the magnanimous king Nestor, the son of Neleus), and swift-footed Pelian-born steeds drew his chariot for him; but his father, standing near, spoke for his good, advising him, though himself prudent:
"O Antilochus, assuredly indeed both Jove and Neptune have loved thee, although being young, and have taught thee all kinds of equestrian exercise; wherefore there is no great need to instruct thee. For thou knowest how to turn the goals with safety; but thy horses are very slow to run, wherefore I think that disasters may happen. Their horses, indeed, are more fleet, but they themselves know not how to maneuver better than thou thyself. But come now, beloved one, contrive every manner of contrivance in thy mind, lest the prizes by any chance escape thee. By skill is the woodcutter much better than by strength; and, again, by skill the pilot directs upon the dark sea the swift ship, tossed about by the winds; and by skill charioteer excels charioteer. One man who is confident in his steeds and chariot, turns imprudently hither and thither over much [ground], and his steeds wander through the course, nor does he rein them in. But he, on the contrary, who is acquainted with stratagem [though] driving inferior steeds, always looking at the goal, turns it close, nor does it escape him in what manner he may first turn [the course][1] with his leathern reins; but he holds on steadily, and watches the one who is before him. But I will show thee the goal, easily distinguished, nor shall it escape thy notice. A piece of dry wood, as much as a cubit, stands over the ground, either of oak or of larch, which is not rotted by rain; and two white stones are placed on either side, in the narrow part of the way;[2] but the race-course
- ↑ Or "pull with his leathern reins."—Oxf. Transl. "τανύσῃ, viz., δρόμον σὺν ἱμᾶσιν. Thus τάθη δρόμος, verse 375. The same ellipsis occurs in the following verse, in the case of ἔχει, which, however, admits also of the construction ἔχει ἑαυτόν, one usual in the latter language."—Kennedy.
- ↑ "The old interpreter explained ἐν ξυνοχῇσιν ὁδοῦ, and I think correctly, of a wide track in the open plain becoming somewhat narrower at the point where the old monument stood; but ἀμφίς they took in the opposite sense of χωρίς, or still more forced. Heyne, however, understood it quite correctly of the wide plain around, which was so suited to a chariot race, and within which, in the distance, stood also the mark chosen by Achilles, ver. 359. Others see in this passage the course winding round the monument; but then it must have been an old course
