The Odyssey: A Stage Version Read online

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.