Odyssey 3.168 · Book 3, lines 168–172
Menelaus overtakes us at Lesbos
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ὀψὲ δὲ δὴ μετὰ νῶι κίε ξανθὸς Μενέλαος, ἐν Λέσβῳ δʼ ἔκιχεν δολιχὸν πλόον ὁρμαίνοντας, ἢ καθύπερθε Χίοιο νεοίμεθα παιπαλοέσσης, νήσου ἔπι Ψυρίης, αὐτὴν ἐπʼ ἀριστέρʼ ἔχοντες, ἦ ὑπένερθε Χίοιο, παρʼ ἠνεμόεντα Μίμαντα.
And late, at last, fair-haired Menelaus came after us two, and in Lesbos caught us as we pondered the long voyage — whether we should sail above rugged Chios, toward the island of Psyrie, keeping Chios itself on our left, or below Chios, past windy Mimas.
Word by word
The setting
Menelaus, king of Sparta, catches up with Nestor and Diomedes at Lesbos while they weigh two sea-routes across the Aegean — north or south of the island of Chios.
A note on this passage
Now fair-haired Menelaus catches them, arriving late, at Lesbos, while they are still weighing the long open crossing: to pass north of rugged Chios by the islet of Psyrie, keeping Chios on the left, or to slip south of it past windy Mimas. This is real seamanship — two named routes across a dangerous stretch of water.
The surface pleasure is Nestor's memory for detail. The old man names every headland, unhurried, sure the young listener wants the whole map. Underneath sits the small, cold word 'late.' Menelaus, who will wander farthest of all the returning Greeks and reach home only after years astray in Egypt, is already a step behind. The poem lets his lateness here rhyme with the length of the road still ahead of him.
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Odyssey 3.168 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/3.168/