From 82282bc37b37031e68067fb755d729d06c30e07d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Guacanole01 <98541203+Guacanole01@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2025 14:48:23 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 1/2] WIP --- tf-idf.ipynb | 227 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt | 0 tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt | 0 tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt | 0 tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt | 0 tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.txt | 0 6 files changed, 226 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) create mode 100644 tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt create mode 100644 tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt create mode 100644 tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt create mode 100644 tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt create mode 100644 tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.txt diff --git a/tf-idf.ipynb b/tf-idf.ipynb index 8b13789..768fab3 100644 --- a/tf-idf.ipynb +++ b/tf-idf.ipynb @@ -1 +1,226 @@ - +{ + "cells": [ + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 23, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "name": "stdout", + "output_type": "stream", + "text": [ + "Requirement already satisfied: lxml in /usr/local/python/3.12.1/lib/python3.12/site-packages (5.3.1)\n", + "\n", + "\u001b[1m[\u001b[0m\u001b[34;49mnotice\u001b[0m\u001b[1;39;49m]\u001b[0m\u001b[39;49m A new release of pip is available: \u001b[0m\u001b[31;49m24.3.1\u001b[0m\u001b[39;49m -> \u001b[0m\u001b[32;49m25.0.1\u001b[0m\n", + "\u001b[1m[\u001b[0m\u001b[34;49mnotice\u001b[0m\u001b[1;39;49m]\u001b[0m\u001b[39;49m To update, run: \u001b[0m\u001b[32;49mpython -m pip install --upgrade pip\u001b[0m\n", + "Note: you may need to restart the kernel to use updated packages.\n" + ] + } + ], + "source": [ + "%pip install lxml" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 24, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [], + "source": [ + "from lxml import etree\n", + "from pathlib import Path" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "Problem: Tf-Idf for the three homer documents in the tlg0012 folder" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 15, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [], + "source": [ + "#opening files\n", + "files = list(Path(\"tlg0012\").glob(\"./**/*perseus-eng*.xml\")) #** is search all the subdir, then search for perseus-eng with anything after it\n", + "#it will look at each of the files and match each of the files w perseus-eng\n", + "\n", + "# for f in files:\n", + "# print(f)" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 38, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [], + "source": [ + "TEI_NS = \"{http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0}\"\n", + "XML_NS = \"{http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace}\"\n", + "NAMESPACES = {\n", + " \"tei\": TEI_NS,\n", + " \"xml\": XML_NS\n", + "}" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": null, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "name": "stdout", + "output_type": "stream", + "text": [ + "[]\n", + "[]\n", + "[]\n", + "[]\n", + "[]\n" + ] + } + ], + "source": [ + "# DOESNT WORK LOL\n", + "# iterate thru each of the files and parse using xml\n", + "for file in files:\n", + " tree = etree.parse(file)\n", + " # print(tree)\n", + " # looking for a div in the namespace tei; then looking for an attribute (@) of subtype = card, then, \n", + " # after getting all the \"p\"'s in the same namespace, take all the text(w function \"text()\")\n", + " text = tree.xpath(\".//tei:div[@subtype='card']//text()\", namespaces=NAMESPACES)\n", + " cleaned_text =[]\n", + " for t in text:\n", + " # getting rid of all the empty strings\n", + " if t.strip() != \"\": \n", + " cleaned_text.append(t)\n", + " print(cleaned_text)\n", + " # \n", + " with open(str(file).split(\"/\")[-1].replace(\".xml\", \".txt\"), \"w+\") as f:\n", + " f.write('\\n'.join(cleaned_text))\n" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": null, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [], + "source": [ + "for file in files:\n", + " print(file)\n", + " tree = etree.parse(file)\n", + " for p in tree.iterfind(f\"//{TEI_NS}text//{TEI_NS}p\"): #saying find every p element (in the tei namespace) in the text and get any text in that element(p)\n", + " print(p.text)\n" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + " however now we only get text within a p element; so whenever there's text in a diff element (ie \"note\") it produces whitespace" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 21, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "name": "stdout", + "output_type": "stream", + "text": [ + "tlg0012/tlg001/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.xml\n" + ] + }, + { + "ename": "XPathEvalError", + "evalue": "Invalid expression", + "output_type": "error", + "traceback": [ + "\u001b[0;31m---------------------------------------------------------------------------\u001b[0m", + "\u001b[0;31mXPathEvalError\u001b[0m Traceback (most recent call last)", + "Cell \u001b[0;32mIn[21], line 4\u001b[0m\n\u001b[1;32m 2\u001b[0m \u001b[38;5;28mprint\u001b[39m(file)\n\u001b[1;32m 3\u001b[0m tree \u001b[38;5;241m=\u001b[39m etree\u001b[38;5;241m.\u001b[39mparse(file)\n\u001b[0;32m----> 4\u001b[0m text \u001b[38;5;241m=\u001b[39m \u001b[43mtree\u001b[49m\u001b[38;5;241;43m.\u001b[39;49m\u001b[43mxpath\u001b[49m\u001b[43m(\u001b[49m\u001b[38;5;124;43mf\u001b[39;49m\u001b[38;5;124;43m\"\u001b[39;49m\u001b[38;5;124;43m//\u001b[39;49m\u001b[38;5;132;43;01m{\u001b[39;49;00m\u001b[43mTEI_NS\u001b[49m\u001b[38;5;132;43;01m}\u001b[39;49;00m\u001b[38;5;124;43mtext//\u001b[39;49m\u001b[38;5;132;43;01m{\u001b[39;49;00m\u001b[43mTEI_NS\u001b[49m\u001b[38;5;132;43;01m}\u001b[39;49;00m\u001b[38;5;124;43mp\u001b[39;49m\u001b[38;5;124;43m\"\u001b[39;49m\u001b[43m)\u001b[49m\n", + "File \u001b[0;32msrc/lxml/etree.pyx:2365\u001b[0m, in \u001b[0;36mlxml.etree._ElementTree.xpath\u001b[0;34m()\u001b[0m\n", + "File \u001b[0;32msrc/lxml/xpath.pxi:342\u001b[0m, in \u001b[0;36mlxml.etree.XPathDocumentEvaluator.__call__\u001b[0;34m()\u001b[0m\n", + "File \u001b[0;32msrc/lxml/xpath.pxi:210\u001b[0m, in \u001b[0;36mlxml.etree._XPathEvaluatorBase._handle_result\u001b[0;34m()\u001b[0m\n", + "\u001b[0;31mXPathEvalError\u001b[0m: Invalid expression" + ] + } + ], + "source": [ + "for file in files:\n", + " print(file)\n", + " tree = etree.parse(file)\n", + " text = tree.xpath(f\"//{TEI_NS}text//{TEI_NS}p\")" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": null, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "name": "stdout", + "output_type": "stream", + "text": [ + "[PosixPath('tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.txt'), PosixPath('tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt'), PosixPath('tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt'), PosixPath('tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt'), PosixPath('tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt')]\n" + ] + } + ], + "source": [ + "from collections import Counter\n", + "\n", + "text_files = list(Path(\".\").glob(\"tlg0012.tlg00*.perseus-eng*.txt\"))\n", + "counts = {}\n", + "\n", + "for t in text_files:\n", + " name = str(t) # key in counts\n", + "\n", + " with open(t) as f:\n", + " text = f.read().lower().split() #reading, then lowercasing, and finally splitting on yt-space\n", + " counts[name] = Counter(text)\n" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": null, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [], + "source": [ + "# to get idf's\n", + "term = 'ulysses'\n", + "df_ulysses = 0\n", + "for _, els in counts.iterms():\n", + " if term in els:\n", + " d_ulysses += 1\n", + "\n", + "df_ulysses\n", + "#[1 if term in counts.ke] # doc freq is 1 if the term is in " + ] + } + ], + "metadata": { + "kernelspec": { + "display_name": "Python 3", + "language": "python", + "name": "python3" + }, + "language_info": { + "codemirror_mode": { + "name": "ipython", + "version": 3 + }, + "file_extension": ".py", + "mimetype": "text/x-python", + "name": "python", + "nbconvert_exporter": "python", + "pygments_lexer": "ipython3", + "version": "3.12.1" + } + }, + "nbformat": 4, + "nbformat_minor": 2 +} diff --git a/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt b/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 diff --git a/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt b/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 diff --git a/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt b/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 diff --git a/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt b/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 diff --git a/tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.txt b/tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 From 371f575a0d02a81d2cecc29c1138c66a5b35c460 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Guacanole01 <98541203+Guacanole01@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2025 04:24:46 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Finished the exercise and checked the amount of unique terms in with set() and len(). Also populated the perseus text files because they were empty for some reasons. Finally, I deleted the tlg003 file because it was empty/not used in the class website. --- tf-idf.ipynb | 4474 ++++++++- tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt | 7079 +++++++++++++++ tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt | 14504 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt | 4975 ++++++++++ tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt | 11033 +++++++++++++++++++++++ tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.txt | 0 6 files changed, 42003 insertions(+), 62 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.txt diff --git a/tf-idf.ipynb b/tf-idf.ipynb index 768fab3..db5d6f8 100644 --- a/tf-idf.ipynb +++ b/tf-idf.ipynb @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ "cells": [ { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 23, + "execution_count": 49, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [ { @@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 24, + "execution_count": 50, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [], "source": [ @@ -35,17 +35,17 @@ "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ - "Problem: Tf-Idf for the three homer documents in the tlg0012 folder" + "Tf-Idf for the three homer documents in the tlg0012 folder" ] }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 15, + "execution_count": 51, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [], "source": [ "#opening files\n", - "files = list(Path(\"tlg0012\").glob(\"./**/*perseus-eng*.xml\")) #** is search all the subdir, then search for perseus-eng with anything after it\n", + "files = Path(\"tlg0012\").glob(\"./**/*perseus-eng*.xml\") #** is search all the subdir, then search for perseus-eng with anything after it\n", "#it will look at each of the files and match each of the files w perseus-eng\n", "\n", "# for f in files:\n", @@ -54,12 +54,13 @@ }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 38, + "execution_count": 52, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [], "source": [ "TEI_NS = \"{http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0}\"\n", "XML_NS = \"{http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace}\"\n", + "\n", "NAMESPACES = {\n", " \"tei\": TEI_NS,\n", " \"xml\": XML_NS\n", @@ -68,44 +69,48 @@ }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": null, + "execution_count": 53, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [ { "name": "stdout", "output_type": "stream", "text": [ - "[]\n", - "[]\n", - "[]\n", - "[]\n", - "[]\n" + "tlg0012/tlg001/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.xml\n", + "tlg0012/tlg001/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.xml\n", + "tlg0012/tlg003/tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.xml\n", + "tlg0012/tlg002/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.xml\n", + "tlg0012/tlg002/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.xml\n" ] } ], "source": [ - "# DOESNT WORK LOL\n", "# iterate thru each of the files and parse using xml\n", "for file in files:\n", + " print(file)\n", " tree = etree.parse(file)\n", - " # print(tree)\n", - " # looking for a div in the namespace tei; then looking for an attribute (@) of subtype = card, then, \n", - " # after getting all the \"p\"'s in the same namespace, take all the text(w function \"text()\")\n", - " text = tree.xpath(\".//tei:div[@subtype='card']//text()\", namespaces=NAMESPACES)\n", - " cleaned_text =[]\n", + " text = tree.xpath(f\"//tei:div[@subtype='card']//text()\", namespaces=NAMESPACES)\n", + " \n", + " cleaned_text = []\n", " for t in text:\n", - " # getting rid of all the empty strings\n", - " if t.strip() != \"\": \n", - " cleaned_text.append(t)\n", - " print(cleaned_text)\n", - " # \n", - " with open(str(file).split(\"/\")[-1].replace(\".xml\", \".txt\"), \"w+\") as f:\n", - " f.write('\\n'.join(cleaned_text))\n" + " if t.strip() != \"\":\n", + " cleaned_text.append(t.strip())\n", + "\n", + " if len(cleaned_text) > 0:\n", + " with open(str(file).split(\"/\")[-1].replace(\".xml\", \".txt\"), \"w+\") as f:\n", + " f.write(\"\\n\".join(cleaned_text))" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "## End of TF-IDF Recap" ] }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": null, + "execution_count": 39, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [], "source": [ @@ -125,80 +130,4425 @@ }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 21, + "execution_count": 40, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [], + "source": [ + "from collections import Counter\n", + "\n", + "text_files = list(Path(\".\").glob(\"tlg0012.tlg00*.perseus-eng*.txt\"))\n", + "counts = {}\n", + "\n", + "for t in text_files:\n", + " name = str(t) # key in counts\n", + "\n", + " with open(t) as f:\n", + " text = f.read().lower().split() #reading, then lowercasing, and finally splitting on yt-space\n", + " counts[name] = Counter(text)\n" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 41, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "data": { + "text/plain": [ + "0" + ] + }, + "execution_count": 41, + "metadata": {}, + "output_type": "execute_result" + } + ], + "source": [ + "# to get idf's\n", + "term = 'ulysses'\n", + "df_ulysses = 0\n", + "for _, els in counts.items():\n", + " if term in els:\n", + " df_ulysses += 1\n", + "\n", + "df_ulysses\n", + "#[1 if term in counts.ke] # doc freq is 1 if the term is in " + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "## TF-IDF in Action" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 55, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [ { "name": "stdout", "output_type": "stream", "text": [ - "tlg0012/tlg001/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.xml\n" + "Requirement already satisfied: nltk in /usr/local/python/3.12.1/lib/python3.12/site-packages (3.9.1)\n", + "Requirement already satisfied: click in /usr/local/python/3.12.1/lib/python3.12/site-packages (from nltk) (8.1.8)\n", + "Requirement already satisfied: joblib in /home/codespace/.local/lib/python3.12/site-packages (from nltk) (1.4.2)\n", + "Requirement already satisfied: regex>=2021.8.3 in /usr/local/python/3.12.1/lib/python3.12/site-packages (from nltk) (2024.11.6)\n", + "Requirement already satisfied: tqdm in /usr/local/python/3.12.1/lib/python3.12/site-packages (from nltk) (4.67.1)\n", + "\n", + "\u001b[1m[\u001b[0m\u001b[34;49mnotice\u001b[0m\u001b[1;39;49m]\u001b[0m\u001b[39;49m A new release of pip is available: \u001b[0m\u001b[31;49m24.3.1\u001b[0m\u001b[39;49m -> \u001b[0m\u001b[32;49m25.0.1\u001b[0m\n", + "\u001b[1m[\u001b[0m\u001b[34;49mnotice\u001b[0m\u001b[1;39;49m]\u001b[0m\u001b[39;49m To update, run: \u001b[0m\u001b[32;49mpython -m pip install --upgrade pip\u001b[0m\n", + "Note: you may need to restart the kernel to use updated packages.\n" ] - }, + } + ], + "source": [ + "%pip install nltk" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 56, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ { - "ename": "XPathEvalError", - "evalue": "Invalid expression", - "output_type": "error", - "traceback": [ - "\u001b[0;31m---------------------------------------------------------------------------\u001b[0m", - "\u001b[0;31mXPathEvalError\u001b[0m Traceback (most recent call last)", - "Cell \u001b[0;32mIn[21], line 4\u001b[0m\n\u001b[1;32m 2\u001b[0m \u001b[38;5;28mprint\u001b[39m(file)\n\u001b[1;32m 3\u001b[0m tree \u001b[38;5;241m=\u001b[39m etree\u001b[38;5;241m.\u001b[39mparse(file)\n\u001b[0;32m----> 4\u001b[0m text \u001b[38;5;241m=\u001b[39m \u001b[43mtree\u001b[49m\u001b[38;5;241;43m.\u001b[39;49m\u001b[43mxpath\u001b[49m\u001b[43m(\u001b[49m\u001b[38;5;124;43mf\u001b[39;49m\u001b[38;5;124;43m\"\u001b[39;49m\u001b[38;5;124;43m//\u001b[39;49m\u001b[38;5;132;43;01m{\u001b[39;49;00m\u001b[43mTEI_NS\u001b[49m\u001b[38;5;132;43;01m}\u001b[39;49;00m\u001b[38;5;124;43mtext//\u001b[39;49m\u001b[38;5;132;43;01m{\u001b[39;49;00m\u001b[43mTEI_NS\u001b[49m\u001b[38;5;132;43;01m}\u001b[39;49;00m\u001b[38;5;124;43mp\u001b[39;49m\u001b[38;5;124;43m\"\u001b[39;49m\u001b[43m)\u001b[49m\n", - "File \u001b[0;32msrc/lxml/etree.pyx:2365\u001b[0m, in \u001b[0;36mlxml.etree._ElementTree.xpath\u001b[0;34m()\u001b[0m\n", - "File \u001b[0;32msrc/lxml/xpath.pxi:342\u001b[0m, in \u001b[0;36mlxml.etree.XPathDocumentEvaluator.__call__\u001b[0;34m()\u001b[0m\n", - "File \u001b[0;32msrc/lxml/xpath.pxi:210\u001b[0m, in \u001b[0;36mlxml.etree._XPathEvaluatorBase._handle_result\u001b[0;34m()\u001b[0m\n", - "\u001b[0;31mXPathEvalError\u001b[0m: Invalid expression" + "name": "stderr", + "output_type": "stream", + "text": [ + "[nltk_data] Downloading package punkt to /home/codespace/nltk_data...\n", + "[nltk_data] Package punkt is already up-to-date!\n", + "[nltk_data] Downloading package punkt_tab to\n", + "[nltk_data] /home/codespace/nltk_data...\n", + "[nltk_data] Package punkt_tab is already up-to-date!\n" ] + }, + { + "data": { + "text/plain": [ + "True" + ] + }, + "execution_count": 56, + "metadata": {}, + "output_type": "execute_result" } ], "source": [ - "for file in files:\n", - " print(file)\n", - " tree = etree.parse(file)\n", - " text = tree.xpath(f\"//{TEI_NS}text//{TEI_NS}p\")" + "import nltk\n", + "\n", + "# download the files needed for tokenization\n", + "# the punkt tokenizer should be installed already,\n", + "# but let's download it just in case\n", + "nltk.download(\"punkt\")\n", + "nltk.download(\"punkt_tab\")" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "#### Tokenize text\n", + "With the tokenizer downloaded, we can now read in and tokenize each text." ] }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": null, + "execution_count": 57, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [ { "name": "stdout", "output_type": "stream", "text": [ - "[PosixPath('tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.txt'), PosixPath('tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt'), PosixPath('tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt'), PosixPath('tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt'), PosixPath('tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt')]\n" + "There are 200630 tokens in tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt.\n", + "There are 135463 tokens in tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt.\n", + "There are 175611 tokens in tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt.\n", + "There are 152631 tokens in tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt.\n" ] } ], + "source": [ + "# Initialize the tokenizer\n", + "from nltk.tokenize import word_tokenize\n", + "\n", + "# Initialize an empty dictionary to store the tokenized texts\n", + "tokenized_texts = {}\n", + "\n", + "# Get a Path.glob() iterator for the .txt files that you've created in this directory.\n", + "# Can you figure out what the new `[1-4]` segment is doing?\n", + "text_files = Path(\".\").glob(\"tlg0012.tlg00*.perseus-eng[1-4].txt\")\n", + "\n", + "# Iterate through the text files, reading and tokenizing them one by one,\n", + "# then storing the list of tokens in our `tokenized_texts` dictionary —\n", + "# so we'll be getting a dictionary of lists.\n", + "for file in text_files:\n", + " name = str(file)\n", + "\n", + " with open(file) as f:\n", + " # Notice we're lowercasing the text. You don't *have*\n", + " # to do this, but it helps eliminate some noise for\n", + " # our purposes.\n", + " text = f.read().lower()\n", + " tokens = word_tokenize(text)\n", + "\n", + " # Let's just print the length of the tokens list to make\n", + " # sure we're getting sane results. We'll use string interpolation\n", + " # to identify which text we're working with.\n", + " print(f\"There are {len(tokens)} tokens in {name}.\")\n", + "\n", + " # Store each file's `tokens` list in the `tokenized_texts`\n", + " # dictionary, using the filename as the key.\n", + " tokenized_texts[name] = tokens" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "#### Count the Tokens\n", + "Now, we could count these tokens by hand, but why do that when Python gives us the Counter object?" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 58, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [], "source": [ "from collections import Counter\n", "\n", - "text_files = list(Path(\".\").glob(\"tlg0012.tlg00*.perseus-eng*.txt\"))\n", - "counts = {}\n", + "# Using our `tokenized_texts` dictionary, we'll iterate\n", + "# through each key-value pair — remember, the keys are\n", + "# filenames and the values are lists of tokens.\n", + "# We'll get a count of the tokens by passing the list to\n", + "# `Counter`, then we'll change the value for that key to\n", + "# a dictionary with its own keys, `tokens` and `counts`.\n", "\n", - "for t in text_files:\n", - " name = str(t) # key in counts\n", + "for filename, tokens in tokenized_texts.items():\n", + " counts = Counter(tokens)\n", "\n", - " with open(t) as f:\n", - " text = f.read().lower().split() #reading, then lowercasing, and finally splitting on yt-space\n", - " counts[name] = Counter(text)\n" + " tokenized_texts[filename] = {\"tokens\": tokens, \"counts\": counts}" ] }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": null, + "execution_count": 59, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "data": { + "text/plain": [ + "128" + ] + }, + "execution_count": 59, + "metadata": {}, + "output_type": "execute_result" + } + ], + "source": [ + "tokenized_texts[\"tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt\"][\"counts\"][\"odysseus\"]" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "#### Calculate the document frequency for a given term\n", + "Let’s compare occurrences of the strings \"odysseus\" and \"achilles\" — we probably expect the former to “matter” more for the Odysseus, and the latter for the Iliad. Let’s see if that’s the case." + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 60, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [], "source": [ - "# to get idf's\n", - "term = 'ulysses'\n", - "df_ulysses = 0\n", - "for _, els in counts.iterms():\n", - " if term in els:\n", - " d_ulysses += 1\n", + "df_achilles = 0\n", + "df_odysseus = 0\n", "\n", - "df_ulysses\n", - "#[1 if term in counts.ke] # doc freq is 1 if the term is in " + "# Calculate the DF for \"odysseus\" and \"achilles\".\n", + "# We iterate through the dictionary, and then simply\n", + "# count the number of files in which we find each term.\n", + "# For these two terms, we should probably expect DFs of 4.\n", + "for filename, values in tokenized_texts.items():\n", + " if \"odysseus\" in values['counts']:\n", + " df_odysseus += 1\n", + " \n", + " if \"achilles\" in values[\"counts\"]:\n", + " df_achilles += 1\n", + "\n", + "# Now we'll import the log function to calculate the IDF for each term.\n", + "from math import log10\n", + "\n", + "n_docs = len(tokenized_texts.keys())\n", + "\n", + "idf_achilles = log10(n_docs / df_achilles)\n", + "idf_odysseus = log10(n_docs / df_odysseus)" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 61, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "name": "stdout", + "output_type": "stream", + "text": [ + "200630\n", + "In tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt:\n", + "TF of achilles: 0.002043562777251657\n", + "TF of odysseus: 0.000637990330459054\n", + "TF-IDF of achilles: 0.0\n", + "TF-IDF of odysseus: 0.0\n", + "\n", + "135463\n", + "In tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt:\n", + "TF of achilles: 0.0001254955227626732\n", + "TF of odysseus: 0.0042816119530794386\n", + "TF-IDF of achilles: 0.0\n", + "TF-IDF of odysseus: 0.0\n", + "\n", + "175611\n", + "In tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt:\n", + "TF of achilles: 0.002403038534032606\n", + "TF of odysseus: 0.0007061061095261686\n", + "TF-IDF of achilles: 0.0\n", + "TF-IDF of odysseus: 0.0\n", + "\n", + "152631\n", + "In tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt:\n", + "TF of achilles: 0.0001048279838302835\n", + "TF of odysseus: 0.0041603606082643765\n", + "TF-IDF of achilles: 0.0\n", + "TF-IDF of odysseus: 0.0\n", + "\n" + ] + } + ], + "source": [ + "# Now let's calculate the TF-IDF \"score\" for each term in each document.\n", + "\n", + "# Once again, iterate through the dictionary.\n", + "for filename, values in tokenized_texts.items():\n", + " # Get the total number of terms in each file — we'll\n", + " # use this to calculate the relative frequency as our\n", + " # TF.\n", + " total_terms = len(values['tokens'])\n", + " print(total_terms)\n", + " # Get the TF for each term in this file.\n", + " tf_achilles = values['counts']['achilles'] / total_terms\n", + " tf_odysseus = values['counts']['odysseus'] / total_terms\n", + "\n", + " # Remember, the simplest version of TF-IDF is just\n", + " # TF * 1/DF\n", + " tf_idf_achilles = tf_achilles * idf_achilles\n", + " tf_idf_odysseus = tf_odysseus * idf_odysseus\n", + "\n", + " # Now we can report on the statistics for this file\n", + " print(f\"\"\"In {filename}:\n", + "TF of achilles: {tf_achilles}\n", + "TF of odysseus: {tf_odysseus}\n", + "TF-IDF of achilles: {tf_idf_achilles}\n", + "TF-IDF of odysseus: {tf_idf_odysseus}\n", + "\"\"\")" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "### Set Exercise\n" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 62, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "data": { + "text/plain": [ + "{1, 2, 3}" + ] + }, + "execution_count": 62, + "metadata": {}, + "output_type": "execute_result" + } + ], + "source": [ + "my_list = [1, 1, 2, 3, 3]\n", + "\n", + "set(my_list)" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 63, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "data": { + "text/plain": [ + "{'tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt': {'ungirt',\n", + " 'cudgels',\n", + " '249.1',\n", + " 'hap',\n", + " 'meeteth',\n", + " 'heart—these',\n", + " 'strong-built',\n", + " 'rum',\n", + " 'availeth',\n", + " 'achaeams',\n", + " 'racked',\n", + " 'loud-resounding',\n", + " 'sepulchre',\n", + " 'fire-dogs',\n", + " 'succouring',\n", + " 'indignity',\n", + " 'marshallers',\n", + " '271.1',\n", + " 'earth—who',\n", + " 'dolorous',\n", + " 'prayed—to',\n", + " 'clamour',\n", + " 'epicles',\n", + " 'hieth',\n", + " 'settest',\n", + " 'belloweth',\n", + " 'athwart',\n", + " 'wind-swept',\n", + " 'wavered',\n", + " 'aesepus',\n", + " 'awaiteth',\n", + " 'imbrius',\n", + " 'unrelentingly',\n", + " 'centre-piece',\n", + " 'lycomedes',\n", + " 'loveth',\n", + " 'shrieked',\n", + " 'drinking-bouts',\n", + " 'host.',\n", + " 'woes—',\n", + " 'cleareth',\n", + " 'levelling',\n", + " 'withal—',\n", + " 'aepytus',\n", + " 'watch-fires',\n", + " 'idas',\n", + " 'wands',\n", + " 'adjuring',\n", + " 'thersilochus',\n", + " 'eëriboea',\n", + " 'tasselled',\n", + " 'biddeth',\n", + " 'battlegear',\n", + " 'displeasing',\n", + " 'hyrtacus',\n", + " 'coif',\n", + " 'archelochus',\n", + " 'axius—',\n", + " 'sweepeth',\n", + " 'minisheth',\n", + " 'ptolemaeus',\n", + " 'selli',\n", + " 'babbler',\n", + " 'corpse—for',\n", + " 'rose-sweet',\n", + " 'rolleth',\n", + " 'skilless',\n", + " 'ensigns',\n", + " 'hips',\n", + " '565.2',\n", + " 'ordaineth',\n", + " 'loud-bellowing',\n", + " 'unmeet',\n", + " 'ship—and',\n", + " 'eteonus',\n", + " 'way—in',\n", + " 'echinae',\n", + " '163.1',\n", + " '—for',\n", + " 'purposed',\n", + " '81.1',\n", + " 'fulfilll',\n", + " 'fair-woven',\n", + " 'singers',\n", + " 'shrinking',\n", + " 'hither-ward',\n", + " 'glorified',\n", + " 'keenest',\n", + " 'uprisen',\n", + " 'thick-flying',\n", + " 'eüssorus',\n", + " 'summoning',\n", + " 'abundantly—',\n", + " 'peace—yet',\n", + " 'many—my',\n", + " 'lionhearted',\n", + " 'quaff',\n", + " 'single-hooved',\n", + " 'forging',\n", + " 'ascanius',\n", + " 'lycastus',\n", + " 'fillies',\n", + " 'hippothous',\n", + " 'housefolk',\n", + " 'menestheus—and',\n", + " 'crook',\n", + " 'regardeth',\n", + " 'ower',\n", + " '521.1',\n", + " 'disarray',\n", + " 'sword—were',\n", + " 'avoweth',\n", + " 'practius',\n", + " 'overturn',\n", + " 'flutter',\n", + " 'looketh',\n", + " 'pen',\n", + " 'blindeth',\n", + " 'younglings',\n", + " 'above—',\n", + " 'chideth',\n", + " 'shearing',\n", + " 'exacting',\n", + " 'observed',\n", + " 'maeonian',\n", + " 'washing-tanks',\n", + " 'agrius',\n", + " 'numbing',\n", + " 'medesicaste',\n", + " 'chieftans',\n", + " 'father-slayer',\n", + " 'horse-man',\n", + " 'anything—who',\n", + " 'neighbour',\n", + " 'hecabe',\n", + " 'things—my',\n", + " 'bent-back',\n", + " 'discern',\n", + " 'hooved',\n", + " 'piaited',\n", + " 'boastest',\n", + " 'long-tarrying',\n", + " 'eëtion',\n", + " 'many-ridged',\n", + " 'division',\n", + " 'boebeïs',\n", + " 'enters',\n", + " 'river—and',\n", + " 'delighting',\n", + " 'borus',\n", + " 'chalcon',\n", + " 'close-wrapped',\n", + " 'endued',\n", + " 'podaleirius',\n", + " 'setteth',\n", + " 'hyades',\n", + " 'coileth',\n", + " 'melanippus',\n", + " 'declaring',\n", + " 'sheddeth',\n", + " \"e'er\",\n", + " 'aenus',\n", + " 'blood.',\n", + " 'rusheth',\n", + " 'amphoterus',\n", + " 'striketh',\n", + " 'oenomaus',\n", + " 'clan',\n", + " 'mecisteus',\n", + " 'grievously',\n", + " 'arraying',\n", + " 'inviolable',\n", + " 'timolus',\n", + " 'bronze-wrought',\n", + " 'payest',\n", + " 'due—',\n", + " 'taslets',\n", + " 'seeth',\n", + " 'pheme',\n", + " 'argeïphontes',\n", + " 'prefer',\n", + " 'license',\n", + " 'learnt',\n", + " 'boastfully',\n", + " 'chiefly',\n", + " 'mount—yet',\n", + " 'watchers',\n", + " 'sendest',\n", + " 'pylaeus',\n", + " 'closest',\n", + " 'rightminded',\n", + " 'cyparisseïs',\n", + " 'slumbering',\n", + " 'cowered',\n", + " 'deïpylus',\n", + " 'hypeirochus',\n", + " 'deemeth',\n", + " 'dardanus',\n", + " 'ogler',\n", + " 'plain—being',\n", + " 'oloösson',\n", + " 'differs',\n", + " 'outthrew',\n", + " 'glaucus',\n", + " 'fair-growing',\n", + " 'wheresoever',\n", + " 'ceas',\n", + " 'compasseth',\n", + " 'lamentest',\n", + " 'maketh',\n", + " 'spaclous',\n", + " 'stratia',\n", + " 'augeiae',\n", + " 'trunks',\n", + " 'sea—',\n", + " 'enjoined',\n", + " 'adread',\n", + " 'profitless',\n", + " 'foolhardy',\n", + " 'turning-points',\n", + " 'democoon',\n", + " 'scyrus',\n", + " '—on',\n", + " 'bathycles',\n", + " 'they—',\n", + " 'safer',\n", + " 'poureth',\n", + " 'taskmaster',\n", + " 'honses',\n", + " 'disorderly',\n", + " 'abreast',\n", + " 'colour',\n", + " 'ran—for',\n", + " 'ill-sounding',\n", + " 'opheltius',\n", + " 'fore-most',\n", + " 'linos-song',\n", + " 'aesymnus',\n", + " 'maiden—youth',\n", + " 'rageth',\n", + " 'runneth',\n", + " 'swooned',\n", + " 'irketh',\n", + " 'weigheth',\n", + " 'aflame',\n", + " 'collar',\n", + " 'apportionment',\n", + " 'rendeth',\n", + " 'poising',\n", + " 'seaboard',\n", + " 'well-fitted',\n", + " 'dip',\n", + " 'kingship',\n", + " 'first-born',\n", + " 'defilement',\n", + " 'resoundeth',\n", + " 'varied',\n", + " 'beseemeth',\n", + " 'send—even',\n", + " 'troyland',\n", + " 'feathered',\n", + " 'cymothoë',\n", + " 'grapple',\n", + " 'gentle-mindedness',\n", + " 'sideward',\n", + " 'river-bed',\n", + " 'townsfolk—far',\n", + " 'pylaemenes',\n", + " 'meliboea',\n", + " 'pleadings',\n", + " 'endureth',\n", + " 'sentinel',\n", + " 'cephisus',\n", + " 'sleeping-places',\n", + " 'thole',\n", + " 'clytomedes',\n", + " 'dismount',\n", + " '519.1',\n", + " 'oresbius',\n", + " 'aegialeia',\n", + " 'overcometh',\n", + " 'coveteth',\n", + " 'minyeïus',\n", + " 'espy',\n", + " 'bright-eyed',\n", + " 'telamon—fools',\n", + " 'speedeth',\n", + " 'leeches',\n", + " 'puppet',\n", + " 'vehement',\n", + " 'abydus',\n", + " '—whereas',\n", + " 'pliant',\n", + " 'feebly',\n", + " 'out-stretched',\n", + " 'swing',\n", + " 'thereof—nay',\n", + " 'faltered',\n", + " 'thick-set',\n", + " 'wain—men',\n", + " '—of',\n", + " 'overmastered',\n", + " 'shrinketh',\n", + " 'saith',\n", + " 'mattock',\n", + " 'ganymedes',\n", + " 'dust-cloud',\n", + " 'cythera—him',\n", + " 'elders—to',\n", + " 'lyres',\n", + " 'polymelus',\n", + " 'pleiades',\n", + " 'aepeia',\n", + " 'stripling',\n", + " 'bindeth',\n", + " 'yoke-pad',\n", + " 'cadmeians',\n", + " '419.1',\n", + " 'coroneia',\n", + " 'deïphobus',\n", + " 'ships—fools',\n", + " '—hampered',\n", + " 'therethrough',\n", + " 'getteth',\n", + " 'contriver',\n", + " 'promptings',\n", + " 'stripes',\n", + " 'iphiclus',\n", + " 'yoketh',\n", + " 'crowned—the',\n", + " 'proudly',\n", + " 'scamander',\n", + " '49.1',\n", + " 'feil',\n", + " 'socus',\n", + " 'frieads',\n", + " 'half-talent',\n", + " 'dulled',\n", + " 'heard—',\n", + " 'robbeth',\n", + " 'behest',\n", + " 'high-road',\n", + " 'vouch-safed',\n", + " 'troezenus',\n", + " '177.1',\n", + " 'curbing',\n", + " 'podarces',\n", + " 'bested',\n", + " 'no—for',\n", + " 'helus',\n", + " '—altes',\n", + " 'standeth',\n", + " 'arcesilaus',\n", + " 'bowmanship',\n", + " 'lunged',\n", + " 'renounce',\n", + " 'bronze-greaved',\n", + " '171.1',\n", + " 'sheer-falling',\n", + " 'well-builded',\n", + " 'taiaemenes',\n", + " 'knight',\n", + " 'doryclus',\n", + " 'leadeth',\n", + " 'astynous',\n", + " 'baldrics—',\n", + " 'avow',\n", + " 'areithous',\n", + " 'wide-scattered',\n", + " 'achaia',\n", + " 'liers-in-wait',\n", + " 'livedst',\n", + " 'plain—',\n", + " 'aegis—the',\n", + " 'odius',\n", + " 'pleasure—the',\n", + " 'mideia',\n", + " 'discerneth',\n", + " 'tight-stretched',\n", + " 'hipponous',\n", + " 'muscle',\n", + " 'copreus',\n", + " 'fortifications',\n", + " 'fresh-wounded',\n", + " 'hyrtius',\n", + " 'caletor',\n", + " 'trica',\n", + " 'rods',\n", + " 'athrob',\n", + " 'licymnius',\n", + " 'mill-stone',\n", + " 'walketh',\n", + " 'unheedful',\n", + " 'infatuate',\n", + " 'tartarus',\n", + " 'weaving-rod',\n", + " '569.1',\n", + " 'numb',\n", + " 'ravage',\n", + " 'unheard',\n", + " 'undo',\n", + " 'demuchus',\n", + " 'enfolding',\n", + " 'daze',\n", + " 'swine-herd',\n", + " 'bronze-smith',\n", + " 'pteleos',\n", + " 'stripligs',\n", + " 'hector—for',\n", + " 'whirring',\n", + " 'antheia',\n", + " 'asclepius',\n", + " 'dewy-fresh',\n", + " 'amphidamus',\n", + " 'otherwhere',\n", + " 'welleth',\n", + " 'buprasium',\n", + " 'catcheth',\n", + " 'close-fastening',\n", + " 'dishonoured',\n", + " 'brandisheth',\n", + " 'ahoud',\n", + " 'swft',\n", + " 'destroyeth',\n", + " 'beholdeth',\n", + " 'fie',\n", + " 'bubbleth',\n", + " 'rain-drops',\n", + " 'horse-taming',\n", + " 'nipples',\n", + " 'neareat',\n", + " '—himself',\n", + " 'cleaveth',\n", + " 'over-weening',\n", + " 'pandocus',\n", + " 'halië',\n", + " 'waggon',\n", + " 'movedst',\n", + " 'twang',\n", + " 'child-bearing',\n", + " 'ochesius',\n", + " 'younger-born',\n", + " 'rift',\n", + " 'skulk',\n", + " '—hold',\n", + " 'well-inhabited',\n", + " 'winnower',\n", + " 'hippomachus',\n", + " 'sware',\n", + " 'peneius',\n", + " 'buckle',\n", + " 'privily',\n", + " 'loud-voiced',\n", + " 'persisteth',\n", + " '53.2',\n", + " 'hoary',\n", + " 'thalysius',\n", + " 'mailed',\n", + " 'gnaw',\n", + " 'offerest',\n", + " '551.2',\n", + " '275.1',\n", + " 'wind-nurtured',\n", + " 'thessalus',\n", + " 'pards',\n", + " 'exulteth',\n", + " 'lease',\n", + " 'mightier—',\n", + " '—some',\n", + " 'hopest',\n", + " 'straitened',\n", + " 'shield-rim',\n", + " 'drink-offiering',\n", + " 'oft',\n", + " 'laboureth',\n", + " 'simples',\n", + " 'wardeth',\n", + " 'pried',\n", + " 'through—',\n", + " 'alpheius',\n", + " 'raging—thitherward',\n", + " 'lyrnessus',\n", + " 'confounds',\n", + " 'greatsouled',\n", + " 'courseth',\n", + " '43.1',\n", + " 'prancing',\n", + " 'me—night',\n", + " 'stags',\n", + " 'phlegyes',\n", + " 'garden-lots',\n", + " 'ensnareth',\n", + " 'urgeth',\n", + " 'acessamenus',\n", + " 'betake',\n", + " 'dight',\n", + " 'troy-land',\n", + " 'prophetic',\n", + " 'cameirus',\n", + " 'knelt',\n", + " 'beateth',\n", + " 'coucheth',\n", + " 'mellay',\n", + " 'highway',\n", + " 'pursueth',\n", + " 'them—even',\n", + " 'olympus—',\n", + " 'ninth—so',\n", + " 'cypris',\n", + " 'exulted',\n", + " '53.1',\n", + " 'runagate',\n", + " 'unbearable',\n", + " 'maemalus',\n", + " 'privy',\n", + " 'guarding',\n", + " 'simois',\n", + " 'long-edged',\n", + " 'harry',\n", + " 'scattereth',\n", + " 'dallied',\n", + " 'schoenus',\n", + " 'thalpius',\n", + " 'measurehess',\n", + " 'isander',\n", + " 'antilochos',\n", + " 'aether',\n", + " 'outran',\n", + " 'echius',\n", + " 'pyraechmes',\n", + " 'melting-vats',\n", + " 'defacement',\n", + " 'harbour',\n", + " 'phausius',\n", + " 'encountered',\n", + " 'constellations',\n", + " 'nosmon',\n", + " '59.1',\n", + " 'erylaus',\n", + " 'fir-tree',\n", + " 'devoureth',\n", + " 'slaving',\n", + " 'reproachfully',\n", + " '—not',\n", + " 'dancing-floor',\n", + " 'meed',\n", + " 'purposes',\n", + " 'strongly-wrought',\n", + " 'applauding',\n", + " 'abii',\n", + " 'them—the',\n", + " 'new-wrought',\n", + " 'pedaeus',\n", + " 'stabbed',\n", + " 'whenas',\n", + " 'fouling',\n", + " 'aïdoneus',\n", + " 'ialmenus',\n", + " 'gods—he',\n", + " 'ox-eyed',\n", + " 'ephyri',\n", + " 'yield—hades',\n", + " 'bronze-clad',\n", + " 'allurements',\n", + " 'hurtling',\n", + " 'lamentation—they',\n", + " 'saffron-robed',\n", + " 'nurseth',\n", + " 'horses.but',\n", + " 'afresh',\n", + " 'victors',\n", + " 'upbringing',\n", + " 'fightest',\n", + " 'thymbre',\n", + " 'ascania',\n", + " 'hector',\n", + " 'recking',\n", + " 'horses—the',\n", + " 'boileth',\n", + " 'divisions—in',\n", + " 'anteia',\n", + " 'marsh-land',\n", + " 'contempt',\n", + " 'agamemon',\n", + " 'attiring',\n", + " 'finst',\n", + " 'downy',\n", + " 'numbed',\n", + " 'storm-footed',\n", + " 'holden',\n", + " 'sthenelus',\n", + " 'rhigmus',\n", + " 'unspeakable—wolves',\n", + " 'thoön',\n", + " 'telleth',\n", + " 'capys',\n", + " 'thie',\n", + " 'madest',\n", + " 'pelium',\n", + " 'pitifully',\n", + " \"bull's-hides\",\n", + " 'pynope',\n", + " 'glistering',\n", + " 'mould',\n", + " 'profiteth',\n", + " 'endlessly',\n", + " 'callianeira',\n", + " 'coiled',\n", + " '181.1',\n", + " 'citywards',\n", + " 'heptaporus',\n", + " 'coursed',\n", + " 'cardamyle',\n", + " 'journeying',\n", + " 'deathward',\n", + " 'choven',\n", + " '—nay',\n", + " 'mantineia',\n", + " 'clonius',\n", + " 'epeians',\n", + " 'people-devouring',\n", + " 'araisodarus',\n", + " 'fear—for',\n", + " 'unransomed',\n", + " 'man-child',\n", + " 'unbought',\n", + " 'unblest',\n", + " '301.1',\n", + " 'deïpyrus',\n", + " 'lycaon',\n", + " 'sintian',\n", + " 'dishonour',\n", + " 'waging',\n", + " 'carrieth',\n", + " '—the',\n", + " 'alcathous—son',\n", + " 'marriage-feast',\n", + " 'hungereth',\n", + " 'ill-boding',\n", + " 'embassage',\n", + " 'attain',\n", + " '13.2',\n", + " 'ful',\n", + " 'driving-back',\n", + " 'polyxeinus',\n", + " 'sorrowed',\n", + " 'bronze-mailed',\n", + " 'arm-bands',\n", + " 'floateth',\n", + " 'discerned',\n", + " 'commanders',\n", + " 'lyco',\n", + " 'th',\n", + " 'oïleus',\n", + " 'war-toil',\n", + " 'pealed',\n", + " 'purposing',\n", + " 'error',\n", + " 'undefiled',\n", + " 'sore-wearied',\n", + " 'combat.',\n", + " 'running—meanwhile',\n", + " 'enwrap',\n", + " 'athene',\n", + " 'chaseth',\n", + " 'labouring',\n", + " 'polypoetes',\n", + " 'honoureth',\n", + " 'enwrapping',\n", + " 'driveth',\n", + " 'troes',\n", + " 'echeclus',\n", + " 'sesamon',\n", + " 'smiteth',\n", + " 'orthaeus',\n", + " '—skilled',\n", + " 'mists',\n", + " 'lamentings',\n", + " 'judgement',\n", + " '207.1',\n", + " 'screen',\n", + " 'shin',\n", + " 'lycophontes',\n", + " 'spear-thrusts',\n", + " 'pereia',\n", + " 'insults',\n", + " 'midmost',\n", + " 'rumour',\n", + " 'underbrush',\n", + " 'me—and',\n", + " 'warcry',\n", + " 'pronous',\n", + " 'chalcodon',\n", + " 'thundereth',\n", + " 'zeus—born',\n", + " 'orneiae',\n", + " 'centre',\n", + " 'ship-timber',\n", + " 'lop',\n", + " 'rhipe',\n", + " 'toiling',\n", + " 'steading—but',\n", + " 'unstintedly',\n", + " 'erythini',\n", + " 'pinnets',\n", + " 'ithaemenes',\n", + " 'dastard',\n", + " 'resteth',\n", + " 'wist',\n", + " 'battle-din',\n", + " 'war-gear',\n", + " 'corpse—the',\n", + " 'aidoneus',\n", + " 'helpmeet',\n", + " 'annointed',\n", + " 'monnment',\n", + " 'cebriones',\n", + " 'bristleth',\n", + " 'earthward',\n", + " 'horses—even',\n", + " 'polyidus',\n", + " 'tilleth',\n", + " 'tarne',\n", + " '229.1',\n", + " 'gat',\n", + " 'hindereth',\n", + " 'cloven',\n", + " 'clanging',\n", + " 'acamas',\n", + " 'rejoiceth',\n", + " 'biding',\n", + " 'speio',\n", + " 'billowy',\n", + " 'crasheth',\n", + " 'eileithyia',\n", + " 'go—it',\n", + " 'fluently',\n", + " 'rebukings',\n", + " 'dint',\n", + " 'clave',\n", + " 'golden-winged',\n", + " 'foredone',\n", + " 'sendeth',\n", + " 'creak',\n", + " 'succour',\n", + " 'ohd',\n", + " 'mnesus',\n", + " 'prothoënor',\n", + " 'assaileth',\n", + " 'molus',\n", + " 'diligent',\n", + " 'trusteth',\n", + " '551.1',\n", + " 'corslet',\n", + " 'titaressus',\n", + " 'achaeans—even',\n", + " 'over-haughty',\n", + " 'deviseth',\n", + " '133.1',\n", + " 'upbraids',\n", + " 'holdeth',\n", + " 'unshepherded',\n", + " 'perdition',\n", + " 'atone',\n", + " 'rod',\n", + " 'combatants',\n", + " 'drawest',\n", + " 'gathereth',\n", + " 'bell-wether',\n", + " 'advance',\n", + " 'atreus—for',\n", + " 'helice',\n", + " 'stud',\n", + " 'battalion',\n", + " '379.1',\n", + " 'thrasius',\n", + " 'many-ribbed',\n", + " '397.1',\n", + " 'accomplisheth',\n", + " 'faithless',\n", + " 'wheeleth',\n", + " 'dare—and',\n", + " 'thrasymelus',\n", + " 'outstay',\n", + " 'foot-men',\n", + " 'turning-point',\n", + " 'rough-cast',\n", + " 'ot',\n", + " 'alcathous',\n", + " 'lifetime',\n", + " 'outstrippeth',\n", + " 'confounded',\n", + " 'trembiing',\n", + " 'waggon-track',\n", + " 'thrice-prayed-for',\n", + " 'fasteth',\n", + " 'sakes',\n", + " 'landmark-stones',\n", + " 'feareth',\n", + " 'relax',\n", + " \"bull's-hide\",\n", + " 'prevaileth',\n", + " '423.1',\n", + " 'lesser',\n", + " 'haze',\n", + " 'palate',\n", + " 'well-twisted',\n", + " 'wile',\n", + " 'half-divine—of',\n", + " 'crapathus',\n", + " 'crocyleia',\n", + " 'swoopeth',\n", + " 'withdraweth',\n", + " 'groweth',\n", + " 'rampart',\n", + " 'scamandrius',\n", + " 'lessen',\n", + " '—if',\n", + " 'heaped-up',\n", + " 'lyctus',\n", + " 'aegialus',\n", + " 'love—as',\n", + " 'tenderly',\n", + " 'ploughing—for',\n", + " 'hooves',\n", + " 'more.',\n", + " 'blackened',\n", + " 'pike',\n", + " 'dwelleth',\n", + " 'flax',\n", + " 'heedeth',\n", + " '483.2',\n", + " 'grieveth',\n", + " 'cutteth',\n", + " 'full-wrought',\n", + " 'unpossessed',\n", + " '239.1',\n", + " 'strong-hooved',\n", + " 'undermost',\n", + " 'meseemeth',\n", + " 'fulness',\n", + " 'trustv',\n", + " 'podargus',\n", + " 'weareth',\n", + " 'asaeus',\n", + " 'asteropaeus',\n", + " 'outrun',\n", + " 'groaneth',\n", + " 'interpreters',\n", + " 'comers',\n", + " 'yore',\n", + " 'vauntingly',\n", + " 'puffing',\n", + " '563.1',\n", + " 'many-benched',\n", + " 'possesseth',\n", + " 'fleetly',\n", + " 'home-return',\n", + " 'heart—it',\n", + " 'wayfaring',\n", + " 'sorrowless',\n", + " 'wrathful',\n", + " 'phylomedusa',\n", + " 'budeum',\n", + " 'them—these',\n", + " 'therefrom—to',\n", + " 'wetteth',\n", + " 'come—sore',\n", + " 'strophius',\n", + " 'awaken',\n", + " 'clutcheth',\n", + " '0',\n", + " 'grovelling',\n", + " 'cheiron',\n", + " 'whelm',\n", + " 'thymbraeus',\n", + " 'battling',\n", + " 'rage—',\n", + " 'spreadeth',\n", + " 'mountain-dwelling',\n", + " 'portioned',\n", + " 'echecles',\n", + " 'soundeth',\n", + " 'him—and',\n", + " 'deed—one',\n", + " 'well-shod',\n", + " 'nuountain',\n", + " 'launching-ways',\n", + " 'sleepeth',\n", + " 'despiteful',\n", + " 'hinu',\n", + " 'worketh',\n", + " 'accompany',\n", + " 'assuaging',\n", + " 'cringed',\n", + " 'maeonia',\n", + " '485.2',\n", + " 'kindliness',\n", + " 'stirreth',\n", + " 'neglectful',\n", + " '—zeus',\n", + " 'aglaïa',\n", + " 'darest',\n", + " 'autonous',\n", + " 'orphan',\n", + " 'snatcheth',\n", + " 'echepolus',\n", + " 'pointless',\n", + " 'gambolled',\n", + " 'caenus',\n", + " 'wide-flowing',\n", + " 'man-hood',\n", + " 'asian',\n", + " 'approveth',\n", + " 'intervene',\n", + " 'beguiler',\n", + " 'renounced',\n", + " 'achaeans—for',\n", + " 'bosom—eurynome',\n", + " 'pedasus',\n", + " 'scourgeth',\n", + " '509.1',\n", + " 'cruel-fated',\n", + " 'scolus',\n", + " 'whirleth',\n", + " 'laogonus',\n", + " 'antimachus',\n", + " 'staineth',\n", + " 'menesthius',\n", + " 'spattered',\n", + " 'boagrius',\n", + " 'powers',\n", + " 'chicks',\n", + " 'blazed',\n", + " 'fire—in',\n", + " 'parcheth',\n", + " 'iapetus',\n", + " 'harvesttime',\n", + " 'boasteth',\n", + " 'compacts',\n", + " 'gown',\n", + " 'panteth',\n", + " 'unfed',\n", + " 'hand—upon',\n", + " 'belch',\n", + " 'entrusted',\n", + " 'ships—they',\n", + " 'washen',\n", + " 'unshaken',\n", + " '203.1',\n", + " 'overmaster',\n", + " 'astyocheia',\n", + " 'axius',\n", + " 'aback',\n", + " 'adrastus',\n", + " 'callianassa',\n", + " 'ones—even',\n", + " 'there—for',\n", + " 'pastureland',\n", + " 'gazest',\n", + " 'hippolochus',\n", + " 'wordrous',\n", + " 'weepest',\n", + " 'vaguely',\n", + " '215.1',\n", + " 'son—his',\n", + " 'sounded',\n", + " 'imbrasus',\n", + " 'maeonians',\n", + " 'all-gleaming',\n", + " 'begat—he',\n", + " 'on-coming',\n", + " 'calleth',\n", + " 'peered',\n", + " 'noëmon',\n", + " 'balius',\n", + " 'turmuoil',\n", + " 'fatal',\n", + " 'yesternight',\n", + " 'falcons—',\n", + " 'hand—an',\n", + " 'paeëon',\n", + " 'circleth',\n", + " 'tree-trunks',\n", + " 'rangeth',\n", + " 'arsinous',\n", + " 'breathing-space',\n", + " 'refrained',\n", + " 'streweth',\n", + " 'all-unscathed',\n", + " 'offereth',\n", + " 'appeareth',\n", + " 'byre',\n", + " 'broughtest',\n", + " 'betook',\n", + " 'aethra',\n", + " 'loth',\n", + " 'face—i',\n", + " 'assenting',\n", + " 'alcimedon',\n", + " ...},\n", + " 'tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt': {'nausithoos',\n", + " 'thrifty',\n", + " 'intrigue',\n", + " 'sea-side',\n", + " 'mysterious',\n", + " 'baggage',\n", + " 'bounty',\n", + " 'principal',\n", + " 'allow',\n", + " 'satisfactory',\n", + " 'accounting',\n", + " 'hatchet',\n", + " 'phaethousa',\n", + " 'chop',\n", + " 'timely',\n", + " 'import',\n", + " 'crows',\n", + " 'avenging',\n", + " 'swaggering',\n", + " 'persistent',\n", + " 'chimneys',\n", + " 'cretan',\n", + " 'recline',\n", + " 'impress',\n", + " 'unmeasurable',\n", + " 'cooking',\n", + " 'advantageous',\n", + " 'manure',\n", + " 'imagine',\n", + " 'blighting',\n", + " 'gold-enthroned',\n", + " 'regained',\n", + " 'familiarity',\n", + " 'maidservant',\n", + " 'gobbled',\n", + " 'resuming',\n", + " 'noticed',\n", + " 'deathlike',\n", + " 'subtlety',\n", + " 'consulted',\n", + " 'square',\n", + " 'scarf',\n", + " 'steersmen',\n", + " 'misfortunes',\n", + " 'uncertainty',\n", + " 'walled',\n", + " 'unsettling',\n", + " 'voyages',\n", + " 'beck',\n", + " 'affect',\n", + " 'prison',\n", + " 'wiliness',\n", + " 'market',\n", + " 'invites',\n", + " 'indisputable',\n", + " 'obstacles',\n", + " 'privateering',\n", + " 'difficulties',\n", + " 'squally',\n", + " 'demoptolemos',\n", + " 'juryman',\n", + " 'cruse',\n", + " 'defying',\n", + " 'cajoled',\n", + " 'center-piece',\n", + " 'voyage.',\n", + " 'wrecking',\n", + " 'movingly',\n", + " 'apeira',\n", + " 'kneading',\n", + " 'acceptance',\n", + " 'remove',\n", + " 'damp',\n", + " 'interest',\n", + " 'bliss',\n", + " 'magnificent',\n", + " 'melanthios',\n", + " 'exercises',\n", + " 'ikarios',\n", + " 'irrepressible',\n", + " 'wayfarers',\n", + " 'rumors',\n", + " 'astonish',\n", + " 'ill-conditioned',\n", + " 'constancy',\n", + " 'strong-box',\n", + " 'eurymedousa',\n", + " 'mistrust',\n", + " 'indoors',\n", + " 'nightfall',\n", + " 'onto',\n", + " 'privately',\n", + " 'scampered',\n", + " 'warning',\n", + " 'atrociously',\n", + " 'groove',\n", + " 'foretold',\n", + " 'thrinacian',\n", + " 'tramps',\n", + " 'site',\n", + " 'abominable',\n", + " 'overlap',\n", + " 'well-ripened',\n", + " 'peacefulness',\n", + " 'leda',\n", + " 'differently',\n", + " 'crews',\n", + " 'sardonically',\n", + " 'house-keeper',\n", + " 'schemes',\n", + " 'pork',\n", + " 'lessons',\n", + " 'repeat',\n", + " 'mantios',\n", + " 'scrolls',\n", + " 'ill-judged',\n", + " 'twenty-oared',\n", + " 'staid',\n", + " 'scarred',\n", + " 'inches',\n", + " 'water-loving',\n", + " 'ill-treated',\n", + " 'amphinomos',\n", + " 'wanderers',\n", + " 'overflow',\n", + " 'dining',\n", + " 'grandfather',\n", + " 'brokenhearted',\n", + " 'gull',\n", + " 'precincts',\n", + " 'amnisos',\n", + " 'squaring',\n", + " 'yells',\n", + " 'ill-treating',\n", + " 'valuables',\n", + " 'clapping',\n", + " 'downstairs',\n", + " 'dissipated',\n", + " 'nericum',\n", + " 'resume',\n", + " 'cephallênians',\n", + " 'escorts',\n", + " 'consciousness',\n", + " 'deign',\n", + " 'attempt',\n", + " 'schemer',\n", + " 'sob',\n", + " 'studied',\n", + " '-for',\n", + " 'sympathy',\n", + " 'formerly',\n", + " 'unwasted',\n", + " 'petition',\n", + " 'fine-looking',\n", + " 'conferred',\n", + " 'discharge',\n", + " 'treatment',\n", + " 'shambles',\n", + " 'tremendous',\n", + " 'pottering',\n", + " 'instinctive',\n", + " 'proceeded',\n", + " 'backstay',\n", + " 'precipices',\n", + " 'wreckage',\n", + " 'evidently',\n", + " 'likes',\n", + " 'walking',\n", + " 'lucky',\n", + " 'dish',\n", + " 'squalid',\n", + " 'egging',\n", + " 'neighboring',\n", + " 'score',\n", + " 'sunrise',\n", + " 'murdering',\n", + " 'sufficient',\n", + " 'ripens',\n", + " 'blue',\n", + " 'noiselessly',\n", + " 'bleeds',\n", + " 'emptied',\n", + " 'ill-behaved',\n", + " 'turned.',\n", + " 'well-mated',\n", + " 'dikai',\n", + " 'appearance',\n", + " 'intention',\n", + " 'tricky',\n", + " 'fingered',\n", + " 'swindler',\n", + " 'dry-rotted',\n", + " 'peloponnese',\n", + " 'pretext',\n", + " 'acre',\n", + " 'extremely',\n", + " 'apt',\n", + " 'foreland',\n", + " 'sportsmen',\n", + " 'leukas',\n", + " 'fruitlessly',\n", + " 'pylian',\n", + " 'reasonably',\n", + " 'pig',\n", + " 'permanently',\n", + " 'interpretation',\n", + " 'girds',\n", + " 'crunch',\n", + " 'feather',\n", + " 'unmarried',\n", + " 'schemed',\n", + " 'prodigies',\n", + " 'disreputable',\n", + " 'secured',\n", + " 'absurd',\n", + " 'antlered',\n", + " 'exit',\n", + " 'connected',\n", + " 'handy',\n", + " 'boyhood',\n", + " 'verbal',\n", + " 'frame',\n", + " 'frowned',\n", + " 'creditable',\n", + " 'practice',\n", + " 'conscience-stricken',\n", + " 'melampos',\n", + " 'monarch',\n", + " 'overheard',\n", + " 'amply',\n", + " 'vantage',\n", + " 'talisman',\n", + " 'needlework',\n", + " 'warful',\n", + " 'washing-cisterns',\n", + " 'nations',\n", + " 'auger',\n", + " 'meat-basket',\n", + " 'pyriphlegethon',\n", + " 'simpletons',\n", + " 'noses',\n", + " 'belonged',\n", + " 'customs',\n", + " 'stools',\n", + " 'salutations',\n", + " 'fraud',\n", + " 'enchantments',\n", + " 'contribute',\n", + " 'deserve',\n", + " 'answering',\n", + " 'well-disposed',\n", + " 'sundry',\n", + " 'curly',\n", + " 'intercourse',\n", + " 'breadbaskets',\n", + " 'rascal',\n", + " 'giantess',\n", + " 'wonderfully',\n", + " 'prematurely',\n", + " 'shoo',\n", + " 'good-bye',\n", + " 'anticipates',\n", + " 'straightening',\n", + " 'aietes',\n", + " 'artisans',\n", + " 'erembians',\n", + " 'excepted',\n", + " 'merge',\n", + " 'stratios',\n", + " 'purchased',\n", + " 'nation',\n", + " 'once.',\n", + " 'wooden',\n", + " 'govern',\n", + " 'tempts',\n", + " 'disputes',\n", + " 'telemos',\n", + " 'gibes',\n", + " 'discuss',\n", + " 'foresworn',\n", + " 'fact',\n", + " 'thunder-bolts',\n", + " 'overarching',\n", + " 'modest',\n", + " 'virgin',\n", + " 'blacksmith',\n", + " 'seldom',\n", + " 'visits',\n", + " 'protector',\n", + " 'hoeing',\n", + " 'positive',\n", + " 'bondwoman',\n", + " 'coppers',\n", + " 'fisherman',\n", + " 'barbarous',\n", + " 'shave',\n", + " 'cheese-racks',\n", + " 'gloomy',\n", + " 'traveling',\n", + " 'dogfish',\n", + " 'ekhthron',\n", + " 'levy',\n", + " 'antagonist',\n", + " 'management',\n", + " 'piloted',\n", + " 'raiding',\n", + " 'comfortingly',\n", + " 'portended',\n", + " 'elect',\n", + " 'good-for-nothing',\n", + " 'steaming',\n", + " 'kerdea',\n", + " 'extraordinarily',\n", + " 'krînô',\n", + " 'lamented',\n", + " 'stratagem',\n", + " 'punished',\n", + " 'worries',\n", + " 'irritable',\n", + " 'hereabouts',\n", + " 'asopos',\n", + " 'coasts',\n", + " 'feelings',\n", + " 'toasted',\n", + " 'astonishment',\n", + " 'chickens',\n", + " 'enamel',\n", + " 'strictly',\n", + " 'miller-woman',\n", + " 'rude',\n", + " 'competing',\n", + " 'high-handedly',\n", + " 'reminds',\n", + " 'perilous',\n", + " 'prospered',\n", + " 'drown',\n", + " 'detain',\n", + " 'ringleaders',\n", + " 'dolios',\n", + " 'affectionate',\n", + " 'fish-like',\n", + " 'outbuildings',\n", + " 'vainest',\n", + " 'independent',\n", + " 'ducts',\n", + " 'bevy',\n", + " 'hearers',\n", + " 'eurylokhos',\n", + " 'twittering',\n", + " 'strainers',\n", + " '-lay',\n", + " 'convincing',\n", + " 'pat',\n", + " 'torture',\n", + " 'rigorously',\n", + " 'scrubbed',\n", + " 'ebb',\n", + " 'periklymenos',\n", + " 'wink',\n", + " 'irrigate',\n", + " 'moons',\n", + " 'importunity',\n", + " 'alkandra',\n", + " 'convinced',\n", + " 'shamefaced',\n", + " 'endeavors',\n", + " 'listens',\n", + " 'rills',\n", + " 'guild',\n", + " 'sea-horses',\n", + " 'uncivil',\n", + " 'thrives',\n", + " 'giggling',\n", + " 'warble',\n", + " 'nods',\n", + " 'pious',\n", + " 'oak-shoots',\n", + " 'shiver',\n", + " 'encouragingly',\n", + " 'iros',\n", + " 'clamored',\n", + " 'donors',\n", + " 'squeal',\n", + " 'seagulls',\n", + " 'merchants',\n", + " 'cechalian-',\n", + " 'dispute',\n", + " 'woe-begone',\n", + " 'messenians',\n", + " 'enormous',\n", + " 'amphiaraos',\n", + " 'loitering',\n", + " 'select',\n", + " 'ultimately',\n", + " 'persons',\n", + " 'humming',\n", + " 'group',\n", + " 'unfastened',\n", + " 'legacy',\n", + " 'mimicked',\n", + " 'generally',\n", + " 'scepter-bearing',\n", + " \"'you\",\n", + " 'sea-gull',\n", + " 'fire-eater',\n", + " 'remarkable',\n", + " 'saluted',\n", + " 'abounds',\n", + " 'astonished',\n", + " 'interrupted',\n", + " 'saluting',\n", + " 'ache',\n", + " 'reprimand',\n", + " 'reality',\n", + " 'contended',\n", + " 'nobly',\n", + " 'marauders',\n", + " 'unexpectedly',\n", + " 'sea-gulls',\n", + " 'bye',\n", + " 'conjecture',\n", + " 'world.',\n", + " 'supersede',\n", + " 'aver',\n", + " 'steadying',\n", + " 'fatigue',\n", + " 'scenes',\n", + " 'fretting',\n", + " 'cell',\n", + " 'staircase',\n", + " 'traveled',\n", + " 'stranded',\n", + " 'discernment',\n", + " 'hereditary',\n", + " 'apartment',\n", + " 'unwarily',\n", + " 'behave',\n", + " 'dreamed',\n", + " 'disguising',\n", + " 'refitting',\n", + " 'ogre',\n", + " 'compel',\n", + " 'whirlpool',\n", + " 'fresh-risen',\n", + " 'eurymakhos',\n", + " 'estimation',\n", + " 'breeder',\n", + " 'resembling',\n", + " 'guilds',\n", + " 'fuel',\n", + " 'usual',\n", + " 'detested',\n", + " 'upstairs',\n", + " 'sights',\n", + " 'anchor',\n", + " 'apatê',\n", + " 'uneaten',\n", + " 'ornaments',\n", + " 'unsuspicious',\n", + " 'shocked',\n", + " 'hurdles',\n", + " 'bachelors',\n", + " 'house-top',\n", + " 'fish-fag',\n", + " 'watered',\n", + " 'spirited',\n", + " 'honeyed',\n", + " 'fuddle',\n", + " 'land-locked',\n", + " 'good-naturedly',\n", + " 'originally',\n", + " 'distinguished',\n", + " 'banish',\n", + " 'gossamer',\n", + " 'persecuted',\n", + " 'colored',\n", + " 'female',\n", + " 'thunderbolts',\n", + " 'forge',\n", + " 'bondsman',\n", + " 'hazardous',\n", + " 'fireside',\n", + " 'lifts',\n", + " 'recognizing',\n", + " 'undergoing',\n", + " 'result',\n", + " 'ointments',\n", + " 'ripped',\n", + " 'hive',\n", + " 'chivalry',\n", + " 'deficient',\n", + " 'solitude',\n", + " 'gibing',\n", + " 'bards',\n", + " 'perching',\n", + " 'swamp',\n", + " 'menial',\n", + " 'pretty',\n", + " 'redound',\n", + " 'interests',\n", + " 'hemming',\n", + " 'baring',\n", + " 'unaccountable',\n", + " 'stories',\n", + " 'soften',\n", + " 'overran',\n", + " 'sex',\n", + " 'mutual',\n", + " 'intended',\n", + " 'fifty-two',\n", + " 'considerable',\n", + " 'laborer',\n", + " 'he-goats',\n", + " 'visitor',\n", + " 'chamois',\n", + " 'leukothea',\n", + " 'comings',\n", + " 'cypress-wood',\n", + " 'tiptoe',\n", + " 'spell-proof',\n", + " 'adventures',\n", + " 'fattening',\n", + " 'convened',\n", + " 'dikaios',\n", + " 'frightful',\n", + " 'crew.',\n", + " 'insist',\n", + " 'bed-prop',\n", + " 'unsewn',\n", + " 'islet',\n", + " 'unpick',\n", + " 'sacrificial',\n", + " 'gut',\n", + " 'quality',\n", + " 'manifested',\n", + " 'free-booters',\n", + " 'recollect',\n", + " 'witchcraft',\n", + " 'likelihood',\n", + " 'cleaned',\n", + " 'expectations',\n", + " 'tidily',\n", + " 'dozen',\n", + " 'telepylos',\n", + " 'sandal',\n", + " 'lookers',\n", + " 'well-tilled',\n", + " 'reclined',\n", + " 'promontory',\n", + " 'reckon',\n", + " 'shoes',\n", + " 'dawdle',\n", + " 'ghost',\n", + " 'fancies',\n", + " 'immoderately',\n", + " 'glowing',\n", + " 'venerable',\n", + " 'krataiis',\n", + " 'history',\n", + " 'dirty',\n", + " 'events',\n", + " 'sided',\n", + " 'reflected',\n", + " 'pins',\n", + " 'disrespectfully',\n", + " 'intolerably',\n", + " 'headed',\n", + " 'recommend',\n", + " 'wondered',\n", + " 'accompanied',\n", + " 'singular',\n", + " 'fret',\n", + " 'individuals',\n", + " 'twenty-four',\n", + " 'wooer',\n", + " 'rangers',\n", + " 'competed',\n", + " 'forceful',\n", + " 'enchant',\n", + " 'sea-',\n", + " 'luxury',\n", + " 'liquor',\n", + " 'chance.',\n", + " 'interesting',\n", + " 'embolden',\n", + " 'increasing',\n", + " 'doubling',\n", + " 'services',\n", + " 'selected',\n", + " 'explained',\n", + " 'inquiring',\n", + " 'convene',\n", + " 'oust',\n", + " 'misbehaved',\n", + " 'dare-devil',\n", + " 'bitterest',\n", + " 'ramping',\n", + " 'horizon',\n", + " 'faint-hearted',\n", + " 'stubbornness',\n", + " 'lioness',\n", + " 'hussies',\n", + " 'poise',\n", + " 'decision',\n", + " 'squalls',\n", + " 'tyndarus',\n", + " 'banqueting',\n", + " 'kissing',\n", + " 'scowling',\n", + " 'miller-women',\n", + " 'growls',\n", + " 'drubbing',\n", + " 'striven',\n", + " 'thawed',\n", + " 'exploits',\n", + " 'curiosity',\n", + " 'oikleus',\n", + " 'displayed',\n", + " 'magician',\n", + " 'yours.',\n", + " 'gadfly',\n", + " 'terror-struck',\n", + " 'gossip',\n", + " 'alighting',\n", + " 'achieving',\n", + " 'dresses',\n", + " 'antiklos',\n", + " 'repair',\n", + " 'alkinoos',\n", + " 'bask',\n", + " 'resemble',\n", + " 'tour',\n", + " 'fishy',\n", + " 'theoklymenos',\n", + " 'well-found',\n", + " 'enforce',\n", + " 'impossible',\n", + " 'un-cared',\n", + " 'dresser',\n", + " 'dangerously',\n", + " 'inches.',\n", + " 'enabled',\n", + " 'grandmother',\n", + " 'admittance',\n", + " 'drifted',\n", + " 'offended',\n", + " 'aigyptios',\n", + " 'rankle',\n", + " 'plucks',\n", + " 'presume',\n", + " 'accurately',\n", + " 'crazed',\n", + " 'enchanting',\n", + " 'broken-hearted',\n", + " 'propitious',\n", + " 'trooping',\n", + " 'competitions',\n", + " 'expected',\n", + " 'mentioned',\n", + " 'stagger',\n", + " 'worrying',\n", + " 'obliged',\n", + " 'swaying',\n", + " 'honestly',\n", + " 'usher',\n", + " 'relations',\n", + " 'enlisting',\n", + " 'unpropitious',\n", + " 'misadventure',\n", + " 'jumpers',\n", + " 'manned',\n", + " 'capable',\n", + " 'outhouses',\n", + " 'damage',\n", + " 'easy-going',\n", + " 'naturally',\n", + " 'dowry',\n", + " 'insisted',\n", + " 'continual',\n", + " 'despairing',\n", + " 'butchered',\n", + " 'hint',\n", + " 'smart-looking',\n", + " 'frequent',\n", + " 'puzzling',\n", + " 'gobbets',\n", + " 'passages',\n", + " 'toys',\n", + " 'outcast',\n", + " 'scolded',\n", + " 'tapestry',\n", + " 'descendants',\n", + " 'memories',\n", + " 'drowning',\n", + " 'disparaging',\n", + " 'unsavory',\n", + " 'passer',\n", + " 'well-looking',\n", + " 'moderation',\n", + " 'spending',\n", + " 'aison',\n", + " 'adorn',\n", + " 'starving',\n", + " 'caring',\n", + " 'workmanlike',\n", + " 'pacified',\n", + " 'expectation',\n", + " 'alternatives',\n", + " 'pigsty',\n", + " 'transgress',\n", + " 'better-looking',\n", + " 'subtler',\n", + " 'chopping',\n", + " 'heinous',\n", + " 'overrun',\n", + " 'beauties',\n", + " 'poorer',\n", + " 'clapped',\n", + " 'deliberately',\n", + " 'soot',\n", + " 'ravages',\n", + " 'prevaricate',\n", + " 'horrified',\n", + " 'overflowing',\n", + " 'plausibly',\n", + " 'colonized',\n", + " 'forcefully',\n", + " 'weakened',\n", + " 'abetting',\n", + " 'jelly',\n", + " 'thesprotian',\n", + " 'grounds',\n", + " 'whirlwinds',\n", + " 'shoveled',\n", + " 'visitors',\n", + " 'tracks',\n", + " 'picking',\n", + " 'apprehend',\n", + " 'flatter',\n", + " 'embellishments',\n", + " 'protects',\n", + " 'peering',\n", + " 'riverhood',\n", + " 'ogygian.',\n", + " 'lives.',\n", + " 'landing',\n", + " 'knock',\n", + " 'krounoi',\n", + " 'aptitude',\n", + " 'phemios',\n", + " 'crop',\n", + " 'true-begotten',\n", + " 'absence.',\n", + " 'coverings',\n", + " 'banqueting-room',\n", + " 'crowning',\n", + " 'conversing',\n", + " 'mixing-jugs',\n", + " 'sheathe',\n", + " 'amount',\n", + " 'sundown',\n", + " 'eteocretans',\n", + " 'amassed',\n", + " 'exception',\n", + " 'tauntingly',\n", + " 'sweetmeats',\n", + " 'klymenos',\n", + " 'swooning',\n", + " 'situation',\n", + " 'salutes',\n", + " 'tidy',\n", + " 'grievance',\n", + " 'intends',\n", + " 'oblige',\n", + " 'smelling',\n", + " 'celebrated',\n", + " 'relate',\n", + " 'ill-treat',\n", + " 'questioning',\n", + " 'flagging',\n", + " 'anti-',\n", + " 'gate-house',\n", + " 'stages',\n", + " 'personal',\n", + " 'furthering',\n", + " 'competitors',\n", + " 'unrecorded',\n", + " 'firelight',\n", + " 'valuable',\n", + " 'aigisthos',\n", + " 'octopus',\n", + " 'fiber',\n", + " 'cairn',\n", + " 'foresaw',\n", + " 'fuller-handed',\n", + " 'entranced',\n", + " 'living.',\n", + " 'commend',\n", + " 'severe',\n", + " 'behaved',\n", + " 'intending',\n", + " 'noised',\n", + " 'loading',\n", + " 'bustled',\n", + " 'rudders',\n", + " 'jumping',\n", + " 'alêtheia',\n", + " 'unrighteously',\n", + " 'youngster',\n", + " 'flavor',\n", + " 'forewarn',\n", + " 'gossips',\n", + " 'sighs',\n", + " 'polykaste',\n", + " 'entrances',\n", + " 'tambour-frame',\n", + " 'siding',\n", + " 'disrespectful',\n", + " 'hundreds',\n", + " 'deafening',\n", + " 'adzed',\n", + " 'pounced',\n", + " 'cloisters',\n", + " 'heaven-sent',\n", + " 'tallied',\n", + " 'revelers',\n", + " 'leveled',\n", + " 'wretchedly',\n", + " 'purse',\n", + " 'boring',\n", + " 'toll',\n", + " 'pontonoos',\n", + " 'iphikles',\n", + " 'astounded',\n", + " 'scandalous',\n", + " 'rode',\n", + " 'boil',\n", + " 'patience',\n", + " 'disloyal',\n", + " 'anchors',\n", + " 'ensconced',\n", + " 'townspeople',\n", + " 'foul-mouthed',\n", + " 'reconnoiter',\n", + " 'goatskins',\n", + " 'issued',\n", + " 'safest',\n", + " 'abominably',\n", + " 'muzzled',\n", + " 'gatekeeper',\n", + " 'lamos',\n", + " 'lowering',\n", + " 'arranged',\n", + " 'exhausted',\n", + " 'admired',\n", + " 'charring',\n", + " 'natural',\n", + " 'carding',\n", + " 'offices',\n", + " 'shuttles',\n", + " 'moody',\n", + " 'gambol',\n", + " 'housemaids',\n", + " 'deities',\n", + " 'racecourses',\n", + " 'mooring',\n", + " 'nudged',\n", + " 'growl',\n", + " 'construction',\n", + " 'relief',\n", + " 'tatters',\n", + " 'hurts',\n", + " 'fits',\n", + " 'clever',\n", + " 'dragon',\n", + " 'series',\n", + " 'alkmaion',\n", + " 'outshine',\n", + " 'injure',\n", + " 'itylos',\n", + " 'eumaios',\n", + " 'warned',\n", + " 'drugged',\n", + " 'simple',\n", + " 'powder',\n", + " 'starve',\n", + " 'apology',\n", + " 'festivities',\n", + " 'ogygian',\n", + " 'wrecks',\n", + " 'stronghold',\n", + " 'principles',\n", + " 'bow-fancier',\n", + " 'goodness',\n", + " 'center-post',\n", + " 'domed',\n", + " '=',\n", + " 'reach.',\n", + " 'perfection',\n", + " 'everyone',\n", + " 'completely',\n", + " 'beautified',\n", + " 'powerfully',\n", + " 'honors',\n", + " 'side-wind',\n", + " 'depreciate',\n", + " 'man-servant',\n", + " 'hired',\n", + " 'trap',\n", + " 'amphilokhos',\n", + " 'squealing',\n", + " 'jeer',\n", + " 'dipping',\n", + " 'surf-beaten',\n", + " 'syra',\n", + " 'wine-jars',\n", + " 'disturbed',\n", + " 'enthroned',\n", + " 'twelvemonth',\n", + " 'damaged',\n", + " 'stiffness',\n", + " 'horrible',\n", + " 'respectable',\n", + " 'equals',\n", + " 'excuse',\n", + " 'debts',\n", + " 'wrinkles',\n", + " 'impunity',\n", + " 'reduced',\n", + " 'lump',\n", + " 'drunkenness',\n", + " 'entry',\n", + " 'crossbeams',\n", + " 'blear',\n", + " 'crosspiece',\n", + " 'complain',\n", + " 'ktesippos',\n", + " 'boarhounds',\n", + " 'nêpenthes',\n", + " 'instinct',\n", + " 'poets',\n", + " 'charlatan',\n", + " 'religious',\n", + " 'pester',\n", + " 'imposing',\n", + " 'board.',\n", + " 'encircle',\n", + " 'ungrafted',\n", + " 'genuine',\n", + " 'phaidimos',\n", + " 'marrying',\n", + " 'ismaros',\n", + " 'removing',\n", + " 'magistrate',\n", + " 'ones.',\n", + " 'athlêtês',\n", + " 'henchmen',\n", + " 'murdered',\n", + " 'customary',\n", + " 'wither',\n", + " 'rejects',\n", + " 'introduce',\n", + " 'affair',\n", + " 'euphrosunê',\n", + " 'distressing',\n", + " 'demodokos',\n", + " 'cheeringly',\n", + " 'drowned',\n", + " 'interceded',\n", + " 'exquisitely',\n", + " 'citizens',\n", + " 'seriously',\n", + " 'rekindle',\n", + " 'hospitably',\n", + " 'travels',\n", + " 'widely',\n", + " 'musically',\n", + " 'crime',\n", + " 'muttering',\n", + " 'ravaged',\n", + " 'skimmed',\n", + " 'people-',\n", + " 'cargoes',\n", + " 'gardener',\n", + " 'briskly',\n", + " 'falsehood',\n", + " 'undergone',\n", + " 'ikmalios',\n", + " 'ridiculous',\n", + " 'serious',\n", + " 'grunted',\n", + " 'consciences',\n", + " 'blandishment',\n", + " 'admirable',\n", + " 'annoyed',\n", + " 'blank',\n", + " 'strategy',\n", + " 'parts.',\n", + " 'gossiping',\n", + " 'motioned',\n", + " ...},\n", + " 'tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt': {'meekly',\n", + " 'unawarded',\n", + " 'myrrhine',\n", + " 'sharply',\n", + " 'erewhile',\n", + " 'prattling',\n", + " 'hiding-place',\n", + " 'betides',\n", + " 'panthoos',\n", + " 'stable-yard',\n", + " 'sea-fight',\n", + " 'swoops',\n", + " 'hektor.',\n", + " 'soughed',\n", + " 'butcheries',\n", + " 'outposts',\n", + " 'lysandros',\n", + " 'amphigenea',\n", + " 'misgiving',\n", + " 'demands',\n", + " 'contumely',\n", + " 'profess',\n", + " 'sea-monster',\n", + " 'notify',\n", + " 'severely',\n", + " 'kardamyle',\n", + " 'alkimedon',\n", + " 'pine-trees',\n", + " 'task-master',\n", + " 'corruption',\n", + " 'restive',\n", + " 'somber',\n", + " 'peneus',\n", + " 'house-dogs',\n", + " 'expects',\n", + " 'feeblest',\n", + " 'quoit',\n", + " 'deep-meadowed',\n", + " 'spouting',\n", + " 'out-distance',\n", + " 'slaughtering',\n", + " 'haughtiness',\n", + " 'athenian',\n", + " 'gallops',\n", + " 'cleaver',\n", + " 'spear-stand',\n", + " 'amphimakhos',\n", + " 'imbrios',\n", + " 'razed',\n", + " 'trozen',\n", + " 'opposed',\n", + " 'awe-struck',\n", + " 'ptolemaios',\n", + " 'cayster',\n", + " 'excepting',\n", + " 'forcing',\n", + " 'incite',\n", + " 'unworthy',\n", + " 'householder',\n", + " 'train',\n", + " 'designs',\n", + " 'protectress',\n", + " 'unburdened',\n", + " 'scouring',\n", + " 'espying',\n", + " 'curdles',\n", + " 'disposal',\n", + " 'thymbraios',\n", + " 'civil',\n", + " 'contain',\n", + " 'counseling',\n", + " 'uprears',\n", + " 'cramped',\n", + " 'midea',\n", + " 'runaway',\n", + " 'ame',\n", + " 'kisseus',\n", + " 'keenly',\n", + " 'choking',\n", + " 'polyidos',\n", + " 'cushion',\n", + " 'kalesios',\n", + " 'rifting',\n", + " 'drought',\n", + " 'amphios',\n", + " 'carnage',\n", + " 'selloi',\n", + " 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'elated',\n", + " 'klea',\n", + " 'amaze',\n", + " 'grievousness',\n", + " 'sixthly',\n", + " 'horrors',\n", + " 'hyllos',\n", + " 'heaping',\n", + " 'hum',\n", + " 'eye-ball',\n", + " 'laughingly',\n", + " 'dale',\n", + " 'augeas',\n", + " 'expound',\n", + " 'defenseless',\n", + " 'melanthos',\n", + " 'selleis',\n", + " 'gallop',\n", + " 'metes',\n", + " 'disgusted',\n", + " 'dales',\n", + " 'soar',\n", + " 'sea-wrack',\n", + " 'jut',\n", + " 'do-',\n", + " 'telos',\n", + " 'creek',\n", + " 'clarion',\n", + " 'couples',\n", + " 'rhipae',\n", + " 'love-tricks',\n", + " 'meonian',\n", + " 'entrapping',\n", + " 'shouldered',\n", + " 'kebriones',\n", + " 'kicks',\n", + " 'indifferent',\n", + " 'nay-',\n", + " 'sheepyards',\n", + " 'sword-blow',\n", + " 'bronze-pointed',\n", + " 'skolos',\n", + " 'anemorea',\n", + " 'weapon',\n", + " 'myrmidon',\n", + " 'finger',\n", + " 'disaffection',\n", + " 'ankaios',\n", + " 'proficient',\n", + " 'hand-to-hand',\n", + " 'harness-mules',\n", + " 'tuft',\n", + " 'beleaguering',\n", + " 'sharpest',\n", + " 'recoil',\n", + " 'essaying',\n", + " 'aipytos',\n", + " 'conciliate',\n", + " 'deiopites',\n", + " 'sokos',\n", + " 'trechos',\n", + " 'bedchambers',\n", + " 'gorges',\n", + " 'partaking',\n", + " 'truce',\n", + " 'sift',\n", + " 'alean',\n", + " 'crookedly',\n", + " 'argument',\n", + " 'autonoos',\n", + " 'plunder',\n", + " 'openmouthed',\n", + " 'lashes',\n", + " 'center',\n", + " 'eats',\n", + " 'oxgoad',\n", + " 'pain-killing',\n", + " 'unsoiled',\n", + " 'opposing',\n", + " 'meliboia',\n", + " 'diaphragm',\n", + " 'ambush-',\n", + " 'mansions',\n", + " 'follow-',\n", + " 'anxiety',\n", + " 'unite',\n", + " 'spearsman',\n", + " 'artifice',\n", + " 'ides',\n", + " 'gloat',\n", + " 'lavished',\n", + " 'half-circle',\n", + " 'clan-gatherings',\n", + " 'teuthranos',\n", + " 'written',\n", + " 'overtakes',\n", + " 'she-mule',\n", + " 'impetuous',\n", + " 'purchase',\n", + " 'melting-pots',\n", + " 'swarm',\n", + " 'conquering',\n", + " 'behooves',\n", + " 'emblems',\n", + " 'marshaled',\n", + " 'fares',\n", + " 'artificers',\n", + " 'pygmies',\n", + " 'victor',\n", + " 'scandea',\n", + " 'hide-covered',\n", + " 'defeated',\n", + " 'accusing',\n", + " 'scented',\n", + " 'unfavorable',\n", + " ...