Odyssey 4.76 · Book 4, lines 76–77
The host overhears
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τοῦ δʼ ἀγορεύοντος ξύνετο ξανθὸς Μενέλαος, καί σφεας φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
But as he spoke, fair-haired Menelaus overheard him, and raising his voice he addressed them with winged words:
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Telemachus meant his wondering words for his friend's ear alone. But Menelaus catches them, and turns to answer — the standard Homeric formula of ‘winged words’ launching his speech.
A note on this passage
A hinge of two lines. The private whisper is overheard, and the host turns to answer it. The ‘winged words’ formula marks the pivot from Telemachus's aside to Menelaus's reply — the machinery by which Homer hands speech from one mouth to the next.
That Menelaus overhears at all is itself gracious. He does not shame the boy for gawking; he takes the wonder as an opening and answers it gently, as an older man sets a younger at ease. The fixed epithet ‘fair-haired’ rides along, doing its quiet formulaic work of keeping the familiar face before us as he begins to speak.
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