The Odyssey

Book I: "Athena Inspires the Prince," from The Odyssey, from the Ancient History Sourcebook, available online at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/odysseyBL.html

Written by Homer circa 800 bce

Translated by Samuel Henry Butcher and Andrew Lang

"Athena Inspires the Prince" is the first of twenty-four books in The Odyssey, an ancient epic poem of some twelve thousand lines thought to have been written by the Greek poet Homer. Epic poetry is lengthy poetry telling tales of heroic deeds. Virtually nothing is known about Homer and his life or about the circumstances surrounding the composition of the poem. It was probably developed orally over a period of years and may have been first written down many centuries later.

"How vainly mortal men do blame the gods! For of us they say comes evil, whereas they even of themselves through the blindness of their own hearts, have sorrows beyond that which is ordained."

The poem survived on ancient scrolls of papyrus (a kind of paper made from the papyrus plant, primarily in Egypt) and then in handwritten manuscripts in books called codices. A codex is a collection of ancient texts in manuscript form. Codices are more than one codex. These manuscripts had been preserved in the library at Byzantium (present-day Constantinople in Turkey) by the Greeks. After Byzantium was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the library became more available to the Western world. At this time The Odyssey, along with many other ancient texts, became more widely known in the West. The Odyssey and its companion poem, The Iliad, are the oldest surviving works of Greek literature. They are regarded as two of the most influential works in the foundation of Western literature.

Odysseus' long journey home

The Odyssey can be read as the sequel to Homer's Iliad. The latter epic tells the adventurous story of the Trojan War, a war between Troy and ancient Greece. This war begins when Paris, the son of the king of Troy, wins the love of Helen, the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta in Greece, and takes her with him back to Troy. The Iliad focuses on just a few weeks during the tenth and last year of that war. One of the major characters in The Iliad is Odysseus, a warrior-king and general from the Greek state of Ithaca.

At the beginning of "Athena Inspires the Prince," Homer calls upon the Muse of epic poetry (one of nine goddesses who inspire artistic creation) to guide him in telling the story of a man who has survived hardship and experienced the twists and turns of fate. That man is Odysseus, who has been away from his wife and his kingdom for many years. Odysseus fought at Troy for ten years before he began his long journey home. At the start of The Odyssey, Odysseus has spent seven years on the island of Ogygia. There, Odysseus, the only Greek who has not yet returned home from the war, is being held by Calypso, a nymph who has cast a spell over him because she wants Odysseus as her husband.

Odysseus had angered the sea god Poseidon (the brother of Zeus, the king of the gods) by blinding Polyphemus the Cyclops, Poseidon's son. Poseidon was responsible for making Odysseus's return home so difficult. At the same time Odysseus's wife, Penelope, is being courted at home in Ithaca by a large number of suitors, who feast and drink in Odysseus's home at his expense and who each hope to marry Penelope and become king. Penelope's situation remains uncertain because she does not have any reliable information about the fate of her husband.

Reputation, revenge, and power

The first book of The Odyssey introduces a number of themes that run through the poem. One is the value of maintaining a good reputation, both with humans and with the gods. This theme illustrates that the people of Homer's time thought of their relationship with the gods in very human terms. Book I states that Odysseus is held in high regard by all the gods except Poseidon.

A second theme is the role of revenge in achieving justice. In ancient times, when societies did not have police, a court system, or prisons, individuals found justice for perceived wrongs themselves, and the gods, who had human characteristics, often helped them to do so. Telemachus, the son of Penelope and Odysseus, is hesitant to take action against the men who would seize the crown by marrying his mother. Athena, however, "inspires the prince" to act against them.

A final theme is power—how it is earned and how it is maintained. The youthful Telemachus has not yet gained the right to the throne of Ithaca. He is challenged by Antinous, one of the suitors, but he lacks support in establishing his claim to kingship. He is roused to make a stand, though, by Athena and begins to take steps to strengthen and secure his power. Again, for the people of Homer's time, success in life could be achieved only with the aid of the gods, who were all too happy to become involved in human affairs.