},\n", + " 'tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt': {'dreams.',\n", + " 'bow-tip',\n", + " 'them—he',\n", + " 'decree',\n", + " 'jewel',\n", + " 'aphrodite.',\n", + " 'alive.',\n", + " 'threatens',\n", + " 'whit—',\n", + " 'lament—yet',\n", + " 'wrest',\n", + " 'ox-chine',\n", + " 'telemus',\n", + " 'invoke',\n", + " 'wickedness.',\n", + " 'prayed-for',\n", + " 'epeus',\n", + " 'odysseus.',\n", + " 'heritage.',\n", + " 'vagabond.',\n", + " 'theoclymenus',\n", + " 'flock.',\n", + " 'strength.',\n", + " 'telepylus',\n", + " 'boastful',\n", + " 'mounts',\n", + " 'forests.',\n", + " 'offerings—there',\n", + " 'unwinged',\n", + " 'unmanned',\n", + " 'two-and-twenty',\n", + " 'mid-sea',\n", + " 'abound.',\n", + " 'plain-told',\n", + " 'perished—fools',\n", + " 'irus',\n", + " 'water—this',\n", + " 'threateningly',\n", + " 'feast.',\n", + " 'basest',\n", + " 'prospect',\n", + " 'debating',\n", + " 'spirit—even',\n", + " 'away.',\n", + " 'scares',\n", + " 'thereafter.',\n", + " 'shadow',\n", + " 'freshly-washed',\n", + " 'yard-arm',\n", + " 'lodge',\n", + " 'nurture',\n", + " 'planctae',\n", + " 'unhonored',\n", + " 'trojans.',\n", + " 'high-of-heart',\n", + " 'pegs',\n", + " 'rehearsed',\n", + " 'portionless',\n", + " 'meeting-places',\n", + " '—grievous',\n", + " 'owes',\n", + " 'trunk',\n", + " 'trade',\n", + " 'erembi',\n", + " 'sea-ward',\n", + " 'bubble',\n", + " 'dome',\n", + " 'long-leafed',\n", + " 'hairy',\n", + " 'drips',\n", + " 'pear-trees',\n", + " 'potent',\n", + " 'graceless',\n", + " 'was.',\n", + " 'come.',\n", + " 'seams',\n", + " 'many-voiced',\n", + " 'passer-by',\n", + " 'withal.',\n", + " 'master.',\n", + " 'helper.',\n", + " 'trimming',\n", + " 'it—a',\n", + " 'outworn.',\n", + " 'sunium',\n", + " 'possesses',\n", + " 'spurned',\n", + " 'tie',\n", + " 'mouldering',\n", + " 'unprovoked',\n", + " 'prevail.',\n", + " 'oughtest',\n", + " 'ungraciously',\n", + " 'repute',\n", + " 'unversed',\n", + " 'criest',\n", + " 'rebukes',\n", + " 'assails',\n", + " 'oar-loving',\n", + " 'neatherd',\n", + " 'cavern—all',\n", + " 'marring',\n", + " 'earth.',\n", + " 'labours',\n", + " 'halls—two',\n", + " 'wares',\n", + " 'mesaulius',\n", + " 'cytherea',\n", + " 'travailing',\n", + " 'unheeding',\n", + " 'chanced',\n", + " 'melts',\n", + " 'denial',\n", + " 'tracking',\n", + " 'home.',\n", + " 'valor.',\n", + " 'appoint',\n", + " 'talkest',\n", + " 'myriad',\n", + " 'deck-beams',\n", + " 'hand-maidens',\n", + " 'unchanged',\n", + " 'dawn.',\n", + " 'crates',\n", + " 'strokes',\n", + " 'sheep—so',\n", + " 'thine.',\n", + " 'stairway',\n", + " 'day.',\n", + " 'neaera',\n", + " 'weds',\n", + " 'too—farewell',\n", + " 'compulsion',\n", + " 'fulfilled.',\n", + " 'weaned',\n", + " 'business.',\n", + " 'supreme.',\n", + " 'scorns',\n", + " 'fairer',\n", + " 'weddest',\n", + " 'sun—a',\n", + " 'waned',\n", + " 'thrice-blessed',\n", + " 'unrighteousness',\n", + " 'stout-hoofed',\n", + " 'feastest',\n", + " 'resolve',\n", + " 'equip',\n", + " 'wouldest.',\n", + " 'closely-woven',\n", + " 'overhears',\n", + " 'violet-dark',\n", + " 'hissing',\n", + " 'rest.',\n", + " 'melantheus',\n", + " 'secret.',\n", + " 'befooling',\n", + " 'falcons',\n", + " 'confirmed',\n", + " 'all—one',\n", + " 'tearless',\n", + " 'robe—i',\n", + " 'churls',\n", + " 'swiftly-falling',\n", + " 'side—even',\n", + " 'warm.',\n", + " 'ctimene',\n", + " 'quarrels',\n", + " 'landwards',\n", + " 'am.',\n", + " 'fan',\n", + " 'craved',\n", + " 'neriton',\n", + " '—nor',\n", + " 'athena.',\n", + " 'inextricable',\n", + " 'comest',\n", + " 'helius',\n", + " 'dishes',\n", + " 'shame.',\n", + " 'war.',\n", + " 'tapering',\n", + " 'revel',\n", + " 'smear',\n", + " 'recess',\n", + " 'door-stone',\n", + " 'cuttlefish',\n", + " 'pines',\n", + " 'appears.',\n", + " 'erectheus',\n", + " 'watched.',\n", + " 'choose.',\n", + " 'pursuit.',\n", + " 'man-destroying',\n", + " 'deigns',\n", + " 'elder.',\n", + " 'bloodshed.',\n", + " 'reproach.',\n", + " 'seagirt',\n", + " 'dissent',\n", + " 'winnowing-fan',\n", + " 'mishandled',\n", + " 'kings.',\n", + " 'thinkest',\n", + " 'risings',\n", + " 'near.',\n", + " 'consortest',\n", + " 'monsters',\n", + " 'curled',\n", + " 'hiding-places',\n", + " 'anticlus',\n", + " 'pinched',\n", + " 'destruction.',\n", + " 'hirelings',\n", + " 'aught.',\n", + " 'sunder',\n", + " 'autolycus.',\n", + " 'go.',\n", + " 'ocyalus',\n", + " 'notes',\n", + " 'things—',\n", + " 'envelops',\n", + " 'cloak.',\n", + " 'alcandre',\n", + " 'sways',\n", + " 'leucothea',\n", + " 'entertainment.',\n", + " 'assembly—for',\n", + " 'forgetting',\n", + " 'fair-wrought',\n", + " 'earned',\n", + " 'gleams',\n", + " 'broods',\n", + " 'wooers.',\n", + " 'guardest',\n", + " 'cake',\n", + " 'belched',\n", + " 'myself.',\n", + " 'down.',\n", + " 'hands—fishing',\n", + " 'mantius',\n", + " 'sore-tried',\n", + " 'have.',\n", + " 'throughly',\n", + " 'a-flutter',\n", + " 'gloves',\n", + " 'evil.',\n", + " 'naught—a',\n", + " 'tilted',\n", + " 'god—',\n", + " 'irksome',\n", + " 'wine.',\n", + " 'fates.',\n", + " 'garden-plot',\n", + " 'zethus',\n", + " 'feebleness',\n", + " 'sins',\n", + " 'unabashed',\n", + " 'cureless',\n", + " 'much.',\n", + " 'rolls',\n", + " 'consorting',\n", + " 'purpose.',\n", + " \"would'st\",\n", + " 'well-seasoned',\n", + " 'besets',\n", + " 'guiding',\n", + " 'gulps',\n", + " 'cajole',\n", + " 'nameless',\n", + " 'achieves',\n", + " 'thee—hail',\n", + " 'few.',\n", + " 'trot',\n", + " 'men—though',\n", + " 'far—to',\n", + " 'drowse',\n", + " 'warms',\n", + " 'buying',\n", + " 'boars.',\n", + " '“',\n", + " 'meaningless',\n", + " 'icarius',\n", + " 'melampus',\n", + " 'achaea.',\n", + " 'shadows.',\n", + " 'cross-planks',\n", + " 'pleasure—',\n", + " 'immortals.',\n", + " '4',\n", + " 'besides.',\n", + " 'well-fatted',\n", + " 'lamus',\n", + " 'fellow—a',\n", + " 'gunwales',\n", + " 'others.',\n", + " 'amphialus',\n", + " 'winking',\n", + " 'deep-moaning',\n", + " 'beholds',\n", + " 'hand—a',\n", + " 'comprehend',\n", + " 'achaens',\n", + " 'force.',\n", + " 'wife.',\n", + " 'mothers—so',\n", + " 'unmoored',\n", + " 'weaves',\n", + " 'passers-by',\n", + " 'peisistratus',\n", + " 'words.',\n", + " 'hunger.',\n", + " 'tone',\n", + " 'thee—the',\n", + " 'sooth.',\n", + " 'gulp',\n", + " 'fulfil',\n", + " 'upstretched',\n", + " 'arms.',\n", + " 'last.',\n", + " 'acts',\n", + " 'bonds.',\n", + " 'obey.',\n", + " 'anoints',\n", + " 'lower—they',\n", + " 'mirth',\n", + " 'fair-faced',\n", + " 'powerless',\n", + " 'roundabout',\n", + " 'ample',\n", + " 'sword-hilt',\n", + " 'envy',\n", + " 'leiocritus',\n", + " 'stuffs',\n", + " 'things.',\n", + " 'restraint',\n", + " 'made.',\n", + " 'befit',\n", + " 'return.',\n", + " 'sheep-gut—so',\n", + " 'vanish',\n", + " 'me—for',\n", + " 'bridles',\n", + " 'notest',\n", + " 'unprofitably',\n", + " 'piling',\n", + " 'assume',\n", + " 'god—who',\n", + " 'refuses',\n", + " 'forwardness',\n", + " 'babes',\n", + " 'lord.',\n", + " 'aid.',\n", + " 'long-oared',\n", + " 'hades.',\n", + " 'drinking-bout',\n", + " 'afterward',\n", + " 'coming.',\n", + " 'bewailed',\n", + " 'telemachus—for',\n", + " 'males—the',\n", + " 'eurymedusa',\n", + " 'armour.',\n", + " 'well-watered',\n", + " 'lends',\n", + " 'fives',\n", + " 'torment',\n", + " 'bossy',\n", + " 'exists',\n", + " 'splitting',\n", + " 'piraeus',\n", + " 'released',\n", + " 'describest',\n", + " 'grey-headed',\n", + " 'eloquence',\n", + " 'husband.',\n", + " 'ortilochus',\n", + " 'masters—',\n", + " '—where',\n", + " 'practised',\n", + " 'demodocus',\n", + " 'oared',\n", + " 'rear—if',\n", + " 'barely',\n", + " 'wets',\n", + " 'eyelids—but',\n", + " 'gold.',\n", + " 'apollo.',\n", + " 'plight.',\n", + " 'echoes',\n", + " 'handicraft',\n", + " 'wed.',\n", + " 'farthermost',\n", + " 'sway—young',\n", + " 'bones.',\n", + " 'temese',\n", + " 'treacherous.',\n", + " 'thaws',\n", + " 'dissembler',\n", + " 'aeaea',\n", + " 'many—aye',\n", + " 'mastered',\n", + " 'reefs',\n", + " 'thole-straps',\n", + " 'sires',\n", + " 'blot',\n", + " 'father—for',\n", + " 'woody',\n", + " 'kindness.',\n", + " 'spirals',\n", + " 'blooming',\n", + " 'hollows',\n", + " 'growling',\n", + " 'unravel',\n", + " 'befoul',\n", + " 'whencesoever',\n", + " 'lawlessness—ctesippus',\n", + " 'outlying',\n", + " 'yardarm',\n", + " 'compels',\n", + " 'icmalius',\n", + " 'produces',\n", + " 'answer—verily',\n", + " 'round-shouldered',\n", + " 'beasts.',\n", + " 'fisher',\n", + " 'trial—to',\n", + " 'aeson',\n", + " 'thralls',\n", + " 'sight.',\n", + " 'lapithae',\n", + " 'outdo',\n", + " 'persisting',\n", + " 'wood.',\n", + " 'foot.',\n", + " 'adulterer.',\n", + " 'psyria',\n", + " 'bleated',\n", + " 'cheerless',\n", + " 'fugitive',\n", + " 'forebode',\n", + " 'borne—for',\n", + " 'polycaste',\n", + " 'ctesippus',\n", + " 'unseemly—but',\n", + " 'intertwining',\n", + " 'glances',\n", + " 'consented',\n", + " 'shews',\n", + " 'named.',\n", + " 'prompts',\n", + " 'four-fold',\n", + " 'loosens',\n", + " 'out-stripped',\n", + " 'overcast',\n", + " 'sea—and',\n", + " 'luckless',\n", + " 'unfenced',\n", + " 'wind.',\n", + " 'antinous',\n", + " 'alone.',\n", + " 'knewest',\n", + " 'grief.',\n", + " 'this—having',\n", + " 'bedims',\n", + " 'ploughlands',\n", + " 'aegyptius',\n", + " 'purging',\n", + " 'crataiis',\n", + " 'sorts—whensoever',\n", + " 'maidens.',\n", + " 'visitest',\n", + " 'knavish',\n", + " 'ilius',\n", + " 'unawakening',\n", + " 'oarsmen—that',\n", + " 'depend.',\n", + " 'thistle-tufts',\n", + " 'mused',\n", + " 'sicilian',\n", + " 'propping',\n", + " 'livest',\n", + " 'heardest',\n", + " 'amazed',\n", + " 'trace.',\n", + " 'pranced',\n", + " 'aegyptus',\n", + " 'tender-heartedness',\n", + " 'kings—one',\n", + " 'raiment.',\n", + " 'arm.',\n", + " 'maimer',\n", + " 'moving',\n", + " 'contriving',\n", + " 'strowing',\n", + " 'woman—amazement',\n", + " 'this—or',\n", + " 'thee—gathering',\n", + " 'well-wooded',\n", + " 'enquired',\n", + " 'galling',\n", + " 'wheedling',\n", + " 'goats—he',\n", + " 'ferrymen',\n", + " 'cloudless',\n", + " 'these.',\n", + " '—in',\n", + " 'slave-women',\n", + " 'chasm',\n", + " 'sure.',\n", + " 'mischief-maker',\n", + " 'demoptolemus',\n", + " 'well.',\n", + " 'cities.',\n", + " 'any.',\n", + " 'launching',\n", + " 'booming',\n", + " 'brine-bred',\n", + " 'another—',\n", + " 'contest.',\n", + " 'throw.',\n", + " 'awaking',\n", + " 'good-for-naught',\n", + " 'head-gear',\n", + " 'seawater',\n", + " 'lordliest',\n", + " 'shewn',\n", + " 'earth—two',\n", + " 'townsmen',\n", + " '”',\n", + " 'silenced',\n", + " 'swamp-land',\n", + " 'statelier',\n", + " 'charybids',\n", + " 'cephallenians.',\n", + " 'eurycleia',\n", + " 'crusted',\n", + " 'bays',\n", + " 'stunted',\n", + " 'man-eater',\n", + " 'anabesineus',\n", + " 'swirl',\n", + " 'sea-eagles',\n", + " 'unravelling',\n", + " 'worth.',\n", + " 'fore-deck',\n", + " 'trial—for',\n", + " 'racking',\n", + " 'alcmaeon',\n", + " 'pondering—things',\n", + " 'unrestrained',\n", + " 'casts',\n", + " 'adventure',\n", + " 'wretchedness',\n", + " 'desiring',\n", + " 'trotted',\n", + " 'crown—of',\n", + " 'abstain',\n", + " '—how',\n", + " 'eye—',\n", + " 'tityos',\n", + " 'ismarus',\n", + " 'fiery-pointed',\n", + " 'spirit.',\n", + " 'pasturing',\n", + " 'reviling.',\n", + " 'grief—unless',\n", + " 'new-sawn',\n", + " 'nuisances',\n", + " 'them—verily',\n", + " 'gifted',\n", + " 'work.',\n", + " 'refusest',\n", + " 'men—as',\n", + " 'drill',\n", + " 'fallen.',\n", + " 'me—there',\n", + " 'life.',\n", + " 'heracles—his',\n", + " 'stratius',\n", + " 'bores',\n", + " 'back-stay',\n", + " 'ctesius',\n", + " 'curly-haired',\n", + " 'begirt',\n", + " 'cliffs—then',\n", + " 'accompaniments',\n", + " 'coping',\n", + " 'hurt.',\n", + " 'stronger.',\n", + " 'consort',\n", + " 'dealings',\n", + " 'surround',\n", + " 'surpasses',\n", + " 'need.',\n", + " 'nuisance',\n", + " 'periphlegethon',\n", + " 'morticings',\n", + " 'distributed',\n", + " 'overseen',\n", + " 'too.',\n", + " 'mind.',\n", + " 'distressed.',\n", + " 'ethiopians—the',\n", + " 'insolence.',\n", + " 'trimmed',\n", + " 'resort',\n", + " 'passes',\n", + " 'park',\n", + " 'glory.',\n", + " 'last—even',\n", + " 'scornfully',\n", + " 'descry',\n", + " 'geraestus',\n", + " 'syria',\n", + " 'trilling',\n", + " 'over-full',\n", + " 'supping',\n", + " 'sing.',\n", + " 'cravens',\n", + " 'traveller',\n", + " 'unmannerly',\n", + " 'dust—all',\n", + " 'epicaste',\n", + " 'show.',\n", + " 'vales',\n", + " 'porticoes',\n", + " 'met.',\n", + " 'us—',\n", + " 'halyards',\n", + " 'lackest',\n", + " 'soothingly',\n", + " 'desist.',\n", + " 'drained',\n", + " 'mocked',\n", + " 'leucas',\n", + " 'yearns',\n", + " 'chins',\n", + " 'sun—and',\n", + " 'playthings',\n", + " 'helper—one',\n", + " 'welcome.',\n", + " 'escapes',\n", + " 'crack-brained',\n", + " 'frown',\n", + " 'simple-minded',\n", + " 'joins',\n", + " 'gazes',\n", + " 'gifts.',\n", + " 'supplies',\n", + " 'requital.',\n", + " 'oar-blades',\n", + " 'perils.',\n", + " 'cup.',\n", + " 'bountifully',\n", + " 'crouni',\n", + " 'upon.',\n", + " 'beneath—a',\n", + " 'wakens',\n", + " 'amphilochus',\n", + " 'alector',\n", + " 'exact',\n", + " 'popular',\n", + " 'roves',\n", + " 'chafing',\n", + " 'plenteous',\n", + " 'newest',\n", + " 'team',\n", + " 'uprightly.',\n", + " 'gladsome',\n", + " 'fringed',\n", + " 'suspect.',\n", + " 'paced',\n", + " 'stablish',\n", + " 'long-shanked',\n", + " 'settlement',\n", + " 'shreds',\n", + " 'naught—ate',\n", + " 'comeliness.',\n", + " 'hand.',\n", + " 'scour',\n", + " 'distance.',\n", + " 'seethe',\n", + " 'stature.',\n", + " 'phemius',\n", + " 'overlays',\n", + " 'thought.',\n", + " 'fellow.',\n", + " 'phaeacians.',\n", + " 'osiers',\n", + " 'prelude',\n", + " 'stout-clawed',\n", + " 'water.',\n", + " 'wide-spread',\n", + " 'ebbing',\n", + " 'stewardess',\n", + " 'say.',\n", + " 'wroth.',\n", + " 'mills',\n", + " 'sale',\n", + " 'bathing',\n", + " 'wavers',\n", + " 'me—my',\n", + " 'store.',\n", + " 'merchantman',\n", + " 'pictures',\n", + " 'truth.',\n", + " 'stone.',\n", + " 'wine-grape',\n", + " 'seemly.',\n", + " 'loosened.',\n", + " 'deigned',\n", + " 'ladder',\n", + " 'maidservants',\n", + " 'sweet-smelling',\n", + " 'across—and',\n", + " 'profitable',\n", + " 'laughable',\n", + " 'failed—for',\n", + " 'streamlet',\n", + " 'torment.',\n", + " 'rags.',\n", + " 'fair-stablished',\n", + " 'tarriest',\n", + " 'southwest',\n", + " 'pelted',\n", + " 'water-grass',\n", + " 'marshaller',\n", + " 'amphiaraus',\n", + " 'cleanest',\n", + " 'piloting',\n", + " 'father—again',\n", + " 'juniper',\n", + " 'land—his',\n", + " 'reply',\n", + " 'scatters',\n", + " 'carving',\n", + " 'stranger-folk',\n", + " 'fore-stays',\n", + " 'constrain',\n", + " 'today',\n", + " 'random',\n", + " 'pays',\n", + " 'unclear',\n", + " 'baffling',\n", + " 'escape.',\n", + " 'endured.',\n", + " 'aegis.',\n", + " 'above.',\n", + " 'nobles',\n", + " 'disquiet',\n", + " 'feud',\n", + " 'greed',\n", + " 'overseer',\n", + " 'rekindled',\n", + " 'continuously',\n", + " 'desirest.',\n", + " 'quailest',\n", + " 'reefs—for',\n", + " 'maro',\n", + " 'sorceress',\n", + " 'gains',\n", + " 'submittest',\n", + " 'fair—so',\n", + " 'suppliants.',\n", + " 'indeed.',\n", + " 'arises',\n", + " 'boom',\n", + " 'tasting',\n", + " 'taphians.',\n", + " 'coverlets—that',\n", + " 'furling',\n", + " 'byblus',\n", + " 'acheans',\n", + " 'curve',\n", + " 'firstlings',\n", + " 'complete',\n", + " 'devise.',\n", + " 'troubled.',\n", + " 'aeetes',\n", + " 'of.',\n", + " 'polyneus',\n", + " 'athirst',\n", + " 'gad-fly',\n", + " 'unmanned.',\n", + " 'bachelors—and',\n", + " 'oicles',\n", + " 'wanders',\n", + " 'pontonous',\n", + " 'baffled',\n", + " 'archer-god',\n", + " 'teaching',\n", + " 'foe.',\n", + " 'forboded',\n", + " 'grazing—all',\n", + " 'separately.',\n", + " 'tanks',\n", + " 'purge',\n", + " 'mournfully',\n", + " 'dangers',\n", + " 'sows—and',\n", + " 'suffering.',\n", + " 'soul-consuming',\n", + " 'remedy—the',\n", + " 'both.',\n", + " 'wrongs.',\n", + " 'conspicuous',\n", + " 'oar-blade.',\n", + " 'graciously',\n", + " 'wine-bowl',\n", + " 'slight',\n", + " 'die.',\n", + " 'apeire',\n", + " 'acroneus',\n", + " 'vigorous',\n", + " 'hazarding',\n", + " 'rend.',\n", + " 'quaffs',\n", + " 'beguiles',\n", + " 'rub',\n", + " 'constant',\n", + " 'feet.',\n", + " 'consumest',\n", + " 'revolve',\n", + " 'seemlier',\n", + " 'whelp',\n", + " 'strew',\n", + " 'turning-places',\n", + " 'phaethusa',\n", + " 'another.',\n", + " 'revolved',\n", + " 'wrenched',\n", + " 'toil-worn',\n", + " 'shrill-blowing',\n", + " 'home—even',\n", + " 'crosses',\n", + " 'windward',\n", + " 'stalls',\n", + " 'wooers—fools',\n", + " 'pinning',\n", + " 'tempestuously',\n", + " 'season.',\n", + " 'beaches',\n", + " 'avoids',\n", + " '—fool',\n", + " 'vaulted-over',\n", + " 'nericus',\n", + " 'boards',\n", + " 'road-steads',\n", + " 'undertook',\n", + " 'beget',\n", + " 'alms',\n", + " 'vagabonds',\n", + " 'invoice',\n", + " 'harm.',\n", + " 'seeks',\n", + " 'gave.',\n", + " 'steered',\n", + " 'islands—dulichium',\n", + " 'me—be',\n", + " 'waiting-woman',\n", + " 'slunk',\n", + " 'aegisthus',\n", + " 'yet—our',\n", + " 'meal.',\n", + " 'oarblades',\n", + " 'reeling',\n", + " 'hoof',\n", + " 'gods.',\n", + " 'obtained',\n", + " 'reared.',\n", + " 'oftenest',\n", + " 'was—even',\n", + " 'freight-ship',\n", + " '—thy',\n", + " 'whistling',\n", + " 'is—has',\n", + " 'stealth',\n", + " 'provoked',\n", + " 'longs',\n", + " 'wallet.',\n", + " 'comelier',\n", + " 'thwarting',\n", + " 'loneliness',\n", + " 'sorrow—',\n", + " 'carpentry',\n", + " 'peltings',\n", + " 'fitteth',\n", + " 'deeds.',\n", + " 'markest',\n", + " 'modesty',\n", + " 'groped',\n", + " 'house—proud',\n", + " 'frisk',\n", + " 'child.',\n", + " 'close-fitted',\n", + " 'keeper',\n", + " 'forestalled',\n", + " 'newly-washed',\n", + " 'mates',\n", + " 'was—',\n", + " 'takest',\n", + " 'fruit—there',\n", + " 'heritage',\n", + " 'decisive',\n", + " 'designed',\n", + " 'bethinks',\n", + " 'roadstead',\n", + " 'float',\n", + " 'mid-',\n", + " 'himself.',\n", + " 'shepherded',\n", + " 'puttest',\n", + " 'parents—would',\n", + " 'wieldest',\n", + " 'poseidon—a',\n", + " 'isle.',\n", + " 'someday',\n", + " 'see.',\n", + " 'swallowed',\n", + " 'eilithyia',\n", + " 'hireling',\n", + " 'alcippe',\n", + " 'amphinomus',\n", + " 'fawningly',\n", + " 'no-wise',\n", + " 'barter',\n", + " 'quicken',\n", + " 'steering-oar',\n", + " 'wrought—many',\n", + " 'unseemly.',\n", + " 'gulfs',\n", + " 'donning',\n", + " 'colts',\n", + " 'achaeans.',\n", + " 'roams',\n", + " 'skilful',\n", + " 'shrinkest',\n", + " 'feast-day',\n", + " 'ogygia',\n", + " 'long-winged',\n", + " 'challenges',\n", + " 'meadow-land',\n", + " 'true-hearted',\n", + " 'prize—',\n", + " 'knowledge.',\n", + " 'doorpost',\n", + " 'brutal',\n", + " 'aghast',\n", + " 'footsteps.',\n", + " 'bewitch',\n", + " 'ambling',\n", + " 'bedabbled',\n", + " 'they—men',\n", + " 'enquiring',\n", + " 'trim',\n", + " 'honourest',\n", + " 'be.',\n", + " 'variance',\n", + " 'door-post',\n", + " 'marvellously',\n", + " 'ripen',\n", + " 'rich.',\n", + " 'fiery-hoofed',\n", + " 'deceiving.',\n", + " 'two-eared',\n", + " 'impious',\n", + " 'judged',\n", + " 'eye.',\n", + " 'confusedly.',\n", + " 'for.',\n", + " 'rust—',\n", + " 'scratches',\n", + " 'hand-washing',\n", + " 'two-fold',\n", + " '—secretly',\n", + " 'portioning',\n", + " 'hut.',\n", + " 'look.',\n", + " 'farm—thy',\n", + " 'regret',\n", + " 'sand-spits',\n", + " 'gainful',\n", + " 'drive—the',\n", + " 'eurymachus',\n", + " 'ready.',\n", + " 'enquiry',\n", + " 'marriage—',\n", + " 'scathe',\n", + " 'costliest',\n", + " 'fuller',\n", + " 'thievery',\n", + " 'paeeon',\n", + " 'expectantly',\n", + " 'thyself.',\n", + " 'melanthius.',\n", + " 'welter',\n", + " 'endue',\n", + " 'boon—honor',\n", + " 'flask',\n", + " ...}}" + ] + }, + "execution_count": 63, + "metadata": {}, + "output_type": "execute_result" + } + ], + "source": [ + "non_universal_terms = {}\n", + "\n", + "for filename, values in tokenized_texts.items():\n", + " my_set = set(values['counts'].keys())\n", + "\n", + " for other_file, other_values in tokenized_texts.items():\n", + " # make sure we don't compare the file\n", + " # to itself, otherwise the difference\n", + " # will be the empty set\n", + " if other_file != filename:\n", + " my_set -= set(other_values['counts'].keys())\n", + " \n", + " # now push the remaining set of terms to the dictionary\n", + " non_universal_terms[filename] = my_set\n", + "\n", + "# log `non_universal_terms` as a sanity check\n", + "non_universal_terms" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 66, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "name": "stdout", + "output_type": "stream", + "text": [ + "There are 14669 unique terms across the texts, with\n", + "7809 unique terms in tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt\n", + "6604 unique terms in tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt\n", + "7750 unique terms in tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt\n", + "6511 unique terms in tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt\n" + ] + } + ], + "source": [ + "#Checkin how many unique terms there are\n", + "\n", + "unique_terms = {term for values in tokenized_texts.values() for term in values['counts'].keys()} #List comprehension :O\n", + "print(f\"There are {len(unique_terms)} unique terms across the texts, with\")\n", + "for filename, values in tokenized_texts.items():\n", + " unique_term_count = len(set(values['counts'].keys()))\n", + " print(f\"{unique_term_count} unique terms in {filename}\")\n" ] } ], diff --git a/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt b/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt index e69de29..7ba5782 100644 --- a/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt +++ b/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7079 @@ +The wrath sing, goddess, of Peleus' son, Achilles, that destructive wrath which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans, and sent forth to Hades many valiant souls of heroes, and made them themselves spoil for dogs and every bird; thus the plan of Zeus came to fulfillment, +from the time when +1 + first they parted in strife Atreus' son, king of men, and brilliant Achilles. +Who then of the gods was it that brought these two together to contend? The son of Leto and Zeus; for he in anger against the king roused throughout the host an evil pestilence, and the people began to perish, +because upon the priest Chryses the son of Atreus had wrought dishonour. For he had come to the swift ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, bearing ransom past counting; and in his hands he held the wreaths of Apollo who strikes from afar, +2 + on a staff of gold; and he implored all the Achaeans, +but most of all the two sons of Atreus, the marshallers of the people: + +Sons of Atreus, and other well-greaved Achaeans, to you may the gods who have homes upon +Olympus + grant that you sack the city of Priam, and return safe to your homes; but my dear child release to me, and accept the ransom +out of reverence for the son of Zeus, Apollo who strikes from afar. + + +Then all the rest of the Achaeans shouted assent, to reverence the priest and accept the glorious ransom, yet the thing did not please the heart of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, but he sent him away harshly, and laid upon him a stern command: +Let me not find you, old man, by the hollow ships, either tarrying now or coming back later, lest your staff and the wreath of the god not protect you. Her I will not set free. Sooner shall old age come upon her in our house, in +Argos +, far from her native land, +as she walks to and fro before the loom and serves my bed. But go, do not anger me, that you may return the safer. + + +So he spoke, and the old man was seized with fear and obeyed his word. He went forth in silence along the shore of the loud-resounding sea, and earnestly then, when he had gone apart, the old man prayed +to the lord Apollo, whom fair-haired Leto bore: + +Hear me, god of the silver bow, who stand over +Chryse + and holy Cilla, and rule mightily over +Tenedos +, Sminthian god, +1 + if ever I roofed over a temple to your pleasing, or if ever I burned to you fat thigh-pieces of bulls and goats, +fulfill this prayer for me: let the Danaans pay for my tears by your arrows + + +So he spoke in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him. Down from the peaks of +Olympus + he strode, angered at heart, bearing on his shoulders his bow and covered quiver. +The arrows rattled on the shoulders of the angry god as he moved, and his coming was like the night. Then he sat down apart from the ships and let fly an arrow: terrible was the twang of the silver bow. The mules he assailed first and the swift dogs, +but then on the men themselves he let fly his stinging shafts, and struck; and constantly the pyres of the dead burned thick. +For nine days the missiles of the god ranged among the host, but on the tenth Achilles called the people to assembly, for the goddess, white-armed Hera, had put it in his heart, +since she pitied the Danaans, when she saw them dying. When they were assembled and gathered together, among them arose and spoke swift-footed Achilles: + +Son of Atreus, now I think we shall return home, beaten back again, should we even escape death, +if war and pestilence alike are to ravage the Achaeans. But come, let us ask some seer or priest, or some reader of dreams—for a dream too is from Zeus—who might say why Phoebus Apollo is so angry, whether he finds fault with a vow or a hecatomb; +in hope that he may accept the savour of lambs and unblemished goats, and be willing to ward off the pestilence from us. + + +When he had thus spoken he sat down, and among them arose Calchas son of Thestor, far the best of bird-diviners, who knew the things that were, and that were to be, and that had been before, +and who had guided the ships of the Achaeans to +Ilios + by his own prophetic powers which Phoebus Apollo had bestowed upon him. He with good intent addressed the gathering, and spoke among them: + +Achilles, dear to Zeus, you bid me declare the wrath of Apollo, the lord who strikes from afar. +Therefore I will speak; but take thought and swear that you will readily defend me with word and with might of hand; for I think I shall anger a man who rules mightily over all the Argives, and whom the Achaeans obey. For mightier is a king, when he is angry at a lesser man. +Even if he swallows down his wrath for that day, yet afterwards he cherishes resentment in his heart till he brings it to fulfillment. Say then, if you will keep me safe. + + +In answer to him spoke swift-footed Achilles: + +Take heart, and speak out whatever oracle you know; +for by Apollo, dear to Zeus, to whom you, Calchas, pray when you reveal oracles to the Danaans, no one, while I live and have sight on the earth, shall lay heavy hands on you beside the hollow ships, no one of the whole host of the Danaans, +not even if you name Agamemnon, who now claims to be far the best of the Achaeans. + + +Then the blameless seer took heart, and spoke: + +It is not then because of a vow that he finds fault, nor because of a hecatomb, but because of the priest whom Agamemnon dishonoured, and did not release his daughter nor accept the ransom. +For this cause the god who strikes from afar has given woes and will still give them. He will not drive off from the Danaans the loathsome pestilence, until we give back to her dear father the bright-eyed maiden, unbought, unransomed, and lead a sacred hecatomb to +Chryse +. Then we might appease and persuade him. + + +When he had thus spoken he sat down, and among them arose the warrior, son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon, deeply troubled. With rage his black heart was wholly filled, and his eyes were like blazing fire. To Calchas first of all he spoke, and his look threatened evil: +Prophet of evil, never yet have you spoken to me a pleasant thing; ever is evil dear to your heart to prophesy, but a word of good you have never yet spoken, nor brought to pass. And now among the Danaans you claim in prophecy that for this reason the god who strikes from afar brings woes upon them, +that I would not accept the glorious ransom for the girl, the daughter of Chryses, since I much prefer to keep her in my home. For certainly I prefer her to Clytemnestra, my wedded wife, since she is not inferior to her, either in form or in stature, or in mind, or in any handiwork. +Yet even so will I give her back, if that is better; I would rather the people be safe than perish. But provide me with a prize of honour forthwith, lest I alone of the Argives be without one, since that would not be proper. For you all see this, that my prize goes elsewhere. + + +In answer to him spoke swift-footed brilliant Achilles: + +Most glorious son of Atreus, most covetous of all, how shall the great-hearted Achaeans give you a prize? We know nothing of a hoard of wealth in common store, but whatever we took by pillage from the cities has been apportioned, +and it is not seemly to gather these things back from the army. But give back the girl to the god, and we Achaeans will recompense you three and fourfold, if ever Zeus grants us to sack the well-walled city of +Troy +. + +1 + +In answer to him spoke lord Agamemnon: +Do not thus, mighty though you are, godlike Achilles, seek to deceive me with your wit; for you will not get by me nor persuade me. Are you willing, so that your yourself may keep your prize, for me to sit here idly in want, while you order me to give her back? No, if the great-hearted Achaeans give me a prize, +suiting it to my mind, so that it will be worth just as much—but if they do not, I myself will come and take your prize, or that of Aias, or that of Odysseus I will seize and bear away. Angry will he be, to whomever I come. But these things we will consider hereafter. +Let us now drag a black ship to the shining sea, and quickly gather suitable rowers into it, and place on board a hecatomb, and embark on it the fair-cheeked daughter of Chryses herself. Let one prudent man be its commander, either Aias, or Idomeneus, or brilliant Odysseus, +or you, son of Peleus, of all men most extreme, so that on our behalf you may propitiate the god who strikes from afar by offering sacrifice. + + +Glaring from beneath his brows spoke to him swift-footed Achilles: + +Ah me, clothed in shamelessness, thinking of profit, how shall any man of the Achaeans obey your words with a ready heart +either to go on a journey or to fight against men with force? It was not on account of the Trojan spearmen that I came here to fight, since they have done no wrong to me. Never have they driven off my cattle or my horses, nor ever in deep-soiled +Phthia +, nurse of men, +did they lay waste the harvest, for many things lie between us—shadowy mountains and sounding sea. But you, shameless one, we followed, so that you might rejoice, seeking to win recompense for Menelaus and for yourself, dog-face, from the Trojans. This you disregard, and take no heed of. +And now you threaten that you will yourself take my prize away from me, for which I toiled so much, which the sons of the Achaeans gave to me. Never have I prize like yours, whenever the Achaeans sack a well-inhabited citadel of the Trojans. The brunt of furious battle +do my hands undertake, but if ever an apportionment comes, your prize is far greater, while small but dear is the reward I take to my ships, when I have worn myself out in the fighting. Now I will go back to +Phthia +, since it is far better to return home with my beaked ships, nor do I intend +while I am here dishonoured to pile up riches and wealth for you. + + +Then the king of men, Agamemnon, answered him: + +Flee then, if your heart urges you; I do not beg you to remain for my sake. With me are others who will honour me, and above all Zeus, the lord of counsel. +Most hateful to me are you of all the kings that Zeus nurtures, for always strife is dear to you, and wars and battles. If you are very strong, it was a god, I think, who gave you this gift. Go home with your ships and your companions and lord it over the Myrmidons; for you I care not, +nor take heed of your wrath. But I will threaten you thus: as Phoebus Apollo takes from me the daughter of Chryses, her with my ship and my companions I will send back, but I will myself come to your tent and take the fair-cheeked Briseis, your prize, so that you will understand +how much mightier I am than you, and another may shrink from declaring himself my equal and likening himself to me to my face. + + +So he spoke. Grief came upon the son of Peleus, and within his shaggy breast his heart was divided, whether he should draw his sharp sword from beside his thigh, +and break up the assembly, and slay the son of Atreus, or stay his anger and curb his spirit. While he pondered this in mind and heart, and was drawing from its sheath his great sword, Athene came from heaven. The white-armed goddess Hera had sent her forth, +for in her heart she loved and cared for both men alike. +She stood behind him, and seized the son of Peleus by his fair hair, appearing to him alone. No one of the others saw her. Achilles was seized with wonder, and turned around, and immediately recognized Pallas Athene. Terribly her eyes shone. +Then he addressed her with winged words, and said: + +Why now, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, have you come? Is it so that you might see the arrogance of Agamemnon, son of Atreus? One thing I will tell you, and I think this will be brought to pass: through his own excessive pride shall he presently lose his life. + + +Him then the goddess, bright-eyed Athene, answered: + +I have come from heaven to stay your anger, if you will obey, The goddess white-armed Hera sent me forth, for in her heart she loves and cares for both of you. But come, cease from strife, and do not grasp the sword with your hand. +With words indeed taunt him, telling him how it shall be. +1 + For thus will I speak, and this thing shall truly be brought to pass. Hereafter three times as many glorious gifts shall be yours on account of this arrogance. But refrain, and obey us. + + +In answer to her spoke swift-footed Achilles: +It is necessary, goddess, to observe the words of you two, however angered a man be in his heart, for is it better so. Whoever obeys the gods, to him do they gladly give ear. + + +He spoke, and stayed his heavy hand on the silver hilt, and back into its sheath thrust the great sword, and did not disobey +the word of Athene. She returned to +Olympus + to the palace of aegis-bearing Zeus, to join the company of the other gods. +But the son of Peleus again addressed with violent words the son of Atreus, and in no way ceased from his wrath: + +Heavy with wine, with the face of a dog but the heart of a deer, +never have you had courage to arm for battle along with your people, or go forth to an ambush with the chiefs of the Achaeans. That seems to you even as death. Indeed it is far better throughout the wide camp of the Achaeans to deprive of his prize whoever speaks contrary to you. +People-devouring king, since you rule over nobodies; else, son of Atreus, this would be your last piece of insolence. But I will speak out to you, and will swear thereto a mighty oath: by this staff, that shall never more put forth leaves or shoots since first it left its stump among the mountains, +nor shall it again grow green, for the bronze has stripped it on all sides of leaves and bark, and now the sons of the Achaeans carry it in their hands when they act as judges, those who guard the ordinances that come from Zeus; and this shall be for you a mighty oath. Surely some day a longing for Achilles will come upon the sons of the Achaeans +one and all, and on that day you will not be able to help them at all, for all your grief, when many shall fall dying before man-slaying Hector. But you will gnaw the heart within you, in anger that you did no honour to the best of the Achaeans. + + +So spoke the son of Peleus, and down to the earth he dashed +the staff studded with golden nails, and himself sat down, while over against him the son of Atreus continued to vent his wrath. Then among them arose Nestor, sweet of speech, the clear-voiced orator of the Pylians, from whose tongue flowed speech sweeter than honey. Two generations of mortal men had passed away in his lifetime, +who had been born and reared with him before in sacred +Pylos +, and he was king among the third. He with good intent addressed the gathering and spoke among them: + +Comrades, great grief has come upon the land of +Achaea +. Truly would Priam and the sons of Priam +rejoice, and the rest of the Trojans would be most glad at heart, were they to hear all this of you two quarrelling, you who are chief among the Danaans in counsel and chief in war. Listen to me, for you are both younger than I. In earlier times I moved among men more warlike than you, +and never did they despise me. Such warriors have I never since seen, nor shall I see, as Peirithous was and Dryas, shepherd of the people, and Caeneus and Exadius and godlike Polyphemus, and Theseus, son of Aegeus, a man like the immortals. +Mightiest were these of men reared upon the earth; mightiest were they, and with the mightiest they fought, the mountain-dwelling centaurs, and they destroyed them terribly. With these men I had fellowship, when I came from +Pylos +, from a distant land far away; for they themselves called me. +And I fought on my own; +1 + with those men could no one fight of the mortals now upon the earth. Yes, and they listened to my counsel, and obeyed my words. So also should you obey, since to obey is better. Neither do you, mighty though you are, take away the girl, +but let her be, as the sons of the Achaeans first gave her to him as a prize; nor do you, son of Peleus, be minded to strive with a king, might against might, for it is no common honour that is the portion of a sceptre-holding king, to whom Zeus gives glory. If you are a stronger fighter, and a goddess mother bore you, +yet he is the mightier, since he is king over more. Son of Atreus, check your rage. Indeed, I beg you to let go your anger against Achilles, who is for all the Achaeans a mighty bulwark in evil war. + + +In answer to him spoke lord Agamemnon: +All these things, old man, to be sure, you have spoken as is right. But this man wishes to be above all others; over all he wishes to rule and over all to be king, and to all to give orders; in this, I think, there is someone who will not obey. If the gods who exist for ever made him a spearman, +do they therefore license him +1 + to keep uttering insults? + + +Brilliant Achilles broke in upon him and replied: + +Surely I would be called cowardly and of no account, if I am to yield to you in every matter that you say. On others lay these commands, but do not give orders to me, +for I do not think I shall obey you any longer. And another thing I will tell you, and take it to heart: with my hands I will not fight for the girl's sake either with you nor with any other, since you are taking away what you have given. But of all else that is mine by my swift black ship, +nothing will you take or carry away against my will. Come, just try, so that these too may know: forthwith will your dark blood flow forth about my spear. + + +So when the two had made an end of contending with violent words, they rose, and broke up the gathering beside the ships of the Achaeans. +The son of Peleus went his way to his huts and his balanced ships together with the son of Menoetius, and with his men; but the son of Atreus launched a swift ship on the sea, and chose for it twenty rowers, and drove on board a hecatomb for the god, and brought the fair-cheeked daughter of Chryses and set her in the ship; +and Odysseus of many wiles went on board to take command. + + +So these embarked and sailed over the watery ways; but the son of Atreus bade the people purify themselves. And they purified themselves, and cast the defilement into the sea, and offered to Apollo perfect hecatombs +of bulls and goats by the shore of the barren +1 + sea; and the savour thereof went up to heaven, eddying amid the smoke. +Thus were they busied throughout the camp; but Agamemnon did not cease from the strife with which he had first threatened Achilles, but called to Talthybius and Eurybates, +who were his heralds and ready squires: + +Go to the hut of Achilles, Peleus' son, and take by the hand the fair-cheeked Briseis, and lead her hither; and if he give her not, I will myself go with a larger company and take her; that will be even the worse for him. + + +So saying he sent them forth, and laid upon them a stern command. Unwilling went the two along the shore of the barren sea, and came to the tents and the ships of the Myrmidons. Him they found sitting beside his tent and his black ship; and Achilles was not glad at sight of them. +The two, seized with dread and in awe of the king, stood, and spoke no word to him, nor made question; but he knew in his heart, and spoke: + +Hail, heralds, messengers of Zeus and men, draw near. It is not you who are guilty in my sight, but Agamemnon, +who sent you forth for the sake of the girl, Briseis. But come, Patroclus, sprung from Zeus, bring forth the girl, and give her to them to lead away. However, let these two themselves be witnesses before the blessed gods and mortal men, and before him, that ruthless king, if hereafter +there shall be need of me to ward off shameful ruin from the host. Truly he rages with baneful mind, and knows not at all to look both before and after, that his Achaeans might wage war in safety beside their ships. + + +So he spoke, and Patroclus obeyed his dear comrade, +and led forth from the hut the fair-cheeked Briseis, and gave her to them to lead away. So the two went back beside the ships of the Achaeans, and with them, all unwilling, went the woman. But Achilles burst into tears, and withdrew apart from his comrades, and sat down on the shore of the grey sea, looking forth over the wine-dark deep. +Earnestly he prayed to his dear mother with hands outstretched: + +Mother, since you bore me, though to so brief a span of life, honour surely ought the Olympian to have given into my hands, Zeus who thunders on high; but now he has honoured me not a bit. Truly the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon +has dishonoured me: for he has taken and keeps my prize through his own arrogant act. + + +So he spoke, weeping, and his lady mother heard him, as she sat in the depths of the sea beside the old man, her father. And speedily she came forth from the grey sea like a mist, and sat down before him, as he wept, +and she stroked him with her hand, and spoke to him, and called him by name: + +My child, why do you weep? What sorrow has come upon your heart? Speak out; hide it not in your mind, that we both may know. + + +Then with heavy moaning spoke swift-footed Achilles to her: + +You know. Why then should I tell the tale to you who knows all? +We went forth to Thebe, the sacred city of Eetion, and laid it waste, and brought here all the spoil. This the sons of the Achaeans divided properly among themselves, but for the son of Atreus they chose out the fair-cheeked daughter of Chryses. However, Chryses, priest of Apollo, who strikes from afar, +came to the swift ships of the bronze-clad Achaeans, to free his daughter, bearing ransom past counting, and in his hands he held the wreaths of Apollo who strikes from afar, on a staff of gold, and he implored all the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, marshallers of the people. +Then all the rest of the Achaeans shouted assent, to reverence the priest and accept the glorious ransom; yet the thing did not please the heart of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, but he sent him away harshly, and laid upon him a stern command. So the old man went back again in anger; and Apollo +heard his prayer, for he was very dear to him, and sent against the Argives an evil shaft. Then the people began to die thick and fast, and the shafts of the god ranged everywhere throughout the wide camp of the Achaeans. But to us the prophet with sure knowledge declared the oracles of the god who strikes from afar. +Forthwith, then, I first bade propitiate the god, but thereafter anger seized the son of Atreus, and straightway he arose and spoke a threatening word, which now has come to pass. For the quick-glancing Achaeans are taking the maiden in a swift ship to +Chryse +, and are bearing gifts to the god; +while the other woman the heralds have just now taken from my tent and led away, the daughter of Briseus, whom the sons of the Achaeans gave me. But, you, if you are able, guard your own son; go to +Olympus + and make prayer to Zeus, if ever you have gladdened his heart by word or deed. +For often I have heard you glorying in the halls of my father, and declaring that you alone among the immortals warded off shameful ruin from the son of Cronos, lord of the dark clouds, on the day when the other Olympians wished to put him in bonds, even Hera and Poseidon and Pallas Athene. +But you came, goddess, and freed him from his bonds, when you had quickly called to high +Olympus + him of the hundred hands, whom the gods call Briareus, but all men Aegaeon; for he is mightier than his father. +1 + He sat down by the side of the son of Cronos, exulting in his glory, +and the blessed gods were seized with fear of him, and did not bind Zeus. Bring this now to his remembrance, and sit by his side, and clasp his knees, in hope that he might perhaps wish to succour the Trojans, and for those others, the Achaeans, to pen them in among the sterns of their ships and around the sea as they are slain, so that they may all have profit of their king, +and that the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon may know his blindness in that he did no honour to the best of the Achaeans. + + +Then Thetis answered him as she wept: + +Ah me, my child, why did I rear you, cursed in my child-bearing? Would that it had been your lot to remain by your ships without tears and without grief, +since your span of life is brief and endures no long time; but now you are doomed to a speedy death and are laden with sorrow above all men; therefore to an evil fate I bore you in our halls. Yet in order to tell this your word to Zeus who delights in the thunderbolt I will myself go to snowy +Olympus +, in hope that he may be persuaded. +But remain by your swift, sea-faring ships, and continue your wrath against the Achaeans, and refrain utterly from battle; for Zeus went yesterday to Oceanus, to the blameless Ethiopians for a feast, and all the gods followed with him; but on the twelfth day he will come back again to +Olympus +, +and then will I go to the house of Zeus with threshold of bronze, and will clasp his knees in prayer, and I think I shall win him. + + +So saying, she went her way and left him where he was, angry at heart for the fair-girdled woman's sake, whom they had taken from him by force though he was unwilling; and meanwhile Odysseus +came to +Chryse + bringing the holy hecatomb. When they had arrived within the deep harbour, they furled the sail, and stowed it in the black ship, and the mast they lowered by the forestays and brought it to the crutch with speed, and rowed her with oars to the place of anchorage. +Then they cast out the mooring-stones and made fast the stern cables, and themselves went forth upon the shore of the sea. They brought forth the hecatomb for Apollo, who strikes from afar, and forth stepped also the daughter of Chryses from the sea-faring ship. Her then did Odysseus of many wiles lead to the altar, +and place in the arms of her dear father, saying to him: + +Chryses, Agamemnon, king of men, sent me forth to bring to you your daughter, and to offer to Phoebus a holy hecatomb on the Danaans' behalf, that therewith we may propitiate the lord, who has now brought upon the Argives woeful lamentation. + + +So saying he placed her in his arms, and he joyfully took his dear child; but they made haste to set in array for the god the holy hecatomb around the well-built altar, and then they washed their hands and took up the barley grains. Then Chryses lifted up his hands, and prayed aloud for them: +Hear me, god of the silver bow, who stands over +Chryse + and holy Cilla, and rules mightily over +Tenedos +. As before you heard me when I prayed—to me you did honour, and mightily smote the host of the Achaeans—even so now fulfill me this my desire: +ward off now from the Danaans the loathly pestilence. + + +So he spoke in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him. Then, when they had prayed, and had sprinkled the barley grains, they first drew back the victims' heads, and cut their throats, and flayed them, and cut out the thighs and covered them +with a double layer of fat, and laid raw flesh thereon. And the old man burned them on stakes of wood, and made libation over them of gleaming wine; and beside him the young men held in their hands the five-pronged forks. But when the thigh-pieces were wholly burned, and they had tasted the entrails, they cut up the rest and spitted it, +and roasted it carefully, and drew all off the spits. Then, when they had ceased from their labour and had made ready the meal, they feasted, nor did their hearts lack anything of the equal feast. But when they had put from them the desire for food and drink, the youths filled the bowls brim full of drink +and served out to all, first pouring drops for libation into the cups. So the whole day long they sought to appease the god with song, singing the beautiful paean, the sons of the Achaeans, hymning the god who works from afar; and his heart was glad, as he heard. +But when the sun set and darkness came on, +they lay down to rest by the stern cables of the ship, and as soon as early rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, then they set sail for the wide camp of the Achaeans. And Apollo, who works from afar, sent them a favouring wind, and they set up the mast and spread the white sail. +So the wind filled the belly of the sail, and the dark wave sang loudly about the stem of the ship, as she went, and she sped over the wave, accomplishing her way. But when they came to the wide camp of the Achaeans, they drew the black ship up on the shore, +high upon the sands, and set in line the long props beneath, and themselves scattered among the tents and ships. +But he in his wrath sat beside his swift-faring ships, the Zeus-sprung son of Peleus, swift-footed Achilles. Never did he go forth to the place of gathering, where men win glory, +nor ever to war, but wasted away his own heart, as he tarried where he was; and he longed for the war-cry and the battle. + + +Now when the twelfth morning thereafter had come, then into +Olympus + came the gods who are for ever, all in one company, and Zeus led the way. And Thetis did not forget the behest +of her son, but rose up from the wave of the sea, and at early morning went up to great heaven and +Olympus +. There she found the far-seeing son of Cronos sitting apart from the rest upon the topmost peak of many-ridged +Olympus +. So she sat down before him, and clasped his knees +with her left hand, while with her right she touched him beneath the chin, and she spoke in prayer to king Zeus, son of Cronos: + +Father Zeus, if ever amid the immortals I gave you aid by word or deed, grant me this prayer: do honour to my son, who is doomed to a speedy death beyond all other men; +yet now Agamemnon, king of men, has dishonoured him, for he has taken and keeps his prize by his own arrogant act. But honour him, Olympian Zeus, lord of counsel; and give might to the Trojans, until the Achaeans do honour to my son, and magnify him with recompense. + + +So she spoke; but Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, spoke no word to her, but sat a long time in silence. Yet Thetis, even as she had clasped his knees, so held to him, clinging close, and questioned him again a second time: + +Give me your infallible promise, and bow your head to it, or else deny me, for there is nothing to make you afraid; so that I may know well +how far I among all the gods am honoured the least. + + +Then, greatly troubled, Zeus, the cloud-gatherer spoke to her: + +Surely this will be sorry work, since you will set me on to engage in strife with Hera, when she shall anger me with taunting words. Even now she always upbraids me among the immortal gods, +and declares that I give aid to the Trojans in battle. But for the present, depart again, lest Hera note something; and I will take thought for these things to bring all to pass. Come, I will bow my head to you, that thou may be certain, for this from me is the surest token among the immortals; +no word of mine may be recalled, nor is false, nor unfulfilled, to which I bow my head. + + +The son of Cronos spoke, and bowed his dark brow in assent, and the ambrosial locks waved from the king's immortal head; and he made great +Olympus + quake. + +When the two had taken counsel together in this way, they parted; she leapt straightway into the deep sea from gleaming +Olympus +, and Zeus went to his own palace. All the gods together rose from their seats before the face of their father; no one dared to await his coming, but they all rose up before him. +So he sat down there upon his throne; but Hera saw, and failed not to note how silver-footed Thetis, daughter of the old man of the sea, had taken counsel with him. Forthwith then she spoke to Zeus, son of Cronos, with mocking words: + +Who of the gods, crafty one, has now again taken counsel with you? +Always is it your pleasure to hold aloof from me, and to give judgments which you have pondered in secret, nor have you ever brought yourself with a ready heart to declare to me the matter which you devise. + + +In answer to her spoke the father of men and gods: + +Hera, do not hope to know all my words: +hard will they prove for you, though you are my wife. Whatever it is fitting for you to hear, this none other shall know before you, whether of gods or men; but what I wish to devise apart from the gods, of all this do not in any way inquire nor ask. + + +In answer to him spoke the ox-eyed lady Hera: + +Most dread son of Cronos, what a word you have said! Truly, in the past I have not been accustomed to inquire nor ask you, but at your ease you devise all things whatever you wish. But now I have wondrous dread at heart, lest +silver-footed Thetis, daughter of the old man of the sea, have beguiled you; for at early dawn she sat by you and clasped your knees. To her, I think, you bowed your head in sure token that you will honour Achilles, and bring many to death beside the ships of the Achaeans. + + +Then in answer to her spoke Zeus, the cloud-gatherer: +Strange one, +1 + you are always suspecting, and I do not escape you; yet you shall be able to accomplish nothing, but shall be even further from my heart; and that shall be the worse for you. If this thing is as you say, then it must be pleasing to me. Sit down in silence, and obey my word, +lest all the gods that are in +Olympus + avail you not against my drawing near, when I put forth upon you my irresistible hands. + + +He spoke, and ox-eyed lady Hera was seized with fear, and sat down in silence, curbing her heart. Then troubled were the gods of heaven throughout the palace of Zeus, +and among them Hephaestus, the famed craftsman, was first to speak, doing pleasure to his dear mother, white-armed Hera: + +Surely this will be sorry work, that is no longer bearable, if you two are to wrangle thus for mortals' sakes, and set the gods in tumult; neither will there be any joy in the excellent feast, +since worse things prevail. And I give counsel to my mother, wise though she be herself, to do pleasure to our dear father Zeus, that the father upbraid her not again, and bring confusion upon our feast. What if the Olympian, the lord of the lightning, were minded +to dash us from our seats! for he is mightiest far. But address him with gentle words; so shall the Olympian forthwith be gracious to us. + + +So saying, he sprang up and placed in his dear mother's hand the double cup, and spoke to her: +Be patient, my mother, and endure for all your grief, lest, dear as you are to me, my eyes see you stricken, and then I shall in no way be able to succour you for all my sorrow; for a hard foe is the Olympian to meet in strife. On a time before this, when I was striving to save you, +he caught me by the foot and hurled me from the heavenly threshold; the whole day long I was carried headlong, and at sunset I fell in +Lemnos +, and but little life was in me. There the Sintian folk quickly tended me for my fall. + + +So he spoke, and the goddess, white-armed Hera, smiled, +and smiling took in her hand the cup from her son. Then he poured wine for all the other gods from left to right, drawing forth sweet nectar from the bowl. And unquenchable laughter arose among the blessed gods, as they saw Hephaestus puffing through the palace. + +Thus the whole day long till the setting of the sun they feasted, nor did their heart lack anything of the equal feast, nor of the beauteous lyre, that Apollo held, nor yet of the Muses, who sang, replying one to the other with sweet voices. +But when the bright light of the sun was set, +they went each to his own house to take their rest, where for each one a palace had been built with cunning skill by the famed Hephaestus, the limping god; and Zeus, the Olympian, lord of the lightning, went to his couch, where of old he took his rest, whenever sweet sleep came upon him. +There went he up and slept, and beside him lay Hera of the golden throne. +Now all the other gods and men, lords of chariots, slumbered the whole night through, but Zeus was not holden of sweet sleep, for he was pondering in his heart how he might do honour to Achilles and lay many low beside the ships of the Achaeans. And this plan seemed to his mind the best, +to send to Agamemnon, son of Atreus, a baneful dream. So he spake, and addressed him with winged words: + +Up, go, thou baneful Dream, unto the swift ships of the Achaeans, and when thou art come to the hut of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, +tell him all my word truly, even as I charge thee. Bid him arm the long-haired Achaeans with all speed, since now he may take the broad-wayed city of the Trojans. For the immortals, that have homes upon +Olympus +, are no longer divided in counsel, +since Hera hath Vent the minds of all by her supplication, and over the Trojans hang woes. + + +So spake he, and the Dream went his way, when he had heard this saying. Forthwith he came to the swift ships of the Achaeans, and went his way to Agamemnon, son of Atreus, and found him sleeping in his hut, and over him was shed ambrosial slumber. +So he took his stand above his head, in the likeness of the son of Neleus, even Nestor, whom above all the elders Agamemnon held in honour; likening himself to him, the Dream from heaven spake, saying: + +Thou sleepest, son of wise-hearted Atreus, the tamer of horses. To sleep the whole night through beseemeth not a man that is a counsellor, +to whom a host is entrusted, and upon whom rest so many cares. But now, hearken thou quickly unto me, for I am a messenger to thee from Zeus, who, far away though he be, hath exceeding care for thee and pity. He biddeth thee arm the long-haired Achaeans with all speed, since now thou mayest take the broad-wayed city of the Trojans. +For the immortals that have homes upon +Olympus + are no longer divided in counsel, since Hera hath bent the minds of all by her supplication, and over the Trojans hang woes by the will of Zeus. But do thou keep this in thy heart, nor let forgetfulness lay hold of thee, whenso honey-hearted sleep shall let thee go. + +So spoke the Dream, and departed, and left him there, pondering in his heart on things that were not to be brought to pass. For in sooth he deemed that he should take the city of Priam that very day, fool that he was! seeing he knew not what deeds Zeus was purposing, +who was yet to bring woes and groanings on Trojans alike and Danaans throughout the course of stubborn fights. Then he awoke from sleep, and the divine voice was ringing in his ears. He sat upright and did on his soft tunic, fair and glistering, +1 + and about him cast his great cloak, and beneath his shining feet he bound his fair sandals, +and about his shoulders flung his silver-studded sword; and he grasped the sceptre of his fathers, imperishable ever, and therewith took his way along the ships of the brazen-coated Achaeans. +Now the goddess Dawn went up to high +Olympus +, to announce the light to Zeus and the other immortals, +but Agamemnon bade the clear-voiced heralds summon to the place of gathering the long-haired Achaeans. And they made summons, and the men gathered full quickly. +But the king first made the council of the great-souled elders to sit down beside the ship of Nestor, the king Pylos-born. +And when he had called them together, he contrived a cunning plan, and said: + +Hearken, my friends, a Dream from heaven came to me in my sleep through the ambrosial night, and most like was it to goodly Nestor, in form and in stature and in build. It took its stand above my head, and spake to me, saying: +‘Thou sleepest, son of wise-hearted Atreus, the tamer of horses. To sleep the whole night through beseemeth not a man that is a counsellor, to whom a host is entrusted, and upon whom rest so many cares. But now, hearken thou quickly unto me, for I am a messenger to thee from Zeus, who, far away though he be, hath exceeding care for thee and pity. +He biddeth thee arm the long-haired Achaeans with all speed, since now thou mayest take the broad-wayed city of the Trojans. For the immortals that have homes upon +Olympus + are no longer divided in counsel, since Hera hath bent the minds of all by her supplication, and over the Trojans hang woes by the will of Zeus. +But do thou keep this in thy heart.’ So spake he, and was flown away, and sweet sleep let me go. Nay, come now, if in any wise we may, let us arm the sons of the Achaeans; but first will I make trial of them in speech, as is right, and will bid them flee with their benched ships; +but do you from this side and from that bespeak them, and strive to hold them back. + + +So saying, he sate him down, and among them uprose Nestor, that was king of sandy +Pylos +. He with good intent addressed their gathering and spake among them: + +My friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, +were it any other of the Achaeans that told us this dream we might deem it a false thing, and turn away therefrom the more; but now hath he seen it who declares himself to be far the mightiest of the Achaeans. Nay, come then, if in any wise we may arm the sons of the Achaeans. + + +He spake, and led the way forth from the council, +and the other sceptred kings rose up thereat and obeyed the shepherd of the host; and the people the while were hastening on. Even as the tribes of thronging bees go forth from some hollow rock, ever coming on afresh, and in clusters over the flowers of spring fly in throngs, some here, some there; +even so from the ships and huts before the low sea-beach marched forth in companies their many tribes to the place of gathering. And in their midst blazed forth Rumour, messenger of Zeus, urging them to go; and they were gathered. +And the place of gathering was in a turmoil, and the earth groaned beneath them, as the people sate them down, and a din arose. Nine heralds with shouting sought to restrain them, if so be they might refrain from uproar and give ear to the kings, nurtured of Zeus. Hardly at the last were the people made to sit, and were stayed in their places, +ceasing from their clamour. Then among them lord Agamemnon uprose, bearing in his hands the sceptre which Hephaestus had wrought with toil. Hephaestus gave it to king Zeus, son of Cronos, and Zeus gave it to the messenger Argeïphontes; and Hermes, the lord, gave it to Pelops, driver of horses, +and Pelops in turn gave it to Atreus, shepherd of the host; and Atreus at his death left it to Thyestes, rich in flocks, and Thyestes again left it to Agamemnon to bear, that so he might be lord of many isles and of all +Argos +. + + + Thereon he leaned, and spake his word among the Argives: +My friends, Danaan warriors, squires of Ares, great Zeus, son of Cronos, hath ensnared me in grievous blindness of heart, cruel god! seeing that of old he promised me, and bowed his head thereto, that not until I had sacked well-walled +Ilios + should I get me home; but now hath he planned cruel deceit, and bids me return inglorious to +Argos +, +when I have lost much people. So, I ween, must be the good pleasure of Zeus, supreme in might, who hath laid low the heads of many cities, yea, and shall yet lay low, for his power is above all. A shameful thing is this even for the hearing of men that are yet to be, +how that thus vainly so goodly and so great a host of the Achaeans warred a bootless war, and fought with men fewer than they, and no end thereof hath as yet been seen. For should we be minded, both Achaeans and Trojans, to swear a solemn oath with sacrifice, and to number ourselves, +and should the Trojans be gathered together, even all they that have dwellings in the city, and we Achaeans be marshalled by tens, and choose, each company of us, a man of the Trojans to pour our wine, then would many tens lack a cup-bearer; so far, I deem, do the sons of the Achaeans outnumber the Trojans that dwell in the city. +But allies there be out of many cities, men that wield the spear, who hinder me mightily, and for all that I am fain, suffer me not to sack the well-peopled citadel of +Ilios +. Already have nine years of great Zeus gone by, +and lo, our ships' timbers are rotted, and the tackling loosed; and our wives, I ween, and little children sit in our halls awaiting us; yet is our task wholly unaccomplished in furtherance whereof we came hither. Nay, come, even as I shall bid, let us all obey: +let us flee with our ships to our dear native land; for no more is there hope that we shall take broad-wayed +Troy +. + + +So spake he, and roused the hearts in the breasts of all throughout the multitude, as many as had not heard the council. And the gathering was stirred like the long sea-waves of the Icarian main, +which the East Wind or the South Wind has raised, rushing upon them from the clouds of father Zeus. And even as when the West Wind at its coming stirreth a deep cornfield with its violent blast, and the ears bow thereunder, even so was all their gathering stirred, and they with loud shouting rushed towards the ships; +and from beneath their feet the dust arose on high. And they called each one to his fellow to lay hold of the ships and draw them into the bright sea, and they set themselves to clear the launching-ways, and their shouting went up to heaven, so fain were they of their return home; and they began to take the props from beneath the ships. + +Then would the Argives have accomplished their return even beyond what was ordained, had not Hera spoken a word to Athena, saying: + +Out upon it, child of Zeus that beareth the aegis, unwearied one! Is it thus indeed that the Argives are to flee to their dear native land over the broad back of the sea? +Aye, and they would leave to Priam and the Trojans their boast, even Argive Helen, for whose sake many an Achaean hath perished in +Troy +, far from his dear native land. But go thou now throughout the host of the brazen-coated Achaeans; with thy gentle words seek thou to restrain every man, +neither suffer them to draw into the sea their curved ships. + + +So spake she, and the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, failed not to hearken. Down from the peaks of +Olympus + she went darting, and speedily came to the swift ships of the Achaeans. There she found Odysseus, the peer of Zeus in counsel, +as he stood. He laid no hand upon his benched, black ship, for that grief had come upon his heart and soul; and flashing-eyed Athene stood near him, and said: + +Son of Laërtes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many wiles, is it thus indeed that ye will fling yourselves +on your benched ships to flee to your dear native land? Aye, and ye would leave to Priam and the Trojans their boast, even Argive Helen, for whose sake many an Achaean hath perished in Troy, far from his dear native land. But go thou now throughout the host of the Achaeans, and hold thee back no more; +and with thy gentle words seek thou to restrain every man, neither suffer them to draw into the sea their curved ships. + + +So said she, and he knew the voice of the goddess as she spake, and set him to run, and cast from him his cloak, which his herald gathered up, even Eurybates of Ithaca, that waited on him. +But himself he went straight to Agamemnon, son of Atreus, and received at his hand the staff of his fathers, imperishable ever, and therewith went his way along the ships of the brazen-coated Achaeans. + + +Whomsoever he met that was a chieftain or man of note, to his side would he come and with gentle words seek to restrain him, saying: +Good Sir, it beseems not to seek to affright thee as if thou were a coward, but do thou thyself sit thee down, and make the rest of thy people to sit. For thou knowest not yet clearly what is the mind of the son of Atreus; now he does but make trial, whereas soon he will smite the sons of the Achaeans. Did we not all hear what he spake in the council? +Beware lest waxing wroth he work mischief to the sons of the Achaeans. Proud is the heart of kings, fostered of heaven; for their honour is from Zeus, and Zeus, god of counsel, loveth them. + + +But whatsoever man of the people he saw, and found brawling, him would he smite with his staff; and chide with words, saying, +Fellow, sit thou still, and hearken to the words of others that are better men than thou; whereas thou art unwarlike and a weakling, neither to be counted in war nor in counsel. In no wise shall we Achaeans all be kings here. No good thing is a multitude of lords; let there be one lord, +one king, to whom the son of crooked-counselling Cronos hath vouchsafed the sceptre and judgments, that he may take counsel for his people. + + +Thus masterfully did he range through the host, and they hasted back to the place of gathering from their ships and huts with noise, as when a wave of the loud-resounding sea +thundereth on the long beach, and the deep roareth. +Now the others sate them down and were stayed in their places, only there still kept chattering on Thersites of measureless speech, whose mind was full of great store of disorderly words, wherewith to utter revilings against the kings, idly, and in no orderly wise, +but whatsoever he deemed would raise a laugh among the Argives. Evil-favoured was he beyond all men that came to Ilios: he was bandy-legged and lame in the one foot, and his two shoulders were rounded, stooping together over his chest, and above them his head was warped, and a scant stubble grew thereon. +Hateful was he to Achilles above all, and to Odysseus, for it was they twain that he was wont to revile; but now again with shrill cries he uttered abuse against goodly Agamemnon. With him were the Achaeans exceeding wroth, and had indignation in their hearts. + + + Howbeit with loud shoutings he spake and chid Agamemnon: + +Son of Atreus, with what art thou now again discontent, or what lack is thine? Filled are thy huts with bronze, and women full many are in thy huts, chosen spoils that we Achaeans give thee first of all, whensoe'er we take a citadel. Or dost thou still want gold also, +which some man of the horse-taming Trojans shall bring thee out of Ilios as a ransom for his son, whom I haply have bound and led away or some other of the Achaeans? Or is it some young girl for thee to know in love, whom thou wilt keep apart for thyself? Nay, it beseemeth not one that is their captain to bring to ill the sons of the Achaeans. +Soft fools! base things of shame, ye women of Achaea, men no more, homeward let us go with our ships, and leave this fellow here in the land of Troy to digest his prizes, that so he may learn whether in us too there is aught of aid for him or no—for him that hath now done dishonour to Achilles, a man better far than he; +for he hath taken away, and keepeth his prize by his own arrogant act. Of a surety there is naught of wrath in the heart of Achilles; nay, he heedeth not at all; else, son of Atreus, wouldest thou now work insolence for the last time. + + +So spake Thersites, railing at Agamemnon, shepherd of the host. But quickly to his side came goodly Odysseus, +and with an angry glance from beneath his brows, chid him with harsh words, saying: + +Thersites of reckless speech, clear-voiced talker though thou art, refrain thee, and be not minded to strive singly against kings. For I deem that there is no viler mortal than thou amongst all those that with the sons of Atreus came beneath Ilios. +Wherefore 'twere well thou shouldst not take the name of kings in thy mouth as thou protest, to cast reproaches upon them, and to watch for home-going. In no wise do we know clearly as yet how these things are to be, whether it be for good or ill that we sons of the Achaeans shall return. Therefore dost thou now continually utter revilings against Atreus' son, Agamemnon, shepherd of the host, +for that the Danaan warriors give him gifts full many; whereas thou pratest on with railings. But I will speak out to thee, and this word shall verily be brought to pass: if I find thee again playing the fool, even as now thou dost, then may the head of Odysseus abide no more upon his shoulders, +nor may I any more be called the father of Telemachus, if I take thee not, and strip off thy raiment, thy cloak, and thy tunic that cover thy nakedness, and for thyself send thee wailing to the swift ships, beaten forth from the place of gathering with shameful blows. + +So spake Odysseus, and with his staff smote his back and shoulders; and Thersites cowered down, and a big tear fell from him, and a bloody weal rose up on his back beneath the staff of gold. Then he sate him down, and fear came upon him, and stung by pain with helpless looks he wiped away the tear. + +But the Achaeans, sore vexed at heart though they were, broke into a merry laugh at him, and thus would one speak with a glance at his neighbour: + +Out upon it! verily hath Odysseus ere now wrought good deeds without number as leader in good counsel and setting battle in army, but now is this deed far the best that he hath wrought among the Argives, +seeing he hath made this scurrilous babbler to cease from his prating. Never again, I ween, will his proud spirit henceforth set him on to rail at kings with words of reviling. + + +So spake the multitude; but up rose Odysseus, sacker of cities, the sceptre in his hand, and by his side flashing-eyed Athene, +in the likeness of a herald, bade the host keep silence, that the sons of the Achaeans, both the nearest and the farthest, might hear his words, and lay to heart his counsel. He with good intent addressed their gathering and spake among them: + +Son of Atreus, now verily are the Achaeans minded to make thee, O king, +the most despised among all mortal men, nor will they fulfill the promise that they made to thee, while faring hitherward from Argos, the pasture-land of horses, that not until thou hadst sacked well-walled Ilios shouldest thou get thee home. For like little children or widow women +do they wail each to the other in longing to return home. Verily there is toil enough to make a man return disheartened. For he that abideth but one single month far from his wife in his benched ship hath vexation of heart, even he whom winter blasts and surging seas keep afar; +but for us is the ninth year at its turn, while we abide here; wherefore I count it not shame that the Achaeans have vexation of heart beside their beaked ships; yet even so it is a shameful thing to tarry long, and return empty. Endure, my friends, and abide for a time, that we may know +whether the prophecies of Calchas be true, or no. + +For this in truth do we know well in our hearts, and ye are all witnesses thereto, even as many as the fates of death have not borne away. It was but as yesterday or the day before, when the ships of the Achaeans were gathering in Aulis, +1 + laden with woes for Priam and the Trojans; +and we round about a spring were offering to the immortals upon the holy altars hecatombs that bring fulfillment, beneath a fair plane-tree from whence flowed the bright water; then appeared a great portent: a serpent, blood-red on the back, terrible, whom the Olympian himself had sent forth to the light, +glided from beneath the altar and darted to the plane-tree. Now upon this were the younglings of a sparrow, tender little ones, on the topmost bough, cowering beneath the leaves, eight in all, and the mother that bare them was the ninth, Then the serpent devoured them as they twittered piteously, +and the mother fluttered around them, wailing for her dear little ones; howbeit he coiled himself and caught her by the wing as she screamed about him. But when he had devoured the sparrow's little ones and the mother with them, the god, who had brought him to the light, made him to be unseen; for the son of crooked-counselling Cronos turned him to stone; +and we stood there and marveled at what was wrought. So, when the dread portent brake in upon the hecatombs of the gods, then straightway did Calchas prophesy, and address our gathering, saying: 'Why are ye thus silent, ye long-haired Achaeans? To us hath Zeus the counsellor shewed this great sign, +late in coming, late in fulfillment, the fame whereof shall never perish. Even as this serpent devoured the sparrow's little ones and the mother with them—the eight, and the mother that bare them was the ninth—so shall we war there for so many years, but in the tenth shall we take the broad-wayed city.' On this wise spake Calchas, +and now all this is verily being brought to pass. Nay, come, abide ye all, ye well-greaved Achaeans, even where ye are, until we take the great city of Priam. + + +So spake he, and the Argives shouted aloud, and all round about them the ships echoed wondrously beneath the shouting of the Achaeans, +as they praised the words of godlike Odysseus. + + +And there spake among them the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia: + +Now look you; in very truth are ye holding assembly after the manner of silly boys that care no whit for deeds of war. What then is to be the end of our compacts and our oaths? +Nay, into the fire let us cast all counsels and plans of warriors, the drink-offerings of unmixed wine, and the hand-clasps wherein we put our trust. For vainly do we wrangle with words, nor can we find any device at all, for all our long-tarrying here. Son of Atreus, do thou as of old keep unbending purpose, +and be leader of the Argives throughout stubborn fights; and for these, let them perish, the one or two of the Achaeans, that take secret counsel apart—yet no accomplishment shall come therefrom—to depart first to Argos or ever we have learned whether the promise of Zeus that beareth the aegis be a lie or no. +For I declare that Cronos' son, supreme in might, gave promise with his nod on that day when the Argives went on board their swift-faring ships, bearing unto the Trojans death and fate; for he lightened on our right and shewed forth signs of good. Wherefore let no man make haste to depart homewards until each have lain with the wife of some Trojan, +and have got him requital for his strivings and groanings for Helen's sake. +1 + Howbeit, if any man is exceeding fain to depart homewards, let him lay his hand upon his black, well-benched ship, that before the face of all he may meet death and fate. +But do thou, O King, thyself take good counsel, and hearken to another; the word whatsoever I speak, shalt thou not lightly cast aside. Separate thy men by tribes, by clans, Agamemnon, that clan may bear aid to clan and tribe to tribe. If thou do thus, and the Achaeans obey thee, +thou wilt know then who among thy captains is a coward, and who among thy men, and who too is brave; for they will fight each clan for itself. +2 + So shalt thou know whether it is even by the will of heaven that thou shalt not take the city, or by the cowardice of thy folk and their witlessness in war. + + +Then in answer to him spake the king, Agamemnon: +Aye verily once more, old sir, art thou pre-eminent in speech above the sons of the Achaeans. I would, O father Zeus and Athene and Apollo, that I had ten such counsellors; then would the city of king Priam forthwith bow her head, taken and laid waste beneath our hands. +But the son of Cronos, even Zeus that beareth the aegis, hath brought sorrows upon me, in that he casteth me into the midst of fruitless strifes and wranglings. For verily I and Achilles fought about a girl with violent words, and it was I that waxed wroth the first; but if e'er we shall be at one in counsel, +then shall there no more be any putting off of evil for the Trojans, no not for an instant. But for this present go ye to your meal, that we may join battle. Let every man whet well his spear and bestow well his shield, and let him well give to his swift-footed horses their food, and look well to his chariot on every side, and bethink him of fighting; +that the whole day through we may contend in hateful war. For of respite shall there intervene, no, not a whit, until night at its coming shall part the fury of warriors. Wet with sweat about the breast of many a man shall be the baldric of his sheltering shield, and about the spear shall his hand grow weary, +and wet with sweat shall a man's horse be, as he tugs at the polished car. But whomsoever I shall see minded to tarry apart from the fight beside the beaked ships, for him shall there be no hope thereafter to escape the dogs and birds. + + +So spake he, and the Argives shouted aloud as a wave against a high headland, +when the South Wind cometh and maketh it to swell—even against a jutting crag that is never left by the waves of all the winds that come from this side or from that. And they arose and hasted to scatter among the ships, and made fires in the huts, and took their meal. +And they made sacrifice one to one of the gods that are for ever, and one to another, with the prayer that they might escape from death and the toil of war. But Agamemnon, king of men, slew a fat bull of five years to the son of Cronos, supreme in might, and let call the elders, the chieftains of the Achaean host, +Nestor, first of all, and king Idomeneus, and thereafter the twain Aiantes and the son of Tydeus, and as the sixth Odysseus, the peer of Zeus in counsel. And unbidden came to him Menelaus, good at the war-cry, +1 + for he knew in his heart wherewith his brother was busied. +About the bull they stood and took up the barley grains, and in prayer lord Agamemnon spake among them, saying. + +Zeus, most glorious, most great, lord of the dark clouds, that dwellest in the heaven, grant that the sun set not, neither darkness come upon us, until I have cast down in headlong ruin the hall of Priam, blackened with smoke, +and have burned with consuming fire the portals thereof, and cloven about the breast of Hector his tunic, rent with the bronze; and in throngs may his comrades round about him fall headlong in the dust, and bite the earth. + + +So spake he; but not as yet would the son of Cronos grant him fulfillment; +nay, he accepted the sacrifice, but toil he made to wax unceasingly. Then, when they had prayed and had sprinkled the barley grains, they first drew back the victims' heads and cut their throats, and flayed them; and they cut out the thigh-pieces and covered them with a double layer of fat, and laid raw flesh thereon. +These they burned on billets of wood stripped of leaves, and the inner parts they pierced with spits, and held them over the flame of Hephaestus. But when the thigh-pieces were wholly burned and they had tasted of the inner parts, they cut up the rest and spitted it, and roasted it carefully, and drew all off the spits. +Then, when they had ceased from their labour and had made ready the meal, they feasted, nor did their hearts lack aught of the equal feast. