"If the brazen suitors cut me down in the palace –
off guard – and carve apart my father’s whole estate,
I’d rather you yourself, or one of his friends here,
keep those gifts and get some pleasure from them.
But if I can bring down slaughter on that crew,
you send the gifts to my house – we’ll share the joy."
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 17, lines 83-88. Telemachus tells his crewman Piraeus not to bring to the palace the gifts that Menelaus gave to the prince. He fears that the suitors will steal them if they succeed in killing him. But if he can slaughter the suitors, then Piraeus is to bring the gifts to Telemachus’ house and they will share them. There is foreshadowing here of what will happen to the suitors.