Book 23
"Son of Atreus, and all other Achaeans, these are the prizes that lie waiting the winners in the contest [agôn] of the chariot races. At any other time I should carry off the first prize and take it to my own tent; you know how much my steeds are better in excellence [aretê] than all others - for they are immortal; Poseidon gave them to my father Peleus, who in his turn gave them to myself; but I shall hold aloof, I and my steeds that have lost the glory [kleos] of their brave and kind driver, who many a time has washed them in clear water and anointed their manes with oil. See how they stand weeping here, with their manes trailing on the ground in the extremity of their sorrow. But do you others set yourselves in order throughout the host, whosoever has confidence in his horses and in the strength of his chariot."
177
Thus spoke the son of Peleus and the drivers of chariots bestirred themselves. First among them all uprose Eumelos, king of men, son of Admetos, a man excellent in horsemanship. Next to him rose mighty Diomedes son of Tydeus; he yoked the Trojan horses which he had taken from Aeneas, when Apollo bore him out of the fight. Next to him, yellow-haired Menelaos son of Atreus rose and yoked his fleet horses, Agamemnon's mare Aithe, and his own horse Podagros. The mare had been given to Agamemnon by Echepolos son of Anchises, that he might not have to follow him to Ilion, but might stay at home and take his ease; for Zeus had endowed him with great wealth and he lived in spacious Sicyon. This mare, all eager for the race, did Menelaos put under the yoke.
287
Fourth in order Antilokhos, son to noble Nestor son of Neleus, made ready his horses. These were bred in Pylos, and his father came up to him to give him good advice of which, however, he stood in but little need. "Antilokhos," said Nestor, "you are young, but Zeus and Poseidon have loved you well, and have made you an excellent horseman. I need not therefore say much by way of instruction. You are skillful at wheeling your horses round the post, but the horses themselves are very slow, and it is this that will, I fear, mar your chances. The other drivers know less than you do, but their horses are fleeter; therefore, my dear son, see if you cannot hit upon some artifice [mêtis] whereby you may insure that the prize shall not slip through your fingers. The woodsman does more by skill [mêtis] than by brute force [biê]; by skill [mêtis] the pilot guides his storm-tossed ship over the sea [pontos], and so by skill [mêtis] one driver can beat another. If a man go wide in rounding this way and that, whereas a man of craft [kerdos] may have worse horses, but he will keep them well in hand when he sees the turning-post [terma];
