You’re as lucky as they are, sir. You’re close to yours.
ODYSSEUS
Islands weary me now. Foam is flecking this head.
ELPENOR
A clean white bed is all a man asks for on earth.
(ODYSSEUS taps the mast.)
ODYSSEUS
I think of that olive tree my bed was made from.
ELPENOR
Aye, sir.
ODYSSEUS
And those stars flying. Embers from my hearth.
ELPENOR
Captain?
ODYSSEUS
No night was so long. No dawn more welcome.
ELPENOR
No.
(Below deck.)
STRATIS
Once, it was off Smyrna, I cut a captain’s throat.
TASSO
Like a sheep.
STRATIS
Right, he bored me. Kept bleating of home.
TASSO
That’s his drift, isn’t it?
STRATIS
Home’s just another threat.
COSTA
So you’re stuck with killers of sheep, shepherd. Welcome.
(ODYSSEUS descends from the upper deck with a lantern, tours the crew. Boatswain’s mattock is beating.)
ODYSSEUS
By dawn’s edge, Ithaca. By star-rise, my own roof.
STRATIS
Been how many seasons since you left home, Captain?
ODYSSEUS
Twenty. The sea air smells friendlier.
STRATIS
Could get rough.
ODYSSEUS
When sunrise comes, I’ll give the dawn back her lantern.
COSTA
‘Home’! The word that a gull cries over wild waters.
ODYSSEUS
I’ve a boy I haven’t seen for half of my life.
TASSO
They’ve shot up like pliant saplings, my two daughters.
STRATIS
For me, home is a breathing death. Back to the wife.
(Laughter.)
ODYSSEUS
These oars multiply the image of what we love.
TASSO
For me, home is grey fields with a ploughman’s fire.
COSTA
Sometimes it’s a smell. I’m pierced by the scent of clove.
TASSO
A grime-streaked angel gesturing from its spire.
STRATIS
For me, Captain, a reef in the battering surf.
COSTA
Objects outlast us. Spice tins on a kitchen shelf.
STRATIS
Until he enters his own grave, sir, no man is safe.
ODYSSEUS
Then call me ‘No-man’, but your friendship is my wealth.
(He climbs back up to the upper deck.)
STRATIS
What’ve you got from the sea? A fistful of silver.
COSTA
Or a school of flying fish, scattering like stars.
STRATIS
That’s the sum of it. You live off that forever.
TASSO
That bag Aeolus gave him. Whatever it was.
STRATIS
He’ll be up on that deck for a while. Where’s the bag?
COSTA
He stuffed it under his bunk.
STAVROS
Will he be killed?
STRATIS
He’s made his fortune, Stavros. No sharing the swag.
TASSO
He’s made a pile from the war. Gold cups, coins, that shield.
STRATIS
I’m going down. Tap three times if he comes.
(Upper deck.)
ODYSSEUS
Oh, the kings I’ve known, who saw themselves as fixed stars!
ELPENOR
What kings, sir?
ODYSSEUS
My far comrades at Troy.
ELPENOR
But their fame?
ODYSSEUS
They were meteors, in their long fall from greatness.
ELPENOR
Why?
ODYSSEUS
That sea simplifies them, Elpenor. To foam.
(He is peeing over the side.)
ELPENOR
How can you keep your balance, without tumbling off?
ODYSSEUS
Feet braced. I’m steady, helmsman. It’s those stars that aren’t.
ELPENOR
They’re swaying like scales. Can you do that when it’s rough?
ODYSSEUS
Stars! Look! the sprinkled urine of the firmament!
ELPENOR
Day will break soon. A dawn breeze soothing the mind.
ODYSSEUS
Those waves are leaves in my garden …
ELPENOR
Sounds a nice place.
ODYSSEUS
And on the lawn over which a hunched oak towers.
ELPENOR
Would you care to sit down, Captain? I’ll make some space.
ODYSSEUS
My stone bench anchored in a foam of white flowers.
(Lightning.)
