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Ratz 9/29/11 HP 1151, Section 5 Nestor the Greatest Greek Counselor There are several times in Homers The Iliad when the great leaders of Troy and the Achaeans turn to their advisors for insight and ideas. One of the most quoted and admired advisers in The Iliad is Nestor the son of Neleus and Chloris and the King of Pylos, whose qualities are described in his introduction in Book One, as the man of winning words, the clear speaker of Pylos sweeter than honey from his tongue the voice flowed on and on.(Book 1, 291-292) Even though more times than not his advice leads to less than desirable outcomes, Nestors advice is never questioned throughout The Iliad. Nestor is the iconic counselor in The Iliad. No other advisor is talked about in the same way and is admired by the leaders and the warriors as much as Nestor. Nestor is Homers ideal counselor, the prototype of wisdom anchored in old age and wisdom.

The first time Nestor gives advice is very early on in Book One. However, Both Agamemnon and Achilles deliberately reject the advice he gives them, sound as it is, as he tries to mediate their quarrel over Agamemnon's stealing of Briseis. He makes sure to stress Agamemnon's powers and rights as a scepter-bearing king. Then after he has accorded Agamemnon the respect due to him, Nestor tells him in clear, definite terms that his great power comes with a responsibility to listen to counsel for the common good and that he will bring trouble upon himself if he seizes Briseis and alienates Achilles. If Agamemnon had taken Nestors wise council the war might have ended much sooner.

W. Ratz 2 Agamemnon does praise his counsel as well put, true old man, all you say is fit and proper. (Book 1, 335) However, immediately afterward he goes on to complain about Achilles' bossiness and power hunger. Achilles, not bothering even to be polite, addresses only Agamemnon's insult, without referring to Nestor at all. This is the first of several occasions when Nestor gives ineffective advice. Again in Book Two Nestor completely believes the dream that is planted in Agamemnons sleep by Zeus. He then makes a great effort to convince the armies to fight and go on the offensive. He also advises Agamemnon to organize his forces by tribes and clans. (Book 2, 424-38) this is an intelligent strategy because men are more willing to fight if they are protecting the lives of their friends and are fighting side by side with them. However, there is no indication that Agamemnon follows this advice. Yet at the end of Nestor's speech, we hear Agamemnon proclaim, Again, old man, you outfight the Argives in debate! Father Zeus, Athena, Apollo, if only I had ten men like Nestor to plan with me among Achaeas armies, then we could topple Priams citadel in a day, (Book 2, 440-443) There are several other cases where Nestor gives outdated or flawed advice but he never seems to be held accountable. In fact, Nestor is praised for being such a good councilor. This is because in the time that Homer wrote The Iliad the effects of ones decisions could be put upon the erratic and fickle gods.

Having a good counselor can make or break a leader. Whether someone is in charge of a whole country or even just a sports team, they need to have someone to turn to in times when they do not necessarily know the right answer or need another persons point of view on a subject. The same is true even in the time of mighty Priam and Agamemnon.

W. Ratz 3 What defines a good counselor has changed over time but when Homer wrote The Iliad he used Nesters actions and his characteristics as the ideal advisor. The man of winning words, the clear speaker of Pylos sweeter than honey from his tongue the voice flowed on and on Two generations of mortal men he had seen go down by now, those who were born and bred with him in the old days, in Pylos holy realm, and now he ruled the third. He pleaded with both kings, with clear good will. (Book 1, 291-296) This introduction is longer than that given to either Agamemnon or Achilles. Homer made it relatively long either because Nestor was less well known to his audience than the other heroes or in order to emphasize his persuasiveness and venerability to give greater force to his words. Without speculating about motives, however, one can observe that the introduction brings together a number of qualities that define Nestor's character and the situation suggests that these qualities are what define the good counselor whom Nestor embodies. Nestors introduction may be divided into three parts. The first three lines present Nestor as a speaker, the next three lines as an elderly ruler, and the last line as a man of good intent. All three qualities, or sets of qualities, are essential to a good counselor. Nestor is referred to as a speaker first, then as a man of sweet words and speech then as clear-voiced orator, an epithet repeated of him, and then as one whose voice, flows sweeter than honey. The first description refers to the content of what Nestor says the second to the quality of his voice, and the third combines content and sound. The connection made between the content and manner of speech, and the clear implication that they are not to be separated is something to note throughout the book. The

