Odyssey 4.291 · Book 4, lines 291–293
It only makes the grief worse
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Telemachus — Ἀτρεΐδη Μενέλαε διοτρεφές, ὄρχαμε λαῶν, ἄλγιον· οὐ γάρ οἵ τι τάδʼ ἤρκεσε λυγρὸν ὄλεθρον, οὐδʼ εἴ οἱ κραδίη γε σιδηρέη ἔνδοθεν ἦεν.
Son of Atreus, Menelaus, cherished of Zeus, leader of hosts, it is the more grievous; for these things warded off from him no grievous destruction, not even if his heart within were of iron.
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Telemachus replies to Menelaus's praise of Odysseus's courage and cunning at Troy. He answers that such excellence makes the loss harder, not easier, to bear.
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Telemachus answers the war-stories with a quiet grief. Hearing how brave and cool his father was only sharpens the ache: none of it, he says, kept destruction off — not even if the man's heart had been made of iron. Excellence did not save him.
Under the courtly address is the boy's real subject, which is never Troy but Ithaca. Menelaus means Odysseus; Telemachus half-means every hero the tales have raised only to lose. The generalizing turn — valor is no armor against ruin — is the disquiet the whole visit keeps circling: the greatest of the returning men is the one who has not returned.
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