Characteristics of the gods

The Odyssey provides modern readers with a rich portrait of the characteristics of the gods and the roles they play in human affairs as they were conceived by the ancient Greeks. Greek religion was polytheistic, meaning that the people believed in more than one god. Chief among the Greek gods is Zeus, son of Cronus, the king of the Titans. On reaching adulthood, Zeus leads a revolt against the Titans and takes away the throne from Cronus with the help of his brothers Poseidon and Hades. From his position on Mount Olympus, Zeus observes the affairs of humans. He sees everything, governs all human actions, rewards good conduct and punishes evil, dispenses justice, and protects cities and homes. Nonetheless, Zeus recognizes that humans play a part in determining their own fates.

In Greek myth, numerous lesser gods and goddesses have their own spheres of influence and often quarrel among themselves. Legend has it that Athena had no mother. She sprang directly from the forehead of Zeus. She is a goddess of warfare, but, more importantly, she also represents practical wisdom, restraint, and reason. In The Iliad, she inspires the Greek heroes, and her name is equated with military skill, excellence in combat, victory, and glory, as opposed to mere lust for blood, represented by the god Ares. In this role, she becomes Odysseus's guardian, and in her relationship with Telemachus she acts as the goddess of good counsel, practical insight, and cautious self-control.

Things to remember while reading the excerpt from The Odyssey:

• As the daughter of the sky god Zeus, Athena is one of the twelve Olympians, the gods and goddesses who live on Mount Olympus. The other Olympians, besides Zeus and Athena, include Aphrodite, the goddess of love; Hermes, the messenger god; Poseidon, the god of the sea; and others.
• Athena presents herself to Telemachus in disguise. She enters Ithaca in the form of Mentes, one of Odysseus's old friends, and meets with Telemachus. She tells the prince that Odysseus will return but that in the meantime Telemachus has to stand up to the suitors who are harassing his mother. Only in this way can he hope to inherit the kingdom from his father. Because Athena presents herself as a male friend of Telemachus's father rather than as a woman, Telemachus will be more likely to take her counsel.
• Telemachus's mother, Penelope, is surrounded by men from the kingdom who want to take Odysseus's place as king Because she is a woman, Penelope cannot reign as the ruler of Ithaca herself. She has earned her position in life from her husband. The men believe that because Odysseus is gone, Penelope will marry one of them so that she can keep her position as queen.

Excerpt from The Odyssey

"Athena Inspires the Prince"

Tell me, Muse, of that man, so ready at need, who wandered far and wide, after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy, and many were the men whose towns he saw and whose mind he learnt, yea, and many the woes he suffered in his heart upon the deep, striving to win his own life and the return of his company. Nay, but even so he saved not his company, though he desired it sore. For through the blindness of their own hearts they perished, fools, who devoured the oxen of Helios Hyperion: but the god took from them their day of returning. Of these things, goddess, daughter of Zeus, whencesoever thou hast heard thereof, declare thou even unto us.

Now all the rest, as many as fled from sheer destruction, were at home, and had escaped both war and sea, but Odysseus only, craving for his wife and for his homeward path, the lady nymph Calypso held, that fair goddess, in her hollow caves, longing to have him for her lord. But when now the year had come in the courses of the seasons, wherein the gods had ordained that he should return home to Ithaca, not even there was he quit of labours, not even among his own; but all the gods had pity on him save Poseidon, who raged continually against godlike Odysseus, till be came to his own country. Howbeit Poseidon had now departed for the distant Ethiopians, the Ethiopians that are sundered in twain, the uttermost of men, abiding some where Hyperion sinks and some where he rises. There he looked to receive his hetacomb of bulls and rams, there he made merry sitting at the feast, but the other gods were gathered in the halls of Olympian Zeus. Then among them the father of gods and men began to speak, for he bethought him in his heart of noble Aegisthus, whom the son of Agamemnon, farfamed Orestes, slew. Thinking upon him he spake out among the Immortals:

"Lo you now, how vainly mortal men do blame the gods! For of us they say comes evil, whereas they even of themselves through the blindness of their own hearts, have sorrows beyond that which is ordained….

