Odyssey 4.161 · Book 4, lines 161–163
Sent by Nestor for counsel
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αὐτὰρ ἐμὲ προέηκε Γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ τῷ ἅμα πομπὸν ἕπεσθαι· ἐέλδετο γάρ σε ἰδέσθαι, ὄφρα οἱ ἤ τι ἔπος ὑποθήσεαι ἠέ τι ἔργον.
But Nestor, the Gerenian horseman, sent me forth to follow with him as his escort; for he longed to see you, that you might suggest to him some word or some deed.
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The setting
Peisistratus keeps speaking, explaining the errand. His father Nestor, the old horseman of Pylos, sent him along as Telemachus's companion — because Nestor knew Menelaus would want to see the boy and give him the guidance a fatherless son needs.
A note on this passage
The purpose of the whole journey is stated plainly: word or deed. Nestor sent his own son as an escort so that Telemachus could reach Menelaus, the one surviving eyewitness of Troy's aftermath who might know something of Odysseus. The visit is not a courtesy call; it is a search for counsel.
Beneath the errand runs the theme of substitute fathers. Telemachus has no father to advise him, so the poem lends him others — Nestor, now Menelaus — and Nestor even lends his son as a brother for the road. 'Word or deed' (ἔπος … ἔργον) is the standard Homeric pair for all that a man can offer; here it measures exactly what an absent father owes a son, and what these older men step in to supply.
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