The Siren Vase — Odysseus bound to the mast; Attic red-figure, c. 480 BC, British Museum
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Odyssey 3.415 · Book 3, lines 415–417

Telemachus seated among the brothers

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τοῖσι δʼ ἔπειθʼ ἕκτος Πεισίστρατος ἤλυθεν ἥρως, πὰρ δʼ ἄρα Τηλέμαχον θεοείκελον εἷσαν ἄγοντες. τοῖσι δὲ μύθων ἦρχε Γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ·

And then sixth to them came the hero Peisistratus; and leading godlike Telemachus they seated him beside them. Then among them the Gerenian horseman Nestor began to speak:

Word by word

τοῖσιtoîsito themδʼd’(and)ἔπειθʼépeith’thenἕκτοςhéktossixthΠεισίστρατοςPeisístratosPeisistratusἤλυθενḗlythencameἥρωςhḗrōsthe hero,πὰρpàrbeside [them]δʼd’(and)ἄραára(then)ΤηλέμαχονTēlémachonTelemachusθεοείκελονtheoeíkelongodlikeεἷσανheîsanthey seatedἄγοντεςágontesleading [him].τοῖσιtoîsiamong themδὲ(and)μύθωνmýthōnthe speakingἦρχεêrchebeganΓερήνιοςGerḗniosthe GerenianἱππόταhippótahorsemanΝέστωρNéstōrNestor·

The setting

Peisistratus arrives sixth, and the family leads Telemachus in and seats him among Nestor's sons. With the household assembled, Nestor opens his morning address — the intro-formula that precedes the sacrifice to Athena.

A note on this passage

The muster completes: Peisistratus makes six, and the household brings Telemachus in and seats him among the brothers. Then the formula that always precedes a speech — Nestor begins to address them.

The small courtesy is the seating. Telemachus, 'godlike,' is placed among Nestor's own sons as if he were one more of them — the machinery of guest-friendship quietly making a stranger into near-kin. A fatherless boy is set, for one morning, inside the intact family he does not have, and from that seat he will watch a father run his house.

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