Nestor & Meleager are a pair of Greek hunters and Phil's old friends from the Hercules episodes "Hercules and the Disappearing Heroes" and "Hercules and the Caledonian Boar". Nestor is known to have keen eyesight which allows him to see very far while Meleager has extraordinary hearing abilities which allows him to hear things from far distances. They were voiced by Jim Belushi and Nicholas Turturro.
Role in the series[]
In "Hercules and the Disappearing Heroes", while on a game of bowling, Nestor and Meleager meet Hecate and her two flying wolf assistants at the bar. The villains kidnap the two heroes and trap them in cages, along with other heroes, including Odysseus, who later had his cunning stolen as well. They later kidnap Mentor, a tough trooper, and put him in a cage as well. The villains steal Nestor's vision power, Meleager's hearing power, and Mentor's toughness to add on to a creature Hecate is creating.
When the villains are about to go to the Underworld, they have to pass through a door which the creature will break down, but soon realizes he's not strong enough to do so. Hecate then plans on stealing Hercules' strength. They watch Herc getting interviewed by a griffin host and force him to show his strength, which they steal. They then trap Hercules in a cage with all the other heroes. Phil and Chipacles show up, stating that they followed Herc, and free the heroes.
The heroes use their collective weaknesses to slow the monster until Hades finds out what's going on. Hercules lies to an unconvinced Hades about Hecate's involvement, but simply gives her another statuette of himself in mock appreciation (having been given the same things before countless times), which she gives to the heroes for bowling after returning their gifts.
In "Hercules and the Caledonian Boar", Hercules and Phil go to Caledonia to hunt boars for the weekend. While they are on their way, they meet Nestor and Meleager, who will join them on their hunt. While the four arrive to Caledonia and have dinner next to a campfire, an angry boar shows up and pushes the wagon they're in onto a cliff. Suddenly, a centaur named Chiron throws arrows at the boar, who runs away, and saves the life of the four.
The five are on their second attempt to catch the boar. While it is eating grass, Phil makes Herc sneakily catch him. But when Herc says that he can't, Phil's response by shouting gets the boars attention and it chases the two until they get on a tree branch. The boar hits the tree, making Herc and Phil fall off and land on it. The boar makes swings itself and makes Herc and Phil fall off and land on mud and it runs off. Nestor, Meleager, and Chiron show up and make fun of Herc being a flincher.
Hercules claims that hunting for boars is not for him, much to everyone's surprise, and leaves. He then gets caught in a net and meets Artemis, goddess of the wild, who is impressed by his mercy towards the boars and appoints him their protector. Phil meanwhile searches for Hercules and also encounters Artemis, who transforms him into a boar to teach him a lesson. He is then hunted by Meleager, Nestor, and Chiron, who are constantly foiled by Hercules (all unaware of his true identity). After Hercules has tied all three heroes up, Artemis returns and changes Phil back, cautioning that the next time they hunt, their prey might be one of their own.
Trivia[]
- Meleager makes a cameo in "Hercules and the Spartan Experience", when Herc, Icarus, and Adonis do the ultimate training test.
Gallery[]