W. Ratz 4 insufficiency of content or manner alone is brought home in Book Two with the treatment of the upstart Thersites, who provokes rebellion against Agamemnon and urges the Achaeans to abandon the cause and sail for home. Thersites is introduced as a man of fluent but disorderly speech. His head was full of obscenities, teeming with rant, all for no good reason, insubordinate, baiting the kings, anything to provoke laughter from the men. (Book 2, 247-249) This description contrasts his verbal dexterity with the disorderly quality of what he says. Then, after he speaks, Odysseus scolds him with a similar distinction, what a flood of abuse, Thersites even for you, fluent and flowing as you are. Keep quiet. Who are you to wrangle with the kings, you alone? So stop your babbling, mouthing the names of kings. (Book 2, 285-290) It is very clear from all these lines that Thersites verbal fluidity does not make him a good counselor. Thersites may be seen as a foil for Nestor. The Thersites episode, coming as it does early in the epic, emphasizes Nestor's exceptional abilities as a speaker and his skill in bringing manner and matter together in a disciplined whole.

The introduction goes on to tell the reader in the next three lines that Nestor has outlived two generations and is the ruler of the third. They point out his long life experience of leading and commanding for three generations. They tell us that he is still active and involved. Hence he is still strong, healthy, and in full possession of his wits, otherwise he would not be able to rule and to command obedience and respect. Just as the first three lines insist on the conjunction of the content and manner of the counselors speech, these lines insist on the conjunction of age with the physical and mental vitality that are characteristic of the prime of life. His activity and involvement differentiate

W. Ratz 5 Nestor from the old men at the Scaean gate in Book Three, in that Nestor is the Achaean of the Trojan elders, who, like him, are presented as old men and are commended for the quality of their speech: Long years had brought their fighting days to a halt but they were eloquent speakers still, clear as cicadas settled of treetops, lifting their voices through the forest, rising softly, falling, dying away so they waited, the old chiefs of Troy, as they sat aloft the tower. (Book 3, 180-184) These men are compared to Nestor by their sweet speech and their old age. However, unlike Nestor who fights in battles for more than half the epic, these old men are passive, they sit around and talk because they really cannot do much else. The separation of speech and action leave these old men empty, they may be able to sing a beautiful song but none of them take a position of leadership. The only time one of them even gives advice is in Book Seven when Antenor tells Priam that they must return Helen and all her riches to the Achaeans. Even though Priam is king of Troy, he is consistently shown yielding to the wishes of his son Paris, even to the detriment of his people, for example, in Book Seven he fails to listen to Antenors wise words and instead does what Paris wants, and keeps Helen in Troy (Book 7, 419-436). While he is kind to Helen, he rejects Antenor's sensible and just advice to return her because Paris opposes it, and, in fact, places Paris' wishes above the good of his kingdom. Nestor, in contrast, shown to be heeded by the Achaean heroes and is never shown placing the good of any individual above the good of the community. Even the great Achilles honors Nestor with a kind of pre-retirement prize of a double-handled jar; that left the fifth unclaimed, the jar with double handles. Bearing it through the crowd Achilles gave it to Nestor, standing close behind him, urging, here old friend a trophy for you too! (Book 23, 684-689), It is a

W. Ratz 6 clear expression of the respect that Achilles and the other heroes have for him. That it is Achilles who offers the prize, after having rejected Nestor's advice throughout the epic makes the gesture particularly meaningful as an affirmation of Nestor's status as the wise counselor of the Achaeans.

The first six lines of the introduction therefore bring together the two sets of characteristics that stipulate respectively the requisites of speaking and doing that Nestor possesses and seem to constitute essential features of the good adviser. The seventh line, He pleaded with both kings, with clear good will, Leads directly to Nestor's first advice and names yet another feature: his being well-intentioned. In contrast, the other two components, which refer respectively to Nestor's specific abilities as a speaker and to his life experience and current activities, his being well intentioned points to a quality of character or disposition. By highlighting his good intentions, Homer seems to indicate that once a person meets the other two requirements for being a good adviser, then he is to be judged by this measure of character, not only by whether he speaks sense and in a pleasing manner, but also by whether or not he cares, thinks positively of those he addresses, and means well.

The concept of the good counselor in The Iliad is evidently distinct from, and does not depend on, the outcome of the advice. Nestor is no less a good adviser because Agamemnon and Achilles choose not to take his advice about how to mend their rift, or because Patroclus is killed while wearing Achilles' arms, as Nestor had urged him to do. This disconnection between the quality of advice and its outcome is central to the time

W. Ratz 7 period of The Iliad. In The Iliad, outcomes are ultimately in the hands of the ever haphazard and fickle gods, there is no illusion that things will work out as expected, and the heroes are not necessarily viewed as responsible. Today we might have discredited Nestor in Book Two for falling for Zeuss fake dream, but Nestor is there to show the reader what a good counselor looks like with his blending of sensibility and eloquence, experience and vitality, and good intentions.