ELPENOR
There, sir, through that crack of light on the horizon!
ODYSSEUS
They’re just the distant flashes of a summer storm.
ELPENOR
Wait now, sir! Where pronged lightning forks the sea’s garden?
ODYSSEUS
What, boy?
ELPENOR
You knelt there, pruning flower beds of foam.
ODYSSEUS
Your watch ends when?
ELPENOR
Sunrise, sir.
ODYSSEUS
I’ll believe you if …
ELPENOR
If what, sir?
ODYSSEUS
If you’ll admit to wine on your breath.
ELPENOR
Well, me and the crew had a jar earlier, sir.
ODYSSEUS
Steer carefully. A cloud can harden to a cliff.
(Below deck.)
COSTA
Open the knot.
STRATIS
There’s nothing in there, just wind.
TASSO
You’re lying.
STAVROS
It’s getting dark suddenly, why?
TASSO
Get up and look again, clod! Up, under, behind!
COSTA
What’s that noise? It’s like windmills churning up the sky?
ODYSSEUS
They’ve opened the bag. Now the seas are mountainous.
ELPENOR
Look! White sheep scattering from the fork of that storm!
ODYSSEUS
Something has injured this sea. It’s breaking our oars.
(Sound of breaking oars.)
COSTA
They’re cracking like bones in a dog’s teeth.
ODYSSEUS (To ELPENOR)
WATCH THAT STERN!
ELPENOR
There’s sunrise. Ithaca! A pink cloud and mountain!
(Sunrise.)
ODYSSEUS
HARD WITH THAT HELM!
STRATIS
Ay! The blue’s turning greener where shallows begin.
ELPENOR
ITHACA, CAPTAIN! LET’S KNEEL DOWN ON DECK! YOU’RE HOME!
ODYSSEUS
THE HELM, DAMN YOU, BOY! Seagulls, the first fishermen.
(The ship lists sharply.)
COSTA
The island is tilting and that white mountain town.
ELPENOR
THE GULLS ARE THROWING THEIR CAPS IN THE AIR, CAPTAIN!
ODYSSEUS
HOLD ON TO THE BLOODY HELM, BOY, OR WE’LL ALL DROWN!
STRATIS
Where is it, Skipper?
ODYSSEUS
Home! Poplars! Mount Neriton!
(ELPENOR is swept overboard.)
COSTA
HELMSMAN OVERBOARD, CAPTAIN!
ODYSSEUS
Where’s Achilles’ shield? Gone?
FIRST SAILOR
&nbs
p; CAPTAIN, THAT WAS THE HELMSMAN!
ODYSSEUS
WE’RE BLOWING OFF COURSE!
STAVROS
You unknotted this wind! We are gone forever.
COSTA
We’re lost sheep, Stavros.
ODYSSEUS
ELPENOR! TELEMACHUS!
(The ship founders. All hands swept overboard.)
SCENE VI
Cries, gulls or girls playing. A ball bounces across the sand. A girl, ANEMONE, chases it out of sight. A screech. ANEMONE runs back to join NAUSICAA and another girl, CHLOE.
ANEMONE
I seen him, I seen him, the Old Man of the Sea!
NAUSICAA
Oh, girl, speak properly, and run back for my ball!
ANEMONE
Face down embracing the surf; please, please, believe me.
NAUSICAA
You saw a log with arms, don’t get hysterical.
ANEMONE
I’m not hysterical!
CHLOE
I’ll bet he was naked.
NAUSICAA
Why do you always ruin our games with nonsense?
ANEMONE
Beg pardon, Princess.
CHLOE
She’s just got men in her head.
NAUSICAA
That’s all you saw, girl. The dream of your secret sins.
ANEMONE
He was spraggled face down like a starfish! Naked!
CHLOE
Maybe a starfish is the Old Man of the Sea.
NAUSICAA
Or an octopus now, playing ball with eight hands.
ANEMONE
Why don’t you fetch the ball, if you don’t believe me?
CHLOE
’Cause she didn’t throw it!
