Hippota Nestor

To the memory of John H. Finley, Jr.,
an inspiring teacher and friend

τοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης μέλιτος γλυκίων ῥέεν αὐδή

Acknowledgments

This study has been supported by a number of sources in the course of its progress. Since 2000 I have had the good fortune to work for the Center for Hellenic Studies, and one of the benefits of this has been to bring to a close work that began several decades earlier. Before the CHS the New York Public Library was a crucial resource for many years, and before that a Mellon Fellowship at Columbia University gave rise to what is now Part 5 of the study. The heart of the study goes back a decade earlier, to the early 1970s, when a leave from Wellesley College and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities allowed me to follow up immediately on an unexpected insight into a problem that had concerned me previously, and to work out my basic argument. I could not foresee then how long it would take to elaborate this argument satisfactorily.

Among those who have read all or parts of this study I wish to thank in particular Anthony Snodgrass, who read an early draft of the entire study, and who responded generously and helpfully on many points. Gloria Ferrari also reacted to an early draft, and her reserve with regard to Part 3 is not out of place; there will be others who hesitate at that part of the argument, and I respect her position fully. I am grateful for advice, which I have sometimes followed and sometimes not, to several people who read some or all of Parts 1 and 2: Anna Bonifazi, Joel Christensen, Martine Cuypers, Casey Dué, Mary Ebbott, Peter Jackson, Olga Levaniouk, and Donna Wilson. To my old Homeric colleagues, Gregory Nagy and Leonard Muellner, I owe a great deal for their interest and support over the years. Their suggestions, and those of Mary Ebbott and Casey Dué, have improved my translations of Homeric passages. It has been a great pleasure to collaborate with all four in recent years.

I have had considerable help producing a simultaneous print and electronic publication. I wish to thank Emily Collinson, Christopher Dadian, Jeremy Lin, and Leonard Muellner in particular. I am grateful to Jill Curry Robbins for preparing the maps and figures, and to Erika Bainbridge and Temple Wright for their support in the CHS library. Caitlin Frame, who helped with the manuscript at an early stage, has my lasting gratitude and affection. The many others who have contributed with information or insights along the way I cannot acknowledge by name, except in my own mind.