(The SUITORS draw back, stumbling. Light from an open door. PENELOPE, veiled, crosses.)
CAPTAIN MENTES
They part like hills for a sail entering harbour.
TELEMACHUS
They are stunned by her passage each time she appears.
EURYCLEIA
She begging the poet to stop praising the war.
(The SUITORS jostle, crowding PENELOPE.)
AMPHINOMUS
Aim for my heart! Arch that white arm!
EURYMACHUS
It’s been three years.
CTESIPPUS
Not Leodes. His sex is soft wax. It’d dissolve!
LEODES
Not vain Ctesippus, plucking his brows in mirrors!
CTESIPPUS
Little shrimp prick!
LEODES
His own face is all he can love.
EURYMACHUS
Unveil the shrine of that brow to its worshippers!
CTESIPPUS
Those eyes, black olives, that forehead whose marble stuns!
(PENELOPE unveils her face.)
AMPHINOMUS
Her smile is like the sunlight edging a window.
CTESIPPUS
Till it brightens Antinous, her favoured prince.
(PENELOPE, BILLY BLUE and MAIDS, except MELANTHO, exit. TELEMACHUS crosses to the SUITORS.)
TELEMACHUS
I mourned my father’s absence. Soon I’ll avenge it!
CTESIPPUS
Such sweet impetuosity, Telemachus!
EURYMACHUS
There’s a hundred of us, boy. How will you manage it?
TELEMACHUS
Pigs! From today you will stop uprooting my house!
(The SUITORS exit.)
CAPTAIN MENTES
Steer for the wide sands of Pylos. Look for Nestor.
TELEMACHUS
Right now?
CAPTAIN MENTES
Next, Sparta. Find red-haired Menelaus.
TELEMACHUS
Those are two long journeys, Captain. What’s the quest for?
CAPTAIN MENTES
Do you want your father’s shadow to cross this house?
TELEMACHUS
God!
CAPTAIN MENTES
I’ve twenty oarsmen waiting, hunched on their oars.
TELEMACHUS
One for each year I’ve missed him. Manning whose vessel?
CAPTAIN MENTES
A beaked yellow ship, like a hawk? Antinous’.
TELEMACHUS
You seized it?
CAPTAIN MENTES
Borrowed it. Well, it was there to seize.
TELEMACHUS
And it’s fitted?
CAPTAIN MENTES
With amphora of ground barley.
TELEMACHUS
All right. So I get to Pylos. What next once I’m there?
CAPTAIN MENTES
Assemble the elders. Demand a big parley.
TELEMACHUS
Those old men love quarrelling. Bunch of rattling sticks.
CAPTAIN MENTES
The cord of your voice must bind those sticks together.
TELEMACHUS
I envy my father’s authority.
CAPTAIN MENTES
Or tricks.
TELEMACHUS
Tricks?
CAPTAIN MENTES
I too saw the wooden horse blocking the stars.
(MELANTHO exits.)
EURYCLEIA
You see?
CAPTAIN MENTES
Troy fell for it.
TELEMACHUS
Was he that brilliant?
CAPTAIN MENTES
A horse foaling men? They thought it ridiculous.
EURYCLEIA
Him could convince a grasshopper it was a ant.
CAPTAIN MENTES
Look there! A swallow trying to get through the roof!
(He exits.)
EURYCLEIA
Me don’t see it. Now where him gone? How that happen?
TELEMACHUS
He was Athena! Do you need any more proof?
EURYCLEIA
No.
TELEMACHUS
Then I’ll follow the winged heels of my captain.
(He exits. PENELOPE returns, attended by MELANTHO, who whispers in PENELOPE’s ear.)
PENELOPE
Who told you to stay so close to me, Melantho?
EURYCLEIA
Because Melantho have ambitions of her own.
MELANTHO
Ambitions?
EURYCLEIA
Madame, it have things that you don’t know.
PENELOPE
You can have my sorrow, Melantho, with my throne.