ANEMONE
A starfish! Without no pants!
(ODYSSEUS appears, torn, naked, carrying the ball. The two girls scream and run. ODYSSEUS throws the ball, collapses.)
NAUSICAA
Please get up, sir, don’t lie on my kingdom naked.
ODYSSEUS
The sea has beaten me. My sight’s not too clear.
NAUSICAA
You should put something on. This is very awkward.
ODYSSEUS
White cries rose behind these rocks. A wave rolled me here.
NAUSICAA
Oh, did the reef tear you? What happened to that arm?
ODYSSEUS
I was spun like driftwood by those smoking breakers.
NAUSICAA
That’s the white, wild side of the island. Here it’s calm.
ODYSSEUS
I woke to hear seagulls crying. They were girls’ cries.
NAUSICAA
There was a wild storm last night, the oaks were groaning.
ODYSSEUS
I survived it. Swinging from a branch like a bat.
NAUSICAA
Still, after hurricanes there’s the light of morning.
ODYSSEUS
Upside down, over the surf. Hearing the storm beat.
NAUSICAA
That’s rough.
ODYSSEUS
O Nymph, whose freshness is sheer perfection!
NAUSICAA
Sheer? You’ll gain nothing addressing me in that way.
ODYSSEUS
I am dazzled. My salt eyes are scorched by the sun.
NAUSICAA
That’s how all these overtures start. With poetry.
ODYSSEUS
What poetry?
NAUSICAA
You know. ‘O Nymph’, and all that business.
ODYSSEUS
I thought I drowned and soared with the gulls to heaven.
NAUSICAA
See? Next you’ll croak about clutching my shining knees.
ODYSSEUS
I will?
NAUSICAA
Why not just say it?
(Pause.)
Or think it, even?
ODYSSEUS
No.
NAUSICAA
Or talk about my eyes, like sea-green shallows.
ODYSSEUS
Yes. They are. You’re right.
NAUSICAA
Or the pink shells of my ears?
ODYSSEUS
Nymph, I’ll say no more than my nakedness allows.
NAUSICAA
Why?
ODYSSEUS
Because there’s a huge gulf between us, girl. Years!
NAUSICAA
Don’t bark at me like some seal! You know what you are?
ODYSSEUS
No.
NAUSICAA
A snarling, whiskered seal sunning on some reef.
(She mimics a seal.)
ODYSSEUS
Oh, am I?
NAUSICAA
Blaming me for your catastrophe.
ODYSSEUS
You’re well on your way to being somebody’s wife.
NAUSICAA
Yours?
ODYSSEUS
No. I’m too old. Plus, I have one already.
NAUSICAA
Too old, with that panelled body? Old is like this.
(Crouches, clutching her back.)
ODYSSEUS
You’re an old man’s delight.
NAUSICAA
Shall we meet properly?
ODYSSEUS
Shall we?
NAUSICAA
Nausicaa. And you’re my gift from the seas!
(She kisses his cheek. A roar.)
ODYSSEUS
What’s that noise in the throat of those hills?
NAUSICAA
Oh. The games.
ODYSSEUS
The games? What games?
NAUSICAA
You’ll see. When I get you some clothes.
ODYSSEUS
I’ve heard that cheering echo. Spears, hoisting dead names.
NAUSICAA
You’re in tears.
ODYSSEUS
More salt. For Elpenor. Troy’s heroes.
(He stops. Listens.)
NAUSICAA
Were you a hero, too? Why are you stopping? Move.
ODYSSEUS
Every fuming breaker brings echoes of that war.
NAUSICAA
What war?
ODYSSEUS
Exactly.
NAUSICAA
It took you from those you love?
ODYSSEUS
Twenty years now.
NAUSICAA
Come. You’ll tell it to my father.
(They climb.)
ODYSSEUS
Who’s he, your father?
NAUSICAA
He’s the king of this place.
ODYSSEUS
I lost ship, crew, a shield. I have nothing left.
