The Odyssey 1732 Studios

Ancient Greek · The Telemachy

Ὀδυσσείας γ

Book 3. Telemachus at Pylos: Nestor's Tale

At Pylos old Nestor tells Telemachus what he knows of the return from Troy, and sends him on to Sparta with his own son.

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    Now the Sun leapt up, leaving the lovely mere,

    Ἠέλιοςthe Sunἠέλιος · nominative singular masculine nounsubject of ἀνόρουσε

    Epic ἠέλιος (not Attic ἥλιος) opens the day-formula that begins many Odyssey scenes.

    δandδέ · particlecoordinating word
    ἀνόρουσεleapt upἀνορούω · aorist active indicative, 3rd singular verbmain verb
    λιπὼνleavingλείπω · aorist active participle, nominative singular masculineadverbial to ἀνόρουσε
    περικαλλέαvery lovelyπερικαλλής · accusative singular feminine adjectivemodifies λίμνην
    λίμνηνthe mere/lakeλίμνη · accusative singular feminine nounobject of λιπὼν

    λίμνη here is Ocean's pool, imagined as the sea's edge where dawn rises.

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    into the brazen sky, to shine for the immortals

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    and for mortal men upon the grain-giving earth;

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    and they came to Pylos, the well-built citadel of Neleus,

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    and reached it; on the shore of the sea the people were offering sacrifice,

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    all-black bulls, to the dark-haired Earthshaker.

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    There were nine companies, and five hundred men in each,

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    were seated, and each company held out nine bulls.

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    When they had tasted the entrails and were burning the thigh-pieces to the god,

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    the others were running straight in, and the sails of the balanced ship

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    they furled, lifting them up, moored her, and stepped out themselves;

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    and out from the ship came Telemachus, with Athena leading.

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    The goddess, gray-eyed Athena, was first to address him:

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    "Telemachus, you need feel no shyness now, not even a little;

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    for this is the very reason you sailed the sea, to learn

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    of your father, where the earth has hidden him and what fate he met.

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    But come now, go straight to Nestor, tamer of horses;

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    let us learn what counsel he keeps hidden in his breast.

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    Entreat him yourself, that he may speak the unerring truth;

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    he will tell no lie, for he is a man of great good sense."

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    Then wise Telemachus answered her in turn:

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    "Mentor, how shall I go? How shall I greet him?

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    I have no practice yet in shrewd speeches;

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    and a young man feels shame to question one who is older."

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    Then the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, spoke to him again:

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    "Telemachus, some things you will think of in your own mind,

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    and others a god will prompt; for I do not think

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    you were born and raised without the gods' goodwill."

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    So speaking, Pallas Athena led the way

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    swiftly, and he then walked in the footsteps of the goddess.

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    They came to the gathering and the seats of the men of Pylos,

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    where Nestor sat with his sons, and around them his companions

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    were preparing the feast, roasting some meat and spitting more.

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    When they saw the strangers, they all came thronging together,

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    and greeted them with their hands and bade them be seated.

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    First Peisistratus, son of Nestor, came near

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    and took the hand of each, and seated them at the feast

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    on soft fleeces upon the sands of the sea,

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    beside his brother Thrasymedes and his own father;

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    he gave them portions of the entrails, and poured wine

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    in a golden cup; and greeting her he spoke

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    to Pallas Athena, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus:

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    "Pray now, stranger, to the lord Poseidon,

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    for it is his feast you have come upon, arriving here.

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    But when you have poured the libation and prayed, as is right,

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    then give this man too the cup of honey-sweet wine

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    to pour an offering, since I think he also prays

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    to the immortals; for all men have need of the gods.

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    But he is younger, of an age with me;

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    so to you, the elder, I will give the golden cup first."

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    So saying, he placed in her hand the cup of sweet wine;

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    and Athena was glad at the wise and just man,

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    because he gave the golden cup to her first;

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    and at once she prayed earnestly to the lord Poseidon:

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    "Hear me, Poseidon, earth-holder, and do not grudge

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    us who pray that you fulfill these deeds.

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    First of all grant glory to Nestor and his sons,

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    and then give to the others a gracious recompense,

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    to all the men of Pylos, for the glorious hecatomb.

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    And grant that Telemachus and I go home with our errand done,

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    for which we came here in our swift black ship."

