Hero Biography 5 - Nestor
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Nestor
Nestor is a hero of great age and experience. He was a young boy back in the days when Heracles fought his way through the Peloponnese, and the direction of his life was greatly affected by his family's encounter with that hero. In fact, Heracles' war in Messenia did much to shape Nestor's character, and to an extent the rest of his life was sharply defined by this moment.
Nestor was born the son of Neleus and Chloris. Neleus was a direct descendant of Deucalion, the only mortal to survive the great flood of ancient times, and he became the king of Pylos in Messenia. Chloris was the daughter of King Amphion of Thebes and Niobe from Mt Sipylus in Maeonia. Neither of Nestor's parents led happy lives, though this is hardly unusual among heroes and women for whom even the gods feel envy. Niobe had so many sons and daughters that she fell a victim to hubris, boasting that she had had a great number of children, but that the Titaness Leto had only had two. This proved to be a mistake, since those two children happened to be the Olympian gods Apollo and Artemis. Enraged by Niobe's arrogance, Apollo and Artemis shot down all of her children - all but Chloris and Amyclas, who were spared after they prayed for mercy. Apparently moved by pity after the brutal slaughter of so many innocent children, Apollo promised that Chloris' son would live as long as three generations. At the time of the Oath of Tyndareus, Nestor had already been alive for two generations - it is likely that he will be around for some time yet.
Neleus originated in the city of Iolcus in Thessaly, but was banished by Pelias (the same man who sent Jason to Colchis to fetch the golden fleece) and fled to Messenia. There are differing stories about what happened next; one version says that Neleus founded the city of Pylos and became its first king, but another version claims that it was founded by Pylas, and that Neleus and his band of exiles conquered it from him and made it their own. The great hero Heracles came to Pylos, asking Neleus to purify him of the guilt of his murder of Iphitus, but Neleus refused to do so, since he was a friend of Iphitus' father Eurytus, the king of Oechalia in Aetolia. Heracles went away unpurified, and later on, when he was fighting wars in the Peloponnese, remembered Neleus' slight and attacked Pylos. Heracles was unstoppable and killed all of Neleus' sons except for Nestor. Nestor happened to be away at the time, being educated in the city of Gerenia (also in Messenia). Heracles sought him out and put him on the throne of Pylos, just as he put Priam on the throne of Troy after killing Laomedon (though he did not kill Neleus).
After Heracles left Messenia, Pylos was desperately impoverished. Its best warriors had perished in battle and its lands were devastated. King Phyleus of Elis to the North of Messenia, a traditional enemy, took the opportunity to raid Nestor's new kingdom, driving away cattle, stealing property and enslaving people. The Messenians did their best to defend themselves, and so the Eleans decided to send an army to assert their control completely. Among this army were the Molionides, twins whose bodies were joined together, some of the only warriors to ever defeat Heracles in battle. However, the goddess Athena came to help Nestor and he won the battle gloriously, killing the Elean hero Itymoneus and Mulius, the brother-in-law of Phyleus. He could not kill the Molionides themselves, however, since Poseidon shrouded them in a thick mist and rescued them from the battle.
After the war with Elis, Nestor's fame and reports of Pylos' resurgent power spread throughout the Peloponnese. This eventually led to a war with the Arcadians, whose country borders Messenia in the North-West. The greatest hero of Arcadia at the time was named Ereuthalion, a retainer of the Arcadian King Lycurgus. Ereuthalion was an extremely intimidating opponent, all the more so because of the divine armour that he wore. Many years before, the god Ares had given this divine armour to King Areithous the Maceman, and Lycurgus had slain Areithous and taken the armour for himself. This he eventually gave to Ereuthalion. As a result, nobody ever dared to challenge Ereuthalion - until Nestor. Though still a young man, he squared up to Ereuthalion and slew him in single combat.
Nestor has also taken part in a number of adventures in foreign lands, such as the hunt for the Calydonian boar. One of the most unusual of these adventures was the so-called 'Centauromachy', the war between the Lapiths and the Centaurs (strange half-man, half-horse creatures) of Thessaly. This began when the Lapith hero Pirithous married Hippodamia and invited the Centaurs to his palace to celebrate the wedding feast. Also present were princes from other cities in Achaea, including Theseus and Nestor. The Centaurs, being savage creatures in general, over-indulged in wine and became so drunk that they attempted to rape Hippodamia. The Lapiths would not let this insult go unheeded, and nor would the other civilised guests at the wedding. Together Nestor, Theseus and Pirithous fought a mighty war against the Centaurs, which resulted in their complete extinction. Only the civilised Centaur Chiron was left alive.
Later in life Nestor settled down to rule Pylos peacefully, though he could hardly ignore affairs throughout the rest of Achaea. As Agamemnon and Menelaus established themselves as lords of Mycenae and Sparta respectively, he came to be a trusted friend and advisor of theirs, especially after the Oath of Tyndareus bound the great princes of Achaea in loyalty to them. It is at this point in Nestor's life that the story of Aristeia begins.
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Soon the Trojan War broke out after Paris abducted Helen, and Nestor and his sons Antilochus and Thrasymedes naturally joined in with the other Achaean kings and princes who accompanied Agamemnon and Menelaus on their campaign to fight against Troy. Though he avoided much of the fighting due to his great age, Nestor nonetheless became famous throughout the Achaean army for the consistent wisdom of his counsel. Though good, his advice was not always heeded. If it had been it would have prevented the rift between Agamemnon and Achilles that led to the wrath of Achilles that the poet Homer depicts in the Iliad. Agamemnon wanted to take away Briseis, a slave girl that had been awarded to Achilles by the army; Nestor cautioned him not to do so, but also reminded Achilles that he should not disobey Agamemnon. Sadly neither man listened, and this led to great suffering for the Achaeans at the hands of the Trojan prince Hector.
Even though he was not always in the front ranks of the Achaeans at Troy, Nestor was undeniably one of the bravest. When Zeus, as Homer recounts, decided to grant victory in the Trojans until Achilles should return to the fray, the god sent a fantastic flash of lightning. All the Achaean heroes ran away except for Nestor, who stayed on the field with his chariot. Alas, Paris shot dead one of his horses, and so Nestor was forced to face Hector in single combat. The old man might have died, but Diomedes came back and joined in with him. Then Zeus sent another lightning bolt, which landed near them; Nestor took the god's hint, and together he and Diomedes made a fighting retreat. Eventually it was Nestor who persuaded Patroclus to take Achilles' Myrmidons out to fight; when Hector slew Patroclus, Achilles himself finally returned and tipped the balance back in the Achaeans' favour.
After the Trojan War Nestor and Diomedes set out home together, and Nestor remained in Pylos for the rest of his life. Later on, when Telemachus was looking for his father Odysseus (who was still detained on the island of Calypso while trying to get home from Troy), the young boy came to Pylos and was received by Nestor, who gave him hospitality. It is not known how Nestor came to die in the end.
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