Book 3

Now the Sun rose up, leaving the lovely lake,into the bronze-bright heaven, to shine for the deathless godsand for mortal men upon the life-giving earth;and they came to Pylos, the well-built citadel of Neleus,and these were on the shore of the sea making holy sacrifice,all-black bulls, to the Earth-Shaker of the dark-blue hair.Nine seats there were, and in each five hundred mensat, and nine bulls were set before them at each seat.And when they had tasted the innards, and were burning the thigh-pieces to the god,these others came straight in and furled the sails of the trim ship,took them up and moored her, and themselves stepped out;and Telemachus stepped out of the ship, and Athena led the way.The goddess, bright-eyed Athena, spoke to him first:"Telemachus, no longer should you feel shame, not even a little;for this is why you sailed the sea, that you might learnabout your father, where the earth hides him and what fate he met.But come now, go straight to Nestor, the tamer of horses;let us learn what counsel he hides in his breast.Entreat him yourself, that he may tell you the truth;he will not speak a lie, for he is very wise."Then prudent Telemachus answered her and said:"Mentor, how shall I go, and how shall I greet him?I am not yet tried in close-packed words;and it is a shame for a young man to question an elder."Then the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, answered him:"Telemachus, some things you will yourself perceive in your own heart,and other things a god will put into you; for I do not thinkyou were born and raised without the will of the gods."So speaking, Pallas Athena led the wayswiftly, and he followed in the footsteps of the goddess.They came to the assembly and the seats of the men of Pylos,where Nestor was sitting with his sons, and around them his comradeswere preparing the feast, roasting meat and spitting other pieces.And when they saw the strangers, they all came together in a crowd,and greeted them with their hands and bade them sit down.First Pisistratus, son of Nestor, coming near,took both their hands and seated them by the feaston soft fleeces upon the sea sand,beside his brother Thrasymedes and his own father;and he gave them portions of the innards, and poured wineinto a golden cup; and addressing her he spoketo Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus who bears the aegis:"Pray now, stranger, to lord Poseidon;for it is his feast that you have come upon here.But when you have made libation and prayed, as is right,give this man too the cup of honey-sweet wineto pour libation, for I think that he tooprays to the immortals; for all men have need of the gods.But he is younger, and of my own age-mate;therefore I will give you the golden cup first."So speaking he placed in her hand the cup of sweet wine;and Athena rejoiced in the prudent and righteous man,because he gave her the golden cup first;and at once she prayed many things to lord Poseidon:"Hear me, Poseidon, holder of the earth, and do not begrudgeus, as we pray, that these deeds be accomplished.To Nestor first of all, and to his sons, grant glory,and then to all the other Pylians give a gracious returnfor this glorious hecatomb, for all of them together.And grant that Telemachus and I return having accomplished our purpose,since we have come here with our swift black ship."So she prayed, and herself brought all to fulfillment.And she gave Telemachus the beautiful two-handled cup;and in the same way the dear son of Odysseus prayed.And when they had roasted the upper meats and drawn them off,they divided the portions and feasted on a glorious feast.But when they had put away the desire for drink and food,then the Gerenian horseman Nestor began to speak among them:"Now it is more seemly to question and to askthese strangers who they are, since they have had their fill of food.Strangers, who are you? From where do you sail the watery paths?Is it on some business, or do you wander at randomlike pirates over the sea, who roam aboutstaking their lives and bringing evil to strangers?"Then prudent Telemachus answered him and said,taking courage; for Athena herself had put courage in his heart,that he might ask about his father who was gone away,and that he might have good fame among men:"Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans,you ask from where we are; and I will tell you all.We have come from Ithaca beneath the wooded slopes;this business is my own, not public, that I speak of.I am seeking the wide fame of my father, if perhaps I may hear it,of godlike Odysseus, the steadfast-hearted, whom they say once,fighting along with you, sacked the city of the Trojans.For all the others, as many as fought against the Trojans,we have heard where each perished by a wretched death;but of that man the son of Cronos made even his destruction unknown.For no one can say clearly when he died,whether he was slain on the mainland by hostile men,or in the sea amid the waves of Amphitrite.Therefore I now come to your knees, in case you are willingto tell me of that man's wretched death, if perhaps you saw itwith your own eyes, or heard the word from anotheras he wandered; for his mother bore him to sorrow.And do not, out of shame or pity, soften your words to me,but tell me plainly how you met with the sight.I beseech you, if ever my father, noble Odysseus,undertook and accomplished any word or any deedamong the people of the Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered griefs,remember it to me now, and tell me the truth."Then the Gerenian horseman Nestor answered him:"Dear friend, since you have reminded me of the sorrow that in thatland we endured, we unconquerable sons of the Achaeans,both all that we wandered with our ships on the misty seain plunder, wherever Achilles would lead,and all that we fought around the great city of lord Priam;and there in that place all the best men were slain.There lies warlike Ajax, there lies Achilles,there lies Patroclus, a counsellor like the gods,and there lies my own dear son, both strong and blameless,Antilochus, swift beyond all in running and a fighter;and many other evils we suffered besides those. Who among mortal mencould tell all of that?Not even if you stayed five years, or even six, asking,and asked all the evils the godlike Achaeans suffered there;you would go home to your own land sick at heart before you heard all.For nine years we kept contriving evils for them,with all sorts of tricks, and hard it was for the son of Cronos to bring it to an end.There no one ever wished to be likened to him in counselface to face, since godlike Odysseus surpassed them by farwith all sorts of tricks — your father, if trulyyou are his offspring; wonder holds me as I look at you.For truly your words are like his; you would not thinka younger man could speak so