"O nymphs of the fountain, daughters of Zeus –
if Odysseus ever burned you the long thighs
of lambs or kids, covered with rich fat,
now bring my prayer to pass!
Let that man come back – some god guide him now!
He’d toss to the winds the flashy show you make,
Melanthius, so cocksure – always strutting round the town
while worthless fieldhands leave your flocks a shambles!"
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 17, lines 263-270. In a prayer for divine help, Eumaeus appeals to the fountain nymphs for Odysseus to return. He says that Odysseus would throw to the winds the cocksure Melanthius. The goatherd has been insulting Odysseus-the-beggar and also kicks him as he walks. This passage contains dramatic irony, because Eumaeus doesn’t know that the beggar he is with is Odysseus.