The Odyssey
Homer
the whip to start the pair: they, nothing loath, sped off,
and came to the wheat-bearing plain. From there they pursued
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their journey at speed, so well did their swift horses bear them.
Then the sun went down, and all the ways were in shadow.
Book 4
Now they came to deep-hollowed Lakedaimon with its ravines
and drove till they reached the domain of far-famed Menelaos.
Him they found holding a wedding feast with his many kinsmen
for a son and an elegant daughter, there in his own dwelling:
her he was sending out to Achilles' son, the rank-breaker,1
5
for in Troy's country he first had pledged his word that he'd
give her to him, and now the gods were fulfilling the match.
With horses and chariots she was soon to travel
to the Myrmidons' famed city,2 where her spouse was king;
while he was bringing from Sparta Alektor's daughter,
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to wed his favorite son, the doughty Megapenthes,
born of a slave girl: to Helen the gods granted no more
issue after her first child, the lovely Hermione,
who had all the beauty of golden Aphrodite. So they
were feasting there in the spacious high-roofed hall--
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the neighbors and kinsmen of far-famed Menelaos,
at ease, while among them a godlike minstrel was singing
and playing the lyre, while two tumblers circled
about in the thick of them, leading off the dance.
The two out at the gateway, themselves and their horses--
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the hero Telemachos and Nestor's splendid son--
pulled up short, were seen by the lord Eteoneus as he
came out: he, the deft squire of far-famed Menelaos.
Back through the hall he went to tell the people's shepherd,
approached him, and standing close uttered these winged words:
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"Menelaos, Zeus' nursling, there are two strangers here--
two men who look very much like the offspring of great Zeus!
Tell me, shall we unharness their speedy horses,
or send them on somewhere else for their entertainment?"
Much annoyed, fair-haired Menelaos made him this answer:
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'You used not to be a fool, Eteoneus, Boethoos' son,
hitherto: but now you're babbling nonsense like a child!
We two ate well and often as the guests of other men,
generous hosts, on our way home, hoping only that Zeus
might rid us of sorrows hereafter. So go, unyoke the horses
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of these our guests, bring the guests themselves to the feast!"
So he spoke. Eteoneus ran through the hall, calling out
to his busy fellow attendants to follow along with him.
They unharnessed the sweating horses from the yoke pole
and tethered them by their reins at the mangers for horses,
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scattering fodder for them, emmer mixed with white barley.
Then they left the chariot resting against the white entrance walls
and led their guests into the godlike domain. What they saw
amazed them, passing through the abode of this king who was
Zeus' nursling: a brightness like that of the sun or moon
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lit up the high-roofed dwelling of far-famed Menelaos.
And when they'd feasted their eyes on this spectacle, they stepped
into polished bathtubs and were bathed. Then, after
maidservants had washed them, massaged them with oil,
and clothed them in tunics and woolen mantles, they
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sat down on high chairs next to Atreus' son Menelaos.
A handmaid fetched and poured them water from a pitcher--
exquisite, golden--over a silver basin, for them
to wash their hands, and placed a polished table nearby,
while the dignified housekeeper brought bread, set it before them,
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with various side dishes, giving freely of her provisions,
and the carver loaded and brought to them platters of meat
of every kind, and put golden goblets before them.
Then fair-haired Menelaos welcomed them in these words:
"Fall to, and enjoy yourselves! Afterwards, when you've eaten
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your dinner, then we'll question you as to who you may be
among men, for in you two the ancestry's not obscure--
your mortal bloodline's that of those sceptered princes,
Zeus' own nurslings: no commoner could have sired such sons."
With that he picked up and set before them the fat beef chine,
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well roasted, that he himself had received as an honor. Then they
reached out their hands to the good things ready for them.
