in a secluded corner of the palace.
When newborn Dawn appeared with rosy fingers,
the horse-lord Nestor jumped up out of bed,
and hurried down towards the polished stones
that stood outside his palace, bright with oil.
There Neleus used to give godlike advice,
until Fate took him and he went to Hades,
and Nestor, guardian of the Greeks, took over410
the scepter. From their rooms his sons arrived
to throng around him: Echephron and Stratius,
Aretus, Perseus, great Thrasymedes,
and strong Pisistratus the sixth. They brought
godlike Telemachus to sit with them.
Nestor spoke first.
“Dear sons, now hurry up,
fulfill my wishes. First we must appease
Athena, who revealed herself to me
during the holy feast. Now one of you
must run down to the fields to choose a cow;420
let herdsmen drive her back here. And another,
go to Telemachus’ ship and bring
the men—leave only two behind. Another
must bring Laerces here, who pours the gold,
so he can gild the heifer’s horns. You others,
stay here together. Tell the girls inside
to cook a royal feast, and set out seats,
put wood around the altar, and clear water.”
At that, the sons all got to work. The cow
was brought up from the field. The crew arrived430
from the swift, solid ship. The goldsmith came
with all the bronze tools useful for his trade—
hammer and anvil and well-crafted tongs—
and worked the gold. Athena came to take
the sacrifice. King Nestor gave the gold;
the craftsman poured it on the horns, to make
a lovely offering to please the goddess.
Stratius and Echephron together led
the heifer by the horns. Aretes came
and brought a water bowl adorned with flowers, 440
and in his other hand, a box of grain.
Strong Thrasymedes stood nearby and held
a sharpened axe, prepared to strike the cow.
Perseus held the blood-bowl. Nestor started
to sprinkle barley-groats and ritual water,
and as he threw the hairs into the fire
he said prayers to Athena. When the rites
were finished, mighty Thrasymedes struck.
The axe sliced through the sinews of the neck.
The cow was paralyzed. Then Nestor’s daughters450
and his sons’ wives, and his own loyal queen,
Eurydice, began to chant. The men
hoisted the body, and Pisistratus
sliced through her throat. Black blood poured out. The life
was gone. They butchered her, cut out the thighs,
all in the proper place, and covered them
with double fat and placed raw flesh upon them.
The old king burned the pieces on the logs,
and poured the bright red wine. The young men came
to stand beside him holding five-pronged forks.460
They burned the thigh-bones thoroughly and tasted
the entrails, then carved up the rest and skewered
the meat on pointed spits, and roasted it.
Meanwhile, Telemachus was being washed
by Nestor’s eldest daughter, Polycaste.
When she had washed and rubbed his skin with oil
she dressed him in a tunic and fine cloak
and he emerged; his looks were like a god’s.
He sat by Nestor, shepherd of the people.
The meat was roasted and drawn off the spits.470
They sat to eat, while trained slaves served the food,
pouring the wine for them in golden cups.
After their hunger and their thirst were gone,
Gerenian Nestor, horse-lord, started talking.
“My sons, now bring two horses with fine manes
and yoke them to the carriage, so our guest
can start his journey.”
They obeyed at once,
and quickly latched swift horses to the carriage.
One of the house girls brought out food and wine
and delicacies fit to feed a king.480
Telemachus got in the lovely carriage;
Pisistratus, the son of Nestor, followed,
and sat beside him, taking up the reins,
and whipped the horses. Eagerly they flew
off for the open plain, and left the town.
All day they ran and made the harness rattle.
At sunset when the streets grew dark, they came
to Pherae, to the home of Diocles,
son of Ortilochus; Alpheus was
his grandfather. They spent the night as guests.490
When rosy-fingered Dawn came bright and early,
they yoked the horses to the painted carriage,
and drove out from the gate and echoing porch.
At a light touch of whip, the horses flew.
Swiftly they drew towards their journey’s end,
on through the fields of wheat, until the sun
began to set and shadows filled the streets.
BOOK 4
What the Sea God Said
They came to Sparta, land of caves and valleys,
and drove to Menelaus’ house. They found him
hosting a wedding feast for many guests
to celebrate his children’s marriages.
In Troy he had declared that he would give
his daughter to Achilles’ son, who ruled
the Myrmidons. Now he was sending her,
with dowry gifts of horse-drawn chariots;
the gods had made the marriage come to pass.
And he was welcoming a Spartan bride,10
Alector’s daughter, for his well-loved son,
strong Megapenthes, mothered by a slave.
The gods had given Helen no more children
after the beautiful Hermione,
image of Aphrodite all in gold.
Neighbors and family were feasting gladly
under the king’s high roof. The bard was singing
and strumming, and two acrobats were spinning
and leading them in dance. Telemachus
and Nestor’s son stopped by the palace doors 20
and held their horses. Menelaus’ guard,
Eteoneus, ran out and saw them there,
and then hurried back inside to tell his master.
“Your Majesty, there are two men outside,
strangers who seem like sons of Zeus. Please tell me,
should we take off the harness from their horses?
Or send them off to find another host?”
Flushed Menelaus shouted angrily,
“You used to have some brains!
Now you are talking like a silly child.30
We two were fed by many different hosts
before returning home. As we may hope
for Zeus to keep us safe in future times,
untack their horses! Lead them in to dine!”
So Eteoneus rushed out from the palace,
and ordered other slaves to follow him.
They freed the sweating horses from their yoke
and tied them by the manger, which they filled
with emmer that they mixed with bright white barley.
They leaned the carriage up against the wall40
and led their guests inside the godlike house.
The boys looked round the palace in amazement:
the lofty halls of famous Menelaus
shone like the dazzling light of sun or moon.
When they had satisfied their eyes with staring,
they went to take a bath in polished tubs.
The slave girls helped them wash and rubbed them down
in olive oil, then dressed them in wool cloaks
and tunics, and then seated them beside
the son of Atreus, King Menelaus. 50
A house girl brought a basin made of silver,
and water in a golden jug. She poured it
over their hands to wash, then set a table
of polished wood beside them, and a humble
slave girl brought bread and many canapés,
a lavish spread. The carver carried platters
with every kind of meat, and set before them
cups made of gold. Then ruddy Menelaus
welcomed them both and told them,
“Help yourselves!
Enjoy the food! When you have shared our meal,60
we will begin to ask you who you are.
Your fathers must be scepter-bearing kings;
the sons of peasants do not look like you.”
With that, he took the dish of rich roast meat,
cut from the back, which was his special meal,
and offered it to them. They reached their hands
to take the food set out in front of them.