Strangers, who are you? Where did you sail from?
Are you on business, or just scouting round
like pirates on the sea, who risk their lives
to ravage foreign homes?”
Telemachus
was thoughtful but not shy. Athena gave him
the confidence deep in his heart to ask
about his absent father, and to gain
a noble reputation for himself.
“Great Nestor, son of Neleus,” he said,
“You ask where I am from. I will be frank.80
I come from Ithaca, beneath Mount Neion,
and I am here on private, family business.
I came to gather news about my father,
long-suffering Odysseus. They say
he fought with you to sack the town of Troy.
We know the place where all the other men
who battled with the Trojans lost their lives.
But Zeus still keeps Odysseus’ fate
in darkness; no one knows where he was lost.
Maybe some hostile men killed him on land,90
or he was drowned in Amphitrite’s waves.
I beg you, tell me, did you see him die
with your own eyes? Or have you any news
about where he may be? He must be lost.
His mother surely bore him for misfortune.
You need not sweeten what you say, in pity
or from embarrassment. Just tell me straight
what your eyes saw of him, my noble father.
If ever he made promises to you
and kept his word at Troy, in times of trouble,100
remember those times now. Tell me the truth!”
Gerenian Nestor, horse-lord, answered him,
“Dear boy, you call to mind how much we suffered,
with strong, unyielding hearts, in distant lands
when we were sailing over misty seas,
led by Achilles on a hunt for spoils,
and when we fought around the mighty city
of Priam. Our best warriors were killed.
Ajax lies dead there, and there lies Achilles;
there lies his godlike friend and guide, Patroclus;110
my own strong, matchless son lies dead there too,
Antilochus, who fought and ran so well.
More pain, more grief—our sufferings increased.
Who could recount so many, many losses?
If you stayed here five years and kept on asking
how many things the fighters suffered there,
you would get bored and go back home again
before the story ended. Nine long years
we schemed to bring them down, and finally
Zeus made our plots succeed. Odysseus,120
your father, if you really are his son—
well, no one dared to try to equal him
in cleverness. That man was always best
at every kind of trick. And seeing you,
I am amazed at how you talk like him.
One would not think so young a man could do it.
Well, back in Troy, Odysseus and I
always agreed in councils, with one mind.
We gave the Argives all the best advice.
After we conquered Priam’s lofty town,130
a god dispersed the ships of the Achaeans.
Zeus planned a bitter journey home for us,
since some of us had neither sense nor morals.
Gray-eyed Athena, daughter of the Thunder,
became enraged and brought about disaster.
She set the sons of Atreus to fight
each other. Hastily, they called the people
at sunset, not observing proper norms.
The men arrived already drunk on wine;
the brothers told them why they called the meeting.140
Then Menelaus said that it was time
to sail back home across the open sea.
But Agamemnon disagreed entirely.
He wanted them to stay and sacrifice
to heal the sickness of Athena’s wrath—
pointless! He did not know she would not yield.
The minds of the immortals rarely change.
So those two stood and argued angrily,
and with a dreadful clash of arms the Greeks
leapt up on two opposing sides. We slept150
that eerie night with hearts intent on hatred
against each other—since Zeus meant us harm.
At dawn one group of us dragged down our ships
into the sea piled high with loot and women,
while half the army still remained there, stationed
with Agamemnon, shepherd of the people.
My friends and I set sail with all good speed—
a god had made the choppy sea lie calm.
We came to Tenedos and sacrificed,
praying to get back home—but Zeus refused;160
the cruel god roused yet more strife among us.
Your father’s plans were always flexible:
his men turned round their prows and sailed right back
to make their peace again with Agamemnon.
But I assembled all my fleet, and fled—
I understood some god must mean us harm.
Then Diomedes roused his men to come,
and ruddy Menelaus quickly sailed
to meet with us on Lesbos, and we pondered
our long sea journey. Should we travel north,170
go past the rocks of Chios to our left,
to Psyria, or under Chios, passing
blustery Mimas? So we prayed for signs.
The god told us to cross the open sea
towards Euboea, to escape disaster.
A fair wind whistled and our ships sped on
across the journey-ways of fish, and landed
at nightfall in Geraestus. To Poseidon
we offered many bulls, since we had crossed
safely across wide waters. The fourth day180
the men of Diomedes moored their ships
at Argos; I kept going on, to Pylos.
The wind the god had sent kept holding strong
the whole way home. So, my dear boy, I have
no news about what happened next. I do not
know which of them has died and who is safe.
But I can tell you what I heard while sitting
here in my halls. You ought to know. They say
Achilles’ son led home the Myrmidons,
and Philoctetes came back home with glory.190
And Idomeneus led back his crew
to Crete; no man of his who had survived
the war was lost at sea. And Agamemnon?
You must have heard, though you live far away.
Aegisthus murdered him! But he has paid
a bitter price. How fortunate the dead man
had left a son to take revenge upon
the wicked, scheming killer, that Aegisthus,
who killed Orestes’ father. My dear boy,
I see that you are tall and strong. Be brave,200
so you will be remembered.”
Thoughtfully
Telemachus replied, “Your Majesty,
King Nestor, yes. Orestes took revenge.
The Greeks will make him famous through the world
and into future times. I wish the gods
would grant me that much power against those men
who threaten and insult me—those cruel suitors!
The gods have not yet granted us this blessing,
my father and myself. We must endure.”
Gerenian Nestor, lord of horses, answered,210
“Dear boy, since you have brought the subject up,
I have been told about your mother’s suitors,
how badly they are treating you at home.
But do you willingly submit to it?
Or has a god’s voice led the townspeople
to hate you? Well, who knows, perhaps one day
he will come home and take revenge, alone,
or with an army of the Greeks. If only
Athena loved you, as she used to care
for glorious Odysseus at Troy 220
when we were doing badly. I have never
seen gods display such favor as she gave
when she stood by your father. If she helped you
with that much love, the suitors would forget
their hopes for marriage.”
Then Telemachus
replied, “My lord, I doubt that this will happen.
I am surprised you have such confidence.
I would not be so hopeful, even if
the gods were willing.”
Then the goddess spoke.
“Telemachus, what do you mean? A god230
can easily save anyone, at will,
no matter what the distance. I would rather
suffer immensely, but then get home safe,
than die on my return like Agamemnon,
murdered by his own wife, and by Aegisthus.
But death is universal. Even gods
cannot protect the people that they love,