Odyssey

Penelope, who was sleeping sweetly at the gates of dreamland, answered, "Sister, why have you come here? You do not come very often, but I suppose that is because you live such a long way off. Am I, then, to leave off crying and refrain from all the sad thoughts that torture me? I, who have lost my brave and lion-hearted husband, who had every good quality [ aretê ] under heaven, and whose kleos was great over all Hellas and middle Argos ; and now my darling son has gone off on board of a ship - a foolish man who has never been used to undergoing ordeals [ ponos ], nor to going about among gatherings of men. I am even more anxious about him than about my husband; I am all in a tremble when I think of him, lest something should happen to him, either from the people in the dêmos where he has gone, or at sea, for he has many enemies who are plotting against him, and are bent on killing him before he can return home."

OdysseyBook 4, Line 808Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 4

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