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, among them the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia, was first to speak, saying: + +Most glorious son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, +let us now not any more remain gathered here, nor any more put off the work which verily the god vouchsafeth us. Nay, come, let the heralds of the brazen-coated Achaeans make proclamation, and gather together the host throughout the ships, and let us go thus in a body through the broad camp of the Achaeans, +that we may with the more speed stir up sharp battle. + + +So spake he, and the king of men, Agamemnon, failed not to hearken. Straightway he bade the clear-voiced heralds summon to battle the long-haired Achaeans. And they made summons, and the host gathered full quickly. +The kings, nurtured of Zeus, that were about Atreus' son, sped swiftly, marshalling the host, and in their midst was the flashing-eyed Athene, bearing the priceless aegis, that knoweth neither age nor death, wherefrom are hung an hundred tassels all of gold, all of them cunningly woven, and each one of the worth of an hundred oxen. +Therewith she sped dazzling throughout the host of the Achaeans, urging them to go forth; and in the heart of each man she roused strength to war and to battle without ceasing. And to them forthwith war became sweeter than to return in their hollow ships to their dear native land. + +Even as a consuming fire maketh a boundless forest to blaze on the peaks of a mountain, and from afar is the glare thereof to be seen, even so from their innumerable bronze, as they marched forth, went the dazzling gleam up through the sky unto the heavens. + + +And as the many tribes of winged fowl, +wild geese or cranes or long-necked swans on the Asian mead by the streams of Caystrius, fly this way and that, glorying in their strength of wing, and with loud cries settle ever onwards, +1 + and the mead resoundeth; even so their many tribes poured forth from ships and huts +into the plain of Scamander, and the earth echoed wondrously beneath the tread of men and horses. So they took their stand in the flowery mead of Scamander, numberless, as are the leaves and the flowers in their season. +Even as the many tribes of swarming flies +that buzz to and fro throughout the herdsman's farmstead in the season of spring, when the milk drenches the pails, even in such numbers stood the long-haired Achaeans upon the plain in the face of the men of Troy, eager to rend them asunder. +And even as goatherds separate easily the wide-scattered flocks of goats, +when they mingle in the pasture, so did their leaders marshal them on this side and on that to enter into the battle, and among them lord Agamemnon, his eyes and head like unto Zeus that hurleth the thunderbolt, his waist like unto Ares, and his breast unto Poseidon. +Even as a bull among the herd stands forth far the chiefest over all, for that he is pre-eminent among the gathering kine, even such did Zeus make Agamemnon on that day, pre-eminent among many, and chiefest amid warriors. +Tell me now, ye Muses that have dwellings on Olympus— +for ye are goddesses and are at hand and know all things, whereas we hear but a rumour and know not anything—who were the captains of the Danaans and their lords. But the common folk I could not tell nor name, nay, not though ten tongues were mine and ten mouths +and a voice unwearying, and though the heart within me were of bronze, did not the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus that beareth the aegis, call to my mind all them that came beneath Ilios. Now will I tell the captains of the ships and the ships in their order. +1 + +Of the Boeotians Peneleos and Leïtus were captains, +and Arcesilaus and Prothoënor and Clonius; these were they that dwelt in Hyria and rocky Aulis and Schoenus and Scolus and Eteonus with its many ridges, Thespeia, Graea, and spacious Mycalessus; and that dwelt about Harma and Eilesium and Erythrae; +and that held Eleon and Hyle and Peteon, Ocalea and Medeon, the well-built citadel, Copae, Eutresis, and Thisbe, the haunt of doves; that dwelt in Coroneia and grassy Haliartus, and that held Plataea and dwelt in Glisas; +that held lower Thebe, the well-built citadel, and holy Onchestus, the bright grove of Poseidon; and that held Arne, rich in vines, and Mideia and sacred Nisa and Anthedon on the seaboard. Of these there came fifty ships, and on board of each +went young men of the Boeotians an hundred and twenty. + + +And they that dwelt in Aspledon and Orchomenus of the Minyae were led by Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Ares, whom, in the palace of Actor, son of Azeus, Astyoche, the honoured maiden, conceived of mighty Ares, when she had entered into her upper chamber; +for he lay with her in secret. And with these were ranged thirty hollow ships. +And of the Phocians Schedius and Epistrophus were captains, sons of great-souled Iphitus, son of Naubolus; these were they that held Cyparissus and rocky Pytho, +and sacred Crisa and Daulis and Panopeus; and that dwelt about Anemoreia and Hyampolis, and that lived beside the goodly river Cephisus, and that held Lilaea by the springs of Cephisus. With these followed forty black ships. +And their leaders busily marshalled the ranks of the Phocians, and made ready for battle hard by the Boeotians on the left. +And the Loerians had as leader the swift son of Oïleus, Aias the less, in no wise as great as Telamonian Aias, but far less. Small of stature was he, with corselet of linen, +but with the spear he far excelled the whole host of Hellenes and Achaeans. These were they that dwelt in Cynus and Opus and Calliarus and Bessa and Scarphe and lovely Augeiae and Tarphe and Thronium about the streams of Boagrius. With Aias followed forty black ships of +the Locrians that dwell over against sacred Euboea. +And the Abantes, breathing fury, that held Euboea and Chalcis and Eretria and Histiaea, rich in vines, and Cerinthus, hard by the sea, and the steep citadel of Dios; and that held Carystus and dwelt in Styra,— +all these again had as leader Elephenor, scion of Ares, him that was son of Chalcodon and captain of the great-souled Abantes. And with him followed the swift Abantes, with hair long at the back, spearmen eager with outstretched ashen spears to rend the corselets about the breasts of the foemen. +And with him there followed forty black ships. + + +And they that held Athens, the well-built citadel, the land of great-hearted Erechtheus, whom of old Athene, daughter of Zeus, fostered, when the earth, the giver of grain, had borne him; and she made him to dwell in Athens, in her own rich sanctuary, +and there the youths of the Athenians, as the years roll on in their courses, seek to win his favour with sacrifices of bulls and rams;—these again had as leader Menestheus, son of Peteos. Like unto him was none other man upon the face of the earth for the marshalling of chariots and of warriors that bear the shield. +Only Nestor could vie with him, for he was the elder. And with him there followed fifty black ships. +And Aias led from Salamis twelve ships, and stationed them where the battalions of the Athenians stood. +And they that held Argos and Tiryns, famed for its walls, +and Hermione and Asine, that enfold the deep gulf, Troezen and Eïonae and vine-clad Epidaurus, and the youths of the Achaeans that held Aegina and Mases,—these again had as leaders Diomedes, good at the war-cry, and Sthenelus, dear son of glorious Capaneus. +And with them came a third, Euryalus, a godlike warrior, son of king Mecisteus, son of Talaus; but leader over them all was Diomedes, good at the war-cry. And with these there followed eighty black ships. +And they that held Mycenae, the well-built citadel, +and wealthy Corinth, and well-built Cleonae, and dwelt in Orneiae and lovely Araethyrea and Sicyon, wherein at the first Adrastus was king; and they that held Hyperesia and steep Gonoessa and Pellene, +and that dwelt about Aegium and throughout all Aegialus, and about broad Helice,—of these was the son of Atreus, lord Agamemnon, captain, with an hundred ships. With him followed most people by far and goodliest; and among them he himself did on his gleaming bronze, a king all-glorious, and was pre-eminent among all the warriors, +for that he was noblest, and led a people far the most in number. + + +And they that held the hollow land of Lacedaemon with its many ravines, and Pharis and Sparta and Messe, the haunt of doves, and that dwelt in Bryseiae and lovely Augeiae, and that held Amyclae and Helus, a citadel hard by the sea, +and that held Laas, and dwelt about Oetylus,—these were led by Agamemnon's brother, even Menelaus, good at the war-cry, with sixty ships; and they were marshalled apart. And himself he moved among them, confident in his zeal, urging his men to battle; and above all others was his heart fain +to get him requital for his strivings and groanings for Helen's sake. +And they that dwelt in Pylos and lovely Arene and Thryum, the ford of Alpheius, and fair-founded Aepy, and that had their abodes in Cyparisseïs and Amphigeneia and Pteleos and Helus and Dorium, +where the Muses met Thamyris the Thracian and made an end of his singing, even as he was journeying from Oechalia, from the house of Eurytus the Oechalian: for he vaunted with boasting that he would conquer, were the Muses themselves to sing against him, the daughters of Zeus that beareth the aegis; but they in their wrath maimed him, +and took from him his wondrous song, and made him forget his minstrelsy;—all these folk again had as leader the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia. And with him were ranged ninety hollow ships. +And they that held Arcadia beneath the steep mountain of Cyllene, beside the tomb of Aepytus, where are warriors that fight in close combat; +and they that dwelt in Pheneos and Orchomenus, rich in flocks, and Rhipe and Stratia and wind-swept Enispe; and that held Tegea and lovely Mantineia; and that held Stymphalus and dwelt in Parrhasia, —all these were led by the son of Ancaeus, Lord Agapenor, +with sixty ships; and on each ship embarked full many Arcadian warriors well-skilled in fight. For of himself had the king of men, Agamemnon, given them benched ships wherewith to cross over the wine-dark sea, even the son of Atreus, for with matters of seafaring had they naught to do. + +And they that dwelt in Buprasium and goodly Elis, all that part thereof that Hyrmine and Myrsinus on the seaboard and the rock of Olen and Alesium enclose between them—these again had four leaders, and ten swift ships followed each one, and many Epeians embarked thereon. +Of these some were led by Amphimachus and Thalpius, of the blood of Actor, sons, the one of Cteatus and the other of Eurytus; and of some was the son of Amarynceus captain, even mighty Diores; and of the fourth company godlike Polyxeinus was captain, son of king Agasthenes, Augeias' son. + +And those from Dulichiuni and the Echinae, the holy isles, that lie across the sea, over against Elis, these again had as leader Meges, the peer of Ares, even the son of Phyleus, whom the horseman Phyleus, dear to Zeus, begat—he that of old had gone to dwell in Dulichium in wrath against his father. +And with Meges there followed forty black ships. +And Odysseus led the great-souled Cephallenians that held Ithaca and Neritum, covered with waving forests, and that dwelt in Crocyleia and rugged Aegilips; and them that held Zacynthus, and that dwelt about Samos, +and held the mainland and dwelt on the shores over against the isles. Of these was Odysseus captain, the peer of Zeus in counsel. And with him there followed twelve ships with vermilion prows. +And the Aetolians were led by Thoas, Andraemon's son, even they that dwelt in Pleuron and Olenus and Pylene and Chalcis, hard by the sea, and rocky Calydon. For the sons of great-hearted Oeneus were no more, neither did he himself still live, and fair-haired Meleager was dead, to whom had commands been given that he should bear full sway among the Aetolians. And with Thoas there followed forty black ships. + +And the Cretans had as leader Idomeneus, famed for his spear, even they that held Cnosus and Gortys, famed for its walls, Lyctus and Miletus and Lycastus, white with chalk, and Phaestus and Rhytium, well-peopled cities; and all they beside that dwelt in Crete of the hundred cities. +Of all these was Idomeneus, famed for his spear, captain, and Meriones, the peer of Enyalius, slayer of men. And with these there followed eighty black ships. + + +And Tlepolemus, son of Heracles, a valiant man and tall, led from Rhodes nine ships of the lordly Rhodians, +that dwelt in Rhodes sundered in three divisions—in Lindos and Ialysus and Cameirus, white with chalk. These were led by Tlepolemus, famed for his spear, he that was born to mighty Heracles by Astyocheia, whom he had led forth out of Ephyre from the river Selleïs, +when he had laid waste many cities of warriors fostered of Zeus. But when Tlepolemus had grown to manhood in the well-fenced palace, forthwith he slew his own father's dear uncle, Licymnius, scion of Ares, who was then waxing old. So he straightway built him ships, and when he had gathered together much people, +went forth in flight over the sea, for that the other sons and grandsons of mighty Heracles threatened him. But he came to Rhodes in his wanderings, suffering woes, and there his people settled in three divisions by tribes, and were loved of Zeus that is king among gods and men; +and upon them was wondrous wealth poured by the son of Cronos. +Moreover Nireus led three shapely ships from Syme, Nireus that was son of Aglaïa and Charops the king, Nireus the comeliest man that came beneath Ilios of all the Danaans after the fearless son of Peleus. +Howbeit he was a weakling, and but few people followed with him. +And they that held Nisyrus and Crapathus and Casus and Cos, the city of Eurypylus, and the Calydnian isles, these again were led by Pheidippus and Antiphus, the two sons of king Thessalus, son of Heracles. +And with them were ranged thirty hollow ships. +Now all those again that inhabited Pelasgian Argos, and dwelt in Alos and Alope and Trachis, and that held Phthia and Hellas, the land of fair women, and were called Myrmidons and Hellenes and Achaeans— +of the fifty ships of these men was Achilles captain. Howbeit they bethought them not of dolorous war, since there was no man to lead them forth into the ranks. For he lay in idleness among the ships, the swift-footed, goodly Achilles, in wrath because of the fair-haired girl Briseïs, +whom he had taken out of Lyrnessus after sore toil, when he wasted Lyrnessus and the walls of Thebe, and laid low Mynes and Epistrophus, warriors that raged with the spear, sons of king Evenus, Selepus' son. In sore grief for her lay Achilles idle; but soon was he to arise again. + +And they that held Phylace and flowery Pyrasus, the sanctuary of Demeter, and Iton, mother of flocks, and Antron, hard by the sea, and Pteleos, couched in grass, these again had as leader warlike Protesilaus, while yet he lived; howbeit ere now the black earth held him fast. +His wife, her two cheeks torn in wailing, was left in Phylace and his house but half established, +1 + while, for himself, a Dardanian warrior slew him as he leapt forth from his ship by far the first of the Achaeans. Yet neither were his men leaderless, though they longed for their leader; for Podarces, scion of Ares, marshalled them, +he that was son of Phylacus' son, Iphiclus, rich in flocks, own brother to great-souled Protesilaus, and younger-born; but the other was the elder and the better man, even the warrior, valiant Protesilaus. So the host in no wise lacked a leader, though they longed for the noble man they had lost. +And with him there followed forty black ships. +And they that dwelt in Pherae beside the lake Boebeïs, and in Boebe, and Glaphyrae, and well-built Iolcus, these were led by the dear son of Admetus with eleven ships, even by Eumelus, whom Alcestis, queenly among women, bare to Admetus, +even she, the comeliest of the daughters of Pelias. +And they that dwelt in Methone and Thaumacia, and that held Meliboea and rugged Olizon, these with their seven ships were led by Philoctetes, well-skilled in archery, +and on each ship embarked fifty oarsmen well skilled to fight amain with the bow. But Philoctetes lay suffering grievous pains in an island, even in sacred Lemnos, where the sons of the Achaeans had left him in anguish with an evil wound from a deadly water-snake. There he lay suffering; +yet full soon were the Argives beside their ships to bethink them of king Philoctetes. Howbeit neither were these men leaderless, though they longed for their leader; but Medon marshalled them, the bastard son of Oïleus, whom Rhene bare to Oïleus, sacker of cities. +And they that held Tricca and Ithome of the crags, +and Oechalia, city of Oechalian Eurytus, these again were led by the two sons of Asclepius, the skilled leeches Podaleirius and Machaon. And with these were ranged thirty hollow ships. + + +And they that held Ormenius and the fountain Hypereia, +and that held Asterium and the white crests of Titanus, these were led by Eurypylus, the glorious son of Euaemon. And with him there followed forty black ships. +And they that held Argissa, and dwelt in Gyrtone, Orthe, and Elone, and the white city of Oloösson, +these again had as leader Polypoetes, staunch in fight, son of Peirithous, whom immortal Zeus begat— even him whom glorious Hippodameia conceived to Peirithous on the day when he got him vengeance on the shaggy centaurs, and thrust them forth from Pelium, and drave them to the Aethices. +Not alone was he, but with him was Leonteus, scion of Ares, the son of Caenus' son, Coronus, high of heart. And with them there followed forty black ships. +And Gouneus led from Cyphus two and twenty ships, and with him followed the Enienes and the Peraebi, staunch in fight, +that had set their dwellings about wintry Dodona, and dwelt in the ploughland about lovely Titaressus, that poureth his fair-flowing streams into Peneius; yet doth he not mingle with the silver eddies of Peneius, but floweth on over his waters like unto olive oil; +for that he is a branch of the water of Styx, the dread river of oath. +And the Magnetes had as captain Prothous, son of Tenthredon. These were they that dwelt about Peneius and Pelion, covered with waving forests. Of these was swift Prothous captain; and with him there followed forty black ships. + +These were the leaders of the Danaans and their lords. But who was far the best among them do thou tell me, Muse—best of the warriors and of the horses that followed with the sons of Atreus. +Of horses best by far were the mares of the son of Pheres, those that Eumelas drave, swift as birds, +like of coat, like of age, their backs as even as a levelling line could make. These had Apollo of the silver bow reared in Pereia, both of them mares, bearing with them the panic of war. And of warriors far best was Telamonian Aias, while yet Achilles cherished his wrath; for Achilles was far the mightiest, +he and the horses that bare the peerless son of Peleus. Howbeit he abode amid his beaked, seafaring ships in utter wrath against Agamemnon, Atreus' son, shepherd of the host; and his people along the sea-shore took their joy in casting the discus and the javelin, and in archery; +and their horses each beside his own car, eating lotus and parsley of the marsh, stood idle, while the chariots were set, well covered up, in the huts of their masters. But the men, longing for their captain, dear to Ares, roared hither and thither through the camp, and fought not. + +So marched they then as though all the land were swept with fire; and the earth groaned beneath them, as beneath Zeus that hurleth the thunderbolt in his wrath, when he scourgeth the land about Typhoeus in the country of the Arimi, where men say is the couch of Typhoeus. Even so the earth groaned greatly beneath their tread as they went; +and full swiftly did they speed across the plain. +And to the Trojans went, as a messenger from Zeus that beareth the aegis, wind-footed, swift Iris with a grievous message. These were holding assembly at Priam's gate, all gathered in one body, the young men alike and the elders. +And swift-footed Iris stood near and spake to them; and she made her voice like to that of Polites, son of Priam, who was wont to sit as a sentinel of the Trojans, trusting in his fleetness of foot, on the topmost part of the barrow of aged Aesyetes, awaiting until the Achaeans should sally forth from their ships. +Likening herself to him swifted-footed Iris spake to Priam, saying: + +Old sir, ever are endless words dear to thee, now even as of yore in time of peace; but war unabating is afoot. Verily full often have I entered ere now into battles of warriors, but never yet have I seen a host so goodly and so great; +for most like to the leaves or the sands are they, as they march over the plain to fight against the city. Hector, to thee beyond all others do I give command, and do thou even according to my word. Inasmuch as there are allies full many throughout the great city of Priam, and tongue differs from tongue among men that are scattered abroad; +let each one therefore give the word to those whose captain he is, and these let him lead forth, when he has marshalled the men of his own city. + + +So spake she, and Hector in no wise failed to know the voice of the goddess, but forthwith brake up the gathering; and they rushed to arms. The gates one and all were opened wide, and forth the folk hasted, +both footmen and charioteers; and a great din arose. +Now there is before the city a steep mound afar out in the plain, with a clear space about it on this side and on that; this do men verily call Batieia, but the immortals call it the barrow of Myrine, light of step. +There on this day did the Trojans and their allies separate their companies. +The Trojans were led by great Hector of the flashing helm, the son of Priam, and with him were marshalled the greatest hosts by far and the goodliest, raging with the spear. + + +Of the Dardanians again the valiant son of Anchises was captain, +even Aeneas, whom fair Aphrodite conceived to Anchises amid the spurs of Ida, a goddess couched with a mortal man. Not alone was he; with him were Antenor's two sons, Archelochus and Acamas, well skilled in all manner of fighting. +And they that dwelt in Zeleia beneath the nethermost foot of Ida, +men of wealth, that drink the dark water of Aesepus, even the Troes, these again were led by the glorious son of Lycaon, Pandarus, to whom Apollo himself gave the bow. +And they that held Adrasteia and the land of Apaesus, and that held Pityeia and the steep mount of Tereia, +these were led by Adrastus and Araphius, with corslet of linen, sons twain of Merops of Percote, that was above all men skilled in prophesying, and would not suffer his sons to go into war, the bane of men. But the twain would in no wise hearken, for the fates of black death were leading them on. + +And they that dwelt about Percote and Practius, and that held Sestus and Abydus and goodly Arisbe, these again were led by Hyrtacus' son Asius, a leader of men—Asius, son of Hyrtacus, whom his horses tawny and tall had borne from Arisbe, from the river Selleïs. + +And Hippothous led the tribes of the Pelasgi, that rage with the spear, even them that dwelt in deep-soiled Larisa; these were led by Hippothous and Pylaeus, scion of Ares, sons twain of Pelasgian Lethus, son of Teutamus. +But the Thracians Acamas led and Peirous, the warrior, +even all them that the strong stream of the Hellespont encloseth. +And Euphemus was captain of the Ciconian spearmen, the son of Ceas' son Troezenus, nurtured of Zeus. +But Pyraechmes led the Paeonians, with curved bows, from afar, out of Amydon from the wide-flowing Axius— +Axius the water whereof floweth the fairest over the face of the earth. +And the Paphlagonians did Pylaemenes of the shaggy +1 + heart lead from the land of the Eneti, whence is the race of wild she-mules. These were they that held Cytorus and dwelt about Sesamon, and had their famed dwellings around the river Parthenius +and Cromna and Aegialus and lofty Erythini. +But of the Halizones Odius and Epistrophus were captains from afar, from Alybe, where is the birth-place of silver. + + +And of the Mysians the captains were Chromis and Ennomus the augur; howbeit with his auguries he warded not off black fate, +but was slain beneath the hands of the son of Aeacus, swift of foot, in the river, where Achilles was making havoc of the Trojans and the others as well. +And Phorcys and godlike Ascanius led the Phrygians from afar, from Ascania, and were eager to fight in the press of battle. +And the Maeonians had captains twain, Mesthles and Antiphus, +the two sons of TaIaemenes, whose mother was the nymph of the Gygaean lake; and they led the Maeonians, whose birth was beneath Tmolas. +And Nastes again led the Carians, uncouth of speech, who held Miletus and the mountain of Phthires, dense with its leafage, and the streams of Maeander, and the steep crests of Mycale. +These were led by captains twain, Amphimachus and Nastes—Nastes and Amphimachus, the glorious children of Nomion. And he +1 + came to the war all decked with gold, like a girl, fool that he was; but his gold in no wise availed to ward off woeful destruction; nay, he was slain in the river beneath the hands of the son of Aeacus, swift of foot; +and Achilles, wise of heart, bare off the gold. +And Sarpedon and peerless Glaucus were captains of the Lycians from afar out of Lycia, from the eddying Xanthus. +Now when they were marshalled, the several companies with their captains, the Trojans came on with clamour and with a cry like birds, even as the clamour of cranes ariseth before the face of heaven, when they flee from wintry storms and measureless rain, +and with clamour fly toward the streams of Ocean, bearing slaughter and death to Pigmy men, and in the early dawn they offer evil battle. But the Achaeans came on in silence, breathing fury, eager at heart to bear aid each man to his fellow. + +Even as when the South Wind sheddeth a mist over the peaks of a mountain, a mist that the shepherd loveth not, but that to the robber is better than night, and a man can see only so far as he casteth a stone; even in such wise rose the dense dust-cloud from beneath their feet as they went; and full swiftly did they speed across the plain. + +Now when they were come near, as they advanced one host against the other, among the Trojans there stood forth as champion godlike Alexander, bearing upon his shoulders a panther skin and his curved bow, and his sword; and brandishing two spears tipped with bronze he challenged all the best of Argives +to fight with him face to face in dread combat. +But when Menelaus, dear to Ares, was ware of him as he came forth before the throng with long strides, then even as a lion is glad when he lighteth on a great carcase, having found a horned stag or a wild goat +when he is hungry; for greedily doth he devour it, even though swift dogs and lusty youths set upon him: even so was Menelaus glad when his eyes beheld godlike Alexander; for he thought that he had gotten him vengeance +1 + on the sinner. And forthwith he leapt in his armour from his chariot to the ground. + +But when godlike Alexander was ware of him as he appeared among the champions, his heart was smitten, and back he shrank into the throng of his comrades, avoiding fate. And even as a man at sight of a snake in the glades of a mountain starteth back, and trembling seizeth his limbs beneath him, +and he withdraweth back again and pallor layeth hold of his cheeks; even so did godlike Alexander, seized with fear of Atreus' son, shrink back into the throng of the lordly Trojans. + + + +But Hector saw him, and chid him with words of shame: + +Evil Paris, most fair to look upon, thou that art mad after women, thou beguiler, +would that thou hadst ne'er been born +2 + and hadst died unwed. Aye, of that were I fain, and it had been better far than that thou shouldest thus be a reproach, and that men should look upon thee in scorn. Verily, methinks, will the long-haired Achaeans laugh aloud, deeming that a prince is our champion because a comely +form is his, while there is no strength in his heart nor any valour. Was it in such strength as this that thou didst sail over the main in thy seafaring ships, when thou hadst gathered thy trusty comrades, and, coming to an alien folk, didst bring back a comely woman from a distant land, even a daughter of +1 + warriors who wield the spear, +but to thy father and city and all the people a grievous bane—to thy foes a joy, but to thine own self a hanging down of the head? Wilt thou indeed not abide Menelaus, dear to Ares? Thou wouldest learn what manner of warrior he is whose lovely wife thou hast. Then will thy lyre help thee not, neither the gifts of Aphrodite, +thy locks and thy comeliness, when thou shalt lie low in the dust. Nay, verily, the Trojans are utter cowards: else wouldest thou ere this have donned a coat of stone +2 + by reason of all the evil thou hast wrought. + + +And to him did godlike Alexander make answer, saying: + +Hector, seeing that thou dost chide me duly, and not beyond what is due— +ever is thy heart unyielding, even as an axe that is driven through a beam by the hand of man that skilfully shapeth a ship's timber, and it maketh the force of his blow to wax; even so is the heart in thy breast undaunted—cast not in my teeth the lovely gifts of golden Aphrodite. +Not to be flung aside, look you, are the glorious gifts of the gods, even all that of themselves they give, whereas by his own will could no man win them. But now, if thou wilt have me war and do battle, make the other Trojans to sit down and all the Achaeans, but set ye me in the midst and Menelaus, dear to Ares, +to do battle for Helen and all her possessions. And whichsoever of us twain shall win, and prove him the better man, let him duly take all the wealth and the woman, and bear them to his home. But for you others, do ye swear friendship and oaths of faith with sacrifice. So should ye dwell in deep-soiled Troyland, and let them return +to Argos, pasture-land of horses, and to Achaea, the land of fair women. + + +So spake he, and Hector rejoiced greatly when he heard his words; and he went into the midst, and kept back the battalions of the Trojans with his spear grasped by the middle; and they all sate them down. +But the long-haired Achaeans sought the while to aim their arrows at him, and to smite him, and to cast at him with stones. But aloud shouted Agamemnon, king of men: + +Hold, ye Argives, shoot no more, ye youths of the Achaeans; for Hector of the flashing helm makes as though he would say somewhat. + + +So spake he, and they stayed them from battle, and became silent forthwith. +And Hector spake between the two hosts: + +Hear from me, ye Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans, the words of Alexander, for whose sake strife hath been set afoot. The other Trojans and all the Achaeans he biddeth to lay aside their goodly battle-gear upon the bounteous earth, +and himself in the midst and Menelaus, dear to Ares, to do battle for Helen and all her possessions. And whichsoever of the twain shall win, and prove him the better man, let him duly take all the wealth and the woman, and bear them to his home; but for us others, let us swear friendship and oaths of faith with sacrifice. + +So spake he, and they all became hushed in silence; and among them spake Menelaus, good at the war-cry: + +Hearken ye now also unto me, for upon my heart above all others hath sorrow come; my mind is that Argives and Trojans now be parted, seeing ye have suffered many woes +because of my quarrel and Alexander's beginning thereof. +1 + And for whichsoever of us twain death and fate are appointed, let him lie dead; but be ye others parted with all speed. Bring ye two lambs, a white ram and a black ewe, for Earth and Sun, and for Zeus we will bring another; +and fetch ye hither the mighty Priam, that he may himself swear an oath with sacrifice, seeing that his sons are over-weening and faithless; lest any by presumptuous act should do violence to the oaths of Zeus. Ever unstable are the hearts of the young; but in whatsoever an old man taketh part, he looketh both before and after, +that the issue may be far the best for either side. + + +So spake he, and the Achaeans and Trojans waxed glad, deeming that they had won rest from woeful war. So they stayed their chariots in the ranks, and themselves stepped forth, and did off their battle-gear. This they laid upon the ground, +each hard by each, and there was but little space between. And Hector sent to the city heralds twain with all speed to fetch the lambs and to summon Priam. And Talthybius did lord Agamemnon send forth to the hollow ships, and bade him bring a lamb; +and he failed not to hearken to goodly Agamemnon. +But Iris went as a messenger to white-armed Helen, in the likeness of her husband's sister, the wife of Antenor's son, even her that lord Helicaon, Antenor's son, had to wife, Laodice, the comeliest of the daughters of Priam. +She found Helen in the hall, where she was weaving a great purple web of double fold, and thereon was broidering many battles of the horse-taming Trojans and the brazen-coated Achaeans, that for her sake they had endured at the hands of Ares. Close to her side then came Iris, swift of foot, and spake to her, saying: +Come hither, dear lady, that thou mayest behold the wondrous doings of the horse-taming Trojans and the brazen-coated Achaeans. They that of old were wont to wage tearful war against one another on the plain, their hearts set on deadly battle, even they abide now in silence, and the battle has ceased, +and they lean upon their shields, and beside them their long spears are fixed. But Alexander and Menelaus, dear to Ares, will do battle with their long spears for thee; and whoso shall conquer, his dear wife shalt thou be called. + + +So spake the goddess, and put into her heart sweet longing +for her former lord and her city and parents; and straightway she veiled herself with shining linen, and went forth from her chamber, letting fall round tears, not alone, for with her followed two handmaids as well, Aethra, daughter of Pittheus, and ox-eyed Clymene; +and with speed they came to the place where were the Scaean gates. + + +And they that were about Priam and Panthous and Thymoetes and Lampus and Clytius and Hicetaon, scion of Ares, and Ucalegon and Antenor, men of prudence both, sat as elders of the people at the Scaean gates. +Because of old age had they now ceased from battle, but speakers they were full good, like unto cicalas that in a forest sit upon a tree and pour forth their lily-like +1 + voice; even in such wise sat the leaders of the Trojans upon the wall. Now when they saw Helen coming upon the wall, +softly they spake winged words one to another: + +Small blame that Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans should for such a woman long time suffer woes; wondrously like is she to the immortal goddesses to look upon. But even so, for all that she is such an one, let her depart upon the ships, +neither be left here to be a bane to us and to our children after us. + + +So they said, but Priam spake, and called Helen to him: + +Come hither, dear child, and sit before me, that thou mayest see thy former lord and thy kinsfolk and thy people—thou art nowise to blame in my eyes; it is the gods, methinks, that are to blame, +who roused against me the tearful war of the Achaeans —and that thou mayest tell me who is this huge warrior, this man of Achaea so valiant and so tall. Verily there be others that are even taller by a head, but so comely a man have mine eyes never yet beheld, +neither one so royal: he is like unto one that is a king. + + +And Helen, fair among women, answered him, saying: + +Revered art thou in mine eyes, dear father of my husband, and dread. Would that evil death had been my pleasure when I followed thy son hither, and left my bridal chamber and my kinfolk +and my daughter, well-beloved, +2 + and the lovely companions of my girlhood. But that was not to be; wherefore I pine away with weeping. Howbeit this will I tell thee, whereof thou dost ask and enquire. Yon man is the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon, that is both a noble king and a valiant spearman. +And he was husband's brother to shameless me, as sure as ever such a one there was. + + +So spake she, and the old man was seized with wonder, and said: + +Ah, happy son of Atreus, child of fortune, blest of heaven; now see I that youths of the Achaeans full many are made subject unto thee. Ere now have I journeyed to the land of Phrygia, rich in vines, +and there I saw in multitudes the Phrygian warriors, masters of glancing steeds, even the people of Otreus and godlike Mygdon, that were then encamped along the banks of Sangarius. For I, too, being their ally, was numbered among them on the day when the Amazons came, the peers of men. +Howbeit not even they were as many as are the bright-eyed Achaeans. + + +And next the old man saw Odysseus, and asked: + +Come now, tell me also of yonder man, dear child, who he is. Shorter is he by a head than Agamemnon, son of Atreus, but broader of shoulder and of chest to look upon. +His battle-gear lieth upon the bounteous earth, but himself he rangeth like the bell-wether of a herd through the ranks of warriors. Like a ram he seemeth to me, a ram of thick fleece, that paceth through a great flock of white ewes. + + +To him made answer Helen, sprung from Zeus: +This again is +Laertes +' son, Odysseus of many wiles, that was reared in the land of Ithaca, rugged though it be, and he knoweth all manner of craft and cunning devices. + + +Then to her again made answer Antenor, the wise: + +Lady, this verily is a true word that thou hast spoken, +for erstwhile on a time goodly Odysseus came hither also on an embassy concerning thee, together with Menelaus, dear to Ares; and it was I that gave them entertainment and welcomed them in my halls, and came to know the form and stature of them both and their cunning devices. Now when they mingled with the Trojans, as they were gathered together, +when they stood Menelaus overtopped him with his broad shoulders; howbeit when the twain were seated Odysseus was the more royal. But when they began to weave the web of speech and of counsel in the presence of all, Menelaus in truth spake fluently, with few words, but very clearly, seeing he was not a man of lengthy speech +nor of rambling, though verily in years he was the younger. But whenever Odysseus of many wiles arose, he would stand and look down with eyes fixed upon the ground, and his staff he would move neither backwards nor forwards, but would hold it stiff, in semblance like a man of no understanding; +thou wouldest have deemed him a churlish man and naught but a fool. But whenso he uttered his great voice from his chest, and words like snowflakes on a winter's day, then could no mortal man beside vie with Odysseus; then did we not so marvel to behold Odysseus' aspect. + +And, thirdly, the old man saw Aias, and asked: + +Who then is this other Achaean warrior, valiant and tall, towering above the Argives with his head and broad shoulders? + + +And to him made answer long-robed Helen, fair among women: + +This is huge Aias, bulwark of the Achaeans. +And Idomeneus over against him standeth amid the Cretans even as a god, and about him are gathered the captains of the Cretans. Full often was Menelaus, dear to Ares, wont to entertain him in our house, whenever he came from Crete. And now all the rest of the bright-eyed Achaeans do I see, +whom I could well note, and tell their names; but two marshallers of the host can I not see, Castor, tamer of horses, and the goodly boxer, Polydeuces, even mine own brethren, whom the same mother bare. Either they followed not with the host from lovely Lacedaemon, +or though they followed hither in their seafaring ships, they have now no heart to enter into the battle of warriors for fear of the words of shame and the many revilings that are mine. + + +So said she; but they ere now were fast holden of the life-giving earth there in Lacedaemon, in their dear native land. + +Meanwhile the heralds were bearing through the city the offerings for the holy oaths of the gods, two lambs and, in a goat-skin bottle, wine that maketh glad the heart, the fruit of the earth. And the herald Idaeus bare a shining bowl and golden cups; and he came to the old king's side and roused him, saying: +Rise, thou son of Laomedon, the chieftains of the horse-taming Trojans, and of the brazen-coated Achaeans, summon thee to go down into the plain, that ye may swear oaths of faith with sacrifice. But Alexander and Menelaus, dear to Ares, will do battle with long spears for the woman's sake; +and whichsoever of the twain shall conquer, him let woman and treasure follow; and we others, swearing friendship and oaths of faith with sacrifice, should then dwell in deep-soiled +Troy +, but they will depart to Argos, pastureland of horses, and Achaea, the land of fair women. + + +So spake he, and the old man shuddered, yet bade his companions +yoke the horses; and they speedily obeyed. Then Priam mounted and drew back the reins, and by his side Antenor mounted the beauteous car; and the twain drave the swift horses through the Scaean gates to the plain. + + +But when they were now come to the Trojans and Achaeans, +they stepped forth from the chariot upon the bounteous earth, and went into the midst of the Trojans and Achaeans. Straightway then rose up Agamemnon, king of men, and Odysseus of many wiles, and the lordly heralds brought together the offerings for the holy oaths of the gods, and mixed the wine in the bowl, +and poured water over the hands of the kings. And the son of Atreus drew forth with his hand the knife that ever hung beside the great sheath of his sword, and cut hair from off the heads of the lambs; and the heralds portioned it out to the chieftans of the Trojans and Achaeans. +Then in their midst Agamemnon lifted up his hands and prayed aloud: + +Father Zeus, that rulest from Ida, most glorious, most great, and thou Sun, that beholdest all things and hearest all things, and ye rivers and thou earth, and ye that in the world below take vengeance on men that are done with life, whosoever hath sworn a false oath; +be ye witnesses, and watch over the oaths of faith. If Alexander slay Menelaus, then let him keep Helen and all her treasure; and we will depart in our seafaring ships. But if so be fair-haired Menelaus shall slay Alexander, +then let the Trojans give back Helen and all her treasure, and pay to the Argives in requital such recompense as beseemeth, even such as shall abide in the minds of men that are yet to be. Howbeit, if Priam and the sons of Priam be not minded to pay recompense unto me, when Alexander falleth, +then will I fight on even thereafter, to get me recompense, and will abide here until I find an end of war. + + +He spake, and cut the lambs' throats with the pitiless bronze; and laid them down upon the ground gasping and failing of breath, for the bronze had robbed them of their strength. +Then they drew wine from the bowl into the cups, and poured it forth, and made prayer to the gods that are for ever. And thus would one of the Achaeans and Trojans say: + +Zeus, most glorious, most great, and ye other immortal gods, which host soever of the twain shall be first to work harm in defiance of the oaths, +may their brains be thus poured forth upon the ground even as this wine, theirs and their children's; and may their wives be made slaves to others. + + +So spake they, but not yet was the son of Cronos to vouchsafe them fulfillment. Then in their midst spake Priam, Dardanus' son, saying: + +Hearken to me, ye Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans. +I verily will go my way back to windy Ilios, since I can in no wise bear to behold with mine eyes my dear son doing battle with Menelaus, dear to Ares. But this, I ween, Zeus knoweth, and the other immortal gods, for which of the twain the doom of death is ordained. + +So spake the godlike man, and let place the lambs in his chariot, and himself mounted, and drew back the reins, and by his side Antenor mounted the beauteous car; and the twain departed back to Ilios. But Hector, Priam's son, and goodly Odysseus +first measured out a space, and thereafter took the lots and shook them in the bronze-wrought helmet, to know which of the twain should first let fly his spear of bronze. And the people made prayer and lifted their hands to the gods; and thus would one of the Achaeans and Trojans speak: +Father Zeus, that rulest from Ida, most glorious, most great, whichsoever of the twain it be that brought these troubles upon both peoples, grant that he may die and enter the house of Hades, whereas to us there may come friendship and oaths of faith. + + +So spake they, and great Hector of the flashing helm shook the helmet, +looking behind him the while; and straightway the lot of Paris leapt forth. Then the people sate them down in ranks, where were each man's high-stepping horses, and his inlaid armour was set. But goodly Alexander did on about his shoulders his beautiful armour, even he, the lord of fair-haired Helen. +The greaves first he set about his legs; beautiful they were, and fitted with silver ankle-pieces; next he did on about his chest the corselet of his brother Lycaon, and fitted it to himself. And about his shoulders he cast his silver-studded sword +of bronze, and thereafter his shield great and sturdy; and upon his mighty head he set a well-wrought helmet with horse-hair crest —and terribly did the plume nod from above— and he took a valorous spear, that fitted his grasp. And in the self-same manner warlike Menelaus did on his battle-gear. + +But when they had armed themselves on either side of the throng, they strode into the space between the Trojans and Achaeans, glaring terribly; and amazement came upon them that beheld, both the Trojans, tamers of horses, and the well-greaved Achaeans; and the twain took their stand near together in the measured space, +brandishing their spears in wrath one at the other. First Alexander hurled his far-shadowing spear, and smote upon the son of Atreus' shield that was well balanced on every side +1 + ; howbeit the bronze brake not through but its point was turned in the stout shield. Next Atreus' son, Menelaus, rushed upon him with his spear, +and made prayer to father Zeus: + +Zeus, our king, grant that I may avenge me on him that was first to do me wrong, even on goodly Alexander, and subdue thou him beneath my hands; that many a one even of men yet to be may shudder to work evil to his host, that hath shown him friendship. + +He spoke, and poised his far-shadowing spear, and hurled it; and he smote upon the son of Priam's shield, that was well balanced upon every side. Through the bright shield went the mighty spear, and through the corselet, richly dight, did it force its way; and straight on beside his flank the spear shore through his tunic; +but he bent aside and escaped black fate. Then the son of Atreus drew his silver-studded sword, and raising himself on high smote the horn of his helmet; but upon it his sword shattered in pieces three, aye, four, and fell from his hand. Then the son of Atreus uttered a bitter cry with a glance at the broad heaven: +Father Zeus, than thou is no other god more baleful. Verily I deemed that I had got me vengeance upon Alexander for his wickedness, but now is my sword broken in my hands, and forth from my grasp has my spear flown in vain, and I smote him not. + + +So saying, he sprang upon him, and seized him by the helmet with thick crest of horse-hair, +and whirling him about began to drag him towards the well-greaved Achaeans; and Paris was choked by the richly-broidered strap beneath his soft throat, that was drawn tight beneath his chin to hold his helm. And now would Menelaus have dragged him away, and won glory unspeakable, had not Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, been quick to see, +and to his cost broken in twain the thong, cut from the hide of a slaughtered ox; and the empty helm came away in his strong hand. This he then tossed with a swing into the company of the well-greaved Achaeans, and his trusty comrades gathered it up; but himself he sprang back again, eager to slay his foe +with spear of bronze. + + + But him Aphrodite snatched up, full easily as a goddess may, and shrouded him in thick mist, and set him down in his fragrant, vaulted +1 + chamber, and herself went to summon Helen. Her she found on the high wall, and round about her in throngs were the women of Troy. +Then with her hand the goddess laid hold of her fragrant robe, and plucked it, and spake to her in the likeness of an ancient dame, a wool-comber, who had been wont to card the fair wool for her when she dwelt in Lacedaemon, and who was well loved of her; in her likeness fair Aphrodite spake: +Come hither; Alexander calleth thee to go to thy home. There is he in his chamber and on his inlaid couch, gleaming with beauty and fair raiment. Thou wouldest not deem that he had come thither from warring with a foe, but rather that he was going to the dance, or sat there as one that had but newly ceased from the dance. + +So spake she, and stirred Helen's heart in her breast; and when she marked the beauteous neck of the goddess, her lovely bosom, and her flashing eyes, then amazement seized her, and she spake, and addressed her, saying: + +Strange goddess, why art thou minded to beguile me thus? +Verily thou wilt lead me yet further on to one of the well-peopled cities of Phrygia or lovely Maeonia, if there too there be some one of mortal men who is dear to thee, seeing that now Menelaus hath conquered goodly Alexander, and is minded to lead hateful me to his home. +It is for this cause that thou art now come hither with guileful thought. Go thou, and sit by his side, and depart from the way of the gods, neither let thy feet any more bear thee back to Olympus; but ever be thou troubled for him, and guard him, until he make thee his wife, or haply his slave. +But thither will I not go—it were a shameful thing—to array that man's couch; all the women of Troy will blame me hereafter; and I have measureless griefs at heart. + + +Then stirred to wrath fair Aphrodite spake to her: + +Provoke me not, rash woman, lest I wax wroth and desert thee, +and hate thee, even as now I love thee wondrously; and lest I devise grievous hatred between both, Trojans alike and Danaans; then wouldst thou perish of an evil fate. + + +So spake she, and Helen, sprung from Zeus, was seized with fear; and she +1 + went, wrapping herself in her bright shining mantle, +in silence; and she was unseen of the Trojan women; and the goddess led the way. + + +Now when they were come to the beautiful palace of Alexander, the handmaids turned forthwith to their tasks, but she, the fair lady, went to the high-roofed chamber. And the goddess, laughter-loving Aphrodite, took for her a chair, +and set it before the face of Alexander. Thereon Helen sate her down, the daughter of Zeus that beareth the aegis, with eyes turned askance; and she chid her lord, and said: + +Thou hast come back from the war; would thou hadst perished there, vanquished by a valiant man that was my former lord. +Verily it was thy boast aforetime that thou wast a better man than Menelaus, dear to Ares, in the might of thy hands and with thy spear. But go now, challenge Menelaus, dear to Ares, again to do battle with thee, man to man. But, nay, I of myself bid thee refrain, and not war amain against fair-haired Menelaus, +nor fight with him in thy folly, lest haply thou be vanquished anon by his spear. + + +Then Paris made answer, and spake to her, saying: + +Chide not my heart, lady, with hard words of reviling. For this present hath Menelaus vanquished me with Athene's aid, +but another time shall I vanquish him; on our side too there be gods. But come, let us take our joy, couched together in love; for never yet hath desire so encompassed my soul—nay, not when at the first I snatched thee from lovely Lacedaemon and sailed with thee on my seafaring ships, +and on the isle of Cranae had dalliance with thee on the couch of love—as now I love thee, and sweet desire layeth hold of me. + + +He spake, and led the way to the couch, and with him followed his wife. +Thus the twain were couched upon the corded bed; but the son of Atreus ranged through the throng like a wild beast, +if anywhere he might have sight of godlike Alexander. But none of the Trojans or their famed allies could then discover Alexander to Menelaus, dear to Ares. Not for love verily were they fain to hide him, could any have seen him, for he was hated of all even as black death. +Then the king of men, Agamemnon, spake among them, saying: + +Hearken to me, ye Trojans and Dardanians and allies. Victory is now of a surety seen to rest with Menelaus, dear to Ares; do ye therefore give up Argive Helen and the treasure with her, and pay ye in requital such recompense as beseemeth, +even such as shall abide in the minds of men that are yet to be. + + +So spake the son of Atreus, and all the Achaeans shouted assent. +Now the gods, seated by the side of Zeus, were holding assembly on the golden floor, and in their midst the queenly Hebe poured them nectar, and they with golden goblets pledged one the other as they looked forth upon the city of the Trojans. +And forthwith the son of Cronos made essay to provoke Hera with mocking words, and said with malice: + +Twain of the goddesses hath Menelaus for helpers, even Argive Hera, and Alalcomenean +153.1 + Athene. Howbeit these verily sit apart and take their pleasure in beholding, +whereas by the side of that other laughter-loving Aphrodite ever standeth, and wardeth from him fate, and but now she saved him, when he thought to perish. But of a surety victory rests with Menelaus, dear to Ares; let us therefore take thought how these things are to be; +whether we shall again rouse evil war and the dread din of battle, or put friendship between the hosts. If this might in any wise be welcome to all and their good pleasure, then might the city of king Priam still be an habitation, and Menelaus take back Argive Helen. + +So spake he, and thereat Athene and Hera murmured, who sat side by side, and were devising ills for the Trojans. Athene verily held her peace and said naught, wroth though she was at father Zeus, and fierce anger gat hold of her; howbeit Hera's breast contained not her anger, but she spake to him, saying: +Most dread son of Cronos, what a word hast thou said! How art thou minded to render my labour vain and of none effect, and the sweat that I sweated in my toil,—aye, and my horses twain waxed weary with my summoning the host for the bane of Priam and his sons? Do thou as thou wilt; but be sure we other gods assent not all thereto. + +Then, stirred to hot anger, spake to her Zeus, the cloud-gatherer: + +Strange queen, wherein do Priam and the sons of Priam work thee ills so many, that thou ragest unceasingly to lay waste the well-built citadel of Ilios? If thou wert to enter within the gates and the high walls, +and to devour Priam raw and the sons of Priam and all the Trojans besides, then perchance mightest thou heal thine anger. Do as thy pleasure is; let not this quarrel in time to come be to thee and me a grievous cause of strife between us twain. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart. +When it shall be that I, vehemently eager to lay waste a city, choose one wherein dwell men that are dear to thee, seek thou in no wise to hinder my anger, but suffer me; since I too have yielded to thee of mine own will, yet with soul unwilling. For of all cities beneath sun and starry heaven +wherein men that dwell upon the face of the earth have their abodes, of these sacred Ilios was most honoured of my heart, and Priam and the people of Priam, with goodly spear of ash. For never at any time was mine altar in lack of the equal feast, the drink-offering, and the savour of burnt-offering, even the worship that is our due. + +Then in answer to him spake ox-eyed, queenly Hera: + +Verily have I three cities that are far dearest in my sight, Argos and Sparta and broad-wayed Mycenae; these do thou lay waste whensoe'er they shall be hateful to thy heart. Not in their defence do I stand forth, nor account them too greatly. +For even though I grudge thee, and am fain to thwart their overthrow, I avail naught by my grudging, for truly thou art far the mightier. Still it beseemeth that my labour too be not made of none effect; for I also am a god, and my birth is from the stock whence is thine own, and crooked-counselling Cronos begat me as the most honoured of his daughters +in twofold wise, for that I am eldest, and am called thy wife, whilst thou art king among all the immortals. Nay then, let us yield one to the other herein, I to thee and thou to me, and all the other immortal gods will follow with us; and do thou straightway bid Athene +go her way into the dread din of battle of Trojans and Achaeans, and contrive how that the Trojans may be first in defiance of their oaths to work evil upon the Achaeans that exult in their triumph. + + +So said she, and the father of men and gods failed not to hearken; forthwith he spake to Athene winged words: +Haste thee with all speed unto the host into the midst of Trojans and Achaeans, and contrive how that the Trojans may be first in defiance of their oaths to work evil upon the Achaeans that exult in their triumph. + + + +So saying, he stirred on Athene that was already eager, and down from the peaks of Olympus she went darting. +Even in such wise as the son of crooked-counselling Cronos sendeth a star to be a portent for seamen or for a wide host of warriors, a gleaming star, and therefrom the sparks fly thick; even so darted Pallas Athene to earth, and down she leapt into the midst; and amazement came upon all that beheld, +on horse-taming Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans; and thus would a man say with a glance at his neighbour: + +Verily shall we again have evil war and the dread din of battle, or else friendship is set amid the hosts by Zeus, who is for men the dispenser of battle. + +So would many a one of Achaeans and Trojans speak. But Athene entered the throng of the Trojans in the guise of a man, even of Laodocus, son of Antenor, a valiant spearman, in quest of god-like Pandarus, if haply she might find him. And she found Lycaon's son, peerless and stalwart, +as he stood, and about him were the stalwart ranks of the shield-bearing hosts that followed him from the streams of Aesepus. Then she drew near, and spake to him winged words: + +Wilt thou now hearken to me, thou wise-hearted son of Lycaon? Then wouldst thou dare to let fly a swift arrow upon Menelaus, +and wouldst win favour and renown in the eyes of all the Trojans, and of king Alexander most of all. From him of a surety wouldst thou before all others bear off glorious gifts, should he see Menelaus, the warlike son of Atreus, laid low by thy shaft, and set upon the grievous pyre. +Nay, come, shoot thine arrow at glorious Menelaus, and vow to Apollo, the wolf-born +161.1 + god, famed for his bow, that thou wilt sacrifice a glorious hecatomb of firstling lambs, when thou shalt come to thy home, the city of sacred Zeleia. + + +So spake Athene, and persuaded his heart in his folly. +Straightway he uncovered his polished bow of the horn of a wild ibex, that himself on a time had smitten beneath the breast as it came forth from a rock, he lying in wait the while in a place of ambush, and had struck it in the chest, so that it fell backward in a cleft of the rock. From its head the horns grew to a length of sixteen palms; +these the worker in horn had wrought and fitted together, and smoothed all with care, and set thereon a tip of gold. This bow he bent, leaning it against the ground, and laid it carefully down; and his goodly comrades held their shields before him, lest the warrior sons of the Achaeans should leap to their feet +or ever Menelaus, the warlike son of Atreus, was smitten. Then opened he the lid of his quiver, and took forth an arrow, a feathered arrow that had never been shot, freighted +161.2 + with dark pains; and forthwith he fitted the bitter arrow to the string, and made a vow to Apollo, the wolf-born god, famed for his bow, +that he would sacrifice a glorious hecatomb of firstling lambs, when he should come to his home, the city of sacred Zeleia. And he drew the bow, clutching at once the notched arrow and the string of ox's sinew: the string he brought to his breast and to the bow the iron arrow-head. But when he had drawn the great bow into a round, +the bow twanged and the string sang aloud, and the keen arrow leapt, eager to wing its way amid the throng. + + +Then, O Menelaus, the blessed gods, the immortals, forgat thee not; and before all the daughter of Zeus, she that driveth the spoil, who took her stand before thee, and warded off the stinging arrow. +She swept it just aside from the flesh, even as a mother sweepeth a fly from her child when he lieth in sweet slumber; and of herself she guided it where the golden clasps of the belt were fastened and the corselet overlapped. On the clasped belt lighted the bitter arrow, +and through the belt richly dight was it driven, and clean through the curiously wrought corselet did it force its way, and through the taslet +163.1 + which he wore, a screen for his flesh and a barrier against darts, wherein was his chiefest defence; yet even through this did it speed. So the arrow grazed the outermost flesh of the warrior, +and forthwith the dark blood flowed from the wound. +As when a woman staineth ivory with scarlet, some woman of Maeonia or Caria, to make a cheek-piece for horses, and it lieth in a treasure-chamber, though many horsemen pray to wear it; but it lieth there as a king's treasure, +alike an ornament for his horse and to its driver a glory; even in such wise, Menelaus, were thy thighs stained with blood, thy shapely thighs and thy legs and thy fair ankles beneath. +Thereat shuddered the king of men, Agamemnon, as he saw the black blood flowing from the wound, +and Menelaus, dear to Ares, himself likewise shuddered. But when he saw that the sinew +1 + and the barbs were without the flesh, back again into his breast was his spirit gathered. But with a heavy moan spake among them lord Agamemnon, holding Menelaus by the hand; and his comrades too made moan: +Dear brother, it was for thy death, meseems, that I swore this oath with sacrifice, setting thee forth alone before the face of the Achaeans to do battle with the Trojans, seeing the Trojans have thus smitten thee, and trodden under foot the oaths of faith. Yet in no wise is an oath of none effect and the blood of lambs and drink-offerings of unmixed wine and the hand-clasps, wherein we put our trust. +For even if for the moment the Olympian vouchsafeth not fulfillment, yet late and at length doth he fulfill them, and with a heavy price do men make atonement, even with their own heads and their wives and their children. For of a surety know I this in heart and soul: the day shall come when sacred Ilios shall be laid low, +and Priam, and the people of Priam, with goodly spear of ash; and Zeus, son of Cronos, throned on high, that dwelleth in the heaven, shall himself shake over them all his dark aegis in wrath for this deceit. These things verily shall not fail of fulfillment; yet dread grief for thee shall be mine, O Menelaus, +if thou shalt die and fill up thy lot of life. Aye, and as one most despised should I return to thirsty Argos, for straightway will the Achaeans bethink them of their native land, and so should we leave to Priam and the Trojans their boast, even Argive Helen. And thy bones shall the earth rot +as thou liest in the land of Troy with thy task unfinished; and thus shall many a one of the overweening Trojans say, as he leapeth upon the barrow of glorious Menelaus: + +Would that in every matter it may he thus that Agamemnon may fulfill his wrath, even as now he led hither a host of the Achaeans to no purpose, and lo! +he hath departed home to his dear native land with empty ships, and hath left here noble Menelaus. + + So shall some man speak in aftertime; in that day let the wide earth gape for me. + + +But fair-haired Menelaus spake and heartened him, saying: + +Be thou of good cheer, neither affright in any wise the host of the Achaeans. +Not in a fatal spot hath the shaft been fixed; ere that my flashing belt stayed it, and the kilt beneath, and the taslet that the coppersmiths fashioned. + + +Then in answer to him spake lord Agamemnon: + +Would it may be so, dear Menelaus. +But the leech shall search the wound and lay thereon simples that shall make thee cease from dark pains. + + +Therewith he spake to Talthybius, the godlike herald: + +Talthybius, make haste to call hither Machaon, son of Asclepius, the peerless leech, +to see warlike Menelaus, son of Atreus, whom some man well skilled in archery hath smitten with an arrow, some Trojan or Lycian, compassing glory for himself but for us sorrow. + + +So spake he, and the herald failed not to hearken, as he heard, but went his way throughout the host of the brazen-coated Achaeans, +glancing this way and that for the warrior Machaon; and he marked him as he stood, and round about him were the stalwart ranks of the shield-bearing hosts that followed him from Trica, the pastureland of horses. And he came up to him, and spake winged words, saying: + +Rouse thee, son of Asclepius; lord Agamemnon calleth thee +to see warlike Menelaus, captain of the Achaeans, whom some man, well skilled in archery, hath smitten with an arrow, some Trojan or Lycian, compassing glory for himself but for us sorrow. + + +So spake he, and roused the heart in his breast, and they went their way in the throng throughout the broad host of the Achaeans. And when they were come where was fair-haired Menelaus, +wounded, and around him were gathered in a circle all they that were chieftains, the godlike hero came and stood in their midst, and straightway drew forth the arrow from the clasped belt; and as it was drawn forth the sharp barbs were broken backwards. +And he loosed the flashing belt and the kilt beneath and the taslet that the coppersmiths fashioned. But when he saw the wound where the bitter arrow had lighted, he sucked out the blood, and with sure knowledge spread thereon soothing simples, which of old Cheiron had given to his father with kindly thought. + +While they were thus busied with Menelaus, good at the war-cry, meanwhile the ranks of the shield-bearing Trojans came on; and the Achaeans again did on their battle-gear, and bethought them of war. + + +Then wouldst thou not have seen goodly Agamemnon slumbering, nor cowering, nor with no heart for fight, +but full eager for battle where men win glory. His horses and his chariot adorned with bronze he let be, and his squire, Eurymedon, son of Peiraeus' son Ptolemaeus, kept the snorting steeds withdrawn apart; and straitly did Agamemnon charge him to have them at hand, whenever +weariness should come upon his limbs, as he gave commands throughout all the host; but he himself ranged on foot through the ranks of warriors. And whomsoever of the Danaans with swift steeds he saw eager, to these would he draw nigh, and hearten them earnestly, saying: + +Ye Argives, relax ye no whit of your furious valour; +for father Zeus will be no helper of lies; nay, they that were the first to work violence in defiance of their oaths, their tender flesh of a surety shall vultures devour, and we shall bear away in our ships their dear wives and little children, when we shall have taken their citadel. + +And whomsoever again he saw holding back from hateful war, them would he chide roundly with angry words: + +Ye Argives that rage with the bow, ye men of dishonour, +171.1 + have ye no shame? Why is it that ye stand thus dazed, like fawns that, when they have grown weary with running over a wide plain, +stand still, and in their hearts is no valour found at all? Even so ye stand dazed and fight not. Is it that ye wait for the Trojans to come near where your ships with stately sterns are drawn up on the shore of the grey sea, that ye may know if haply the son of Cronos will stretch forth his arm over you? + +Thus ranged he giving his commands through the ranks of warriors; and he came to the Cretans as he fared through the throng of men. These were arming them for war around wise-hearted Idomeneus; and Idomeneus stood amid the foremost fighters like a wild boar in valour, while Meriones was speeding on the hindmost battalions. +At sight of them Agamemnon, king of men, waxed glad, and forthwith he spake to Idomeneus with gentle words: + +Idomeneus, beyond all the Danaans with swift steeds do I show honour to thee both in war and in tasks of other sort, and at the feast, when the chieftains of the Argives let mingle in the bowl the flaming wine of the elders. +For even though the other long-haired Achaeans drink an allotted portion, thy cup standeth ever full, even as for mine own self, to drink whensoever thy heart biddeth thee. Come, rouse thee for battle, such a one as of old thou declaredst thyself to be. + +To him then Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, made answer, saying: + +Son of Atreus, of a surety will I be to thee a trusty comrade, even as at the first I promised and gave my pledge; but do thou urge on the other long-haired Achaeans that we may fight with speed, seeing the Trojans have made of none effect our oaths. +Death and woes shall hereafter be their lot, for that they were the first to work violence in defiance of the oaths. + + +So spake he, and the son of Atreus passed on, glad at heart, and came to the Aiantes as he fared through the throng of warriors; +these were arming them for battle, and a cloud of footmen followed with them. Even as when from some place of outlook a goatherd seeth a cloud coming over the face of the deep before the blast of the West Wind, and to him being afar off it seemeth blacker than pitch as it passeth over the face of the deep, and it bringeth a mighty whirlwind; and he shuddereth at sight of it, and driveth his flock beneath a cave; +even in such wise by the side of the Aiantes did the thick battalions of youths, nurtured of Zeus, move into furious war—dark battalions, bristling with shields and spears. At sight of these lord Agamemnon waxed glad, and he spake and addressed them with winged words: +Ye Aiantes, leaders of the brazen-coated Argives, to you twain, for it beseemeth not to urge you, I give no charge; for of yourselves ye verily bid your people fight amain. I would, O father Zeus and Athene and Apollo, that such spirit as yours might be found in the breasts of all; +then would the city of king Priam forthwith bow her head, taken and laid waste beneath our hands. + + +So saying, he left them there and went to others. Then found he Nestor, the clear-voiced orator of the Pylians, arraying his comrades and urging them to fight, +around mighty Pelagon and Alastor and Chromius and lord Haemon and Bias, shepherd of the host. The charioteers first he arrayed with their horses and cars, and behind them the footmen, many and valiant, to be a bulwark of battle; but the cowards he drave into the midst, +that were he never so loath each man must needs fight perforce. Upon the charioteers was he first laying charge, and he bade them keep their horses in hand, nor drive tumultuously on amid the throng. + +Neither let any man, trusting in his horsemanship and his valour, be eager to fight with the Trojans alone in front of the rest, +nor yet let him draw back; for so will ye be the feebler. But what man soe'er from his own car can come at a car of the foe, let him thrust forth with his spear, since verily it is far better so. Thus also did men of olden time lay waste cities and walls, having in their breasts mind and spirit such as this. + +So was the old man urging them on, having knowledge of battles from of old. At sight of him lord Agamemnon waxed glad, and he spake, and addressed him with winged words: + +Old Sir, I would that even as is the spirit in thy breast, so thy limbs might obey, and thy strength be firm. +But evil +177.1 + old age presseth hard upon thee; would that some other among the warriors had thy years, and that thou wert among the youths. + + +To him then made answer the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia: + +Son of Atreus, verily I myself could wish that I were such a one as on the day when I slew goodly Ereuthalion. +But in no wise do the gods grant to men all things at one time. As I was then a youth, so now doth old age attend me. Yet even so will I abide among the charioteers and urge them on by counsel and by words; for that is the office of elders. Spears shall the young men wield +who are more youthful than I and have confidence in their strength. + + +So spake he, and the son of Atreus passed on glad at heart. He found Menestheus, driver of horses, son of Peteos, as he stood, and about him were the Athenians, masters of the war-cry. And hard by stood Odysseus of many wiles, +and with him the ranks of the Cephallenians, no weakling folk, stood still; for their host had not as yet heard the war-cry, seeing the battalions of the horse-taming Trojans and the Achaeans had but newly bestirred them to move; wherefore these stood, and waited until some other serried battalions of the Achaeans should advance +to set upon the Trojans, and begin the battle. At sight of these Agamemnon, king of men, chid them, and spoke, and addressed them with winged words: + +O son of Peteos, the king nurtured of Zeus, and thou that excellest in evil wiles, thou of crafty mind, +why stand ye apart cowering, and wait for others? For you twain were it seemly that ye take your stand amid the foremost, and confront blazing battle; for ye are the first to hear my bidding to the feast, whenso we Achaeans make ready a banquet for the elders. +Then are ye glad to eat roast meat and drink cups of honey-sweet wine as long as ye will. But now would ye gladly behold it, aye if ten serried battalions of the Achaeans were to fight in front of you with the pitiless bronze. + + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus of many wiles addressed him: +Son of Atreus, what a word hath escaped the barrier of thy teeth! How sayest thou that we are slack in battle, whenso we Achaeans rouse keen war against the horse-taming Trojans? Thou shalt see, if so be thou wilt and if thou carest aught therefor, the father of Telemachus mingling with the foremost fighters +of the horse-taming Trojans. This that thou sayest is as empty wind. + + +Then lord Agamemnon spake to him with a smile, when he knew that he was wroth, and took back his words: + +Zeus-born son of Laertes, Odysseus of many wiles, neither do I chide thee overmuch nor urge thee on, +for I know that the heart in thy breast knoweth kindly thoughts, seeing thou art minded even as I am. Nay, come, these things will we make good hereafter, if any harsh word hath been spoken now; and may the gods make all to come to naught. + + +So saying he left them there and went to others. +Then found he the son of Tydeus, Diomedes high of heart, as he stood in his jointed car; and by his side stood Sthenelus, son of Capaneus. At sight of him too lord Agamemnon chid him, and spake and addressed him with winged words: +Ah me, thou son of wise-hearted Tydeus, tamer of horses, why cowerest thou, why gazest thou at the dykes of battle? +181.1 + Tydeus of a surety was not wont thus to cower, but far in advance of his comrades to fight against the foe, as they tell who saw him amid the toil of war; for I never +met him, neither saw him; but men say that he was pre-eminent over all. Once verily he came to Mycenae, not as an enemy, but as a guest, in company with godlike Polyneices, to gather a host; for in that day they were waging a war against the sacred walls of Thebe, and earnestly did they make prayer that glorious allies be granted them; +and the men of Mycenae were minded to grant them, and were assenting even as they bade, but Zeus turned their minds by showing tokens of ill. So when they had departed and were with deep reeds, that coucheth in the grass, there did the Achaeans send forth Tydeus on an embassage. +And he went his way, and found the many sons of Cadmus feasting in the house of mighty Eteocles. Then, for all he was a stranger, the horseman Tydeus feared not, all alone though he was amid the many Cadmeians, but challenged them all to feats of strength and in every one vanquished he them +full easily; such a helper was Athene to him. But the Cadmeians, goaders of horses, waxed wroth, and as he journeyed back, brought and set a strong ambush, even fifty youths, and two there were as leaders, Maeon, son of Haemon, peer of the immortals, +and Autophonus' son, Polyphontes, staunch in fight. But Tydeus even upon these let loose a shameful fate, and slew them all; one only man suffered he to return home; Maeon he sent forth in obedience to the portents of the gods. Such a man was Tydeus of Aetolia; howbeit the son +that he begat is worse than he in battle, though in the place of gathering he is better. + + +So he spake, and stalwart Diomedes answered him not a word, but had respect to the reproof of the king revered. But the son of glorious Capaneus made answer. + +Son of Atreus, utter not lies, when thou knowest how to speak truly. +We declare ourselves to be better men by far than our fathers: we took the seat of Thebe of the seven gates, when we twain had gathered a lesser host against a stronger wall, putting our trust in the portents of the gods and in the aid of Zeus; whereas they perished through their own blind folly. +Wherefore I bid thee put not our fathers in like honour with us. + + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows stalwart Diomedes addressed him: + +Good friend, abide in silence, and hearken to my word. I count it not shame that Agamemnon, shepherd of the host, should urge on to battle the well-greaved Achaeans; +for upon him will great glory attend if the Achaeans shall slay the Trojans and take sacred Ilios, and upon him likewise will fall great sorrow, if the Achaeans be slain. Nay, come, let us twain also bethink us of furious valour. + + +He spake, and leapt in his armour from his chariot to the ground, +and terribly rang the bronze upon the breast of the prince as he moved; thereat might terror have seized even one that was steadfast of heart. +As when on a sounding beach the swell of the sea beats, wave after wave, before the driving of the West Wind; out on the deep at the first is it gathered in a crest, but thereafter +is broken upon the land and thundereth aloud, and round about the headlands it swelleth and reareth its head, and speweth forth the salt brine: even in such wise on that day did the battalions of the Danaans move, rank after rank, without cease, into battle; and each captain gave charge to his own men, and the rest marched on in silence; thou wouldst not have deemed +that they that followed in such multitudes had any voice in their breasts, all silent as they were through fear of their commanders; and on every man flashed the inlaid armour wherewith they went clad. But for the Trojans, even as ewes stand in throngs past counting in the court of a man of much substance to be milked of their white milk, +and bleat without ceasing as they near the voices of their lambs: even so arose the clamour of the Trojans throughout the wide host; for they had not all like speech or one language, but their tongues were mingled, and they were a folk summoned from many lands. These were urged on by Ares, and the Greeks by flashing-eyed Athene, +and Terror, and Rout, and Discord that rageth incessantly, sister and comrade of man-slaying Ares; she at the first rears her crest but little, yet thereafter planteth her head in heaven, while her feet tread on earth. She it was that now cast evil strife into their midst +as she fared through the throng, making the groanings of men to wax. + + +Now when they were met together and come into one place, then dashed they together shields and spears and the fury of bronze-mailed warriors; and the bossed shields closed each with each, and a great din arose. +Then were heard alike the sound of groaning and the cry of triumph of the slayers and the slain, and the earth flowed with blood. As when winter torrents, flowing down the mountains from their great springs to a place where two valleys meet, join their mighty floods in a deep gorge, +and far off amid the mountains the shepherd heareth the thunder thereof; even so from the joining of these in battle came shouting and toil. +Antilochus was first to slay a warrior of the Trojans in full armour, a goodly man amid the foremost fighters, Echepolus, son of Thalysius. Him was he first to smite upon the horn of his helmet with crest of horse-hair, +and into his forehead drave the spear, and the point of bronze passed within the bone; and darkness enfolded his eyes, and he crashed as doth a wall, in the mighty conflict. As he fell lord Elephenor caught him by the feet, the son he of Chalcodon, and captain of the great-souled Abantes, +and sought to drag him from beneath the missiles, fain with all speed to strip off his armour; yet but for a scant space did his striving endure; for as he was haling the corpse great-souled Agenor caught sight of him, and where his side was left uncovered of his shield, as he stooped, even there; he smote him with a thrust of his bronze-shod spear, and loosed his limbs. +So his spirit left him, and over his body was wrought grievous toil of Trojans and Achaeans. Even as wolves leapt they one upon the other, and man made man to reel. +Then Telamonian Aias smote Anthemion's son, the lusty youth Simoeisius, whom on a time his mother +had born beside the banks of Simois, as she journeyed down from Ida, whither she had followed with her parents to see their flocks. For this cause they called him Simoeisius; yet paid he not back to his dear parents the recompense of his upbringing, and but brief was the span of his life, for that he was laid low by the spear of great-souled Aias. +For, as he strode amid the foremost, he was smitten on the right breast beside the nipple; and clean through his shoulder went the spear of bronze, and he fell to the ground in the dust like a poplar tree that hath grown up in the bottom land of a great marsh, smooth of stem, but from the top thereof branches grow: +this hath some wainwright felled with the gleaming iron that he might bend him a felloe for a beauteous chariot, and it lieth drying by a river's banks. + + + Even in such wise did Zeus-born Aias slay Simoeisius, son of Anthemion. And at him Priam's son Antiphus, of the flashing corselet, +cast with his sharp spear amid the throng. Him he missed, but smote in the groin Odysseus' goodly comrade, Leucus, as he was drawing the corpse to the other side; so he fell upon it, and the body slipped from his grasp. For his slaying waxed Odysseus mightily wroth at heart, +and strode amid the foremost warriors, harnessed in flaming bronze; close to the foe he came and took his stand, and glancing warily about him hurled with his bright spear; and back did the Trojans shrink from the warrior as he cast. Not