like him.There, while I and godlike Odysseusnever once spoke apart in assembly or in council,but holding one spirit in mind and prudent counselwe planned how things might go best for the Argives.But when we had sacked the steep city of Priam,and gone into our ships, and a god scattered the Achaeans,then indeed Zeus devised in his heart a wretched homecomingfor the Argives, since not all were understanding or just;therefore many of them met an evil doomfrom the baneful wrath of the bright-eyed goddess, daughter of a mighty father.For she set strife between the two sons of Atreus.The two called an assembly of all the Achaeans,foolishly, and not in order, at the setting of the sun,and the sons of the Achaeans came heavy with wine,and they told their words, for which they had gathered the host.There Menelaus urged all the Achaeansto remember their homecoming on the broad back of the sea,but it did not please Agamemnon at all; for he wishedto hold back the host and offer holy hecatombs,so that he might cure the terrible anger of Athena —fool, he did not know that she was not to be persuaded;for the mind of the ever-living gods is not quickly turned.So the two stood exchanging harsh words,and the well-greaved Achaeans leapt upwith a wondrous cry, and the counsel was divided among them.All that night we passed in wakefulness, devising hard thingsagainst one another; for Zeus was preparing a pain of evil.At dawn we dragged some ships into the bright seaand put in our possessions and the deep-girdled women.But half the host was held back, waitingthere beside Atreus' son Agamemnon, shepherd of the people;and half of us embarked and sailed; and the shipssailed very swiftly, and a god smoothed the great-gulfed sea.Coming to Tenedos we offered holy rites to the gods,longing for home; but Zeus did not yet purpose our return,cruel one, who stirred up wicked strife for the second time.Some turned back their curved shipsaround lord Odysseus, the warlike, the many-devising,going back again to please Atreus' son Agamemnon;but I fled with my gathered ships, as many as followed me,since I knew that the god was devising evils.The warlike son of Tydeus fled too, and roused his comrades.And late indeed fair-haired Menelaus came after us,and in Lesbos he found us, as we pondered the long voyage,whether we should sail above rugged Chios,past the island of Psyria, keeping it on our left,or beneath Chios, past windy Mimas.We asked the god to show a sign; and he showed it to us,and commanded us to cut across the middle of the sea to Euboea,so that we might escape our trouble as quickly as possible.And a shrill fair wind rose up to blow; and the shipsran swiftly over the fish-filled paths, and at Geraestusthey put in by night; and to Poseidonwe set many thigh-pieces of bulls, having measured the great sea.It was the fourth day, when in Argos the comradesof Tydeus' son, Diomedes, tamer of horses,were mooring the trim ships; but I held on toward Pylos, and neverdid the fair wind cease, once the god first sent it to blow.So I came, dear child, knowing nothing, and I know nothingof those others, which of the Achaeans were saved and which perished.But all that I have learned sitting in my own halls,as is right, you shall know, and I will not hide it from you.They say the Myrmidons, spearmen, came home safely,whom the glorious son of great-hearted Achilles led,and Philoctetes too, the glorious son of Poeas.And Idomeneus brought all his comrades back to Crete,who had escaped from the war, and the sea took none of them from him.But of the son of Atreus you yourselves hear, even being far off,how he came home, and how Aegisthus devised his wretched death.But truly that man paid for it most miserably;so it is a good thing that a son be left behind when a manhas died, since even he took vengeance on the father-killer,the crafty Aegisthus, who killed his glorious father.And you, dear friend — for I see you are both handsome and tall —be brave, so that some one of men born after you may speak well of you.Then prudent Telemachus answered him and said:"Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans,indeed that man took great vengeance, and the Achaeanswill carry his wide fame for men to come to hear.If only the gods would put such strength around me,to take vengeance on the suitors for their grievous outrage,who, insolent, devise reckless things against me.But the gods have not spun such prosperity for me,for my father and for me; and now I must endure it all the same."Then the Gerenian horseman Nestor answered him:"Dear friend, since you have reminded me of these things and spoken of them,they say that many suitors, for the sake of your mother,in your halls, against your will, are devising evil.Tell me, are you willingly subdued, or do the peoplehate you throughout the land, following the voice of a god?And who knows whether he might someday come and avenge these outrages,either he alone, or even all the Achaeans together?If only the bright-eyed Athena were willing to love you,as she once cared for glorious Odysseusin the land of the Trojans, where we Achaeans suffered pains —for I never yet saw gods loving a man so openly,as Pallas Athena stood openly beside him —if she were so willing to love you and care for you in her heart,then some of those men would forget their marriage.Then prudent Telemachus answered her and said:"Old man, I do not think this word will be accomplished;for you have spoken far too greatly; amazement holds me. For methese things would not happen even as I hoped, not even if the gods willed it so."Then the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, answered him:"Telemachus, what a word has escaped the barrier of your teeth!Easily a god, if willing, could save a man even from far away.I myself would wish, even after suffering many pains,to come home and see the day of my return,rather than to perish at home after coming back, as Agamemnonperished by the trick of Aegisthus and of his own wife.But truly, death that is common to all, not even the godscan ward off from a man they love, when oncethe destructive fate of long-drawn death lays hold of him."Then prudent Telemachus answered her and said:"Mentor, let us no longer speak of these things, though we care;for his homecoming is no longer true, but alreadythe immortals have planned death and black doom for him.But now I wish to ask and question another matterof Nestor, since he knows about judgments and the wisdom of others beyond all;for they say he has ruled over three generations of men;so he seems to me like an immortal to look upon.Nestor, son of Neleus, speak the truth to me:how did Atreus' son, wide-ruling Agamemnon, die?Where was Menelaus? And what death did he devise for him,Aegisthus the crafty, since he killed one far better?Was he not in Argos of the Achaeans, but