NAUSICAA
We’ll find them, I promise. I’m a real princess.
ODYSSEUS
I could tell.
NAUSICAA
Liar.
ODYSSEUS
I could. From the way you laughed.
(ANEMONE and CHLOE peer out, stop, advance. ODYSSEUS walks ahead of NAUSICAA.)
NAUSICAA
The map of the world’s on your back. The skin’s peeling.
ODYSSEUS
Sun and salt. For ten long years. What are your friends’ names?
NAUSICAA
Girls. This is Scheria, an isle known for healing.
ODYSSEUS
By three gracious spirits.
NAUSICAA
And famous for its games.
(Distant cheering, louder. They exit.)
SCENE VII
Alcinous’ palace. ATHLETES and COURTIERS exercising. Music. Trumpets. Cheering. ALCINOUS steps on to a platform. Drums and horns. BILLY BLUE as PHEMIUS.
BILLY BLUE (Sings)
Fleet the bare feet of runners racing on the sand!
Their ankles whirr like hummingbirds towards the laurel.
Extending their arms like swallows as they reach the end,
Their th
ighs are blurred ovals passing breakers of coral.
What greater glory than what men win on their feet,
Outdistancing friendly shadows in their short sun?
Greater than poetry is the metre of the athlete
Since their glory is brief, and swifter than any song.
They turn into birds, they are stretching to leave the earth,
They’re pliant as otters, their heads sleek from the surf.
But let them stay green as the Olympian laurel
In the kindest of wars, the games, man’s happiest quarrel.
Kindle the torch, begin these Phaeacian games,
Then, on plaques of gold, silver and bronze incise their names.
ALCINOUS
First let us honour this shipwrecked stranger, our guest.
(Roar.)
ODYSSEUS
Thanks, gentle Scherians. I’m enjoying it here.
ALCINOUS
In a while the games. He has accepted our test.
(Laughter. Some booing.)
ODYSSEUS
Well, I’m a bit rusty. You’ve every right to jeer.
(SECOND COURTIER enters the ring. Takes javelin, hurls it out of sight.)
FIRST COURTIER
That could nail an eagle. Out o’ sight, man, out o’ sight!
SECOND COURTIER
Here comes the runt now, he’s shorter than the spear.
FIRST COURTIER
Bet you he puts out the sun’s eye, turns day to night.
SECOND COURTIER
Bet you it drops like a swallow, tired of air.
(ODYSSEUS hurls his javelin farther.)
THIRD COURTIER
Knock me down with a feather! That’s gone to Egypt!
FOURTH COURTIER
Send an expedition to find it. Heard that hum?
FIRST COURTIER
It sang like a swallow, man!
SECOND COURTIER
He’s lucky. It slipped.
FOURTH COURTIER
Yeah? You slip over to Egypt and bring it home.
(ODYSSEUS confronts a YOUNG ATHLETE. ODYSSEUS and the YOUNG ATHLETE wrestle. ODYSSEUS lets himself be thrown.)
ODYSSEUS
I stopped because I imagined you were my son.
YOUNG ATHLETE
That’s a good one, I never heard that one before.
ODYSSEUS
I couldn’t hurt you.
YOUNG ATHLETE
Try, you have my permission.
(ODYSSEUS throws him, pins him.)
ODYSSEUS
I keep seeing him. Telemachus. Elpenor.
(Cheering. ALCINOUS calls for silence.)
You see here a man who’s lost all his worldly goods.
(General groan of sympathy.)
Who the sea-god hates, but who’s survived every storm.
(Applause.)
Like a boar dodging the lightning-lances of gods.
(Imitates a boar. Laughter.)
A wanderer who knows your bounty will help him home.
(Silence.)
If you were simple men, I would tell you such things …
FOURTH COURTIER
We live on islands. We might believe them, try us.
ODYSSEUS
You are polished, sceptical men. My wanderings …
FIFTH COURTIER
Yes?
ODYSSEUS
Men used to hearing the surf curl in their ears.