Odyssey 1.230 · Book 1, line 230
Wise Telemachus answers
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τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
Then in turn wise Telemachus spoke to her in answer:
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The setting
The reply formula turns the floor back to Telemachus, who now tells the guest what has become of his house.
A note on this passage
A second formula turns the floor back. The verse that introduces Telemachus's speeches gives him his standing epithet: πεπνυμένος, ‘sound-minded,’ ‘wise.’
The word sits a little ahead of the boy. Telemachus has not yet done anything wise; the poem is at the very hour of his waking into manhood, prompted by the goddess across from him. The fixed epithet names not what he is at this moment but what he is becoming — the reader hears the promise inside the formula before the young man has grown into it.
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