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    So she prayed then, and herself was bringing it all to pass.

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    She gave Telemachus the fine two-handled cup,

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    and in the same way the dear son of Odysseus prayed.

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    When they had roasted the outer meat and drawn it off,

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    they divided the portions and feasted a glorious feast.

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    But when they had put away their desire for drink and food,

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    to them the Gerenian horseman Nestor began to speak:

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    "Now it is better to inquire and to ask

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    the strangers who they are, since they have had their fill of food.

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    Strangers, who are you? From where do you sail the watery ways?

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    Is it on some business, or do you wander at random

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    like pirates over the sea, who roam about

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    risking their lives and bringing harm to strangers?"

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    Then wise Telemachus answered him in turn,

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    taking courage; for Athena herself put boldness in his heart

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    so that he might ask about his absent father

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    and so that he might win good fame among men:

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    "Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans,

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    you ask where we are from; I will tell you plainly.

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    We have come from Ithaca, beneath Mount Neion;

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    and the matter I speak of is private, not public.

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    I am in search of the wide fame of my father, if somewhere I may hear of it,

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    of godlike, steadfast Odysseus, who once, they say,

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    fighting at your side, sacked the city of the Trojans.

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    For of all the others who warred against the Trojans,

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    we have learned where each one died a wretched death,

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    but his death the son of Cronos has made unknown.

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    For no one can say clearly where he perished,

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    whether on dry land he was killed by hostile men,

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    or out on the deep amid the waves of Amphitrite.

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    Therefore now I come as a suppliant to your knees, if you are willing

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    to tell of his grievous death, if perhaps you saw it

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    with your own eyes, or heard the report of some other

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    wanderer; for his mother bore him to exceeding sorrow.

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    Do not, out of respect or pity for me, soften it,

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    but tell me well how you met the sight of him.

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    I beg you, if ever my father, noble Odysseus,

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    promised you some word or deed and carried it through

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    in the land of the Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered hardship,

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    remember it now for me, and tell me the unerring truth."

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    Then the Gerenian horseman Nestor answered him:

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    "My friend, since you have reminded me of the misery that in that

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    land we endured, we sons of the Achaeans, unrestrained in our fury,

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    both all that we suffered with our ships on the misty sea

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    wandering after plunder, wherever Achilles led,

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    and all that we fought around the great city

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    of lord Priam; and there afterward all the best men were slain.

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    There warlike Ajax lies, and there Achilles,

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    and there Patroclus, a counselor equal to the gods,

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    and there too my own dear son, strong and faultless alike,

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    Antilochus, surpassingly swift to run and a fighter;

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    and many other troubles besides these we suffered. Who among

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    mortal men could tell the whole of it?

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    Not even if you stayed on for five years, or six,

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    could you learn all the evils the noble Achaeans suffered there;

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    before that you would grow weary and return to your native land.

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    For nine years we wove evils for them, beset them

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    with cunning of every kind, and Zeus barely brought it to its end.

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    There no man wished to match his wits with him face to face,

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    since godlike Odysseus far surpassed them all

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    in cunning of every kind — your father, if indeed you are

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    truly his offspring. Awe holds me as I look at you.

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    For your speech is like his, and you would not say

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    that a younger man could speak so much like him.

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    There, all the while I and godlike Odysseus

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    never spoke apart in the assembly, nor in the council,

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    but holding one heart, with mind and prudent counsel

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    we devised for the Argives how things might turn out best.

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    But once we had sacked the steep city of Priam,

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    and embarked in the ships, and a god scattered the Achaeans,

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    then indeed Zeus devised in his heart a grievous homecoming

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    for the Argives, since not all of them were thoughtful or just;

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    and so many of them met an evil fate

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    through the deadly wrath of the grey-eyed daughter of a mighty father,

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    who set strife between the two sons of Atreus.

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    These two summoned all the Achaeans to assembly,

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    rashly, and not in due order, at the setting of the sun;

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    and the sons of the Achaeans came heavy with wine.

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    The two made their speeches, telling why they had gathered the host.

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    There Menelaus urged all the Achaeans

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    to turn their minds to homecoming over the sea's broad back,

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    but this did not at all please Agamemnon; for he wished

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    to hold back the host and offer sacred hecatombs,

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    so that he might heal the terrible anger of Athena —

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    the fool, who did not know that she would not be persuaded;

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    for the mind of the eternal gods is not quickly turned.

