Book II - Telemachus' account of Sesostris' wise rule in Egypt

Summary

Telemachus recounts the manner in which he was taken in the Tyrian vessel, by the fleet of Sesostris, and carried captive into Egypt. He describes the beauty of that country, and the wisdom of the king's administration. He proceeds to tell how Mentor was sent as a slave into Ethiopia: that he himself was reduced to the condition of a shepherd in the desert of Oasis: that Termosiris, priest of Apollo, consoled him in his distress by teaching him to imitate the example of Apollo, who had been formerly a shepherd under King Admetus; that Sesostris had at last been informed of all the wonders he had wrought among the shepherds; that, convinced of his innocence, he had recalled him to his court, and promised to send him safe to Ithaca: but the death of this king involved him in fresh disasters; that he was imprisoned in a tower upon the seashore, from which he beheld the new king Bocchoris lose his life in a battle against his own subjects, who had rebelled, and were assisted by the Tyrians.

“The Tyrians, by their pride, had attracted the resentment of King Sesostris, who reigned in Egypt and conquered so many realms. The riches they had acquired by commerce, and the strength of the impregnable city of Tyre, which was built in the sea, had inflated the hearts of those people.