And the goddess, grey-eyed Athene [Athena], answered him, saying: "O father, our father Cronides, throned in the highest; that man assuredly lies in a death that is his due; so perish likewise all who work such deeds! But my heart is rent for wise Odysseus, that happless one, who far from his friends this long while suffereth affliction in a seagirt isle, where is the naval of the sea, as woodland isle, and therein a goddess hath her habitation, the daughter of the wizard Atlas who knows the depths of every sea, and himself upholds the tall pillars which keep earth and sky assunder. His daughter it is that holds the hapless man in sorrow: and ever with soft and guileful tales she is wooing him to forgetfulness of Ithaca. But Odysseus yearning to see if it were but the smoke leap upwards from his own land, hath a desire to die. As for thee, thine heart regardeth it not at all, Olympian! What! did not Odysseus by the ships of the Argives make thee free offering of sacrifice in the wide Trojan land? Wherefore wast thou then so wroth with him, O Zeus?"

And Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered her, and said, "My child, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips? Yea, how should I forget divine Odysseus, who in understanding is beyond mortals and beyond all men hath done sacrifice to the deathless gods, who keep the wide heaven? Nay, but it is Poseidon, the girdler of the earth, that hath been wroth continually with quenchless anger for the Cyclops ' sake whom he blinded of his eye, even godlike Polyphemus whose power is mightiest amongst all the Cyclopes….

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him, and said: "O father, our father Cronides, throned in the highest, if indeed this thing is now well pleasing to the blessed gods, that wise Odysseus should return to his own home, let us then speed Hermes the Messenger, the slayer of Argos, to the island of Ogygia. There with all speed let him declare to the lady of the braided tresses our unerring counsel, even the return of the patient Odysseus, that so he may come to his home. But as for me I will go to Ithaca that I may rouse his son yet the more, planting might in his heart, to call an assembly of the long-haired Achaeans and speak out to all the wooers who slaughter continually the sheep of his thronging flocks, and his kine with trailing feet and shambling gait. And I will guide him to Sparta and to sandy Pylos to seek tidings of his dear father's return, if per-adventure he may hear thereof and that so he may be had in good report among men."

She spake and bound beneath her feet her lovely golden sandals that wax not old, and bare her alike over the wet sea and over the limitless land, swifth as the breath of the wind. And she seized her doughty spear, shod with sharp bronze, weighty and huge and strong, wherewith she quells the ranks of heroes with whomsoever she is wroth, the daughter of the mighty sire. Then from the heights of Olympus she came glancing down, and she stood in the land of Ithaca, at the entry of the gate of Odysseus, on the threshold of the courtyard, holding in her hand the spear of bronze, in the semblence of a stranger, Mentes the captain of the Taphians. And there she found the lordly wooers: now they were taking their pleasure at draughts in front of the doors, sitting on hides of oxen, which themselves had slain. And of the henchmen and the ready squires, some were mixing for them wine and water in bowls, and some again were washing the tables with porous sponges and were setting them forth, and others were carving flesh in plenty.

And godlike Telemachus was far the first to descry her, for he was sitting with a heavy heart among the wooers dreaming on his good father, if haply he might come somewhence, and make a scattering of the wooers there throughout the palace, and himself get honour and bear rule among his own possessions. Thinking thereupon, as he sat among wooers, he saw Athene—and he went straight to the outer porch, for he thought it blame in his heart that a stranger should stand long at the gates: and halting nigh her he clasped her right hand and took from her the spear of bronze, and uttered his voice and spake unto her winged words: "Hail, stranger, with us thou shalt be kindly entreated, and thereafter, when thou hast tasted meat, thou shalt tell us that whereof thou hast need."…

But Telemachus spake unto grey-eyed Athene, holding his head close to her that those others might not hear: "Dear stranger, wilt thou of a truth be wroth at the word I shall say? Yonder men verily care for such things as these, the lyre and song, lightly, as they that devour the livelihood of another without atonement, of that man whose white bones, it may be, lie wasting in the rain upon the mainland, or the billow rolls them in the brine. Were but these men to see him returned to Ithaca, they all would pray rather for greater speed of foot than for gain of gold and rainment. But now he hath perished, even so, an evil doom, and for us is no comfort, no, not though any of earthly men should say that he will come again. Gone is the day of his returning!…

"For all the noblest that are princes in the isles, in Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus, and as many as lord it in rocky Ithaca, all these woo my mother and waste my house. But as for her she neither refuseth the hated bridal, nor hath the heart to make an end: so they devour and minish my house, and ere long will they make havoc likewise of myself."

