Telemachus’ entertainment at Sparta,
where Menelaus tells him what befell many of the
Greeks on their return; that Odysseus was with Calypso
in the isle Ogygia, as he was told by Proteus.
And they came to Lacedaemon lying low among the caverned
hills, and drave to the dwelling of renowned Menelaus.
Him they found giving a feast in his house to many
friends of his kin, a feast for the wedding of his
noble son and daughter. His daughter he was sending
to the son of Achilles, cleaver of the ranks of men,
for in Troy he first had promised and covenanted to
give her, and now the gods were bringing about their
marriage. So now he was speeding her on her way
with chariot and horses, to the famous city of the
Myrmidons, among whom her lord bare rule. And
for his son he was bringing to his home the daughter
of Alector out of Sparta, for his well-beloved son,
strong Megapenthes, {*} born of a slave woman, for
the gods no more showed promise of seed to Helen,
from the day that she bare a lovely child, Hermione,
as fair as golden Aphrodite. So they were feasting
through the great vaulted hall, the neighbours and
the kinsmen of renowned Menelaus, making merry; and
among them a divine minstrel was singing to the lyre,
and as he began the song two tumblers in the company
whirled through the midst of them.
{* A son of sorrow: Tristram.}
Meanwhile those twain, the hero Telemachus and the
splendid son of Nestor, made halt at the entry of
the gate, they and their horses. And the lord
Eteoneus came forth and saw them, the ready squire
of renowned Menelaus; and he went through the palace
to bear the tidings to the shepherd of the people,
and standing near spake to him winged words:
’Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, here are two
strangers, whosoever they be, two men like to the
lineage of great Zeus. Say, shall we loose their
swift horses from under the yoke, or send them onward
to some other host who shall receive them kindly?’
Then in sore displeasure spake to him Menelaus of
the fair hair: ’Eteoneus son of Boethous,
truly thou wert not a fool aforetime, but now for
this once, like a child thou talkest folly. Surely
ourselves ate much hospitable cheer of other men,
ere we twain came hither, even if in time to come Zeus
haply give us rest from affliction. Nay go, unyoke
the horses of the strangers, and as for the men, lead
them forward to the house to feast with us.’
So spake he, and Eteoneus hasted from the hall, and
called the other ready squires to follow with him.
So they loosed the sweating horses from beneath the
yoke, and fastened them at the stalls of the horses,
and threw beside them spelt, and therewith mixed white
barley, and tilted the chariot against the shining
faces of the gateway, and led the men into the hall
divine. And they beheld and marvelled as they
gazed throughout the palace of the king, the fosterling
Copyrights
The Odyssey from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
