Book XXIV · Reunion Feast · Scene 1 of 3
Laertes fears revenge, Odysseus reassures
22“O father Zeus, assuredly the gods
Dwell on the Olympian height, since we behold
The arrogant suitors punished for their crimes.
Yet much I fear lest all the Ithacans
Throng hither, and send messages to rouse
Against us all the Cephallenian states.”
23Odysseus, the sagacious, answered thus:
“Take courage; let no thought like that disturb
Your mind; but let us hasten to the house.
Telemachus is there, with whom I sent
The herdsman and the swineherd, bidding them
Make ready with all speed our evening meal.”
Homer, The Odyssey, translated by William Cullen Bryant, 1871. Public domain.