Odyssey 3.57 · Book 3, lines 57–60
'Grant that Telemachus and I return'
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Νέστορι μὲν πρώτιστα καὶ υἱάσι κῦδος ὄπαζε, αὐτὰρ ἔπειτʼ ἄλλοισι δίδου χαρίεσσαν ἀμοιβὴν σύμπασιν Πυλίοισιν ἀγακλειτῆς ἑκατόμβης. δὸς δʼ ἔτι Τηλέμαχον καὶ ἐμὲ πρήξαντα νέεσθαι,
To Nestor first of all, and to his sons, grant glory; but then to the others give gracious recompense, to all the Pylians, for the glorious hecatomb. And grant besides that Telemachus and I, having done our errand, may return,
Word by word
The setting
Athena's prayer continues, asking Poseidon to reward Nestor's people for their sacrifice — and, last, to grant the travelers' own safe return. κῦδος is the glory a god bestows; a hecatomb is a great sacrifice. The sentence runs on past this block's end.
A note on this passage
The prayer works outward in proper order: glory to Nestor and his sons first, then a fair return-gift to all the Pylians for their great sacrifice, and only last the petitioner's own request. Athena asks the host's blessing before her own — the etiquette of prayer matching the etiquette of the feast.
The tell is what she slips in at the end: that Telemachus and she may finish their business and get home. Named here for the first time in the prayer, Telemachus is the real point of the journey, and the goddess folds his safe return into a long, gracious blessing on Nestor's house. Even her petition is shaped so the request for herself rides last, almost as an afterthought — the disguise of a modest guest, worn by the mind that is running everything.
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