wandering somewhere elseamong men, and Aegisthus, taking courage, killed him?"Then the Gerenian horseman Nestor answered him:"For my part, my child, I will tell you all truthfully.Truly you yourself know how these things turned out,if you found Aegisthus alive in his halls,when the son of Atreus came from Troy, fair-haired Menelaus;for no one would have heaped a mound of earth over him even dead,but the dogs and the birds of prey would have torn him apartas he lay on the plain far from the city, and noneof the Achaean women would have wept for him; for he devised a very great deed.For we, while accomplishing many labors there,sat idle; but he, at ease in a corner of horse-pastured Argos,kept charming Agamemnon's wife with many words.At first she refused the shameful deed,divine Clytemnestra; for she had good sense in her mind;and there was also a singer with her, a man whom the son of Atreushad charged much when he went to Troy, to guard his wife.But when the fate of the gods bound her to be subdued,then he led the singer to a desert islandand left him to become prey and plunder for the birds,and he led her away, willing to a willing woman, to his own house.And he burned many thigh-pieces on the holy altars of the gods,and hung up many ornaments, woven things and gold,having accomplished a great deed, which he never hoped for in his heart.For we sailed together, coming from Troy,the son of Atreus and I, knowing friendly thoughts toward one another;but when we came to holy Sunium, the headland of the Athenians,there Phoebus Apollo, with his gentle arrows,came upon and killed Menelaus' steersman,as he held the steering-oar in his hands on the running ship,Phrontis, son of Onetor, who surpassed the tribes of menin steering a ship, whenever the storm-winds rushed on.So he was held there, though eager for the journey,to bury his comrade and perform the funeral rites.But when he too, going on the wine-dark seain his hollow ships, reached the steep mountain of Maleaas he ran, then far-thundering Zeus planned for hima hateful journey, and poured down a blast of shrill winds,and monstrous waves swelled, equal to mountains.There he divided them, and drove some toward Crete,where the Cydonians dwelt about the streams of Iardanus.There is a certain sheer rock, steep into the sea,at the border of Gortyn, in the misty sea;there the South Wind drives the great wave toward the left-hand headland,toward Phaestos, and a small stone holds off the great wave.Some ships came there, and with effort the men escaped destruction,but the waves broke the ships against the rocks;and the five dark-prowed ships the wind and the watercarried and drove to Egypt.So he, gathering much substance and gold there,wandered with his ships among men of other tongues;and meanwhile Aegisthus devised these evil things at home.For seven years he ruled over gold-rich Mycenae,after killing the son of Atreus, and the people were subdued under him.But in the eighth year godlike Orestes brought an evil upon him,coming back from Athens, and he killed the father-killer,the crafty Aegisthus, who killed his glorious father.And he, having killed him, feasted the Argives at the funeralof his hateful mother and of the cowardly Aegisthus;and on the same day Menelaus, good at the war-cry, came to him,bringing many treasures, as many as his ships had carried as cargo.And you, dear friend, do not long wander far from your halls,leaving your treasures and the men in your houseso insolent, lest they devour all yourpossessions, dividing them, and you go on a fruitless journey.But I bid and command you to go to Menelaus;for he has just come from elsewhere,from those men, from where no one in his heart would hopeto come, whom the storm-winds first swept off courseinto such a great sea, from where not even birdsgo in a year, since it is great and terrible.But go now with your ship and your comrades;or if you wish to go on foot, a chariot and horses are here for you,and my sons are here, who will be your escortsto godlike Lacedaemon, where fair-haired Menelaus is.Entreat him yourself, so that he may tell you the truth;he will not speak a lie, for he is very wise."So he spoke, and the sun set and darkness came.And among them the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, spoke:"Old man, truly you have told all this fittingly;but come now, cut out the tongues and mix the wine,so that after pouring libations to Poseidon and the other immortalswe may think of sleep; for this is the hour for it.For already the light has gone beneath the darkness, and it is not fittingto sit long at the feast of the gods, but to go home."So spoke the daughter of Zeus, and they listened as she spoke.And the heralds poured water over their hands,and the young men filled the mixing bowls to the brim with drink,and they distributed it to all, pouring the first drops into the cups;and they threw the tongues into the fire, and standing up poured libations.But when they had poured libations and drunk as much as their heart wished,then Athena and godlike Telemachusboth were eager to go to the hollow ship.But Nestor again held them back, addressing them with words:"May Zeus avert that, and the other immortal gods,that you should go from me to your swift shiplike one who is utterly without clothing and poor,who has no cloaks and no many rugs in his house,to sleep softly, neither himself nor for his guests.But I have cloaks and beautiful rugs.Surely the dear son of this man Odysseusshall not lie down on the ship's deck planks, while Ilive, and afterwards children are left in my halls,to entertain strangers, whoever comes to my house."Then the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, answered him:"You have spoken well, dear old man; and it is fittingfor Telemachus to obey you, since so it is far better.But he will now follow you, that he may sleepin your halls; but I will go to the black ship,to encourage my comrades and tell them each thing.For I claim to be the eldest among them;and the others who follow are younger men in friendship,all of the same age as great-hearted Telemachus.There I would lie down beside the hollow black shipnow; but at dawn I go to the great-hearted Cauconians,where a debt is owed to me, not a new oneand not a small one. But do you, since he has come to your house,send him with a chariot and your son; and give him horses,the lightest for running and the best in strength."So speaking, bright-eyed Athena departed,likened to a sea-eagle; and wonder seized all who saw.The old man marveled, as he saw with his eyes;and he took Telemachus' hand, and spoke a word and named him:"Dear friend, I do not expect you to be a coward and a weakling,if indeed the gods follow you as guides when you are so young.For none of these others who hold Olympian homes is such,but this is the