Odyssey 4.20 · Book 4, lines 20–25
At the gate: Eteoneus sees the strangers
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τὼ δʼ αὖτʼ ἐν προθύροισι δόμων αὐτώ τε καὶ ἵππω, Τηλέμαχός θʼ ἥρως καὶ Νέστορος ἀγλαὸς υἱός, στῆσαν· ὁ δὲ προμολὼν ἴδετο κρείων Ἐτεωνεύς, ὀτρηρὸς θεράπων Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο, βῆ δʼ ἴμεν ἀγγελέων διὰ δώματα ποιμένι λαῶν, ἀγχοῦ δʼ ἱστάμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
And now those two, in the forecourt of the house — both they themselves and their horses — Telemachus the hero and Nestor's shining son, halted; and lord Eteoneus, coming forward, saw them, the busy squire of glorious Menelaus, and he set out to go to announce it through the halls to the shepherd of the people, and standing near he addressed winged words:
Word by word
The setting
The two young visitors have driven up to the palace. Now the household notices them. Eteoneus is Menelaus's attendant squire.
A note on this passage
The scene cuts to the gate. The two young men and their horses have halted in the forecourt, and Menelaus's busy squire Eteoneus, coming out, spots them. He hurries in through the halls to bring word to his master and, standing close, speaks.
The small machinery of hospitality turns. A great house does not simply absorb arrivals; a servant must see them, weigh them, and carry the decision upward. That pause at the threshold — noticed but not yet welcomed — is exactly where xenia is tested, and it sets up the mistake Eteoneus is about to make.
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