Odyssey 3.126 · Book 3, lines 126–129
Of one mind at Troy
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ἔνθʼ ἦ τοι ἧος μὲν ἐγὼ καὶ δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς οὔτε ποτʼ εἰν ἀγορῇ δίχʼ ἐβάζομεν οὔτʼ ἐνὶ βουλῇ, ἀλλʼ ἕνα θυμὸν ἔχοντε νόῳ καὶ ἐπίφρονι βουλῇ φραζόμεθʼ Ἀργείοισιν ὅπως ὄχʼ ἄριστα γένοιτο.
There, indeed, so long as I and godlike Odysseus were together, never in the assembly did we speak at odds, nor in the council; but holding one heart, with good sense and shrewd counsel, we planned for the Argives how things might turn out for the very best.
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The setting
Still speaking to Telemachus, Nestor remembers his own partnership with Odysseus during the long years at Troy — how the two of them never disagreed.
A note on this passage
Nestor recalls his partnership with Odysseus in the field: through ten years of war the two of them never once disagreed, not in the open assembly nor in the private council, but thought as a single mind and planned for the army's best.
The praise flatters the son by fusing Nestor and Odysseus into one wise voice — but it also sets a standard the story is about to break. This perfect concord is the last of it. The very next lines turn to the great quarrel that split the leaders and scattered the fleet homeward. Nestor is remembering the harmony precisely because he is about to describe its ruin.
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