MELANTHO
I don’t want your throne, she’s lying. Eurycleia!
PENELOPE
Look, girl, there are ways of putting your fire out.
EURYCLEIA
You didn’t boast to me in the kitchen?
MELANTHO
Liar!
EURYCLEIA
That some prince in there go marry you?
MELANTHO
LIES!
PENELOPE
DON’T SHOUT!
EURYCLEIA
Madame …
PENELOPE
He left with this stranger? Are you crazy?
MELANTHO
Some shining young captain was here who fought at Troy.
PENELOPE
Stay in the kitchen.
MELANTHO
Not for long. Please excuse me.
(She exits, brushing past EURYCLEIA. A burst of song from the SUITORS.)
EURYCLEIA
Madame, him is of age, him no longer a boy.
PENELOPE
The bloody war’s over. Can’t they sing something else?
EURYCLEIA
Him gone and pack him things.
PENELOPE
Pack his things? He’s gone? Where?
EURYCLEIA
God, whatever we suffer we bring on we selves!
PENELOPE
Talk!
EURYCLEIA
Some swallow talk to him, then it disappear.
PENELOPE
Swallow? Old woman, you want my palm on your face?
EURYCLEIA
Hit me, go on.
PENELOPE
Why not tell me he was leaving?
(She embraces EURYCLEIA.)
EURYCLEIA
Melantho who tell you. She is always the first.
PENELOPE
Melantho helps me to unravel my weaving.
EURYCLEIA
True.
PENELOPE
We fold his clothes in camphor. Unoccupied.
EURYCLEIA
So long in their press, them fit Telemachus now.
PENELOPE
I’ve knelt by our olive-tree bed, I’ve prayed and prayed.
EURYCLEIA
But him knew you would last.
PENELOPE
How in hell could he know?
EURYCLEIA
Mistress, is strong-timbered virtues uphold this house.
PENELOPE
Till my patience cracks and it plunges in chaos.
EURYCLEIA
Because none in there can match the husband you choose.
PENELOPE
Yes, choose and then lose him. Who next? Telemachus?
(She breaks down. EUMAEUS enters.)
EURYCLEIA
Not now, Eumaeus, a family crisis here.
EUMAEUS
Since when am I excluded from this family?
EURYCLEIA
Back to the kitchen, old man.
EUMAEUS
I brought the order.
PENELOPE
Eumaeus, listen! My one son has left this house.
EUMAEUS
Where’s he gone, Mistress?
EURYCLEIA
Why you don’t mind your business?
EUMAEUS
It’
s her business, fifty hogs and fifty prime sows.
EURYCLEIA
Go!
EUMAEUS
The stock’s running out at a rate. Now this news.
PENELOPE
Eumaeus, you believe the Master’s safe, don’t you?
EUMAEUS
Safe? ‘Fine day,’ I thought, goading pigs up the white road.
PENELOPE
Say he’s safe, Eumaeus. Now my son has gone, too.
EUMAEUS
Their trotters dancing. Happy at being slaughtered.
(EURYCLEIA shows EUMAEUS out.)
PENELOPE
He dotes on Odysseus. That’s the weight he bears.
EURYCLEIA
Him old, but take good care of the stock all the same.
PENELOPE
They raced by rivers together, hunting wild boars.
EURYCLEIA
His ears does prick like the dog at Odysseus’ name.
(ANTINOUS enters.)
ANTINOUS
Does your son believe he’s the master of this house?
PENELOPE
He is. He’s of age.
ANTINOUS
He shouted at your suitors.
EURYCLEIA
Dat is him right, sar! His father still Odysseus.
ANTINOUS
SHUT UP!
(To PENELOPE) See how a servant talks in front of us?
PENELOPE
She is this house’s foundation. She was his nurse.
ANTINOUS
Well, her dugs are dry now.
(To EURYCLEIA) Listen, you! No more noise!
PENELOPE
‘If I die, marry,’ he said, and sloped to his wars.
