Saturday, November 24, 2007

Argus


Emma blew through town the beginning of the week. Sophia was beside herself. Pack member. Yipping with delight.
Thanksgiving morning Emma was gone.
No joyful vocalizing. Waiting.
Argus arrrgus arrrguss, dog of Odysseus.

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2 Comments:

Blogger emory said...

And so these two men
talked to each other about these things. Then a dog
lying there raised its head and pricked up its ears.
It was Argus, brave Odysseus' hunting dog,
whom he himself had brought up many years ago.
But before he could enjoy being with his dog,
he left for sacred Troy. In earlier days, young men
would take the dog to hunt wild goats, deer, and rabbits,
but now, with his master gone, he lay neglected
in the piles of dung left there by mules and cattle,
heaped up before the doors until Odysseus' servants
took it as manure for some large field. Argus lay there,
covered in fleas. Then, when he saw Odysseus,
who was coming closer, Argus wagged his tail
and dropped his ears. But he no longer had the strength
to approach his master. Odysseus looked away
and brushed aside a tear?he did so casually
to hide it from Eumaeus. Then he questioned him:

"Eumaeus, it's strange this dog is lying here,
in the dung. He has a handsome body.
I'm not sure if his speed once matched his looks
or if he's like those table dogs men have,
ones their masters raise and keep for show."

Then, swineherd Eumaeus, you answered him and said:

"Yes, this dog belongs to a man who died
somewhere far away. If he had the form
and acted as he did when Odysseus
left him and went to Troy, you'd quickly see
his speed and strength, and then you'd be amazed.
No wild animal he chased escaped him
in deep thick woods, for he could track a scent.
He's in a bad way now. His master's dead
in some foreign land, and careless women
don't look after him. For when their masters
no longer exercise their power, slaves
have no desire to do their proper work.
Far-seeing Zeus steals half the value of a man
the day he's taken and becomes a slave."

This said, Eumaeus went inside the stately palace,
straight into the hall to join the noble suitors.
But once he'd seen Odysseus after nineteen years,
the dark finality of death at once seized Argus.

http://www.mala.bc.ca/~Johnstoi/homer/odyssey17.htm

10:25  
Blogger Sarabeth said...

That makes me cry, Bill, for so many reasons. My mother dotes on the dog my father left behind. She will not neglect him.

11:14  

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