in vain did he let fly his spear, but smote Priam's bastard son Democoon, +that had come at his call from Abydus, from his stud of swift mares. Him Odysseus, wroth for his comrade's sake, smote with his spear on the temple, and out through the other temple passed the spear-point of bronze, and darkness enfolded his eyes, and he fell with a thud and upon him his armour clanged. +Then the foremost warriors and glorious Hector gave ground; and the Argives shouted aloud, and drew off the bodies, and charged far further onward. And Apollo, looking down from Pergamus, had indignation, and called with a shout to the Trojans: + +Rouse ye, horse-taming Trojans, give not ground in fight +before Argives; not of stone nor of iron is their flesh to resist the bronze that cleaveth the flesh, when they are smitten. Nay, and Achilles moreover fighteth not, the son of fair-haired Thetis, but amid the ships nurseth his bitter wrath. + + +So spake the dread god from the city; but the Achaeans +were urged on by the daughter of Zeus, most glorious Tritogeneia, who fared throughout the throng wheresoever she saw them giving ground. + + +Then was Amarynceus' son, Diores, caught in the snare of fate; for with a jagged stone was he smitten on the right leg by the ankle, and it was the leader of the Thracians that made the cast, +even Peiros, son of Imbrasus, that had come from Aenus. The sinews twain and the bones did the ruthless stone utterly crush; and he fell backward in the dust and stretched out both his hands to his dear comrades, gasping out his life; and there ran up he that smote him, +Peiros, and dealt him a wound with a thrust of his spear beside the navel; and forth upon the ground gushed all his bowels, and darkness enfolded his eyes. +But as the other sprang back Thoas of Aetolia smote him with a cast of his spear in the breast above the nipple, and the bronze was fixed in his lung; and Thoas came close to him, and plucked forth from his chest the mighty spear, +and drew his sharp sword and smote him therewith full upon the belly, and took away his life. Howbeit of his armour he stripped him not, for about him his comrades, men of Thrace that wear the hair long at the top, stood with long spears grasped in their hands, and for all that he was great and mighty and lordly, +drave him back from them, so that he reeled and gave ground. Thus the twain lay stretched in the dust each by the other, captains the one of the Thracians and the other of the brazen-coated Epeians; and about them were others full many likewise slain. +Then could no man any more enter into the battle and make light thereof, +whoso still unwounded by missile or by thrust of sharp bronze, might move throughout the midst, being led of Pallas Athene by the hand, and by her guarded from the onrush of missiles: for multitudes of Trojans and Achaeans alike were that day stretched one by the other's side with faces in the dust. +And now to Tydeus' son, Diomedes, Pallas Athene gave might and courage, that he should prove himself pre-eminent amid all the Argives, and win glorious renown. She kindled from his helm and shield flame unwearying, +like to the star of harvesttime that shineth bright above all others when he hath bathed him in the stream of Ocean. Even such flame did she kindle from his head and shoulders; and she sent him into the midst where men thronged the thickest. +Now there was amid the Trojans one Dares, a rich man and blameless, +a priest of Hephaestus; and he had two sons, Phegeus and Idaeus, both well skilled in all manner of fighting. These twain separated themselves from the host and went forth against Diomedes, they in their car, while he charged on foot upon the ground. And when they were come near, as they advanced against each other, +first Phegeus let fly his far-shadowing spear; and over the left shoulder of the son of Tydeus passed the point of the spear, and smote him not. Then Tydeus' son rushed on with the bronze, and not in vain did the shaft speed from his hand, but he smote his foe on the breast between the nipples, and thrust him from the car. +And Idaeus sprang back, and left the beauteous chariot, and had no heart to bestride his slain brother. Nay, nor would he himself have escaped black fate, had not Hephaestus guarded him, and saved him, enfolding him in darkness, that his aged priest might not be utterly fordone with grief. +Howbeit the horses did the son of great souled Tydeus drive forth and give to his comrades to bring to the hollow ships. But when the great-souled Trojans beheld the two sons of Dares, the one in flight and the other slain beside the car, the hearts of all were dismayed. And flashing-eyed Athene +took furious Ares by the hand and spake to him, saying: + +Ares, Ares, thou bane of mortals, thou blood-stained stormer of walls, shall we not now leave the Trojans and Achaeans to fight, to whichsoever of the two it be that father Zeus shall vouchsafe glory? But for us twain, let us give place, and avoid the wrath of Zeus. + +So spake she, and led furious Ares forth from the battle. Then she made him to sit down on the sandy banks of Scamander, and the Trojans were turned in flight by the Danaans. Each one of the captains slew his man; first the king of men, Agamemnon, thrust from his car the leader of the Halizones, great Odius, +for as he turned first of all to flee he fixed his spear in his back between the shoulders and drave it through his breast; and he fell with a thud, and upon him his armour clanged. + + +And Idomeneus slew Phaestus, son of Borus the Maeonian, that had come from deep-soiled Tarne. +Him even as he was mounting his chariot Idomeneus, famed for his spear, pierced with a thrust of his long spear through the right shoulder; and he fell from his car, and hateful darkness gat hold of him. +Him then the squires of Idomeneus stripped of his armour; and Scamandrius, son of Strophius, cunning in the chase, +did Atreus' son Menelaus slay with his sharp spear, even him the mighty hunter; for Artemis herself had taught him to smite all wild things that the mountain forest nurtureth. Yet in no wise did the archer Artemis avail him now, neither all that skill in archery wherein of old he excelled; +but the son of Atreus, Menelaus famed for his spear, smote him as he fled before him with a thrust of his spear in the back between the shoulders, and drave it through his breast. So he fell face foremost, and upon him his armour clanged. +And Meriones slew Phereclus, son of Tecton, +Harmon's son, whose hands were skilled to fashion all manner of curious work; for Pallas Athene loved him above all men. He it was that had also built for Alexander the shapely ships, source of ills, that were made the bane of all the Trojans and of his own self, seeing he knew not in any wise the oracles of the gods. +After him Meriones pursued, and when he had come up with him, smote him in the right buttock, and the spear-point passed clean through even to the bladder beneath the bone;, and he fell to his knees with a groan, and death enfolded him. +And Pedaeus, Antenor's son, was slain of Meges; +he was in truth a bastard, howbeit goodly Theano had reared him carefully even as her own children, to do pleasure to her husband. To him Phyleus' son, famed for his spear, drew nigh and smote him with a cast of his sharp spear on the sinew of the head; +199.1 + and straight through amid the teeth the bronze shore away the tongue at its base. +So he fell in the dust, and bit the cold bronze with his teeth. +And Eurypylus, son of Euaemon, slew goodly Hypsenor, son of Dolopion high of heart, that was made priest of Scamander, and was honoured of the folk even as a god—upon him did Eurypylus, Euaemon's glorious son, +rush with his sword as he fled before him, and in mid-course smite him upon the shoulder and lop off his heavy arm. So the arm all bloody fell to the ground; and down over his eyes came dark death and mighty fate. + + +Thus toiled they in the mighty conflict; +but of Tydeus' son couldst thou not have told with which host of the twain he was joined, whether it was with the Trojans that he had fellowship or with the Achaeans. For he stormed across the plain like unto a winter torrent at the full, that with its swift flood sweeps away the embankments; this the close-fenced embankments hold not back, +neither do the walls of the fruitful vineyards stay its sudden coming when the rain of Zeus driveth it on; and before it in multitudes the fair works of men fall in ruin. Even in such wise before Tydeus' son were the thick battalions of the Trojans driven in rout, nor might they abide him for all they were so many. + +But when the glorious son of Lycaon was ware of him as he raged across the plain and drove the battalions in rout before him, forthwith he bent against the son of Tydeus his curved bow, and with sure aim smote him as he rushed onwards upon the right shoulder on the plate of his corselet; through this sped the bitter arrow +and held straight on its way, and the corselet was spattered with blood. Over him then shouted aloud the glorious son of Lycaon: + +Rouse you, great-souled Trojans, ye goaders of horses. Smitten is the best man of the Achaeans, and I deem he will not for long endure the mighty shaft, if in very truth the king, +the son of Zeus, sped me on my way when I set forth from Lycia. + + +So spake he vauntingly; howbeit that other did the swift arrow not lay low, but he drew back, and took his stand before his horses and chariot, and spake to Sthenelus, son of Capaneus: + +Rouse thee, good son of Capaneus; get thee down from the car, +that thou mayest draw forth from my shoulder the bitter arrow. + + +So spake he, and Sthenelus leapt from his chariot to the ground, and stood beside him, and drew forth the swift arrow clean through his shoulder; and the blood spurted up through the pliant +203.1 + tunic. And thereat Diomedes, good at the war-cry, made prayer: +Hear me, child of Zeus that beareth the aegis, unwearied one! If ever with kindly thought thou stoodest by my father's side amid the fury of battle, even so do thou now be likewise kind to me, Athene. Grant that I may slay this man, and that he come within the cast of my spear, that hath smitten me or ever I was ware of him, and boasteth over me, +and declareth that not for long shall I behold the bright light of the sun. + + +So spake he in prayer, and Pallas Athene heard him, and made his limbs light, his feet and his hands above; and she drew near to his side and spake to him winged words: + +Be of good courage now, Diomedes, to fight against the Trojans, +for in thy breast have I put the might of thy father, the dauntless might, such as the horseman Tydeus, wielder of the shield, was wont to have. And the mist moreover have I taken from thine eyes that afore was upon them, to the end that thou mayest well discern both god and man. Wherefore now if any god come hither to make trial of thee, +do not thou in any wise fight face to face with any other immortal gods, save only if Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, shall enter the battle, her do thou smite with a thrust of the sharp bronze. + + +When she had thus spoken, the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, departed, and the son of Tydeus returned again and mingled with the foremost fighters; +and though afore his heart had been eager to do battle with the Trojans, now verily did fury thrice so great lay hold upon him, even as upon a lion that a shepherd in the field, guarding his fleecy sheep, hath wounded as he leapt over the wall of the sheep-fold, but hath not vanquished; his might hath he roused, but thereafter maketh no more defence, +but slinketh amid the farm buildings, and the flock all unprotected is driven in rout, and the sheep are strewn in heaps, each hard by each, but the lion in his fury leapeth forth from the high fold; even in such fury did mighty Diomedes mingle with the Trojans. +Then slew he Astynous and Hypeiron, shepherd of the host; +the one he smote above the nipple with a cast of his bronze-shod spear, and the other he struck with his great sword upon the collar-bone beside the shoulder, and shore off the shoulder from the neck and from the back. These then he let be, but went his way in pursuit of Abas and Polyidus, sons of the old man Eurydamas, the reader of dreams; +howbeit they came not back for the old man to interpret dreams for them, +207.1 + but mighty Diomedes slew them. Then went he on after Xanthus and Thoön, sons twain of Phaenops, and both well beloved; and their father was fordone with grievous old age, and begat no other son to leave in charge of his possessions. +There Diomedes slew them, and bereft them of dear life, both the twain; but for the father he left lamentation and grievous sorrow, seeing they lived not for him to welcome them on their return; and the next of kin divided his goods. + + +Then took he two sons of Priam, Dardanus' son, +Echemmon and Chromius, the twain being in one car. Even as a lion leapeth among the kine and breaketh the neck of a heifer or a cow as they graze in a woodland pasture, so did Tydeus' son thrust both these in evil wise from their car, sorely against their will, and thereafter despoiled them of their armour; +and the horses he gave to his comrades to drive to the ships. +But Aeneas was ware of him as he made havoc of the ranks of warriors, and went his way along the battle amid the hurtling of the spears in quest of godlike Pandarus, if so be he might anywhere find him. He found the son of Lycaon, goodly and valiant, +and took his stand before his face, and spake to him, saying: + +Pandarus, where now are thy bow and thy winged arrows, and thy fame? Therein may no man of this land vie with thee, nor any in Lycia declare himself to be better than thou. Come now, lift up thy hands in prayer to Zeus, and let fly a shaft at this man, +whoe'er he be that prevaileth thus, and hath verily wrought the Trojans much mischief, seeing he hath loosed the knees of many men and goodly; if indeed he be not some god that is wroth with the Trojans, angered by reason of sacrifices; with grievous weight doth the wrath of god rest upon men. + +209.1 + +To him then spake the glorious son of Lycaon: +Aeneas, counsellor of the brazen-coated Trojans, to the wise-hearted son of Tydeus do I liken him in all things, knowing him by his shield and his crested helm, and when I look on his horses; yet I know not surely if he be not a god. But if he be the man I deem him, even the wise-hearted son of Tydeus, +not without the aid of some god doth he thus rage, but one of the immortals standeth hard by him, his shoulders wrapped in cloud, and turned aside from him my swift shaft even as it lighted. For already have I let fly a shaft at him, and I smote him upon the right shoulder clean through the plate of his corselet; +and I deemed that I should send him forth to Aïdoneus, yet I subdued him not; verily he is some wrathful god. And horses have I not at hand, neither car whereon I might mount—yet in Lycaon's halls, I ween, there be eleven fair chariots, new-wrought, new-furnished, with cloths spread over them; +and by each standeth its yoke of horses feeding on white barley and spelt. Aye, and as I set out hither the old spearman Lycaon straitly charged me in our well-built house: he bade me be mounted on horse and car, +and so lead the Trojans in mighty conflicts. + +Howbeit I hearkened not— verily it had been better far!—but spared the horses lest in the multitude of men they should lack fodder, they that were wont to eat their fill. So I left them, and am come on foot to Ilios, trusting in my bow; +but this, meseems, was to avail me not. Already have I let fly a shaft at two chieftains, the son of Tydeus and Atreus' son, and smitten them fairly, and from them both of a surety I drew forth blood, yet did I but arouse them the more. Wherefore with ill hap was it that I took from the peg my curved bow +on that day when I led my Trojans to lovely Ilios to do pleasure to Hector. But if so be I shall return and behold with mine eyes my native land and my wife and great, high-roofed palace, then may some alien forthwith cut my head from me, +if I break not this bow with my hands and cast it into the blazing fire; for worthless as wind doth it attend me. + + +To him then spake in answer Aeneas, leader of the Trojans: + +Nay, speak not thus; things shall in no wise be any better before that we twain with horses and chariot +go to face this man and make trial of him in arms. Nay, come, mount upon my car, that thou mayest see of what sort are the horses of Tros, well skilled to course fleetly hither and thither over the plain whether in pursuit or in flight. They twain will bring the two of us safely to the city, +if again Zeus shall vouchsafe glory to Tydeus' son Diomedes. Come, therefore, take thou now the lash and the shining reins, and I will dismount to fight; or else do thou await his onset, and I will look to the horses. + + +Then made answer to him the glorious son of Lycaon: +Aeneas, keep thou the reins thyself, and drive thine own horses; better will they draw the curved car under their wonted charioteer, if so be we must flee from the son of Tydeus. I would not that they take fright and run wild, and for want of thy voice be not minded to bear us forth from the battle, +and so the son of great-souled Tydeus leap upon us and slay the two of us, and drive off the single-hooved horses. Nay, drive thou thyself thine own car and thine own horses, and I will abide this man's onset with my sharp spear. + + +So saying they mounted upon the inlaid car and +eagerly drave the swift horses against the son of Tydeus. And Sthenelus, the glorious son of Capaneus, saw them and straightway spake to Tydeus' son winged words: + +Diomedes, son of Tydeus, dear to my heart, I behold two valiant warriors eager to fight against thee, +endued with measureless strength. The one is well skilled with the bow, even Pandarus, and moreover avoweth him to be the son of Lycaon; while Aeneas avoweth himself to be born of peerless Anchises, and his mother is Aphrodite. Nay, come, let us give ground on the car, neither rage thou thus, +I pray thee, amid the foremost fighters, lest thou haply lose thy life. + + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows mighty Diomedes spake to him: + +Talk not thou to me of flight, for I deem thou wilt not persuade me. Not in my blood is it to fight a skulking fight or to cower down; still is my strength steadfast. +And I have no mind to mount upon a car, but even as I am will I go to face them; that I should quail Pallas Athene suffereth not. As for these twain, their swift horses shall not bear both back from us again, even if one or the other escape. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart. +If so be Athene, rich in counsel, shall vouchsafe me this glory, to slay them both, then do thou hold here these swift horses, binding the reins taut to the chariot rim; but be mindful to rush upon the horses of Aeneas and drive them forth from the Trojans to the host of the well-greaved Achaeans. +For they are of that stock wherefrom Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, gave to Tros recompense for his son Ganymedes, for that they were the best of all horses that are beneath the dawn and the sun. Of this stock the king of men Anchises stole a breed, putting his mares to them while Laomedon knew naught thereof. +And from these a stock of six was born him in his palace; four he kept himself and reared at the stall, and the other two he gave to Aeneas, devisers of rout. +215.1 + Could we but take these twain, we should win us goodly renown. + + +Thus they spake on this wise one to the other, +and forthwith drew near those other twain, driving the swift horses. And Lycaon's glorious son spake first to him, saying: + +Thou son of lordly Tydeus, stalwart and wise of heart, verily my swift shaft subdued thee not, the bitter arrow; now will I again make trial of thee with my spear, if so be I may hit thee. + +So saying, he poised and hurled his far-shadowing spear, and smote upon the shield of Tydeus' son; and straight therethrough sped the point of bronze and reached the corselet. Then over him shouted aloud the glorious son of Lycaon: + +Thou art smitten clean through the belly, and not for long, methinks, +shalt thou endure; but to me hast thou granted great glory. + + +Then with no touch of fear spake to him mighty Diomedes: + +Thou hast missed and not hit; but ye twain, I deem, shall not cease till one or the other of you shall have fallen and glutted with his blood Ares, the warrior with tough shield of hide. + +So spake he and hurled; and Athene guided the spear upon his nose beside the eye, and it pierced through his white teeth. So the stubborn bronze shore off his tongue at its root, and the spear-point came out by the base of the chin. Then he fell from out the car, +and his armour all bright and flashing clanged upon him, and the swift-footed horses swerved aside; and there his spirit and his strength were undone. +But Aeneas leapt down with shield and long spear, seized with fear lest perchance the Achaeans might drag from him the dead man. Over him he strode like a lion confident in his strength, and before him he held his spear and his shield that was well balanced on every side, +eager to slay the man whosoever should come to seize the corpse, and crying a terrible cry. But the son of Tydeus grasped in his hand a stone—a mighty deed—one that not two men could bear, such as mortals now are; yet lightly did he wield it even alone. +Therewith he smote Aeneas on the hip, where the thigh turns in the hip joint,—the cup, men call it—and crushed the cup-bone, and broke furthermore both sinews, and the jagged stone tore the skin away. Then the warrior fell upon his knees, and thus abode, and with his stout hand leaned he +upon the earth; and dark night enfolded his eyes. +And now would the king of men, Aeneas, have perished, had not the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite, been quick to mark, even his mother, that conceived him to Anchises as he tended his kine. About her dear son she flung her white arms, +and before him she spread a fold of her bright garment to be a shelter against missiles, lest any of the Danaans with swift horses might hurl a spear of bronze into his breast and take away his life. + + +She then was bearing her dear son forth from out the battle; but the son of Capaneus forgat not +the commands that Diomedes good at the war-cry laid upon him. He held his own single-hooved horses away from the turmoil, binding the reins taut to the chariot rim, but rushed upon the fair-maned horses of Aeneas, and drave them forth from the Trojans into the host of the well-greaved Achaeans, +and gave them to Deïpylus his dear comrade, whom he honoured above all the companions of his youth, because he was like-minded with himself; him he bade drive them to the hollow ships. Then did the warrior mount his own car and take the bright reins, and straightway drive his stout-hooved horses in eager quest of Tydeus' son. +He the while had gone in pursuit of Cypris with his pitiless bronze, discerning that she was a weakling goddess, and not one of those that lord it in the battle of warriors,—no Athene she, nor Enyo, sacker of cities. But when he had come upon her as he pursued her through the great throng, +then the son of great-souled Tydeus thrust with his sharp spear and leapt upon her, and wounded the surface of her delicate hand, and forthwith through the ambrosial raiment that the Graces themselves had wrought for her the spear pierced the flesh upon the wrist above the palm and forth flowed the immortal blood of the goddess, +the ichor, such as floweth in the blessed gods; for they eat not bread neither drink flaming wine, wherefore they are bloodless, and are called immortals. She then with a loud cry let fall her son, and Phoebus Apollo took him in his arms +and saved him in a dark cloud, lest any of the Danaans with swift horses might hurl a spear of bronze into his breast and take away his life. But over her shouted aloud Diomedes good at the war-cry: + +Keep thee away, daughter of Zeus, from war and fighting. Sufficeth it not that thou beguilest weakling women? +But if into battle thou wilt enter, verily methinks thou shalt shudder at the name thereof, if thou hearest it even from afar. + + +So spake he, and she departed frantic, and was sore distressed; and wind-footed Iris took her and led her forth from out the throng, racked with pain, and her fair flesh was darkened. +Anon she found furious Ares abiding on the left of the battle, and upon a cloud was his spear leaning, and at hand were his swift horses twain. Then she fell upon her knees and with instant prayer begged for her dear brother's horses with frontlets of gold: + +Dear brother, save me, and give me thy horses, +that I may get me to Olympus, where is the abode of the immortals. For sorely am I pained with a wound which a mortal man dealt me, Tydeus' son, that would now fight even with father Zeus. + + +So spake she, and Ares gave her his horses with frontlets of gold; and she mounted upon the car, her heart distraught, +and beside her mounted Iris and took the reins in her hand. She touched the horses with the lash to start them, and nothing loath the pair sped onward. Straightway then they came to the abode of the gods, to steep Olympus and there wind-footed, swift Iris stayed the horses and loosed them from the car, and cast before them food ambrosial; +but fair Aphrodite flung herself upon the knees of her mother Dione. She clasped her daughter in her arms, and stroked her with her hand and spake to her, saying: + +Who now of the sons of heaven, dear child, hath entreated thee thus wantonly, as though thou wert working some evil before the face of all? + +To her then made answer laughter-loving Aphrodite: + +Tydeus' son, Diomedes high of heart, wounded me, for that I was bearing forth from out the war my dear son Aeneas, who is in my eyes far the dearest of all men. For no longer is the dread battle one between Trojans and Achaeans; +nay, the Danaans now fight even with the immortals. + + +To her then made answer Dione, the fair goddess: + +Be of good heart, my child, and endure for all thy suffering; for full many of us that have dwellings on Olympus have suffered at the hands of men, in bringing grievous woes one upon the other. +So suffered Ares, when Otus and mighty Ephialtes, the sons of Aloeus, bound him in cruel bonds, and in a brazen jar he lay bound for thirteen months; and then would Ares, insatiate of war, have perished, had not the stepmother of the sons of Aloeus, the beauteous Eëriboea, +brought tidings unto Hermes; and he stole forth Ares, that was now sore distressed, for his grievous bonds were overpowering him. So suffered Hera, when the mighty son of Amphitryon smote her on the right breast with a three-barbed arrow; then upon her too came pain that might in no wise be assuaged. +And so suffered monstrous Hades even as the rest a bitter arrow, when this same man, the son of Zeus that beareth the aegis, smote him in Pylos amid the dead, and gave him over to pains. But he went to the house of Zeus and to high Olympus with grief at heart, pierced through with pains; +for into his mighty shoulder had the shaft been driven, and distressed his soul. But Paeëon spread thereon simples that slay pain, and healed him; for verily he was in no wise of mortal mould. Rash man, worker of violence, that recked not of his evil deeds, seeing that with his arrows he vexed the gods that hold Olympus. +And upon thee has the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, set this man—fool that he is; for the heart of Tydeus' son knoweth not this, that verily he endureth not for long who fighteth with the immortals, nor do his children prattle about his knees when he is come back from war and the dread conflict. +Wherefore now let Tydeus' son, for all he is so mighty, beware lest one better than thou fight against him, lest in sooth Aegialeia, the daughter of Adrastus, passing wise, wake from sleep with her long lamentings all her household, as she wails for her wedded husband, the best man of the Achaeans, even she, +the stately wife of horse-taming Diomedes. + + +She spake, and with both her hands wiped the ichor from the arm; the arm was restored, and the grievous pains assuaged. But Athene and Hera, as they looked upon her, sought to anger Zeus, son of Cronos, with mocking words. +And among them the goddess flashing-eyed Athene was first to speak: + +Father Zeus, wilt thou anywise be wroth with me for the word that I shall say? Of a surety now Cypris has been urging some one of the women of Achaea to follow after the Trojans, whom now she so wondrously loveth; and while stroking such a one of the fair-robed women of Achaea, +she hath scratched upon her golden brooch her delicate hand. + + +So spake she, but the father of men and gods smiled, and calling to him golden Aphrodite, said: + +Not unto thee, my child, are given works of war; nay, follow thou after the lovely works of marriage, +and all these things shall be the business of swift Ares and Athene. + + +On this wise spake they one to the other; but Diomedes, good at the war-cry, leapt upon Aeneas, though well he knew that Apollo himself held forth his arms above him; yet had he no awe even of the great god, but was still eager +to slay Aeneas and strip from him his glorious armour. Thrice then he leapt upon him, furiously fain to slay him, and thrice did Apollo beat back his shining shield. But when for the fourth time he rushed upon him like a god, then with a terrible cry spake to him Apollo that worketh afar: +Bethink thee, son of Tydeus, and give place, neither be thou minded to be like of spirit with the gods; seeing in no wise of like sort is the race of immortal gods and that of men who walk upon the earth. + + +So spake he, and the son of Tydeus gave ground a scant space backward, avoiding the wrath of Apollo that smiteth afar. +Aeneas then did Apollo set apart from the throng in sacred Pergamus where was his temple builded. There Leto and the archer Artemis healed him in the great sanctuary, and glorified him; but Apollo of the silver bow fashioned a wraith +in the likeness of Aeneas' self and in armour like to his; and over the wraith the Trojans and goodly Achaeans smote the bull's-hide bucklers about one another's breasts, the round shields and fluttering targets. +229.1 + Then unto furious Ares spake Phoebus Apollo: +Ares, Ares, thou bane of mortals, thou blood-stained stormer of walls, wilt thou not now enter into the battle and withdraw this man therefrom, this son of Tydeus, who now would fight even against father Zeus? Cypris first hath he wounded in close fight on the hand at the wrist, and thereafter rushed he upon mine own self like unto a god. + +So spake he, and himself sate him down upon the height of Pergamus, and baneful Ares entered amid the Trojans' ranks and urged them on, in the likeness of swft Acamas, leader of the Thracians. To Priam's sons, nurtured of Zeus, he called, saying: + +Ye sons of Priam, the king nurtured of Zeus, +how long will ye still suffer your host to be slain by the Achaeans? Shall it be until such time as they fight about our well-built gates? Low lieth a man whom we honoured even as goodly Hector, Aeneas, son of great-hearted Anchises. Nay, come, let us save from out the din of conflict our noble comrade. + +So saying he aroused the strength and spirit of every man. And Sarpedon moreover sternly chid goodly Hector, saying: + +Hector, where now is the strength gone that aforetime thou hadst? Thou saidst forsooth that without hosts and allies thou wouldst hold the city alone with the aid of thy sisters' husbands and thy brothers; +howbeit of these can I now neither behold nor mark anyone, but they cower as dogs about a lion; and it is we that fight, we that are but allies among you. For I that am but an ally am come from very far; afar is Lycia by eddying Xanthus, +where I left my dear wife and infant son, and my great wealth the which every man that is in lack coveteth. Yet even so urge I on the Lycians, and am fain myself to fight my man, though here is naught of mine such as the Achaeans might bear away or drive; +whereas thou standest and dost not even urge thy hosts to abide and defend their wives. Beware lest thou and they, as if caught in the meshes of all-ensnaring flax, become a prey and spoil unto your foemen; and they shall anon lay waste your well-peopled city. On thee should all these cares rest by night and day, +and thou shouldest beseech the captains of thy far-famed allies to hold their ground unflinchingly, and so put away from thee strong rebukings. + + +So spake Sarpedon, and his word stung Hector to the heart. Forthwith he leapt in his armour from his chariot to the ground, +and brandishing his two sharp spears went everywhere throughout the host, urging men to fight, and roused the dread din of battle. So they rallied and took their stand with their faces towards the Achaeans; and the Argives in close throng abode their coming and fled not. And even as the wind carrieth chaff about the sacred threshing-floors +of men that are winnowing, when fair-haired Demeter amid the driving blasts of wind separates the grain from the chaff, and the heaps of chaff grow white; even so now did the Achaeans grow white over head and shoulders beneath the cloud of dust that through the midst of the warriors the hooves of their horses beat up to the brazen heaven, +as the fight was joined again; and the charioteers wheeled round. The might of their hands they bare straight forward, and about the battle furious Ares drew a veil of night to aid the Trojans, ranging everywhere; so fulfilled he the behest of Phoebus Apollo of the golden sword, who bade him +rouse the spirit of the Trojans, whenso he saw that Pallas Athene was departed; for she it was that bare aid to the Danaans. And Apollo himself sent Aeneas forth from out the rich sanctuary, and put courage in the breast of the shepherd of the host. And Aeneas took his place in the midst of his comrades, and these waxed glad +as they saw him come to join them alive and whole and possessed of valiant courage. Howbeit they questioned him not at all, for toil of other sort forbade them, even that which he of the silver bow was stirring, and Ares the bane of mortals, and Discord that rageth without ceasing. +On the other side the Aiantes twain and Odysseus and Diomedes +roused the Danaans to fight; yet these even of themselves quailed not before the Trojans' violence and their onsets, but stood their ground like mists that in still weather the son of Cronos setteth on the mountain-tops moveless, what time the might of the North Wind sleepeth and of the other furious winds +that blow with shrill blasts and scatter this way and that the shadowy clouds; even so the Danaans withstood the Trojans steadfastly, and fled not. And the son of Atreus ranged throughout the throng with many a word of command: + +My friends, be men, and take to you hearts of valour, and have shame each of the other in the fierce conflict. Of men that have shame more are saved than are slain, but from them that flee cometh neither glory nor any avail. + + +He spake, and hurled his spear swiftly and smote a foremost warrior, a comrade of great-souled Aeneas, Deïcoön, +son of Pergasus, whom the Trojans honoured even as the sons of Priam, for that he was swift to fight amid the foremost. Him did lord Agamemnon smite with his spear upon the shield, and this stayed not the spear, but clean through it passed the bronze, and into the lower belly he drave it through the belt; +and he fell with a thud, and upon him his armour clanged. +Then Aeneas slew two champions of the Danaans, the sons of Diocles, Crethon and Orsilochus, whose father dwelt in well-built Pheme, a man rich in substance, and in lineage was he sprung from the river +Alpheius that flows in broad stream through the land of the Pylians, and that begat Orsilochus to be king over many men. And Orsilochus begat greatsouled Diocles, and of Diocles were born twin sons, Crethon and Orsilochus, well skilled in all manner of fighting. +Now when the twain had reached manhood, they followed with the Argives on the black ships to Ilios famed for its horses, seeking to win recompense for the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus; but their own selves in that land did the doom of death enfold. Like them two lions upon the mountain tops +are reared by their dam in the thickets of a deep wood; and the twain snatch cattle and goodly sheep and make havoc of the farmsteads of men, until themuselves are slain by the hands of men with the sharp bronze; even in such wise were these twain vanquished beneath the hands of Aeneas, and fell like tall fir-trees. + +But as they fell Menelaus dear to Ares had pity for them, and strode through the foremost fighters, harnessed in flaming bronze and brandishing his spear; and Ares roused his might with intent that he might be vanquished beneath the hands of Aeneas. +But Antilochus, son of great-souled Nestor, beheld him, and strode through the foremost fighters; for greatly did he fear for the shepherd of the host, lest aught befall him, and he utterly thwart them of their toil. Now the twain were holding forth their hands and their sharp spears each against the other, fain to do battle, +when Antilochus came close beside the shepheard of the host. Then Aeneas abode not, swift warrior though he was, when he beheld the two holding their ground side by side; and they, when they had dragged the dead to the host of the Achaeans, laid the hapless pair in the arms of their comrades, +and themselves turned back and fought amid the foremost. + + +Then the twain slew Pylaemenes, peer of Ares, the leader of the great-souled Paphlagonian shieldmen. Him as he stood still, the son of Atreus, spear-famed Menelaus, pierced with his spear, smiting him upon the collar-bone; +and Antilochus made a cast at Mydon, his squire and charioteer, the goodly son of Atymnius, even as he was turning the single-hooved horses, and smote him with a stone full upon the elbow; and the reins, white with ivory, fell from his hands to the ground in the dust. Then Antilochus leapt upon him and drave his sword into his temple, +and gasping he fell forth from out the well-built car headlong in the dust on his head and shoulders. Long time he stood there—for he lighted on deep sand—until his horses kicked him and cast him to the ground in the dust; and them Antilochus lashed, and drave into the host of the Achaeans. + +But Hector marked them across the ranks, and rushed upon them shouting aloud, and with him followed the strong battalions of the Trojans; and Ares led them and the queen Enyo, she bringing ruthless Din of War, +239.1 + while Ares wielded in his hands a monstrous spear, +and ranged now in front of Hector and now behind him. +At sight of him Diomedes, good at the war-cry shuddered; and even as a man in passing over a great plain halteth in dismay at a swift-streaming river that floweth on to the sea, and seeing it seething with foam starteth backward, +even so now did the son of Tydeus give ground, and he spake to the host: + +Friends, look you how we were ever wont to marvel at goodly Hector, deeming him a spearman and a dauntless warrior; whereas ever by his side is some god that wardeth from him ruin, even as now Ares is by his side in the likeness of a mortal man. +But with faces turned toward the Trojans give ye ground ever backwards, neither rage ye to fight amain with gods. + + +So spake he, and the Trojans came very close to them. Then Hector slew two warriors well skilled in fight, Menesthes and Anchialus, the twain being in one car. +And as they fell great Telamonian Aias had pity of them, and came and stood close at hand, and with a cast of his shining spear smote Amphius, son of Selagus, that dwelt in Paesus, a man rich in substance, rich in corn-land; but fate led him to bear aid to Priam and his sons. +Him Telamonian Aias smote upon the belt, and in the lower belly was the far-shadowing spear fixed, and he fell with a thud. Then glorious Aias rushed upon him to strip him of his armour, and the Trojans rained upon him their spears, all sharp and gleaming, and his shield caught many thereof. +But he planted his heel upon the corpse and drew forth the spear of bronze, yet could he not prevail likewise to strip the rest of the fair armour from his shoulders, for he was sore pressed with missiles. Furthermore, he feared the strong defence of the lordly Trojans, that beset him both many and valiant with spears in their hands and, +for all he was so tall and mighty and lordly, thrust him from them; and he gave ground and was made to reel. + + +So these toiled in the mighty conflict, but Tlepolemus, son of Heracles, a valiant man and tall, was roused by resistless fate against godlike Sarpedon. +And when they were come near as they advanced one against the other, the son and grandson of Zeus the cloud-gatherer, then Tlepolemus was first to speak, saying: + +Sarpedon, counsellor of the Lycians, why must thou be skulking here, that art a man unskilled in battle? +They speak but a lie that say thou art sprung from Zeus that beareth the aegis, seeing thou art inferior far to those warriors that were sprung from Zeus in the days of men of old. Of other sort, men say, was mighty Heracles, my father, staunch in fight, the lionhearted, +who on a time came hither by reason of the mares of Laomedon with but six ships and a scantier host, yet sacked the city of Ilios and made waste her streets. But thine is a coward's heart, and thy people are minishing. In no wise methinks shall thy coming from Lycia prove a defence to the men of Troy, +though thou be never so strong, but thou shalt be vanquished by my hand and pass the gates of Hades. + + +And to him Sarpedon, captain of the Lycians, made answer: + +Tlepolemus, thy sire verily destroyed sacred Ilios through the folly of the lordly man, Laomedon, +who chid with harsh words him that had done him good service, and rendered him not the mares for the sake of which he had come from afar. But for thee, I deem that death and black fate shall here be wrought by my hands, and that vanquished beneath my spear thou shalt yield glory to me, and thy soul to Hades of the goodly steeds. + +So spake Sarpedon, and Tlepolemus lifted on high his ashen spear, and the long spears sped from the hands of both at one moment. Sarpedon smote him full upon the neck, and the grievous point passed clean through, and down upon his eyes came the darkness of night and enfolded him. +And Tlepolemus smote Sarpedon upon the left thigh with his long spear, and the point sped through furiously and grazed the bone; howbeit his father as yet warded from him destruction. +Then his goodly companions bare godlike Sarpedon forth from out the fight, and the long spear burdened him sore, +as it trailed, but no man marked it or thought in their haste to draw forth from his thigh the spear of ash, that he might stand upon his feet; such toil had they in tending him. + + +And on the other side the well-greaved Achaeans bare Tlepolemus from out the fight, and goodly Odysseus +of the enduring soul was ware of it, and his spirit waxed furious within him; and he pondered then in heart and soul whether he should pursue further after the son of Zeus that thundereth aloud, or should rather take the lives of more Lycians. But not for great-hearted Odysseus was it ordained +to slay with the sharp bronze the valiant son of Zeus; wherefore Athene turned his mind toward the host of the Lycians. Then slew he Coeranus and Alastor and Chromius and Alcandrus and Halius and Noëmon and Prytanis; and yet more of the Lycians would goodly Odysseus have slain, +but that great Hector of the flashing helm was quick to see, and strode through the foremost fighters harnessed in flaming bronze, bringing terror to the Danaans. +Then glad at his coming was Sarpedon, son of Zeus, and spake to him a piteous word: + +Son of Priam, suffer me not to lie here a prey to the Danaans, but bear me aid; thereafter, if need be, let life depart from me in your city, seeing it might not be that I should return home to mine own native land to make glad my dear wife and infant son. + + +So spake he, yet Hector of the flashing helm spake no word in answer, +but hastened by, eager with all speed to thrust back the Argives and take the lives of many. Then his goodly comrades made godlike Sarpedon to sit beneath a beauteous oak of Zeus that beareth the aegis, +and forth from his thigh valiant Pelagon, that was his dear comrade, thrust the spear of ash; and his spirit failed him, and down over his eyes a mist was shed. Howbeit he revived, and the breath of the North Wind as it blew upon him made him to live again after in grievous wise he had breathed forth his spirit. +But the Argives before the onset of Ares and Hector harnessed in bronze +neither turned them to make for the black ships, nor yet could they hold out in fight, but they ever gave ground backward, when they heard that Ares was amid the Trojans. +Who then was first to be slain and who last by Hector, Priam's son, and brazen Ares? +Godlike Teuthras, and thereafter Orestes, driver of horses, Trechus, spearman of Aetolia, and Oenomaus, and Helenus, son of Oenops, and Oresbius with flashing taslet, he that dwelt in Hyle on the border of the Cephisian mere, having great care of his wealth; +and hard by him dwelt other Boeotians having a land exceeding rich. + + +But when the goddess, white-armed Hera, was ware of them as they made havoc of the Argives in the fierce conflict, forthwith she spake winged words to Athene: + +Out upon it, thou child of Zeus that beareth the aegis, unwearied one, +verily it was for naught that we pledged our word to Menelaus, that not until he had sacked well-walled Ilios should he get him home, if we are to suffer baneful Ares thus to rage. Nay, come, let us twain likewise bethink us of furious valour. + + +So spake she, and the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, failed not to hearken. +Then Hera, the queenly goddess, daughter of great Cronos, went to and fro harnessing the horses of golden frontlets. and Hebe quickly put to the car on either side the curved wheels of bronze, eight-spoked, about the iron axle-tree. Of these the felloe verily is of gold imperishable, +and thereover are tires of bronze fitted, a marvel to behold; and the naves are of silver, revolving on this side and on that; and the body is plaited tight with gold and silver thongs, and two rims there are that run about it. From the body stood forth the pole of silver, and on the end +thereof she bound the fair golden yoke, and cast thereon the fair golden breast-straps; and Hera led beneath the yoke the swift-footed horses, and was eager for strife and the war-cry. +But Athene, daughter of Zeus that beareth the aegis, let fall upon her father's floor her soft robe, +richly broidered, that herself had wrought and her hands had fashioned, and put on her the tunic of Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, and arrayed her in armour for tearful war. About her shoulders she flung the tasselled aegis, fraught with terror, all about which Rout is set as a crown, +and therein is Strife, therein Valour, and therein Onset, that maketh the blood run cold, and therein is the head of the dread monster, the Gorgon, dread and awful, a portent of Zeus that beareth the aegis. And upon her head she set the helmet with two horns and with bosses four, +249.1 + wrought of gold, and fitted with the men-at-arms of an hundred cities. +Then she stepped upon the flaming car and grasped her spear, heavy and huge and strong, wherewith she vanquisheth the ranks of men—of warriors with whom she is wroth, she, the daughter of the mighty sire. And Hera swiftly touched the horses with the lash, and self-bidden groaned upon their hinges the gates of heaven which the Hours had in their keeping, +to whom are entrusted great heaven and Olympus, whether to throw open the thick cloud or shut it to. There through the gate they drave their horses patient of the goad; and they found the son of Cronos as he sat apart from the other gods on the topmost peak of many-ridged Olympus. +Then the goddess, white-armed Hera, stayed the horses, and made question of Zeus most high, the son of Cronos, and spake to him: + +Father Zeus, hast thou no indignation with Ares for these violent deeds, that he hath destroyed so great and so goodly a host of the Achaeans recklessly and in no seemly wise to my sorrow; +while at their ease Cypris and Apollo of the silver bow take their joy, having set on this madman that regardeth not any law? Father Zeus, wilt thou in any wise be wroth with me if I smite Ares in sorry fashion and drive him out of the battle? + + +Then in answer spake to her Zeus, the cloud-gatherer: +Nay, come now, rouse against him Athene, driver of the spoil, who has ever been wont above others to bring sore pain upon him. + + +So spake he, and the goddess, white-armed Hera, failed not to hearken, but touched her horses with the the lash; and nothing loath the pair flew on between earth and starry heaven. +As far as a man seeth with his eyes into the haze of distance as he sitteth on a place of outlook and gazeth over the wine-dark deep, even so far do the loud-neighing horses of the gods spring at a bound. But when they were come to the land of Troy and the two flowing rivers, where the Simoïs and Scamander join their streams, +there the goddess, white-armed Hera, stayed her horses, and loosed them from the car, and shed thick mist about them; and Simoïs made ambrosia to spring up for them to graze upon. +Then the goddesses twain went their way with steps like those of timorous doves, eager to bring aid to the Argive warriors. +And when they were come where the most and the bravest stood close thronging about mighty Diomedes, tamer of horses, in semblance like ravening lions or wild boars, whose is no weakling strength, there the goddess, white-armed Hera, +stood and shouted in the likeness of great-hearted Stentor of the brazen voice, whose voice is as the voice of fifty other men: + +Fie, ye Argives, base things of shame fair in semblance only! So long as goodly Achilles was wont to fare into battle, never would the Trojans come forth even before the Dardanian gate; +for of his mighty spear had they dread; but now far from the city they are fighting at the hollow ships. + + +So saying she roused the strength and spirit of every man. And to the side of Tydeus' son sprang the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene. She found that prince beside his horses and car, +cooling the wound that Pandarus had dealt him with his arrow. For the sweat vexed him beneath the broad baldric of his round shield; therewith was he vexed and his arm grew weary, so he was lifting up the baldric and wiping away the dark blood. Then the goddess laid hold of the yoke of his horses, and said: +Verily little like himself was the son that Tydeus begat. Tydeus was small in stature, but a warrior. Even when I would not suffer him to fight or make a show of prowess, what time he came, and no Achaean with him, on an embassage to Thebes into the midst of the many Cadmeians— +I bade him feast in their halls in peace—yet he having his valiant soul as of old challenged the youths of the Cadmeians and vanquished them in everything full easily; so ' present a helper was I to him. But as for thee, I verily stand by thy side and guard thee, +and of a ready heart I bid thee fight with the Trojans, yet either hath weariness born of thy many onsets entered into thy limbs, or haply spiritless terror possesseth thee. Then art thou no offspring of Tydeus, the wise-hearted son of Oeneus. + + +Then in answer to her spake mighty Diomedes: +I know thee, daughter of Zeus that beareth the aegis; therefore with a ready heart will I tell thee my thought and hide it not. In no wise doth spiritless terror possess me nor any slackness, but I am still mindful of thy behest which thou didst lay upon me. Thou wouldest not suffer me to fight face to face with the other blessed gods, +but if Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus should enter the battle, her thou badest me smite with the sharp bronze. Therefore it is that I now give ground myself and have given command to all the rest of the Argives to be gathered here likewise; for I discern Ares lording it over the battle-field. + +And the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, answered him, saying: + +Son of Tydeus, Diomedes, dear to my heart, fear thou not Ares for that, neither any other of the immortals; so present a helper am I to thee. Nay, come, at Ares first drive thou thy single-hooved horses, +and smite him in close fight, neither have thou awe of furious Ares that raveth here a full-wrought bane, a renegade, that but now spake with me and Hera, and made as though he would fight against the Trojans but give aid to the Argives; yet now he consorteth with the Trojans and hath forgotten these. + +So saying, with her hand she drew back Sthenelus, and thrust him from the car to earth, and he speedily leapt down; and she stepped upon the car beside goodly Diomedes, a goddess eager for battle. Loudly did the oaken axle creak beneath its burden, for it bare a dread goddess and a peerless warrior. +Then Pallas Athene grasped the lash and the reins, and against Ares first she speedily drave the single-hooved horses. He was stripping of his armour huge Periphas that was far the best of the Aetolians, the glorious son of Ochesius. Him was blood-stained Ares stripping; but Athene +put on the cap of Hades, to the end that mighty Ares should not see her. +Now when Ares, the bane of mortals, was ware of goodly Diomedes, he let be huge Periphas to lie where he was, even where at the first he had slain him and taken away his life but made straight for Diomedes, tamer of horses. +And when they were now come near as they advanced one against the other, Ares first let drive over the yoke and the reins of the horses with his spear of bronze, eager to take away the other's life; but the spear the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, caught in her hand and thrust above the car to fly its way in vain. +Next Diomedes, good at the war-cry, drave at Ares with his spear of bronze, and Pallas Athene sped it mightily against his nethermost belly, where he was girded with his taslets. There did he thrust and smite him, rending the fair flesh, and forth he drew the spear again. Then brazen Ares bellowed +loud as nine thousand warriors or ten thousand cry in battle, when they join in the strife of the War-god; and thereat trembling came upon Achaeans alike and Trojans, and fear gat hold of them; so mightily bellowed Ares insatiate of war. + + +Even as a black darkness appeareth from the clouds +when after heat a blustering wind ariseth, even in such wise unto Diomedes, son of Tydeus, did brazen Ares appear, as he fared amid the clouds unto broad heaven. Speedily he came to the abode of the gods, to steep Olympus, and sate him down by the side of Zeus, son of Cronos, grieved at heart, and shewed the immortal blood flowing from the wound, +and with wailing spake to him winged words: + +Father Zeus, hast thou no indignation to behold these violent deeds? Ever do we gods continually suffer most cruelly by one another's devices, whenas we show favour to men. +With thee are we all at strife, for thou art father to that mad and baneful maid, whose mind is ever set on deeds of lawlessness. For all the other gods that are in Olympus are obedient unto thee, and subject to thee, each one of us; but to her thou payest no heed whether in word or in deed, +but rather settest her on, for that this pestilent maiden is thine own child. Now hath she set on the son of Tydeus, Diomedes high of heart, to vent his rage upon immortal gods. Cypris first he wounded with a thrust in close fight upon the hand at the wrist, and thereafter rushed upon mine own self as he had been a god. +Howbeit my swift feet bare + me away; otherwise had I long suffered woes there amid the gruesome heaps of the dead, or else had lived strengthless by reason of the smitings of the spear. + + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows spake to him Zeus, the cloud-gatherer: + +Sit thou not in any wise by me and whine, thou renegade. +Most hateful to me art thou of all gods that hold Olympus, for ever is strife dear to thee and wars and fightings. Thou hast the unbearable, unyielding spirit of thy mother, even of Hera; her can I scarce control by my words. Wherefore it is by her promptings, meseems, that thou sufferest thus. +Howbeit I will no longer endure that thou shouldest be in pain, for thou art mine offspring, and it was to me that thy mother bare + thee; but wert thou born of any other god, thus pestilent as thou art, then long ere this hadst thou been lower than the sons of heaven. + +261.1 + +He spake, and bade Paeëon heal his hurt; +and Paeëon spread thereon simples that slay pain, and healed him; for verily he was in no wise of mortal mould. Even as the juice of the fig speedily maketh to grow thick the white milk that is liquid, but is quickly curdled as a man stirreth it, even so swiftly healed he furious Ares. +And Hebe bathed him, and clad him in beautiful raiment, and he sate him down by the side of Zeus, son of Cronos, exulting in his glory. +Then back to the palace of great Zeus fared Argive Hera and Alalcomenean Athene, when they had made Ares, the bane of mortals, to cease from his man-slaying. +So was the dread strife of the Trojans and Achaeans left to itself, and oft to this side and to that surged the battle over the plain, as they aimed one at the other their bronze-tipped spears between the Simoïs and the streams of Xanthus. + +Aias, son of Telamon, bulwark of the Achaeans was first to break a battalion of the Trojans, and to bring a light of deliverance to his comrades, for he smote a man that was chiefest among the Thracians, even Eüssorus' son Acamas, a valiant man and tall. Him he was first to smite upon the horn of his helmet with thick crest of horse-hair, +and drave the spear into his forehead so that the point of bronze pierced within the bone; and darkness enfolded his eyes. +And Diomedes, good at the war-cry, slew Axylus, Teuthras' son, that dwelt in well-built Arisbe, a man rich in substance, that was beloved of all men; +for he dwelt in a home by the high-road and was wont to give entertainment to all. Howbeit of all these was there not one on this day to meet the foe before his face, and ward from him woeful destruction; but Diomedes robbed the twain of life, himself and his squire Calesius, that was then the driver of his car; so they two passed beneath the earth. + +Then Euryalus slew Dresus and Opheltius, and went on after Aesepus and Pedasus, whom on a time the fountain-nymph Abarbarea bare to peerless Bucolion. Now Bucolion was son of lordly Laomedon, his eldest born, though the mother that bare him was unwed; +he while shepherding his flocks lay with the nymph in love, and she conceived and bare twin sons. Of these did the son of Mecisteus loose the might and the glorious limbs and strip the armour from their shoulders. +And Polypoetes staunch in fight slew Astyalus, +and Odysseus with his spear of bronze laid low Pidytes of Percote, and Teucer goodly Aretaon. And Antilochus, son of Nestor, slew Ablerus with his bright spear, and the king of men, Agamemnon, slew Elatus that dwelt in steep Pedasus by the banks of fair-flowing Satnioeis. +And the warrior Leïtus slew Phylacus, as he fled before him; and Eurypylus laid Melanthius low. + + +But Adrastus did Menelaus, good at the warcry, take alive; for his two horses, coursing in terror over the plain, became entangled in a tamarisk bough, and breaking the curved car at the end of the pole, +themselves went on toward the city whither the rest were fleeing in rout; but their master rolled from out the car beside the wheel headlong in the dust upon his face. And to his side came Menelaus, son of Atreus, bearing his far-shadowing spear. +Then Adrastus clasped him by the knees and besought him: + +Take me alive, thou son of Atreus, and accept a worthy ransom; treasures full many lie stored in the palace of my wealthy father, bronze and gold and iron wrought with toil; thereof would my father grant thee ransom past counting, +should he hear that I am alive at the ships of the Achaeans. + + +So spake he, and sought to persuade the other's heart in his breast, and lo, Menelaus was about to give him to his squire to lead to the swift ships of the Achaeans, but Agamemnon came running to meet him, and spake a word of reproof, saying: +Soft-hearted Menelaus, why carest thou thus for the men? Hath then so great kindness been done thee in thy house by Trojans? Of them let not one escape sheer destruction and the might of our hands, nay, not the man-child whom his mother bears in her womb; let not even him escape, +but let all perish together out of Ilios, unmourned and unmarked. + + +So spake the warrior, and turned his brother's mind, for he counselled aright; so Menelaus with his hand thrust from him the warrior Adrastus, and lord Agamemnon smote him on the flank, and he fell backward; and the son of Atreus +planted his heel on his chest, and drew forth the ashen spear. +Then Nestor shouted aloud, and called to the Argives: + +My friends, Danaan warriors, squires of Ares, let no man now abide behind in eager desire for spoil, that he may come to the ships bearing the greatest store; +nay, let us slay the men; thereafter in peace shall ye strip the armour from the corpses that lie dead over the plain. + + +So saying he aroused the strength and spirit of every man. Then would the Trojans have been driven again by the Achaeans dear to Ares up to Ilios, vanquished in their weakness, +had not the son of Priam, Helenus, far the best of augurs, come up to Aeneas and Hector, and said to them: + +Aeneas and Hector, seeing that upon you above all others rests the war-toil of Trojans and Lycians, for that in every undertaking ye are the best both in war and in counsel, +hold ye your ground, and go ye this way and that throughout the host and keep them back before the gates, or ever in flight they fling themselves in their women's arms, and be made a joy to their foemen. But when ye have aroused all our battalions, we verily will abide here and fight against the Danaans, +sore wearied though we be, for necessity weighs hard upon us; but do thou, Hector, go thy way to the city and speak there to her that is thy mother and mine; let her gather the aged wives to the temple of flashing-eyed Athene in the citadel, and when she has opened with the key the doors of the holy house, +the robe that seemeth to her the fairest and amplest in her hall, and that is far dearest to her own self, this let her lay upon the knees of fair-haired Athene, and vow to her that she will sacrifice in her temple twelve sleek heifers that have not felt the goad, if she will have compassion +on the city and the Trojan's wives and their little children; in hope she may hold back from sacred Ilios the son of Tydeus, that savage spearman, a mighty deviser of rout, who has verily, meseems, proved himself the mightiest of the Achaeans. Not even Achilles did we ever fear on this wise, that leader of men, +who, they say, is born of a goddess; nay this man rageth beyond all measure, and no one can vie with him in might. + + +So spake he, and Hector was in no wise disobedient unto his brother's word. Forthwith he leapt in his armour from his chariot to the ground, and brandishing his two sharp spears went everywhere throughout host, +urging them to fight; and he roused the dread din of battle. So they rallied, and took their stand with their faces toward the Achaeans, and the Argives gave ground and ceased from slaying; and they deemed that one of the immortals had come down from starry heaven to bear aid to the Trojans, that they rallied thus. +And Hector shouted aloud and called to the Trojans: + +Ye Trojans, high of heart, and far-famed allies, be men, my friends, and bethink you of furious valour, the while I go to Ilios and bid the elders that give counsel, and our wives +to make prayer to the gods, and promise them hecatombs. + + +So saying, Hector of the flashing helm departed, and the black hide at either end smote against his ankles and his neck, +271.1 + even the rim that ran about the outermost edge of his bossed shield. +But Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, and the son of Tydeus +came together in the space between the two hosts, eager to do battle. And when the twain were now come near as they advanced one against the other, Diomedes, good at the war-cry, was first to speak, saying: + +Who art thou, mighty one, among mortal men? For never have I seen thee in battle where men win glory +until this day, but now hast thou come forth far in advance of all in thy hardihood, in that thou abidest my far-shadowing spear. Unhappy are they whose children face my might. But and if thou art one of the immortals come down from heaven, then will I not fight with the heavenly gods. +Nay, for even the son of Dryas, mighty Lycurgus, lived not long, seeing that he strove with heavenly gods—he that on a time drave down over the sacred mount of Nysa the nursing mothers of mad Dionysus; and they all let fall to the ground their wands, smitten with an ox-goad by man-slaying Lycurgus. +But Dionysus fled, and plunged beneath the wave of the sea, and Thetis received him in her bosom, filled with dread, for mighty terror gat hold of him at the man's threatenings. Then against Lycurgus did the gods that live at ease wax wroth, and the son of Cronos made him blind; +and he lived not for long, seeing that he was hated of all the immortal gods. So would not I be minded to fight against the blessed gods. But if thou art of men, who eat the fruit of the field, draw nigh, that thou mayest the sooner enter the toils of destruction. + +273.1 + +Then spake to him the glorious son of Hippolochus: +Great-souled son of Tydeus, wherefore inquirest thou of my lineage? Even as are the generations of leaves, such are those also of men. As for the leaves, the wind scattereth some upon the earth, but the forest, as it bourgeons, putteth forth others when the season of spring is come; even so of men one generation springeth up and another passeth away. +Howbeit, if thou wilt, hear this also, that thou mayest know well my lineage; and many there be that know it. There is a city Ephyre in the heart of Argos, pasture-land of horses, and there dwelt Sisyphus that was craftiest of men, Sisyphus, son of Aeolus; and he begat a son Glaucus; +and Glaucus begat peerless Bellerophon. + +To him the gods granted beauty and lovely manliness; but Proetus in his heart devised against him evil, and drave him, seeing he was mightier far, from the land of the Argives; for Zeus had made them subject to his sceptre. +Now the wife of Proetus, fair Anteia, lusted madly for Bellerophon, to lie with him in secret love, but could in no wise prevail upon wise-hearted Bellerophon, for that his heart was upright. So she made a tale of lies, and spake to king Proetus: + +Either die thyself, Proetus, or slay Bellerophon, +seeing he was minded to lie with me in love against my will. + + So she spake, and wrath gat hold upon the king to hear that word. To slay him he forbare, for his soul had awe of that; but he sent him to Lycia, and gave him baneful tokens, graving in a folded tablet many signs and deadly, +275.1 +and bade him show these to his own wife's father, that he might be slain. So he went his way to Lycia under the blameless escort of the gods. And when he was come to Lycia and the stream of Xanthus, then with a ready heart did the king of wide Lycia do him honour: for nine days' space he shewed him entertainment, and slew nine oxen. Howbeit when the tenth rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, +then at length he questioned him and asked to see whatever token he bare from his daughter's husband, Proetus. But when he had received from him the evil token of his daughter's husband, first he bade him slay the raging Chimaera. +She was of divine stock, not of men, in the fore part a lion, in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat, breathing forth in terrible wise the might of blazing fire. And Bellerophon slew her, trusting in the signs of the gods. Next fought he with the glorious Solymi, +and this, said he was the mightest battle of warriors that ever he entered; and thirdly he slew the Amazons, women the peers of men. And against him, as he journeyed back therefrom, the king wove another cunning wile; he chose out of wide Lycia the bravest men and set an ambush; but these returned not home in any wise, +for peerless Bellerophon slew them one and all. + +But when the king now knew that he was the valiant offspring of a god, he kept him there, and offered him his own daughter, and gave to him the half of all his kingly honour; moreover the Lycians meted out for him a demesne pre-eminent above all, +a fair tract of orchard and of plough-land, to possess it. And the lady bare to wise-hearted Bellerophon three children, Isander and Hippolochus and Laodameia. With Laodameia lay Zeus the counsellor, and she bare godlike Sarpedon, the warrior harnessed in bronze. +But when even Bellerophon came to be hated of all the gods, then verily he wandered alone over the Aleian plain, devouring his own soul, and shunning the paths of men; and Isander his son was slain by Ares, insatiate of battle, as he fought against the glorious Solymi; +and his daughter was slain in wrath by Artemis of the golden reins. But Hippolochus begat me and of him do I declare that I am sprung; and he sent me to Troy and straitly charged me ever to be bravest and pre-eminent above all, and not bring shame upon the race of my fathers, +that were far the noblest in Ephyre and in wide Lycia. This is the lineage and the blood whereof I avow me sprung. + + +So spake he, and Diomedes, good at the warcry, waxed glad. He planted his spear in the bounteous earth, and with gentle words spake to the shepherd of the host: +Verily now art thou a friend of my father's house from of old: for goodly Oeneus on a time entertained peerless Bellerophon in his halls, and kept him twenty days; and moreover they gave one to the other fair gifts of friendship. Oeneus gave a belt bright with scarlet, +and Bellerophon a double cup of gold which I left in my palace as I came hither. But Tydeus I remember not, seeing I was but a little child when he left, what time the host of the Achaeans perished at Thebes. Therefore now am I a dear guest-friend to thee in the midst of Argos, +and thou to me in Lycia, whenso I journey to the land of that folk. So let us shun one another's spears even amid the throng; full many there be for me to slay, both Trojans and famed allies, whomsoever a god shall grant me and my feet overtake; +and many Achaeans again for thee to slay whomsoever thou canst. And let us make exchange of armour, each with the other, that these men too may know that we declare ourselves to be friends from our fathers' days. + + +When they had thus spoken, the twain leapt down from their chariots and clasped each other's hands and pledged their faith. And then from Glaucus did Zeus, son of Cronos, take away his wit, +seeing he made exchange of armour with Diomedes, son of Tydeus, giving golden for bronze, the worth of an hundred oxen for the worth of nine. +But when Hector was come to the Scaean gate and the oak-tree, round about him came running the wives and daughters of the Trojans asking of their sons and brethren and friends +and husbands. But he thereupon bade them make prayer to the gods, all of them in turn; yet over many were sorrows hung. +But when he was now come to the beauteous palace of Priam, adorned with polished colonnades —and in it were fifty chambers of polished stone, +built each hard by the other; therein the sons of Priam were wont to sleep beside their wedded wives; and for his daughters over against them on the opposite side within the court were twelve roofed chambers of polished stone, built each hard by the other; +therein slept Priam's sons-in-law beside their chaste wives—there his bounteous mother came to meet him, leading in Laodice, fairest of her daughters to look upon; and she clasped him by the hand and spake and addressed him: + +My child, why hast thou left the fierce battle and come hither? +Of a surety the sons of the Achaeans, of evil name, are pressing sore upon thee as they fight about our city, and thy heart hath bid thee come hitherward and lift up thy hands to Zeus from the citadel. But stay till I have brought thee honey-sweet wine that thou mayest pour libation to Zeus and the other immortals first, +and then shalt thou thyself have profit thereof, if so be thou wilt drink. When a man is spent with toil wine greatly maketh his strength to wax, even as thou art spent with defending thy fellows. + + +Then in answer to her spake great Hector of the flashing helm: + +Bring me no honey-hearted wine, honoured mother, +lest thou cripple me, and I be forgetful of my might and my valour; moreover with hands unwashen I have awe to pour libation of flaming wine to Zeus; nor may it in any wise be that a man should make prayer to the son of Cronos, lord of the dark clouds, all befouled with blood and filth. Nay, do thou go to the temple of Athene, +driver of the spoil, with burnt-offerings, when thou hast gathered together the aged wives; and the robe that seemeth to thee the fairest and amplest in thy hall, and that is dearest far to thine own self, this do thou lay upon the knees of fair-haired Athene and vow to her that thou wilt sacrifice in her temple twelve sleek heifers that have not felt the goad, +if she will take pity on Troy and the Trojans' wives and their little children; in hope she may hold back the son of Tydeus from sacred Ilios, that savage spearman, a mighty deviser of rout. So go thou to the temple of Athene, driver of the spoil; +and I will go after Paris, to summon him, if haply he will hearken to my bidding. Would that the earth might straightway gape for him! for in grievous wise hath the Olympian reared him as a bane to the Trojans and to great-hearted Priam, and the sons of Priam. If I but saw him going down to the house of Hades, +then might I deem that my heart had forgotten its woe. + + +So spake he, and she went to the hall and called to her handmaidens; and they gathered together the aged wives throughout the city. But the queen herself went down to the vaulted treasurechamber wherein were her robes, richly broidered, the handiwork of Sidonian women, +whom godlike Alexander had himself brought from Sidon, as he sailed over the wide sea on that journey on the which he brought back high-born Helen. Of these Hecabe took one, and bare it as an offering for Athene, the one that was fairest in its broiderings and amplest, +and shone like a star, and lay undermost of all. Then she went her way, and the throng of aged wives hastened after her. + + +Now when they were come to the temple of Athene in the citadel, the doors were opened for them by fair-cheeked Theano, daughter of Cisseus, the wife of Antenor, tamer of horses; +for her had the Trojans made priestess of Athene. Then with sacred cries they all lifted up their hands to Athene; and fair-cheeked Theano took the robe and laid it upon the knees of fair-haired Athene, and with vows made prayer to the daughter of great Zeus: +Lady Athene, that dost guard our city, fairest among goddesses, break now the spear of Diomedes, and grant furthermore that himself may fall headlong before the Scaean gates; to the end that we may now forthwith sacrifice to thee in thy temple twelve sleek heifers that have not felt the goad, if thou wilt take pity +on Troy and the Trojans' wives and their little children. + + So spake she praying, but Pallas Athene denied the prayer. +Thus were these praying to the daughter of great Zeus, but Hector went his way to the palace of Alexander, the fair palace that himself had builded with the men +that were in that day the best builders in deep-soiled Troy; these had made him a chamber and hall and court hard by the palaces of Priam and Hector in the citadel. There entered in Hector, dear to Zeus, and in his hand he held a spear of eleven cubits, and before him blazed +the spear-point of bronze, around which ran a ring of gold. He found Paris in his chamber busied with his beauteous arms, his shield and his corselet, and handling his curved bow; and Argive Helen sat amid her serving-women and appointed to them their glorious handiwork. +And at sight of him Hector rebuked him with words of shame: + +Strange man, thou dost not well to nurse this anger in thy heart. Thy people are perishing about the town and the steep wall in battle, and it is because of thee that the battle-cry and the war are ablaze about this city; thou wouldest thyself vent wrath on any other, +whomso thou shouldest haply see shrinking from hateful war. Nay, then, rouse thee, lest soon the city blaze with consuming fire. + + +And to him did godlike Alexander make answer, saying: + +Hector, seeing that thou dost chide me duly, and not beyond what is due, therefore will I tell thee; and do thou take thought and hearken unto me. +Not so much by reason of wrath and indignation against the Trojans sat I in my chamber, but I was minded to yield myself to sorrow. Even now my wife sought to turn my mind with gentle words and urged me to the war: and I, mine own self, deem that it will be better so; victory shifteth from man to man. +But come now, tarry a while, let me don my harness of war; or go thy way, and I will follow; and methinks I shall overtake thee. + + +So said he, and Hector of the flashing helm answered him not a word, but unto him spake Helen with gentle words: + +O Brother of me that am a dog, a contriver of mischief and abhorred of all, +I would that on the day when first my mother gave me birth an evil storm-wind had borne me away to some mountain or to the wave of the loud-resounding sea, where the wave might have swept me away or ever these things came to pass. Howbeit, seeing the gods thus ordained these ills, +would that I had been wife to a better man, that could feel the indignation of his fellows and their many revilings. But this man's understanding is not now stable, nor ever will be hereafter; thereof I deem that he will e'en reap the fruit. But come now, enter in, and sit thee upon this chair, +my brother, since above all others has trouble encompassed thy heart because of shameless me, and the folly of Alexander; on whom Zeus hath brought an evil doom, that even in days to come we may be a song for men that are yet to be. + + +Then made answer to her great Hector of the flashing helm: +Bid me not sit, Helen, for all thou lovest me; thou wilt not persuade me. Even now my heart is impatient to bear aid to the Trojans that sorely long for me that am not with them. Nay, but rouse thou this man, and let him of himself make haste, that he may overtake me while yet I am within the city. +For I shall go to my home, that I may behold my housefolk, my dear wife, and my infant son; for I know not if any more I shall return home to them again, or if even now the gods will slay me beneath the hands of the Achaeans. + + +So saying, Hector of the flashing helm departed, +and came speedily to his well-built house. But he found not white-armed Andromache in his halls; she with her child and a fair-robed handmaiden had taken her stand upon the