But when they had satisfied their desire for food and drink,
then it was that Telemachos spoke to the son of Nestor,
head leaning close to him, so that others might not hear:
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"Just look, son of Nestor, friend dear to my heart, at all
the bright shine of bronze throughout these echoing halls,
the gleam of gold and amber, of silver and ivory!
The court of Olympian Zeus must be like this inside,
there's such limitless wealth here: I'm awed by the sight of it!"
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As he spoke, fair-haired Menelaos picked up what he said,
and addressed them both as follows, in winged words:
"Dear children, with Zeus no mortal might ever contend,
for eternal are his residences and his possessions;
but of men I might have a rival, or again I might not,
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in possessions! True, after I'd suffered much, wandered far,
I came back home in the eighth year, bringing my wealth
in my ships, having visited Cyprus, Phoenicia, Egypt,
the Aithiopes, the Sidonians, and the Eremboi,
and Libya, where the lambkins grow horns almost from birth,
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and the ewes give birth three times within a single year,
so that neither master nor shepherd ever goes without
cheese or mutton or sweet milk, but their flocks
are ready for milking the whole year through. But while
I was busy amassing a sizable livelihood as I roamed
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from country to country, another man killed my brother3--
secretly, caught him off guard, through the guile of his damned wife!
So it gives me no pleasure to be lord of these possessions.
Besides, you'll have heard all this from your fathers, whoever
they are, since I suffered greatly, losing a well-established
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household, that contained many rare possessions!4 If only
I could live in this house of mine with no more than a third
part of those goods, and that all the men were alive still
who died in broad Troy, far away from horse-grazing Argos!
Yet though I so often weep and lament for them all
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as I sit here in my home--at times I indulge my heart
by mourning, but then again I'll stop, for all too soon
one reaches one's surfeit of sorrow--nevertheless,
despite my grief, I don't mourn so much for them all
as for that one, who makes me abhor both sleep and food
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when I recall him: no other Achaian suffered such hardship
or achieved as much as Odysseus, though for himself
what was destined was troub
le, and for me unforgettable
endless grief over him: he's been gone so long, we can't tell
if he's living or dead! They must be mourning him now--
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old Laertes, prudent Penelope, and Telemachos, still
a newborn child in the house at the time he left"--in whom,
so speaking, he stirred the urge to mourn his father. Tears
dropped from Telemachos' eyelids as he heard his father's name,
and with both hands he held his purple mantle up
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in front of his eyes. Menelaos took note of what he did,
and turned over in his mind and in his heart the thought:
should he let the boy mention his father first himself,
or rather question him first, examine him on each matter?
While he was debating thus, in his mind and heart,
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Helen came in, from her fragrant high-roofed boudoir,
like Artemis of the golden distaff, and with her Adreste,
who brought out for her a finely made recliner,
while Alkippe fetched her a rug of the softest wool,
and Phylo a silver basket given her as a present
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by Alkandre, the wife of Polybos, who dwelt in Egyptian
Thebe, where the richest goods adorn all private homes:
he made Menelaos a present of two silver bathtubs,
a pair of tripods, and ten talents of gold.5 In addition
his wife presented Helen with magnificent gifts:
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a golden distaff she gave her, and a work basket on wheels,
fashioned of silver, its rims all finished off with gold.
It was this that her handmaid Phylo brought in and placed
beside her, full of yarn already spun, and across it
was laid the distaff, loaded with darkly violet wool.
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Helen sat down in the recliner, a footstool under her feet,
and at once let fly at her husband a row of questions:
"Menelaos, nursling of Zeus, do we know who these men
are, or say they are, who've come to our house? Shall I
keep quiet or say what I think? Oh, I simply must tell you!
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Not once did I ever see such a striking resemblance,
in either a man or a woman--it truly astounds me!
This boy could be the son of great-hearted Odysseus,
Telemachos, left as a newborn child in the house
by him, when because of me, the bitch, you Achaians
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went out against Troy, hearts set on ruthless warfare."
