The goddess Athena sent Telemachus a wonderful voyage. The very next morning, as soon as the sun god Helios rode into the sky on his snow-white horses, Telemachus’s ship arrived at Pylos. Telemachus found all of Nestor's people making a sacrifice to the god of the seas, Poseidon. The Pylians slaughtered many bulls at the altar, and then prepared a rich feast. At nine tables, five hundred at each, sat the Pilians. The servants had already begun to serve food when Nestor saw strangers approaching him, ahead of whom walked the goddess Pallas Athena under the guise of a Mentor. The elderly king of Pylos warmly greeted the foreigners. His son Pisistratus invited them to take part in the feast. Pisistratus gave Athena a cup of wine and asked her to make a libation in honor of the god Poseidon, since a feast was being held in his honor. Athena liked that young Pisistratus honored her with the first cup.
When the feast was over, Nestor asked the strangers where they came from. Telemachus answered him that he was the son of Odysseus and had arrived in Pylos to find out about the fate of his father. Nestor was delighted to learn that before him was the son of Odysseus, whom he respected more than all the heroes for his intelligence. He marveled at how similar Telemachus was to his father, not only in appearance, but also in wisdom. Nestor told Telemachus about the troubles that the heroes had to endure on their return journey. But he could not tell anything about Odysseus. Nestor felt sorry for Telemachus because he had to endure so many insults from violent suitors who were ruining his house. The wise old man advised him to return home quickly, but only first to visit King Menelaus, since he returned to his homeland later than others and perhaps knows something about Odysseus. Nestor was sure that the gods and especially Pallas Athena would help the son of Odysseus find out where his father was.
Night has come. Telemachus began to prepare to go to his ship for the night, but Nestor did not let him go. He wanted Odysseus' son to spend the night in his palace. Mentor Telemachus also advised him to spend the night with Nestor. He himself was about to go to the ship, since, according to him, he needed to sail to the country of the Caucons in order to collect an old debt from them. Having said this, the imaginary Mentor suddenly turned into a sea eagle and disappeared from the eyes of the astonished Pylosians. Nestor and everyone present understood that the goddess Athena herself was helping Telemachus.
The next morning, Nestor sacrificed a heifer with gilded horns to the great goddess Athena. After the sacrifice and feast, Nestor's sons harnessed the horses to the chariot. Telemachus and Nestor's youngest son Peisistratus boarded the chariot and set off on their way to Menelaus.
The horses ran quickly. By evening, the travelers reached Thera, where the hero Diocles lived. He gave shelter to Pisistratus and Telemachus for the night, and in the morning, as soon as the dawn flared up in the sky, they set off further and arrived in Sparta in the evening.
When Telemachus and Pisistratus arrived in Sparta, there was a great celebration in the palace of Menelaus: Menelaus sent his daughter to Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, to whom he had promised her as a wife at Troy. In addition, Menelaus also celebrated the wedding of his son Megapent. The guests of Menelaus feasted merrily. They were entertained by singers playing lyres, and two young men danced to the sounds of the lyre. Just in the midst of the feast, Telemachus and Pisistratus arrived at the palace. They were met by Menelaus' servant. Seeing the strangers, he ran to Menelaus and asked him if he would accept the strangers in the palace. Menelaus ordered to immediately unhitch the horses and invite the strangers to a feast. Having experienced many disasters during the journey, when he himself often had to use hospitality, Menelaus did not refuse hospitality to anyone. The servant ran to fulfill the king's orders. The servants harnessed the horses and led the strangers into the palace. Having washed themselves in beautiful baths and put on clean clothes, Telemachus and Peisistratus went to the banquet hall. They were struck by the extraordinary wealth and luxury that they met at every step in the palace of Menelaus. Menelaus greeted the strangers warmly and invited them to sit next to him.
Menelaus's feast was rich. Struck by the splendor of the palace and the feast, Telemachus leaned over to Peisistratus and quietly told him that he had never seen such luxury anywhere and thought that only the palace of Zeus himself could be richer. Menelaus heard the words of Telemachus and said with a smile that mortals cannot be equal to the immortal gods, but if the wealth of his palace is great, then the labors and dangers that he endured in obtaining these riches are great. But if the dangers he experienced were great, they are still nothing in comparison with those that befell Odysseus. Menelaus said so. Telemachus cried when he heard about his father. At this time, Menelaus’s wife, beautiful-haired Helen, entered. Behind her, the slaves carried a golden spinning wheel and a silver basket of yarn with gold edges. Looking at the stranger, Elena was struck by the resemblance of one of them to Odysseus. She told Menelaus about this. Peisistratus, hearing her words, said that this was indeed Telemachus, the son of Odysseus. Menelaus was delighted - after all, next to him was the son of his beloved friend, who had endured so many troubles for his sake. He began to remember the exploits of Odysseus and the hardships that the Greeks endured at Troy. Helen also remembered Odysseus. These memories of his father again brought tears to Telemachus. Pisistratus also began to cry, remembering his brother Antilochus, who died at Troy. Menelaus was also overcome by sadness about his dead friends. Then Elena, in order to cheer up the feasting people and drive away gloomy thoughts, poured the juice of a wonderful plant into the goblet. This juice, which gives oblivion of sorrows, was given to her in Egypt by Queen Polydamna. But it was time to end the feast. Soon King Menelaus and his guests retired. The king of Sparta postponed the conversation with Telemachus until the next day.
Early in the morning, King Menelaus left his bedroom, went to the chamber where Telemachus had spent the night, and asked him about the reason for coming to Sparta. Telemachus replied that he had come to Sparta to find out about the fate of his father. Menelaus told the son of Odysseus about all his adventures and how the sea god Proteus revealed to him the fate of the heroes returning from Troy. Odysseus, as Proteus said then, is languishing in captivity on the island of the nymph Calypso. This is all that Menelaus could tell Telemachus about his father. The king of Sparta, Telemachus, began to persuade him to remain his guest for twelve days. But Telemachus asked the king not to detain him and to let him go home quickly. The conversation between Menelaus and Telemachus lasted a long time.
While they were talking, the guests again gathered in the king's palace. The merry feast was soon to begin again.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru