I’ve recently started reading the Odyssey by Homer, which focuses on a man named Odysseus and his journey home after fighting in the Trojan War. Meanwhile, his son, Telemachus, is having to host a number of suitors that are all fighting for his mother’s hand in marriage. But when he’s told by the goddess Athena that his father is still alive, Telemachus sets out to find him. She disguises herself as Mentes and says that:
“I avow to be Mentes, son of wise Anchialus, and I bear rule among the Taphians, lovers of the oar. And now I come to shore, as thou seest, with ship and crew sailing over the wine-dark sea, unto men of strange speech, even to Temesa, in quest for copper and my cargo is shining iron.” (p.14)
I like this quote simply because of how beautifully it’s written. Each line is so descriptive and you can almost feel how the words would flow if someone was reciting this. In these two sentences so much information is conveyed in a way that isn’t overwhelming or confusing, and I find that really impressive.