Then in heavy displeasure spake unto him Pallas Athene: "God help thee! thou art surely sore in need of Odysseus that is afar, to stretch forth his hands upon the shameless wooers. If he could but come now and stand at the entering in of the gate, with helmet and shield and lances twain, as mighty a man as when first I marked him in our house drinking and making merry what time he came up out of Ephyra from Ilus son of Mermerus! For even thither had Odysseus gone on his swift ship to seek a deadly drug, that he might have wherewithal to smear his bronze-shod arrows: but Ilus would in nowise give it to him, for he had in awe the ever-living gods. But my father gave it him, for he bare him wondrous love. O that Odysseus might in such strength consort with the wooers: so should they all have swift fate and bitter wedlock! Howbeit these things surely lie on the knees of the gods, whether he shall return or not, and take vengeance in his halls. But I charge thee to take counsel how thou mayest thrust forth the wooers from the hall. Come now, mark and take heed unto my words. On the morrow call the Achaean lords to the assembly, and declare thy saying to all, and take the gods to witness. As for the wooers bid them scatter them each one to his own, and for thy mother, if her heart is moved to marriage, let her go back to the hall of that mighty man her father, and her kinsfolk will furnish a wedding feast, and array the gifts of wooing exceeding many, all that should go back with a daughter dearly beloved. And to thyself I will give a word of wise counsel, if perchance thou will harken. Fit out a ship, the best thou hast, with twenty oarsmen, and go to inquire concerning thy father that is long afar, if perchance any man shall tell thee aught, or if thou mayest hear the voice from Zeus, which chiefly brings tidings to men. Get thee first to Pylos and inquire of goodly Nestor, and from thence to Sparta to Menelaus of the fair hair, for he came home the last of the mail-coated Achaeans. If thou shalt hear news of the life and the returning of thy father, then verily thou mayest endure the wasting for yet a year. But if thou shalt hear that he is dead and gone, return then to thine own dear country and pile his mound, and over it pay burial rites, full many as is due, and give thy mother to a husband. But when thou hast done this and made an end, thereafter take counsel in thy mind and heart, how thou mayest slay the wooers in thy halls, whether by guile or openly; for thou shouldst not carry childish thoughts, being no longer of years thereto. Or hast thou not heard what renown the goodly Orestes gat him among all men in that he slew the slayer of his father, guileful Aegisthus, who killed his famous sire?…"

Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: "Sir, verily thou speakest these things out of a friendly heart, as a father to his son, and never will I forget them. But now I pray thee abide here, though eager to be gone, to the end that after thou hast bathed and had all thy heart's desire, thou mayest wend to the ship joyful in spirit, with a costly gift and very goodly, to be an heirloom of my giving, such as dear friends give to friends."…

Now the wooers clamoured throughout the shadowy halls, and each one uttered a prayer to be her bedfellow. And wise Telemachus first spake among them:

"Wooers of my mother, men despiteful out of measure, let us feast now and make merry and let there be no brawling; for, lo, it is a good thing to list to a minstrel such as him, like to the gods in voice. But in the morning let us all go to the assembly and sit us down, that I may declare my saying outright, to wit that ye leave these halls: and busy yourselves with other feasts, eating your own substance, going in turn from house to house. But if ye deem this a likelier and a better thing, that one man's goods should perish without atonement, then waste ye as ye will; and I will call upon the everlasting gods, if haply Zeus may grant that acts of recompense be made: so should ye hereafter perish within the halls without atonement."

So spake he, and all that heard him bit their lips and marvelled at Telemachus, in that he spake boldly.

Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him: "Telemachus, in very truth the gods themselves instruct thee to be proud of speech and boldly to harangue. Never may Cronion [Zeus] make thee king in seagirt Ithaca, which thing is of inheritance thy right!"

Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: "Antinous, wilt thou indeed be wroth at the word that I shall say? Yea, at the hand of Zeus would I be fain to take even this thing upon me. Sayest thou that this is the worst hap that can befal a man? Nay, verily, it is no ill thing to be a king: the house of such an one quickly waxeth rich and himself is held in greater honour. Howsoever there are many other kings of the Achaeans in seagirt Ithaca, kings young and old; someone of them shall surely have this kingship since goodly Odysseus is dead. But as for me, I will be lord of our own house and thralls, that goodly Odysseus gat me with his spear."…

But Telemachus, where his chamber was builded high up in the fair court, in a place with wide prospect, thither betook him to his bed, pondering many thoughts in his mind; and with him went trusty Eurycleia, and bare for him torches burning. She was the daughter of Ops, son of Peisenor, and Laertes bought her on a time with his wealth, while as yet she was in her first youth, and gave for her the worth of twenty oxen. And he honoured her even as he honoured his dear wife in the halls, but he never lay with her, for he shunned the wrath of his lady. She went with Telemachus and bare for him the burning torches: and of all the women of the household she loved him most, and she had nursed him when a little one. Then he opened the doors of the well-builded chamber and sat him on the bed and took off his soft doublet, and put it in the wise old woman's hands. So she folded the doublet and smoothed it, and hung it on a pin by the jointed bedstead, and went forth on her way from the room, and pulled to the door with the silver handle, and drew home the bar with the thong. There, all night through, wrapped in a fleece of wool, he meditated in his heart upon the journey that Athene had showed him.

What happened next …

Books II through IV of The Odyssey depict the situation in Ithaca, where Penelope and Telemachus attempt to hold on to their authority in Odysseus's absence. In Book V, Zeus orders Calypso to release Odysseus, who sets out on a raft that is destroyed by his enemy, Poseidon. Odysseus washes ashore on the land of the Phaeacians, portrayed in Books VI through VIII. Books IX through XII contain Odysseus's account of his adventures since leaving Troy. These adventures include his stay in the land of the Lotus-Eaters; his blinding of Polyphemus; the loss of eleven of his twelve ships to a race of cannibals, or eaters of human flesh; his arrival at the island of the enchantress Circe; his visit to the Land of Departed Spirits; his encounter with the Sirens, partly human creatures who lure seamen to their deaths at sea; and his arrival at Calypso's island. In Books XIII through XVI, the Phaeacians return Odysseus to Ithaca. After Athena disguises him as a beggar, he reveals his true identity to Telemachus, and the two men plot to rid the kingdom of the king's rivals. In the final books (XVII through XXIV), Odysseus passes a test Penelope sets up to choose one of her suitors. Odysseus kills the suitors with the help of his son and resumes his place as Penelope's husband and king of Ithaca.

Did you know …

• While The Iliad and The Odyssey are the earliest works of literature that portray the Greek gods and goddesses, other works give further detail. Most important are two works by Hesiod, a poet who lived at almost the same time (c. 800 bce) as Homer: Theogony and Works and Days. In these books, Hesiod provides accounts of the origins of the universe, the succession of gods and goddesses, the ages of the world, and the sources of human misfortune.
• Readers of (or listeners to) The Odyssey who knew The Iliad, the earlier epic, would have already been familiar with Athena and her skill and practicality in the art of warfare. This skill is shown near the end of The Iliad when she helps the Greek Epeius build a huge wooden horse, referred to as the Trojan horse. The Greeks leave the horse outside the walls of Troy. The Trojans take the horse inside as an offering to Athena—not knowing that the horse has been hollowed out and that inside are Greek soldiers under the command of Odysseus. At night, the soldiers emerge from the horse and unlock the gates of the city, allowing the Greeks to enter, sack the city, and end the Trojan War. The term Trojan horse is still used today to refer to any similar act of trickery; computer experts use the term to refer to a way of sneaking a virus into a computer system.
• The historical setting for The Odyssey is about the twelfth century bce. Archeologists call this period of time the Bronze Age, named after the type of metal that was widely used. The Greeks believed that the Bronze Age was a time when their country was home to heroic people with superhuman characteristics and when gods moved freely about Earth. There are several mentions of bronze in the excerpted passage, for example, in reference to Athena, who is described as seizing "the rugged spear tipped with a bronze point." Odysseus is said to have sailed past Ephyra, "hunting deadly poison to smear on his arrows' bronze heads." The epic tries to capture the glorious spirit of the age by using a high poetic style rather than everyday language.

Consider the following …

• Explain how Homer establishes the importance of the story he is about to tell.
• Summarize ways in which the gods and goddesses portrayed in The Odyssey behave and think. Compare these behaviors and ways of thought to those of deities in other religions.
• Explain the relationship between Athena and Odysseus and between Athena and Telemachus. Summarize the role Athena plays in the affairs of these two human beings.

