He spake; the suitors, as they heard him, bit Their pressed lips, wondering at Telemachus, Who uttered such bold words. Antinoüs then, Eupeithes’ son, bespake his fellows thus:—
“Harsh as they are, let us, O Greeks, endure These speeches of Telemachus. He makes High threats, but had Saturnian Jove allowed, We should, ere this, and in these very halls, Have quieted our loud-tongued orator.”
So spake the suitor, but Telemachus Heeded him not. Then through the city came The heralds with a hallowed hecatomb, Due to the gods. The long-haired people thronged The shady grove of Phoebus, archer-god.
Now when the flesh was roasted and was drawn From off the spits, and each was given his share, They held high festival. The men who served The banquet gave Ulysses, where he sat, A portion equal to their own, for so His own dear son Telemachus enjoined.
Yet did not Pallas cause the haughty crew Of suitors to refrain from stinging taunts, That so the spirit of Laertes’ son Might be more deeply wounded. One there was Among the suitors, a low-thoughted wretch; Ctesippus was his name, and his abode Was Samos. Trusting in his father’s wealth, He wooed the wife of the long-absent king Ulysses. To his insolent mates he said:—
“Hear me, ye noble suitors, while I speak.
This stranger has received an equal share, As is becoming; for it were not just Nor seemly to pass by, in such a feast, The guests, whoe’er they may be, that resort To this fair mansion of Telemachus.
I also will bestow on him a gift Of hospitality, and he in turn May give it to the keeper of the bath, Or any other of the menial train That serve the household of Ulysses here.”