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    So the two stood exchanging harsh words

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    with one another; and the well-greaved Achaeans sprang up

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    with a tremendous uproar, and their counsel was split in two.

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    That night we passed turning over hard thoughts in our hearts

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    against each other; for Zeus was readying a grievous calamity.

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    At dawn some of us hauled our ships into the bright sea

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    and put aboard our goods and the deep-girdled women.

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    But half the host held back and stayed

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    there with Atreus' son Agamemnon, shepherd of the people;

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    the other half embarked and rowed out; and very swiftly

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    they sailed, and a god smoothed the sea full of great creatures.

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    Coming to Tenedos we offered sacrifices to the gods,

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    longing for home; but Zeus did not yet plan our return —

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    the cruel one, who roused an evil strife a second time.

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    Some turned back and sailed their curved ships away

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    around lord Odysseus, the shrewd one, of cunning craft,

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    again bringing favor to Atreus' son Agamemnon.

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    But I, with the ships gathered close that followed me,

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    fled, since I knew that a god was plotting evils.

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    The warlike son of Tydeus fled too, and roused his comrades.

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    Late behind us came fair-haired Menelaus,

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    and overtook us in Lesbos as we pondered the long voyage:

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    whether to sail above rugged Chios,

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    by the island of Psyria, keeping it on our left,

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    or below Chios, past windy Mimas.

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    We asked the god to show us a sign; and he

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    showed it, and bade us cut across the open sea to Euboea,

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    so that we might escape misfortune as fast as possible.

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    A shrill wind rose to blow; and very swiftly

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    the ships ran over the fish-filled paths, and to Geraistos

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    they came in to land by night; and to Poseidon many

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    bulls' thighs we laid down, having measured the great sea.

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    It was the fourth day when in Argos the trim ships

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    of Diomedes, son of Tydeus, tamer of horses,

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    his comrades brought to rest; but I held on for Pylos, nor ever did

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    the wind die down, once a god first sent it forth to blow.

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    So I came home, dear child, without news, and I know nothing

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    of those Achaeans, which of them were saved and which were lost.

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    But all that I learn sitting here in our halls,

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    as is right, you shall learn; I will not hide it from you.

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    Safely, they say, the spear-fighting Myrmidons came home,

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    whom the glorious son of great-hearted Achilles led;

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    and safely Philoctetes, the splendid son of Poias.

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    Idomeneus brought all his comrades back to Crete,

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    those who escaped the war; the sea robbed him of none.

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    And of Atreus' son you too have heard, far away though you are,

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    how he came home, and how Aegisthus contrived his grievous death.

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    But that man, at least, paid for it wretchedly;

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    how good a thing it is that a son be left behind

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    of a man who has died — for that son avenged his father's killer,

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    the treacherous Aegisthus, who had slain his famous father.

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    And you, my friend — for I see you are very handsome and tall —

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    be brave, so that men yet unborn may speak well of you.

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    Then wise Telemachus answered him in turn:

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    "Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans,

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    truly that man took his revenge, and the Achaeans

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    will carry his fame far, even for those yet to be born to learn.

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    Would that the gods might clothe me in power as great,

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    to take revenge on the suitors for their painful insolence,

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    who in their arrogance contrive reckless outrages against me.

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    But no, the gods have not spun out such happiness for me,

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    for my father and for me; now I must simply endure it."

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    Then Nestor, the Gerenian horseman, answered him:

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    "My friend, since you have reminded me of this and spoken of it,

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    they say that many suitors, on account of your mother,

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    are devising evils in your halls against your will;

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    tell me, do you submit willingly, or do the people

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    hate you throughout the land, following the voice of a god?

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    Who knows whether one day he may come and avenge their violence,

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    whether he alone, or all the Achaeans together?

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    For if grey-eyed Athena were willing to love you so,

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    as she cared for glorious Odysseus back then

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    in the land of the Trojans, where we Achaeans suffered woes —

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    for never yet have I seen the gods love a man so openly

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    as Pallas Athena openly stood beside him—

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    if she were willing to love you so and to care for you in her heart,

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    then some of those suitors might well forget all about marriage.

