RHAPSODY Γ

By morning the ship had reached Nestor's kingdom at Pylos. In those hours, sacrifices were made in honor of the god Poseidon. Nestor welcomed the strangers, offering them wine to drink, according to the laws of hospitality.

Telemachus, with Mentor by his side, told the king the reason for their visit. He asked him to reveal to him if he knew anything about the fate of Odysseus, even if he was dead. Nestor wept as he remembered the adventures and experiences they had lived together in Troy, and so many other heroes that many of them never returned to their homelands. So he replied to Telemachus that Odysseus did not die in Troy. The last time Nestor saw Odysseus was when he decided not to leave with the first to depart, but stayed a little longer, with Agamemnon, who paid homage to the gods.

Nestor also recounted the sufferings of Agamemnon to Telemachus, telling of the tragic fate that awaited him on their return to Mycenae. There he found death by his own wife who in the meantime had found a lover. He then advised Telemachus to speak also to Menelaus in Sparta, who had also met with great suffering until he returned to his own country. Maybe he knew something more about his father. Telemachus stayed the night in Nestor's palace, as his guest. The next day he got a carriage from the king to take him to Sparta.