Odyssey 3.342 · Book 3, lines 342–345
Nestor will not let them go to the ship
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αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ σπεῖσάν τʼ ἔπιον θʼ, ὅσον ἤθελε θυμός, δὴ τότʼ Ἀθηναίη καὶ Τηλέμαχος θεοειδὴς ἄμφω ἱέσθην κοίλην ἐπὶ νῆα νέεσθαι. Νέστωρ δʼ αὖ κατέρυκε καθαπτόμενος ἐπέεσσιν·
But when they had poured libation and drunk as much as the heart wished, then Athena and godlike Telemachus, both, were eager to go to the hollow ship. But Nestor, in turn, held them back, addressing them with words:
Word by word
The setting
With the libations done, Athena (as Mentor) and Telemachus make to return to their beached ship for the night. But Nestor, the model host, stops them — to let guests sleep by their ship rather than in his halls would violate the code of hospitality.
A note on this passage
The feast is over and the two guests move to leave. Athena and Telemachus, 'both,' turn toward the hollow ship where they mean to sleep. The scene pivots on Nestor's single verb: he holds them back. What looks like a farewell becomes the start of an argument about hospitality.
The undercurrent is the code of xenia. A host does not let a guest bed down by the ship; it would shame the house. Nestor's ἔπεσσιν, 'with words,' is a courteous grip — he detains them the way the poem itself detains its travellers, one more night, one more obligation of the guest-friendship that drives the whole journey.
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