Source Verification: Nestor
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
Who was Nestor to Agamemnon?
He was an allied king and Agamemnon's most valued counsellor. Nestor ruled Pylos and brought his own ships to Troy under Agamemnon's command. In Iliad Book 2, Agamemnon tells him he excels the Greeks in the assembly, and wishes he had ten such counsellors, for then Troy would soon fall. Nestor also stands up to him. In Book 9 he reminds Agamemnon that he tried to stop him taking Briseis from Achilles. In the Odyssey, Nestor tells Telemachus how Agamemnon was murdered on his return.
Source: Homer, Iliad 2.370-374
Who is Nestor in the Odyssey?
He is the old king of Pylos whom Telemachus visits first in search of news of his father. In Book 3, Athena, disguised as Mentor, sends the young man to him. Nestor cannot say what became of Odysseus, but he tells how the Greeks sailed home from Troy and how Agamemnon was killed. He recognizes Athena when she leaves as a sea-eagle and sacrifices a heifer to her. Then he sends Telemachus to Menelaus in Sparta, with his son Peisistratus as driver.
Source: Homer, Odyssey 3.371-384
Who was Nestor's wife?
In Homer's Odyssey his wife is Eurydice, the eldest daughter of Clymenus. She appears in Book 3, raising the women's cry when Nestor's sons sacrifice a heifer to Athena. Apollodorus names her differently: Nestor married Anaxibia, daughter of Cratieus. He lists two daughters, Pisidice and Polycaste, and seven sons, Perseus, Stratichus, Aretus, Echephron, Pisistratus, Antilochus and Thrasymedes. The children largely match Homer's. Only the mother's name and one son's spelling differ.
Source: Homer, Odyssey 3.451-452
How old was Nestor in the Iliad?
Homer gives no number of years. He says instead that two generations of mortal men had passed away in Nestor's lifetime, men born and raised with him in Pylos, and that he was king among the third. The Odyssey repeats the idea when Telemachus says men claim Nestor has been king for three generations. Ovid's Nestor is more exact. In Metamorphoses Book 12 he says he has lived two hundred years and is now living his third century.
Source: Homer, Iliad 1.250-252
How did Nestor's son Antilochus die?
He died saving his father. Pindar's sixth Pythian ode tells the story. Paris had wounded one of the horses, so Nestor's chariot could not move, and Memnon, commander of the Ethiopians, was aiming his spear. The old man shouted to his son. Antilochus stayed and paid for his father's rescue with his own life. The Odyssey calls the killer the son of the bright Dawn, and Apollodorus's Epitome names Memnon, who was then killed by Achilles.
Source: Pindar, Pythian Ode 6.28-42
Who killed Nestor's brothers?
Heracles did. In Iliad Book 11, Nestor says Heracles came to Pylos in earlier years and killed its best men. Neleus had twelve sons, and Nestor alone was left. Apollodorus adds that Heracles killed Neleus too, and that Nestor survived because he was being raised among the Gerenians. Among the dead was Periclymenus, whom Poseidon had given the power to change shape. Ovid's Nestor says Heracles shot Periclymenus with an arrow while he flew as an eagle.
Source: Homer, Iliad 11.690-693
Where Accounts Differ
- who was Nestor's wife
- whether Heracles killed Neleus
- how old Nestor was
- how many ships Nestor brought to Troy
- how many brothers Nestor had
- Nestor's wife is named two ways. The Odyssey (3.451-452) calls her Eurydice, eldest daughter of Clymenus. Apollodorus (Library 1.9.9) names her Anaxibia, daughter of Cratieus. The sons also differ slightly: the Odyssey (3.412-415) names Stratius where Apollodorus has Stratichus, and Apollodorus adds a daughter, Pisidice, whom Homer does not mention.
- Whether Heracles killed Neleus differs by source. In the Iliad (11.690-693) Heracles kills the sons of Neleus, and Neleus is still alive to share out the spoil of Nestor's cattle raid and to hide his horses from him. Apollodorus (Library 2.7.3) says Heracles slew Neleus and his sons except Nestor. The Odyssey (3.409-410) says only that Neleus had died before Telemachus's visit.
- Nestor's age is given two ways. Homer counts generations: two had passed in his lifetime and he ruled among the third (Iliad 1.250-252), and Telemachus says he has been king for three generations of men (Odyssey 3.245). Ovid (Metamorphoses 12.187-188) has him say he has lived two hundred years and is in his third century.
- Homer's catalogue (Iliad 2.601-602) gives Nestor ninety ships. Apollodorus (Epitome 3.12) gives him forty.
- Nestor's brothers are counted differently. The Iliad (11.692) and Ovid (Metamorphoses 12.536-579) give Neleus twelve sons. The Odyssey (11.281-286) names only three sons of Chloris, Nestor, Chromius and Periclymenus. Apollodorus (Library 1.9.9) lists twelve sons and has no Chromius among them. Apollodorus says Periclymenus turned into a lion, a snake and a bee before Heracles killed him, while Ovid has him shot down as an eagle.
Sources
- Homer, Iliad 1.247-284
- Homer, Iliad 1.250-252
- Homer, Iliad 2.370-374
- Homer, Iliad 2.591-602
- Homer, Iliad 7.132-160
- Homer, Iliad 8.80-117
- Homer, Iliad 9.96-113
- Homer, Iliad 11.670-761
- Homer, Iliad 11.690-693
- Homer, Iliad 11.765-803
- Homer, Iliad 23.306-348
- Homer, Iliad 23.626-650
- Homer, Odyssey 3.1-66
- Homer, Odyssey 3.102-200
- Homer, Odyssey 3.111-112
- Homer, Odyssey 3.245
- Homer, Odyssey 3.254-312
- Homer, Odyssey 3.371-384
- Homer, Odyssey 3.404-415
- Homer, Odyssey 3.451-452
- Homer, Odyssey 3.464-465
- Homer, Odyssey 4.186-202
- Homer, Odyssey 11.281-286
- Apollodorus, Library 1.9.8
- Apollodorus, Library 1.9.9
- Apollodorus, Library 2.7.3
- Apollodorus, Epitome 3.12
- Apollodorus, Epitome 5.3
- Pindar, Pythian Ode 6.28-42
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.187-188
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.536-579
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 4.36.2