Odyssey 4.10 · Book 4, lines 10–14
A son from a slave, and childless Helen
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υἱέι δὲ Σπάρτηθεν Ἀλέκτορος ἤγετο κούρην, ὅς οἱ τηλύγετος γένετο κρατερὸς Μεγαπένθης ἐκ δούλης· Ἑλένῃ δὲ θεοὶ γόνον οὐκέτʼ ἔφαινον, ἐπεὶ δὴ τὸ πρῶτον ἐγείνατο παῖδʼ ἐρατεινήν, Ἑρμιόνην, ἣ εἶδος ἔχε χρυσέης Ἀφροδίτης.
And for his son he was bringing from Sparta the daughter of Alector — the son who had been born to him, strong Megapenthes, a darling late-born son, from a slave woman; for to Helen the gods granted no more offspring, after she first bore a lovely child, Hermione, who had the beauty of golden Aphrodite.
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The setting
The poet turns from the daughter's wedding to the son's, and to the family Helen bore after her return from Troy.
A note on this passage
The other wedding is the son's. Menelaus brings a bride from Sparta for Megapenthes — a strong son, born to him late and dearly loved, but by a slave woman; for the gods gave Helen no child after Hermione.
Two facts sit heavily under the genealogy. Helen, the most beautiful woman alive, is all but barren — one daughter, and no more. And the beloved heir's name is Megapenthes, ‘Great-Grief,’ born in the years of Helen's absence: the household's happiness is built over an old wound the names still remember.
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