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    Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him in turn:

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    "Old man, I do not think this word will ever come to pass;

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    for you have said too great a thing. Astonishment grips me. For my part

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    I could never hope for this to happen, not even if the gods should will it."

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    Then the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, addressed him in turn:

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    "Telemachus, what a word has escaped the barrier of your teeth!

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    Easily a god, if he so wills, can bring a man safe even from afar.

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    I myself would rather, after suffering many hardships,

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    come home and see the day of my return,

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    than come home and perish at my own hearth, as Agamemnon

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    perished by the guile of Aegisthus and his own wife.

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    But death, the common lot, not even the gods

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    can ward off from a man they love, once

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    the deadly fate of leveling death lays him low.

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    Then thoughtful Telemachus answered her in turn:

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    "Mentor, let us speak of these things no longer, grieved though we are.

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    For him there is no true homecoming any more; already the immortals

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    have decreed for him death and the black doom.

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    But now I wish to inquire of Nestor about another matter and to ask him,

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    since he knows beyond others judgments and the wisdom of men;

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    for they say that he has ruled over three generations of men,

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    so that to my eyes he seems like one of the immortals.

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    Nestor, son of Neleus, tell me the truth:

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    how did the son of Atreus die, wide-ruling Agamemnon?

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    Where was Menelaus? What destruction did he contrive against him,

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    crafty Aegisthus, since he killed a man far better than himself?

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    Was Menelaus not in Achaean Argos, but somewhere else

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    wandering among men, so that Aegisthus took heart and killed him?"

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    Then the Gerenian horseman Nestor answered him:

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    "Then I will tell you the whole truth, my child.

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    Indeed you yourself can guess how this would have turned out,

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    if the son of Atreus, fair-haired Menelaus, had found Aegisthus

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    alive in the halls when he came back from Troy.

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    Then not even in death would they have heaped the earth over him,

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    but dogs and birds would have torn him to pieces

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    as he lay on the plain far from the city, and not one woman

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    of the Achaeans would have wept for him; for he had done a monstrous deed.

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    For while we were over there accomplishing our many trials,

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    he sat at ease in a nook of horse-pasturing Argos

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    and kept beguiling Agamemnon's wife with his words.

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    At first she refused the shameful deed,

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    noble Clytemnestra; for her mind was set on good things.

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    Beside her too was a singer, whom the son of Atreus

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    had strictly charged, when going to Troy, to guard his wife.

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    But when the doom of the gods bound her to be overcome,

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    then indeed Aegisthus took the singer to a desert island

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    and left him there to be the prey and spoil of birds,

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    and led her, willing as he was willing, to his own house.

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    Many thigh-pieces he burned on the gods' holy altars,

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    and hung up many offerings, woven cloths and gold,

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    having accomplished a great deed he never hoped for in his heart.

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    Now we were sailing together on our way from Troy,

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    the son of Atreus and I, holding each other dear;

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    but when we reached holy Sounion, the headland of Athens,

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    there Phoebus Apollo killed the helmsman of Menelaus

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    coming upon him with his gentle shafts,

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    as he held the steering-oar in his hands while the ship ran on,

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    Phrontis, son of Onetor, who surpassed the tribes of men

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    at steering a ship whenever the storm-winds rushed on.

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    So Menelaus stayed there, eager though he was for the journey,

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    to bury his comrade and pay him the due funeral rites.

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    But when he too, journeying over the wine-dark sea

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    in his hollow ships, came running to the steep height of Malea,

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    then indeed far-thundering Zeus devised a hateful voyage for him

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    and poured out a blast of shrill-screaming winds,

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    and the waves swelled monstrous, high as mountains.

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    There he split the fleet, and drove some ships near Crete,

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    where the Cydonians dwelt about the streams of the Iardanus.

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    There is a certain smooth, sheer cliff running down to the sea

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    at the border of Gortyn, in the misty deep;

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    there the South Wind drives a great wave against the western headland,

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    toward Phaistos, and a small rock holds back the great wave.

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    These ships came there, and the men barely escaped destruction,

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    but the ships themselves the waves shattered against the reefs;

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    the waves did. But the other five dark-prowed ships

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    wind and water bore on and drove near Egypt.

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    So Menelaus, gathering much wealth and gold there,

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    wandered with his ships among men of alien speech;

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    and meanwhile at home Aegisthus plotted these grievous deeds.

