Page 474 - the-iliad

les gave it to Nestor, going up to him among the assembled
Argives and saying, ‘Take this, my good old friend, as an
heirloom and memorial of the funeral of Patroclus—for
you shall see him no more among the Argives. I give you
this prize though you cannot win one; you can now neither
wrestle nor fight, and cannot enter for the javelin-match nor
foot-races, for the hand of age has been laid heavily upon
you.’
So saying he gave the urn over to Nestor, who received
it gladly and answered, ‘My son, all that you have said is
true; there is no strength now in my legs and feet, nor can
I hit out with my hands from either shoulder. Would that I
were still young and strong as when the Epeans were bury-
ing King Amarynceus in Buprasium, and his sons offered
prizes in his honour. There was then none that could vie
with me neither of the Epeans nor the Pylians themselves
nor the Aetolians. In boxing I overcame Clytomedes son of
Enops, and in wrestling, Ancaeus of Pleuron who had come
forward against me. Iphiclus was a good runner, but I beat
him, and threw farther with my spear than either Phyleus
or Polydorus. In chariot-racing alone did the two sons of
Actor surpass me by crowding their horses in front of me,
for they were angry at the way victory had gone, and at the
greater part of the prizes remaining in the place in which
they had been offered. They were twins, and the one kept
on holding the reins, and holding the reins, while the other
plied the whip. Such was I then, but now I must leave these
matters to younger men; I must bow before the weight of
years, but in those days I was eminent among heroes. And