Menelaus, great in war; And I received them as my guests, and they Were lodged within my palace, and I learned The temper and the qualities of both. When both were standing mid the men of Troy, I marked that Menelaus’s broad chest Made him the more conspicuous, but when both Were seated, greater was the dignity Seen in Ulysses. When they both addressed The council, Menelaus briefly spake In pleasing tones, though with few words—as one Not given to loose and wandering speech—although The younger. When the wise Ulysses rose, He stood with eyes cast down, and fixed on earth, And neither swayed his sceptre to the right Nor to the left, but held it motionless, Like one unused to public speech. He seemed An idiot out of humor. But when forth He sent from his full lungs his mighty voice, And words came like a fall of winter snow, No mortal then would dare to strive with him For mastery in speech. We less admired The aspect of Ulysses than his words.”
Beholding Ajax then, the aged king Asked yet again: “Who is that other chief Of the Achaians, tall, and large of limb— Taller and broader-chested than the rest?”
Helen, the beautiful and richly-robed, Answered: “Thou seest the mighty Ajax there, The bulwark of the Greeks. On the other side, Among his Cretans, stands Idomeneus, Of godlike aspect, near to whom are grouped The leaders of the Cretans. Oftentimes The warlike Menelaus welcomed him Within our palace, when he came from Crete. I could point out and name the other chiefs Of the dark-eyed Achaians. Two alone, Princes among their people, are not seen— Castor the fearless horseman, and the skilled In boxing, Pollux—twins; one mother bore Both them and me. Came they not with the rest From pleasant Lacedaemon to the war? Or, having crossed the deep in their good ships, Shun they to fight among the valiant ones Of Greece, because of my reproach and shame?”