Odyssey 2.211 · Book 2, lines 211–213
Give me a ship and twenty men
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ἤδη γὰρ τὰ ἴσασι θεοὶ καὶ πάντες Ἀχαιοί. ἀλλʼ ἄγε μοι δότε νῆα θοὴν καὶ εἴκοσʼ ἑταίρους, οἵ κέ μοι ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα διαπρήσσωσι κέλευθον.
For already the gods know these things, and all the Achaeans. But come, give me a swift ship and twenty companions, who will carry through the journey for me this way and that.
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The setting
Telemachus is answering the suitor Eurymachus in the Ithacan assembly. He breaks off his complaint — the gods and everyone already know his grievance — and turns to a demand: outfit him for a voyage.
A note on this passage
The speech pivots from grievance to plan. Telemachus refuses to argue further — the gods and the whole assembly already know how the suitors are eating his house — and instead asks for the one thing that turns complaint into action: a ship and a crew.
The request is the boy's first adult move. Until now he has spoken; now he means to sail. The ‘swift ship’ is not a detail but the instrument of the whole Telemachy — the vessel that will carry him out of his father's shadow toward news, and toward a name of his own.
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Odyssey 2.211 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/2.211/