Odyssey 4.144 · Book 4, lines 144–146
Whom he left a newborn
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Τηλεμάχῳ, τὸν ἔλειπε νέον γεγαῶτʼ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ κεῖνος ἀνήρ, ὅτʼ ἐμεῖο κυνώπιδος εἵνεκʼ Ἀχαιοὶ ἤλθεθʼ ὑπὸ Τροίην πόλεμον θρασὺν ὁρμαίνοντες.
Telemachus, whom that man left newborn at home, when for the sake of me, shameless creature, the Achaeans came to Troy, pondering bold war.
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The setting
Helen names the likeness: Telemachus, the infant Odysseus left behind when the Achaeans sailed for Troy — a war she blames on herself.
A note on this passage
She names the likeness: Telemachus, the child Odysseus left newborn at home when the Achaeans sailed to Troy on her account. In one sentence Helen ties the stranger to the whole war.
The self-blame is startling — 'shameless me,' kynōpis, dog-eyed. Helen names herself the cause of the war in the same breath that she recognizes the son it robbed of a father. The recognition is shadowed by her own guilt; it carries an accusation she levels at herself.
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Odyssey 4.144 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/4.144/