Homer's Odyssey β 2.35-79
Syllables in bold are dynamically prominent according to the new theory of the ancient Greek pitch accent. Digammas occasionally obtrude:
Samuel Butler’s translation with certain names Hellenised:
Telemachus took this speech as of good omen and rose at once, for
he was bursting with what he had to say. He stood in the middle of
the assembly and the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff. Then,
turning to Aegyptius, "Sir," said he, "it is I, as you will shortly
learn, who have convened you, for it is I who am the most aggrieved.
I have not got wind of any host approaching about which I would warn
you, nor is there any matter of public moment on which I would speak.
My grievance is purely personal, and turns on two great misfortunes
which have fallen upon my house. The first of these is the loss of
my excellent father, who was chief among all you here present, and
was like a father to every one of you; the second is much more serious,
and ere long will be the utter ruin of my estate. The sons of all
the chief men among you are pestering my mother to marry them against
her will. They are afraid to go to her father Icarius, asking him
to choose the one he likes best, and to provide marriage gifts for
his daughter, but day by day they keep hanging about my father's house,
sacrificing our oxen, sheep, and fat goats for their banquets, and
never giving so much as a thought to the quantity of wine they drink.
No estate can stand such recklessness; we have now no Odysseus to ward
off harm from our doors, and I cannot hold my own against them. I
shall never all my days be as good a man as he was, still I would
indeed defend myself if I had power to do so, for I cannot stand such
treatment any longer; my house is being disgraced and ruined. Have
respect, therefore, to your own consciences and to public opinion.
Fear, too, the wrath of heaven, lest the gods should be displeased
and turn upon you. I pray you by Zeus and Themis, who is the beginning
and the end of councils, do not hold back, my friends, and leave
me singlehanded—unless it be that my brave father Odysseus did some
wrong to the Achaeans which you would now avenge on me, by aiding
and abetting these suitors. Moreover, if I am to be eaten out of house
and home at all, I had rather you did the eating yourselves, for I
could then take action against you to some purpose, and serve you
with notices from house to house till I got paid in full, whereas
now I have no remedy."
Greek text hyperlinked to lexica via Perseus (perseus.tufts.edu):
ὣς φάτο, χαῖρε δὲ φήμῃ Ὀδυσσῆος φίλος υἱός,
οὐδ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔτι δὴν ἧστο, μενοίνησεν δ᾽ ἀγορεύειν,
στῆ δὲ μέσῃ ἀγορῇ: σκῆπτρον δέ οἱ ἔμβαλε χειρὶ
κῆρυξ Πεισήνωρ πεπνυμένα μήδεα εἰδώς.
πρῶτον ἔπειτα γέροντα καθαπτόμενος προσέειπεν:
‘ὦ γέρον, οὐχ ἑκὰς οὗτος ἀνήρ, τάχα δ᾽ εἴσεαι αὐτός,
ὃς λαὸν ἤγειρα: μάλιστα δέ μ᾽ ἄλγος ἱκάνει.
οὔτε τιν᾽ ἀγγελίην στρατοῦ ἔκλυον ἐρχομένοιο,
ἥν χ᾽ ὑμῖν σάφα εἴπω, ὅτε πρότερός γε πυθοίμην,
οὔτε τι δήμιον ἄλλο πιφαύσκομαι οὐδ᾽ ἀγορεύω,
ἀλλ᾽ ἐμὸν αὐτοῦ χρεῖος, ὅ μοι κακὰ ἔμπεσεν οἴκῳ
δοιά: τὸ μὲν πατέρ᾽ ἐσθλὸν ἀπώλεσα, ὅς ποτ᾽ ἐν ὑμῖν
τοίσδεσσιν βασίλευε, πατὴρ δ᾽ ὣς ἤπιος ἦεν:
νῦν δ᾽ αὖ καὶ πολὺ μεῖζον, ὃ δὴ τάχα οἶκον ἅπαντα
πάγχυ διαρραίσει, βίοτον δ᾽ ἀπὸ πάμπαν ὀλέσσει.
μητέρι μοι μνηστῆρες ἐπέχραον οὐκ ἐθελούσῃ,
τῶν ἀνδρῶν φίλοι υἷες, οἳ ἐνθάδε γ᾽ εἰσὶν ἄριστοι,
οἳ πατρὸς μὲν ἐς οἶκον ἀπερρίγασι νέεσθαι
Ἰκαρίου, ὥς κ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐεδνώσαιτο θύγατρα,
δοίη δ᾽ ᾧ κ᾽ ἐθέλοι καί οἱ κεχαρισμένος ἔλθοι:
οἱ δ᾽ εἰς ἡμέτερον πωλεύμενοι ἤματα πάντα,
βοῦς ἱερεύοντες καὶ ὄις καὶ πίονας αἶγας
εἰλαπινάζουσιν πίνουσί τε αἴθοπα οἶνον
μαψιδίως: τὰ δὲ πολλὰ κατάνεται. οὐ γὰρ ἔπ᾽ ἀνήρ,
οἷος Ὀδυσσεὺς ἔσκεν, ἀρὴν ἀπὸ οἴκου ἀμῦναι.
ἡμεῖς δ᾽ οὔ νύ τι τοῖοι ἀμυνέμεν: ἦ καὶ ἔπειτα
λευγαλέοι τ᾽ ἐσόμεσθα καὶ οὐ δεδαηκότες ἀλκήν.
ἦ τ᾽ ἂν ἀμυναίμην, εἴ μοι δύναμίς γε παρείη.
οὐ γὰρ ἔτ᾽ ἀνσχετὰ ἔργα τετεύχαται, οὐδ᾽ ἔτι καλῶς
οἶκος ἐμὸς διόλωλε. νεμεσσήθητε καὶ αὐτοί,
ἄλλους τ᾽ αἰδέσθητε περικτίονας ἀνθρώπους,
οἳ περιναιετάουσι: θεῶν δ᾽ ὑποδείσατε μῆνιν,
μή τι μεταστρέψωσιν ἀγασσάμενοι κακὰ ἔργα.
λίσσομαι ἠμὲν Ζηνὸς Ὀλυμπίου ἠδὲ Θέμιστος,
ἥ τ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ἀγορὰς ἠμὲν λύει ἠδὲ καθίζει:
σχέσθε, φίλοι, καί μ᾽ οἶον ἐάσατε πένθεϊ λυγρῷ
τείρεσθ᾽, εἰ μή πού τι πατὴρ ἐμὸς ἐσθλὸς Ὀδυσσεὺς
δυσμενέων κάκ᾽ ἔρεξεν ἐυκνήμιδας Ἀχαιούς,
τῶν μ᾽ ἀποτινύμενοι κακὰ ῥέζετε δυσμενέοντες,
τούτους ὀτρύνοντες. ἐμοὶ δέ κε κέρδιον εἴη
ὑμέας ἐσθέμεναι κειμήλιά τε πρόβασίν τε.
εἴ χ᾽ ὑμεῖς γε φάγοιτε, τάχ᾽ ἄν ποτε καὶ τίσις εἴη:
τόφρα γὰρ ἂν κατὰ ἄστυ ποτιπτυσσοίμεθα μύθῳ