wall, weeping and wailing. So Hector when he found not his peerless wife within, +went and stood upon the threshold, and spake amid the serving-women: + +Come now, ye serving-women, tell me true; whither went white-armed Andromache from the hall? Is she gone to the house of any of my sisters or my brothers' fair-robed wives, or to the temple of Athene, where the other +fair-tressed women of Troy are seeking to propitiate he dread goddess? + + +Then a busy house-dame spake to him, saying: + +Hector, seeing thou straitly biddest us tell thee true, neither is she gone to any of thy sisters or thy brothers' fair-robed wives, nor yet to the temple of Athene, where the other +fair-tressed Trojan women are seeking to propitiate the dread goddess; but she went to the great wall of Ilios, for that she heard the Trojans were sorely pressed, and great victory rested with the Achaeans. So is she gone in haste to the wall, like one beside herself; and with her the nurse beareth the child. + +So spake the house-dame, and Hector hasted from the house back over the same way along the well-built streets. When now he was come to the gate, as he passed through the great city, the Scaean gate, whereby he was minded to go forth to the plain, there came running to meet him his bounteous wife, +Andromache, daughter of great-hearted Eëtion, Eëtion that dwelt beneath wooded Placus, in Thebe under Placus, and was lord over the men of Cilicia; for it was his daughter that bronze-harnessed Hector had to wife. She now met him, and with her came a handmaid bearing in her bosom +the tender boy, a mere babe, the well-loved son of Hector, like to a fair star. Him Hector was wont to call Scamandrius, but other men Astyanax; for only Hector guarded Ilios. +291.1 + Then Hector smiled, as he glanced at his boy in silence, +but Andromache came close to his side weeping, and clasped his hand and spake to him, saying: + +Ah, my husband, this prowess of thine will be thy doom, neither hast thou any pity for thine infant child nor for hapless me that soon shall be thy widow; for soon will the Achaeans +all set upon thee and slay thee. But for me it were better to go down to the grave if I lose thee, for nevermore shall any comfort be mine, when thou hast met thy fate, but only woes. Neither father have I nor queenly mother. + +My father verily goodly Achilles slew, +for utterly laid he waste the well-peopled city of the Cilicians, even Thebe of lofty gates. He slew Eëtion, yet he despoiled him not, for his soul had awe of that; but he burnt him in his armour, richly dight, and heaped over him a barrow; and all about were elm-trees planted by nymphs of the mountain, daughters of Zeus that beareth the aegis. +And the seven brothers that were mine in our halls, all these on the selfsame day entered into the house of Hades, for all were slain of swift-footed, goodly Achilles, amid their kine of shambling gait and their white-fleeced sheep. +And my mother, that was queen beneath wooded Placus, her brought he hither with the rest of the spoil, but thereafter set her free, when he had taken ransom past counting; and in her father's halls Artemis the archer slew her. Nay, Hector, thou art to me father and queenly mother, +thou art brother, and thou art my stalwart husband. Come now, have pity, and remain here on the wall, lest thou make thy child an orphan and thy wife a widow. And for thy host, stay it by the wild fig-tree, where the city may best be scaled, and the wall is open to assault. +For thrice at this point came the most valiant in company with the twain Aiantes and glorious Idomeneus and the sons of Atreus and the valiant son of Tydeus, and made essay to enter: whether it be that one well-skilled in soothsaying told them, or haply their own spirit urgeth and biddeth them thereto. + +Then spake to her great Hector of the flashing helm: + +Woman, I too take thought of all this, but wondrously have I shame of the Trojans, and the Trojans' wives, with trailing robes, if like a coward I skulk apart from the battle. Nor doth mine own heart suffer it, seeing I have learnt to be valiant +always and to fight amid the foremost Trojans, striving to win my father's great glory and mine own. For of a surety know I this in heart and soul: the day shall come when sacred Ilios shall be laid low, and Priam, and the people of Priam with goodly spear of ash. +Yet not so much doth the grief of the Trojans that shall be in the aftertime move me, neither Hecabe's own, nor king Priam's, nor my brethren's, many and brave, who then shall fall in the dust beneath the hands of their foemen, as doth thy grief, when some brazen-coated Achaean +shall lead thee away weeping and rob thee of thy day of freedom. Then haply in Argos shalt thou ply the loom at another s bidding, or bear water from Messeis or Hypereia, sorely against thy will, and strong necessity shall be laid upon thee. And some man shall say as he beholdeth thee weeping: +Lo, the wife of Hector, that was pre-eminent in war above all the horse-taming Trojans, in the day when men fought about Ilios. + + So shall one say; and to thee shall come fresh grief in thy lack of a man like me to ward off the day of bondage. But let me be dead, and let the heaped-up earth cover me, +ere I hear thy cries as they hale thee into captivity. + + +So saying, glorious Hector stretched out his arms to his boy, but back into the bosom of his fair-girdled nurse shrank the child crying, affrighted at the aspect of his dear father, and seized with dread of the bronze and the crest of horse-hair, +as he marked it waving dreadfully from the topmost helm. Aloud then laughed his dear father and queenly mother; and forthwith glorious Hector took the helm from his head and laid it all-gleaming upon the ground. But he kissed his dear son, and fondled him in his arms, +and spake in prayer to Zeus and the other gods: + +Zeus and ye other gods, grant that this my child may likewise prove, even as I, pre-eminent amid the Trojans, and as valiant in might, and that he rule mightily over Ilios. And some day may some man say of him as he cometh back from war,‘He is better far than his father’; +and may he bear the blood-stained spoils of the foeman he hath slain, and may his mother's heart wax glad. + + +So saying, he laid his child in his dear wife's arms, and she took him to her fragrant bosom, smiling through her tears; and her husband was touched with pity at sight of her, +and he stroked her with his hand, and spake to her, saying: + +Dear wife, in no wise, I pray thee, grieve overmuch at heart; no man beyond my fate shall send me forth to Hades; only his doom, methinks, no man hath ever escaped, be he coward or valiant, when once he hath been born. +Nay, go thou to the house and busy thyself with thine own tasks, the loom and the distaff, and bid thy handmaids ply their work: but war shall be for men, for all, but most of all for me, of them that dwell in Ilios. + + +So spake glorious Hector and took up his helm +with horse-hair crest; and his dear wife went forthwith to her house, oft turning back, and shedding big tears. Presently she came to the well-built palace of man-slaying Hector and found therein her many handmaidens; and among them all she roused lamentation. +So in his own house they made lament for Hector while yet he lived; for they deemed that he should never more come back from battle, escaped from the might and the hands of the Achaeans. + + +Nor did Paris tarry long in his lofty house, but did on his glorious armour, dight with bronze, +and hastened through the city, trusting in his fleetness of foot. Even as when a stalled horse that has fed his fill at the manger breaketh his halter and runneth stamping over the plain—being wont to bathe him in the fair-flowing river—and exulteth; on high doth he hold his head, and about his shoulders +his mane floateth streaming, and as he glorieth in his splendour, his knees nimbly bear him to the haunts and pastures of mares; even so Paris, son of Priam, strode down from high Pergamus, all gleaming in his armour like the shining sun, laughing for glee, and his swift feet bare him on. Speedily then +he overtook goodly Hector, his brother, even as he was about to turn back from the place where he had dallied with his wife. Then godlike Alexander was first to speak to him, saying: + +My brother, full surely I delay thee in thine haste by my long tarrying, and came not in due season, as thou badest me. + +Then in answer to him spake Hector of the flashing helm: + +Strange man, no one that is rightminded could make light of thy work in battle, for thou art valiant; but of thine own will art thou slack, and hast no care; and thereat my heart is grieved within me, whenso I hear regarding thee words of shame +from the lips of the Trojans, who because of thee have grievous toil. But let us go our way; these things we will make good hereafter, if so be Zeus shall grant us to set for the heavenly gods that are for ever a bowl of deliverance in our halls, when we have driven forth from the land of Troy the well-greaved Achaeans. + +So saying, glorious Hector hastened forth from the gates, and with him went his brother Alexander; and in their hearts were both eager for war and battle. And as a god giveth to longing seamen +a fair wind when they have grown weary of beating the sea with polished oars of fir, and with weariness are their limbs fordone; even so appeared these twain to the longing Trojans. +Then the one of them slew the son of king Areithous, Menesthius, that dwelt in Arne, who was born of the mace-man +Areithous and ox-eyed Phylomedusa; and Hector with his sharp spear smote Eioneus on the neck beneath the well-wrought helmet of bronze, and loosed his limbs. And Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, leader of the Lycians, made a cast with his spear in the fierce conflict at Iphinous, +son of Dexios, as he sprang upon his car behind his swift mares, and smote him upon the shoulder; so he fell from his chariot to the ground and his limbs were loosed. +But when the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, was ware of them as they were slaying the Argives in the fierce conflict, she went darting down from the peaks of Olympus +to sacred Ilios. And Apollo sped forth to meet her, for he looked down from out of Pergamus and beheld her, and was fain to have victory for the Trojans. So the twain met one with the other by the oak-tree. Then to her spake first the king Apollo, son of Zeus: + +Wherefore art thou again come thus eagerly from Olympus, thou daughter of great Zeus, +and why hath thy proud spirit sent thee? Is it that thou mayest give to the Danaans victory to turn the tide of battle, seeing thou hast no pity for the Trojans, that perish? But if thou wouldst in anywise hearken unto me—and so would it be better far—let us now stay the war and fighting +for this day. Hereafter shall they fight again until they win the goal of Ilios, since thus it seemeth good to the hearts of you immortal goddesses, to lay waste this city. + + +And in answer to him spake the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene: + +So be it, thou god that workest afar; +with this in mind am I myself come from Olympus to the midst of Trojans and Achaeans. But come, how art thou minded to stay the battle of the warriors? + + +Then in answer to her spake king Apollo, son of Zeus: + +Let us rouse the valiant spirit of horse-taming Hector, in hope that he may challenge some one of the Danaans in single fight +to do battle with him man to man in dread combat. So shall the bronze-greaved Achaeans have indignation and rouse some one to do battle in single combat against goodly Hector. + + +So he spake, and the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, failed not to hearken. And Helenus, the dear son of Priam, understood in spirit +this plan that had found pleasure with the gods in council; and he came and stood by Hector's side, and spake to him, saying: + +Hector, son of Priam, peer of Zeus in counsel, wouldst thou now in anywise hearken unto me? for I am thy brother. Make the Trojans to sit down, and all the Achaeans, +and do thou challenge whoso is best of the Achaeans to do battle with thee man to man in dread combat. Not yet is it thy fate to die and meet thy doom; for thus have I heard the voice of the gods that are for ever. + + +So spake he and Hector rejoiced greatly when he heard his words; +and he went into the midst and kept back the battalions of the Trojans with his spear grasped by the middle; and they all sate them down, and Agamemnon made the well-greaved Achaeans to sit. And Athene and Apollo of the silver bow in the likeness of vultures sate them +upon the lofty oak of father Zeus that beareth the aegis, rejoicing in the warriors; and the ranks of these sat close, bristling with shields and helms and spears. Even as there is spread over the face of the deep the ripple of the West Wind, that is newly risen, and the deep groweth black beneath it, +so sat the ranks of the Achaeans and Trojans in the plain. And Hector spake between the two hosts: + +Hear me, ye Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans, that I may speak what the heart in my breast biddeth me. Our oaths the son of Cronos, throned on high, brought not to fulfillment, +but with ill intent ordaineth a time for both hosts, until either ye take well-walled Troy or yourselves be vanquished beside your sea-faring ships. With you are the chieftains of the whole host of the Achaeans; of these let now that man whose heart soever biddeth him fight with me, +come hither from among you all to be your champion against goodly Hector. And thus do I declare my word, and be Zeus our witness thereto: if so be he shall slay me with the long-edged bronze, let him spoil me of my armour and bear it to the hollow ships, but my body let him give back to my home, +that the Trojans and the Trojan wives may give me my due meed of fire in my death. But if so be I slay him, and Apollo give me glory, I will spoil him of his armour and bear it to sacred Ilios and hang it upon the temple of Apollo, the god that smiteth afar, but his corpse will I render back to the well-benched ships, +that the long-haired Achaeans may give him burial, and heap up for him a barrow by the wide Hellespont. And some one shall some day say even of men that are yet to be, as he saileth in his many-benched ship over the wine-dark sea: ‘This is a barrow of a man that died in olden days, +whom on a time in the midst of his prowess glorious Hector slew.’ So shall some man say, and my glory shall never die. + + +So spake he, and they all became hushed in silence; shame had they to deny him, but they feared to meet him. Howbeit at length Menelaus arose among them and spake, +chiding them with words of reviling, and deeply did he groan at heart: + +Ah me, Ye braggarts, ye women of Achaea, men no more! Surely shall this be a disgrace dread and dire, if no man of the Danaans shall now go to meet Hector. Nay, may ye one and all turn to earth and water, +309.1 +ye that sit there each man with no heart in him, utterly inglorious. Against this man will I myself arm me; but from on high are the issues of victory holden of the immortal gods. + + +So spake he, and did on his fair armour. And now Menelaus, would the end of life have appeared for thee +at the hands of Hector, seeing he was mightier far, had not the kings of the Achaeans sprung up and laid hold of thee. And Atreus' son himself, wide-ruling Agamemnon, caught him by the right hand and spake to him, saying: + +Thou art mad, Menelaus, nurtured of Zeus, and this thy madness beseemeth thee not. +Hold back, for all thy grief, and be not minded in rivalry to fight with one better than thou, even with Hector, son of Priam, of whom others besides thee are adread. Even Achilles shuddereth to meet this man in battle, where men win glory; and he is better far than thou. +Nay, go thou for this present, and sit thee amid the company of thy fellows; against this man shall the Achaeans raise up another champion. Fearless though he be and insatiate of battle, methinks he will be glad to bend his knees in rest, if so be he escape from the fury of war and the dread conflict. + +So spake the warrior and turned his brother's mind, for he counselled aright; and Menelaus obeyed. Then with gladness his squires took his armour from his shoulders; and Nestor rose up and spake amid the Argives: + +Fie upon you! In good sooth is great grief come upon the land of Achaea. +Verily aloud would old Peleus groan, the driver of chariots, goodly counsellor, and orator of the Myrmidons, who on a time questioned me in his own house, and rejoiced greatly as he asked of the lineage and birth of all the Argives. If he were to hear that these were now all cowering before Hector +then would he lift up his hands to the immortals in instant prayer that his soul might depart from his limbs into the house of Hades. + +I would, O father Zeus and Athene and Apollo, that I were young as when beside swift-flowing Celadon the Pylians and Arcadians that rage with spears gathered together and fought +beneath the walls of Pheia about the streams of Iardanus. On their side stood forth Ereuthalion as champion, a godlike man, bearing upon his shoulders the armour of king Areithous, goodly Areithous that men and fair-girdled women were wont to call the mace-man, +for that he fought not with bow or long spear, but with a mace of iron brake the battalions. Him Lycurgus slew by guile and nowise by might, in a narrow way, where his mace of iron saved him not from destruction. For ere that might be Lycurgus came upon him at unawares +and pierced him through the middle with his spear, and backward was he hurled upon the earth; and Lycurgus despoiled him of the armour that brazen Ares had given him. This armour he thereafter wore himself amid the turmoil of Ares, but when Lycurgus grew old within his halls +he gave it to Ereuthalion, his dear squire, to wear. And wearing this armour did Ereuthalion challenge all the bravest; but they trembled sore and were afraid, nor had any man courage to abide him. But me did my enduring heart set on to battle with him in my hardihood, though in years I was youngest of all. So fought I with him, and Athene gave me glory. +The tallest was he and the strongest man that ever I slew: as a huge sprawling bulk he lay stretched this way and that. Would I were now as young and my strength as firm, then should Hector of the flashing helm soon find one to face him. Whereas ye that are chieftains of the whole host of the Achaeans, +even ye are not minded with a ready heart to meet Hector face to face. + + +So the old man chid them, and there stood up nine in all. Upsprang far the first the king of men, Agamemnon, and after him Tydeus' son, mighty Diomedes, and after them the Aiantes, clothed in furious valour, +and after them Idomeneus and Idomeneus' comrade Meriones, the peer of Enyalius, slayer of men, and after them Eurypylus, the glorious son of Euaemon; and upsprang Thoas, son of Andraemon, and goodly Odysseus; all these were minded to do battle with goodly Hector. +Then among them spake again the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia: + +Cast ye the lot now from the first unto the last for him whoso shall be chosen; for he shall verily profit the well-greaved Achaeans and himself in his own soul shall profit withal, if so be he escape from the fury of war and the dread conflict. + +So said he, and they marked each man his lot and cast them in the helmet of Agamemnon, son of Atreus; and the host made prayer, and lifted up their hands to the gods. And thus would one say with a lance up to the broad heaven: + +Father Zeus, grant that the lot fall of Aias or the son of Tydeus +or else on the king himself of Mycene rich in gold. + + +So spake they, and the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia, shook the helmet, and forth therefrom leapt the lot that themselves desired, even the lot of Aias. And the herald bare it everywhither throughout the throng, and showed it from left to right to all the chieftains of the Achaeans; +but they knew it not, and denied it every man. But when in bearing it everywhither throughout the throng he was come to him that had marked it and cast it into the helm, even to glorious Aias, then Aias held forth his hand, and the herald drew near and laid the lot therein; and Aias knew at a glance the token on the lot, and waxed glad at heart. +The lot then he cast upon the ground beside his foot, and spake: + +My friends, of a surety the lot is mine, and mine own heart rejoiceth, for I deem that I shall vanquish goodly Hector. But come now, while I am doing on me my battle gear, make ye prayer the while to king Zeus, son of Cronos, +in silence by yourselves, that the Trojans learn naught thereof—nay, or openly, if ye will, since in any case we fear no man. For by force shall no man drive me in flight of his own will and in despite of mine, nor yet by skill; since as no skilless wight methinks was I born and reared in Salamis. + +So spake he, and they made prayer to king Zeus, son of Cronos; and thus would one speak with a glance up to the broad heaven: + +Father Zeus, that rulest from Ida, most glorious, most great, vouchsafe victory to Aias and that he win him glorious renown; or if so be thou lovest Hector too, and carest for him, +vouchsafe to both equal might and glory. + + +So they spake, and Aias arrayed him in gleaming bronze. But when he had clothed about his flesh all his armour, then sped he in such wise as huge Ares goeth forth when he enters into battle amid warriors whom the son of Cronos +hath brought together to contend in the fury of soul-devouring strife. Even in such wise sprang forth huge Aias, the bulwark of the Achaeans, with a smile on his grim face; and he went with long strides of his feet beneath him, brandishing his far-shadowing spear. Then were the Argives glad as they looked upon him, +but upon the Trojans crept dread trembling on the limbs of every man, and Hector's own heart beat fast within his breast. Howbeit in no wise could he any more flee or shrink back into the throng of the host, seeing he had made challenge to fight. So Aias drew near, bearing his shield that was like a city wall, +a shield of bronze with sevenfold bull's-hide, the which Tychius had wrought with toil, he that was far best of workers in hide, having his home in Hyle, who had made him his flashing shield of seven hides of sturdy bulls, and thereover had wrought an eighth layer of bronze. This Telamonian Aias bare before his breast, +and he came and stood close by Hector, and spake threatening: + +Hector, now verily shalt thou know of a surety, man to man, what manner of chieftains there be likewise among the Danaans, even after Achilles, breaker of the ranks of men, the lion-hearted. Howbeit he abideth amid his beaked seafaring ships +in utter wrath against Agamemnon, Atreus' son, shepherd of the host; yet are we such as to face thee, yea, full many of us. But begin thou war and battle. + + +To him then made answer great Hector of the flashing helm: + +Aias, sprung from Zeus, thou son of Telamon, captain of the host, +in no wise make thou trial of me as of some puny boy or a woman that knoweth not deeds of war. Nay, full well know I battles and slayings of men. I know well how to wield to right, and well how to wield to left my shield of seasoned hide, which I deem a sturdy thing to wield in fight; +and I know how to charge into the mellay of chariots drawn by swift mares; and I know how in close fight to tread the measure of furious Ares. Yet am I not minded to smite thee, being such a one as thou art, by spying thee at unawares; but rather openly, if so be I may hit thee. + + +He spake, and poised his far-shadowing spear, and hurled it; +and he smote Aias' dread shield of sevenfold bull's-hide upon the outermost bronze, the eighth layer that was thereon. Through six folds shore the stubborn bronze, but in the seventh hide it was stayed. Then in turn Zeus-born Aias hurled his far-shadowing spear, +and smote upon the son of Priam's shield, that was well balanced upon every side. Through the bright shield went the mighty spear, and through the corselet, richly dight, did it force its way; and straight on beside his flank the spear shore through his tunic; but he bent aside, and escaped black fate. +Then the twain both at one moment drew forth with their hands their long spears, and fell to, in semblance like ravening lions or wild boars, whose is no weakling strength. Then the son of Priam smote full upon the shield of Aias with a thrust of his spear, howbeit the bronze brake not through, for its point was turned; +but Aias leapt upon him and pierced his buckler, and clean through went the spear and made him reel in his onset; even to his neck it made its way, and gashed it, and the dark blood welled up. Yet not even so did Hector of the flashing-helm cease from fight, but giving ground he seized with stout hand a stone +that lay upon the plain, black and jagged and great; therewith he smote Aias' dread shield of sevenfold bull's-hide full upon the boss; and the bronze rang about it. Then Aias in turn lifted on high a far greater stone, and swung and hurled it, putting into the cast measureless strength; +and he burst the buckler inwards with the cast of the rock that was like unto a mill-stone, and beat down Hector's knees; so he stretched upon his back, gathered together under his shield; howbeit Apollo straightway raised him up. And now had they been smiting with their swords in close fight, but that the heralds, messengers of Zeus and men, +came, one from the Trojans and one from the brazen-coated Achaeans, even Talthybius and Idaeus, men of prudence both. Between the two they held forth their staves, and the herald Idaeus, skilled in prudent counsel, spake, saying: + +Fight ye no more, dear sons, neither do battle; +both ye twain are loved of Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, and both are spearmen; that verily know we all. Moreover night is now upon us, and it is well to yield obedience to night's behest. + + +Then in answer to him spake Telamonian Aias: + +Idaeus, bid ye Hector speak these words, +for it was he who of himself challenged to combat all our best. Let him be first and I verily will hearken even as he shall say. + + +Then spake unto him great Hector of the flashing helm: + +Aias, seeing God gave thee stature and might, aye, and wisdom, and with thy spear thou art pre-eminent above all the Achaeans, +let us now cease from battle and strife for this day; hereafter shall we fight again until God judge between us, and give victory to one side or the other. Howbeit night is now upon us, and it is well to yield obedience to night's behest, that thou mayest make glad all the Achaeans beside their ships, +and most of all the kinsfolk and comrades that are thine; and I throughout the great city of king Priam shall make glad the Trojan men and Trojan women with trailing robes, who because of me will enter the gathering of the gods +325.1 + with thanksgivings. But come, let us both give each to the other glorious gifts, +to the end that many a one of Achaeans and Trojans alike may thus say: ‘The twain verily fought in rivalry of soul-devouring strife, but thereafter made them a compact and were parted in friendship.’ + + +When he had thus said, he brought and gave him his silver-studded sword with its scabbard and well-cut baldric; + and Aias gave his belt bright with scarlet. So they parted, and one went his way to the host of the Achaeans and the other betook him to the throng of the Trojans. And these waxed glad when they saw Hector coming to join them alive and whole, escaped from the fury of Aias and his invincible hands; +and they brought him to the city scarce deeming that he was safe. And Aias on his part was led of the well-greaved Achaeans unto goodly Agamemnon, filled with joy of his victory. + + +And when they were now come to the huts of the son of Atreus, then did the king of men, Agamemnon slay there a bull, +a male of five years, for the son of Cronos, supreme in might. This they flayed and dressed, and cut up all the limbs. Then they sliced these cunningly, and spitted them and roasted them carefully and drew all off the spits. But when they had ceased from their labour and had made ready the meal, +they feasted, nor did their hearts lack aught of the equal feast. And unto Aias for his honour was the long chine given by the warrior son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon. +But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, first of all the old man began to weave the web of counsel for them, +even Nestor, whose rede had of old ever seemed the best. He with good intent addressed their gathering and spake among them: + +Son of Atreus and ye other princes of the hosts of Achaea, lo, full many long-haired Achaeans are dead, whose dark blood keen Ares hath now spilt about fair-flowing Scamander, +and their souls have gone down to the house of Hades; therefore were it well that thou make the battle of the Achaeans to cease at daybreak, and we will gather to hale hither on carts the corpses with oxen and mules; and we will burn them a little way from the ships that each man may bear their bones home to their children, +whenso we return again to our native land. And about the pyre let us heap a single barrow, rearing +327.1 + it from the plain for all alike, and thereby build with speed a lofty wall, a defence for our ships and for ourselves. And therein let us build gates close-fastening, +that through them may be a way for the driving of chariots; and without let us dig a deep ditch hard by, which shall intervene and keep back chariots and footmen, lest ever the battle of the lordly Trojans press heavily upon us. + + +So spake he, and all the kings assented thereto. +And of the Trojans likewise was a gathering held in the citadel of Ilios, a gathering fierce and tumultuous, beside Priam's doors. Among them wise Antenor was first to speak, saying: + +Hearken to me, ye Trojans and Dardanians and allies, that I may speak what the heart in my breast biddeth me. +Come ye now, let us give Argive Helen and the treasure with her unto the sons of Atreus to take away. Now do we fight after proving false to our oaths of faith, wherefore have I no hope that aught will issue to our profit, if we do not thus. + + +When he had thus spoken he sate him down, and among them uprose +goodly Alexander, lord of fair-haired Helen; he made answer, and spake to him winged words: + +Antenor, this that thou sayest is no longer to my pleasure; yea thou knowest how to devise better words than these. But if thou verily speakest this in earnest, +then of a surety have the gods themselves destroyed thy wits. Howbeit I will speak amid the gathering of horse-taming Trojans and declare outright: my wife will I not give back; but the treasure that I brought from Argos to our home, all this am I minded to give, and to add thereto from mine own store. + +When he had thus spoken he sate him down, and among them uprose Priam, son of Dardanus, peer of the gods in counsel. He with good intent addressed their gathering, and spake among them: + +Hearken to me, ye Trojans and Dardanians and allies, that I may say what the heart in my breast biddeth me. +For this present take ye your supper throughout the city, even as of old, and take heed to keep watch, and be wakeful every man; and at dawn let Idaeus go to the hollow ships to declare to Atreus' sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, the word of Alexander, for whose sake strife hath been set afoot. +And let him furthermore declare to them this word of wisdom, whether they are minded to cease from dolorous war till we have burned the dead; thereafter shall we fight again until God judge between us, and give victory to one side or the other. + + +So spake he, and they readily hearkened to him, and obeyed; +then they took their supper throughout the host by companies, and at dawn Idaeus went his way to the hollow ships. There he found in the place of gathering the Danaans, squires of Ares, beside the stern of Agamemnon's ship; and the loud-voiced herald took his stand in the midst and spake among them: +Son of Atreus, and ye other princes of the hosts of Achaea, Priam and the other lordly Trojans bade me declare to you—if haply it be your wish and your good pleasure—the saying of Alexander, for whose sake strife hath been set afoot. The treasure that Alexander brought to Troy +in his hollow ships—would that he had perished first!—all this he is minded to give, and to add thereto from his own store; but the wedded wife of glorious Menelaus, he declares he will not give; though verily the Trojans bid him do it. Moreover they bade me declare unto you this word also, whether ye be minded +to cease from dolorous war till we have burned the dead; thereafter shall we fight again until God judge between us and give victory to one side or the other. + + +So spake he, and they all became hushed in silence. But at length there spake among them Diomedes, good at the war-cry: +Let no man now accept the treasure from Alexander, nay, nor Helen; known is it, even to him who hath no wit at all, that now the cords of destruction are made fast upon the Trojans. + + +So spake he, and all the sons of the Achaeans shouted aloud, applauding the saying of Diomedes, tamer of horses. +Then to Idaeus spake lord Agamemnon: + +Idaeus, verily of thyself thou hearest the word of the Achaeans, how they make answer to thee; and mine own pleasure is even as theirs. But as touching the dead I in no wise grudge that ye burn them; for to dead corpses should no man grudge, +when once they are dead, the speedy consolation of fire. But to our oaths let Zeus be witness, the loud-thundering lord of Hera. + + +So saying, he lifted up his staff before the face of all the gods, and Idaeus went his way back to sacred Ilios. Now they were sitting in assembly, Trojans and Dardanians alike, +all gathered in one body waiting until Idaeus should come; and he came and stood in their midst and declared his message. Then they made them ready with all speed for either task, some to bring the dead, and others to seek for wood. And the Argives over against them hasted from the benched ships, +some to bring the dead and others to seek for wood. +The sun was now just striking on the fields, as he rose from softly-gliding, deep-flowing Oceanus, and climbed the heavens, when the two hosts met together. Then was it a hard task to know each man again; +howbeit with water they washed from them the clotted blood, and lifted them upon the waggons, shedding hot tears the while. But great Priam would not suffer his folk to wail aloud; so in silence they heaped the corpses upon the pyre, their hearts sore stricken; and when they had burned them with fire they went their way to sacred Ilios. +And in like manner over against them the well-greaved Achaeans heaped the corpses upon the pyre, their hearts sore stricken, and when they had burned them with fire they went their way to the hollow ships. +Now when dawn was not yet, but night was still 'twixt light and dark, then was there gathered about the pyre the chosen host of the Achaeans, +and they made about it a single barrow, rearing it from the plain for all alike; and thereby they built a wall and a lofty rampart, a defence for their ships and for themselves. And therein they made gates, close-fastening, that through them might be a way for the driving of chariots. +And without they dug a deep ditch hard by, wide and great, and therein they planted stakes. + + +Thus were they toiling, the long-haired Achaeans; and the gods, as they sat by the side of Zeus, the lord of the lightning, marvelled at the great work of the brazen-coated Achaeans. +And among them Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, was first to speak: + +Father Zeus, is there now anyone of mortals on the face of the boundless earth, that will any more declare to the immortals his mind and counsel? Seest thou not that now again the long-haired Achaeans have builded them a wall to defend their ships, and about it have drawn a trench, +but gave not glorious hecatombs to the gods? Of a surety shall the fame thereof reach as far as the dawn spreadeth, and men will forget the wall that I and Phoebus Apollo built with toil for the warrior Laomedon. + + +Then greatly troubled, Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, spake to him: +Ah me, thou Shaker of Earth, wide of sway, what a thing thou hast said! Another of the gods might haply fear this device, whoso was feebler far than thou in hand and might; whereas thy fame shall of a surety reach as far as the dawn spreadeth. Go to now, when once the long-haired Achaeans have gone with their ships to their dear native land, +then do thou burst apart the wall and sweep it all into the sea, and cover the great beach again with sand, that so the great wall of the Achaeans may be brought to naught of thee. + + +On this wise spake they, one to the other, +and the sun set, and the work of the Achaeans was accomplished; and they slaughtered oxen throughout the huts and took supper. And ships full many were at hand from Lemnos, bearing wine, sent forth by Jason's son, Euneus, whom Hypsipyle bare to Jason, shepherd of the host. +And for themselves alone unto the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus, had Euneus given wine to be brought them, even a thousand measures. From these ships the long-haired Achaeans bought them wine, some for bronze, some for gleaming iron, some for hides, some for whole cattle, +and some for slaves; and they made them a rich feast. So the whole night through the long-haired Achaeans feasted, and the Trojans likewise in the city, and their allies; and all night long Zeus, the counsellor, devised them evil, thundering in terrible wise. Then pale fear gat hold of them, +and they let the wine flow from their cups upon the ground, neither durst any man drink until he had made a drink-offering to the son of Cronos, supreme in might. Then they laid them down, and took the gift of sleep. +Now Dawn the saffron-robed was spreading over the face of all the earth, and Zeus that hurleth the thunderbolt made a gathering of the gods upon the topmost peak of many-ridged Olympus, and himself addressed their gathering; and all the gods gave ear: +Hearken unto me, all ye gods and goddesses, that I may speak what the heart in my breast biddeth me. Let not any goddess nor yet any god essay this thing, to thwart my word, but do ye all alike assent thereto, that with all speed I may bring these deeds to pass. +Whomsoever I shall mark minded apart from the gods to go and bear aid either to Trojans or Danaans, smitten in no seemly wise shall he come back to Olympus, or I shall take and hurl him into murky Tartarus, +far, far away, where is the deepest gulf beneath the earth, the gates whereof are of iron and the threshold of bronze, as far beneath Hades as heaven is above earth: then shall ye know how far the mightiest am I of all gods. Nay, come, make trial, ye gods, that ye all may know. Make ye fast from heaven a chain of gold, +and lay ye hold thereof, all ye gods and all goddesses; yet could ye not drag to earth from out of heaven Zeus the counsellor most high, not though ye laboured sore. But whenso I were minded to draw of a ready heart, then with earth itself should I draw you and with sea withal; +and the rope should I thereafter bind about a peak of Olympus and all those things should hang in space. By so much am I above gods and above men. + + +So spake he, and they all became hushed in silence, marvelling at his words; for full masterfully did he address their gathering. +But at length there spake among them the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene: + +Father of us all, thou son of Cronos, high above all lords, well know we of ourselves that thy might is unyielding, yet even so have we pity for the Danaan spearmen who now shall perish and fulfill an evil fate. +Yet verily will we refrain us from battle, even as thou dost bid; howbeit counsel will we offer to the Argives which shall be for their profit, that they perish not all by reason of thy wrath. + + +Then with a smile spake to her Zeus the cloud-gatherer: + +Be of good cheer, Tritogeneia, dear child. In no wise +do I speak with full purpose of heart, but am minded to be kindly to thee. + + +So saying, he let harness beneath his car his bronze-hooved horses, swift of flight, with flowing manes of gold; and with gold he clad himself about his body, and grasped the well-wrought whip of gold, and stepped upon his car +and touched the horses with the lash to start them; and nothing loath the pair sped onward midway between earth and starry heaven. To Ida he fared, the many-fountained, mother of wild beasts, even to Gargarus, where is his demesne and his fragrant altar. There did the father of men and gods stay his horses, +and loose them from the car, and shed thick mist upon them; and himself sat amid the mountain peaks exulting in his glory, looking upon the city of the Trojans and the ships of the Achaeans. +But the long-haired Achaeans took their meal hastily throughout the huts, and as they rose up therefrom arrayed them in armour; +and in like manner, the Trojans, on their side, armed themselves throughout the city; fewer they were, but even so were they eager to contend in battle through utter need, for their children's sake and their wives'. And all the gates were opened, and the host hasted forth, footmen alike and charioteers; and a great din arose. + +But when they were met together and come into one place, then clashed they their shields and spears, and the fury of bronze-mailed warriors; and the bossed shields closed each with each, and a great din arose. Then were heard alike the sound of groaning and the cry of triumph +of the slayers and the slain, and the earth flowed with blood. Now as long as it was morn and the sacred day was waxing, so long the missiles of either side struck home, and the folk kept falling. But when the sun had reached mid heaven, then verily the Father lifted on high his golden scales, +and set therein two fates of grievous death, one for the horse-taming Trojans, and one for the brazen-coated Achaeans; then he grasped the balance by the midst and raised it, and down sank the day of doom of the Achaeans. So the Achaeans' fates settled down upon the bounteous earth and those of the Trojans were raised aloft toward wide heaven. +Then himself he thundered aloud from Ida, and sent a blazing flash amid the host of the Achaeans; and at sight thereof they were seized with wonder, and pale fear gat hold of all. + + +Then had neither Idomeneus the heart to abide, nor Agamemnon, nor yet the Aiantes twain, squires of Ares; +only Nestor of Gerenia abode, the warder of the Achaeans, and he nowise of his own will, but his horse was sore wounded, seeing goodly Alexander, lord of fair-haired Helen, had smitten him with an arrow upon the crown of the head where the foremost hairs of horses grow upon the skull, and where is the deadliest spot. +So, stung with agony the horse leapt on high as the arrow sank into his brain, and he threw into confusion horses and car as he writhed upon the bronze. And while the old man sprang forth and with his sword was cutting away the traces, meanwhile the swift horses of Hector came on through the tumult, bearing a bold charioteer, +even Hector. And now would the old man here have lost his life, had not Diomedes, good at the war-cry, been quick to see; and he shouted with a terrible shout, urging on Odysseus: + +Zeus-born son of Laërtes, Odysseus of many wiles, whither fleest thou with thy back turned, like a coward in the throng? +Let it not be that as thou fleest some man plant his spear in thy back. Nay, hold thy ground, that we may thrust back from old Nestor this wild warrior. + + +So spake he, howbeit the much-enduring goodly Odysseus heard him not, +345.1 + but hasted by to the hollow ships of the Achaeans. But the son of Tydeus, alone though he was, mingled with the foremost fighters, +and took his stand before the horses of the old man, Neleus' son, and spake and addressed him with winged words: + +Old sir, of a surety young warriors press thee sore; whereas thy might is broken and grievous old age attends thee, and thy squire is a weakling and thy horses slow. +Nay, come, mount upon my car, that thou mayest see of what sort are the horses of Tros, well skilled to course fleetly hither and thither over the plain whether in pursuit or in flight, even those that once I took from Aeneas, devisers of rout. Thy horses shall our two squires tend, but these twain +shall thou and I drive straight against the horse-taming Trojans, that Hector too may know whether my spear also rageth in my hands. + + +So spake he, and the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia, failed not to hearken. So the mares of Nestor were tended by the two squires, valiant Sthenelus and Eurymedon the kindly; +and the other twain mounted both upon the car of Diomedes. Nestor took in his hands the shining reins, and touched the horses with the lash, and speedily they drew nigh to Hector. Upon him then as he charged straight at them the son of Tydeus made a cast: him he missed, but his squire that drave the chariot, Eniopeus, son of Thebaeus, high of heart, +even as he was holding the reins, he smote on the breast beside the nipple. So he fell from out the car, and the swift-footed horses swerved aside thereat; and there his spirit and his strength were undone. Then was the soul of Hector clouded with dread sorrow for his charioteer. +Yet left he him to lie there, albeit he sorrowed for his comrade, and sought him a bold charioteer; nor did his horses twain long lack a master, for straightway he found Iphitus' son, bold Archeptolemus, and made him mount behind his swift-footed horses, and gave the reins into his hands. + +Then had ruin come and deeds beyond remedy been wrought, and they had been penned in Ilios like lambs, had not the father of men and gods been quick to see. He thundered terribly and let fly his white lightning-bolt, and down before the horses of Diomedes he hurled it to earth; +and a terrible flame arose of burning sulphur, and the two horses, seized with terror, cowered beneath the car. Then from the hands of Nestor slipped the shining reins, and he waxed afraid at heart, and spake to Diomedes: + +Son of Tydeus, come now, turn thou in flight thy single-hooved horses. +Seest thou not that victory from Zeus waited not on thee? Now to yon man doth Zeus, the son of Cronos, vouchsafe glory for this day; hereafter shall he grant it also to us, if so be he will. But a man may in no wise thwart the purpose of Zeus, be he never so valiant; for in sooth he is mightier far. + +And in answer to him spake Diomedes, good at the war cry: + +Yea, verily, old sir, all this hast thou spoken according to right. But herein dread grief cometh upon my heart and soul, for Hector will some day say, as he speaketh in the gathering of the Trojans: ‘Tydeus' son, driven in flight before me, betook him to the ships.’ +So shall he some day boast—on that day let the wide earth gape for me. + + +And in answer to him spake the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia: + +Ah me, thou son of wise-hearted Tydeus, what a thing hast thou said! For though Hector shall call thee coward and weakling, yet will not the Trojans or the Dardanians hearken to him, +nor the wives of the great-souled Trojans, bearers of the shield, they whose lusty husbands thou hast hurled in the dust. + + +So spake he, and turned in flight his single-hooved horses, back through the tumult; and the Trojans and Hector with wondrous shouting poured forth upon them their missiles fraught with groanings. +Over him then shouted aloud great Hector of the flashing helm: + +Son of Tydeus, above all others were the Danaans with swift steeds wont to honour thee with a seat of honour and meats and full cups, but now will they scorn thee; thou art, it appeareth, no better than a woman. Begone, cowardly puppet; since through no flinching of mine +shalt thou mount upon our walls, and carry away our women in thy ships; ere that will I deal thee thy doom. + + +So spake he, and the son of Tydeus was divided in counsel whether he should not wheel his horses and fight him face to face. Thrice he wavered in heart and soul +and thrice from the mountains of Ida Zeus the counsellor thundered, giving to the Trojans a sign and victory to turn the tide of battle. And Hector shouted aloud and called to the Trojans: + +Ye Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians, that fight in close combat, be men, my friends, and bethink you of furious valour. +I perceive that of a ready heart the son of Cronos hath given unto me victory and great glory, and to the Danaans woe. Fools they are, that contrived forsooth these walls, weak and of none account; these shall not withhold our might, and our horses shall lightly leap over the digged ditch. +But when I be at length come amid the hollow ships, then see ye that consuming fire be not forgotten, that with fire I may burn the ships and furthermore slay the men, even the Argives beside their ships, distraught by reason of the smoke. + + +So saying he shouted to his horses, and said: + +Xanthus, and thou Podargus, and Aethon, and goodly Lampus, +now pay me back your tending wherewith in abundance Andromache, daughter of great-hearted Eëtion, set before you honey-hearted wheat, and mingled wine for you to drink when your souls bade you, +sooner than for me, that avow me to be her stalwart husband. Nay, haste ye in pursuit, that we may take the shield of Nestor, the fame whereof now reacheth unto heaven, that it is all of gold, the rods alike and the shield itself; and may take moreover from the shoulders of horse-taming Diomedes +his breastplate richly-dight, which Hephaestus wrought with toil. Could we but take these twain, then might I hope to make the Achaeans this very night embark upon their swift ships. + + +So spake he vauntingly, and queenly Hera had indignation thereat; she shook herself on her throne and made high Olympus to quake, +and to the mighty god Poseidon she spake, saying: + +Ah me, thou Shaker of Earth, wide of sway, not even hath the heart in thy breast pity of the Danaans that are perishing. Yet in thine honour do they bring to Helice and Aegae offerings many and gracious and hitherto thou didst wish them victory. +For did we but will, all we that are aiders of the Danaans, to drive back the Trojans and to withhold Zeus whose voice is borne afar, then, in vexation of spirit, would he sit alone there upon Ida. + + +Then, his heart sore troubled, the lord, the Shaker of Earth, spake to her: + +Hera, reckless in speech, what a word hast thou spoken! +It is not I that were fain to see us all at strife with Zeus, son of Cronos, for he verily is mightier far. + + +On this wise spake they, one to the other; and now was all the space that the moat of the wall enclosed on the side of the ships filled alike with chariots and shield-bearing men +huddled together: and huddled they were by Hector, Priam's son, the peer of swift Ares, now that Zeus vouchsafed him glory. And now would he have burned the shapely ships with blazing fire, had not queenly Hera put it in Agamemnon's mind himself to bestir him, and speedily rouse on the Achaeans. +So he went his way along the huts and ships of the Achaeans, bearing his great purple cloak in his stout hand, and took his stand by Odysseus' black ship, huge of hull, that was in the midst so that a shout could reach to either end, both to the huts of Aias, son of Telamon, +and to those of Achilles; for these had drawn up their shapely ships at the furthermost ends, trusting in their valour and in the strength of their hands. There uttered he a piercing shout, calling aloud to the Danaans: + +Fie, ye Argives, base things of shame fair in semblance only. +Whither are gone our boastings, when forsooth we declared that we were bravest, the boasts that when ye were in Lemnos ye uttered vaingloriously as ye ate abundant flesh of straight-horned kine and drank bowls brim full of wine, saying that each man would stand to face in battle an hundred, aye, two hundred Trojans! whereas now can we match not even one, +this Hector, that soon will burn our ships with blazing fire. Father Zeus, was there ever ere now one among mighty kings whose soul thou didst blind with blindness such as this, and rob him of great glory? Yet of a surety do I deem that never in my benched ship did I pass by fair altar of thine on my ill-starred way hither, +but upon all I burned the fat and the thighs of bulls, in my eagerness to lay waste well-walled Troy. Nay, Zeus, this desire fulfill thou me: ourselves at least do thou suffer to flee and escape, and permit not the Achaeans thus to be vanquished by the Trojans. + +So spake he, and the Father had pity on him as he wept, and vouchsafed him that his folk should be saved and not perish. Forthwith he sent an eagle, surest of omens among winged birds, holding in his talons a fawn, the young of a swift hind. Beside the fair altar of Zeus he let fall the fawn, +even where the Achaeans were wont to offer sacrifice to Zeus from whom all omens come. So they, when they saw that it was from Zeus that the bird was come, leapt the more upon the Trojans and bethought them of battle. +Then might no man of the Danaans, for all they were so many, vaunt that he before the son of Tydeus guided his swift horses +to drive them forth across the trench and to fight man to man; nay he was first by far to slay a mailed warrior of the Trojans, even Agelaus, Phradraon's son. He in sooth had turned his horses to flee, but as he wheeled about Diomedes fixed his spear in his back between the shoulders, and drave it through his breast; +so he fell from out the car, and upon him his armour clanged. +And after him came the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus, and after them the Aiantes, clothed in furious valour, and after them Idomeneus and Idomeneus' comrade, Meriones, peer of Enyalius, slayer of men, +and after them Eurypylus, the glorious son of Euaemon; and Teucer came as the ninth, stretching his back-bent bow, and took his stand beneath the shield of Aias, son of Telamon. Then would Aias move his shield aside from over him, and the warrior would spy his chance; and when he had shot his bolt and had smitten one in the throng, +then would that man fall where he was and give up his life, and Teucer would hie him back, and as a child beneath his mother, so betake him for shelter to Aias; and Aias would ever hide him with his shining shield. +Whom first then of the Trojans did peerless Teucer slay? Orsilochus first and Ormenus and Ophelestes and +Daetor and Chromius and godlike Lycophontes and Amopaon, Polyaemon's son, and Melanippus. All these, one after another, he brought down to the bounteous earth. And at sight of him Agamemnon, king of men, waxed glad, as with his mighty bow he made havoc of the battalions of the Trojans; +and he came and stood by his side and spake to him, saying: + +Teucer, beloved, son of Telamon, captain of hosts, shoot on in this wise, if so be thou mayest prove a light of deliverance to the Danaans and a glory to thy father Telamon, who reared thee when thou wast a babe, and for all thou wast a bastard cherished thee in his own house; +him, far away though he be, do thou bring to honour. Moreover, I will declare to thee as it verily shall be brought to pass. If Zeus that beareth the aegis, and Athene shall vouchsafe me to lay waste the well-built citadel of Ilios, in thy hand first after mine own self will I place a meed of honour, +either a tripod or two horses with their car, or a woman that shall go up into thy bed. + + +Then in answer to him spake peerless Teucer: + +Most glorious son of Atreus, why urgest thou me on, that of myself am eager? Verily I forbear not so far as might is in me, +but from the time when we drave them toward Ilios, even from that moment I lie in wait with my bow and slay the men. Eight long-barbed arrows have I now let fly, and all are lodged in the flesh of youths swift in battle; only this mad dog can I not smite. + +He spake, and shot another arrow from the string straight against Hector; and his heart was fain to smite him. Howbeit him he missed, but peerless Gorgythion he smote in the breast with his arrow, Priam's valiant son, that a mother wedded from Aesyme had born, +even fair Castianeira, in form like to the goddesses. And he bowed his head to one side like a poppy that in a garden is laden with its fruit and the rains of spring; so bowed he to one side his head, laden with his helmet. +And Teucer shot another arrow from the string +straight against Hector, and his heart was fain to smite him. Howbeit he missed him once again, for Apollo made his dart to swerve, but Archeptolemus, the bold charioteer of Hector, as he hasted into battle he smote on the breast beside the nipple. So he fell from out the car, and the swift-footed horses swerved aside thereat; +and there his spirit and his strength were undone. Then was the soul of Hector clouded with dread sorrow for his charioteer. Yet left he him to lie there, though he sorrowed for his comrade, and bade Cebriones, his own brother, that was nigh at hand, take the reins of the horses; and he heard and failed not to hearken. +And himself Hector leapt to the ground from his gleaming car crying a terrible cry, and seizing a stone in his hand made right at Teucer, and his heart bade him smite him. Now Teucer had drawn forth from the quiver a bitter arrow, and laid it upon the string, but even as he was drawing it back Hector of the flashing helm +smote him beside the shoulder where the collar-bone parts the neck and the breast, where is the deadliest spot; even there as he aimed eagerly against him he smote him with the jagged stone, and he brake the bow-string; but his hand grew numb at the wrist, and he sank upon his knees and thus abode, and the bow fell from his hand. +Howbeit Aias was not unmindful of his brother's fall, but ran and bestrode him and flung before him his shield as a cover. Then two trusty comrades stooped beneath him, even Mecisteus, son of Echius, and goodly Alastor, and bare him, groaning heavily, to the hollow ships. + +Then once again the Olympian aroused might in the hearts of the Trojans; and they thrust the Achaeans straight toward the deep ditch; and amid the foremost went Hector exulting in his might. And even as a hound pursueth with swift feet after a wild boar or a lion, and snatcheth at him from behind +either at flank or buttock, and watcheth for him as he wheeleth; even so Hector pressed upon the long-haired Achaeans, ever slaying the hindmost; and they were driven in rout. But when in their flight they had passed through stakes and trench, and many had been vanquished beneath the hands of the Trojans, +then beside their ships they halted and abode, calling one upon the other, and lifting up their hands to all the gods they made fervent prayer each man of them. But Hector wheeled this way and that his fair-maned horses, and his eyes were as the eyes of the Gorgon or of Ares, bane of mortals. + +Now at sight of them the goddess, white-armed Hera, had pity; and forthwith spake winged words to Athene: + +Out upon it, thou child of Zeus that beareth the aegis, shall not we twain any more take thought of the Danaans that are perishing, even for this last time? Now will they fill up the measure of evil doom and perish +before the onset of one single man, even of Hector, Priam's son, who now rageth past all bearing, and lo, hath wrought evils manifold. + + +Then spake unto her the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene: + +Yea, verily, fain were I that this fellow lose strength and life, slain beneath the hands of the Argives in his own native land; +howbeit mine own father rageth with evil mind, cruel that he is, ever froward, a thwarter of my purposes; neither hath he any memory of this, that full often I saved his son when he was fordone by reason of Eurystheus' tasks. For verily he would make lament toward heaven and from heaven would Zeus +send me forth to succour him. Had I but known all this in wisdom of my heart when Eurystheus sent him forth to the house of Hades the Warder, to bring from out of Erebus the hound of loathed Hades, then had he not escaped the sheer-falling waters of Styx. +Howbeit now Zeus hateth me, and hath brought to fulfillment the counsels of Thetis, that kissed his knees and with her hand clasped his chin, beseeching him to show honour to Achilles, sacker of cities. Verily the day shall come when he shall again call me his flashing-eyed darling. But now make thou ready for us twain our single-hooved horses, +the while I enter into the palace of Zeus, that beareth the aegis, and array me in armour for battle, to the end that I may see whether Priam's son, Hector of the flashing helm, will rejoice when we twain appear to view along the dykes of battle. Nay of a surety many a one of the Trojans shall glut the dogs and birds +with his fat and flesh, when he is fallen at the ships of the Achaeans. + + +So spake she, and the goddess, white-armed Hera, failed not to hearken. She then went to and fro harnessing the horses of golden frontlets, even Hera, the queenly goddess, daughter of great Cronos; but Athene, daughter of Zeus that beareth the aegis, +let fall upon her father's floor her soft robe, richly broidered, that herself had wrought and her hands had fashioned, and put on her the tunic of Zeus the cloud-gatherer, and arrayed her in armour for tearful war. Then she stepped upon the flaming car and grasped her spear, +heavy and huge and strong, wherewith she vanquisheth the ranks of men, of warriors with whom she is wroth, she the daughter of the mighty sire. And Hera swiftly touched the horses with the lash, and self-bidden groaned upon their hinges the gates of heaven, which the Hours had in their keeping, to whom are entrusted great heaven and Olympus, +whether to throw open the thick cloud or shut it to. There through the gate they drave their horses patient of the goad. +But when father Zeus saw them from Ida he waxed wondrous wroth, and sent forth golden-winged Iris to bear a message: + +Up, go, swift Iris; turn them back and suffer them not to come face to face with me, +seeing it will be in no happy wise that we shall join in combat. For thus will I speak and verily this thing shall be brought to pass. I will maim their swift horses beneath the chariot, and themselves will I hurl from out the car, and will break in pieces the chariot; nor in the space of ten circling years +shall they heal them of the wounds wherewith the thunderbolt shall smite them; that she of the flashing eyes may know what it is to strive against her own father. But against Hera have I not so great indignation nor wrath, seeing she is ever wont to thwart me in whatsoe'er I have decreed. + + +So spake he, and storm-footed Iris hasted to bear his message, +and went forth from the mountains of Ida to high Olympus. And even at the entering-in of the gate of many-folded Olympus she met them and stayed them, and declared to them the saying of Zeus: + +Whither are ye twain hastening? Why is it that the hearts are mad within your breasts? The son of Cronos suffereth not that ye give succour to the Argives. +For on this wise he threateneth, even as he will bring it to pass: he will maim your swift horses beneath your chariot, and yourselves will he hurl from out the car, and will break in pieces the chariot; nor in the space of ten circling years shall ye heal you of the wounds wherewith the thunderbolt shall smite you; +that thou mayest know, thou of the flashing eyes, what it is to strive against thine own father. But against Hera hath he not so great indignation nor wrath, seeing she is ever wont to thwart him in whatsoe'er he hath decreed. But most dread art thou, thou bold and shameless thing, if in good sooth thou wilt dare to raise thy mighty spear against Zeus. + +When she had thus spoken swift-footed Iris departed; but Hera spake to Athene, saying: + +Out upon it, thou child of Zeus that beareth the aegis! I verily will no more suffer that we twain seek to wage war against Zeus for mortals' sake. Of them let one perish and another live, +even as it may befall; and for him, let him take his own counsel in his heart and judge between Trojans and Danaans, as is meet. + + +So spake she, and turned back her single-hooved horses. Then the Hours unyoked for them their fair-maned horses, and tethered them at their ambrosial mangers, +and leaned the chariot against the bright entrance wall; and the goddesses sate them down upon golden thrones amid the other gods, with sore grief at heart. +But father Zeus drave from Ida his well-wheeled chariot and his horses unto Olympus, and came to the session of the gods. +And for him the famed Shaker of Earth both unyoked his horses and set the car upon a stand, and spread thereover a cloth; and Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, himself sat upon his throne of gold, and beneath his feet great Olympus quaked. Only Athene and Hera +sat apart from Zeus, and spake no word to him nor made question. But he knew in his heart and spake, saying: + +Why are ye thus grieved, Athene and Hera? Surely ye twain be not grown weary with making havoc of the Trojans in battle, wherein men win glory, seeing ye cherish against them wondrous hate! +Come what will, seeing I have such might and hands irresistible, all the gods that are in Olympus could not turn me; and for you twain, trembling gat hold of your glorious limbs or ever ye had sight of war and the grim deeds of war. For thus will I speak, and verily this thing had been brought to pass: +not upon your car, once ye were smitten by the thunderbolt, would ye have fared back to Olympus, where is the abode of the immortals. + + +So spake he, and thereat murmured Athene and Hera, that sat by his side and were devising ills for the Trojans. Athene verily held her peace and said naught, +wroth though she was with father Zeus, and fierce anger gat hold of her; howbeit Hera's breast contained not her anger, but she spake to him, saying: + +Most dread son of Cronos, what a word hast thou said! Well know we of ourselves that thine is no weakling strength; yet even so have we pity for the Danaan spearmen +who now shall perish and fulfill an evil fate. Yet verily will we refrain us from battle, if so thou biddest; howbeit counsel will we offer to the Argives which shall be for their profit, that they perish not all by reason of thy wrath. + + +Then in answer spake to her Zeus the cloud-gatherer: +At dawn shalt thou behold, if so be thou wilt, O ox-eyed, queenly Hera, the most mighty son of Cronos making yet more grievous havoc of the great host of Argive spearmen; for dread Hector shall not refrain him from battle until the swift-footed son of Peleus be uprisen beside his ships +on the day when at the sterns of the ships they shall be fighting in grimmest stress about Patroclus fallen; for thus it is ordained of heaven. But of thee I reck not in thine anger, no, not though thou shouldst go to the nethermost bounds of earth and sea, where abide Iapetus and Cronos, +and have joy neither in the rays of Helios Hyperion nor in any breeze, but deep Tartarus is round about them. Though thou shouldst fare even thither in thy wanderings, yet reck I not of thy wrath, seeing there is naught more shameless than thou. + + +So said he; howbeit white-armed Hera spake no word in answer. +Then into Oceanus fell the bright light of the sun drawing black night over the face of the earth, the giver of grain. Sorely against the will of the Trojans sank the daylight, but over the Achaeans welcome, aye, thrice-prayed-for, came the darkness of night. +Then did glorious Hector make a gathering of the Trojans, +leading them apart from the ships beside the eddying river in an open space, where the ground shewed clear of dead. Forth from their chariots they stepped upon the ground, to hearken to the word that Hector dear to Zeus spake among them. In his hand he held a spear of eleven cubits, and before him blazed +the spear-point of bronze, around which ran a ring of gold. Thereon he leaned, and spake his word among the Trojans: + +Hearken to me, ye Trojans and Dardanians and allies: I deemed +but now to make havoc of the ships and all the Achaeans, and so return back again to windy Ilios; but darkness came on ere that might be, the which above all else hath now saved the Argives and their ships upon the beach of the sea. So then for this present let us yield to black night and make ready our supper; loose ye from the cars your fair-maned horses, and cast fodder before them; +and from the city bring ye oxen and goodly sheep with speed, and get you honey-hearted wine and bread from your houses, and furthermore gather abundant wood, that all night long until early dawn we may burn fires full many and the gleam thereof may reach to heaven, +lest haply even by night the long-haired Achaeans make haste to take flight over the broad back of the sea. + +Nay, verily, not without a struggle let them board their ships neither at their ease; but see ye that many a one of them has a missile to brood over even at home, being smitten either with an arrow or sharp-pointed spear +as he leapt upon his ship; that so others may dread to bring tearful war against the horse-taming Trojans. And let heralds, dear to Zeus, make proclamation throughout the city that stripling boys and old men of hoary temples gather them round the city upon the battlement builded of the gods; +and for the women folk, let them build each one a great fire in her halls; and let a diligent watch be kept, lest an ambush enter the city while the host is afield. Thus be it, great-hearted Trojans, even as I proclaim; of counsel, good and sound for this present, be this enough; +but more will I proclaim at dawn amid the horse-taming Trojans. I pray in high hope to Zeus and the other gods to drive out from hence these dogs borne by the fates, whom the fates bare on their black ships. Howbeit for the night will we guard our own selves, +but in the morning at the coming of dawn arrayed in our armour let us arouse sharp battle at the hollow ships. I shall know whether the son of Tydeus, mighty Diomedes, will thrust me back from the ships to the wall, or whether I shall slay him with the bronze and bear off his bloody spoils. +Tomorrow shall he come to know his valour, whether he can abide the on-coming of my spear. Nay, amid the foremost, methinks, shall he lie smitten with a spear-thrust, and full many of his comrades round about him at the rising of to-morrow's sun. I would that mine own self I might be immortal and ageless all my days, +and that I might be honoured even as Athene and Apollo, so surely as now this day bringeth evil upon the Argives. + + +So Hector addressed their gathering, and thereat the Trojans shouted aloud. Their sweating horses they loosed from beneath the yoke, and tethered them with thongs, each man beside his own chariot; +and from the city they brought oxen and goodly sheep with speed, and got them honey-hearted wine and bread from their houses, and furthermore gathered abundant wood; and to the immortals they offered hecatombs that bring fulfillment. And from the plain the winds bore the savour up into heaven—a sweet savour, +but thereof the blessed gods partook not, neither were minded thereto; for utterly hated of them was sacred Ilios, and Priam, and the people of Priam with goodly spear of ash. + + +These then with high hearts abode the whole night through along the dykes of war, and their fires burned in multitudes. +Even as in heaven about the gleaming moon the stars shine clear, when the air is windless, and forth to view appear all mountain peaks and high headlands and glades, and from heaven breaketh open the infinite air, +379.1 + and all stars are seen, and the shepherd joyeth in his heart; +even in such multitudes between the ships and the streams of Xanthus shone the fires that the Trojans kindled before the face of Ilios. A thousand fires were burning in the plain and by each sat fifty men in the glow of the blazing fire. And their horses, eating of white barley and spelt, +stood beside the cars and waited for fair-throned Dawn. +Thus kept the Trojans watch, but the Achaeans were holden of wondrous Panic, the handmaid of numbing fear and with grief intolerable were all the noblest stricken. Even as two winds stir up the teeming deep, +the North Wind and the West Wind that blow from Thrace, coming suddenly, and forthwith the dark wave reareth itself in crests and casteth much tangle out along the sea; even so were the hearts of the Achaeans rent within their breasts. +But the son of Atreus, stricken to the heart with sore grief, +went this way and that, bidding the clear-voiced heralds summon every man by name to the place of gathering, but not to shout aloud; and himself he toiled amid the foremost. So they sat in the place of gathering, sore troubled, and Agamemnon stood up weeping even as a fountain of dark water +that down over the face of a beetling cliff poureth its dusky stream; even so with deep groaning spake he amid the Argives, saying: + +My friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, great Zeus, son of Cronos, hath ensnared me in grievous blindness of heart, cruel god! seeing that of old he promised me, and bowed his head thereto, +that not until I had sacked well-walled Ilios should I get me home; but now hath he planned cruel deceit, and biddeth me return inglorious to Argos, when I have lost much people. So, I ween, must be the good pleasure of Zeus supreme in might, who hath laid low the heads of many cities, +yea, and shall lay low; for his power is above all. Nay, come, even as I shall bid let us all obey: let us flee with our ships to our dear native land; for no more is there hope that we shall take broad-wayed Troy. + + +So spake he, and they all became hushed in silence. +Long time were they silent in their grief, the sons of the Achaeans, but at length there spake among them Diomedes, good at the war-cry: + +Son of Atreus, with thee first will I contend in thy folly, where it is meet, O king, even in the place of gathering: and be not thou anywise wroth thereat. My valour didst thou revile at the first amid the Danaans, +and saidst that I was no man of war but a weakling; and all this know the Achaeans both young and old. But as for thee, the son of crooked-counselling Cronos hath endowed thee in divided wise: with the sceptre hath he granted thee to be honoured above all, but valour he gave thee not, wherein is the greatest might. +Strange king, dost thou indeed deem that the sons of the Achaeans are thus unwarlike and weaklings as thou sayest? Nay, if thine own heart is eager to return, get thee gone; before thee lies the way, and thy ships stand beside the sea, all the many ships that followed thee from Mycenae. +Howbeit the other long-haired Achaeans will abide here until we have laid waste Troy. Nay, let them also flee in their ships to their dear native land; yet will we twain, Sthenelus and I, fight on, until we win the goal of Ilios; for with the aid of heaven are we come. + +So spake he, and all the sons of the Achaeans shouted aloud, applauding the word of Diomedes, tamer of horses. Then uprose and spake among them the horseman Nestor: + +Son of Tydeus, above all men art thou mighty in battle, +and in council art the best amid all those of thine own age. Not one of all the Achaeans will make light of what thou sayest neither gainsay it; yet hast thou not reached a final end of words. Moreover, thou art in sooth but young, thou mightest e'en be my son, my youngest born; yet thou givest prudent counsel to the princes of the Argives, seeing thou speakest according to right. +But come, I that avow me to be older than thou will speak forth and will declare the whole; neither shall any man scorn my words, no, not even lord Agamemnon. A clanless, lawless, hearthless man is he that loveth dread strife among his own folk. +Howbeit for this present let us yield to black night and make ready our supper; and let sentinels post themselves severally along the digged ditch without the wall. To the young men give I this charge; but thereafter do thou, son of Atreus, take the lead, for thou art most kingly. +Make thou a feast for the elders; this were but right and seemly for thee. Full are thy huts of wine that the ships of the Achaeans bring thee each day from Thrace, over the wide sea; all manner of entertainment hast thou at hand, seeing thou art king over many. And when many are gathered together thou shalt follow him whoso shall devise +the wisest counsel. And sore need have all the Achaeans of counsel both good and prudent, seeing that foemen hard by the ships are kindling their many watchfires; what man could rejoice thereat? This night shall either bring to ruin or save our host. + + +So spake he, and they readily hearkened to him and obeyed. +Forth hasted the sentinels in their harness around Nestor's son Thrasymedes, shepherd of the host, and Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Ares, and Meriones and Aphareus and Deïpyrus, and the son of Creon, goodly Lycomedes. +Seven were the captains of the sentinels, and with each fared an hundred youths bearing long spears in their hands; then they went and sate them down midway betwixt trench and wall; and there they kindled a fire and made ready each man his meal. + + +But the son of Atreus led the counsellors of the Achaeans all together +to his hut, and set before them a feast to satisfy the heart. