plight; so welcome did the earth and wood appear to Ulysses; and he swam, hastening to step on the main-land with his feet; but when he was so far distant as one is heard shouting out, then he heard the noise of the sea against the rocks; for the mighty surge bursting terribly roared against the dry [coast] of the continent; and all things were rolled over with the foam of the sea; for there were not havens to contain ships, nor places of shelter,[1] but the shores were prominent, and there were crags and rocks. Then the knees and dear heart of Ulysses fainted, and mourning he spake unto his strong-hearted mind:
"Alas for me! since Jupiter has granted me to behold the unexpected land, and I indeed have passed over this wave, having cut through it, there has appeared no where any egress out of the hoary sea; for without there are sharp rocks, and a dashing surge rages around, and a smooth cliff runs up, and near it the sea is deep; and it is not possible to stand on both my feet, and to escape an evil plight, lest by chance a mighty billow snatching me, as I am going out, dash me against a stony cliff, and my attempt be vain. But if I shall swim still farther, in case I may some where find sloping shores, and ports of the sea, I am afraid, lest the storm snatching me again should bear me to the fishy sea, mourning sadly, or even the deity should send a mighty whale against me from the sea, such as illustrious Amphitrite nourishes in great numbers: for I know how illustrious Neptune is enraged against me."
Whilst he meditated these things in his breast and in his mind, in the mean time a mighty billow bore him to the rough shore. There his skin would have been lacerated, and his bones fractured, had not the blue-eyed goddess Minerva prompted his mind; and rushing on, he seized hold of a rock with both his hands, which he held groaning, until the great billow had passed by. And this he thus avoided; but the returning wave rushing upon him, struck him again, and cast him far out into the sea. As when many stones hold to the claws of a polypus drawn out of its bed, so was the skin torn from his strong hand against the rocks: and a mighty billow covered him.
There at length unhappy Ulysses would have perished con-
- ↑ Scil. against the wind.
