Odyssey 4.233 · Book 4, lines 233–234
Then, the wine poured, she spoke
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αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ἐνέηκε κέλευσέ τε οἰνοχοῆσαι, ἐξαῦτις μύθοισιν ἀμειβομένη προσέειπεν·
But when she had cast it in, and bidden pour the wine, answering once again with words she spoke:
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The setting
The drug is in the wine. Helen now turns to address Menelaus and their guests.
A note on this passage
A short introduction formula: Helen has drugged the wine and ordered it poured, and now she begins to speak. Two lines to move from the deed to the words.
The order matters. She doses the company first, then opens her mouth — the painful story of Odysseus at Troy can be told only after its hearers have been made unable to grieve. What is normally a neutral 'and then she said' quietly records a speaker arranging her audience before she addresses it.
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Odyssey 4.233 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/4.233/