And royal King Odysseus answered warmly,
"Eumaeus, so much misery! You’ve moved my heart,
deeply, with your long tale – such pain, such sorrow."
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 15, lines 542-544. Odysseus is deeply moved by Eumaeus’ story about his difficult and painful journey from Syrie to Ithaca. Eumaeus was son of King Ctesius. He was kidnapped from his homeland as a child and ended up in Ithaca, where Odysseus’ father Laertes bought young Eumaeus as a slave. There are parallels between Eumaeus and Odysseus’ stories: both have suffered reversals of fortune, going from royalty to poverty and losing all.