daughter of Zeus, the most glorious Tritogeneia,who also honored your noble father among the Argives.But, lady, be gracious, and grant me good glory,to me and my children and my revered wife;and I will sacrifice to you a yearling heifer, broad-browed,unbroken, whom no man has yet led under the yoke;her I will sacrifice to you, pouring gold over her horns."So he spoke praying, and Pallas Athena heard him.And the Gerenian horseman Nestor led the way for them,for his sons and sons-in-law, to his beautiful house.But when they came to the glorious house of that lord,they sat down in order on the benches and chairs;and the old man mixed a bowl for them as they came,of sweet wine, which in the eleventh yearthe housekeeper opened and loosed the lid from;from it the old man mixed a bowl, and poured many libationsand prayed to Athena, daughter of Zeus who bears the aegis.But when they had poured libations and drunk as much as their heart wished,each went to his own house to lie down;and the Gerenian horseman Nestor put him to bed there,Telemachus, the dear son of godlike Odysseus,in a pierced bed under the echoing portico,and beside him Pisistratus of the good spear, leader of men,who was still unmarried among the sons in the halls;and he himself slept in the inner part of the lofty house,and his wife, the mistress, made ready the bed and bedding for him.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,the Gerenian horseman Nestor rose from his bed,and going out he sat down on the polished stones,which were before the lofty doors,white, gleaming with oil; on these Neleusused to sit before, a counsellor like the gods;but he had already gone to Hades, subdued by death,and now Gerenian Nestor sat there, the guardian of the Achaeans,holding a scepter. And his sons gathered in a crowd around him,coming from their chambers, Echephron and Stratiusand Perseus and Aretus and godlike Thrasymedes.And sixth after them came the hero Pisistratus,and they brought and seated godlike Telemachus beside them.And the Gerenian horseman Nestor began to speak among them:"Quickly, dear children, fulfill my wish,so that first of all I may propitiate Athena among the gods,who came to me clearly, to the rich feast of the god.But come, let one go to the plain for a cow, so that as quickly as possibleit may come, and let the herdsman of the cattle drive it;and let another go to great-hearted Telemachus' black shipand bring all his comrades, leaving two behind only;and let another bid the goldsmith Laerces come here,so that he may pour gold around the cow's horns.And let the rest of you stay here together, and tell the maidservantswithin the glorious house to prepare a feast,and to bring seats and wood around, and bright water."So he spoke, and they all hurried to work. The cow camefrom the plain, and the comrades of great-hearted Telemachuscame from the swift trim ship, and the smith cameholding in his hands the bronze tools, the instruments of his craft,an anvil and a hammer and well-made tongs,with which he worked the gold; and Athena cameto meet the holy rites. And the old charioteer Nestorgave the gold; and he then poured it around the cow's horns,working it skillfully, so that the goddess might rejoice to see the ornament.And Stratius and godlike Echephron led the cow by the horns.And Aretus came from the chamber bringing water for the handsin a flowered basin, and in his other hand he held barley-groatsin a basket; and Thrasymedes, steadfast in battle,stood beside him holding a sharp axe in his hand, to strike the cow.And Perseus held the blood-bowl; and the old charioteer Nestorbegan with the water for the hands and the barley-groats, and prayed muchto Athena, making the first offering, and threw the hairs from the head into the fire.But when they had prayed and thrown forward the barley-groats,at once the high-spirited son of Nestor, Thrasymedes,struck, standing near; and the axe cut through the tendonsof the neck, and loosed the cow's strength. And the women cried out,the daughters and daughters-in-law and the revered wifeof Nestor, Eurydice, eldest of the daughters of Clymenus.Then the men raised the cow from the broad-wayed earthand held it; and Pisistratus, leader of men, cut its throat.And when the black blood had flowed out and the spirit left the bones,at once they cut it up, and quickly cut out the thigh-piecesall in order, and covered them with fat,making a double layer, and laid raw pieces on top.And the old man burned them on split wood, and poured gleaming wineover them; and the young men stood beside him with five-pronged forks in their hands.But when the thighs were burned and they had tasted the innards,they chopped the rest and pierced it on spits,and roasted them, holding the sharp-pointed spits in their hands.Meanwhile beautiful Polycaste bathed Telemachus,the youngest daughter of Nestor, son of Neleus.And when she had bathed him and anointed him richly with oil,she threw a beautiful cloak and tunic around him,and he stepped from the bath, in body like the immortals;and he went and sat down beside Nestor, shepherd of the people.And when they had roasted the upper meats and drawn them off,they sat and feasted; and noble men rose upto pour wine in golden cups.But when they had put away the desire for drink and food,the Gerenian horseman Nestor began to speak among them:"My sons, come, yoke the fair-maned horses for Telemachusand bring them under the chariot, so that he may go on his journey."So he spoke, and they heard him and obeyed,and quickly yoked the swift horses under the chariot.And the housekeeper woman put in grain and wineand delicacies, such as Zeus-nurtured kings eat.And Telemachus stepped up into the beautiful chariot,and beside him Pisistratus, son of Nestor, leader of men,stepped up into the chariot and took the reins in his hands,and whipped them to go, and the two flew not unwillinglyinto the plain, and left the steep citadel of Pylos.And all day long they shook the yoke, holding it on either side.And the sun set and all the streets were shadowed,and they came to Pherae, to the house of Diocles,son of Ortilochus, whom Alpheus begot as his child.There they passed the night, and he set guest-gifts before them.And when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,they yoked the horses and mounted the painted chariot;and they drove out from the gateway and the echoing portico;and he whipped them to go, and the two flew not unwillingly.And they came to the wheat-bearing plain, and therethey finished the journey; for so the swift horses carried them.And the sun set and all the streets were shadowed.

