Eumaeus

A Phoenician merchant came to the house of Ctesius on Syra after his ship had spent a year taking on precious goods. He carried a gold necklace strung with amber beads. Ctesius’s wife and the female servants handled it, admired it, and bargained over its price. The merchant then gave a silent signal to the Phoenician nurse and returned to the ship.

The nurse took the infant Eumaeus by the hand and led him outside. In the forehall, she saw the cups and tables used by the guests who attended Ctesius. The guests had gone to the public assembly. She hid three cups in her dress and carried them away, while Eumaeus followed because he did not understand what was happening. The sun had set, and the roads were covered in shadow when they reached the harbour and boarded the Phoenician ship.

The merchants sailed for six days and nights. On the seventh day, they reached Ithaca and sold Eumaeus to Laertes, the father of Odysseus. He became part of Laertes’s household. Laertes’s wife brought him up with Ctimene, her youngest daughter, and treated the two children alike. Eumaeus remembered her kindness and later said that her grief over Odysseus had brought about her death. Laertes remained alive, deeply troubled by his son’s absence and by the loss of his wife.

When Ctimene grew up, her family sent her to Same and received a splendid dowry for her. Eumaeus was given a good shirt, a cloak, and sandals. He was then sent to his duties and became Laertes’s swineherd. Years later, he told the story of his capture and sale while sitting in his hut with Odysseus, who was disguised as an old man.