Odyssey

And Telemakhos answered, "I will tell you truly everything. There is no enmity between me and my dêmos , nor can I complain of brothers, to whom a man may look for support however great his quarrel may be. Zeus has made us a race of only sons. Laertes was the only son of Arceisius, and Odysseus only son of Laertes . I am myself the only son of Odysseus who left me behind him when he went away, so that I have never been of any use to him. Hence it comes that my house is in the hands of numberless marauders; for the chiefs from all the neighboring islands, Dulichium, Same, Zacynthus , as also all the principal men of Ithaca itself, are eating up my house under the pretext of paying court to my mother, who will neither say point blank that she will not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end, so they are making havoc of my estate, and before long will do so with myself into the bargain. The issue, however, rests with heaven. But do you, old friend Eumaios, go at once and tell Penelope that I am safe and have returned from Pylos . Tell it to herself alone, and then come back here without letting any one else know, for there are many who are plotting mischief against me."

OdysseyBook 16, Line 112Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 16

HomerProseID odyssey-odyssey-butler-en-prose-16-112