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, first of all the old man began to weave the web of counsel for them, even Nestor, whose rede had of old ever seemed the best. +He with good intent addressed their gathering and spake among them: + +Most glorious son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, with thee will I begin and with thee make an end, for that thou art king over many hosts, and to thee Zeus hath vouchsafed the sceptre and judgements, that thou mayest take counsel for thy people. +Therefore it beseemeth thee above all others both to speak and to hearken, and to fulfilll also for another whatsoever his heart may bid him speak for our profit; for on thee will depend whatsoever any man may begin. So will I speak what seemeth to me to be best. No man beside shall devise a better thought +than this I have in mind from old even until now, even since the day when thou, O king sprung from Zeus, didst take from the hut of the angry Achilles the damsel Briseïs and go thy way—in no wise according to our will. Nay, for I, mine own self, urgently sought to dissuade thee; but thou didst yield to thy lordly spirit, +and upon a man most mighty, whom the very immortals honoured, didst thou put dishonour; for thou tookest away and keepest his prize. Howbeit let us still even now take thought how we may make amends, and persuade him with kindly gifts and with gentle words. + + +To him then spake in answer the king of men, Agamemnon: +Old sir, in no false wise hast thou recounted the tale of my blind folly. Blind I was, myself I deny it not. Of the worth of many hosts is the man whom Zeus loveth in his heart, even as now he honoureth this man and destroyeth the host of the Achaeans. Yet seeing I was blind, and yielded to my miserable passion, +I am minded to make amends and to give requital past counting. In the midst of you all let me name the glorious gifts; seven tripods that the fire hath not touched, and ten talents of gold and twenty gleaming cauldrons, and twelve strong horses, winners in the race, that have won prizes by their fleetness. +Not without booty were a man, nor unpossessed of precious gold, whoso had wealth as great as the prizes my single-hooved steeds have won me. And I will give seven women skilled in goodly handiwork, women of Lesbos, whom on the day when himself took well-built Lesbos I chose me from out the spoil, +and that in beauty surpass all women folk. These will I give him, and amid them shall be she that then I took away, the daughter of Briseus; and I will furthermore swear a great oath that never went I up into her bed neither had dalliance with her as is the appointed way of mankind, even of men and women. +All these things shall be ready to his hand forthwith; and if hereafter it so be the gods grant us to lay waste the great city of Priam, let him then enter in, what time we Achaeans be dividing the spoil, and heap up his ship with store of gold and bronze, and himself choose twenty Trojan women +that be fairest after Argive Helen. And if we return to Achaean Argos, the richest of lands, he shall be my son, and I will honour him even as Orestes that is reared in all abundance, my son well-beloved. Three daughters have I in my well-builded hall, +Chrysothemis, and Laodice, and Iphianassa; of these let him lead to the house of Peleus which one he will, without gifts of wooing, and I will furthermore give a dower full rich, such as no man ever yet gave with his daughter. And seven well-peopled cities will I give him, +Cardamyle Enope, and grassy Hire, and sacred Pherae and Antheia with deep meadows, and fair Aepeia and vine-clad Pedasus. All are nigh to the sea, on the uttermost border of sandy Pylos, and in them dwell men rich in flocks and rich in kine, +men that shall honour him with gifts as though he were a god, and beneath his sceptre shall bring his ordinances to prosperous fulfillment. All this will I bring to pass for him, if he but cease from his wrath. Let him yield—Hades, I ween, is not to be soothed, neither overcome, wherefore he is most hated by mortals of all gods. +And let him submit himself unto me, seeing I am more kingly, and avow me his elder in years. + + +Then made answer the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia: + +Most glorious son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, the gifts that thou offerest the prince Achilles may no man any more condemn. +Come, therefore, let us send forth chosen men to go forthwith to the hut of Peleus' son, Achilles. Nay, rather, whomsoever I shall choose, let them consent. First of all let Phoenix, dear to Zeus, lead the way, and after him great Aias and goodly Odysseus; +and of the heralds let Odius and Eurybates attend them. And now bring ye water for our hands, and bid keep holy silence, that we may make prayer unto Zeus, son of Cronos, if so be he will have compassion upon us. + + +So said he and the words that he spake were pleasing unto all. Then heralds poured water over their hands, +and youths filled the bowls brim full of drink, and served out to all, pouring first drops for libation into the cups. But when they had made libation and had drunk to their hearts' content, they went forth from the hut of Agamemnon, son of Atreus. And the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia, +laid straight command upon them with many a glance at each, and chiefly upon Odysseus, that they should make essay to persuade the peerless son of Peleus. +So the twain +395.1 + went their way along the shore of the loud-resounding sea, with many an instant prayer to the god that holdeth the earth and shaketh it, that they might easily persuade the great heart of the son of Aeacus. +And they came to the huts and the ships of the Myrmidons, and found him delighting his soul with a clear-toned lyre, fair and richly wrought, whereon was a bridge of silver; this had he taken from the spoil when he laid waste the city of Eëtion. Therewith was he delighting his soul, and he sang of the glorious deeds of warriors; +and Patroclus alone sat over against him in silence, waiting until Aeacus' son should cease from singing. But the twain came forward and goodly Odysseus led the way, and they took their stand before his face; and Achilles leapt up in amazement with the lyre in his hand, and left the seat whereon he sat; +and in like manner Patroclus when he beheld the men uprose. Then swift-footed Achilles greeted the two and spake, saying: + +Welcome, verily ye be friends that are come—sore must the need be +397.1 + — ye that even in mine anger are to me the dearest of the Achaeans. + + +So saying, goodly Achilles led them in +and made them sit on couches and rugs of purple; and forthwith he spake to Patroclus, that was near: + +Set forth a larger bowl, thou son of Menoetius; mingle stronger drink, and prepare each man a cup, for these be men most dear, that are beneath my roof. + + +So he spake, and Patroclus gave ear to his dear comrade. He cast down a great fleshing-block in the light of the fire and laid thereon a sheep's back and a fat goat's, and the chine of a great hog withal, rich with fat. And Automedon held them for him, while goodly Achilles carved. +Then he sliced the meat with care and spitted it upon spits, and the son of Menoetius, a godlike man, made the fire blaze high. But when the fire had burned down and the flame was abated, he scattered the embers and laid thereover the spits, and sprinkled the morsels with holy salt when he had set them upon the fire-dogs. But when he had roasted the meat and laid it on platters, +Patroclus took bread and dealt it forth on the table in fair baskets, while Achilles dealt the meat. Himself he sate him down over against godlike Odysseus, by the other wall, and bade Patroclus, his comrade, offer sacrifice to the gods; +and Patroclus cast burnt-offering into the fire. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, Aias nodded to Phoenix; and goodly Odysseus was ware thereof, and filling a cup with wine he pledged Achilles: +Hail, O Achilles, of the equal feast have we no stinting, either in the hut of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, or now in thine; for here is abundance that satisfies the heart to feast withal. Yet matters of the delicious feast are not in our thoughts, nay, Zeus-nurtured one, it is utter ruin that we behold, and are afraid; +for it is in doubt whether we save the benched ships or they perish, except thou clothe thee in thy might. Hard by the ships and the wall have the Trojans, high of heart, and their far-famed allies set their bivouac, and kindled many fires throughout the host, and they deem that they shall no more be stayed, +but will fall upon our black ships. +399.1 + And Zeus, son of Cronos, shows them signs upon the right with his lightnings, and Hector exulting greatly in his might rageth furiously, trusting in Zeus, and recketh not of men nor gods, for mighty madness hath possessed him. +His prayer is that with all speed sacred Dawn may appear, for he declareth that he will hew from the ships' sterns the topmost ensigns, and burn the very hulls with consuming fire, and amidst them make havoc of the Achaeans, distraught by reason of the smoke. + +This then is the great fear of my heart, lest the gods fulfill for him his boastings, and it be our fate to +perish here in Troy, far from horse-pasturing Argos. Nay, up then, if thou art minded even at the last to save from the war-din of the Trojans the sons of the Achaeans, that are sore bested. To thine own self shall sorrow be hereafter, nor can healing +be found for ill once wrought—nay, rather, ere it be too late bethink thee how thou mayest ward from the Danaans the day of evil. Good friend, surely it was to thee that thy father Peleus gave command on the day when he sent thee to Agamemnon forth from Phthia: ‘My son, strength shall Athene and Hera +give thee if they be so minded, but do thou curb thy proud spirit in thy breast, for gentle-mindedness is the better part; and withdraw thee from strife, contriver of mischief, that so the Argives both young and old may honour thee the more.’ On this wise did that old man charge thee, but thou forgettest. Yet do thou lease even now, +and put from thee thy bitter wrath. To thee Agamemnon offereth worthy gifts, so thou wilt cease from thine anger. Nay come, hearken thou to me, and I will tell the tale of all the gifts that in his hut Agamemnon promised thee: seven tripods, that the fire hath not touched, and ten talents of gold +and twenty gleaming cauldrons, and twelve strong horses, winners in the race that have won prizes by their fleetness. Not without booty were a man nor unpossessed of precious gold, whoso had wealth as great as the prizes Agamemnon's horses have won by their speed. +And he will give seven women skilled in goodly handiwork, women of Lesbos, whom on the day when thou thyself tookest well-built Lesbos he chose him from the spoil, and that in beauty surpassed all women folk. These will he give thee, and amid them shall be she whom he then took away, the daughter of Briseus; and he will furthermore swear a great oath, +that never went he up into her bed, neither had dalliance with her, as is the appointed way, O king, of men and women. All these things shall be ready to thy hand forthwith; and if hereafter it so be the gods grant us to lay waste the great city of Priam, do thou then enter in, +what time we Achaeans be dividing the spoil, and heap up thy ship with store of gold and bronze, and thyself choose twenty Trojan women that be fairest after Argive Helen. And if we return to Achaean Argos, richest of lands, thou shalt be his son, and he will honour thee even as Orestes, +that is reared in all abundance, his son well-beloved. + + + Three daughters has he in his well-builded hall, Chrysothemis, and Laodice, and Ophianassa; of these mayest thou lead to the house of Peleus which one thou wilt, without gifts of wooing; and he will furthermore give a dower +full rich, such as no man ever yet gave with his daughter. And seven well-peopled cities will he give thee, Cardamyle, Enope, and grassy Hire, and sacred Pherae, and Antheia, with deep meadows, and fair Aipeia, and vine-clad Pedasus. +All are nigh the sea, on the uttermost borders of sandy Pylos, and in them dwell men rich in flocks and rich in kine, men that shall honour thee with gifts as though thou wert a god, and beneath thy sceptre shall bring thy ordinances to prosperous fulfillment. All this will he bring to pass for thee, if thou but cease from thy wrath. +But if the son of Atreus be too utterly hated by thee at heart, himself and his gifts, yet have thou pity at least on the rest of the Achaeans, that are sore bested throughout the host; these shall honour thee as though thou wert a god, for verily shalt thou win great glory in their eyes. Now mightest thou slay Hector, seeing he would come very nigh thee +in his baneful rage, for he deemeth there is no man like unto him among the Danaans that the ships brought hither. + + +Then in answer to him spake swift-footed Achilles: + +Zeus-born son of Laërtes, Odysseus of many wiles, needs must I verily speak my word outright, even as I am minded, +and as it shall be brought to pass, that ye sit not by me here on this side and on that and prate endlessly. For hateful in my eyes, even as the gates of Hades, is that man that hideth one thing in his mind and sayeth another. Nay, I will speak what seemeth to me to be best. +Not me, I ween, shall Atreus' son, Agamemnon, persuade, nor yet shall the other Danaans, seeing there were to be no thanks, it seemeth, for warring against the foeman ever without respite. Like portion hath he that abideth at home, and if one warreth his best, and in one honour are held both the coward and the brave; +death cometh alike to the idle man and to him that worketh much. Neither have I aught of profit herein, that I suffered woes at heart, ever staking my life in fight. Even as a bird bringeth in her bill to her unfledged chicks whatever she may find, but with her own self it goeth ill, +even so was I wont to watch through many a sleepless night, and bloody days did I pass in battle, fighting with warriors for their women's sake. + + + Twelve cities of men have I laid waste with my ships and by land eleven, I avow, throughout the fertile land of Troy; +from out all these I took much spoil and goodly, and all would I ever bring and give to Agamemnon, this son of Atreus; but he staying behind, even beside his swiftships, would take and apportion some small part, but keep the most. Some he gave as prizes to chieftains and kings, +and for them they abide untouched; but from me alone of the Achaeans hath he taken and keepeth my wife, +407.1 + the darling of my heart. Let him lie by her side and take his joy. But why must the Argives wage war against the Trojans? Why hath he gathered and led hither his host, this son of Atreus? Was it not for fair-haired Helen's sake? +Do they then alone of mortal men love their wives, these sons of Atreus? Nay, for whoso is a true man and sound of mind, loveth his own and cherisheth her, even as I too loved her with all my heart, though she was but the captive of my spear. But now, seeing he hath taken from my arms my prize, and hath deceived me, +let him not tempt me that know him well; he shall not persuade me. Nay, Odysseus, together with thee and the other princes let him take thought to ward from the ships consuming fire. Verily full much hath he wrought without mine aid; lo, he hath builded a wall and digged a ditch hard by, +wide and great, and therein hath he planted stakes; yet even so availeth he not to stay the might of man-slaying Hector. But so long as I was warring amid the Achaeans Hector had no mind to rouse battle far from the wall, but would come only so far as the Scaean gates and the oak-tree; +there once he awaited me in single combat and hardly did he escape my onset. But now, seeing I am not minded to battle with goodly Hector, tomorrow will I do sacrifice to Zeus and all the gods, and heap well my ships, when I have launched them on the sea; then shalt thou see, if so be thou wilt, and carest aught therefor, +my ships at early dawn sailing over the teeming Hellespont, and on board men right eager to ply the oar; and if so be the great Shaker of the Earth grants me fair voyaging, on the third day shall I reach deep-soiled Phthia. Possessions full many have I that I left on my ill-starred way hither, +and yet more shall I bring from hence, gold and ruddy bronze, and fair-girdled women and grey iron—all that fell to me by lot; howbeit my prize hath he that gave it me taken back in his arrogant pride, even lord Agamemnon, son of Atreus. To him do ye declare all, even as I bid, +openly, to the end that other Achaeans also may be wroth, if haply he hopeth to deceive yet some other of the Danaans, seeing he is ever clothed in shamelessness. Yet not in my face would he dare to look, though he have the front of a dog. + + + Neither counsel will I devise with him nor any work, +for utterly hath he deceived me and sinned against me. Never again shall he beguile me with words; the past is enough for him. Nay, let him go to his ruin in comfort, seeing that Zeus the counsellor hath utterly robbed him of his wits. Hateful in my eyes are his gifts, I count them at a hair's +409.1 + worth. Not though he gave me ten times, aye twenty times all that now he hath, +and if yet other should be added thereto I care not whence, not though it were all the wealth that goeth in to Orchomenus, or to Thebes of Egypt, where treasures in greatest store are laid up in men's houses,—Thebes which is a city of an hundred gates wherefrom sally forth through each two hundred warriors with horses and cars; +—nay, not though he gave gifts in number as sand and dust; not even so shall Agamemnon any more persuade my soul, until he hath paid the full price of all the despite that stings my heart. And the daughter of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, will I not wed, not though she vied in beauty with golden Aphrodite +and in handiwork were the peer of flashing-eyed Athene: not even so will I wed her; let him choose another of the Achaeans that is of like station with himself and more kingly than I. For if the gods preserve me, and I reach my home, Peleus methinks will thereafter of himself seek me a wife. +Many Achaean maidens there be throughout Hellas and Phthia, daughters of chieftains that guard the cities; of these whomsoever I choose shall I make my dear wife. Full often was my proud spirit fain to take me there a wedded wife, a fitting helpmeet, +and to have joy of the possessions that the old man Peleus won him. For in my eyes not of like worth with life is even all that wealth that men say Ilios possessed, the well-peopled citadel, of old in time of peace or ever the sons of the Achaeans came,—nay, nor all that the marble threshold of the Archer +Phoebus Apollo encloseth in rocky Pytho. For by harrying may cattle be had and goodly sheep, and tripods by the winning and chestnut horses withal; but that the spirit of man should come again when once it hath passed the barrier of his teeth, neither harrying availeth nor winning. +For my mother the goddess, silver-footed Thetis, telleth me that twofold fates are bearing me toward the doom of death: if I abide here and war about the city of the Trojans, then lost is my home-return, but my renown shall be imperishable; but if I return home to my dear native land, +lost then is my glorious renown, yet shall my life long endure, neither shall the doom of death come soon upon me. + + + Aye, and I would counsel you others also to sail back to your homes; seeing there is no more hope that ye shall win the goal of steep Ilios; for mightily doth Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, +hold forth his hand above her, and her people are filled with courage. But go ye your way and declare my message to the chieftains of the Achaeans—for that is the office of elders—to the end that they may devise some other plan in their minds better than this, even such as shall save their ships, and the host of the Achaeans +beside the hollow ships; seeing this is not to be had for them, which now they have devised, by reason of the fierceness of my anger. Howbeit let Phoenix abide here with us, and lay him down to sleep, that he may follow with me on my ships to my dear native land on the morrow, if so he will; but perforce will I not take him. + +So spake he, and they all became hushed in silence, marveling at his words; for with exceeding vehemence did he deny them. But at length there spake among them the old horseman Phoenix, bursting into tears, for that greatly did he fear for the ships of the Achaeans: + +If verily thou layest up in thy mind, glorious Achilles, +the purpose of returning, neither art minded at all to ward from the swift ships consuming fire, for that wrath hath fallen upon thy heart; how can I then, dear child, be left here without thee, alone? It was to thee that the old horseman Peleus sent me on the day when he sent thee to Agamemnon, forth from Phthia, +a mere child, knowing naught as yet of evil war, neither of gatherings wherein men wax preeminent. For this cause sent he me to instruct thee in all these things, to be both a speaker of words and a doer of deeds. Wherefore, dear child, I am not minded hereafter +to be left alone without thee, nay, not though a god himself should pledge him to strip from me my old age and render me strong in youth as in the day when first I left Hellas, the home of fair women, fleeing from strife with my father Amyntor, son of Ormenus; for he waxed grievously wroth against me by reason of his fair-haired concubine, +whom himself he ever cherished, and scorned his wife, my mother. So she besought me by my knees continually, to have dalliance with that other first myself, that the old man might be hateful in her eyes. + + + I hearkened to her and did the deed, but my father was ware thereof forthwith and cursed me mightily, and invoked the dire Erinyes +that never should there sit upon his knees a dear child begotten of me; and the gods fulfilled his curse, even Zeus of the nether world and dread Persephone. Then I took counsel to slay him with the sharp sword, but some one of the immortals stayed mine anger, bringing to my mind +the voice of the people and the many revilings of men, to the end that I should not be called a father-slayer amid the Achaeans. Then might the heart in my breast in no wise be any more stayed to linger in the halls of my angered father. My fellows verily and my kinsfolk beset me about +with many prayers and sought to stay me there in the halls, and many goodly sheep did they slaughter, and sleek kine of shambling gait, and many swine, rich with fat, were stretched to singe over the flame of Hephaestus, and wine in plenty was drunk from the jars of that old man. +For nine nights' space about mine own body did they watch the night through; in turn kept they watch, neither were the fires quenched, one beneath the portico of the well-fenced court, and one in the porch before the door of my chamber. Howbeit when the tenth dark night was come upon me, +then verily I burst the cunningly fitted doors of my chamber and leapt the fence of the court full easily, unseen of the watchmen and the slave women. Thereafter I fled afar through spacious Hellas, and came to deep-soiled Phthia, mother of flocks, +unto king Peleus; and he received me with a ready heart, and cherished me as a father cherisheth his only son and well-beloved, that is heir to great possessions; and he made me rich and gave much people to me, and I dwelt on the furthermost border of Phthia, ruling over the Dolopians. +And I reared thee to be such as thou art, O godlike Achilles, loving thee from may heart; for with none other wouldest thou go to the feast neither take meat in the hall, till I had set thee on my knees and given thee thy fill of the savoury morsel cut first for thee, and had put the wine cup to thy lips. +Full often hast thou wetted the tunic upon my breast, sputtering forth the wine in thy sorry helplessness. + + +So have I suffered much for thee and toiled much, ever mindful of this that the gods would in no wise vouchsafe me a son born of mine own body. Nay. it was thou that I sought to make my son, O godlike Achilles, +to the end that thou mayest hereafter save me from shameful ruin. Wherefore Achilles, do thou master thy proud spirit; it beseemeth thee not to have a pitiless heart. Nay, even the very gods can bend, and theirs withal is more excellent worth and honour and might. Their hearts by incense and reverent vows +and libations and the savour of sacrifice do men turn from wrath with supplication, whenso any man transgresseth and doeth sin. For Prayers are the daughters of great Zeus, halting and wrinkled and of eyes askance, +419.1 + and they are ever mindful to follow in the steps of Sin. +Howbeit Sin is strong and fleet of foot, wherefore she far out-runneth them all, and goeth before them over the face of all the earth making men to fall, and Prayers follow after, seeking to heal the hurt. Now whoso revereth the daughters of Zeus when they draw nigh, him they greatly bless, and hear him, when he prayeth; +but if a man denieth them and stubbornly refuseth, then they go their way and make prayer to Zeus, son of Cronos, that Ate +419.2 + may follow after such a one to the end that he may fall and pay full atonement. Nay, Achilles, see thou too that reverence attend upon the daughters of Zeus, even such as bendeth the hearts of all men that are upright. +For if the son of Atreus were not offering thee gifts and telling of yet others hereafter, but were ever furiously wroth, I of a surety should not bid thee cast aside thine anger and bear aid to the Argives even in their sore need. But now he offereth thee many gifts forthwith, and promiseth thee more hereafter, +and hath sent forth warriors to beseech thee, choosing them that are best throughout the host of the Achaeans, and that to thine own self are dearest of the Argives; have not thou scorn of their words, neither of their coming hither; though till then no man could blame thee that thou wast wroth. Even in this manner have we heard the fame of men of old +that were warriors, whenso furious wrath came upon any; won might they be by gifts, and turned aside by pleadings. Myself I bear in mind this deed of old days and not of yesterday, how it was; and I will tell it among you that are all my friends. The Curetes on a time were fighting and the Aetolians staunch in battle +around the city of Calydon, and were slaying one another, the Aetolians defending lovely Calydon and the Curetes fain to waste it utterly in war. For upon their folk had Artemis of the golden throne sent a plague in wrath that Oeneus offered not to her the first-fruits of the harvest in his rich orchard land; +whereas the other gods feasted on hecatombs, and it was to the daughter of great Zeus alone that he offered not, whether haply he forgat, or marked it not; and he was greatly blinded in heart. + + + Thereat the Archer-goddess, the child of Zeus, waxed wroth and sent against him a fierce wild boar, white of tusk, +that wrought much evil, wasting +421.1 + the orchard land of Oeneus; many a tall tree did he uproot and cast upon the ground, aye, root and apple blossom therewith. But the boar did Meleager, son of Oeneus, slay, when he had gathered out of many cities huntsmen +and hounds; for not of few men could the boar have been slain, so huge was he; and many a man set he upon the grievous pyre. But about his body the goddess brought to pass much clamour and shouting concerning his head and shaggy hide, between the Curetes and the great-souled Aetolians. +Now so long as Meleager, dear to Ares, warred, so long went it ill with the Curetes, nor might they abide without their wall, for all they were very many. But when wrath entered into Meleager, wrath that maketh the heart to swell in the breasts also of others, even though they be wise, +he then, wroth at heart against his dear mother +423.1 + Althaea, abode beside his wedded wife, the fair Cleopatra, daughter of Marpessa of the fair ankles, child of Evenus, and of Idas that was mightiest of men that were then upon the face of earth; who also took his bow to face the king +Phoebus Apollo for the sake of the fair-ankled maid. +423.2 + Her of old in their halls had her father and honoured mother called Halcyone by name, for that the mother herself in a plight even as that of the halcyon-bird of many sorrows, +423.3 + wept because Apollo that worketh afar had snatched her child away. +By her side lay Meleager nursing his bitter anger, wroth because of his mother's curses; for she prayed instantly to the gods, being grieved for her brother's slaying; and furthermore instantly beat with her hands upon the all-nurturing earth, calling upon Hades and dread Persephone, +the while she knelt and made the folds of her bosom wet with tears, that they should bring death upon her son; and the Erinys that walketh in darkness heard her from Erebus, even she of the ungentle heart. Now anon was the din of the foemen risen about their gates, and the noise of the battering of walls, and to Meleager the elders +of the Aetolians made prayer, sending to him the best of the priests of the gods, that he should come forth and succour them, and they promised him a mighty gift; they bade him, where the plain of lovely Calydon was fattest, there choose a fair tract of fifty acres, the half of it vineland, +and the half clear plough-land, to be cut from out the plain. + + + And earnestly the old horseman Oeneus besought him, standing upon the threshold of his high-roofed chamber, and shaking the jointed doors, in prayer to his son, and earnestly too did his sisters and his honoured mother beseech him +—but he denied them yet more—and earnestly his companions that were truest and dearest to him of all; yet not even so could they persuade the heart in his breast, until at the last his chamber was being hotly battered, and the Curetes were mounting upon the walls and firing the great city. +Then verily his fair-girdled wife besought Meleager with wailing, and told him all the woes that come on men whose city is taken; the men are slain and the city is wasted by fire, and their children and low-girdled women are led captive of strangers. +Then was his spirit stirred, as he heard the evil tale, and he went his way and did on his body his gleaming armour. Thus did he ward from the Aetolians the day of evil, yielding to his own spirit; and to him thereafter they paid not the gifts, many and gracious; yet even so did he ward from them evil. +But, friend, let me not see thee thus minded in heart, neither let heaven turn thee into this path; it were a harder task to save the ships already burning. Nay, come while yet gifts may be had; the Achaeans shall honour thee even as a god. But if without gifts thou enter into the battle, the bane of men, +thou shalt not then be in like honour, for all thou mayest ward off the battle. + + +Then in answer to him spake Achilles, swift of foot: + +Phoenix, old sire, my father, nurtured of Zeus, in no wise have I need of this honour: honoured have I been, I deem, by the apportionment of Zeus, which shall be mine amid the beaked ships so long as the breath +abideth in my breast and my knees are quick. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart; seek not to confound my spirit by weeping and sorrowing, to do the pleasure of the warrior, son of Atreus; it beseemeth thee not to cherish him, lest thou be hated of me that cherish thee. +Well were it that with me thou shouldest vex him whosoever vexeth me. Be thou king even as I am, and share the half of my honour. Howbeit these shall bear my message, but abide thou here and lay thee down on a soft couch, and at break of day we will take counsel whether to return to our own or to tarry here. + +He spake and to Patroclus nodded his brow in silence that he should spread for Phoenix a thick couch, that the others might forthwith bethink them to depart from the hut. But among them Aias, the godlike son of Telamon, spake, saying: + +Zeus—born son of Laërtes, Odysseus of many wiles, +let us go our way, for the fulfillment of the charge laid on us will not methinks be brought to pass by our coming hither; and it behoveth us with speed to declare the message, though it be no wise good, to the Danaans, that, I ween, now sit waiting therefor. But Achilles hath wrought to fury the proud heart within him, +cruel man! neither recketh he of the love of his comrades wherewith we ever honoured him amid the ships above all others—pitiless one! Lo, a man accepteth recompense from the slayer of his brother, or for his dead son; and the slayer abideth in his own land for the paying of a great price, +and the kinsman's heart and proud spirit are restrained by the taking of recompense. But as for thee, the gods have put in thy breast a heart that is obdurate and evil by reason of one only girl; whereas we now offer thee seven, far the best that there be, and many other gffts besides; nay then, take to thee a heart of grace, +and have respect unto thine hall; for under thy roof are we come from the host of the Danaans, and we would fain be nearest to thee and dearest beyond all other Achaeans as many as there be. + + +Then in answer to him spake Achilles, swift of foot: + +Aias, sprung from Zeus, thou son of Telamon, captain of the host, +all this thou seemest to speak almost after mine own mind; but my heart swelleth with wrath whenso I think of this, how the son of Atreus hath wrought indignity upon me amid the Argives, as though I were some alien that had no rights. Howbeit do ye go and declare my message, +for I will not sooner bethink me of bloody war until wise-hearted Priam's son, even goodly Hector, be come to the huts and ships of the Myrmidons, as he slays the Argives, and have smirched the ships with fire. But about my hut and my black ship +I deem that Hector will be stayed, eager though he be for battle. + + +So spake he, but they took each man a two handled cup, and when they had made libation went their way along the lines of ships, and Odysseus led. But Patroclus bade his comrades and the handmaids spread forthwith a thick couch for Phoenix; +and they obeyed, and spread the couch, as he bade, fleeces and a rug and soft fabric of linen. There the old man laid him down and waited for bright Dawn. But Achilles slept in the innermost part of the well-builded hut, and by his side lay a woman that he had brought from Lesbos, +even the daughter of Phorbas, fair-cheeked Diomede. And Patroclus laid him down on the opposite side, and by him in like manner lay fair-girdled Iphis, whom goodly Achilles had given him when he took steep Scyrus, the city of Enyeus. + + + +But when the others were now come to the huts of the son of Atreus, +the sons of the Achaeans stood up on this side and that and pledged them in cups of gold, and questioned them, and the king of men, Agamemnon, was the first to ask: + +Come, tell me now, Odysseus, greatly to be praised, thou great glory of the Achaeans, is he minded to ward off consuming fire from the ships, +or said he nay, and doth wrath still possess his proud spirit? + + +Then much-enduring goodly Odysseus answered him: + +Most glorious son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, he verily is not minded to quench his wrath but is filled yet more with fury, and will have none of thee, or of thy gifts. +For thine own self he biddeth thee to take counsel amid the Argives how thou mayest save the ships and the host of the Achaeans. But himself he threateneth that at break of day he will launch upon the sea his well-benched curved ships. Aye and he said that he would counsel others also +to sail back to their homes, seeing there is no more hope that ye shall win the goal of steep Ilios; for mightily doth Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, hold forth his hand above her, and her people are filled with courage. So spake he, and these be here also to tell thee this, even they that followed with me, Aias and the heralds twain, men of prudence both. +But the old man Phoenix laid him down there to rest, for so Achilles bade, that he may follow with him on his ships to his dear native land on the morrow, if he will, but perforce will he not take him. + + +So spake he, and they all became hushed in silence marvelling at his words; for full masterfully did he address their gathering. +Long time were they silent in their grief, the sons of the Achaeans, but at length there spake among them Diomedes, good at the war-cry: + +Most glorious son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, would thou hadst never besought the peerless son of Peleus, nor offered countless gifs; haughty is he even of himself, +and now hast thou yet far more set him amid haughtinesses. But verily we will let him be; he may depart or he may tarry; hereafter will he fight when the heart in his breast shall bid him, and a god arouse him. But come, even as I shall bid, let us all obey. +For this present go ye to your rest, when ye have satisfied your hearts with meat and wine, for therein is courage and strength; but so soon as fair, rosy-fingered Dawn appeareth, forthwith do thou array before the ships thy folk and thy chariots, and urge them on; and fight thou thyself amid the foremost. + +So spake he, and all the kings assented thereto, marvelling at the words of Diomedes, tamer of horses. Then they made libation, and went every man to his hut, and there laid them down and took the gift of sleep. +Now beside their ships all the other chieftains of the host of the Achaeans were slumbering the whole night through, overcome of soft sleep, but Agamemnon, son of Atreus, shepherd of the host, was not holden of sweet sleep, so many things debated he in mind. +Even as when the lord of fair-haired Hera lighteneth, what time he maketh ready either a mighty rain unspeakable or hail or snow, when the snow-flakes sprinkle the fields, or haply the wide mouth of bitter war; even so often did Agamemnon groan from the deep of his breast, +and his heart trembled within him. So often as he gazed toward the Trojan plain, he marvelled at the many fires that burned before the face of Ilios, and at the sound of flutes and pipes, and the din of men; but whensoever he looked toward the ships and the host of the Achaeans, +then many were the hairs that he pulled from his head by the very roots in appeal to Zeus that is above, and in his noble heart he groaned mightily. And this plan seemed to his mind the best, to go first of all to Nestor, son of Neleus, if so be he might contrive with him some goodly device +that should be for the warding off of evil from the Danaan host. So he sate him up and did on his tunic about his breast, and beneath his shining feet bound his fair sandals, and thereafter clad him in the tawny skin of a lion, fiery and great, a skin that reached his feet; and he grasped his spear. + +And even in like manner was Menelaus holden of trembling fear—for on his eyelids too sleep settled not down—lest aught should befall the Argives who for his sake had come to Troy over the wide waters of the sea, pondering in their hearts fierce war. With a leopard's skin first he covered his broad shoulders, a dappled fell, +and lifted up and set upon his head a helmet of bronze, and grasped a spear in his stout hand. Then he went his way to rouse his brother, that ruled mightily over all the Argives, and was honoured of the folk even as a god. Him he found putting about his shoulders his fair armour +by the stern of his ship, and welcome was he to him as he came. To him first spake Menelaus, good at the war-cry: + +Wherefore, my brother, art thou thus arming? Wilt thou be rousing some man of thy comrades to spy upon the Trojans? Nay, sorely am I afraid lest none should undertake for thee this task, +to go forth alone and spy upon the foemen, through the immortal night; right hardy of heart must that man be. + + +Then in answer to him spake lord Agamemnon: + +Need have we, both thou and I, O Menelaus, fostered of Zeus, of shrewd counsel that shall save and deliver +the Argives and their ships, seeing the mind of Zeus is turned. To the sacrifices of Hector, it seemeth, his heart inclineth rather than to ours. For never have I seen neither heard by the telling of another that one man devised in one day so many terrible deeds, as Hector, dear to Zeus, hath wrought upon the sons of the Achaeans, by himself alone, +he that is not the dear son of goddess or of god. Deeds hath he wrought that methinks will be a sorrow to the Argives for ever and aye, so many evils hath he devised against the Achaeans. But go now, run swiftly along the lines of ships and call hither Aias and Idomeneus, and I will go to goodly Nestor +and bid him arise, if so be he will be minded to go to the sacred company of the sentinels and give them charge. To him would they hearken as to no other, for his son is captain over the guard, he and Meriones, comrade of Idomeneus; for to them above all we entrusted this charge. + +Then made answer to him Menelaus, good at the war-cry: + +With what meaning doth thy word thus charge and command me? Shall I abide there with them, waiting until thou shalt come, or run back to thee again, when I have duly laid on them thy command? + + +And to him did the king of men, Agamemnon, make answer, saying: +Abide there, lest haply we miss each other as we go, for many are the paths throughout the camp. But lift up thy voice wheresoever thou goest, and bid men be awake, calling each man by his lineage and his father's name, giving due honour to each, and be not thou proud of heart +but rather let us ourselves be busy; even thus I ween hath Zeus laid upon us even at our birth the heaviness of woe. + + +So spake he, and sent forth his brother when he had duly given him commandment. But he went his way after Nestor, shepherd of the host, and found him by his hut and his black ship +on his soft bed, and beside him lay his armour richly dight, his shield and two spears and gleaming helmet. And by his side lay the flashing girdle, wherewith the old man was wont to gird himself, whenso he arrayed him for battle, the bane of men, and led forth his people, for he yielded not to grievous old age. +He rose upon his elbow, lifting up his head, and spake to the son of Atreus, and questioned him, saying: + +Who art thou that art faring alone by the ships throughout the camp in the darkness of night, when other mortals are sleeping? Seekest thou one of thy mules, or of thy comrades? +Speak, and come not silently upon me. Of what hast thou need? + + +Then made answer the king of men, Agamemnon: + +Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, thou shalt know Agamemnon, son of Atreus, whom beyond all others Zeus hath set amid toils continually, +so long as the breath abideth in my breast and my knees are quick. I wander thus, because sweet sleep settleth not upon mine eyes, but war is a trouble to me and the woes of the Achaeans. Wondrously do I fear for the Danaans, nor is my mind firm, but I am tossed to and fro, and my heart +leapeth forth from out my breast, and my glorious limbs tremble beneath me. But if thou wouldest do aught, seeing on thee too sleep cometh not, come, let us go to the sentinels, that we may look to them, lest fordone with toil and drowsiness they be slumbering, and have wholly forgot their watch. +The foemen bivouac hard by, nor know we at all whether haply they may not be fain to do battle even in the night. + + +Then made answer to him the horseman Nestor of Gerenia: + +Most glorious son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, of a surety not all his purposes shall Zeus the counsellor fulfill for Hector, +even all that now he thinketh; nay methinks he shall labour amid troubles yet more than ours, if so be Achilles shall turn his heart from grievous anger. Howbeit with thee will I gladly follow, but let us moreover arouse others also, both the son of Tydeus, famed for his spear, and Odysseus, +and the swift Aias, and the valiant son of Phyleus. And I would that one should go and summon these also, the godlike Aias and lord Idomeneus, for their ships are furthest of all and nowise nigh at hand. But Menelaus will I chide, dear though he be and honoured, +aye, though thou shouldest be angry with me, nor will I hide my thought, for that he sleepeth thus, and hath suffered thee to toil alone. Now had it been meet that he laboured among all the chieftains, beseeching them, for need has come upon them that may no longer be borne. + + +And to him did the king of men, Agamemnon, make answer, saying: +Old sir, at another time shalt thou chide him even at mine own bidding, seeing he is often slack and not minded to labour, neither yielding to sloth nor to heedlessness of mind, but ever looking to me and awaiting my leading. But now he awoke even before myself, and came to me, +and myself I sent him forth to summon those of whom thou inquirest. But let us go; we shall find them before the gates amid the sentinels, for there I bade them gather. + + +Then made answer to him the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia: + +So will no man be wroth at him or disobey him +of all the Argives, whenso he urgeth any man or giveth commands. + + +So saying he did on his tunic about his breast, and beneath his shining feet bound his fair sandals and around him buckled a purple cloak of double fold and wide, whereon the down was thick. +And he grasped a mighty spear, tipped with sharp bronze, and went his way among the ships of the brazen-coated Achaeans. Then Odysseus first, the peer of Zeus in counsel, did the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia, awaken out of sleep with his voice, and forthwith the call rang all about his mind +and he came forth from the hut and spake to them, saying: + +How is it that ye fare thus alone by the ships throughout the camp in the immortal night? What need so great hath come upon you? + + +Then made answer to him the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia: + +Zeus-born son of Laërtes, Odysseus of many wiles, +be not thou wroth, for great sorrow hath overmastered the Achaeans. Nay, follow, that we may arouse another also, whomsoever it behoveth to take counsel, whether to flee or to fight. + + +So spake he, and Odysseus of many wiles went to the hut and cast about his shoulders a shield richly dight, and followed after them. +And they came to Tydeus' son, Diomedes, and him they found outside his hut with his arms; and around him his comrades were sleeping with their shields beneath their heads, but their spears were driven into the ground erect on their spikes, and afar shone the bronze like the lightning of father Zeus. But the warrior was sleeping, +and beneath him was spread the hide of an ox of the field, and beneath his head was stretched a bright carpet. To his side came the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia, and woke him, stirring him with a touch of his heel, and aroused him, and chid him to his face: + +Awake, son of Tydeus, why slumberest thou the whole night through in sleep? +Knowest thou not that the Trojans on the rising ground of the plain are camped hard by the ships, and but scant space still holdeth them off? + + +So said he, but the other right swiftly sprang up out of sleep, and he spake and addressed him with winged words: + +Hardy art thou, old sir, and from toil thou never ceasest. +Are there not other sons of the Achaeans that be younger, who might then rouse each one of the kings, going everywhere throughout the host? But with thee, old sir, may no man deal. + + +Then the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia, answered him: + +Nay verily, friend, all this hast thou spoken according to right. +Peerless sons have I, and folk there be full many, of whom any one might go and call others. But in good sooth great need hath overmastered the Achaeans, for now to all it standeth on a razor's edge, either woeful ruin for the Achaeans, or to live. +But go now and rouse swift Aias and the son of Phyleus, for thou art younger —if so be thou pitiest me. + + +So spake he, and Diomedes clad about his shoulders the skin of a lion, fiery and great, a skin that reached his feet, and grasped his spear, and he went his way, and roused those warriors from where they were, and brought them. + +Now when they had joined the company of the sentinels as they were gathered together, they found not the leaders of the sentinels asleep, but all were sitting awake with their arms. And even as dogs keep painful watch about sheep in a fold, when they hear the wild beast, stout of heart, that cometh through the wood +among the hills, and a great din ariseth about him of men and dogs, and from them sleep perisheth; even so from their eyelids did sweet sleep perish, as they kept watch through the evil night; for toward the plain were they ever turning if haply they might hear the Trojans coming on. +At sight of them the old man waxed glad and heartened them, and spake and addressed them with winged words: + +Even so now, dear children, keep your watch, neither let sleep seize any man, lest we become a cause of rejoicing to our foes. + + +So saying he hasted through the trench, and there followed with him +the kings of the Argives, even all that had been called to the council. But with them went Meriones and the glorious son of Nestor; for of themselves they bade these share in their counsel. So they went through and out from the digged ditch and sate them down in an open space, where the ground shewed clear of dead men fallen, +even where mighty Hector had turned back again from destroying the Argives, when night enfolded him. There they sate them down and spake one to the other, and among them the horse-man, Nestor of Gerenia, was first to speak: + +My friends, is there then no man who would trust his own venturous spirit +to go among the great-souled Trojans, if so be he might slay some straggler of the foemen, or haply hear some rumour among the Trojans, and what counsel they devise among themselves, whether to abide where they be by the ships afar, or to withdraw again to the city, +seeing they have worsted the Achaeans? All this might he learn, and come back to us unscathed: great would his fame be under heaven among all men, and a goodly gift shall be his. For of all the princes that hold sway over the ships, +of all these shall every man give him a black ewe with a lamb at the teat— therewith may no possession compare;—and ever shall he be with us at feasts and drinking-bouts. + + +So said he, and they all became hushed in silence. Then spake among them Diomedes, good at the war-cry: +Nestor, my heart and proud spirit urge me to enter the camp of the foemen that are near, even of the Trojans; howbeit if some other man were to follow with me, greater comfort would there be, and greater confidence. When two go together, one discerneth before the other +how profit may be had; whereas if one alone perceive aught, yet is his wit the shorter, and but slender his device. + + +So spake he, and many there were that were fain to follow Diomedes. Fain were the two Aiantes, squires of Ares, fain was Meriones, and right fain the son of Nestor, +fain was the son of Atreus, Menelaus, famed for his spear, and fain too was the stead-fast Odysseus to steal into the throng of the Trojans, for ever daring was the spirit in his breast. Then among them spake the king of men, Agamemnon: + +Diomedes, son of Tydeus, dear to my heart, +that man shalt thou choose as thy comrade, whomsoever thou wilt, the best of them that offer themselves, for many are eager. And do not thou out of reverent heart leave the better man behind, and take as thy comrade one that is worse, yielding to reverence, and looking to birth, nay, not though one be more kingly. + +So said he, since he feared for the sake of fair-haired Menelaus. But among them spake again Diomedes, good at the war-cry: + +If of a truth ye bid me of myself choose me a comrade, how should I then forget godlike Odysseus, whose heart and proud spirit are beyond all others eager +in all manner of toils; and Pallas Athene loveth him. If he but follow with me, even out of blazing fire might we both return, for wise above all is he in understanding. + + +Then spake unto him much enduring goodly Odysseus: + +Son of Tydeus, praise me not over-much, neither blame me in aught: +this thou sayest among the Argives that themselves know all. Nay, let us go, for verily the night is waning and dawn draweth near; lo, the stars have moved onward, and of the night more than two watches have past, and the third alone is left us. + + +So saying the twain clothed them in their dread armour. +To Tydeus' son Thrasymedes, staunch in fight, gave a two-edged sword—for his own was left by his ship—and a shield, and about his head he set a helm of bull's hide without horn and without crest, a helm that is called a skull-cap, and that guards the heads of lusty youths. +And Meriones gave to Odysseus a bow and a quiver and a sword, and about his head he set a helm wrought of hide, and with many a tight-stretched thong was it made stiff within, while without the white teeth of a boar of gleaming tusks were set thick on this side and that, +well and cunningly, and within was fixed a lining of felt. This cap Autolycus on a time stole out of Eleon when he had broken into the stout-built house of Amyntor, son of Ormenus; and he gave it to Amphidamas of Cythem to take to Scandeia, and Amphidamas gave it to Molus as a guest-gift, +but he gave it to his own son Meriones to wear; and now, being set thereon, it covered the head of Odysseus. +So when the twain had clothed them in their dread armour, they went their way and left there all the chieftains. And for them Pallas Athene sent forth on their right a heron, hard by the way, +and though they saw it not through the darkness of night, yet they heard its cry. And Odysseus was glad at the omen, and made prayer to Athene: + +Hear me, child of Zeus, that beareth the aegis, thou that dost ever stand by my side in all manner of toils, nor am I unseen of thee where'er I move; +now again be thou my friend, Athene, as ne'er thou wast before, and grant that with goodly renown we come back to the ships, having wrought a great work that shall be a sorrow to the Trojans. + + +And after him again prayed Diomedes, good at the war-cry: + +Hearken thou now also to me, child of Zeus, unwearied one. +Follow now with me even as thou didst follow with my father, goodly Tydeus, into Thebes, what time he went forth as a messenger of the Achaeans. Them he left by the Asopus, the brazen-coated Achaeans, and he bare a gentle word thither to the Cadmeians; but as he journeyed back he devised deeds right terrible +with thee, fair goddess, for with a ready heart thou stoodest by his side. Even so now of thine own will stand thou by my side, and guard me. And to thee in return will I sacrifice a sleek heifer, broad of brow, unbroken, which no man hath yet led beneath the yoke. Her will I sacrifice to thee and will overlay her horns with gold. + +So they spake in prayer and Pallas Athene heard them. But when they had prayed to the daughter of great Zeus, they went their way like two lions through the black night, amid the slaughter, amid the corpses, through the arms and the black blood. +Nay, nor did Hector suffer the lordly Trojans +to sleep, but he called together all the noblest, as many as were leaders and rulers of the Trojans; and when he had called them together he contrived a cunning plan, and said: + +Who is there now that would promise me this deed and bring it to pass for a great gift? Verily his reward shall be sure. +For I will give him a chariot and two horses with high arched necks, even those that be the best at the swift ships of the Achaeans, to the man whosoever will dare—and for himself win glory withal— to go close to the swift-faring ships, and spy out whether the swift ships be guarded as of old, +or whether by now our foes, subdued beneath our hands, are planning flight among themselves and have no mind to watch the night through, being fordone with dread weariness. + + +So spake he and they all became hushed in silence. Now there was among the Trojans one Dolon, the son of Eumedes +the godlike herald, a man rich in gold, rich in bronze, that was ill-favoured to look upon, but withal swift of foot; and he was the only brother among five sisters. He then spake a word to the Trojans and to Hector: + +Hector, my heart and proud spirit urge me +to go close to the swift-faring ships and spy out all. But come, I pray thee, lift up thy staff and swear to me that verily thou wilt give me the horses and the chariot, richly dight with bronze, even them that bear the peerless son of Peleus. And to thee shall I prove no vain scout, neither one to deceive thy hopes. +For I will go straight on to the camp, even until I come to the ship of Agamemnon, where, I ween, the chieftains will be holding council, whether to flee or to fight. + + +So spake he, and Hector took the staff in his hands, and sware to him, saying: + +Now be my witness Zeus himself, the loud-thundering lord of Hera, +that on those horses no other man of the Trojans shall mount, but it is thou, I declare, that shalt have glory in them continually. + + +So spake he, and swore thereto an idle oath, and stirred the heart of Dolon. Forthwith then he cast about his shoulders his curved bow, and thereover clad him in the skin of a grey wolf, +and on his head he set a cap of ferret skin, and grasped a sharp javelin, and went his way toward the ships from the host; howbeit he was not to return again from the ships, and bear tidings to Hector. But when he had left the throng of horses and of men, he went forth eagerly on the way, and Odysseus, sprung from Zeus, was ware of him as he drew nigh, +and spake to Diomedes: + +Yonder, Diomedes, cometh some man from the camp, I know not whether as a spy upon our ships, or with intent to strip one or another of the corpses of the dead. But let us suffer him at the first to pass by us on the plain +a little way, and thereafter let us rush forth upon him and seize him speedily; and if so be he outrun us twain by speed of foot ever do thou hem him in toward the ships away from the host, darting after him with thy spear, lest in any wise he escape toward the city. + + +So saying the twain laid them down among the dead apart from the path, +but he ran quickly past them in his witlessness. But when he was as far off as is the range of mules in ploughing—for they are better than oxen to draw through deep fallow land the jointed plough—then the two ran after him, and he stood still when he heard the sound, +for in his heart he supposed that they were friends coming from amid the Trojans to turn him back, and that Hector was withdrawing the host. But when they were a spear-cast off or even less, he knew them for foemen and plied his limbs swiftly in flight, and they speedily set out in pursuit. +And as when two sharp-fanged hounds,—skilled in the hunt, press hard on a doe or a hare in a wooded place, and it ever runneth screaming before them; even so did the son of Tydeus, and Odysseus, sacker of cities, cut Dolon off from the host and ever pursue hard after him. +But when he was now about to come among the sentinels, as he fled towards the ships, then verily Athene put strength into Tydeus' son, that no man among the brazen-coated Achaeans might before him boast to have dealt the blow, and he come too late. And mighty Diomedes rushed upon him with his spear, and called: +Stand, or I shall reach thee with the spear, and I deem thou shalt not long escape sheer destruction at my hand. + + +He spake, and hurled his spear, but of purpose he missed the man, and over his right shoulder passed the point of the polished spear, and fixed itself in the ground; and Dolon stood still, seized with terror, +stammering and pale with fear, and the teeth clattered in his mouth; and the twain panting for breath came upon him, and seized his hands; and he with a burst of tears spake to them, saying: + +Take me alive, and I will ransom myself; for at home have I store of bronze and gold and iron, wrought with toil; +thereof would my father grant you ransom past counting, should he hear that I am alive at the ships of the Achaeans. + + +Then in answer to him spake Odysseus of many wiles: + +Be of good cheer, and let not death be in thy thoughts. But come, tell me this, and declare it truly. +Whither dost thou fare thus alone to the ships from the host in the darkness of night, when other mortals are sleeping? Is it with intent to strip one or another of the corpses of the dead? Did Hector send thee forth to the hollow ships to spy out all, or did thine own heart bid thee? + +To him then Dolon made answer, and his limbs trembled beneath him: + +With many infatuate hopes did Hector lead my wits astray, who pledged him to give me the single-hooved horses of the lordly son of Peleus, and his chariot richly dight with bronze; and he bade me go through the swift, black night close to the foemen, and spy out +whether the swift ships be guarded as of old, or whether by now our foes, subdued beneath our hands, are planning flight among themselves, and have no mind to watch the night through, being fordone with dread weariness. + +Then smiling upon him Odysseus of many wiles made answer: + +Verily now on great rewards was thy heart set, even the horses of the wise-hearted son of Aeacus, but hard are they for mortal men to master or to drive, save only for Achilles whom an immortal mother bare. +But come tell me this, and declare it truly: where now, as thou camest hither, didst thou leave Hector, shepherd of the host? Where lies his battle-gear, and where his horses? And how are disposed the watches and the sleeping-places of the other Trojans? And what counsel devise they among themselves?—to abide +where they be by the ships afar, or to withdraw again to the city, seeing they have worsted the Achaeans? + + +Then made answer to him Dolon, son of Eumedes: + +Verily now will I frankly tell thee all. Hector with all them that are counsellors +is holding council by the tomb of godlike Ilus, away from the turmoil; but as touching the guards whereof thou askest, O warrior, no special guard keepeth or watcheth the host. By all the watch-fires of the Trojans verily, they that needs must, lie awake and bid one another keep watch, +but the allies, summoned from many lands, are sleeping; for to the Trojans they leave it to keep watch, seeing their own children abide not nigh, neither their wives. + + +Then in answer to him spake Odysseus of many wiles: + +How is it now, do they sleep mingled with the horse-taming Trojans, +or apart? tell me at large that I may know. + + +Then made answer to him Dolon, son of Eumedes: + +Verily now this likewise will I frankly tell thee. Towards the sea lie the Carians and the Paeonians, with curved bows, and the Leleges and Caucones, and the goodly Pelasgi. +And towards Thymbre fell the lot of the Lycians and the lordly Mysians, and the Phrygians that fight from chariots and the Maeonians, lords of chariots. But why is it that ye question me closely regarding all these things? For if ye are fain to enter the throng of the Trojans, lo, here apart be the Thracians, new comers, the outermost of all, +and among them their king Rhesus, son of Eïoneus. His be verily the fairest horses that ever I saw, and the greatest, whiter than snow, and in speed like the winds. And his chariot is cunningly wrought with gold and silver, and armour of gold brought he with him, huge of size, a wonder to behold. +Such armour it beseemeth not that mortal men should wear, but immortal gods. But bring ye me now to the swift-faring ships, or bind me with a cruel bond and leave me here, that ye may go and make trial of me, +whether or no I have spoken to you according to right. + + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows, spake to him mighty Diomedes: + +Nay, I bid thee, Dolon, put no thought of escape in thy heart, even though thou hast brought good tidings, seeing thou hast come into our hands. For if so be we release thee now or let thee go, +yet even hereafter wilt thou come to the swift ships of the Achaeans, either to spy upon us, or to fight in open combat; but if, subdued beneath my hands, thou lose thy life, never again wilt thou prove a bane to the Argives. + + +He spake, and the other was at point to touch his chin with his stout hand +and make entreaty, but Diomedes sprang upon him with his sword and smote him full upon the neck, and shore off both the sinews, and even while he was yet speaking his head was mingled with the dust. Then from him they stripped the cap of ferret skin from off his head, and the wolf's hide, and the back-bent bow and the long spear, +and these things did goodly Odysseus hold aloft in his hand to Athene, the driver of the spoil, and he made prayer, and spake, saying: + +Rejoice, goddess, in these, for on thee, first of all the immortals in Olympus, will we call; but send thou us on against the horses and the sleeping-places of the Thracian warriors. + +So spake he, and lifted from him the spoils on high, and set them on a tamarisk bush, and set thereby a mark plain to see, gathering handfuls of reeds and luxuriant branches of tamarisk, lest they two might miss the place as they came back through the swift, black night. But the twain went forward through the arms and the black blood, +and swiftly came in their course to the company of the Thracian warriors. Now these were slumbering, foredone with weariness, and their goodly battle-gear lay by them on the ground, all in due order, in three rows, and hard by each man was his yoke of horses.But Rhesus slept in the midst, and hard by him his swift horses +were tethered by the reins to the topmost rim of the chariot. Him Odysseus was first to espy, and shewed him to Diomedes: + +Lo, here, Diomedes, is the man, and here are the horses whereof Dolon, that we slew, told us. But come now, put forth mighty strength; it beseemeth thee not at all +to stand idle with thy weapons; nay, loose the horses; or do thou slay the men, and I will look to the horses. + + +So spake he, and into the other's heart flashing-eyed Athene breathed might, and he fell to slaving on this side and on that, and from them uprose hideous groaning as they were smitten with the sword, and the earth grew red with blood. +And even as a lion cometh on flocks unshepherded, on goats or on sheep, and leapeth upon them with fell intent, so up and down amid the Thracian warriors went the son of Tydeus until he had slain twelve. But whomsoever the son of Tydeus drew nigh and smote with the sword, +him would Odysseus of the many wiles seize by the foot from behind and drag aside, with this thought in mind, that the fair-maned horses might easily pass through and not be affrighted at heart as they trod over dead men; for they were as yet unused thereto. But when the son of Tydeus came to the king, +him the thirteenth he robbed of honey-sweet life, as he breathed hard, for like to an evil dream there stood above his head that night the son of Oeneus' son, by the devise of Athene. Meanwhile steadfast Odysseus loosed the single-hooved horses and bound them together with the reins, and drave them forth from the throng, +smiting them with his bow, for he had not thought to take in his hands the bright whip from the richly dight car; and he whistled to give a sign to goodly Diomedes. + + +But he tarried and pondered what most reckless deed he might do, whether to take the chariot, where lay the war-gear richly dight, +and draw it out by the pole, or lift it on high and so bear it forth, or whether he should rather take the lives of yet more Thracians. The while he was pondering this in heart, even then Athene drew nigh and spake to goodly Diomedes: + +Bethink thee now of returning, son of great-souled Tydeus, +to the hollow ships, lest thou go thither in full flight, and haply some other god rouse up the Trojans. + + +So spake she, and he knew the voice of the goddess as she spoke, and swiftly mounted the horses; and Odysseus smote them with his bow, and they sped toward the swift ships of the Achaeans. + +But no blind watch did Apollo of the silver bow keep when he saw Athene attending the son of Tydeus; in wrath against her he entered the great throng of the Trojans, and aroused a counsellor of the Thracians, Hippocoön, the noble kinsman of Rhesus. And he leapt up out of sleep, +and when he saw the place empty where the swift horses had stood, and the men gasping amid gruesome streams of blood, then he uttered a groan, and called by name upon his dear comrade. And from the Trojans arose a clamour and confusion unspeakable as they hasted together; and they gazed upon the terrible deeds, +even all that the warriors had wrought and thereafter gone to the hollow ships. +But when these were now come to the place where they had slain the spy of Hector, then Odysseus, dear to Zeus, stayed the swift horses, and the son of Tydeus leaping to the ground placed the bloody spoils in the hands of Odysseus, and again mounted; +and he touched the horses with the lash, and nothing loath the pair sped on to the hollow ships, for there were they fain to be. And Nestor was first to hear the sound, and he spake, saying: + +My frieads, leaders and rulers of the Argives, shall I be wrong, or speak the truth? Nay, my heart bids me speak. +The sound of swift-footed horses strikes upon mine ears. I would that Odysseus and the valiant Diomedes may even thus speedily have driven forth from among the Trojans single-hooved horses; but wondrously do I fear at heart lest those bravest of the Argives have suffered some ill through the battle din of the Trojans. + +Not yet was the word fully uttered, when they came themselves. Down they leapt to earth, and the others were seized with joy and welcomed them with hand-clasps and with gentle words. And the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia, was first to question them: + +Come tell me now, Odysseus, greatly to be praised, great glory of the Achaeans, +how ye twain took these horses. Was it by entering the throng of the Trojans? Or did some god that met you give you them? Wondrous like are they to rays of the sun. Ever do I mingle in battle with the Trojans and nowise methinks do I tarry by the ships, old warrior though I be; +howbeit never yet saw I such horses neither thought of such. Nay, methinks some god hath met you and given you them; for both of you twain doth Zeus the cloud-gatherer love and the daughter of Zeus that beareth the aegis, even flashing-eyed Athene. + + +Then in answer spake unto him Odysseus of many wiles: +Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, easily might a god that willed it bestow even better horses than these, for the gods are mightier far. But these horses, old sir, whereof thou askest, are newly come from Thrace, and their lord did brave Diomedes +slay, and beside him twelve of his comrades, all them that were the best. And for the thirteenth we slew a scout near the ships, one that Hector and the other lordly Trojans had sent forth to spy upon our camp. + + +So spake he, and drave the single-hooved horses through the trench, +exultingly, and with him went joyously the rest of the Achaeans. But when they were come to the well-builded hut of the son of Tydeus, the horses they bound with shapely thongs at the manger where stood the swift-footed horses of Diomedes, eating honey-sweet corn. +And on the stern of his ship did Odysseus place the bloody spoils of Dolon until they should make ready a sacred offering to Athene. But for themselves they entered the sea and washed away the abundant sweat from shins and necks and thighs. And when the wave of the sea had washed the abundant sweat +from their skin, and their hearts were refreshed, they went into polished baths and bathed. But when the twain had bathed and anointed them richly with oil, they sate them down at supper, and from the full mixing-bowl they drew off honey-sweet wine and made libation to Athene. + +Now Dawn rose from her couch from beside lordly Tithonus, to bring light to immortals and to mortal men; and Zeus sent forth Strife unto the swift ships of the Achaeans, dread Strife, bearing in her hands a portent of war. +And she took her hand by Odysseus' black ship, huge of hull, that was in the midst so that a shout could reach to either end, both to the huts of Aias, son of Telamon, and to those of Achilles; for these had drawn up their shapely ships at the furthermost ends, trusting in their valour and the strength of their hands. +There stood the goddess and uttered a great and terrible shout, a shrill cry of war, and in the heart of each man of the Achaeans she put great strength to war and to fight unceasingly. And to them forthwith war became sweeter than to return in their hollow ships to their dear native land. + +But the son of Atreus shouted aloud, and bade the Argives array them for battle, and himself amid them did on the gleaming bronze. The greaves first he set about his legs; beautiful they were, and fitted with silver ankle-pieces; next he did on about his chest the corselet +that on a time Cinyras had given him for a guest-gift. For he heard afar in Cyprus the great rumour that the Achaeans were about to sail forth to Troy in their ships, wherefore he gave him the breastplate to do pleasure to the king. Thereon verily were ten bands of dark cyanus, +and twelve of gold, and twenty of tin; and serpents of cyanus writhed up toward the neck, three on either side, like rainbows that the son of Cronos hath set in the clouds, a portent for mortal men. And about his shoulders he flung his sword, whereon gleamed +studs of gold, while the scabbard about it was of silver, fitted with golden chains. And he took up his richly dight, valorous shield, that sheltered a man on both sides, a fair shield, and round about it were ten circles of bronze, and upon it twenty bosses of tin, +gleaming white, and in the midst of them was one of dark cyanus. And thereon was set as a crown +483.2 + the Gorgon, grim of aspect, glaring terribly, and about her were Terror and Rout. From the shield was hung a baldric of silver, and thereon writhed a serpent of cyanus, that had +three heads turned this way and that, growing forth from one neck. And upon his head he set his helmet with two horns and with bosses four, with horsehair crest, and terribly did the plume nod from above. And he took two mighty spears, tipped with bronze; keen they were, and far from him into heaven shone the bronze; +and thereat Athene and Hera thundered, doing honour to the king of Mycenae, rich in gold. + + +Then on his own charioteer each man laid command to hold in his horses well and orderly there at the trench, but themselves on foot, arrayed in their armour, ranged swiftly forward, +and a cry unquenchable rose up before the face of Dawn. Long +485.1 + in advance of the charioteers were they arrayed at the trench, but after them a little space followed the charioteers. And among them the son of Cronos roused an evil din, and down from on high from out of heaven he sent dew-drops dank with blood, for that he was about +to send forth to Hades many a valiant head. +And the Trojans over against them on the rising ground of the plain mustered about great Hector and peerless Polydamas and Aeneas that was honoured of the folk of the Trojans even as a god, and the three sons of Antenor, Polybus and goodly Agenor +and young Acamas, like to the immortals. And Hector amid the foremost bare his shield that was well balanced upon every side. Even as from amid the clouds there gleameth a baneful star, all glittering, and again it sinketh behind the shadowy clouds, even so Hector would now appear amid the foremost +and now amid the hindmost giving them commands; and all in bronze he flashed like the lightning of father Zeus that beareth the aegis. +And as reapers over against each other drive their swathes in a rich man's field of wheat or barley, and the handfuls fall thick and fast; +even so the Trojans and Achaeans leapt upon one another and made havoc, nor would either side take thought of ruinous flight; and equal heads had the battle, +485.2 + and they raged like wolves. And Strife, that is fraught with many groanings, was glad as she looked thereon; for alone of the gods she was with them in their fighting; +whereas the other gods were not among them, but abode in peace in their own halls, where for each one a fair palace was builded amid the folds of Olympus. And all were blaming the son of Cronos, lord of the dark clouds, for that he willed to give glory to the Trojans. +Howbeit of them the father recked not; but aloof from the others he sat apart exulting in his glory, looking upon the city of the Trojans, and the ships of the Achaeans, on the flashing of the bronze, and on the slayers and the slain. + + +Now as long as it was morn and the sacred day was waxing, +so long the missiles of either side struck home, and the folk kept falling; but at the hour when a woodman maketh ready his meal in the glades of a mountain, when his arms are grown tired with felling tall trees, and weariness cometh upon his soul, and desire of sweet food seizeth his heart, +even then the Danaans by their valour brake the battalions, calling to their fellows through the lines. And among them Agamemnon rushed forth the first and slew a warrior, Bienor, shepherd of the host,—himself and after him his comrade, Oïleus, driver of horses. Oïleus verily leapt down from his chariot and stood and faced him, +but even as he rushed straight upon him the king smote him on the forehead with his sharp spear, nor was the spear stayed by his helm, heavy with bronze, but passed through it and through the bone, and all his brain was spattered about within; so stayed he him in his fury. These then did Agamemnon, king of men, leave there, +gleaming with their naked breasts, when he had stripped off their tunics, and went on to slay Isus and Antiphus, two sons of Priam, one a bastard and one born in wedlock, the twain being in one car: the bastard the reins, but glorious Antiphus stood by his side to fight. These twain had Achilles on a time +bound with fresh withes amid the spurs of Ida, taking them as they were herding their sheep, and had set them free for a ransom. But now the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon, struck Isus on the breast above the nipple with a cast of his spear, and Antiphus he smote hard by the ear with his sword, and cast him from the chariot. +Then he made haste to strip from the twain their goodly battle-gear, knowing them full well, for he had seen them before by the swift ships, when Achilles, fleet of foot brought them from Ida. And as a lion easily crusheth the little ones of a swift hind, when he hath seized them with his strong teeth, +and hath come to their lair, and taketh from them their tender life,—and the mother, though she chance to be very near, cannot succour them, for on herself too cometh dread trembling, and swiftly she darteth through the thick brush and the woodland, hasting and sweating before the onset of the mighty beast; +even so was no one of the Trojans able to ward off destruction from these twain, but themselves were driven in flight before the Argives. + + +Then took he Peisander and Hippolochus, staunch in fight. Sons were they of wise-hearted Antimachus, who above all others in hope to receive gold from Alexander, goodly gifts, +would not suffer that Helen be given back to fair-haired Menelaus. His two sons lord Agamemnon took, the twain being in one car, and together were they seeking to drive the swift horses, for the shining reins had slipped from their hands, and the two horses were running wild; but he rushed against them like a lion, +the son of Atreus, and the twain made entreaty to him from the car: + +Take us alive, thou son of Atreus, and accept a worthy ransom; treasures full many he stored in the palace of Antimachus, bronze and gold and iron, wrought with toil; thereof would our father grant thee ransom past counting, +should he hear that we are alive at the ships of the Achaeans. + + +So with weeping the twain spake unto the king with gentle words, but all ungentle was the voice they heard: + +If ye are verily the sons of wise-hearted Antimachus, who on a time in the gathering of the Trojans, when Menelaus +had come on an embassage with godlike Odysseus, bade slay him then and there, neither suffer him to return to the Achaeans, now of a surety shall ye pay the price of your father's foul outrage. + + +He spake, and thrust Peisander from his chariot to the ground, smiting him with his spear upon the breast, and backward was he hurled upon the earth. +But Hippolochus leapt down, and him he slew upon the ground, and shearing off his arms with the sword, and striking off his head, sent him rolling, like a round stone, amid the throng. These then he let be, but where chiefly the battalions were being driven in rout, there leapt he in, and with him other well-greaved Achaeans. +Footmen were ever slaying footmen as they fled perforce, and horsemen horse-men — and from beneath them uprose from the plain the dust which the thundering hooves of horses stirred up — and they wrought havoc with the bronze. And lord Agamemnon, ever slaying, followed after, calling to the Argives. +And as when consuming fire falls upon thick woodland, and the whirling wind beareth it everywhither, and the thickets fall utterly as they are assailed by the onrush of the fire; even so beneath Agamemon, son