ANTINOUS
To lead an army of shadows. Death is his bride.
PENELOPE
When you prove my divorce, I’ll follow his orders.
ANTINOUS
Ord-ysseus is lost since Troy, his wish disobeyed.
PENELOPE
You’re the great pine above those suppliant princes.
ANTINOUS
You’ve made a hundred men think they’re like no one else.
PENELOPE
You’ll soon win your siege. I’ve run out of devices.
ANTINOUS
Then that wall is down that you built between ourselves?
PENELOPE
The wall has cracks in its face.
ANTINOUS
Bend that proud neck. Nod.
PENELOPE
A nod could be final.
ANTINOUS
Let one nod finish me.
PENELOPE
Another dead husband?
ANTINOUS
One nod is all I need.
PENELOPE
To die?
ANTINOUS
For one arrow from those eyes? Happily.
(MELANTHO enters.)
MELANTHO
Don’t punish me, sir, but I have serious news.
ANTINOUS
Better make it good, girl, or I’ll lop off that nose.
MELANTHO
The boy has gone.
EURYCLEIA
Melantho!
ANTINOUS
Gone? Telemachus?
MELANTHO
Look in the harbour. He stole your ship, Antinous.
PENELOPE
Poor girl! You were the last jewel left of my trust.
ANTINOUS
There was some sea captain here. You know who he was?
(He grabs EURYCLEIA.)
EURYCLEIA
Me no see no sea cap’n, sir! Leggo me wrist!
(ANTINOUS releases EURYCLEIA.)
MELANTHO
She’s been unravelling the same shroud for three years.
ANTINOUS
Ah! I understand. Call in the others. Right now!
(MELANTHO exits.)
PENELOPE
You touch my son and you’ll face my husband’s revenge.
ANTINOUS
Your husband is dead. What sword can slice a shadow?
PENELOPE
No!
ANTINOUS
Let him return. He’ll see how your patience ends.
PENELOPE
My patience wasn’t slavery, it was pure trust.
ANTINOUS
And mine for three years. Get our marriage bed ready.
PENELOPE
Look, sir, my vows aren’t brooches I wear till they rust.
ANTINOUS
Neither is my star, that’s kept its distance, lady.
(AMPHINOMUS and CTESIPPUS enter, armed.)
AMPHINOMUS
The girl told us.
ANTINOUS
Arm two fast vessels!
CTESIPPUS
There’s no wind.
ANTINOUS
If you lose him, hide in some cranny of the coast.
AMPHINOMUS
Right!
ANTINOUS
Post sentinels on the crags of each island.
AMPHINOMUS
They’ll roost till they turn into eagles, Antinous!
ANTINOUS
Very odd! He’s never acted this way before.
AMPHINOMUS
Well, with this ambush he won’t act this way after.
ANTINOUS
He was simply sullen, until this visitor.
CTESIPPUS
Then this island is ours. No more son, no father!
(AMPHINOMUS and CTESIPPUS exit.)
ANTINOUS
If he dies your stubbornness put him in the earth.
PENELOPE
You think I’d step over his grave into your arms?
ANTINOUS
I’d rather not kill him. But if that’s what you’re worth.
PENELOPE
I’ll bend when the bow bends.
ANTINOUS
What bow?
PENELOPE
The one that aims.
(Points at his heart.)
ANTINOUS
You’re like some olive tree, waiting for her shadow.
PENELOPE
And you would wrench her last leaves: son, Eurycleia.
ANTINOUS
That hot blue sea stays empty. That sail you pine for.
PENELOPE
Its line is my bow-string, and its waves my lyre.
(ANTINOUS exits.)
EURYCLEIA
Me lost a husband too. Him was a damn scoundrel.
PENELOPE
Eurycleia!
EURYCLEIA
But me miss the scamp all the same.
PENELOPE
My hope is like a little lamp on a black hill.
EURYCLEIA
Yes, and when night coming down, is the worse, madam.
PENELOPE
Our bed is white and quiet. It’s smooth with silence.