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    For seven years he ruled over Mycenae rich in gold,

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    after killing the son of Atreus, and the people were subdued under him.

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    But in the eighth year godlike Orestes came back to be his ruin,

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    home from Athens, and killed the murderer of his father,

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    crafty Aegisthus, who had slain his glorious father.

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    Then, having killed him, he gave the Argives a funeral feast

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    for his hateful mother and for cowardly Aegisthus;

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    and on that same day Menelaus, good at the war-cry, arrived,

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    bringing much treasure, as much as his ships could carry.

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    And you, my friend, do not wander long, far from your home,

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    leaving behind your possessions and men so overbearing

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    in your house, lest they devour everything of yours,

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    dividing up your goods, and you will have made a useless journey.

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    But to Menelaus I bid and urge you

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    to go; for he has lately come from elsewhere,

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    from among those men from whom one could not hope in his heart

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    to return, once the storm-winds have first driven him astray

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    into so vast a sea, from which not even the birds

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    come back within the year, since it is great and terrible.

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    But go now with your ship and your companions;

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    or if you prefer to go by land, a chariot and horses are at your service,

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    and my sons are at hand, who will be your escorts

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    to noble Lacedaemon, where fair-haired Menelaus lives.

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    Beg him yourself, that he may tell you the truth;

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    he will tell no lie, for he is very wise."

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    So he spoke, and the sun set and darkness came on.

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    And the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, spoke among them:

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    Old man, truly you have told all this in due order;

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    but come, cut out the tongues and mix the wine,

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    so that to Poseidon and the other immortals

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    we may pour libation and then turn our thoughts to bed; for it is the hour for that.

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    For already the light has sunk into the dark, and it is not fitting

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    to sit long at the gods' feast; rather we should be going.

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    So spoke the daughter of Zeus, and they heard her words.

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    Then the heralds poured water over their hands,

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    and the young men filled the mixing-bowls brimful with drink,

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    and served it to all, with a first pouring into the cups;

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    and they cast the tongues into the fire, and rose to pour libation.

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    But when they had made libation and drunk as much as their hearts desired,

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    then Athena and godlike Telemachus,

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    both, were eager to return to the hollow ship.

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    But Nestor held them back, rebuking them with his words:

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    May Zeus forbid it, and the other immortal gods,

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    that you should go from my house to a swift ship

  348. 348

    as if from some man wholly without clothing and poor,

  349. 349

    who has no cloaks and no plenty of blankets in his house,

  350. 350

    for himself or his guests to sleep soft upon.

  351. 351

    But I have cloaks and fine blankets ready.

  352. 352

    Surely the dear son of this man, of Odysseus,

  353. 353

    shall not lie down on a ship's deck, not while I

  354. 354

    am alive, and afterward children are left in my halls

  355. 355

    to entertain guests, whoever may come to my house.

  356. 356

    Then the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, answered him:

  357. 357

    Well have you spoken in this, dear old man; and it is fitting

  358. 358

    that Telemachus obey you, for it is much the better way.

  359. 359

    So he will follow you now, that he may sleep

  360. 360

    in your halls; but I will go to the black ship

  361. 361

    to hearten the comrades and tell each one everything.

  362. 362

    For I claim to be the only elder among them;

  363. 363

    the others are younger men who follow out of friendship,

  364. 364

    all of an age with great-hearted Telemachus.

  365. 365

    There I would lie down beside the hollow black ship

  366. 366

    now; but at dawn I will go to the great-hearted Cauconians,

  367. 367

    where a debt is owed me, no new one

  368. 368

    nor a small one. But since this man has come to your house,

  369. 369

    send him on with a chariot and a son; and give him horses,

  370. 370

    the ones that are lightest at running and best in strength.

  371. 371

    So speaking, gray-eyed Athena departed,

  372. 372

    in the likeness of a sea-eagle; and astonishment seized all who saw it.

  373. 373

    The old man marveled when he saw it with his eyes;

  374. 374

    he took Telemachus by the hand, and spoke, and called him by name:

  375. 375

    My friend, I do not think you will turn out a coward or a weakling,

  376. 376

    if indeed, young as you are, the gods go with you as escorts.

