Odyssey 4.315 · Book 4, lines 315–317
Telemachus states his errand: news of his father
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τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
Telemachus — Ἀτρεΐδη Μενέλαε διοτρεφές, ὄρχαμε λαῶν, ἤλυθον, εἴ τινά μοι κληηδόνα πατρὸς ἐνίσποις.
And in turn wise Telemachus answered him: Son of Atreus, Menelaus, god-nurtured, leader of hosts, I have come, if you might tell me some tidings of my father.
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The setting
Telemachus answers the king with full titles and comes straight to his purpose — the reason he sailed to Sparta. He has come for any word of Odysseus, missing now for ten years since Troy fell.
A note on this passage
The reply formula and the errand, laid out plainly. Telemachus greets Menelaus by his honorifics — son of Atreus, Zeus-nurtured, leader of hosts — the courtesy owed a king, and then says why he came: for tidings of his father. His standing epithet, "wise," is being earned before our eyes as he handles a great court.
The weight sits on one word: kleēdṓn, the "tidings" he crossed the sea for. It is not just news but the chance word that carries an omen — a thing you hope to overhear. He does not ask whether Odysseus lives; he asks only for word. After ten years the son will take even a rumor, because rumor is all that is left.
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