The evening world., 1920-11-30
The WOrLd'S !
Oldest
LOUe Stories
By MaubeTt st. GeOrOeS
Copyright. 1870. by The Press Publishinr On
Che New York Evening Wbrldl. -
ULYSSES AND PENELOPE.

w Laertes, king Of Ithaca, was
travelling through Greece, he
came at one time to the court OF
Icarius, King pr Sparta. He saw
there and fell in love with Penelope.
Che Kings daughter. Penelope. a
beautiful maid and the daughter OF
a powerful king, had countless
suitors, but Icarius, her father, de-
sired to keep her beside him and re-
fused for a long time TO consider AuS1y
of them. But Penelope reciprocated
the love OF Ulysses, and having
learned from him that he cxcelled in
foot racing she cajoled her father
INTO promising her hand to whoever
would win a foot race. Ulysses BEING
the successful competitor, Pensions
chose TO follow him in spite of her
fathers attempts to persuade her TO
remain.
On their return, to Ithaca I.aertes
! abdicated in their favor and for a
year they ruled in contentment, theIr,
happiness seeming perfect with the
/ birth OF their son, Telernachus.. Then
troubles came. The Greeks declared
war ON Troy and called on Ulysses TO
join them. He did his utmost to
evade them, feigning madness; but,
being discovered, was eventually
forced to 80, .f.a.,
For ten years Ulysses took part in
the siege of Troy, his craft, cunning
and eloquence being among the main
causes of that city's downfall. At the
conclusion of the siege he set out 20
return home, but for twenty years
was forced to wander from place to
/ place according to the whims of the
gods, his adventures being the theme
OF Homer's Janus odyssey (from
| Odysseus, the Greek name of Ulysses).
! Finally, however, he landed in Ithaca.
| but did not at once make himself
known, preferrins 10 spy out things
in the guise OF an old beggar. - w
He found that practically from the
moment of the fall Of Troy his wife,
/ Penelope, had been the centre of un-
welcome attentions from a host OF
suitors who claimed that ulysses
4 must surely be. dead. Penelope had
held them off as long as possible, and
then, when further hope seemed i'm
possible, she had pretended to give in.
/ She was at that time making a robe
| for her father in-law, Laertes. She
promised to give her hand to one Of
the suitors when she should have
| completed IL.
I The suitors. some driven by love.
some By ambition, but all knowing
that to force things would be to- in
wife disaster, all agreed. 1t was only
| a trick on the part of Penelope how
ever, for she, meyer giving up hope
Of Ulyssde, undid every night tho
work she had done the previous day.
| At length the sutors. wondering at
| this slow progress Of the garment,
/ ~ Dppplpna'g attnnTi-
ants and discovered the secret II
seemed as if Penelope must now sur
+ render herself At this juncture
however, Ulysses returned to ithaca.
Making himself known to his old
rurse he, through her, persuaded
Penelope to announce that she Wou'u
/ cd whoever would bend the bow or
/ Ulysses and send an arrow through
! twelve rings at given target. This
( was because fearing quarrels Among
I themselves the suitors had agreed
! never to bring weapons when they
went to feast IN the palace Of Ulysses.
. And ULYSSES, who intended to attend
! the coming feast and who would not
1 be allowed to bring in weapon,
/ hoped when his turn to shoot came TO
find himself thus armed and racing
,unarmed men, Then he revealed him
self to his son Telemachus, now
Withstand the suitors alone. Him
and the only servant they gould
trust, he babe 10 hide all the weapons
in the palace except sufficient to arm
themselves.
The day OF the feast came. Ulysses
in the guise OF an old beggar was all
lowed to attend, and they threw him
scraps from the table. At length
when they had finished they shouted
for the bow TelemaC1us hfnseif
brought ii to them. One by one they
attempted 10 bend 1t, and one by one
failed, till at last all had tried. Tele-
machus would not take his turn, but
spoke in favor Of the beggar when he
asked to be allowed to try. ~ With
jeers and laughter they handed It.
to him. Playing with 1t fondly for n
moment. he suddenly and without
apparent effort sent an artoW
through the rings and into the target
While the suitors gaped at him in
establishment. Telemachus quickly
took their weapons, closed the doors
OF the hail. and ranged them before
ULYSSES. The latter then made him
self known, and while Telemachus
and his companion kept the fear
stricken men away, he shot them
down one by one.
~ Having thus avenged himself sum
matily, Ulysses found himself after
all his wanderings, at last reunitea
TO his beloved wife, and in her conn
Dany ruled his kingdom of ithaca ID
peace and happiness.