Odyssey 4.203 · Book 4, lines 203–206
Menelaus praises a prudent son
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τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη ξανθὸς Μενέλαος·
Menelaus — ὦ φίλʼ, ἐπεὶ τόσα εἶπες, ὅσʼ ἂν πεπνυμένος ἀνὴρ εἴποι καὶ ῥέξειε, καὶ ὃς προγενέστερος εἴη· τοίου γὰρ καὶ πατρός, ὃ καὶ πεπνυμένα βάζεις,
And answering him, fair-haired Menelaus addressed him: O friend, since you have said so much as a prudent man would say and do, even one who were older; for you come of such a father, wherefore you too speak prudent things.
Word by word
The setting
The narrator marks the reply with the standard formula, then Menelaus answers. Moved by the young man's tact, he says Peisistratus has spoken as a wise man far older would — and traces the wisdom to its source: the boy's father, Nestor.
A note on this passage
Menelaus accepts the correction gracefully. Rather than take offense at being counseled by a youth, he crowns the young man's tact: Peisistratus has spoken and would act as a prudent man would — even one many years his senior. The praise is generous and specific, aimed at judgment beyond the speaker's years.
The undercurrent is heredity. Menelaus traces the wisdom straight to its root: you come of such a father. In this world good sense runs in the blood, and to praise the son is to praise Nestor — the same courtesy Peisistratus paid by invoking his father first. The whole exchange is a quiet display of well-bred reciprocity, each man honoring the other through his line.
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