For More Information

BOOKS

Clay, Jenny Strauss. The Wrath of Athena: Gods and Men in the "Odyssey." Totowa, NJ: Littlefield Adams, 1996.

Osborne, Mary Pope, and Troy Howell. Tales from The Odyssey. New York: Hyperion, 2005.

Picard, Barbara Leonie. The Odyssey of Homer. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

WEB SITES

Arkwright, Tony, Justin Eichenlaub, and John Ramsey. Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey."http://library.thinkquest.org/19300/data/homer.htm (accessed on June 5, 2006).

Homer. The Odyssey. Samuel Henry Butcher and Andrew Lang, translators. Ancient History Sourcebook. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/odysseyBL.html (June 5, 2006).

Mitchell-Boyask, Robin. "Study Guide for Homer's Odyssey." Classical Mythology. http://www.temple.edu/classics/odysseyho.html (accessed on June 5, 2006).

Mythweb.com. http:/www.mythweb.com/ (accessed on June 5, 2006).

Muse: A Greek goddess who oversees art, song, poetry, and science.

Sacked: Destroyed.

Citadel: Fortress, castle.

Striving: Trying with great effort.

Sore: Greatly.

Devoured: Consumed, ate.

Helios Hyperion: The Greek sun god.

Whencesoever: From whatever place.

Nymph: A woodland or water-dwelling goddess.

Ordained: Decided.

Labours: Burdens.

Howbeit: However.

Sundered: Broken.

Twain: Two.

Uttermost: Greatest.

Hetacomb: Sacrifice.

Bethought: Thought.

Spake: Spoke.

Perish: Die.

Rent: Torn; broken.

Happless: Unlucky.

Affliction: Torment.

Seagirt: Surrounded by ocean or sea.

Naval: Center.

Habitation: Home.

Atlas: One of the Titans, or giant gods who ruled Earth until overthrown by Zeus.

Assunder: Apart.

Guileful: Deceptive.

Wooing: Convincing.

Yearning: Longing.

Wroth: Angry.

Girdler: Supporter.

Quenchless: Never satisfied.

Cyclops: One-eyed giant.

Unerring: Unfailing.

Rouse: Wake.

Might: Strength.

Achaeans: Greek armies.

Wooers: Those hoping to marry Odysseus's wife.

Thronging: Large.

Kine: Cattle.

Shambling gait: Slow, dragging walk.

Peraventure: By chance.

Wax: Were.

Swifth: Swiftly; quickly.

Doughty: Fearless.

Shod: Made.

Wherewith: With which.

Quells: Calms.

Sire: Father.

Taphians: A division of Greeks.

Draughts: Drinks.

Henchmen: Grooms; people who take care of horses.

Squires: Young noble attendants.

Descry: Notice.

Haply: By good fortune.

Somewhence: From somewhere.

Thereupon: On that.

Nigh: Near.

Winged words: Beautiful language.

Entreated: Treated.

Whereof: Whatever.

Yonder: At a distance.

Verily: Truly.

Lyre: A musical instrument similar to a harp.

Billow: Waves.

Brine: Seawater.

Rainment: Fine clothes.

Minish: Diminish; use up all the supplies of.

Ere: Before.

Thither: Though.

Nowise: No way.

Consort: Associate.

Howbeit: How would it be if.

Vengeance: Revenge.

Counsel: Care.

On the morrow: Tomorrow.

Perchance thou will harken: By chance you will pay attention.

Aught: Of him.

Mound: Grave.

Guile: Deception.

Of years thereto: Of a childish age.

Renown: Famous.

Gat: Got.

abide: Stay.

Wend: Direct.

Clamoured or clamored: Made loud noises.

Bedfellow: One who shares the same bed.

Despiteful: Spiteful.

Brawling: Fighting.

List: Listen.

Deem: Consider.

Recompense: Compensation; payment.

Marvelled: Were amazed.

Harangue: To make a ranting speech.

Fain: Unwilling.

Befal: Happen to.

Waxeth: Becomes.

Thralls: Possessions.

Prospect: View.

Betook: Took.

Pondering: Thinking.

Doublet: Jacket.

Bedstead: Framework of a bed.