Now, as they talked on, a dog that lay there lifted up his muzzle, pricked his ears . . . It was Argos, long-enduring Odysseus’ dog he trained as a puppy once, but little joy he got since all too soon he shipped to sacred Troy.
In the old days young hunters loved to set him coursing after the wild goats and deer and hares. But now with his master gone he lay there, castaway, on piles of dung from mules and cattle, heaps collecting out before the gates till Odysseus’ serving-men could cart it off to manure the king’s estates. Infested with ticks, half-dead from neglect, here lay the hound, old Argos.
…
Ah, but he’s run out of luck now, poor fellow . . .his master’s dead and gone, so far from home, and the heartless women tend him not at all. Slaves, with their lords no longer there to crack the whip, lose all zest to perform their duties well. Zeus, the Old Thunderer, robs a man of half his virtue the day the yoke clamps down around his neck.”
With that he entered the well-constructed palace, strode through the halls and joined the proud suitors. But the dark shadow of death closed down on Argos’ eyes the instant he saw Odysseus, twenty years away.
这个片段让人从一条狗身上都能感受到时过境迁的沧桑感。hound，old Argos与前面的puppy形成对比，这样的对比其实不光是单纯的讲这条狗老去了，更多的体现的是奥德赛心理的变迁。想必颓然的他想起当年养这个puppy时，自己过的是多么体面的日子。可是他走后，再也不会有人将这条狗当回事了——甚至，除了养猪奴和妻、子，都没有人把奥德赛当回事。
当年的风光不再，睹物思人，也许，流浪回来的奥德赛看到自己曾拥有的一切，哪怕是自己曾在宫殿中坐过的一把椅子如今被人强占也会心生感慨。同时，一条狗尚且被作践成这样，整个国家该有多么颓唐。
看荷马写完这条狗之后，接着写曾经照看它的女人突然变的铁石心肠，奴隶不再履行自己的职责。在奥德赛走后，没有一个人再忠实于这个国家。所有人都露出了自己的本来面目。在花了些许笔墨描写了这些人的状态以后，笔锋一转，又回到了狗的身上，最后的最后，那些叛徒们，竟不如一条苦苦等主人回家的狗！