  377. 377

    For this was no other of those who hold the homes on Olympus,

  378. 378

    but the daughter of Zeus, most glorious Tritogeneia,

  379. 379

    she who honored your noble father too among the Argives.

  380. 380

    But, queen, be gracious, and grant me noble fame,

  381. 381

    to myself and my children and my honored wife;

  382. 382

    and to you in turn I will sacrifice a yearling heifer, broad of brow,

  383. 383

    unbroken, one that no man has yet led under the yoke;

  384. 384

    her I will sacrifice to you, having gilded her horns with gold.

  385. 385

    So he spoke in prayer, and Pallas Athena heard him.

  386. 386

    Then Nestor, the Gerenian horseman, led the way for them,

  387. 387

    with his sons and his sons-in-law, to his beautiful house.

  388. 388

    But when they reached the famous halls of that lord,

  389. 389

    they sat down in rows on the couches and chairs;

  390. 390

    and to them, when they had come, the old man mixed a bowl

  391. 391

    of sweet-to-drink wine, which in its eleventh year

  392. 392

    the housekeeper opened, loosing the cover from the jar;

  393. 393

    of this the old man mixed a bowl, and much to Athena

  394. 394

    he prayed, pouring libation, to the daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus.

  395. 395

    But when they had made libation and drunk as much as their hearts desired,

  396. 396

    they went off to lie down, each to his own home,

  397. 397

    but Nestor, the Gerenian horseman, bedded him down there,

  398. 398

    Telemachus, the dear son of godlike Odysseus,

  399. 399

    on a corded bedstead under the echoing portico,

  400. 400

    and beside him Peisistratos of the good ash spear, a leader of men,

  401. 401

    who alone of his sons was still unmarried in the halls.

  402. 402

    He himself slept in turn in an inner chamber of the high house,

  403. 403

    and for him his wife, the lady of the house, prepared the bed and couch.

  404. 404

    When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,

  405. 405

    then Nestor, the Gerenian horseman, rose from his bed,

  406. 406

    and going out he sat down upon the polished stones

  407. 407

    that stood for him before the lofty gates,

  408. 408

    white, gleaming as if with oil; on these in former days

  409. 409

    Neleus used to sit, a counselor equal to the gods;

  410. 410

    but he, already subdued by fate, had gone down to Hades,

  411. 411

    and now in turn Gerenian Nestor sat there, the guardian of the Achaeans,

  412. 412

    holding the scepter. And around him his sons gathered in a throng,

  413. 413

    coming from their chambers: Echephron and Stratios,

  414. 414

    and Perseus and Aretos and godlike Thrasymedes.

  415. 415

    And to them then, sixth, came the hero Peisistratos,

  416. 416

    and they led godlike Telemachus and seated him beside them.

  417. 417

    Among them Nestor, the Gerenian horseman, began to speak:

  418. 418

    Quickly, dear children, accomplish my heart's wish for me,

  419. 419

    so that first of all the gods I may win the favor of Athena,

  420. 420

    who came to me visibly at the god's rich feast.

  421. 421

    But come, let one go to the plain after a heifer, so that quickly

  422. 422

    it may come, and the herdsman of the cattle drive it in;

  423. 423

    and let one go to the black ship of great-hearted Telemachus

  424. 424

    and bring all his comrades, leaving only two behind;

  425. 425

    and let one bid the goldsmith Laerces come

  426. 426

    here, to pour gold over the heifer's horns.

  427. 427

    The rest of you stay here together, and tell those within,

  428. 428

    the maidservants, to make ready a feast throughout the famous halls,

  429. 429

    and to bring seats and wood around about, and clear water.

  430. 430

    So he spoke, and they all bustled to it. The heifer came

  431. 431

    from the plain, and from the swift, balanced ship came

  432. 432

    the comrades of great-hearted Telemachus, and the smith came

  433. 433

    holding in his hands the tools of bronze, the gear of his craft,

  434. 434

    the anvil and the hammer and the well-made tongs,

  435. 435

    with which he worked the gold; and Athena came

  436. 436

    to meet the offerings. And the old horseman Nestor

  437. 437

    gave the gold; and the smith then poured it round the heifer's horns,

  438. 438

    working it with care, that the goddess might delight to see the adornment.

  439. 439

    Stratios and godlike Echephron led the heifer by the horns.

