THE · PLIMPTON · PRESS
[W · D · O]
NORWOOD · MASS · U · S · A
Translator’s Preface
Many years ago Karl Friedrich Becker wrote a series of romances of the ancient world for German boys and girls, of which “Ulysses” and “Achilles” in the present series of “Life Stories for Young People” form an important part. They became great favorites in their day and still preserve their interest, so that in a sense they may be called classics. The masterly manner in which the author has presented the old gods and heroes from the human point of view and the atmosphere of the old days of mythology, as well as the thrill of the adventurous narrative and the deep human interest of the story, should commend them also to American boys and girls. None of the ancient stories is more entrancing than that of Ulysses and the vicissitudes he had to endure in his effort to return to Ithaca after the Trojan war, and of the patience, sweetness, and faithfulness of Penelope, as she waited year after year for the return of her lord, while her life was made wretched by the unwelcome and often brutal solicitations of her numerous suitors, as well as of her final happiness when Ulysses returned and wreaked deserved vengeance upon her persecutors. Incidentally also the reader will enjoy the charming descriptions of his adventures with Calypso and the beautiful Nausicaa, his escape from the monstrous Cyclops, the fascinating Circe, and his thrilling experiences in passing Scylla and Charybdis. It is a story replete with interest, delightfully told.
G. P. U.
Chicago, July, 1912
Contents
Chapter Page I [Penelope waiting for Ulysses—The Suitors—Telemachus, encouraged by Athene, sets sail] 11 II [Telemachus visits Nestor and Menelaus—The Suitors prepare an Ambush] 21 III [Calypso allows Ulysses to go home—Poseidon sends a storm—Ulysses is wrecked upon the Island of Scheria] 37 IV [Nausicaa] 43 V [Ulysses visits the King of the Phæacians] 49 VI [Ulysses among the Phæacians] 55 VII [Ulysses tells his Story—The Lotus-Eaters, Polyphemus, Circe, Scylla, and Charybdis—The Visit to Hades] 64 VIII [Ulysses is taken sleeping to Ithaca by the Phæacians—Athene Counsels him—He comes to Eumæus] 96 IX [Telemachus leaves Sparta and lands in Ithaca] 108 X [Arrival of Telemachus—Ulysses reveals himself to his Son] 113 XI [Ulysses and the Goatherd—The Dog Argos—Ulysses in the Hall among the Suitors] 117 XII [Ulysses and Irus, the Beggar] 124 XIII [Ulysses and Penelope] 130 XIV [Penelope arranges the Decisive Contest] 136 XV [Ulysses’ Revenge] 147 XVI [Ulysses reveals himself to Penelope] 152 XVII [Ulysses goes to Laertes—His Father’s Conflict with the Friends of the slain Suitors—Great Sacrifice and Festival in Ithaca] 158
Illustrations
[Mercury Descending to Earth]Frontispiece [The Blinding of Polyphemus]72 [Invocation of the Shades in Hades]86 [Ulysses Reveals himself to Penelope]156