In the same hearty manner the shepherd Eumæus received Odysseus' son on the latter's return from his journey, and lucky escape from the treacherous plot of the suitors:
And on the head he kissed him, and both his eyes so fair,
And both his hands, moreover, and he shed a mighty tear;
And e'en as a loving father makes much of his dear son,
Who has come from an alien country where the tenth long year is done,
His only son and darling for whom he hath travailed sore,
E'en so the goodly swineherd now kisseth him o'er and o'er
Telemachus the godlike, as one escaped from death.[1]
He gets the same reception from his old nurse and his mother:
But the nurse, e'en Euryclea, beheld him first of all
As the fleecy fells she was spreading o'er the painted seats of the hall,
And, weeping, went straight toward him; and the other maids thereto
Of Odysseus hardy-hearted, all round-about him drew,
And they kissed him and caressed him, his shoulders and his head.[1]
| · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