The sun rose, leaving the beautiful lake,and went into the bronze-colored sky, to shine for the immortal godsand for mortal humans on the grain-giving earth.They reached Pylos, the well-built city of Neleus,and there on the shore of the sea the people were making holy sacrifice,all-black bulls, to the Earth-Shaker with the dark blue hair.There were nine seats, and in each one five hundred menwere sitting, and nine bulls were set before them at each one.When they had tasted the inner organs and were burning the thigh pieces for the god,the others came straight in and furled the sails of the well-balanced ship,lifted them and moored the ship, and they themselves stepped out.Telemachus stepped out of the ship, and Athena led the way.The goddess, bright-eyed Athena, spoke to him first:"Telemachus, you should no longer feel any shame at all, not even a little.It was for this that you sailed the sea, so that you might learnabout your father, where the earth covers him and what kind of fate he met.But come now, go straight to Nestor, the tamer of horses.Let us find out what plan he is hiding in his chest.You must beg him yourself to tell you the truth.He will not tell a lie, because he is very wise."Then sensible Telemachus answered her:"Mentor, how should I go up to him? How should I greet him?I have no experience yet with clever words,and it is shameful for a young man to question an older one."Then the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, answered him:"Telemachus, you will think of some things yourself in your own mind,and a god will suggest other things to you, for I do not thinkyou were born and raised without the will of the gods."With these words Pallas Athena led the wayquickly, and he followed in the footsteps of the goddess.They arrived at the gathering and the seats of the men of Pylos,where Nestor was sitting with his sons, and around them his companionswere getting the meal ready, roasting meat and putting other pieces on spits.When they saw the strangers, they all came up together,greeted them with their hands, and invited them to sit down.First Pisistratus, the son of Nestor, came up closeand took both their hands, and seated them at the feaston soft fleeces on the sand of the sea,beside his brother Thrasymedes and his own father.He gave them portions of the inner organs and poured wineinto a golden cup, and speaking to her he addressedPallas Athena, the daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis:"Pray now, stranger, to lord Poseidon,because it is his feast that you have come upon here.But once you have poured the libation and prayed, as is proper,then give this man too the cup of honey-sweet wineto pour a libation, since I think that he tooprays to the immortal gods, for all people need the gods.But he is younger and is the same age as me,so I will give you the golden cup first."With these words he put the cup of sweet wine in her hand,and Athena was glad at the sensible and upright man,because he gave her the golden cup first.At once she prayed many things to lord Poseidon:"Hear me, Poseidon, holder of the earth, and do not refuseus, as we pray, that these works be completed.Give glory first of all to Nestor and his sons,and then give to all the other Pylians a gracious returntogether for this famous hecatomb.And grant that Telemachus and I return home after finishing our task,since we came here with our swift black ship."So she prayed, and she herself brought it all to pass.She gave Telemachus the beautiful two-handled cup,and in the same way the dear son of Odysseus prayed.When they had roasted the upper parts of the meat and pulled them off,they divided the portions and ate the glorious meal.But when they had set aside their desire for drink and food,then the Gerenian horseman Nestor began to speak to them:"Now it is better to question and to askthese strangers who they are, since they have enjoyed their food.Strangers, who are you? From where do you sail the watery paths?Is it on some business, or do you wander aimlesslylike pirates over the sea, who roam aboutrisking their lives and bringing trouble to foreigners?"Then sensible Telemachus answered himwith courage, for Athena herself had put courage in his mind,so that he might ask about his father who was gone,and so that he might have good fame among people:"Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans,you ask where we are from, and I will tell you all of it.We have come from Ithaca beneath the wooded mountain.This business is my own, not public, that I am telling you.I am searching for the wide fame of my father, in case I may hear it somewhere,of godlike Odysseus, the enduring-hearted, who they say once,fighting along with you, sacked the city of the Trojans.About all the others, as many as fought against the Trojans,we have heard where each one died by a miserable death.But the son of Cronos made the destruction of that man alone unknown.For no one can say for certain when he died,whether he was killed on the mainland by enemy men,or in the sea among the waves of Amphitrite.So now I come to your knees, in case you are willingto tell me of that man's miserable death, if perhaps you saw itwith your own eyes, or heard the story from someone elseas he wandered, for his mother bore him to misery.And do not soften your words to me out of shame or pity,but tell me plainly how you came upon the sight.I beg you, if ever my father, noble Odysseus,promised and carried out any word or any deedamong the people of the Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered troubles,remember it for me now, and tell me the truth."Then the Gerenian horseman Nestor answered him:"Dear friend, since you have reminded me of the misery that in thatland we endured, we unrestrained sons of the Achaeans,both all that we wandered with our ships on the misty seagathering plunder, wherever Achilles led,and all that we fought around the great city of lord Priam.There all the best men were killed.There lies warlike Ajax, there lies Achilles,there lies Patroclus, a counselor equal to the gods,and there lies my own dear son, both strong and blameless,Antilochus, fast beyond all in running and a fighter.We suffered many other troubles besides those. Who among mortal humanscould tell all of that?Not even if you stayed five years, or even six, and kept askingabout all the troubles that the godlike Achaeans suffered there,would you reach your own homeland before growing weary of it.For nine years we kept weaving troubles for them,with every kind of trick, and only with difficulty did the son of Cronos bring it to an end.There no one ever wanted to be compared to him in planningface to face, since godlike Odysseus won by farwith every kind of trick, your father, if trulyyou are descended from him. Amazement holds me as I look at you.For your words are truly like his, and you would not thinkthat a younger man could speak so much like him.There, as long as I and godlike Odysseusnever once spoke differently in the assembly or in the council,but held