Then fair-haired Menelaos responded to her, saying:
"I too see the likeness now, wife, exactly as you perceive it:
such as this boy's were Odysseus' feet and hands,
and the way he'd glance, and his head, and the hair above it!
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And when, just now, I was reminiscing about Odysseus,
recounting all the sorrows and hardships that he endured
on my behalf, the boy shed bitter tears from under
his eyelids, held up that purple mantle before his eyes."
To him Peisistratos, Nestor's son, now responded, saying:
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"Atreus' son Menelaos, Zeus' nursling, leader of troops,
this youth is indeed his son, exactly as you tell it!
But he's also modest, and personally embarrassed
by the thought of being too outspoken in what he says
before you, whose voice delights us both like a god's.
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As for me, the Gerenian horseman Nestor sent me
to be Telemachos' escort, since he was eager to see you,
and hoped you'd give him some encouraging word or action;
for many troubles a son encounters at home when his father's
long absent, when he's got no other supporters, as now
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it is with Telemachos: his father's away, nor are there
any others among his people who'd stave off trouble from him."
Then fair-haired Menelaos responded to him, saying:
"Wonder of wonders! There's come to my house the son
of a man who's my dear friend, who faced much hardship
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on my account: when he came home, I figured I'd welcome him
more than all other Argives--if we two ever got back over
the sea in our swift ships, thanks to far-seeing Olympian Zeus!
I'd have made some Argive town his, built a house there for him,
fetched from Ithake his son, his possessions, all his people--
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expelling the population of one of those cities located
round about, those that acknowledge me as their ruler.
Both living here, we'd have seen a lot of each other: nothing
would have kept us apart, away from friendship's pleasures,
until the black cloud of death in the end enfolded us!
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But the god himself, I suppose, resented such a prospect,
and denied a safe homecoming to that unlucky man alone."
So he spoke, and stirred in them all an urge to lamentation:
Argive Helen, daughter of Zeus, shed tears now,
and Telemachos wept, as did Atreus' son Menelaos,
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nor could the son of Nestor keep his eyes tearless, as he
recalled in his heart the peerless Antilochos,
slain by the bright Dawn's glorious son.6 So now,
thinking of him, he uttered winged words, saying:
"Son of Atreus, old Nestor would always refer to you as
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the most sagacious of men, when your name came up
in his halls, when questions arose between us: so now,
if it's possible, do me a favor! I'm not the sort of man
to hold sad discussions at dinner: next morning's soon enough
for that kind of thing. Of course, I'm not against
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grieving for any mortal who's died and met his fate:
this is the only due we pay to wretched mortals,
to crop our hair, and let the tears course down our cheeks!
For a brother of mine, too, is dead, one far from the meanest
of Argives--you may well have known him, though I myself
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never met nor saw him: still, they say that Antilochos
excelled all others both as a runner and as a fighter."
Then fair-haired Menelaos responded to him, saying:
"Friend, what you've said is all that any sagacious man
could say or do, even one who was older than you are!
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Such a father is yours, as your careful speech makes clear.
Easily known is the offspring of that man for whom
Kronos' son spins good fortune in his marriage and his children,
as now he has granted Nestor, through all his days,
to reach old age at home in prosperity, with his sons
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proving themselves both sharp-witted and expert spearmen.
So we'll leave off the weeping that recently took place,
and let's turn our minds back to dinner--let them pour water
over our hands! Time enough tomorrow morning
for me and Telemachos to have a full discussion."
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So he spoke, and Asphalion poured water on their hands--
Asphalion, busy squire of renowned Menelaos. They now
reached out their hands to the good things ready for them.
Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, had another idea: at once
into the wine they were drinking she added a drug
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that banishes grief and anger, brings oblivion of all ills:
&nbs
p; whoever swallowed it when mixed into the bowl
would not, for the rest of that day, wet his cheeks with tears,
even though his mother and father should lie there dead,
or a brother or dear son should be killed in his presence,
