Verse

Odyssey

Book 17, Line 468 by Samuel Butler (English)

"Listen to me," he cried, "you suitors of Queen Penelope, that I may speak even as I am minded. A man knows neither ache [ akhos ] nor pain [ penthos ] if he gets hit while fighting for his wealth, or for his sheep or his cattle; and even so Antinoos has hit me while in the service of my miserable belly, which is always getting people into trouble. Still, if the poor have gods and avenging deities at all, I pray them that Antinoos may come to a bad end before his marriage."

OdysseyBook 17, Line 468Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 17

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Samuel Butler's public-domain English prose Odyssey via Perseus canonical TEI; prose segments are assigned to their source line span.