Odyssey 2.303 · Book 2, lines 303–308
Eat and drink, as before
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Antinous — Τηλέμαχʼ ὑψαγόρη μένος ἄσχετε μή τί τοι ἄλλο ἐν στήθεσσι κακὸν μελέτω ἔργον τε ἔπος τε ἀλλά μοι ἐσθιέμεν καὶ πινέμεν ὡς τὸ πάρος περ ταῦτα δέ τοι μάλα πάντα τελευτήσουσιν Ἀχαιοί, νῆα καὶ ἐξαίτους ἐρέτας ἵνα θᾶσσον ἵκηαι ἐς Πύλον ἠγαθέην μετʼ ἀγαυοῦ πατρὸς ἀκουήν.
Telemachus, big talker, of unchecked fury, let no other evil weigh in your breast, neither deed nor word; but I pray you, eat and drink, as it was before, just so. And all this the Achaeans will surely accomplish for you, a ship, and chosen rowers, so that the sooner you may reach most sacred Pylos, after news of your noble father.
Word by word
The setting
Antinous, hand on Telemachus, mocks his outburst: drop the anger, keep feasting as you always have — and the Achaeans, he sneers, will hand you your ship and crew for Pylos.
A note on this passage
Antinous answers threat with false courtesy. He names the boy ‘big talker’ and ‘unchecked in fury,’ tells him to let no dark thought take root, and to do the one thing the suitors want — sit and eat as before. Then the promise: the Achaeans will provide the ship, the crew, the voyage.
The promise is the taunt. There is no intention behind it; it is jeer dressed as reassurance. And the invitation ‘eat and drink’ perverts the whole code of the table: the men consuming Odysseus's house invite his son to keep consuming it with them, as though nothing were owed and nothing wrong. The formula of hospitality is turned inside out.
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