taught him to consider others; sorrow he has experienced, but it has
brought its best reward--compassion. This sorrow at once breaks forth
in response to the admiration of Telemachus for the outward splendor of
his palace and possessions.

The Spartan king takes a short retrospect of life as it has been
allotted him; the sighs well out between his words as he tells his
story. Eight years he wandered after the taking of Troy; for he passed
across the sea, to Egypt, even to AEthiopia and Lybia, which he portrays
as a wonderland of golden plenty. But while he was gone, "gathering
much wealth," his brother Agamemnon was slain; "therefore, small joy I
have bearing rule over these possessions." But chiefly he laments the
loss of one man, on account of whom "sleep and food become hateful to
me when I think upon him." That man is Ulysses, who has suffered more
than any other Greek. Thus a strong deep stream of sympathy breaks
forth from the heart of Menelaus, and the son, hearing his father's
name, holds up the purple mantle before his eyes, shedding the tear. A
strong unconscious bond of feeling at once unites both.

How can we fail to notice the clear indication of purpose in these
passages! The Poet brings Menelaus, as the culmination of his story, to
strike the chord which stirs most profoundly the soul of Telemachus.
The son is there to inquire concerning his father; without revealing
himself he learns much about the character and significance of his
parent. The same artistic forethought is shown, when, at this sad
moment, Helen enters, the primal source of all these calamities, in a
glorious manifestation of her beauty. Telemachus sees or may see,
embodied in her the very essence of Greek spirit, that which had to be
restored to Hellas from Asia, if Hellas was to exist. The Poet likens
her to a Goddess, and places her in surroundings which are to set off
her divine appearance. In her case, too, we notice the distant
background: Egyptian presents she has, as well as Menelaus, "a golden
distaff and a silver basket bound in gold." Mementos from far-off
wonderland are woven into the speech and character of the famous pair.

Now for a true female trait. Helen at once recognizes the young
stranger as the son of Ulysses, wherein she stands in contrast to her
husband Menelaus, who, in spite of his thinking about his friend just
at that moment, had failed to see before him the son of that friend.
But no sooner had the woman la