  440. 440

    Aretos came from the chamber bringing them washing-water in a flowered basin,

  441. 441

    came from the chamber bringing it, and in his other hand he held the barley

  442. 442

    in a basket; and Thrasymedes, steadfast in battle,

  443. 443

    stood ready, holding a sharp axe in his hand, to strike down the ox.

  444. 444

    And Perseus held the bowl for the blood; and the old horseman Nestor

  445. 445

    began the rite with the lustral water and the barley, and to Athena

  446. 446

    he prayed earnestly, making the first offering, casting hairs from the ox's head into the fire.

  447. 447

    But when they had prayed and scattered the barley grains forward,

  448. 448

    at once Nestor's son, high-spirited Thrasymedes,

  449. 449

    standing close, struck; and the axe cut through the tendons

  450. 450

    of the neck, and loosed the ox's strength. And the women raised the sacred cry —

  451. 451

    the daughters and the daughters-in-law and the honored wife

  452. 452

    of Nestor, Eurydice, eldest of the daughters of Clymenus.

  453. 453

    Then they, lifting the ox up from the wide-wayed earth,

  454. 454

    held it; and Pisistratus, leader of men, cut its throat.

  455. 455

    And when the dark blood had flowed from it and life left the bones,

  456. 456

    at once they cut it up, and straightway sliced out the thigh-pieces,

  457. 457

    all in due order, and wrapped them in fat,

  458. 458

    having made a double fold, and laid raw flesh upon them.

  459. 459

    And the old man burned them on the split wood, and over them poured gleaming wine;

  460. 460

    and beside him the young men held five-pronged forks in their hands.

  461. 461

    But when the thigh-pieces were burned and they had tasted the inner parts,

  462. 462

    they cut up the rest and pierced it on spits,

  463. 463

    and roasted it, holding the pointed spits in their hands.

  464. 464

    Meanwhile fair Polycaste bathed Telemachus,

  465. 465

    the youngest daughter of Nestor, son of Neleus.

  466. 466

    And when she had bathed him and anointed him richly with oil,

  467. 467

    and cast about him a fine cloak and a tunic,

  468. 468

    he stepped out of the bath, in form like the immortals;

  469. 469

    and going he sat down beside Nestor, shepherd of the people.

  470. 470

    And when they had roasted the outer flesh and drawn it off the spits,

  471. 471

    they sat and feasted; and noble men attended,

  472. 472

    pouring wine into golden cups.

  473. 473

    But when they had put from them the desire for drink and food,

  474. 474

    the Gerenian horseman Nestor began to speak among them:

  475. 475

    "My children, come now, for Telemachus yoke the fair-maned horses

  476. 476

    beneath the chariot, leading them, so that he may make his journey."

  477. 477

    So he spoke, and they heard him well and obeyed,

  478. 478

    and swiftly yoked the fast horses beneath the chariot.

  479. 479

    And the housekeeper woman set in it bread and wine

  480. 480

    and dainties, such as kings nurtured by Zeus eat.

  481. 481

    Then Telemachus mounted the beautiful chariot;

  482. 482

    and beside him Nestor's son Pisistratus, leader of men,

  483. 483

    climbed into the chariot and took the reins in his hands,

  484. 484

    and whipped the horses to go; and not unwilling the pair flew on

  485. 485

    to the plain, and left behind the steep citadel of Pylos.

  486. 486

    And all day long they shook the yoke, holding it on either side.

  487. 487

    The sun set and all the ways grew dark,

  488. 488

    and they came to Pherae, to the house of Diocles,

  489. 489

    son of Ortilochus, whom Alpheus begot as his child.

  490. 490

    There they passed the night, and he set guest-gifts before them.

  491. 491

    When early-born rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,

  492. 492

    they yoked the horses and mounted the inlaid chariot;

  493. 493

    and they drove out from the forecourt and the echoing portico;

  494. 494

    and he whipped the horses to go, and not unwilling the pair flew on.

  495. 495

    They came to the wheat-bearing plain, and there then

  496. 496

    they finished their road; so swiftly did the fast horses carry them on.

  497. 497

    The sun set and all the ways grew dark.

The particulars

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Ὀδύσσεια, Homer. The Telemachy.
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Public-domain Greek (Homer, ancient; text via the Perseus Digital Library). English translation © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC.
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Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.