3.217–18 he will come home and take revenge, alone, / or with an army of the Greeks: “He” must be Odysseus, although it is striking that Nestor meanders away from the topic of Telemachus’ revenge, to that of Odysseus, and back again—perhaps a mark of his senility, or perhaps he is veering around the possibility that Telemachus is being too passive.
3.268 Fate forced the queen to yield: The original is ambiguous about whether Fate subdued Clytemnestra (the most likely option) or Aegisthus or the poet. The original is also vague about how exactly Clytemnestra made the switch from resistance to “mutual desire.”
3.292–95 steep rock rises sheer above the sea / near Gortyn . . . west to Phaestus: Phaestus and Gortyn were cities in Crete, a place that is prominent in the poem (and which Odysseus chooses for his fictional birthplace in Books 13–14 and 19). The apparent precision of these details may not reveal actual knowledge of the place, since archaeologists have tried in vain to fit the text to the material record.
3.326 My sons can guide you all the way to Sparta: Nestor lavishly suggests that multiple sons will accompany Telemachus; however, as it turns out, only one of Nestor’s sons, Pisistratus, goes with the Ithacan.
3.369–70 Give him a carriage, / drawn by your strongest and most nimble horses: The word translated here as “carriage,” diphros, is literally a “two-person carriage,” a type of vehicle on which two people could ride on a standing board drawn by two horses. There are many different words for horse-drawn carriages in Homer, and I have tried not to overuse the word “chariot,” which usually connotes a vehicle used for war or racing; the diphros was used sometimes for warfare and other times, as here, for travel.
3.371–72 Athena flew away, transformed / into an ossifrage: An ossifrage is a type of vulture, also known as a lammergeier.
3.406–7 polished stones / that stood outside his palace, bright with oil: The stones that mark Nestor’s judgment seat have been anointed, a mark of their sanctity.
3.445 sprinkle barley-groats and ritual water: Before sacrifice, one washed hands and sprinkled barley grains at the victim and the altar—to ensure that the sacrifice was legitimate. It was then traditional to cut a few hairs from the victim’s head, as Nestor does, to make the animal no longer inviolate before it dies.
3.452 began to chant: The verb for chanting, oluluzo, suggests a ritual loud cry, usually performed by women on occasions of prayer, thanksgiving, triumph, or, more rarely, lamentation.
3.452–54 The men / hoisted the body, and Pisistratus / sliced through her throat: The animal had to be held up, facing the gods, while its neck was slit; the blood would then be collected in the designated bowl.
3.456–57 covered them / with double fat and placed raw flesh upon them: The thigh-bones were presented to the god, covered with a double layer of fat, and then with little pieces of the rest of the raw carcass on top.
BOOK 4 SUMMARY
Telemachus and Pisistratus find Menelaus and Helen in their rich home at Sparta, in the midst of a lavish celebration of the marriages of Menelaus’ two children. They are welcomed warmly; Menelaus tells the story of his long journey back from Troy, expressing grief for those who died and were lost—especially, his brother Agamemnon and his dear friend Odysseus. Telemachus starts crying. Helen appears and identifies Telemachus; Pisistratus explains the reason for their visit. Everyone weeps about the absence of Odysseus, but Pisistratus intervenes and Helen pours a magical drug into the wine to remove all capacity for grief. She describes how Odysseus at Troy disguised himself and snuck through the city on a spy mission; Menelaus tells how determined he was inside the Wooden Horse. They all go to sleep. In the morning, Menelaus tells the story of how, on his way back from Troy, he stopped and accrued wealth in Egypt, and then met and temporarily captured Proteus, the old sea god, who gave him some news of his fellow warriors, such as the murdered Agamemnon. Menelaus offers Telemachus fine gifts to take home. Meanwhile, on Ithaca, the suitors discover about the boy’s trip and plot to kill Telemachus on his return journey. Penelope also finds out and is full of grief. The suitors set up the ambush. Athena sends a dream phantom to comfort Penelope.
4.187–88 irreplaceable Antilochus, / killed by the noble son of shining Dawn: Antilochus was a son of Nestor (so brother to Pisistratus), killed at Troy by Memnon, son of the Dawn Goddess.
4.232 They are the Healer’s people: The Healer, Paieon, is the doctor to the gods. He was later identified with Apollo.
4.276 Godlike Deiphobus was following you: There was a legend that Helen married Deiphobus, another son of Priam, after the death of Paris. Some scholars (now and in antiquity) believe that this line was a later interpolation, put in as a reference to this legend. But others argue that the line does not imply that Helen was married to Deiphobus; it simply explains why Helen’s behavior is dangerous: a Trojan witnesses it and therefore the whole Wooden Horse plan is threatened.
4.402–3 the daughters / of lovely Lady Brine: The obscure word halosudne, translated here as “Lady Brine,” suggests something like “daughter of the salty sea” or “female saltwater person”; it is elsewhere an epithet of Thetis, mother of Achilles, but here seems to imply a different sea goddess.
4.499 Ajax was drowned: The Ajax referred to here is Locrian Ajax, also known as Lesser Ajax—not the hero known for his shield and skill in defensive warfare. He had raped Cassandra, the prophet daughter of Priam, in the temple of Athena. Outraged, Athena asked Poseidon to take revenge.
4.516–17 where all farms / are finished: This suggests that there are lands beyond the limits of agriculture and, hence, beyond civilized culture.
BOOK 5 SUMMARY
Zeus and Athena again discuss the fate of Odysseus; Zeus sends Athena to protect Telemachus, and Hermes to rescue Odysseus from Calypso. Hermes tells Calypso to let Odysseus go; reluctantly, she agrees. Odysseus constructs a raft and almost reaches Phaeacia, when Poseidon spots him and sends a storm to wreck the raft. Odysseus is helped by Ino, the White Goddess. He clings to a plank from the broken raft, and then swims towards shore. With the aid of Athena, he finds a good place to rest, in a gentle river’s mouth. He crawls out of the water, hides in some bushes, and goes to sleep.
5.75 the deathless god who once killed Argos: One of the standard epithets for Hermes, argeiphontes, may suggest “killer of Argos” (a giant with a hundred eyes who was employed by Hera to guard Io, one of her husband Zeus’ girlfriends. Hermes was employed by Zeus to kill the spy). However, it has also been interpreted to mean “shining” or associated with the god’s masterly ability to appear and disappear at will.
5.108 they wronged Athena: At the time of the sack of Troy, the Lesser Ajax’s rape of Cassandra in the temple of Athena caused the goddess to be enraged against the Greeks (whom she originally favored). Athena’s anger is one of the reasons that the Greek army had such a difficult time getting home.