one single spirit in mind and wise counsel,we planned how things might turn out best for the Argives.But when we had sacked the steep city of Priam,and went into the ships, and a god scattered the Achaeans,then indeed Zeus planned in his mind a miserable homecomingfor the Argives, since not all of them were sensible or just.So many of them met an evil fatefrom the deadly anger of the bright-eyed goddess born of a mighty father.She set strife between the two sons of Atreus.The two of them called an assembly of all the Achaeans,senselessly and not in proper order, at the setting of the sun.The sons of the Achaeans came weighed down with wine,and the two told their speeches, the reason they had gathered the army.There Menelaus urged all the Achaeansto remember their homecoming on the broad back of the sea,but it did not please Agamemnon at all, for he wantedto hold the army back and offer holy hecatombs,so that he might heal the terrible anger of Athena.He was a fool, for he did not know that she would not be persuaded.The mind of the ever-living gods is not quickly turned.So the two stood exchanging harsh words,and the well-greaved Achaeans jumped upwith a wonderful shout, and the plan was divided among them.All that night we stayed awake, planning hard thingsagainst each other, for Zeus was preparing a trouble of evil.At dawn we dragged some ships into the bright seaand put the possessions aboard and the deep-girdled women.But half the army was held back, waitingthere beside Agamemnon, the son of Atreus, shepherd of the people.Half of us embarked and sailed, and the shipssailed very fast, and a god smoothed the great-gulfed sea.When we came to Tenedos we made holy offerings to the gods,longing for home, but Zeus did not yet plan our return,cruel one, who stirred up wicked strife a second time.Some turned their curved ships backaround lord Odysseus, the warlike and crafty one,going back again to please Agamemnon, the son of Atreus.But I fled with my gathered ships, as many as followed me,since I knew in my heart that the god was planning evil.The warlike son of Tydeus fled too, and roused his companions.And late indeed fair-haired Menelaus came after us,and in Lesbos he found us, as we were considering the long voyage,whether we should sail above rugged Chios,past the island of Psyria, keeping it on our left,or below Chios, past windy Mimas.We asked the god to show a sign, and he showed it to us,and he ordered us to cut across the middle of the sea to Euboea,so that we might escape the trouble as fast as possible.A shrill fair wind rose up to blow, and the shipsran very quickly over the fish-filled paths, and at Geraestusthey put in at night, and to Poseidonwe set many thigh pieces of bulls, after measuring the great sea.It was the fourth day, when in Argos the companionsof the son of Tydeus, Diomedes the tamer of horses,were mooring the well-balanced ships. But I kept on toward Pylos, and neverdid the fair wind stop, once the god first sent it to blow.So I came, dear child, without news, and I know nothingabout those others, which of the Achaeans were saved and which died.But all that I have learned sitting in my own halls,as is proper, you will find out, and I will not hide it from you.They say the Myrmidons, the spearmen, came home safely,whom the glorious son of great-hearted Achilles led,and Philoctetes too, the glorious son of Poeas.Idomeneus brought all his companions back to Crete,those who escaped from the war, and the sea took none of them from him.But about the son of Atreus you yourselves hear, though you are far away,how he came home, and how Aegisthus planned his miserable death.But that man paid for it in a truly wretched way.So it is a good thing for a son to be left behind when a manhas died, since even he took revenge on his father's killer,the crafty Aegisthus, who killed his glorious father.And you, dear friend, for I see you are very handsome and tall,be brave, so that someone of later generations may speak well of you.Then sensible Telemachus answered him:"Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans,that man indeed took great revenge, and the Achaeanswill carry his wide fame for people in the future to hear.If only the gods would give me such strength,to take revenge on the suitors for their painful outrage,who insolently plot reckless things against me.But the gods have not spun out such prosperity for me,either for my father or for me, and now I must endure it anyway."Then the Gerenian horseman Nestor answered him:"Dear friend, since you have reminded me of these things and spoken of them,they say that many suitors, because of your mother,in your halls against your will are plotting evil.Tell me, are you being overpowered willingly, or do the peoplehate you throughout the land, following the voice of a god?And who knows whether he might come someday and take revenge on them for their violence,either he alone, or all the Achaeans together?If only the bright-eyed Athena were willing to love youas she once cared for glorious Odysseusin the land of the Trojans, where we Achaeans suffered pains,for I never yet saw gods loving a man so openlyas Pallas Athena stood openly beside him,if she were willing to love you like that and care for you in her heart,then some of those men would forget about their marriage.Then sensible Telemachus answered her:"Old man, I do not think this word will ever be fulfilled,for you have spoken far too grandly, and amazement holds me. For methese things would not happen even as I hope for them, not even if the gods willed it."Then the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, answered him:"Telemachus, what a word has escaped the fence of your teeth!A god, if he wishes, can easily save a man even from far away.I myself would rather, after suffering many pains,come home and see the day of my return,than die at home after arriving back, the way Agamemnondied by the trick of Aegisthus and his own wife.But truly, death that is common to all, not even the godscan ward off from a man they love, oncethe deadly fate of lingering death brings him down."Then sensible Telemachus answered her:"Mentor, let us no longer talk about these things, though we care about them,for his homecoming is no longer real, but alreadythe immortal gods have planned death and black doom for him.But now I want to ask and question another matterof Nestor, since he knows about justice and the wisdom of others beyond all others.For they say he has ruled over three generations of men,so he looks to me like an immortal to look at.Nestor, son of Neleus, tell me the truth:how did the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon, die?Where was Menelaus? And what kind of death did he plan for him,Aegisthus the crafty one, since he killed a much better man?Was he not in Argos of the