“So all the morning we lay and wafted patiently, and at noon the seals came up out of the sea and lay down in order on the sand.  Last of all came Proteus, and counted his herd, reckoning us among their number, with no suspicion of guile.  We waited until he was fast asleep, and then we rushed from our ambush and seized him hand and foot.  Long and hard was the struggle, and many the shapes which he took.  First he became a bearded lion, then a snake, then a leopard, then a huge boar; after these he turned into running water and a tall, leafy tree.  But we only held him the more firmly, and at last he grew weary and spake to me in his own shape:  ’What wouldst thou have, son of Atreus, and who has taught thee to outwit me and take me captive by craft?’

“‘Thou knowest my need,’ I answered; ’why dost thou waste thy words?  Tell me rather how I may find release from my present strait’

“‘Hear, then,’ said he:  ’thou hast forgotten thy duty to Zeus and the other gods.  Not a victim bled, not a prayer was offered, when thou didst embark on this voyage.  Go back to Egypt, to the holy waters of Nile, and there pay thy vows, and offer a great sacrifice to their offended deity; thus, and thus only, canst thou win thy return to thine own country and thy stately home.’

“When I heard this my heart was broken within me, to think of that long and perilous path across the misty deep.  Nevertheless I consented to take that journey, for I saw no other way of escape.  And after I had promised to obey him, I began to inquire further of the fate of Nestor and the rest, whom I left behind me on my way home.

“‘’Tis a grievous story that thou requirest of me,’ said Proteus, ’and thou shalt have little joy in the hearing.  Many have been taken and many left.  Two only perished in returning, and one is still living, a prisoner of the sea.  Ajax has paid his debt to Athene, whose shrine he polluted; and this was the manner of his death:  when his vessel was shattered by that great tempest, he himself escaped to a rock, for Poseidon came to his aid.  But even the peril which he had just escaped could not subdue his haughtiness and his pride, and he uttered an impious vaunt, boasting that in despite of heaven he had escaped a watery grave.  Then Poseidon was wroth, and smote the rock with his trident, and that half of the rock on which Ajax was sitting fell into the sea, bearing him with it.  So he died, when he had drunk the brine.

“’Now harden thy heart, and learn how thy brother Agamemnon fell.  After a long and stormy voyage he at length brought his shattered vessels safe into harbour, and set foot on his native soil at Argos.  With tears of joy and thankfulness he fell on his knees and kissed the sod, trusting that now his sorrows were passed.  Now there was a watchman whom AEgisthus had posted on a high place commanding the sea to look out for Agamemnon’s return.  A whole year he watched, for he had been promised a great reward.  And when he saw the king’s face he went with all speed to tell his master.  Forthwith AEgisthus prepared an ambush of twenty armed men; these he kept in hiding at the back of the hall, while he ordered his servants to prepare a great banquet.  Then he went to meet Agamemnon with horses and with chariots, and brought him to his house, and made good cheer.  And when he had feasted him he smote and slew him, as a man slaughters an ox in his stall.’