THE NOSTOI aka THE RETURNS is a neglected epic in the Trojan War cycle. It is attributed to Agias or to Eumelus of Corinth. In the Epic Cycle, The Nostoi comes after The Sack of Troy and before The Odyssey. The epic deals with the homeward journeys of certain Greek heroes of the Trojan War other than Odysseus. The verse rendition of The Nostoi survives only in fragmentary form but there are surviving prose summaries of the work written by Proclus and Apollodorus.
THE NOSTOI – Picking up from the end of The Sack of Troy, the goddess Athena is still angry with the triumphant Greeks for the way Ajax the Lesser led the desecration of her temple inside Troy. She causes arguments among some of the Greek leaders, including the brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus, as a prelude to more deadly measures to come.
*** Diomedes and Nestor, free of hubris and considered free of the taint of the temple’s desecration, are granted swift and untroubled voyages with their fleets as they return home to Argos and Pylos, respectively.
*** Agamemnon is visited by the ghost of Achilles, who warns him not to set sail because of Athena’s anger. Impatient to return home, Agamemnon tries to appease Athena with a quick sacrifice, then departs. A storm sent by Zeus at Athena’s request ravages Agamemnon’s fleet, killing many on the Kapherian rocks, including the mad Ajax the Lesser. Continue reading
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