Achaeans, but wandering somewhere elseamong people, and Aegisthus took courage and killed him?"Then the Gerenian horseman Nestor answered him:"Well then, my child, I will tell you all the truth.You yourself know how these things happened,if you found Aegisthus alive in his hallswhen the son of Atreus came from Troy, fair-haired Menelaus.In that case no one would have poured a mound of earth over him even in death,but the dogs and the birds of prey would have eaten himas he lay on the plain far from the city, and noneof the Achaean women would have wept for him, for he planned a very great crime.For we, while we were completing many labors there,sat still, but he, at ease in a corner of horse-pasturing Argos,kept charming Agamemnon's wife with many words.At first she refused the shameful act,the godlike Clytemnestra, for she had good sense in her mind.And there was also a singer with her, a man whom the son of Atreushad given many instructions when he went to Troy, to guard his wife.But when the fate of the gods bound her to be subdued,then he took the singer to a deserted islandand left him to become prey and a meal for the birds,and he took her away to his own house, a willing woman with a willing man.He burned many thigh pieces on the holy altars of the gods,and hung up many offerings, woven cloths and gold,after completing a great deed that he never hoped for in his heart.For we sailed together, coming from Troy,the son of Atreus and I, with friendly feelings for each other.But when we reached holy Sunium, the headland of the Athenians,there Phoebus Apollo came upon Menelaus' steersman with his gentle arrowsand killed him,as he held the steering oar in his hands on the running ship,Phrontis, the son of Onetor, who surpassed the tribes of menat steering a ship, whenever the storm winds rushed at him.So he was held there, though he was eager for the journey,to bury his companion and carry out the funeral rites.But when he too, going over the wine-dark seain his hollow ships, reached the steep mountain of Maleaas he sailed, then far-thundering Zeus planneda hateful journey for him, and poured down a blast of shrill winds,and monstrous waves swelled up, as big as mountains.There he split the fleet, and drove some ships to Crete,where the Cydonians lived around the streams of Iardanus.There is a certain smooth rock, steep down into the sea,at the edge of Gortyn in the misty sea.There the South Wind drives the great wave toward the left-hand headland,toward Phaestos, and a small stone holds back the great wave.Some of the ships came there, and the men barely escaped destruction,but the waves smashed the ships against the rocks.And the five dark-prowed ships the wind and the watercarried and drove to Egypt.So he, gathering much wealth and gold there,wandered with his ships among people of other tongues,and meanwhile Aegisthus planned these wicked things at home.For seven years he ruled over gold-rich Mycenae,after killing the son of Atreus, and the people were subdued under him.But in the eighth year godlike Orestes came to bring him evil,coming back from Athens, and he killed his father's killer,the crafty Aegisthus, who had killed his glorious father.And he, after killing him, feasted the Argives at the funeralof his hateful mother and the cowardly Aegisthus.On the same day Menelaus, good at the war cry, came to him,bringing many treasures, as many as his ships had carried as cargo.And you, dear friend, do not wander far from your halls for a long time,leaving behind your property and the men in your housewho are so arrogant, in case they eat up all yourpossessions, dividing them among themselves, and you go on a useless journey.But I urge and command you to go to Menelaus,for he has just come from somewhere else,from those people, from where no one would hope in his heartto come, whom the storm winds first swept off courseinto such a great sea, from where not even birdsgo in a year, since it is so great and terrible.But go now with your ship and your companions,or if you want to go on foot, a chariot and horses are here for you,and my sons are here, who will escort youto godlike Lacedaemon, where fair-haired Menelaus is.Beg him yourself, so that he may tell you the truth.He will not tell a lie, for he is very wise."So he spoke, and the sun set and darkness came.And among them the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, also spoke:"Old man, truly you have told all this properly.But come, cut out the tongues and mix the wine,so that after pouring libations to Poseidon and the other immortal godswe may think about sleep, for this is the right hour for it.For the light has already gone beneath the darkness, and it is not properto sit long at the feast of the gods, but to go home."So spoke the daughter of Zeus, and they listened to her as she spoke.The heralds poured water over their hands,and the young men filled the mixing bowls to the top with drink,and they served it to all, pouring the first drops into the cups.They threw the tongues into the fire, and standing up they poured libations.But when they had poured libations and drunk as much as their heart wanted,then Athena and godlike Telemachusboth wanted to go to the hollow ship.But Nestor held them back, speaking to them:"May Zeus and the other immortal gods prevent this,that you should go from me to your swift shiplike someone who is completely without clothes and poor,who has no cloaks and no many blankets in his house,to sleep softly, neither for himself nor for his guests.But I have cloaks and beautiful blankets.Surely the dear son of this man Odysseuswill not lie down on the ship's deck, as long as Ilive, and afterwards my children are left in my halls,to entertain guests, whoever comes to my house."Then the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, answered him:"You have spoken well, dear old man, and it is fittingfor Telemachus to obey you, since that way is much better.But he will now follow you, so that he may sleepin your halls, while I will go to the black ship,to encourage my companions and tell them each thing.For I claim to be the oldest among them,and the others who follow me are younger men in friendship,all the same age as great-hearted Telemachus.There I would lie down beside the hollow black shipnow, but at dawn I go to the great-hearted Cauconians,where a debt is owed to me, not a new oneand not a small one. But you, since he has come to your house,send him with a chariot and your son, and give him horses,the lightest to run and the best in strength."With these words bright-eyed Athena left,looking like a sea eagle, and wonder seized everyone who saw it.The old man was amazed as he saw it with his eyes.He took Telemachus' hand and spoke a word and called him by name:"Dear friend, I do not expect you to be a coward and a