As thus he spake, Pelides to the ground Flung the gold-studded wand, and took his seat. Fiercely Atrides raged; but now uprose Nestor, the master of persuasive speech, The clear-toned Pylian orator, whose tongue Dropped words more sweet than honey. He had seen Two generations that grew up and lived With him on sacred Pylos pass away, And now he ruled the third. With prudent words He thus addressed the assembly of the chiefs:—
“Ye gods! What new misfortunes threaten Greece! How Priam would exult and Priam’s sons, And how would all the Trojan race rejoice, Were they to know how furiously ye strive— Ye who in council and in fight surpass The other Greeks. Now hearken to my words— Ye who are younger than myself—for I Have lived with braver men than you, and yet They held me not in light esteem. Such men I never saw, nor shall I see again— Men like Pirithoüs and like Druas, lord Of nations, Caeneus and Exadius, And the great Polypheme, and Theseus, son Of Aegeus, likest to the immortal gods. Strongest of all the earth-born race they fought— The strongest with the strongest of their time— With Centaurs, the wild dwellers of the hills, And fearfully destroyed them. With these men Did I hold converse, coming to their camp From Pylos in a distant land. They sent To bid me join the war, and by their side I fought my best, but no man living now On the wide earth would dare to fight with them. Great as they were, they listened to my words And took my counsel. Hearken also ye, And let my words persuade you for the best. Thou, powerful as thou art, take not from him The maiden; suffer him to keep the prize Decreed him by the sons of Greece; and thou, Pelides, strive no longer with the king, Since never Jove on sceptred prince bestowed Like eminence to his. Though braver thou, And goddess-born, yet hath he greater power And wider sway. Atrides, calm thy wrath— ’Tis I who ask—against the chief who stands The bulwark of the Greeks in this fierce war.”