Odyssey 3.239 · Book 3, lines 239–240
Enough of this, Mentor
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τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
Telemachus — Μέντορ, μηκέτι ταῦτα λεγώμεθα κηδόμενοί περ·
Then wise Telemachus answered her in turn: Mentor, let us no longer speak of these things, however much we grieve;
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The setting
A reply formula and the opening of Telemachus's answer. Worn down by talk of murdered fathers and fated deaths, he asks to change the subject — addressing the goddess by her disguise, Mentor.
A note on this passage
Telemachus answers once more, and closes the subject: Mentor, let us speak of this no longer, however much it grieves us. The talk of his father's death and his own danger has gone as far as the boy can carry it.
The turn is courteous and evasive at once. He calls the goddess 'Mentor' — the name of the mask — and changes the subject, a young man deflecting a truth too heavy to hold. The poem lets him shut the door on the topic just as the reader most wants it left open.
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