Odyssey 3.65 · Book 3, lines 65–68
The feast done, Nestor begins to speak
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οἱ δʼ ἐπεὶ ὤπτησαν κρέʼ ὑπέρτερα καὶ ἐρύσαντο, μοίρας δασσάμενοι δαίνυντʼ ἐρικυδέα δαῖτα. αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο, τοῖς ἄρα μύθων ἦρχε Γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ·
But when they had roasted the outer flesh and drawn it off, they divided the portions and feasted a glorious feast. But when they had put away the desire for drink and food, among them then the Gerenian horseman Nestor began to speak:
Word by word
The setting
The sacrifice on the beach becomes a shared meal. The Pylians roast and carve the victims and eat their fill; then, the meal over, old Nestor — the Gerenian horseman — turns to his guests.
A note on this passage
Pure type-scene. The outer meat is roasted and drawn from the spits, the portions dealt out, the glorious feast eaten. Then comes the line that closes every Homeric meal — when they had put away the desire for drink and food — and only now does Nestor open his mouth.
The order is the point. Under the guest-code, you feed the stranger first and ask who he is afterward; the question would be rude before the meal is done. So Homer's formula is not filler but etiquette made audible — the feast has to be complete before the host may pry. Nestor's fixed title, the Gerenian horseman, rolls out with the same untroubled ceremony, the old courtesy of Pylos doing what it always does.
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