During the long years of the war Aegisthus unholy courted the queen  At first Clymnestra resisted his courtship, And his treacherous words  Reluctant to break her matrimonial vows Lonely night followed lonely night  without respite Sapping her, weakened her resistance  Once he took away her main advisor  To leave him to die on a deserted island Her will crumbled, she willingly followed him Accepted him to her couch as her consort Happy days to be courted and loved again Until Agamemnon returned from the defeated city A  fatal feast she prepared to welcome him By the hand of Aegisthus,  the great King met his death For seven years she and him reigned unpunished  Imposed fully their rule in the house of Atreus Until Orestes fully grown up came back from Athens T...

The next day, Nestor as promised Offered me a golden horned cow As an offering to my Own Greatness Where the holy clamours  From Eurydice and the choir of her women Accompanied it's  ultimate sacrifice  Before partaking of the festive libations They had prepared Eurydice sent her youngest daughter,  Polycaste, the pretty one, To cater to the needs of Telemachus To bathe him, massage him, dress him Oh, she is a wise one, the wily Eurydice What man can resist such charms And not pour his heart ? Once the festivities done Nestor sent Telemachus and Pisitratus His youngest son to the blond Menelaus And his famous wife Helen of Sparta.   Lucette C.Bailliet All rights reserved