EURYCLEIA
Me know how linen keep still when somebody die.
PENELOPE
His shadow slides on my wall. I feel his presence.
EURYCLEIA
Oh, ma’am!
PENELOPE
I turn, and my glance makes his shadow fly.
(They exit. Shadows of crossing oars, increasing speed. BILLY BLUE enters.)
CHORUS OF OARSMEN (Chanting off)
Ayis! Do-o! Trayis! Tetra! Pente! Ex!
Ayis! Do-o! Trayis! Tetra! Pente! Ex!
BILLY BLUE (Sings)
A one, a two, a three, four, five, six goes the mattock
Of the boatswain as the oarsmen bend their necks
Racing like mullet from the shadow of a sea-hawk.
Ayis! Do-o! Trayis! Tetra! Pente! Ex!
So mowers will increase the circle of their scythes,
Flailing at the waves of grass bowing from the wind
So the long blades of the rowers race for their lives
Towards Pylos, past Samos, leaving their hunters behind
Who spin back like sea-hawks, tired of the chase,
The oars fanned towards P
ylos, then closed near Nestor’s palace.
(Exits.)
SCENE III
Nestor’s palace. Interior. TELEMACHUS and CAPTAIN MENTES waiting.
TELEMACHUS
You got here fast. Been to Temesa already?
CAPTAIN MENTES
A following wind.
TELEMACHUS
Struck a good deal with the bronze?
CAPTAIN MENTES
The bronze? Oh, the bronze! Let’s say the wind was steady.
TELEMACHUS
Wasn’t your cargo iron?
CAPTAIN MENTES
What’s the difference?
TELEMACHUS
Athena …
CAPTAIN MENTES
Wait. Your hunters, what happened to them?
TELEMACHUS
They got tired like hawks. We cheered, watching them turn.
CAPTAIN MENTES
You had twenty great oarsmen.
TELEMACHUS
Like scythes in rhythm.
CAPTAIN MENTES
Those hawks will hover in inlets for your return.
(NESTOR enters, with ATTENDANTS.)
TELEMACHUS
Is this Nestor? That aged?
CAPTAIN MENTES
Surf-haired. He always was.
NESTOR
I cracked brine-seasoned whips over foaming horses.
CAPTAIN MENTES
Sir, Captain Mentes. This prince is Telemachus.
NESTOR
He enraged the sea, your father, Odysseus.
FIRST ATTENDANT
The sea’s a maw that devours.
NESTOR
A god who saves.
TELEMACHUS
He saved you.
FIRST ATTENDANT
To his shame, image of Odysseus.
SECOND ATTENDANT
From Poseidon’s charging herd, the unbridled waves.
NESTOR
No whip dipped in brine can steer the sea’s white horses.
TELEMACHUS
The sea’s ungovernable, is that what you mean?
NESTOR
Does he love questions? Another Odysseus!
TELEMACHUS
Sir …
NESTOR
Young Odysseus! You finish what I mean!
TELEMACHUS
Where’s my father? Each dusk the sea-swallow steers home.
NESTOR
There’s brilliance in here.
FIRST ATTENDANT
Your eyes, watering. The glare.
(NESTOR peers at MENTES.)
NESTOR
No. Like when your bright feet, Athena, skim the foam.
CAPTAIN MENTES
I’m Captain Mentes, sir.
NESTOR
No. The clouds’ messenger.
CAPTAIN MENTES
When was that, sir?
NESTOR
At Troy. A swallow twittering.
TELEMACHUS
That was when you last saw my father. Is that right?
NESTOR
We looked up, unhelmeted, every blood-grimed king.
FIRST ATTENDANT
All of Troy’s sorrow is borne in a swallow’s flight.
NESTOR
Ten years! And my heart is stabbed by a bird’s twitter.
CAPTAIN MENTES
Kites cried there, and ravens, the sky one black complaint.
NESTOR
Her voice was as close as yours.
CAPTAIN MENTES