weakling,if the gods follow you as guides when you are so young.For none of the others who hold Olympian homes is like this,but this is the daughter of Zeus, the most glorious Tritogeneia,who also honored your noble father among the Argives.But, lady, be gracious, and grant me good glory,for me and my children and my respected wife.And I will sacrifice to you a yearling heifer with a broad brow,unbroken, which no man has yet led under the yoke.Her I will sacrifice to you, pouring gold over her horns."So he spoke in prayer, and Pallas Athena heard him.The Gerenian horseman Nestor led the way for them,for his sons and sons-in-law, to his beautiful house.But when they reached the famous house of that lord,they sat down in order on the benches and chairs.The old man mixed a bowl of wine for them as they came,sweet wine, which in the eleventh yearthe housekeeper opened and untied the cover from.From it the old man mixed a bowl, and he poured many libationsand prayed to Athena, the daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis.But when they had poured libations and drunk as much as their heart wanted,each of them went to his own house to lie down.The Gerenian horseman Nestor put him to bed there,Telemachus, the dear son of godlike Odysseus,in a pierced bed under the echoing portico,and beside him Pisistratus of the good spear, leader of men,who was still unmarried among the sons in the halls.He himself slept in the inner room of the lofty house,and his wife, the mistress, made ready the bed and the bedding for him.When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,the Gerenian horseman Nestor rose from his bed.He went out and sat down on the polished stones,which were in front of the lofty doors,white and gleaming with oil. On these Neleusused to sit before, a counselor equal to the gods,but he had already been overcome by death and gone to Hades.Then Gerenian Nestor sat there, the guardian of the Achaeans,holding a staff, and his sons gathered around him in a crowd,coming out of their rooms, Echephron and Stratiusand Perseus and Aretus and godlike Thrasymedes.Sixth after them came the hero Pisistratus,and they brought godlike Telemachus and seated him beside them.The Gerenian horseman Nestor began to speak to them:"Quickly, dear children, fulfill my wish,so that first of all I may propitiate Athena among the gods,who came to me plainly, to the rich feast of the god.But come, let one man go to the plain for a cow, so that it comesas quickly as possible, and let the herdsman of the cattle drive it.And let another go to great-hearted Telemachus' black shipand bring all his companions, leaving only two behind.And let another tell the goldsmith Laerces to come here,so that he may pour gold around the cow's horns.And let the rest of you stay here together, and tell the servant womeninside the famous house to prepare the feast,and to bring seats and wood for around, and bright water."So he spoke, and they all hurried. The cow camefrom the plain, and the companions of great-hearted Telemachuscame from the swift well-balanced ship, and the smith cameholding in his hands the bronze tools, the ends of his craft,an anvil and a hammer and well-made tongs,with which he worked the gold. And Athena cameto meet the holy rites. The old charioteer Nestorgave the gold, and he then poured it around the cow's horns,working it carefully, so that the goddess might be glad to see the ornament.And Stratius and godlike Echephron led the cow by the horns.Aretus came from the room bringing water for the handsin a flowered basin, and in his other hand he held barley grainsin a basket. Thrasymedes, steadfast in battle,stood beside him holding a sharp axe in his hand, to strike the cow.Perseus held the bowl for the blood. The old charioteer Nestorbegan with the water for the hands and the barley grains, and he prayed muchto Athena, making the first offering, and threw the hairs from the head into the fire.But when they had prayed and thrown forward the barley grains,at once the high-spirited son of Nestor, Thrasymedes,struck, standing close by, and the axe cut through the tendonsof the neck, and it released the cow's strength. The women cried out,the daughters and daughters-in-law and the respected wifeof Nestor, Eurydice, the eldest of the daughters of Clymenus.Then the men lifted the cow up from the broad-wayed earthand held it, and Pisistratus, leader of men, cut its throat.When the black blood had flowed out and the spirit left the bones,at once they cut it apart, and quickly cut out the thigh pieces,all in proper order, and covered them with fat,making a double layer, and laid raw pieces on top.The old man burned them on split wood, and poured gleaming wineover them, and the young men stood beside him with five-pronged forks in their hands.But when the thighs were burned and they had tasted the inner organs,they cut up the rest and pierced it on spits,and roasted them, holding the sharp-pointed spits in their hands.Meanwhile beautiful Polycaste bathed Telemachus,the youngest daughter of Nestor, son of Neleus.When she had bathed him and anointed him richly with oil,she threw a beautiful cloak and tunic around him,and he stepped out of the bath, like the immortal gods in body.He went and sat down beside Nestor, shepherd of the people.But when they had roasted the upper parts of the meat and pulled them off,they sat and feasted, and noble men rose upto pour wine in golden cups.But when they had set aside their desire for drink and food,the Gerenian horseman Nestor began to speak to them:"My sons, come, yoke the fair-maned horses for Telemachusand bring them under the chariot, so that he may continue his journey."So he spoke, and they listened to him and obeyed,and quickly yoked the swift horses under the chariot.The housekeeper woman put in grain and wineand delicacies, such as Zeus-nurtured kings eat.Telemachus stepped up into the beautiful chariot,and beside him Pisistratus, son of Nestor, leader of men,climbed into the chariot and took the reins in his hands.He whipped them to go, and the two flew off not unwillinglyinto the plain, and they left the steep citadel of Pylos.All day long they shook the yoke, holding it on both sides.The sun set and all the streets were shadowed.They reached Pherae, to the house of Diocles,the son of Ortilochus, whom Alpheus fathered as his child.There they passed the night, and he set guest gifts before them.When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,they yoked the horses and climbed onto the painted chariot.They drove out from the gateway and the echoing portico.He whipped them to go, and the two flew off not unwillingly.They came to the wheat-bearing plain, and therethey finished the journey, for the swift horses carried them along so well.The sun set and all the streets were shadowed.