of Atreus, fell the heads of the Trojans as they fled, and many horses with high-arched necks rattled +empty cars along the dykes of battle, lacking their peerless charioteers, who were lying upon the ground dearer far to the vultures than to their wives. + + +But Hector did Zeus draw forth from the missiles and the dust, from the man-slaying and the blood and the din; +but the son of Atreus followed after, calling fiercely to the Danaans. And past the tomb of ancient Ilos, son of Dardanus, over the midst of the plain, past the wild fig-tree they sped, striving to win to the city, and ever did the son of Atreus follow shouting, and with gore were his invincible hands bespattered. +But when they were come to the Scaean gates and the oak-tree, there then the two hosts halted and awaited each the other. Howbeit some were still being driven in rout over the midst of the plain like kine that a lion hath scattered, coming upon them in the dead of night; all hath he scattered, but to one appeareth sheer destruction; +her neck he seizeth first in his strong teeth and breaketh it and thereafter devoureth the blood and all the inward parts: even in like manner did lord Agamemnon, son of Atreus, follow hard upon the Trojans, ever slaying the hindmost, and they were driven in rout. And many fell from their chariots upon their faces or upon their backs +beneath the hands of Atreus' son, for around and before him he raged with his spear. But when he was now about to come beneath the city and the steep wall, then, verily, the father of men and gods came down from heaven, and sate him down on the peaks of many-fountained Ida; and in his hands he held the thunder-bolt. +And he sent forth golden-winged Iris to bear his message: + +Up go, swift Iris, and declare this word unto Hector: So long as he shall see Agamemnon, shepherd of the host, raging amid the fore-most fighters, laying waste the ranks of men, so long let him hold back, and bid the rest of the host +fight with the foe in the fierce conflict. But when, either wounded by a spear-thrust or smitten by an arrow, Agamemnon shall leap upon his chariot, then will I vouchsafe strength to Hector to slay and slay until he come to the well-benched ships, and the sun sets and sacred darkness cometh on. + +So spake he, and wind-footed swift Iris failed not to hearken, but went down from the hills of Ida to sacred Ilios. She found the son of wise-hearted Priam, goodly Hector, standing in his jointed car; and swift-footed Iris drew nigh him and spake unto him, saying: +Hector, son of Priam, peer of Zeus in counsel, Zeus the father hath sent me forth to declare to thee this message. So long as thou shalt see Agamemnon, shepherd of the host, raging amid the foremost fighters, laying waste the ranks of men, so long do thou give place from battle, but bid the rest of the host +fight with the foe in the fierce conflict. But when either wounded by a spear-thrust or smitten with an arrow Agamemnon shall leap upon his chariot, then will Zeus vouchsafe strength to thee to slay and slay until thou come to the well-benched ships, and the sun sets and sacred darkness cometh on. + +When she had thus spoken swift-footed Iris departed; and Hector leapt in his armour from his chariot to the ground, and brandishing his two sharp spears went everywhere throughout the host, urging them to fight, and roused the dread din of battle. So they rallied, and took their stand with their faces toward the Achaeans, +and the Argives over against them made strong their battalions. And the battle was set in array, and they stood over against each other, and among them Agamemnon rushed forth the first, and was minded to fight far in advance of all. +Tell me now, ye Muses, that have dwellings on Olympus, who it was that first came to face Agamemnon, +either of the Trojans themselves or of their famed allies. It was Iphidamas, son of Antenor, a valiant man and tall, that was nurtured in deep-soiled Thrace, mother of flocks, and Cisseus reared him in his house while he was yet but a little child, even his mother's father, that begat fair-cheeked Theano. +But when he came to the measure of glorious youth he sought to keep him there, and offered him his own daughter; howbeit, a bridegroom newly wed, forth from his bridal chamber he went after the rumour of the coming of the Achaeans, with twelve beaked ships that followed him. Now these he had left at Percote, the shapely ships, +but himself had come by land to Ilios; he it was that now came to face Agamemnon, son of Atreus. And when they were come near as they advanced one against the other, the son of Atreus missed, and his spear was turned aside, but Iphidamas stabbed him on the girdle beneath the corselet, +and put his weight into the thrust, trusting in his heavy hand; howbeit he pierced not the flashing girdle, for long ere that the spear-point struck the silver, and was bent like lead. Then wide-ruling Agamamnon seized the spear in his hand and drew it toward him furiously like a lion, and pulled it from the hand of Iphidamas, +and smote him on the neck with his sword and loosed his limbs. So there he fell, and slept a sleep of bronze, +499.1 + unhappy youth, far from his wedded wife, bearing aid to his townsfolk—far from the bride of whom he had known no joy, yet much had he given for her; first he gave an hundred kine, and thereafter promised a thousand, +goats and sheep together, which were herded for him in flocks past counting. Then did Agamemnon, son of Atreus, strip him and went through the throng of the Achaeans bearing his goodly armour. + + +But when Coön, pre-eminent among warriors, eldest son of Antenor, marked him, strong grief +enfolded his eyes for his brother's fall, and he took his stand on one side with his spear, unseen of goodly Agamemnon, and stabbed him full upon the arm below the elbow, and clean through went the point of the shining spear. Thereat shuddered Agamemnon king of men, +yet even so he ceased not from battle and war, but, wind-nurtured +299.2 + spear in hand, leapt upon Coön. Now he was eagerly drawing by the foot Iphidamas, his own brother, begotten of the one father, and was calling upon all the bravest, but even as he dragged him through the throng Agamemnon smote him with a thrust of his bronze-shod spear beneath his bossed shield, +and loosed his limbs; and he drew near and struck off his head over Iphidamas. There then the sons of Antenor beneath the hands of the king, the son of Atreus, fulfilled the measure of their fate, and went down to the house of Hades. +But Agamemnon ranged along the ranks of the other warriors +with spear and sword and great stones, so long as the blood welled yet warm from his wound. But when the wound waxed dry, and the blood ceased to flow, then sharp pains came upon the mighty son of Atreus. And even as when the sharp dart striketh a woman in travail, +the piercing dart that the Eilithyiae, the goddesses of childbirth, send—even the daughters of Hera that have in their keeping bitter pangs; even so sharp pains came upon the mighty son of Atreus. Then he leapt upon his chariot and bade his charioteer drive to the hollow ships, for he was sore pained at heart. +And he uttered a piercing shout, and called to the Danaans: + +My friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, do ye now ward from the seafaring ships the grievous din of battle, for Zeus the counsellor suffereth me not to war the whole day through against the Trojans. + +So spake he, and the charioteer lashed the fair-maned horses towards the hollow ships, and nothing loath the pair sped onward. With foam were their breasts flecked, and with dust their bellies stained beneath them as they bore the wounded king forth from the battle. +But when Hector saw Agamemnon departing, +to Trojans and Lycians he called with a loud shout: + +Ye Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians that fight in close combat, be men, my friends, and bethink you of furious valour. Gone is the best of the men, and to me hath Zeus, son of Cronos granted great glory. Nay, drive your single-hooved horses straight towards +the valiant Danaans, that ye may win the glory of victory. + + +So saving he aroused the strength and spirit of every man. And even as when a huntsman sets his white-toothed hounds upon a wild boar or a lion, so upon the Achaeans did +Hector, son of Priam, peer of Ares, the bane of mortals, set the great-souled Trojans. Himself with high heart he strode among the foremost, and fell upon the conflict like a blustering tempest, that leapeth down and lasheth to fury the violet-hued deep. +Who then was first to be slain, and who last by +Hector, Priam's son, when Zeus vouchsafed him glory? Asaeus first, and Autonous, and Opites and Dolops, son of Clytius, and Opheltius, and Agelaus, and Aesymnus, and Orus, and Hipponous, staunch in fight. These leaders of the Danaans he slew and thereafter fell upon the multitude, +and even as when the West Wind driveth the clouds of the white South Wind, smiting them with a violent squall, and many a swollen wave rolleth onward, and on high the spray is scattered beneath the blast of the wandering wind; even so many heads of the host were laid low by Hector. + +Then had ruin come, and deeds beyond remedy been wrought, and now would the Achaeans in flight have flung themselves upon their ships, had not Odysseus called to Diomedes, son of Tydeus: + +Tydeus' son, what has come over us that we have forgotten our furious valour? Nay, come thou hither, good friend, and take thy stand by my side, for verily shame +will it be if Hector of the flashing helm shall take the ships. + + +Then in answer to him spake mighty Diomedes: + +Of a surety will I abide and endure, howbeit but for scant space shall be our profit, for Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, plainly willeth to give victory to the Trojans rather than to us. + +He spake, and thrust Thymbraeus from his chariot to the ground, smiting him with his spear on the left breast, and Odysseus smote Molion, the godlike squire of that prince. These then they let be, when they had made them cease from war; but the twain ranged throughout the throng, making havoc of it, as when two boars +with high hearts fall upon hunting hounds; even so they turned again upon the Trojans and slew them, and the Achaeans gladly had respite in their flight before goodly Hector. +Then took they a chariot and two men, the best of their people, sons twain of Merops of Percote, that was above all men +skilled in prophesying, and would not suffer his sons to go into war, the bane of men; but the twain would in no wise hearken to him, for the fates of black death were leading them on. These did the son of Tydeus, Diomedes, famed for his spear, rob of spirit and of life, and took from them their goodly battle-gear. +And Odysseus slew Hippodamus and Hypeirochus. + + +Then the son of Cronos stretched evenly for them the line of battle, as he looked down from Ida, and they kept slaying one another. Tydeus' son wounded the warrior Agastrophus, son of Paeon, on the hip with a thrust of his spear; nor were his horses +near at hand for him to flee, but he was greatly blinded at heart;, for his squire held the horses withdrawn apart, and he on foot was raging amid the foremost fighters until he lost his life. But Hector was quick to mark them across the ranks, and rushed upon them, shouting, and with him followed the battalions of the Trojans. +At sight of him Diomedes, good at the war-cry, shuddered, and forthwith spake to Odysseus that was near: + +On us twain is this ruin rolling, even mighty Hector; but come, let us stand, and ward off his onset abiding where we are. + + +He spake and poised his far-shadowing spear, and hurled it, nor missed he the mark at which he aimed, but smote him on the head, on the top of the helmet, but the bronze was turned aside by bronze, and reached not his fair flesh, for it was stayed by the threefold crested helm, which Phoebus Apollo had bestowed upon him. But Hector sprang back a wondrous way, and mingled with the throng, +and he fell upon his knees and thus abode, and with his stout hand leaned upon the earth, and dark night enfolded his eyes. But while the son of Tydeus was following after the cast of his spear far through the foremost fighters, where he had seen it fix itself in the earth, meanwhile Hector revived again, and leaping back into his chariot +drave forth into the throng, and escaped black fate. And rushing after him with his spear mighty Diomedes spake to him: + +Now again, thou dog, art thou escaped from death, though verily thy bane came nigh thee; but once more hath Phoebus Apollo saved thee, to whom of a surety thou must make prayer whenso thou goest amid the hurtling of spears. +Verily I will yet make an end of thee when I meet thee hereafter, if so be any god is helper to me likewise. But now will I make after the rest, whomsoever I may light upon. + + +So spake he, and went on to strip of his armour the son of Paeon, famed for his spear. But Alexander, lord of fair-haired Helen, +aimed an arrow at Tydeus' son, shepherd of the host, leaning the while against a pillar on the barrow that men's hands reared for Ilus, son of Dardanus, an elder of the people in days of old. Now Diomedes was stripping the gleaming corselet of valiant Agastrophus from about his breast, and the shield from off his shoulder, +and his heavy helm, when Paris drew the centre-piece of the bow and smote him—for not in vain did the shaft speed from his hand—upon the flat of the right foot, and the arrow passed clean through and fixed itself in the ground; and with a right merry laugh Paris leapt up from his lair and spake vauntingly: +Thou art smitten, not in vain hath my shaft sped; would that I had smitten thee in the nethermost belly, and taken away thy life. So would the Trojans have had respite from their woe, who now tremble before thee as bleating goats before a lion. + + +But with no touch of fear mighty Diomedes spake to him: +Bowman, reviler, proud of thy curling locks, +509.1 + thou ogler of girls! O that thou wouldst make trial of me man to man in armour, then would thy bow and thy swift-falling arrows help thee not; whereas now having but grazed the flat of my foot thou boastest vainly. I reck not thereof, any more than if a woman had struck me or a witless child, +for blunt is the dart of one that is a weakling and a man of naught. Verily in other wise when sped by my hand, even though it do but touch, does the spear prove its edge, and forthwith layeth low its man; torn then with wailing are the two cheeks of his wife, and his children fatherless, while he, reddening the earth with his blood, +rotteth away, more birds than women around him. + + +So spake he, and to him did Odysseus, famed for his spear, draw nigh, and take his stand before him, and Diomedes sat down behind him, and drew forth the sharp arrow from his foot, and a sore pang shot through his flesh. Then leapt he upon his chariot and bade his charioteer +drive to the hollow ships, for he was sore pained at heart. +Now Odysseus famed for his spear, was left alone, nor did anyone of the Argives abide by him, for that fear had laid hold of them all. Then mightily moved he spake unto his own great-hearted spirit: + +Woe is me; what is to befall me? Great evil were it if I flee, +seized with fear of the throng;, yet this were a worse thing, if I be taken all alone, for the rest of the Danaans hath the son of Cronos scattered in flight. But why doth my heart thus hold converse with me? For I know that they are cowards that depart from battle, whereas whoso is pre-eminent in fight, him verily it behoveth +to hold his ground boldly, whether he be smitten, or smite another. + + +While he pondered thus in mind and heart, meanwhile the ranks of the shield-bearing Trojans came on and hemmed him in the midst, setting among them their own bane. And even as hounds and lusty youths press upon a boar on this side and on that, +and he cometh forth from the deep thicket, whetting his white tusks in his curving jaws, and they charge upon him on either side, and thereat ariseth the sound of the gnashing of tusks; but forthwith they abide his onset, how dread soever he be; even so then around Odysseus, dear to Zeus, did the Trojans press. +But first he smote peerless Deïopites from above in the shoulder, leaping upon him with sharp spear; and thereafter he slew Thoön and Eunomus, and then Chersidamas as he leapt down from his car he stabbed with his spear upon the navel beneath his bossed shield; +and he fell in the dust and clutched the ground with his palm. These then he let be, but smote Charops, son of Hippasus, with a thrust of his spear, even the own brother of wealthy Socus. And to bear him aid came Socus, a godlike man; close to Odysseus he came, and took his stand, and he spake, saying: +Odysseus, greatly to be praised, insatiate in wiles and in toil, this day shalt thou either boast over both the sons of Hippasus, for that thou hast slain two such warriors and stripped them of their armour, or else smitten by my spear shalt thou lose thy life. + + +So saying, he smote upon his shield that was well balanced upon every side. +Through the bright shield went the mighty spear, and through the corselet, richly dight, did it force its way, and all the flesh it tore from his side; but Pallas Athene suffered it not to pierce the bowels of the warrior. And Odysseus knew that the spear had in no wise lighted on a fatal spot, +and he drew back and spake to Socus, saying: + +Ah wretch, of a surety is sheer destruction come upon thee. Verily hast thou made me to cease from warring against the Trojans; but upon thee I deem that here this day death and black fate shall come, and that vanquished beneath my spear thou +shalt yield glory to me, and thy soul to Hades of the goodly steeds. + + +He spake, and the other turned back and started to flee, but even as he turned Odysseus fixed the spear in his back between the shoulders, and drave it through his breast. And he fell with a thud, and goodly Odysseus exulted over him: +Ah Socus, son of wise-hearted Hippasus, tamer of horses, the end of death has been too quick in coming upon thee; thou hast not escaped it. Ah poor wretch, thy father and queenly mother shall not close thine eyes in death, but the birds that eat raw flesh shall rend thee, beating their wings thick and fast about thee; +whereas to me, if I die, the goodly Achaeans shall give burial. + + +So saying he drew the mighty spear of wise-hearted Socus forth from his flesh and from his bossed shield, and when it was drawn out the blood gushed forth and distressed his spirit. But the great-souled Trojans, when they beheld the blood of Odysseus, +called one to another through the throng and made at him all together. But he gave ground, and shouted to his comrades; thrice shouted he then loud as a man's head can shout, +515.1 + and thrice did Menelaus, dear to Ares, hear his call, and forthwith he spake to Aias that was nigh at hand: +Aias, sprung from Zeus, thou son of Telamon, captain of the host, in mine ears rang the cry of Odysseus, of the steadfast heart, like as though the Trojans had cut him off in the fierce conflict and were over-powering him alone as he is. Nay, come, let us make our way through the throng; to bear him aid is the better course. +I fear lest some evil befall him, alone mid the Trojans, valiant though he be, and great longing for him come upon the Danaans. + + +So saying he led the way, and Aias followed, a godlike man. Then found they Odysseus, dear to Zeus and round about the Trojans beset him, as tawny jackals in the mountains +about a horned stag that hath been wounded, that a man hath smitten with an arrow from the string; from him the stag hath escaped and fleeth swiftly so long as the blood flows warm and his knees are quick, but when at length the swift arrow overpowereth him, then ravening jackals rend him amid the mountains +in a shadowy grove; but lo, God bringeth against them a murderous lion, and the jackals scatter in flight, and he rendeth the prey: even so then did the Trojans, many and valiant, beset Odysseus round about, the wise and crafty-minded; but the warrior darting forth with his spear warded off the pitiless day of doom. +Then Aias drew near, bearing his shield that was like a city wall, and stood forth beside him, and the Trojans scattered in flight, one here, one there. And warlike Menelaus led Odysseus forth from the throng, holding him by the hand, till his squire drave up the horses and car. + + +Then Aias leapt upon the Trojans and slew Doryclus, +bastard son of Priam, and after him smote Pandocus with a thrust, and likewise Lysander and Pyrasus and Pylartes. And as when a river in flood cometh down upon a plain, a winter torrent from the mountains, driven on by the rain of Zeus, and many a dry oak and many a pine it beareth in its course, +and much drift it casteth into the sea; even so glorious Aias charged tumultuously over the plain on that day, slaying horses and men. Nor did Hector as yet know aught thereof, for he was fighting on the left of all the battle by the banks of the river Scamander, where chiefly +the heads of warriors were falling, and a cry unquenchable arose, round about great Nestor and warlike Idomeneus. With these had Hector dalliance, +519.1 + and terrible deeds he wrought with the spear and in horsemanship, and he laid waste the battalions of the young men. Yet would the goodly Achaeans in no wise have given ground from their course, +had not Alexander, the lord of fair-haired Helen, stayed Machaon, shepherd of the host, in the midst of his valorous deeds, and smitten him on the right shoulder with a three-barbed arrow. Then sorely did the Achaeans breathing might fear for him, lest haply men should slay him in the turning of the fight. +And forthwith Idomeneus spake to goodly Nestor: + +Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, come, get thee upon thy chariot, and let Machaon mount beside thee, and swiftly do thou drive to the ships thy single-hooved horses. For a leech is of the worth of many other men +for the cutting out of arrows and the spreading of soothing simples. + + +So spake he, and the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia, failed not to hearken. Forthwith he got him upon his chariot, and beside him mounted Machaon, the son of Asclepius the peerless leech; and he touched the horses with the lash, and nothing loath the pair sped on +to the hollow ships, for there were they fain to be. +But Cebriones beheld the Trojans being driven in rout, as he stood by Hector's side in his chariot, and he spake to him, saying: + +Hector, we twain have dalliance with the Danaans here, on the skirts of dolorous war, whereas the other +Trojans are driven in rout confusedly, both horses and men. And it is Aias, son of Telamon, that driveth them; well do I know him, for wide is the shield he hath about his shoulders. Nay, let us too drive thither our horses and car, where most of all horsemen and footmen, vying in evil rivalry, +are slaying one another, and the cry goes up unquenchable. + + +So saying he smote the fair-maned horses with the shrill-sounding lash, and they, feeling the blow, fleetly bare the swift car amid the Trojans and Achaeans, trampling on the dead and on the shields, and with blood was all the axle +sprinkled beneath, and the rims round about the car, with the drops that smote upon them from the horses' hooves and from the tires. And Hector was eager to enter the throng of men, to leap in and shatter it, and an evil din of war he sent among the Danaans, and scant rest did he give his spear. +521.1 +Nay, he ranged among the ranks of the other warriors with spear and sword and with great stones; only he avoided battle with Aias, son of Telamon. +Now father Zeus, throned on high, roused Aias to flight, +and he stood in a daze, and on his back he cast his sevenfold shield of bull's-hide, and with an anxious glance toward the throng he gave way, like a wild beast, ever turning him about and retreating slowly step by step. And even as a tawny lion is driven from the fold of the kine by dogs and country folk, +that suffer him not to seize the fattest of the herd, watching the whole night through, but he in his lust for flesh goeth straight on, yet accomplisheth naught thereby, for thick the darts fly to meet him, hurled by bold hands, and blazing brands withal, before which he quaileth, how eager soever he be, +and at dawn he departeth with sullen heart; so Aias then gave way before the Trojans sullen at heart, and sorely against his will, for exceedingly did he fear for the ships of the Achaeans. And as when an ass that passeth by a cornfield getteth the better of boys—a lazy ass about whose ribs many a cudgel is broken, +and he goeth in and wasteth the deep grain, and the boys beat him with cudgels, though their might is but puny, and hardly do they drive him forth when he hath had his fill of fodder; even so then did the Trojans, high of heart, and their allies, gathered from many lands, smite great Aias, son of Telamon, +with spears full upon his shield, and ever press upon him. And Aias would now be mindful of his furious valour, and wheeling upon them would hold back the battalions of the horse-taming Trojans, and now again he would turn him to flee. But he barred them all from making way to the swift ships, +and himself stood between Trojans and Achaeans, battling furiously. And the spears hurled by bold hands were some of them lodged in his great shield, as they sped onward, and many, ere ever they reached his white body, stood fixed midway in the earth, fain to glut themselves with flesh. + +But when Euaemon's glorious son, Eurypylus, saw him oppressed by thick-flying missiles, he came and stood by his side and hurled with his shining spear, and smote Apisaon, son of Phausius, shepherd of the host, in the liver below the midriff, and straightway loosed his knees; +and Eurypylus leapt upon him and set him to strip the harness from his shoulders. But when godlike Alexander marked him stripping the harness from Apisaon, forthwith he drew his bow against Eurypylus, and smote him with an arrow on the right thigh; and the reed of the arrow brake, yet was his thigh made heavy. +Then back he shrank into the throng of his comrades, avoiding fate, and he uttered a piercing shout, and called to the Danaans: + +My friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, turn ye and stand, and ward off the pitiless day of doom from Aias who is oppressed with missiles; nor do I deem +that he will escape from dolorous war. Nay verily, stand ye and face the foe about great Aias, son of Telamon. + + +So spake the wounded Eurypylus, and they came and stood close beside him, leaning their shields against their shoulders and holding their spears on high; and toward them came Aias, +and turned and stood when he had reached the throng of his comrades. +So fought they like unto blazing fire; but the mares of Neleus, all bathed in sweat, bare Nestor forth from the battle, and bare also Machaon, shepherd of the host. And swift-footed goodly Achilles beheld and marked him, +for Achilles was standing by the stern of his ship, huge of hull, gazing upon the utter toil of battle and the tearful rout. And forthwith he spake to his comrade Patroclus, calling to him from beside the ship; and he heard, and came forth from the hut like unto Ares; and this to him was the beginning of evil. +Then the valiant son of Menoetius spake the first: + +Wherefore dost thou call me, Achilles? What need hast thou of me? + + And in answer to him spake Achilles, swift of foot: + +Goodly son of Menoetius, dear to this heart of mine, now methinks will the Achaeans be standing about my knees in prayer, +for need has come upon them that may no longer be borne. Yet go now, Patroclus, dear to Zeus, and ask Nestor who it is that he bringeth wounded from out the war. Of a truth from behind he seemeth in all things like Machaon, son of Asclepius, but I saw not the eyes of the man, +for the horses darted by me, speeding eagerly onward. + + +So spake he, and Patroclus gave ear to his dear comrade, and went running along the huts and the ships of the Achaeans. +But when those others were come to the hut of the son of Neleus, they stepped forth upon the bounteous earth, +and Eurymedon the squire loosed old Nestor's horses from the car, and the twain dried the sweat from their tunics standing in the breeze by the shore of the sea; and thereafter they went into the hut and sate them down on chairs. And for them fair-tressed Hecamede mixed a potion, +she that old Nestor had taken from out of Tenedos, when Achilles sacked it, the daughter of great-hearted Arsinous; for the Achaeans had chosen her out for him, for that in counsel he was ever best of all. She first drew before the twain a table, fair, with feet of cyanus, and well-polished, and set thereon +a basket of bronze, and therewith an onion, a relish for their drink, and pale honey, and ground meal of sacred barley; and beside them a beauteous cup, that the old man had brought from home, studded with bosses of gold; four were the handles thereof, and about each +twain doves were feeding, while below were two supports. +527.1 + Another man could scarce have availed to lift that cup from the table, when it was full, but old Nestor would raise it right easily. Therein the woman, like to the goddesses, mixed a potion for them with Pramnian wine, and on this she grated cheese of goat's milk +with a brazen grater, and sprinkled thereover white barley meal; and she bade them drink, when she had made ready the potion. Then when the twain had drunk, and sent from them parching thirst, they took delight in tales, speaking each to the other; and lo, Patroclus stood at the doors, a godlike man. +At sight of him the old man sprang from his bright chair, and took him by the hand and led him in, and bade him be seated. But Patroclus from over against him refused, and spake, saying: + +I may not sit, old sir, fostered of Zeus, nor wilt thou persuade me. Revered and to be dreaded is he who sent me forth to learn +who it is that thou bringest home wounded. But even of myself I know, and behold Machaon, shepherd of the host. And now will I go back again a messenger, to bear word to Achilles. Well knowest thou, old sir, fostered of Zeus, of what sort is he, dread man; lightly would he blame even one in whom was no blame. + +Then made answer the horseman Nestor of Gerenia: + +Wherefore now doth Achilles thus have pity for the sons of the Achaeans, as many as have been smitten with missiles? Nor knoweth he at all what grief hath arisen throughout the camp; for the best men lie among the ships smitten by darts or wounded with spear-thrusts. +Smitten is the son of Tydeus, mighty Diomedes, wounded with spearthrust is Odysseus, famed for his spear, and Agamemnon, and smitten is Eurypylus too with an arrow in the thigh, and this man beside have I but now borne forth from the war smitten with an arrow from the string. Yet Achilles, +valiant though he be, careth not for the Danaans, neither hath pity. Doth he wait until the swift ships hard by the sea, in despite of the Argives, shall blaze with consuming fire, and ourselves be slain man after man? For my strength is not such as of old it was in my supple limbs. +Would that I were young and my strength were as when strife was set afoot between the Eleans and our folk about the lifting of kine, what time I slew Itymoneus, the valiant son of Hypeirochus, a man that dwelt in Elis, when I was driving off what we had seized in reprisal; and he while fighting for the kine +was smitten amid the foremost by a spear from my hand; and he fell, and the country folk about him fled in terror. And booty exceeding great did we drive together from out the plain, fifty herds of kine, as many flocks of sheep, as many droves of swine, as many roving herds of goats, +and chestnut horses an hundred and fifty, all mares, and many of them had foals at the teat. These then we drave into Neleian Pylos by night into the citadel, and Neleus was glad at heart for that much spoil had fallen to me when going as a stripling into war. +And heralds made loud proclamation at break of dawn that all men should come to whomsoever a debt was owing in goodly Elis; and they that were leaders of the Pylians gathered together and made division, for to many did the Epeians owe a debt, seeing that we in Pylos were few and oppressed. +For mighty Heracles had come and oppressed us in the years that were before, and all that were our bravest had been slain. Twelve were we that were sons of peerless Neleus, and of these I alone was left, and all the rest had perished; wherefore the brazen-coated Epeans, proud of heart thereat, +in wantonness devised mischief against us. + + + And from out the spoil old Neleus chose him a herd of kine and a great flock of sheep, choosing three hundred and their herdsman with them. For to him a great debt was owing in goodly Elis, even our horses, winners of prizes, with their car, +that had gone to the games, for they were to race for a tripod; but Augeias, king of men, kept them there, and sent back their driver, sorrowing for his horses. By reason of these things, both deeds and words, was the old man wroth and chose him recompense past telling; and the rest he gave to the people +to divide, that so far as in him lay no man might go defrauded of an equal share. So we were disposing of all that there was, and round about the city were offering sacrifice to the gods; and on the third day the Epeians came all together, many men and single-hooved horses, with all speed, and among them the two Moliones did on their battle-gear, +though they were as yet but stripligs unskilled in furious valour. Now there is a city Thryoessa, a steep hill, far off on the Alpheius, the nethermost of sandy Pylos; about this they set their camp, fain to raze it utterly. But when they had coursed over the whole plain to us came Athene, +speeding down from Olympus by night with the message that we should array us for battle, and nowise loath were the folk she gathered in Pylos, but right eager for war. Now Neleus would not suffer me to arm myself, but hid away my horses, for he deemed that as yet I knew naught of deeds of war. +Howbeit even so I was pre-eminent among our horsemen, on foot though I was, for so did Athene order the fight. +There is a river Minyeïus that empties into the sea hard by Arene, where we waited for bright Dawn, we the horsemen of the Pylians, and the throngs of footmen flowed ever after. +Thence with all speed, arrayed in our armour, we came at midday to the sacred stream of Alpheius. There we sacrificed goodly victims to Zeus, supreme in might, and a bull to Alpheius, and a bull to Poseidon, but to flashing-eyed Athene a heifer of the herd; +and thereafter we took supper throughout the host by companies, and laid us down to sleep, each man in his battlegear, about the streams of the river. But the great-souled Epeians were marshalled about the city, fain to raze it utterly; but ere that might be there appeared unto them a mighty deed of war; +for when the bright sun stood above the earth we made prayer to Zeus and Athene, and joined battle. + + + But when the strife of the Pylians and Epeians began, I was first to slay my man, and to get me his single-hooved horses—even the spearman Mulius; son by marriage was he of Augeias, +and had to wife his eldest daughter, fair-haired Agamede, who knew all simples that the wide earth nourisheth. Him as he came against me I smote with may bronze-tipped spear, and he fell in the dust; but I leapt upon his chariot and took my stand amid the foremost fighters. But the great-souled Epeians +fled one here, one there, when they saw the man fallen, even him that was leader of the horsemen and preeminent in fight. But I sprang upon them like a black tempest and fifty chariots I took, and about each one two warriors bit the ground, quelled by my spear. +And now had I slain the two Moliones, of the blood of Actor, but that their father, the wide-ruling Shaker of Earth, saved them from war, and shrouded them in thick mist. Then Zeus vouchsafed great might to the men of Pylos, for so long did we follow through the wide plain, +slaying the men and gathering their goodly battle-gear, even till we drave our horses to Buprasium, rich in wheat, and the rock of Olen and the place where is the hill called the hill of Alesium, whence Athene again turned back the host. Then I slew the last man, and left him; but the Achaeans drave back their swift horses +from Buprasium to Pylos, and all gave glory among the gods to Zeus, and to Nestor among men. +Of such sort was I among warriors, as sure as ever I was. But Achilles would alone have profit of his valour. Nay, verily, methinks he will bitterly lament hereafter, when the folk perisheth. +Ah, friend, of a surety Menoetius thus laid charge upon thee on the day when he sent thee forth from Phthia to Agamemnon. And we twain were within, I and goodly Odysseus, and in the halls we heard all things, even as he gave thee charge. For we had come to the well-builded house of Peleus, +gathering the host throughout the bounteous land of Achaia. There then we found in the house the warrior Menoetius and thee, and with you Achilles; and the old man Peleus, driver of chariots, was burning the fat thighs of a bull to Zeus that hurleth the thunderbolt, in the enclosure of the court, and he held in his hand a golden cup, +pouring forth the flaming wine to accompany the burning offerings. Ye twain were busied about the flesh of the bull, and lo, we stood in the doorway; and Achilles, seized with wonder, sprang up, and took us by the hand and led us in, and bade us be seated, and he set before us abundant entertainment, all that is the due of strangers. + +But when we had had our fill of food and drink, I was first to speak, and bade you follow with us; and ye were both right eager, and those twain laid on you many commands. Old Peleus bade his son Achilles ever be bravest, and pre-eminent above all, +but to thee did Menoetius, son of Actor, thus give command: ‘My child, in birth is Achilles nobler than thou, but thou art the elder though in might he is the better far. Yet do thou speak to him well a word of wisdom and give him counsel, and direct him; and he will obey thee to his profit.’ +Thus did the old man charge thee, but thou forgettest. Yet even now at the last do thou speak thus to wise-hearted Achilles, if so be he may hearken. Who knows but that heaven helping thou mightest rouse his spirit with thy persuading? A good thing is the persuasion of a friend. But if in his heart he is shunning some oracle +and his queenly mother hath declared to him aught from Zeus, yet let him send thee forth, and with thee let the rest of the host of the Myrmidons follow, if so be thou mayest prove a light of deliverance to the Danaans; and let him give thee his fair armour to bear into the war, in hope that the Trojans may take thee for him, and so hold aloof from battle, +and the warlike sons of the Achaeans may take breath, wearied though they be; for scant is the breathing-space in battle. And lightly might ye that are unwearied drive men that are wearied with battle back toward the city from the ships and the huts. + + +So spake he, and roused the heart in the breast of Patroclus, +and he set out to run along the line of the ships to Achilles, son of Aeacus. But when in his running Patroclus was come to the ships of godlike Odysseus, where was their place of gathering and of the giving of dooms, whereby also were builded their altars of the gods, there Eurypylus met him, +the Zeus-born son of Euaemon, smitten in the thigh with an arrow, limping from out the battle. And in streams down from his head and shoulders flowed the sweat, and from his grievous wound the black blood was gushing, yet was his spirit unshaken. At sight of him the valiant son of Menoetius had pity on him, +and with wailing spake to him winged words: + +Ah ye wretched men, leaders and lords of the Danaans, thus then were ye destined, far from your friends and your native land, to glut with your white fat the swift dogs in Troy. But come, tell me this, Eurypylus, warrior fostered of Zeus, +will the Achaeans haply still hold back mighty Hector, or will they now perish, slain beneath his spear? + + +And to him again made answer the wounded Eurypylus: + +No longer, Zeus-born Patroclus, will there be any defence of the Achaeans, but they will fling themselves upon the black ships. +For verily all they that aforetime were bravest, lie among the ships smitten by darts or wounded with spear-thrusts at the hands of the Trojans, whose strength ever waxeth. But me do thou succour, and lead me to my black ship, and cut the arrow from my thigh, and wash the black blood from it +with warm water, and sprinkle thereon kindly simples of healing power, whereof men say that thou hast learned from Achilles, whom Cheiron taught, the most righteous of the Centaurs. For the leeches, Podaleirius and Machaon, the one methinks lieth wounded amid the huts, +having need himself of a goodly leech, and the other in the plain abideth the sharp battle of the Trojans. + + +And to him again spake the valiant son of Menoetius: + +How may these things be? What shall we do, warrior Eurypylus? I am on my way to declare to wise-hearted Achilles a message +wherewith Nestor of Gerenia, warder of the Achaeans, charged me. Nay, but even so will I not neglect thee that art in grievous plight. + + +He spake and clasped the shepherd of the host beneath the breast, and led him to his hut, and his squire when he saw them strewed upon the ground hides of oxen. There Patroclus made him lie at length, +and with a knife cut from his thigh the sharp-piercing arrow, and from the wound washed the black blood with warm water, and upon it cast a bitter root, when he had rubbed it between his hands, a root that slayeth pain, which stayed all his pangs; and the wound waxed dry, and the blood ceased. +So then amid the huts the valiant son of Menoetius was tending the wounded Eurypylus, but the others, Argives and Trojans, fought on in throngs, nor were the ditch of the Danaans and their wide wall above long to protect them, +the wall that they had builded as a defence for their ships and had drawn a trench about it—yet they gave not glorious hecatombs to the gods—that it might hold within its bounds their swift ships and abundant spoil, and keep all safe. Howbeit against the will of the immortal gods was it builded; wherefore for no long time did it abide unbroken. +As long as Hector yet lived, and Achilles yet cherished his wrath, and the city of king Priam was unsacked, even so long the great wall of the Achaeans likewise abode unbroken. But when all the bravest of the Trojans had died and many of the Argives—some were slain and some were left— +and the city of Priam was sacked in the tenth year, and the Argives had gone back in their ships to their dear native land, then verily did Poseidon and Apollo take counsel to sweep away the wall, bringing against it the might of all the rivers that flow forth from the mountains of Ida to the sea— +Rhesus and Heptaporus and Caresus and Rhodius, and Granicus and Aesepus, and goodly Scamander, and Simois, by the banks whereof many shields of bull's-hide and many helms fell in the dust, and the race of men half-divine—of all these did Phoebus Apollo turn the mouths together, +and for nine days' space he drave their flood against the wall; and Zeus rained ever continually, that the sooner he might whelm the wall in the salt sea. And the Shaker of Earth, bearing his trident in his hands, was himself the leader, and swept forth upon the waves all the foundations of beams and stones, that the Achaeans had laid with toil, +and made all smooth along the strong stream of the Hellespont, and again covered the great beach with sand, when he had swept away the wall; and the rivers he turned back to flow in the channel, where aforetime they had been wont to pour their fair streams of water. + + +Thus were Poseidon and Apollo to do in the aftertime; +but then war and the din of war blazed about the well-builded wall, and the beams of the towers rang, as they were smitten; and the Argives, conquered by the scourge of Zeus, were penned by their hollow ships, and held in check in terror of Hector, the mighty deviser of rout, +while he as aforetime fought like unto a whirlwind. And as when, among hounds and huntsmen, a wild boar or a lion wheeleth about, exulting in his strength, and these array them in ranks in fashion like a wall, and stand against him, and hurl from their hands javelins thick and fast; +yet his valiant heart feareth not nor anywise quaileth, though his valour is his bane; and often he wheeleth him about and maketh trial of the ranks of men, and wheresoever he chargeth, there the ranks of men give way: even on this wise Hector went ever through the throng and besought his comrades, +urging them to cross the trench. Howbeit his swift-footed horses dared not, but loudly they neighed, standing on the sheer brink, for the trench affrighted them, so wide was it, easy neither to o'erleap at a bound nor to drive across; for over-hanging banks stood all about its circuit on this side and on that, +and at the top it was set with sharp stakes that the sons of the Achaeans had planted, close together and great, a defence against foemen. Not lightly might a horse, tugging at the wheeled car, get within that circuit; but the footmen were eager, if thy might achieve it. +Then verily Polydamas drew nigh to Hector, and spake, saying: + +Hector, and ye other leaders of the Trojans and allies, it is but folly that we seek to drive across the trench our swift horses; hard in sooth is it to cross, for sharp stakes are set in it, and close anigh them is the wall of the Achaeans. +There is it no wise possible for charioteers to descend and fight; for the space is narrow, and then methinks shall we suffer hurt. For if Zeus, that thundereth on high, is utterly to crush our foes in his wrath, and is minded to give aid unto the Trojans, there verily were I too fain that this might forthwith come to pass, that the Achaeans should perish here far from Argos, and have no name; +but if they turn upon us and we be driven back from the ships and become entangled in the digged ditch, then methinks shall not one man of us return back to the city from before the Achaeans when they rally, even to bear the tidings. +But come, even as I shall bid, let us all obey. As for the horses, let the squires hold them back by the trench, but let us on foot, arrayed in our armour, follow all in one throng after Hector; and the Achaeans will not withstand us, if so be the bonds of destruction are made fast upon them. + +So spake Polydamas, and his prudent counsel was well pleasing unto Hector, and forthwith he leapt in his armour from his chariot to the ground. Nor did the other Trojans remain gathered together upon their chariots, but they all leapt forth when they beheld goodly Hector afoot. Then on his own charioteer each man laid command to hold in his +horses well and orderly there at the trench, but the men divided and arrayed themselves, and marshalled in five companies they followed after the leaders. +Some went with Hector and peerless Polydamas, +even they that were most in number and bravest, and that were most fain to break through the wall and fight by the hollow ships, and with them followed Cebriones as the third; for by his chariot had Hector left another man, weaker than Cebriones. The second company was led by Paris and Alcathous and Agenor, and the third by Helenus and godlike Deïphobus— +sons twain of Priam; and a third was with them, the warrior Asius,—Asius son of Hyrtacus, whom his horses tawny and great had borne from Arisbe, from the river Selleïs. And of the fourth company the valiant son of Anchises was leader, even Aeneas, and with him were Antenor's two sons, +Archelochus and Acamas, well skilled in all manner of fighting. And Sarpedon led the glorious allies, and he chose as his comrades Glaucus and warlike Asteropaeus, for these seemed to him to be the bravest beyond all others after his own self, but he was pre-eminent even amid all. +These then when they had fenced one another with their well-wrought shields of bull's-hide, made straight for the Danaans, full eagerly, nor deemed they that they would any more be stayed, but would fall upon the black ships. + + +Then the rest of the Trojans and their far-famed allies obeyed the counsel of blameless Polydamas, +but Asius, son of Hyrtacus, leader of men, was not minded to leave there his horses and his squire the charioteer, but chariot and all he drew nigh to the swift ships, fool that he was! for he was not to escape the evil fates, and return, glorying in horses and chariot, +back from the ships to windy Ilios. Nay, ere that might be, fate, of evil name, enfolded him, by the spear of Idomeneus, the lordly son of Deucalion. For he made for the left wing of the ships, even where the Achaeans were wont to return from the plain with horses and chariots: +there drave he through his horses and car, and at the gate he found not the doors shut nor the long bar drawn, but men were holding them flung wide open, if so be they might save any of their comrades fleeing from out the battle toward the ships. Thither of set purpose drave he his horses, and after him followed his men with shrill cries, +for they deemed that they would no more be stayed of the Achaeans, but would fall upon the black ships—fools that they were! for at the gate they found two warriors most valiant, high-hearted sons of Lapith spearmen, the one stalwart Polypoetes, son of Peirithous, +and the other Leonteus, peer of Ares the bane of men. These twain before the high gate stood firm even as oaks of lofty crest among the mountains, that ever abide the wind and rain day by day, firm fixed with roots great and long; +even so these twain, trusting in the might of their arms, abode the oncoming of great Asius, and fled not. But their foes came straight against the well-built wall, lifting on high their shields of dry bull's-hide with loud shouting, round about king Asius, and Iamenus, and Orestes, +and Adamas, son of Asius, and Thoön and Oenomaus. And the Lapiths for a time from within the wall had been rousing the well-greaved Achaeans to fight in defence of the ships; but when they saw the Trojans rushing upon the wall, while the Danaans with loud cries turned in flight, +forth rushed the twain and fought in front of the gate like wild boars that amid the mountains abide the tumultuous throng of men and dogs that cometh against them, and charging from either side they crush the trees about them, cutting them at the root, and therefrom ariseth a clatter of tusks, +till one smite them and take their life away: even so clattered the bright bronze about the breasts of the twain, as they were smitten with faces toward the foe; for . right hardily they fought, trusting in the host above them and in their own might. + + + For the men above kept hurling stones from the well-built towers, +in defence of their own lives and of the huts and of the swift-faring ships. And like snow-flakes the stones fell ever earthward, like flakes that a blustering wind, as it driveth the shadowy clouds, sheddeth thick and fast upon the bounteous earth; even so flowed the missiles from the hands of these, of Achaeans +alike and Trojans; and helms rang harshly and bossed shields, as they were smitten with great stones. Then verily Asius, son of Hyrtacus, uttered a groan, and smote both his thighs, and in sore indignation he spake, saying: + +Father Zeus, of a surety thou too then art utterly a lover of lies, +for I deemed not that the Achaean warriors would stay our might and our invincible hands. But they like wasps of nimble +557.1 + waist, or bees that have made their nest in a rugged path, and leave not their hollow home, but abide, +and in defence of their young ward off hunter folk; even so these men, though they be but two, are not minded to give ground from the gate, till they either slay or be slain. + + +So spake he, but with these words he moved not the mind of Zeus, for it was to Hector that Zeus willed to vouchsafe glory. + +But others were fighting in battle about the other gates, and hard were it for me, as though I were a god, to tell the tale of all these things, for everywhere about the wall of stone rose the wondrous-blazing fire; for the Argives, albeit in sore distress, defended their ships perforce; and the gods were grieved at heart, +all that were helpers of the Danaans in battle. And the Lapiths clashed in war and strife. +Then the son of Peirithous, mighty Polypoetes, cast with his spear and smote Damasus through the helmet with cheek pieces of bronze; +and the bronze helm stayed not the spear, but the point of bronze brake clean through the bone, and all the brain was spattered about within; so stayed he him in his fury. And thereafter he slew Pylon and Ormenus. And Leonteus, scion of Ares, smote Hippomachus, son of Antimachus, with a cast of his spear, striking him upon the girdle. +And again he drew from its sheath his sharp sword and darting upon him through the throng smote Antiphates first in close fight, so that he was hurled backward upon the ground; and thereafter Menon, and Iamenus, and Orestes, all of these one after the other he brought down to the bounteous earth. + +While they were stripping from these their shining arms, meanwhile the youths that followed with Polydamas and Hector, even they that were most in number and bravest, and that most were fain to break through the wall and burn the ships with fire, these still tarried in doubt, as they stood by the trench. +For a bird had come upon them, as they were eager to cross over, an eagle of lofty flight, skirting the host on the left, and in its talons it bore a blood-red, monstrous snake, still alive as if struggling, nor was it yet forgetful of combat, it writhed backward, and smote him that held it on the breast beside the neck, +till the eagle, stung with pain, cast it from him to the ground, and let it fall in the midst of the throng, and himself with a loud cry sped away down the blasts of the wind. And the Trojans shuddered when they saw the writhing snake lying in the midst of them, a portent of Zeus that beareth the aegis. +Then verily Polydamas drew near, and spake to bold Hector: + +Hector, ever dost thou rebuke me in the gatherings of the folk, though I give good counsel, since it were indeed unseemly that a man of the people should speak contrariwise to thee, be it in council or in war, but he should ever increase thy might; +yet now will I speak even as seemeth to me to be best. Let us not go forward to fight with the Danaans for the ships. For thus, methinks, will the issue be, seeing that in sooth this bird has come upon the Trojans, as they were eager to cross over, an eagle of lofty flight, skirting the host on the left, +bearing in his talons a blood-red, monstrous snake, still living, yet straightway let it fall before he reached his own nest, neither finished he his course, to bring and give it to his little ones—even so shall we, though we break the gates and the wall of the Achaeans by our great might, and the Achaeans give way, +come back over the selfsame road from the ships in disarray; for many of the Trojans shall we leave behind, whom th Achaeans shall slay with the bronze in defense of the ships. On this wise would a soothsayer interpret, one that in his mind had clear knowledge of omens, and to whom the folk gave ear. + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows spake to him Hector of the flashing helm: + +Polydamas, this that thou sayest is no longer to my pleasure; yea, thou knowest how to devise better words than these. But if thou verily speakest thus in earnest, then of a surety have the gods themselves destroyed thy wits, +seeing thou biddest me forget the counsels of loud-thundering Zeus, that himself promised me and bowed his head thereto. But thou biddest us be obedient to birds long of wing, that I regard not, nor take thought thereof, whether they fare to the right, toward the Dawn and the sun, +or to the left toward the murky darkness. nay, for us, let us be obedient to the counsel of great Zeus, that is king over all mortals and immortals. One omen is best, to fight for one's country. Wherefore dost thou fear war and battle? +For if the rest of us be slain one and all at the ships of the Argives, yet is there no fear that thou shouldest perish,—for thy heart is—not staunch in fight nor warlike. Howbeit, if thou shalt hold aloof from battle, or shalt beguile with thy words an other, and turn him from war, +forthwith smitten by my spear shalt thou lose thy life. + + +So spake he and led the way; and they followed after with a wondrous din; and thereat Zeus, that hurleth the thunderbolt, roused from the mountains of Ida a blast of wind, that bare the dust straight against the ships and he bewildered the mind of the Achaeans, but vouchsafed glory to the Trojans and to Hector. Trusting therefore in his portents and in their might they sought to break the great wall of the Achaeans. The pinnets +563.1 + of the fortifications they dragged down and overthrew the battlements, and pried out the supporting beams that the Achaeans had set +first in the earth as buttresses for the wall. These they sought to drag out, and hoped to break the wall of the Achaeans. Howbeit not even now did the Danaans give ground from the path, but closed up the battlements with bull's-hides, and therefrom cast at the foemen, as they came up against the wall. + +And the two Aiantes ranged everywhere along the walls urging men on, and arousing the might of the Achaeans. One man with gentle words, another with harsh would they chide, whomsoever they saw giving ground utterly from the fight: + +Friends, whoso is pre-eminent among the Danaans, whoso holds a middle place, +or whoso is lesser, for in nowise are all men equal in war, now is there a work for all, and this, I ween, ye know even of yourselves. Let no man turn him back to the ships now that he has heard one that cheers him on; +565.1 + nay, press ye forward, and urge ye one the other, +in hope that Olympian Zeus, lord of the lightning, may grant us to thrust back the assault and drive our foes to the city. + + +So shouted forth the twain, and aroused the battle of the Achaeans. And as flakes of snow fall thick on a winter's day, when Zeus, the counsellor, +bestirreth him to snow, shewing forth to men these arrows of his, and he lulleth the winds and sheddeth the flakes continually, until he hath covered the peaks of the lofty mountains and the high headlands, and the grassy plains, and the rich tillage of men; aye, and over the harbours and shores of the grey sea is the snow strewn, +albeit the wave as it beateth against it keepeth it off, but all things beside are wrapped therein, when the storm of Zeus driveth it on: even so from both sides their stones flew thick, some upon the Trojans, and some from the Trojans upon the Achaeans, as they cast at one another; and over all the wall the din arose. + +Yet not even then would the Trojans and glorious Hector have broken the gates of the wall and the long bar, had not Zeus the counsellor roused his own son, Sarpedon, against the Argives, as a lion against sleek kine. Forthwith he held before him his shield that was well balanced upon every side, +a fair shield of hammered bronze,—that the bronze-smith had hammered out, and had stitched the many bull's-hides within with stitches +565.2 + of gold that ran all about its circuit. This he held before him, and brandished two spears, and so went his way like a mountain-nurtured lion +that hath long lacked meat, and his proud spirit biddeth him go even into the close-built fold to make an attack upon the flocks. For even though he find thereby the herdsmen with dogs and spears keeping watch over the sheep, yet is he not minded to be driven from the steading ere he maketh essay; +but either he leapeth amid the flock and seizeth one, or is himself smitten as a foremost champion by a javelin from a swift hand: even so did his spirit then urge godlike Sarpedon to rush upon the wall, and break-down the battlements. Straightway then he spake to Glaucus, son of Hippolochus: +Glaucus, wherefore is it that we twain are held in honour above all with seats, and messes, and full cups in Lycia, and all men gaze upon us as on gods? Aye, and we possess a great demesne by the banks of Xanthus, a fair tract of orchard and of wheat-bearing plough-land. +Therefore now it behoveth us to take our stand amid the foremost Lycians, and confront the blazing battle that many a one of the mail-clad Lycians may say: + +Verily no inglorious men be these that rule in Lycia, even our kings, they that eat fat sheep +and drink choice wine, honey-sweet: nay, but their might too is goodly, seeing they fight amid the foremost Lycians. Ah friend, if once escaped from this battle we were for ever to be ageless and immortal, neither should I fight myself amid the foremost, +nor should I send thee into battle where men win glory; but now—for in any case fates of death beset us, fates past counting, which no mortal may escape or avoid—now let us go forward, whether we shall give glory to another, or another to us. + + +So spake he, and Glaucus turned not aside, +neither disobeyed him, but the twain went straight forward, leading the great host of the Lycians. At sight of them, Menestheus, son of Peteos, shuddered, for it was to his part of the wall that they came, bearing with them ruin; and he looked in fear along the wall of the Achaeans, in hope that he might see one of the leaders who would ward off bane from his comrades; +and he marked the Aiantes twain, insatiate in war, standing there, and Teucer that was newly come from his hut, close at hand; howbeit it was no wise possible for him to shout so as to be heard of them, so great a din was there, and the noise went up to heaven of smitten shields and helms with crests of horse-hair, +and of the gates, for all had been closed, and before them stood the foe, and sought to break them by force, and enter in. Forthwith then to Aias he sent the herald Thoötes: + +Go, goodly Thoötes, run thou, and call Aias, or rather the twain, for that were far best of all, +seeing that here will utter ruin soon be wrought. Hard upon us here +569.1 + press the leaders of the Lycians, who of old have ever been fierce in mighty conflicts. But if with them too yonder the toil of war and strife have arisen, yet at least let valiant Aias, son of Telamon, come alone, +and let Teucer, that is well skilled with the bow, follow with him. + + +So spake he, and the herald failed not to hearken as he heard, but set him to run beside the wall of the brazen-coated Achaeans, and he came and stood by the Aiantes, and straightway said: + +Ye Aiantes twain, leaders of the brazen-coated Achaeans, +the son of Peteos, nurtured of Zeus, biddeth you go thither, that, though it be but for a little space, ye may confront the toil of war—both of you, if so may be, for that were far best Of all, seeing that yonder will utter ruin soon be wrought. Hard upon them there press the leaders of the Lycians, who of old +have ever been fierce in mighty conflicts. But if here too war and strife have arisen, yet at least let valiant Aias, son of Telamon, go alone, and let Teucer, that is well skilled with the bow, follow with him. + + +So spake he, and great Telamonian Aias failed not to hearken. +Forthwith he spake winged words to the son of Oïleus: + +Aias, do ye twain, thou and strong Lycomedes, stand fast here and urge on the Danaans to fight amain, but I will go thither, and confront the war, and quickly will I come again, when to the full I have borne them aid. + +So saying Telamonian Aias departed, and with him went Teucer, his own brother, begotten of one father, and with them Pandion bare the curved bow of Teucer. Now when, as they passed along within the wall, they reached the post of great-souled Menestheus—and to men hard pressed they came— +the foe were mounting upon the battlements like a dark whirlwind, even the mighty leaders and rulers of the Lycians; and they clashed together in fight, and the battle-cry arose. +Then Aias, son of Telamon, was first to slay his man, even great-souled Epicles, comrade of Sarpedon, +for he smote him with a huge jagged rock, that lay the topmost of all within the wall by the battlements. Not easily with both hands could a man, such as mortals now are, hold it, were he never so young and strong, but Aias lifted it on high and hurled it, and he shattered the four-horned helmet, and crushed together +all the bones of the head of Epicles; and he fell like a diver from the high wall, and his spirit left his bones. And Teucer smote Glaucus, the stalwart son of Hippolochus, as he rushed upon them, with an arrow from the high wall, where he saw his arm uncovered; and he stayed him from fighting. +Back from the wall he leapt secretly, that no man of the Achaeans might mark that he had been smitten, and vaunt over him boastfully. But over Sarpedon came grief at Glaucus' departing, so soon as he was ware thereof, yet even so forgat he not to fight, but smote with a thrust of his spear Alcmaon, son of Thestor, with sure aim, +and again drew forth the spear. And Alcmaon, following the spear, fell headlong, and about him rang his armour, dight with bronze. But Sarpedon with strong hands caught hold of the battlement and tugged, and the whole length of it gave way, and the wall above was laid bare, and he made a path for many. + +But against him came Aias and Teucer at the one moment: Teucer smote him with an arrow on the gleaming baldric of his sheltering shield about his breast, but Zeus warded off the fates from his own son that he should not be laid low at the ships' sterns; and Aias leapt upon him and thrust against his shield, but the spear-point +passed not through, howbeit he made him reel in his onset. So he gave ground a little space from the battlement, yet withdrew not wholly, for his spirit hoped to win him glory. And he wheeled about, and called to the godlike Lycians: + +Ye Lycians, wherefore are ye thus slack in furious valour? +Hard is it for me, how mighty so ever I be, alone to breach the wall, and make a path to the ships. Nay, have at them with me; the more men the better work. + + +So spake he; and they, seized with fear of the rebuke of their king, pressed on the more around about their counsellor and king, +and the Argives over against them made strong their battalions within the wall; and before them was set a mighty work. For neither could the mighty Lycians break the wall of the Danaans, and make a path to the ships, nor ever could the Danaan spearmen thrust back the Lycians +from the walI, when once they had drawn nigh thereto. But as two men with measuring-rods in hand strive about the landmark-stones in a common field, and in a narrow space contend each for his equal share; even so did the battlements hold these apart, and over them +they smote the bull's-hide bucklers about one another's breasts, the round shields and fluttering targets. And many were wounded in the flesh by thrusts of the pitiless bronze, both whensoever any turned and his back was left bare, as they fought, and many clean through the very shield. +Yea, everywhere the walls and battlements were spattered with blood of men from both sides, from Trojans and Achaeams alike. Howbeit even so they could not put the Achaeans to rout, but they held their ground, as a careful woman that laboureth with her hands at spinning, holdeth the balance and raiseth the weight and the wool in either scale, making them equal, +that she may win a meagre wage for her children; so evenly was strained their war and battle, until Zeus vouchsafed the glory of victory to Hector, son of Priam, that was first to leap within the wall of the Achaeans he uttered a piercing shout, calling aloud to the Trojans: +Rouse you horse-taming Trojans, break the wall of the Argives, and fling among the ships wondrous-blazing fire. + + +So spake he, urging them on, and they all heard with their ears, and rushed straight upon the wall in one mass, and with sharp spears in their hands mounted upon the pinnets. +And Hector grasped and bore a stone that lay before the gate, thick at the base, but sharp at the point; not easily might two men, the mightiest of the folk, have upheaved it from the ground upon a wain—men, such as mortals now are—yet lightly did he wield it even alone; +and the son of crooked-counselling Cronos made it light for him. And as when a shepherd easily beareth the fleece of a ram, taking it in one hand, and but little doth the weight thereof burden him; even so Hector lifted up the stone and bare it straight against the doors that guarded the close and strongly fitted gates— +double gates they were, and high, and two cross bars held them within, and a single bolt fastened them. He came and stood hard by, and planting himself smote them full in the midst, setting his feet well apart that his cast might lack no strength; and he brake off both the hinges, and the stone fell within by its own weight, +and loudly groaned the gates on either side, nor did the bars hold fast, but the doors were dashed apart this way and that beneath the onrush of the stone. And glorious Hector leapt within, his face like sudden night; and he shone in terrible bronze wherewith his body was clothed about, and in his hands +he held two spears. None that met him could have held him back, none save the gods, when once he leapt within the gates; and his two eyes blazed with fire. And he wheeled him about in the throng, and called to the Trojans to climb over the wall; and they hearkened to his urging. Forthwith some clomb over the wall, and others poured in +by the strong-built gate, and the Danaans were driven in rout among the hollow ships, and a ceaseless din arose. +Now Zeus, when he had brought the Trojans and Hector to the ships, left the combatants there to have toil and woe unceasingly, but himself turned away his bright eyes, and looked afar, upon the land of the Thracian horsemen, +and of the Mysians that fight in close combat, and of the lordly Hippemolgi that drink the milk of mares, and of the Abii, the most righteous of men. To Troy he no longer in any wise turned his bright eyes, for he deemed not in his heart that any of the immortals would draw nigh to aid either Trojans or Danaans. + +But the lord, the Shaker of Earth, kept no blind watch, for he sat marvelling at the war and the battle, high on the topmost peak of wooded Samothrace, for from thence all Ida was plain to see; and plain to see were the city of Priam, and the ships of the Achaeans. +There he sat, being come forth from the sea, and he had pity on the Achaeans that they were overcome by the Trojans, and against Zeus was he mightily wroth. +Forthwith then he went down from the rugged mount, striding forth with swift footsteps, and the high mountains trembled and the woodland beneath the immortal feet of Poseidon as he went. +Thrice he strode in his course, and with the fourth stride he reached his goal, even Aegae, where was his famous palace builded in the depths of the mere, golden and gleaming, imperishable for ever. Thither came he, and let harness beneath his car his two bronze hooved horses, swift of flight, with flowing manes of gold; +and with gold he clad himself about his body, and grasped the well-wrought whip of gold, and stepped upon his car, and set out to drive over the waves. Then gambolled the sea-beasts beneath him on every side from out the deeps, for well they knew their lord, and in gladness the sea parted before him; +right swiftly sped they on, and the axle of bronze was not wetted beneath; and unto the ships of the Achaeans did the prancing steeds bear their lord. + + +There is a wide cavern in the depths of the deep mere, midway between Tenedos and rugged Imbros. There Poseidon,the Shaker of Earth, stayed his horses, +and loosed them from the car, and cast before them food ambrosial to graze upon, and about their feet he put hobbles of gold, neither to be broken nor loosed, that they might abide fast where they were against the return of their lord; and himself he went to the host of the Achaeans. +But the Trojans, all in one body, like flame or tempest-blast were following furiously after +Hector, son of Priam, with loud shouts and cries, and they deemed that they would take the ships of the Achaeans, and slay thereby all the bravest. Howbeit Poseidon, the Enfolder and Shaker of Earth, set him to urge on the Argives, when he had come forth from the deep sea, +in the likeness of Calchas, both in form and untiring voice. To the two Aiantes spake he first, that were of themselves full eager: + +Ye Aiantes twain, ye two shall save the host of the Achaeans, if ye are mindful of your might, and think not of chill rout. Not otherwhere do I dread the invincible hands +of the Trojans that have climbed over the great wall in their multitude, for the well-greaved Achaeans will hold back all; nay it is here that I have wondrous dread lest some evil befall us, here where yon madman is leading on like a flame of fire, even Hector, that boasts him to be a son of mighty Zeus. +But in the hearts of you twain may some god put it, here to stand firm yourselves, and to bid others do the like; so might ye drive him back from the swift-faring ships, despite his eagerness, aye, even though the Olympian himself be urging him on. + + +Therewith the Enfolder and Shaker of Earth +smote the twain with his staff, and filled them with valorous strength and made their limbs light, their feet and their hands above. And himself, even as a hawk, swift of flight, speedeth forth to fly, and poising himself aloft above a high sheer rock, darteth over the plain to chase some other bird; +even so from them sped Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth. And of the twain swift Aias, son of Oïleus, was first to mark the god, and forthwith spake to Aias, son of Telamon: + +Aias, seeing it is one of the gods who hold Olympus that in the likeness of the seer biddeth the two of us fight beside the ships— +not Calchas is he, the prophet, and reader of omens, for easily did I know the tokens behind him of feet and of legs as he went from us; and plain to be known are the gods —lo, mine own heart also within my breast is the more eager to war and do battle, +and my feet beneath and my hands above are full fain. + + +Then in answer spake to him Telamonian Aias: + +Even so too mine own hands invincible are fain now to grasp the spear, and my might is roused, and both my feet are swift beneath me; and I am eager to meet even in single fight +Hector, Priam's son, that rageth incessantly. + + +On this wise spake they one to the other, rejoicing in the fury of fight which the god put in their hearts; and meanwhile the Enfolder of Earth roused the Achaeans that were in the rear beside the swift ships, and were refreshing their hearts. +Their limbs were loosed by their grievous toil and therewithal sorrow waxed in their hearts, as they beheld the Trojans that had climbed over the great wall in their multitude. Aye, as they looked upon these they let tears fall from beneath their brows, for they deemed not that they should escape from ruin. But the Shaker of Earth, +lightly passing among them, aroused their strong battalions. To Teucer first he came and to Leïtus, to bid them on, and to the warrior Peneleos, and Thoas and Deïpyrus, and Meriones and Antilochus, masters of the war-cry; to these he spake, spurring them on with winged words: +Shame, ye Argives, mere striplings! It was in your fighting that I trusted for the saving of our ships; but if ye are to flinch from grievous war, then of a surety hath the day now dawned for us to be vanquished beneath the Trojans. Out upon it! Verily a great marvel is this that mine eyes behold, +a dread thing that I deemed should never be brought to pass: the Trojans are making way against our ships, they that heretofore were like panic-stricken hinds that in the woodland become the prey of jackals and pards and wolves, as they wander vainly in their cowardice, nor is there any fight in them. +Even so the Trojans aforetime had never the heart to abide and face the might and the hands of the Achaeans, no not for a moment. But lo, now far from the city they are fighting at the hollow ships because of the baseness of our leader and the slackness of the folk, that, being at strife with him, have no heart to defend +the swift-faring ships, but are slain in the midst of them. But if in very truth the warrior son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon, is the cause of all, for that he wrought dishonour on the swift-footed son of Peleus, yet may we in no wise prove slack in war. +Nay, let us atone for the fault with speed: the hearts of good men admit of atonement. +11.1 + But it is no longer well that ye are slack in furious valour, all ye that are the best men in the host. Myself I would not quarrel with one that was slack in war, so he were but a sorry wight, but with you I am exceeding wroth at heart. +Ye weaklings, soon ye shall cause yet greater evil by this slackness. Nay, take in your hearts, each man of you, shame and indignation; for in good sooth mighty is the conflict that has arisen. Hector, good at the war-cry, is fighting at the ships, strong in his might, and hath broken the gates and the long bar. + +Thus did the Earth-enfolder arouse the Achaeans with his word of command, and round about the twain Aiantes their battalions took their stand, so strong in might, that not Ares might have entered in and made light of them, nor yet Athene, the rouser of hosts; for they that were the chosen bravest abode the onset of the Trojans and goodly Hector, +fencing spear with spear, and shield with serried +13.1 + shield; buckler pressed on buckler, helm on helm, and man on man; and the horse-hair crests on the bright helmet-ridges touched each other, as the men moved their heads, in such close array stood they one by another, and spears in stout hands overlapped +13.2 + each other, as they were brandished, +and their minds swerved not, but they were fain to fight. +Then the Trojans drave forward in close throng and Hector led them, pressing ever forward, like a boulder from a cliff that a river swollen by winter rains thrusteth from the brow of a hill, when it has burst with its wondrous flood the foundations of the ruthless stone; +high aloft it leapeth, as it flies, and the woods resound beneath it, and it speedeth on its course and is not stayed until it reacheth the level plain, but then it rolleth no more for all its eagerness; even so Hector for a time threatened lightly to make his way even to the sea through the huts and ships of the Achaeans, +slaying as he went, but when he encountered the close-set battalions, then was he stayed, as he drew close against them. And the sons of the Achaeans faced him, thrusting with swords and two-edged spears, and drave him back from them, so that he gave ground and was made to reel. Then he uttered a piercing shout, calling aloud to the Trojans: +Ye Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians that fight in close combat, stand ye fast. No long space shall the Achaeans hold me back, for all they have arrayed themselves in fashion like a wall; nay, methinks, they will give ground before my spear, if verily the highest of gods hath urged me on, the loud-thundering lord of Hera. + +So saying, he aroused the strength and spirit of every man. Then among them with high heart strode Deïphobus, son of Priam, and before him he held his shield that was well-balanced upon every side, stepping forward lightly on his feet and advancing under cover of his shield. And Meriones aimed at him with his bright spear, +and cast, and missed not, but smote the shield of bull's hide, that was well balanced upon every side, yet drave not in any wise therethrough; nay, well ere that might be, the long spear-shaft was broken in the socket; and Deïphobus held from him the shield of bull's hide, and his heart was seized with fear +of the spear of wise-hearted Meriones; but that warrior shrank back into the throng of his comrades, and waxed wondrous wroth both for the loss of victory and for the spear which he had shattered. And he set out to go along the huts and ships of the Achaeans to fetch him a long spear that he had left in his hut. +But the rest fought on, and a cry unquenchable arose. +And Teucer, son of Telamon, was first to slay his man, even the spearman Imbrius, the son of Mentor, rich in horses. He dwelt in Pedaeum before the sons of the Achaeans came, and had to wife a daughter of Priam that was born out of wedlock, even Medesicaste; but when the curved ships of the Danaans came +he returned back to Ilios and was pre-eminent among the Trojans, and he dwelt in the house of Priam, who held him in like honour with his own children. Him did the son of Telamon smite beneath the ear with a thrust of his long spear, and again drew forth the spear; and he fell like an ash-tree that, on the summit of a mountain that is seen from afar on every side, +is cut down by the bronze, and bringeth its tender leafage to the ground; even so fell he, and about him rang his armour dight with bronze. And Teucer rushed forth eager to strip from him his armour, but Hector, even as he rushed, cast at him with his bright spear. Howbeit Teucer, looking steadily at him, avoided the spear of bronze by a little, +but Hector smote Amphimachus, son of Cteatus, the son of Actor, in the breast with his spear as he was coming into the battle; and he fell with a thud, and upon him his armour clanged. Then Hector rushed forth to tear from the head of great-hearted Amphimachus the helm that was fitted to his temples, +but Aias lunged with his bright spear at Hector as he rushed, yet in no wise reached he his flesh, for he was all clad in dread bronze; but he smote the boss of his shield, and thrust him back with mighty strength, so that he gave ground backward from the two corpses, and the Achaeans drew them off. + +Amphimachus then did Stichius and goodly Menestheus, leaders of the Athenians, carry to the host of the Achaeans, and Imbrius the twain Aiantes bare away, their hearts fierce with furious valour. And as when two lions that have snatched away a goat from sharp-toothed hounds, bear it through the thick brush, +holding it in their jaws high above the ground, even so the twain warrior Aiantes held Imbrius on high, and stripped him of his armour. And the head did the son of Oïleus cut from the tender neck, being wroth for the slaying of Amphimachus, and with a swing he sent it rolling through the throng like a ball; +and it fell in the dust before the feet of Hector. +Then verily Poseidon waxed mightily wroth at heart when his son's son fell in the dread conflict, and he went his way along the huts and ships of the Achaeans to arouse the Danaans; but for the Trojans was he fashioning woes. +And there met him Idomeneus, famed for his spear, on his way from a comrade that he had but now found coming from the battle smitten in the knee with the sharp bronze. Him his comrades bare forth, but Idomeneus had given charge to the leeches, and was going to his hut, for he was still fain to confront the battle; +and the lord, the Shaker of Earth, spake to him, likening his voice to that of Andraemon's son Thoas, that in all Pleuron and steep Calydon was lord over the Aetolians, and was honoured of the folk even as a god: + +Idomeneus, thou counsellor of the Cretans, where now I pray thee, +are the threats gone, wherewith the sons of the Achaeans threatened the Trojans? + + +And to him Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, made answer: + +O Thoas, there is no man now at fault, so far as I wot thereof; for we are all skilled in war. Neither is any man holden of craven error, +nor doth any through dread withdraw him from evil war, but even thus, I ween, must it be the good pleasure of the son of Cronos, supreme in might, that the Achaeans should perish here far from Argos, and have no name. But, Thoas, seeing that aforetime thou wast ever staunch in fight, and dost also urge on another, wheresoever thou seest one shrinking from fight, +therefore now cease thou not, but call to every man. + + +And Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, answered him: + +Idomeneus, never may that man any more return home from Troy-land, but here may he become the sport of dogs, whoso in this day's course of his own will shrinketh from fight. +Up then, take thine harness and get thee forth: herein beseems it that we play the man together, in hope there may be help in us, though we be but two. Prowess comes from fellowship even of right sorry folk, but we twain know well how to do battle even with men of valour. + + +So spake he, and went back again, a god into the toil of men; +and Idomeneus, as soon as he was come to his well-built hut, did on his fair armour about his body, and grasped two spears, and went his way like the lightning that the son of Cronos seizeth in his hand and brandisheth from gleaming Olympus, showing forth a sign to mortals, and brightly flash the rays thereof; +even so shone the bronze about his breast as he ran. And Meriones, his valiant squire, met him, while yet he was near the hut; for he was on his way to fetch him a spear of bronze; and mighty Idomeneus spake to him: + +Meriones, Molus' son, swift of foot, thou dearest of my comrades, +wherefore art thou come, leaving the war and battle? Art thou haply wounded, and doth the point of a dart distress thee? Or art thou come after me on some message? Nay, of mine own self am I fain, not to abide in the huts, but to fight. + + +To him again the wise Meriones made answer: +Idomeneus, counsellor of the brazen-coated Cretans, I am on my way to fetch a spear, if perchance thou hast one left in the huts; for the one that I bare of old have I shattered, as I cast at the shield of the overweening Deïphobus. + + +And to him Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, made answer: +Spears, if thou wilt, thou shalt find, be it one or twenty, standing in the hut against the bright entrance wall, spears of the Trojans whereof it is my wont to despoil their slain. For I am not minded to fight with the foemen while standing afar off; wherefore I have spears and bossed shields, +and helms, and corselets gleaming bright. + + +Then to him the wise Meriones made answer: + +Aye, in mine own hut also and my black ship are many spoils of the Trojans, but I have them not at hand to take thereof. For I deem that I too am not forgetful of valour, +but I take my stand amid the foremost in battle, where men win glory, whenso the strife of war ariseth. Some other of the brazen-coated Achaeans might sooner be unaware of my fighting, but thou methinks of thine own self knowest it well. + + +And to him Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, made answer: +I know what manner of man thou art in valour; what need hast thou to tell the tale thereof? For if now all the best of us were being told off besides the ships for an ambush, wherein the valour of men is best discerned—there the coward cometh to light and the man of valour; for the colour of the coward changeth ever to another hue, +nor is the spirit in his breast stayed that he should abide steadfast, but he shifteth from knee to knee and resteth on either foot, and his heart beats loudly in his breast as he bodeth death, and the teeth chatter in his mouth; but the colour of the brave man changeth not, +neither feareth he overmuch when once he taketh his place in the ambush of warriors, but he prayeth to mingle forthwith in woeful war— not even in such case, I say, would any man make light of thy courage or the strength of thy hands. For if so be thou wert stricken by a dart in the toil of battle, or smitten with a thrust, not from behind in neck or back would the missile fall; +nay, but on thy breast would it light or on thy belly, as thou wert pressing on into the dalliance of the foremost fighters. But come, no longer let us loiter here and talk thus like children, lest haply some man wax wroth beyond measure; nay, but go thou to the hut, and get thee a mighty spear. + +So spake he, and Meriones, the peer of swift Ares, speedily took from the hut a spear of bronze, and followed Idomeneus with high thought of battle. And even as Ares, the bane of mortals, goeth forth to war, and with him followeth Rout, his son, valiant alike and fearless, +that turneth to flight a warrior, were he never so staunch of heart—these twain arm themselves and go forth from Thrace to join the Ephyri or the great-hearted Phlegyes, yet they hearken not to both sides, but give glory to one or the other; even in such wise did Meriones and Idomeneus, leaders of men, +go forth into the fight, harnessed in flaming bronze. And Meriones spake first to Idomeneus, saying: + +Son of Deucalion, at what point art thou eager to enter the throng? On the right of all the host, or in the centre, or shall it be on the left? For verily, methinks, in no other place +do the long-haired Achaeans so fail in the fight. + + +And to him again Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, made answer: + +Among the midmost ships there be others for defence, the two Aiantes, and Teucer, best of all the Achaeans in bowmanship, +and a good man too in close fight; these shall drive Hector, Priam's son, to surfeit of war, despite his eagerness, be he never so stalwart. Hard shall it be for him, how furious soever for war, to overcome their might and their invincible hands, and to fire the ships, unless the son of Cronos should himself +cast a blazing brand upon the swift ships. But to no man would great Telamonian Aias yield, to any man that is mortal, and eateth the grain of Demeter, and may be cloven with the bronze or crushed with great stones. Nay, not even to Achilles, breaker of the ranks of men, +would he give way, in close fight at least; but in fleetness of foot may no man vie with Achilles. But for us twain, do thou, even as thou sayest,make for the left of the host, that we may know forthwith whether we shall give glory to another or another to us. + + +So spake he, and Meriones, the peer of swift Ares, led the way until they came to the host, at the point whither Idomeneus bade him go. + +Now when the Trojans had sight of Idomeneus, in might as it were a flame, himself and his squire clad in armour richly dight, they called one to another through the throng, and all made at him; and by the sterns of the ships arose a strife of men clashing together. And as gusts come thick and fast when shrill winds are blowing, +on a day when dust lies thickest on the roads, and the winds raise up confusedly a great cloud of dust; even so their battle clashed together, and they were eager in the throng to slay one another with the sharp bronze. And the battle, that brings death to mortals, bristled with long spears +which they held for the rending of flesh, and eyes were blinded by the blaze of bronze from gleaming helmets, and corselets newly burnished, and shining shields, as men came on confusedly. Sturdy in sooth would he have been of heart that took joy at sight of such toil of war, and grieved not. + +Thus were the two mighty sons of Cronos, divided in purpose, fashioning grievous woes for mortal warriors. Zeus would have victory for the Trojans and Hector, so giving glory to Achilles, swift of foot; yet was he in no wise minded that the Achaean host should perish utterly before the face of Ilios, +but was fain only to give glory to Thetis and to her son, strong of heart. But Poseidon went among the Argives and urged them on, stealing forth secretly from the grey sea; for it vexed him that they were being overcome by the Trojans, and against Zeus was he exceeding wroth. Both the twain verily were of one stock and of one parentage, +but Zeus was the elder born and the wiser. Therefore it was that Poseidon avoided to give open aid, but secretly sought ever to rouse the Argives throughout the host, in the likeness of a man. So these twain knotted the ends of the cords +29.1 + of mighty strife and evil war, and drew them taut over both armies, +a knot none might break nor undo, that loosed the knees of many men. + + +Then Idomeneus, albeit his hair was flecked with grey, called to the Danaans, and leaping amid the Trojans turned them to flight. For he slew Othryoneus of Cabesus, a sojourner in Troy, that was but newly come following the rumour of war; +and he asked in marriage the comeliest of the daughters of Priam, even Cassandra; he brought no gifts of wooing, but promised a mighty deed, that he would drive forth perforce out of Troy-land the sons of Achaeans. To him the old man Priam promised that he would give her, and bowed his head thereto, and Othryoneus fought, trusting in his promise. +But Idomeneus aimed at him with his bright spear, and cast and smote him as he strode proudly on, nor did the corselet of bronze that he wore avail him, but the spear was fixed full in his belly, and he fell with a thud and Idomeneus exulted over him and spake, saying: + +Othryoneus, verily above all mortal men do I count thee happy, +if in good sooth thou shalt accomplish all that thou didst promise to Dardanian Priam; and he promised thee his own daughter. Aye, and we too would promise the like and would bring all to pass, and would give thee the comeliest of the daughters of the son of Atreus, bringing her forth from Argos that thou mightest wed her; +if only thou wilt make cause with us and sack the well-peopled city of Ilios. Nay, follow with us, that at the seafaring ships we may make agreement about the marriage, for thou mayest be sure we deal not hardly in exacting gifts of wooing. + + +So saying, the warrior Idomeneus dragged him by the foot through the mighty conflict. But Asius came to bear aid to Othryoneus, +on foot in front of his horses; and these twain the squire that was his charioteer ever drave so that their breath smote upon the shoulders of Asius. And he was ever fain of heart to cast at Idomeneus; but the other was too quick for him, and smote him with a cast of his spear on the throat beneath the chin, and drave the bronze clean through. And he fell as an oak falls, or a poplar, +or a tall pine that among the mountains shipwrights fell with whetted axes to be a ship's timber; even so before his horses and chariot Asius lay out-stretched, moaning aloud and clutching at the bloody dust. And the charioteer, stricken with terror, kept not the wits that afore he had, +neither dared turn the horses back and so escape from out the hands of the foemen; but Antilochus, staunch in fight, aimed at him, and pierced him through the middle with his spear, nor did the corselet of bronze that he wore avail him, but he fixed the spear full in his belly. And gasping he fell from out his well-built car, +and the horses Antilochus, son of great-souled Nestor, drave forth from the Trojans into the host of the well-greaved Achaeans. + + +Then Deïphobus in sore grief for Asius drew very nigh to Idomeneus, and cast at him with his bright spear. Howbeit Idomeneus, looking steadily at him, avoided the spear of bronze, +for he hid beneath the cover of his shield that was well-balanced upon every side, the which he was wont to bear, cunningly wrought with bull's hide and gleaming bronze, and fitted with two rods; +33.1 + beneath this he gathered himself together, and the spear of bronze flew over; and harshly rang his shield, as the spear grazed thereon. +Yet nowise in vain did Deïphobus let the spear fly from his heavy hand, but he smote Hypsenor, son of Hippasus, shepherd of the people, in the liver beneath the midriff, and straightway loosed his knees. And Deïphobus exulted over him in terrible wise, and cried aloud: + +Hah, in good sooth not unavenged lies Asius; nay, methinks, +even as he fareth to the house of Hades, the strong warder, will he be glad at heart, for lo, I have given him one to escort him on his way! + + +So spake he, and upon the Argives came sorrow by reason of his exulting, and beyond all did he stir the soul of wise-hearted Antilochus; howbeit, despite his sorrow, he was not unmindful of his dear comrade, +but ran and bestrode him, and covered him +1 + with his shield. Then two trusty comrades stooped down, even Mecisteus, son of Echius, and goodly Alastor, and bare Hypsenor, groaning heavily, to the hollow ships. + + +And Idomeneus slackened not in his furious might, but was ever fain +to enwrap some one of the Trojans in the darkness of night, or himself to fall in warding off ruin from the Achaeans. Then the dear son of Aesyetes, fostered of Zeus, the warrior Alcathous—son by marriage was he to Anchises, and had married the eldest of his daughters, Hippodameia, +whom her father and queenly mother heartily loved in their hall, for that she excelled all maidens of her years in comeliness, and in handiwork, and in wisdom; wherefore the best man in wide Troy had taken her to wife—this Alcathous did Poseidon subdue beneath Idomeneus, +for he cast a spell upon his bright eyes and ensnared his glorious limbs that he might nowise flee backwards nor avoid the spear; but as he stood fixed, even as a pillar or a tree, high and leafy, the warrior Idomeneus smote him with a thrust of his spear full upon the breast, +and clave his coat of bronze round about him, that aforetime ever warded death from his body, but now it rang harshly as it was cloven about the spear. And he fell with a thud, and the spear was fixed in his heart, that still beating made the butt thereof to quiver; howbeit, there at length did mighty Ares stay its fury. +But Idomeneus exulted over him in terrible wise, and cried aloud: + +Deïphobus, shall we now deem perchance that due requital hath been made—three men slain for one—seeing thou boasteth thus? Nay, good sir, but stand forth thyself and face me, that thou mayest know what manner of son of Zeus am I that am come hither. +For Zeus at the first begat Minos to be a watcher over Crete, and Minos again got him a son, even the peerless Deucalion, and Deucalion begat me, a lord over many men in wide Crete; and now have the ships brought me hither a bane to thee and thy father and the other Trojans. + +So spake he, and Deïphobus was divided in counsel, whether he should give ground and take to him as comrade some one of the great-souled Trojans, or should make trial by himself alone. And as he pondered this thing seemed to him the better—to go after Aeneas; and he found him standing last amid the throng, +for ever was Aeneas wroth against goodly Priam, for that brave though he was amid warriors Priam honoured him not a whit. +37.1 + Then Deïphobus drew near and spake to him winged words: + +Aeneas, counsellor of the Trojans, now in sooth it behoveth thee to bear aid to thy sister's husband, if in any wise grief for thy kin cometh upon thee. +Nay, come thou with me, that we may bear aid to Alcathous, who, for all he was but thy sister's husband, reared thee in the halls when thou wast yet a little child; he, I tell thee, hath been slain of Idomeneus, famed for his spear. + + +So spake he, and roused the heart in the breast of Aeneas, and he went to seek Idomeneus, with high thoughts of war. +Howbeit terror gat not hold of Idomeneus, as he had been some petted boy, but he abode like a boar in the mountains, that trusteth in his strength, and abideth the great, tumultuous throng of men that cometh against him, in a lonely place; he bristleth up his back and his two eyes blaze with fire, +and he whetteth his tusks, eager to ward off dogs and men; even so Idomeneus, famed for his spear, abode the oncoming of Aeneas to bear aid, and gave not ground, but called to his comrades, looking unto Ascalaphus, Aphareus, and Deïpyrus, and Meriones, and Antilochus, masters of the war-cry; +to these he spake winged words, and spurred them on: + +Hither, friends, and bear aid to me that am alone, and sorely do I dread the oncoming of Aeneas, swift of foot, that cometh against me; right strong is he to slay men in battle, and he hath the flower of youth, wherein is the fulness of strength. +Were we but of like age and our mood such as now it is, then forthwith should he win great victory, or haply I. + + +So spake he, and they all, having one spirit in their breasts, took their stand, each hard by the other, leaning their shields against their shoulders. And Aeneas over against them called to his comrades, +looking unto Deïphobus, and Paris, and goodly Agenor, that with himself were leaders of the Trojans; and after them followed the host, as sheep follow after the ram to water from the place of feeding, and the shepherd joyeth in his heart; even so the heart of Aeneas was glad in his breast, +when he saw the throng of the host that followed after him. +Then over Alcathous they clashed in close fight with their long spears, and about their breasts the bronze rang terribly as they aimed each at the other in the throng; and above all the rest two men of valour, +Aeneas and Idomeneus, peers of Ares, were eager each to cleave the other's flesh with the pitiless bronze. And Aeneas first cast at Idomeneus, but he, looking steadily at him, avoided the spear of bronze, and the lance of Aeneas sank quivering down in to the earth, +for that it sped in vain from his mighty hand. But Idomeneus cast and smote Oenomaus, full upon the belly, and brake the plate of his corselet, and the bronze let forth the bowels therethrough; and he fell in the dust and clutched the earth in his palm. And Idomeneus drew forth from out the corpse the far-shadowing spear, +yet could he not prevail likewise to strip the rest of the fair armour from his shoulders, since he was sore pressed with missiles. For the joints of his feet were not firm as of old in a charge, that he might rush forth after his own cast, or avoid another's. Wherefore in close fight he warded off the pitiless day of doom, +but in flight his feet no longer bare him swiftly from the war. And as he drew back step by step Deïphobus cast at him with his shining spear, for verily he ever cherished a ceaseless hate against him. Howbeit this time again he missed him, and smote with his spear Ascalaphus, son of Enyalius, and through the shoulder the mighty spear held its way; +and he fell in the dust and clutched the ground with his palm. But as yet loud-voiced dread Ares wist not at all that his son had fallen in the mighty conflict; but he sat on the topmost peak of Olympus beneath the golden clouds, constrained by the will of Zeus, +where also were the other immortal gods, being held aloof from the war. + + +Then over Ascalaphus they clashed in close fight, and Deïphobus tore from Ascalaphus his shining helm, but Meriones, the peer of swift Ares, leapt upon Deïphobus and smote his arm with his spear, +and from his hand the crested helm fell to the ground with a clang. And Meriones sprang forth again like a vulture, and drew forth the mighty spear from the upper arm of Deïphobus, and shrank back in the throng of his comrades. But Polites, the own brother of Deïphobus, stretched his arms around his waist, +and led him forth from out the dolorous war, until he came to the swift horses that stood waiting for him at the rear of the battle and the conflict with their charioteer and chariot richly dight. These bare him to the city groaning heavily and sore distressed and down ran the blood from his newly wounded arm. + +But the rest fought on, and a cry unquenchable arose. Then Aeneas leapt upon Aphareus, son of Caletor, that was turned toward him, and struck him on the throat with his sharp spear, and his head sank to one side, and his shield was hurled upon him and his helm withal, and death that slayeth the spirit encompassed him. +Then Antilochus, biding his time, leapt upon Thoön, as he turned his back, and smote him with a thrust, and wholly severed the vein that runneth along the back continually until it reacheth the neck; this he severed wholly, and Thoön fell on his back in the dust, stretching out both his hands to his dear comrades. +But Antilochus leapt upon him and set him to strip the armour from off his shoulders, looking warily around the while; for the Trojans encircled him and thrust from this side and from that upon his broad, shining shield; howbeit they prevailed not to pierce through and graze the tender flesh of Antilochus with the pitiless bronze; for mightily did Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, +guard Nestor's son, even in the midst of many darts. For never aloof from the foe was Antilochus, but he ranged among them, nor ever was his spear at rest, but was ceaselessly brandished and shaken; and he ever aimed in heart to cast at some foeman, or rush upon him in close fight. + +But as he was aiming amid the throng he was not unmarked of Adamas, son of Asius, who smote him full upon the shield with a thrust of the sharp bronze, setting upon him from nigh at hand. But the spear-point was made of none avail by Poseidon, the dark-haired god, +who begrudged it the life of Antilochus. And the one part of the spear abode here, like a charred stake, in the shield of Antilochus, and half lay on the ground; and Adamas shrank back into the throng of his comrades, avoiding fate. But Meriones followed after him as he went and cast with his spear, and smote him midway between the privy parts and the navel, where most of all Ares is cruel to wretched mortals. +Even there he fixed his spear, and the other, leaning over +43.1 + the shaft which pierced him, writhed as a bull that herdsmen amid the mountains have bound with twisted withes and drag with them perforce; even so he, when he was smitten, writhed a little while, but not long, till the warrior Meriones came near and drew the spear forth from out his flesh; +and darkness enfolded his eyes. +Then in close fight Helenus smote Deïpyrus on the temple with a great Thracian sword, and tore away his helm, and the helm, dashed from his head, fell to the ground, and one of the Achaeans gathered it up as it rolled amid the feet of the fighters; +and down upon the eyes of Deïpyrus came the darkness of night, and enfolded him. +But the son of Atreus was seized with grief thereat, even Menelaus, good at the war-cry, and he strode forth with a threat against the prince, the warrior Helenus, brandishing his sharp spear, while the other drew the centre-piece of his bow. So the twain at the one moment let fly, +the one with his sharp spear, and the other with an arrow from the string. Then the son of Priam smote Menelaus on the breast with his arrow, on the plate of his corselet, and off therefrom glanced the bitter arrow. And as from a broad shovel in a great threshing-floor the dark-skinned beans or pulse +leap before the shrill wind and the might of the winnower; even so from the corselet of glorious Menelaus glanced aside the bitter arrow and sped afar. But the son of Atreus, Menelaus, good at the war-cry, cast, and smote Helenus on the hand wherewith he was holding the polished bow, and into the bow +clean through the hand was driven the spear of bronze. Then back he shrank into the throng of his comrades, avoiding fate, letting his hand hang down by his side; and the ashen spear trailed after him. This then great-souled Agenor drew forth from his hand, and bound the hand with a strip of twisted sheep's wool, +even a sling +47.1 + that his squire carried for him, the shepherd of the host. + + +But Peisander made straight at glorious Menelaus; howbeit an evil fate was leading him to the end of death, to be slain by thee, Menelaus, in the dread conflict. And when they were come near, as they advanced one against the other, +the son of Atreus missed, and his spear was turned aside; but Peisander thrust and smote the shield of glorious Menelaus, yet availed not to drive the bronze clean through, for the wide shield stayed it and the spear brake in the socket; yet had he joy at heart, and hope for victory. +But the son of Atreus drew his silver-studded sword, and leapt upon Peisander; and he from beneath his shield grasped a goodly axe of fine bronze, set on a haft of olive-wood, long and well-polished; and at the one moment they set each upon the other. Peisander verily smote Menelaus upon the horn of his helmet with crest of horse-hair +—on the topmost part beneath the very plume; but Menelaus smote him as he came against him, on the forehead above the base of the nose; and the bones crashed loudly, and the two eyeballs, all bloody, fell before his feet in the dust, and he bowed and fell; and Menelaus set his foot upon his breast, and despoiled him of his arms, and exulted, saying: +ln such wise of a surety shall ye leave the ships of the Danaans, drivers of swift horses, ye overweening Trojans, insatiate of the dread din of battle. Aye, and of other despite and shame lack ye naught, wherewith ye have done despite unto me, ye evil dogs, +49.1 + and had no fear at heart of the grievous wrath of Zeus, that thundereth aloud, the god of hospitality, +who shall some day destroy your high city. For ye bare forth wantonly over sea my wedded wife and therewithal much treasure, when it was with her that ye had found entertainment; and now again ye are full fain to fling consuming fire on the sea-faring ships, and to slay the Achaean warriors. +Nay, but ye shall be stayed from your fighting, how eager soever ye be! Father Zeus, in sooth men say that in wisdom thou art above all others, both men and gods, yet it is from thee that all these things come; in such wise now dost thou shew favour to men of wantonness, even the Trojans, whose might is always froward, +nor can they ever have their fill of the din of evil war. Of all things is there satiety, of sleep, and love, and of sweet song, and the goodly dance; of these things verily a man would rather have his fill than of war; but the Trojans are insatiate of battle. + +With this peerless Menelaus stripped from the body the bloody armour and gave it to his comrades, and himself went back again, and mingled with the foremost fighters. +Then there leapt forth against him the son of king Pylaemenes, even Harpalion, that followed his dear father to Troy unto the war, +but came not back again to his dear native land. He then thrust with his spear full upon the shield of the son of Atreus, from nigh at hand, yet availed not to drive the bronze clean through, and back he shrank into the throng of his comrades, avoiding fate, glancing warily on every side, lest some man should wound his flesh with the bronze. +But as he drew back, Meriones let fly at him a bronze-tipped arrow, and smote him on the right buttock, and the arrow passed clean through even to the bladder beneath the bone. And sitting down where he was in the arms of his dear comrades he breathed forth his life, and lay stretched out like a worm on the earth; +and the black blood flowed forth and wetted the ground. Him the great-hearted Paphlagonians tended, and setting him in a chariot they bare him to sacred Ilios, sorrowing the while, and with them went his father, +51.1 + shedding tears; but there was no blood-price gotten for his dead son. + +And for his slaying waxed Paris mightily wroth at heart, for among the many Paphlagonians Harpalion had been his host; and in wrath for his sake he let fly a bronze-tipped arrow. A certain Euchenor there was, son of Polyidus the seer, a rich man and a valiant, and his abode was in Corinth. +He embarked upon his ship knowing full well the deadly fate to be, for often had his old sire, good Polyidus, told it him, to wit, that he must either perish of dire disease in his own halls, or amid the ships of the Achaeans be slain by the Trojans; wherefore he avoided at the same time the heavy fine +53.1 + of the Achaeans +and the hateful disease, that he might not suffer woes at heart. Him Paris smote beneath the jaw, under the ear, and forthwith his spirit departed from his limbs, and hateful darkness gat hold of him. + + +So fought they like unto blazing fire; but Hector, dear to Zeus, had not heard, nor wist at all +that on the left of the ships his hosts were being slain by the Argives; and soon would the Achaeans have gotten them glory, of such might was the Enfolder and Shaker of Earth that urged on the Argives and withal aided them by his own strength. Nay, Hector pressed on where at the first he had leapt within the gate and the wall, +and had burst the close ranks of the Danaan shield-men, even in the place where were the ships of Aias and Protesilaus, drawn up along the beach of the grey sea, and beyond them the wall was builded lowest; +53.2 + there, as in no place beside, the men and their horses waxed furious in fight. + +There the Boeotians and the Ionians, +55.1 + of trailing tunics, and the Locrians, and Phthians, and glorious Epeians, had much ado to stay his onset upon the ships, and availed not to thrust back from themselves goodly Hector, that was like a flame of fire,—even they that were picked men of the Athenians; +and among them Menestheus, son of Peteos, was leader, and there followed with him Pheidas and Stichius and valiant Bias, while the Epeians were led by Meges, son of Phyleus, and Araphion and Dracius, and in the forefront of the Phthians were Medon and Podarces, staunch in fight. The one, verily, even Medon, was a bastard son of godlike Oïleus +and brother of Aias, but he dwelt in Phylace, far from his native land, for that he had slain a man of the kin of his stepmother Eriopis, that Oïleus had to wife; and the other, Podarces, was the son of Iphiclus, son of Phylacus. These, harnessed in their armour, in the forefront of the great-souled Phthians, +were fighting in defence of the ships together with the Boeotians. And Aias, the swift son of Oïleus, would no more in any wise depart from the side of Aias, son of Telamon, no not for an instant; but even as in fallow land two wine-dark oxen with one accord strain at the jointed plough, and about +the roots of their horns oozeth up the sweat in streams—the twain the polished yoke alone holdeth apart as they labour through the furrow, till the plough cutteth to the limit or the field; even in such wise did the two Aiantes take their stand and abide each hard by the other's side. After the son of Telamon verily there followed many valiant hosts of his comrades, +who would ever take from him his shield, whenso weariness and sweat came upon his limbs. But the Locrians followed not with the great-hearted son of Oïleus, for their hearts abode not steadfast in close fight, seeing they had no brazen helms with thick plumes of horse-hair, +neither round shields, nor spears of ash, but trusting in bows and well-twisted slings of sheep's wool had they followed with him to Ilios; with these thereafter they shot thick and fast, and sought to break the battalions of the Trojans. So the one part in front with their war-gear, richly dight, +fought with the Trojans and with Hector in his harness of bronze, and the others behind kept shooting from their cover; and the Trojans bethought them no more of fight, for the arrows confounded them. + + +Then in sorry wise would the Trojans have given ground from the ships and huts unto windy Ilios, +had not Polydamas drawn nigh to bold Hector, and said: + +Hector, hard to deal with art thou, that thou shouldest hearken to words of persuasion. Forasmuch as god has given to thee as to none other works of war, therefore in counsel too art thou minded to have wisdom beyond all; but in no wise shalt thou be able of thine own self to compass all things. +To one man hath God given works of war, to another the dance, to another the lyre and song, and in the breast of another Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, putteth a mind of understanding, wherefrom many men get profit, and many he saveth; but he knoweth it best himself. +So will I speak what seemeth to me to be best. Behold all about thee blazeth a circle of war, and the great-souled Trojans, now that they have passed over the wall, are some of them standing aloof with their arms, and others are fighting, fewer men against more, scattered among the ships. +Nay, fall thou back, and call hither all the bravest. Then shall we consider all manner of counsel, whether we shall fall upon the many-benched ships, if so be the god willeth to give us victory, or thereafter shall return unscathed back from the ships. Verily, for myself, +I fear lest the Achaeans shall pay back the debt of yesterday, seeing there abideth by the ships a man insatiate of war, who no longer, methinks, will hold him utterly aloof from battle. + + +So spake Polydamas, and his prudent counsel was well pleasing unto Hector, and forthwith he leapt in his armour from his chariot to the ground; +and he spake and addressed him with winged words: + +Polydamas, do thou hold back here all the bravest, but I will go thither and confront the war, and quickly will I come again, when to the full I have laid on them my charge. + + +So spake he, and set forth, in semblance like a snowy mountain, +59.1 +and with loud shouting sped he through the Trojans and allies. And they hasted one and all toward the kindly Polydamas, son of Panthous when they heard the voice of Hector. But he ranged through the foremost fighters, in quest of Deïphobus, and the valiant prince Helenus, and Adamas, son of Asius, and Asius, son of Hyrtacus, +if haply he might find them. But he found them no more in any wise unscathed or free from bane, but some were lying at the sterns of the ships of the Achaeans, slain by the hands of the Argives, and some were within the wall, smitten by darts or wounded with spear-thrusts. +But one he presently found on the left of the tearful battle, even goodly Alexander, the lord of fair-tressed Helen, heartening his comrades and urging them on to fight; and he drew near and spake to him with words of shame: + +Evil Paris, most fair to look upon, thou that art mad after women, thou beguiler, +where, I pray thee, is Deïphobus, and the valiant prince Helenus, and Adamas, son of Asius, and Asius, son of Hyrtacus? Aye, and where, tell me, is Othryoneus? Now is steep Ilios wholly plunged into ruin; now, thou mayest see, is utter destruction sure. + + +Then spake unto him again godlike Alexander: +Hector, seeing it is thy mind to blame one in whom is no blame, at some other time have I haply withdrawn me from war rather than now, for my mother bare not even me wholly a weakling. For from the time thou didst rouse the battle of thy comrades beside the ships, even from that time we abide here and have dalliance with the Danaans +ceaselessly; but our comrades are dead of whom thou makest question. Only Deïphobus and the valiant prince Helenus have departed, both of them smitten in the arm with long spears; yet the son of Cronos warded off death. But now lead thou on whithersoever thy heart and spirit bid thee, +and as for us, we will follow with thee eagerly, nor, methinks, shall we be anywise wanting in valour, so far as we have strength; but beyond his strength may no man fight, how eager soever he be. + + +So spake the warrior, and turned his brother's mind; and they set out to go where the battle and the din were fiercest, +round about Cebriones and peerless Polydamas, and Phalces, and Orthaeus, and godlike Polyphetes, and Palmys, and Ascanius, and Morys, son of Hippotion, who had come from deep-soiled Ascania on the morn before to relieve their fellows, and now Zeus roused them to fight. +And they came on like the blast of direful winds that rusheth upon the earth beneath the thunder of father Zeus, and with wondrous din mingleth with the sea, and in its track are many surging waves of the loud-resounding sea, high-arched and white with foam, some in the van and after them others; +even so the Trojans, in close array, some in the van and after them others, flashing with bronze, followed with their leaders. And Hector, son of Priam, led them, the peer of Ares, the bane of mortals. Before him he held his shield that was well-balanced upon every side, his shield thick with hides, whereon abundant bronze had been welded, +and about his temples waved the crest of his shining helm. And everywhere on this side and on that he strode forward and made trial of the battalions, if so be they would give way before him, as he advanced under cover of his shield; yet could he not confound the heart in the breast of the Achaeans. And Aias came on with long strides, and was first to challenge him: +Good sir, draw nigh; wherefore seekest thou thus vainly to affright the Argives? In no wise, I tell thee, are we ignorant of battle, but by the evil scourge of Zeus were we Achaeans subdued. Verily, thy heart hopeth, I ween, to despoil our ships, but be sure we too have hands to defend them. +In good sooth your well-peopled city is like, ere that, to be taken and laid waste beneath our hands. And for thine own self, I declare that the day is near when in flight thou shalt pray to father Zeus and the other immortals, that thy fair-maned horses may be swifter than falcons— +they that shall bear thee citywards, coursing in dust over the plain. + + + Even as he thus spake, there flew forth a bird upon the right hand, an eagle of lofty flight; and thereat the host of the Achaeans shouted aloud, heartened by the omen; but glorious Hector made answer: + +Aias, witless in speech, thou braggart, what a thing hast thou said. +I would that I mine own self were all my days as surely the son of Zeus, that beareth the aegis, and my mother were the queenly Hera, and that I were honoured even as are Athene and Apollo, as verily this day beareth evil for the Argives, one and all; and among them shalt thou too be slain, if thou have the heart +to abide my long spear, that shall rend thy lily-like skin; and thou shalt glut with thy fat and thy flesh the dogs and birds of the Trojans, when thou art fallen amid the ships of the Achaeans. + + +So spake he, and led the way; and they followed after with a wondrous din, and the host shouted behind. +And the Argives over against them shouted in answer, and forgat not their valour, but abode the oncoming of the best of the Trojans; and the clamour of the two hosts went up to the aether and the splendour of Zeus. +And the cry of battle was not unmarked of Nestor, albeit at his wine, but he spake winged words to the son of Asclepius: + +Bethink thee, goodly Machaon, how these things are to be; louder in sooth by the ships waxes the cry of lusty youths. +Howbeit do thou now sit where thou art and quaff the flaming wine, until fair-tressed Hecamede shall heat for thee a warm bath, and wash from thee the clotted blood, but I will go straightway to a place of outlook and see what is toward. + + +So spake he and took the well-wrought shield of his son, +horse-taming Thrasymedes, that was lying in the hut, all gleaming with bronze; but the son had the shield of his father. And he grasped a valorous spear, tipped with sharp bronze, and took his stand outside the hut, and forthwith saw a deed of shame, even the Achaeans in rout and the Trojans high of heart driving them; +and the wall of the Achaeans was broken down. And as when the great sea heaveth darkly with a soundless swell, and forebodeth the swift paths of the shrill winds, albeit but vaguely, nor do its waves roll forward to this side or to that until some settled gale cometh down from Zeus; +even so the old man pondered, his mind divided this way and that, whether he should haste into the throng of the Danaans of swift steeds, or go after Agamemnon, son of Atreus, shepherd of the host. And as he pondered, this thing seemed to him the better—to go after the son of Atreus. But the others meanwhile were fighting on and slaying one another, +and about their bodies rang the stubborn bronze, as they thrust one at the other with swords and two-edged spears. + + +And Nestor was met by the kings, fostered of Zeus, as they went up from the ships, even all they that had been smitten with the bronze, the son of Tydeus, and Odysseus, and Atreus' son, Agamemnon. +Far apart from the battle were their ships drawn up on the shore of the grey sea; for these had they drawn up to land in the foremost row, but had builded the wall close to the hindmost. +69.1 + For albeit the beach was wide, yet might it in no wise hold all the ships, and the host was straitened; +wherefore they had drawn up the ships row behind row, and had filled up the wide mouth of all the shore that the headlands shut in between them. The kings therefore were faring all in one body, leaning each on his spear, to look upon the war and the combat, and grieved were the hearts in their breasts. +And old Nestor met them, and made the spirit to quail in the breasts of the Achaeans. Then lord Agamemnon lifted up his voice and spake to him: + +O Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, wherefore hast thou left the war, the bane of men, and come hither? I fear me lest in sooth mighty Hector make good his word and the threats wherewith on a time he threatened us, +as he spake amid the Trojans, even that he would not return to Ilios from the ships till he had burned the ships with fire and furthermore slain the men. On this wise spake he, and now all this is verily being brought to pass. Out upon it! surely the other well-greaved Achaeans +are laying up wrath against me in their hearts, even as doth Achilles, and have no mind to fight by the sterns of the ships. + + +Then made answer to him the horseman Nestor of Gerenia: + +Yea, verily, these things have now been brought to pass and are here at hand, neither could Zeus himself, that thundereth on high, fashion them otherwise. +For, lo, the wall has been thrown down, wherein we put our trust that it should be an unbreakable bulwark for our ships and ourselves. And the foemen at the swift ships maintain a ceaseless fight, and make no end; nor couldst thou any more tell, wert thou to look never so closely, from what side the Achaeans are driven in rout, +so confusedly are they slain, and the cry of battle goeth up to heaven. But for us, let us take thought how these things are to be, if so be wit may aught avail. But into the war I bid not that we should enter; in no wise may a wounded man do battle. + + +Then again made answer the king of men, Agamemnon: +Nestor, seeing they are fighting at the sterns of the ships, and the well-built wall hath availed not, nor in any wise the trench, whereat the Danaans laboured sore, and hoped in their hearts that it would be an unbreakable bulwark for their ships and for themselves—even so, I ween, must it be the good pleasure of Zeus, supreme in might, +that the Achaeans should perish here far from Argos, and have no name. I knew it when with a ready heart he was aiding the Danaans, and I know it now when he is giving glory to our foes, even as to the blessed gods, and hath bound our might and our hands. Nay, come, even as I shall bid, let us all obey. +Let us drag down the ships that are drawn up in the first line hard by the sea, and let us draw them all forth into the bright sea, and moor them afloat with anchor-stones, till immortal night shall come, if so be that even at her bidding the Trojans will refrain from war; and thereafter might we drag down all the ships. +For in sooth I count it not shame to flee from ruin, nay, not though it be by night. Better it is if one fleeth from ruin and escapeth, than if he be taken. + + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus of many wiles addressed him: + +Son of Atreus, what a word hath escaped the barrier of thy teeth! Doomed man that thou art, would that thou wert in command of some other, inglorious army, +and not king over us, to whom Zeus hath given, from youth right up to age, to wind the skein of grievous wars till we perish, every man of us. Art thou in truth thus eager to leave behind thee the broad-wayed city of the Trojans, for the sake of which we endure many grievous woes? +Be silent, lest some other of the Achaeans hear this word, that no man should in any wise suffer to pass through his mouth at all, no man who hath understanding in his heart to utter things that are right, and who is a sceptred king to whom hosts so many yield obedience as are the Argives among whom thou art lord. +But now have I altogether scorn of thy wits, that thou speakest thus, seeing thou biddest us, when war and battle are afoot, draw down our well-benched ships to the sea, that so even more than before the Trojans may have their desire, they that be victors even now, and that on us utter destruction may fall. For the Achaeans +will not maintain their fight once the ships are drawn down to the sea, but will ever be looking away, and will withdraw them from battle. Then will thy counsel prove our bane, thou leader of hosts. + + +To him then made answer, Agamemnon, king of men: + +Odysseus, in good sooth thou hast stung my heart with harsh reproof; +yet I urge not that against their will the sons of the Achaeans should drag the well-benched ships down to the sea. But now I would there were one who might utter counsel better than this of mine, be he young man or old; right welcome were it unto me. + + +Then among them spake also Diomedes, good at the war-cry: +Near by is that man; not long shall we seek him, if so be ye are minded to give ear, and be no wise vexed and wroth, each one of you, for that in years I am the youngest among you. Nay, but of a goodly father do I too declare that I am come by lineage, even of Tydeus, whom in Thebe the heaped-up earth covereth. +For to Portheus were born three peerless sons, and they dwelt in Pleuron and steep Calydon, even Agrius and Melas, and the third was the horseman Oeneus, that was father to my father, and in valour was pre-eminent among them. He verily abode there, but my father went wandering to Argos, and there was settled, +for so I ween was the will of Zeus and the other gods. And he wedded one of the daughters of Adrastus, and dwelt in a house rich in substance, and abundance was his of wheat-bearing fields, and many orchards of trees round about, and withal many sheep; and with his spear he excelled all the Argives. +Of these things it must be that ye have heard, whether I speak sooth. Wherefore ye shall not say that by lineage I am a coward and a weakling, and so despise my spoken counsel, whatsoever I may speak aright. Come, let us go down to the battle, wounded though we be, since needs we must. Thereafter will we hold ourselves aloof from the fight, +beyond the range of missiles, lest haply any take wound on wound; but the others will we spur on and send into battle, even them that hitherto have done pleasure to their resentment, and that stand aloof and fight not. + + +So spake he, and they readily hearkened to him and obeyed. So they set out to go, and the king of men, Agamemnon, led them. + +And no blind watch did the famed Shaker of Earth keep, but went with them in likeness of an old man, and he laid hold of the right hand of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, and spake, and addressed him with winged words: + +Son of Atreus, now in sooth, methinks, doth the baneful heart of Achilles +rejoice within his breast, as he beholdeth the slaughter and rout of the Achaeans, seeing he hath no understanding, no, not a whit. Nay, even so may he perish, and a god bring him low. But with thee are the blessed gods in no wise utterly wroth; nay, even yet, I ween, shall the leaders and rulers of the Trojans +raise the dust of the wide plain, and thyself behold them fleeing to the city from the ships and huts. + + +So saying, he shouted mightily, as he sped over the plain. Loud as nine thousand warriors, or ten thousand, cry in battle when they join in the strife of the War-god, +even so mighty a shout did the lord, the Shaker of Earth, send forth from his breast. and in the heart of each man of the Achaeans he put great strength, to war and fight unceasingly. + + +Now Hera of the golden throne, standing on a peak of Olympus, therefrom had sight of him, and forthwith knew him +as he went busily about in the battle where men win glory, her own brother and her lord's withal; and she was glad at heart. And Zeus she marked seated on the topmost peak of many-fountained Ida, and hateful was he to her heart. Then she took thought, the ox-eyed, queenly Hera, +how she might beguile the mind of Zeus that beareth the aegis. And this plan seemed to her mind the best—to go to Ida, when she had beauteously adorned her person, if so be he might desire to lie by her side and embrace her body in love, and she might shed a warm and gentle sleep +upon his eyelids and his cunning mind. So she went her way to her chamber, that her dear son Hephaestus had fashioned for her, and had fitted strong doors to the door-posts with a secret bolt, that no other god might open. Therein she entered, and closed the bright doors. +With ambrosia first did she cleanse from her lovely body every stain, and anointed her richly with oil, ambrosial, soft, and of rich fragrance; were this but shaken in the palace of Zeus with threshold of bronze, even so would the savour thereof reach unto earth and heaven. +Therewith she annointed her lovely body, and she combed her hair, and with her hands pIaited the bright tresses, fair and ambrosial, that streamed from her immortal head. Then she clothed her about in a robe ambrosial, which Athene had wrought for her with cunning skill, and had set thereon broideries full many; +and she pinned it upon her breast with brooches of gold, and she girt about her a girdle set with an hundred tassels, and in her pierced ears she put ear-rings with three clustering +81.1 + drops; and abundant grace shone therefrom. And with a veil over all did the bright goddess +veil herself, a fair veil, all glistering, and white was it as the sun; and beneath her shining feet she bound her fair sandals. But when she had decked her body with all adornment, she went forth from her chamber, and calling to her Aphrodite, apart from the other gods, she spake to her, saying: +Wilt thou now hearken to me, dear child, in what I shall say? or wilt thou refuse me, being angered at heart for that I give aid to the Danaans and thou to the Trojans? + + +Then made answer to her Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus: + +Hera, queenly goddess, daughter of great Cronos, +speak what is in thy mind; my heart bids me fulfill it, if fulfill it I can, and it is a thing that hath fulfillment. + + +Then with crafty thought spake to her queenly Hera: + +Give me now love and desire, wherewith thou art wont to subdue all immortals and mortal men. +For I am faring to visit the limits of the all-nurturing earth, and Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, and mother Tethys, even them that lovingly nursed and cherished me in their halls, when they had taken me from Rhea, what time Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, thrust Cronos down to dwell beneath earth and the unresting sea. +Them am I faring to visit, and will loose for them their endless strife, since now for a long time's space they hold aloof one from the other from the marriage-bed and from love, for that wrath hath come upon their hearts. If by words I might but persuade the hearts of these twain, and bring them back to be joined together in love, +ever should I be called dear by them and worthy of reverence. + + +To her again spake in answer laughter-loving Aphrodite: + +It may not be that I should say thee nay, nor were it seemly; for thou sleepest in the arms of mightiest Zeus. + + +She spake, and loosed from her bosom the broidered zone, +curiously-wrought, wherein are fashioned all manner of allurements; therein is love, therein desire, therein dalliance—beguilement that steals the wits even of the wise. This she laid in her hands, and spake, and addressed her: + +Take now and lay in thy bosom this zone, +curiously-wrought, wherein all things are fashioned; I tell thee thou shalt not return with that unaccomplished, whatsoever in thy heart thou desirest. + + +So spake she, and ox-eyed, queenly Hera smiled, and smiling laid the zone in her bosom. +She then went to her house, the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite, +but Hera darted down and left the peak of Olympus; on Pieria she stepped and lovely Emathia, and sped over the snowy mountains of the Thracian horsemen, even over their topmost peaks, nor grazed she the ground with her feet; and from Athos she stepped upon the billowy sea, +and so came to Lemnos, the city of godlike Thoas. There she met Sleep, the brother of Death; and she clasped him by the hand, and spake and addressed him: + +Sleep, lord of all gods and of all men, if ever thou didst hearken to word of mine, so do thou even now obey, +and I will owe thee thanks all my days. Lull me to sleep the bright eyes of Zeus beneath his brows, so soon as I shall have lain me by his side in love. And gifts will I give thee, a fair throne, ever imperishable, wrought of gold, that Hephaestus, mine own son, +the god of the two strong arms, shall fashion thee with skill, and beneath it shall he set a foot-stool for the feet, whereon thou mayest rest thy shining feet when thou quaffest thy wine. + + +Then sweet Sleep made answer to her, saying: + +Hera, queenly goddess, daughter of great Cronos, another of the gods, that are for ever, might I lightly lull to sleep, aye, were it even the streams of the river +Oceanus, from whom they all are sprung; but to Zeus, son of Cronos, will I not draw nigh, neither lull him to slumber, unless of himself he bid me. For ere now in another matter did a behest of thine teach me a lesson, +on the day when the glorious son +85.1 + of Zeus, high of heart, sailed forth from Ilios, when he had laid waste the city of the Trojans. I, verily, beguiled the mind of Zeus, that beareth the aegis, being shed in sweetness round about him, and thou didst devise evil in thy heart against his son, when thou hadst roused the blasts of cruel winds over the face of the deep, and thereafter didst bear him away unto well-peopled Cos, far from all his kinsfolk. But Zeus, when he awakened, was wroth, and flung the gods hither and thither about his palace, and me above all he sought, and would have hurled me from heaven into the deep to be no more seen, had Night not saved me—Night that bends to her sway both gods and men. +To her I came in my flight, and besought her, and Zeus refrained him, albeit he was wroth, for he had awe lest he do aught displeasing to swift Night. And now again thou biddest me fulfill this other task, that may nowise be done. + + +To him then spake again ox-eyed, queenly Hera: + +Sleep, wherefore ponderest thou of these things in thine heart? +Deemest thou that Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, will aid the Trojans, even as he waxed wroth for the sake of Heracles, his own son? Nay, come, I will give thee one of the youthful Graces to wed to be called thy wife, even Pasithea, for whom thou ever longest all thy days. + +So spake she, and Sleep waxed glad, and made answer saying: + +Come now, swear to me by the inviolable water of Styx, and with one hand lay thou hold of the bounteous earth, and with the other of the shimmering sea, that one and all they may be witnesses betwixt us twain, even the gods that are below with Cronos, +that verily thou wilt give me one of the youthful Graces, even Pasithea, that myself I long for all my days. + + +So spake he, and the goddess, white-armed Hera, failed not to hearken, but sware as he bade, and invoked by name all the gods below Tartarus, that are called Titans. +But when she had sworn and made an end of the oath, the twain left the cities of Lemnos and Imbros, and clothed about in mist went forth, speeding swiftly on their way. To many-fountained Ida they came, the mother of wild creatures, even to Lectum, where first they left the sea; and the twain fared on over the dry land, +and the topmost forest quivered beneath their feet. There Sleep did halt, or ever the eyes of Zeus beheld him, and mounted up on a fir-tree exceeding tall, the highest that then grew in Ida; and it reached up through the mists into heaven. Thereon he perched, thick-hidden by the branches of the fir, +in the likeness of a clear-voiced mountain bird, that the gods call Chalcis, and men Cymindis. +But Hera swiftly drew nigh to topmost Gargarus, the peak of lofty Ida, and Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, beheld her. And when he beheld her, then love encompassed his wise heart about, +even as when at the first they had gone to the couch and had dalliance together in love, their dear parents knowing naught thereof. And he stood before her, and spake, and addressed her: + +Hera, with what desire art thou thus come hither down from Olympus? Lo, thy horses are not at hand, neither thy chariot, whereon thou mightest mount. + +Then with crafty mind the queenly Hera spake unto him: + +I am faring to visit the limits of the all-nurturing earth, and Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, and mother Tethys, even them that lovingly nursed me and cherished me in their halls. Them am I faring to visit, and will loose for them their endless strife, +since now for long time's apace they hold aloof one from the other from the marriage-bed and from love, for that wrath hath fallen upon their hearts. And my horses stand at the foot of many-fountained Ida, my horses that shall bear me both over the solid land and the waters of the sea. But now it is because of thee that I am come hither down from Olympus, +lest haply thou mightest wax wroth with me hereafter, if without a word I depart to the house of deep-flowing Oceanus. + + +Then in answer spake to her Zeus, the cloud-gatherer. + +Hera, thither mayest thou go even hereafter. But for us twain, come, let us take our joy couched together in love; +for never yet did desire for goddess or mortal woman so shed itself about me and overmaster the heart within my breast—nay, not when I was seized with love of the wife of Ixion, who bare Peirithous, the peer of the gods in counsel; nor of Danaë of the fair ankles, daughter of Acrisius, +who bare Perseus, pre-eminent above all warriors; nor of the daughter of far-famed Phoenix, that bare me Minos and godlike Rhadamanthys; nor of Semele, nor of Alcmene in Thebes, and she brought forth Heracles, her son stout of heart, +and Semele bare Dionysus, the joy of mortals; nor of Demeter, the fair-tressed queen; nor of glorious Leto; nay, nor yet of thine own self, as now I love thee, and sweet desire layeth hold of me. + + +Then with crafty mind the queenly Hera spake unto him: +Most dread son of Cronos, what a word hast thou said. If now thou art fain to be couched in love on the peaks of Ida, where all is plain to view, what and if some one of the gods that are for ever should behold us twain as we sleep, and should go and tell it to all the gods? +Then verily could not I arise from the couch and go again to thy house; that were a shameful thing. But if thou wilt, and it is thy heart's good pleasure, thou hast a chamber, that thy dear son Hephaestus fashioned for thee, and fitted strong doors upon the door-posts. +Thither let us go and lay us down, since the couch is thy desire. + + +Then in answer to her spake Zeus, the cloud-gatherer: + +Hera, fear thou not that any god or man shall behold the thing, with such a cloud shall I enfold thee withal, a cloud of gold. Therethrough might not even Helios discern us twain, +albeit his sight is the keenest of all for beholding. + + +Therewith the son of Cronos clasped his wife in his arms, and beneath them the divine earth made fresh-sprung grass to grow, and dewy lotus, and crocus, and hyacinth, thick and soft, that upbare them from the ground. +Therein lay the twain, and were clothed about with a cloud, fair and golden, wherefrom fell drops of glistering dew. + + +Thus in quiet slept the Father on topmost Gargarus, by sleep and love overmastered, and clasped in his arms his wife. But sweet Sleep set out to run to the ships of the Argives +to bear word to the Enfolder and Shaker of Earth. And he came up to him, and spake winged words, saying: + +With a ready heart now, Poseidon, do thou bear aid to the Danaans, and vouchsafe them glory, though it be for a little space, while yet Zeus sleepeth; for over him have I shed soft slumber, +and Hera hath beguiled him to couch with her in love. + + +So spake he and departed to the glorious tribes of men, but Poseidon he set on yet more to bear aid to the Danaans. Forthwith then he leapt forth amid the foremost, and cried aloud: + +Argives, are we again in good sooth to yield victory to Hector, +son of Priam, that he may take the ships and win him glory? Nay, even so he saith, and vaunteth that it shall be, for that Achilles abideth by the hollow ships, filled with wrath at heart. Howbeit him shall we in no wise miss overmuch if we others bestir ourselves to bear aid one to the other. +Nay, come, even as I shall bid, let us all obey. In the shields that are best in the host and largest let us harness ourselves, and our heads let us cover with helms all-gleaming, and in our hands take the longest spears, and so go forth. And I will lead the way, nor, methinks, +will Hector, son of Priam, longer abide, how eager soever he be. And whoso is a man, staunch in fight, but hath a small shield on his shoulder, let him give it to a worser man, and himself harness him in a large shield. + + +So spake he, and they readily hearkened to him, and obeyed. And the kings themselves, albeit they were wounded, set them in array, +even the son of Tydeus, and Odysseus, and Atreus' son Agamemnon. And going throughout all the host, they made exchange of battle-gear. In good armour did the good warrior harness him, and to the worse they gave the worse. Then when they had clothed their bodies in gleaming bronze, they set forth, and Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, led them, +bearing in his strong hand a dread sword, long of edge, like unto the lightning, wherewith it is not permitted that any should mingle in dreadful war, but terror holds men aloof therefrom. But the Trojans over against them was glorious Hector setting in array. Then verily were strained the cords of war's most dreadful strife +by dark-haired Poseidon and glorious Hector, bearing aid the one to the Trojans, the other to the Argives. And the sea surged up to the huts and ships of the Argives, and the two sides clashed with a mighty din. Not so loudly bellows the wave of the sea upon the shore, +driven up from the deep by the dread blast of the North Wind, nor so loud is the roar of blazing fire in the glades of a nuountain when it leapeth to burn the forest, nor doth the wind shriek so loud amid the high crests of the oaks—the wind that roareth the loudest in its rage— +as then was the cry of Trojans and Achaeans, shouting in terrible wise as they leapt upon each other. + + +At Aias did glorious Hector first cast his spear, as he was turned full toward him, and missed him not, but smote him where the two baldrics— +one of his shield and one of his silver-studded sword—were stretched across his breast; and they guarded his tender flesh. And Hector waxed wroth for that the swift shaft had flown vainly from his hand, and back he shrank into the throng of his comrades, avoiding fate. But thereupon as he drew back, great Telamonian Aias smote him with a stone; +for many there were, props of the swift ships, that rolled amid their feet as they fought; of these he lifted one on high, and smote Hector on the chest over the shield-rim, hard by the neck, and set him whirling like a top with the blow; and he spun round and round. And even as when beneath the blast of father Zeus an oak falleth uprooted, +and a dread reek of brimstone ariseth therefrom—then verily courage no longer possesseth him that looketh thereon and standeth near by, for dread is the bolt of great Zeus—even so fell mighty Hector forthwith to the ground in the dust. And the spear fell from his hand, but the shield was hurled upon him, +and the helm withal, and round about him rang his armour dight with bronze. Then with loud shouts they ran up, the sons of the Achaeans, hoping to drag him off, and they hurled their spears thick and fast; but no one availed to wound the shepherd of the host with thrust or with cast, for ere that might be, the bravest stood forth to guard him, +even Polydamas, and Aeneas, and goodly Agenor, and Sarpedon, leader of the Lycians, and peerless Glaucus withal, and of the rest was no man unheedful of him, but before him they held their round shields; and his comrades lifted him up in their arms and bare him forth from the toil of war until he came to the swift horses +that stood waiting for him at the rear of the battle and the conflict, with their charioteer and chariot richly dight. These bare him groaning heavily toward the city. +But when they were now come to the ford of the fair-flowing river, even eddying Xanthus, that immortal Zeus begat, +there they lifted him from the chariot to the ground and poured water upon him. And he revived, and looked up with his eyes, and kneeling on his knees he vomited forth black blood. Then again he sank back upon the ground, and both his eyes were enfolded in black night; and the blow still overwhelmed his spirit. + +But when the Argives saw Hector withdrawing, they leapt yet the more upon the Trojans, and bethought them of battle. Then far the first did swift Aias, son of Oïleus, leap upon Satnius and wound him with a thrust of his sharp spear, even the son of Enops, whom a peerless Naiad nymph conceived +to Enops, as he tended his herds by the banks of Satnioeis. To him did the son of Oïleus, famed for his spear, draw nigh, and smite him upon the flank; and he fell backward, and about him Trojans and Danaans joined in fierce conflict. To him then came Polydamas, wielder of the spear, to bear him aid, +even the son of Panthous, and he cast and smote upon the right shoulder Prothoënor, son of Areïlycus, and through the shoulder the mighty spear held its way; and he fell in the dust and clutched the ground with his palm. And Polydamas exulted over him in terrible wise, and cried aloud: + +Hah, methinks, yet again from the strong hand of the great-souled son of Panthous +hath the spear leapt not in vain. Nay, one of the Argives hath got it in his flesh, and leaning thereon for a staff; methinks, will he go down into the house of Hades. + + +So spake he, but upon the Argives came sorrow by reason of his exulting, and beyond all did he stir the soul of Aias, wise of heart, +the son of Telamon, for closest to him did the man fall. Swiftly then he cast with his bright spear at the other, even as he was drawing back. And Polydamas himself escaped black fate, springing to one side; but Archelochus, son of Antenor, received the spear; for to him the gods purposed death. +Him the spear smote at the joining of head and neck on the topmost joint of the spine, and it shore off both the sinews. And far sooner did his head and mouth and nose reach the earth as he fell, than his legs and knees. Then Aias in his turn called aloud to peerless Polydamas: +Bethink thee, Polydamas, and tell me in good sooth, was not this man worthy to be slain in requital for Prothoënor? No mean man seemeth he to me, nor of mean descent, but a brother of Antenor, tamer of horses, or haply a son; for he is most like to him in build. + +So spake he, knowing the truth full well, and sorrow seized the hearts of the Trojans. Then Acamas, as he bestrode his brother, smote with a thrust of his spear the Boeotian Promachus, who was seeking to drag the body from beneath him by the feet. And over him Acamas exulted in terrible wise, and cried aloud: + +Ye Argives, that rage with the bow, insatiate of threatenings, +not for us alone, look you, shall there be toil and woe, but even in like manner shall ye too be slain. Mark how your Promachus sleepeth, vanquished by my spear, to the end that the blood-price of my brother be not long unpaid. Aye, and for this reason doth a man pray +that a kinsman be left him in his halls, to be a warder off of ruin. + + +So spake he, and upon the Argives came sorrow by reason of his exuIting, and beyond all did he stir the soul of wise-hearted Peneleos. He rushed upon Acamas, but Acamas abode not the onset of the prince Peneleos. Howbeit Peneleos thrust and smote Ilioneus, +son of Phorbas, rich in herds, whom Hermes loved above all the Trojans and gave him wealth; and to him the mother bare Ilioneus, an only child. Him then did Peneleos smite beneath the brow at the roots of the eyes, and drave out the eyeball, and the shaft went clean through the eye +and through the nape ot the neck, and he sank down stretching out both his hands. But Peneleos drawing his sharp sword let drive full upon his neck, and smote off to the the ground the head with the helmet, and still the mighty spear stood in the eye; and holding it on high like a poppy-head +he shewed it to the Trojans, and spake a word exultingly: + +Tell, I pray you, ye Trojans, to the dear father and the mother of lordly Ilioneus to make wailing in their halls, for neither will the wife of Promachus, son of Alegenor, rejoice in the coming of her dear husband, +when we youths of the Achdeans return with our ships from out of Troy-land. + + +So spake he, and thereat trembIing seized the limbs of them all, and each man gazed about to see how he might escape utter destruction. +TeIl me now, ye Muses, that have dwellings on Olympus, who was first of the Achaeans to bear away the bloody spoils of warriors, +when once the famed Shaker of Earth had turned the battle. Aias verily was first, the son of Telamon. He smote Hyrtius, the son of Gyrtius, leader of the Mysians stalwart of heart; and Antilochus stripped the spoils from Phalces and Mermerus, and Meriones slew Morys and Hippotion, +and Teucer laid low Prothoön and Periphetes,; thereafter Atreus' son smote with a thrust in the flank Hyperenor, shepherd of the host, and the bronze let forth the bowels, as it clove through, and his soul sped hastening through the stricken wound, and darkness enfolded his eyes. +But most men did Aias slay, the swift son of Oïleus; for there was none other like him to pursue with speed of foot amid the rout of men, when Zeus turned them to flight. +But when the Trojans in their flight had passed over the palisade and the trench, and many had been vanquished beneath the hands of the Danaans, then beside their chariots they stayed, and were halted, pale with fear, terror-stricken; and Zeus awoke +on the peaks of Ida beside Hera of the golden throne. Then he sprang up, and stood, and saw Trojans alike and Achaeans, these in rout, and the Argives driving them on from the rear, and amid them the lord Poseidon. And Hector he saw lying on the plain, while about him sat his comrades, +and he was gasping with painful breath, distraught in mind, and vomiting blood; for not the weakest of the Achaeans was it that had smitten him. At sight of him the father of men and gods had pity, and with a dread glance from beneath his brows he spake to Hera, saying: + +Hera, that art hard to deal with, it is the craft of thine evil wiles +that hath stayed goodly Hector from the fight, and hath driven the host in rout. Verily I know not but thou shalt yet be the first to reap the fruits of thy wretched ill-contriving, and I shall scourge thee with stripes. Dost thou not remember when thou wast hung from on high, and from thy feet I suspended two anvils, and about thy wrists cast +a band of gold that might not be broken? And in the air amid the clouds thou didst hang, and the gods had indignation throughout high Olympus; howbeit they availed not to draw nigh and loose thee. Nay, whomsoever I caught, I would seize and hurl from the threshold until he reached the earth, his strength all spent. Yet not even so was my heart +eased of its ceaseless pain for godlike Heracles, whom thou when thou hadst leagued thee with the North Wind and suborned his blasts, didst send over the unresting sea, by thine evil devising, and thereafter didst bear him away unto well-peopled Cos. Him did I save from thence, and brought again +to horse-pasturing Argos, albeit after he had laboured sore. Of these things will I mind thee yet again, that thou mayest cease from thy beguilings, to the end that thou mayest see whether they anywise avail thee, the dalliance and the couch, wherein thou didst lie with me when thou hadst come forth from among the gods, and didst beguile me. + + +So spake he, and the ox-eyed, queenly Hera shuddered; +and she spake and addressed him with winged words: + +Hereto now be Earth my witness and the broad Heaven above, and the down-flowing water of Styx, which is the greatest and most dread oath for the blessed gods, and thine own sacred head, and the couch of us twain, couch of our wedded love, +whereby I verily would never forswear myself —not by my will doth Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, work harm to the Trojans and Hector, and give succour to their foes. Nay, I ween, it is his own soul that urgeth and biddeth him on, and he hath seen the Achaeans sore-bested by their ships and taken pity upon them. +But I tell thee, I would counsel even him to walk in that way, wherein thou, O lord of the dark cloud, mayest lead him. + + +So spake she, and the father of men and gods smiled, and made answer, and spake to her with winged words: + +If in good sooth, O ox-eyed, queenly Hera, +thy thought hereafter were to be one with my thought as thou sittest among the immortals, then would Poseidon, how contrary soever his wish might be, forthwith bend his mind to follow thy heart and mine. But if verily thou speakest in frankness and in truth, go thou now among the tribes of gods and call +Iris to come hither, and Apollo, famed for his bow, that she may go amid the host of the brazen-coated Achaeans, and bid the lord Poseidon that he cease from war, and get him to his own house; but let Phoebus Apollo rouse Hector to the fight, +and breathe strength into him again, and make him forget the pains that now distress his heart; and let him drive the Achaeans back once more, when he has roused in them craven panic; so shall they flee and fall among the many-benched ships of Achilles, son of Peleus, and he shall send forth his comrade +Patroclus, howbeit him shall glorious Hector slay with the spear before the face of Ilios, after himself hath slain many other youths, and among them withal my son, goodly Sarpedon. And in wrath for Patroclus shall goodly Achilles slay Hector. Then from that time forth shall I cause a driving back of the Trojans from the ships +evermore continually, until the Achaeans shall take steep Ilios through the counsels of Athene. But until that hour neither do I refrain my wrath, nor will I suffer any other of the immortals to bear aid to the Danaans here, until the desire of the son of Peleus be fulfilled, +even as I promised at the first and bowed my head thereto, on the day when the goddess Thetis clasped my knees, beseeching me to do honour to Achilles, sacker of cities. + + +So spake he, and the goddess, white-armed Hera, failed not to hearken, but went her way from the mountains of Ida unto high Olympus. +And even as swiftly darteth the mind of a man who hath travelled over far lands and thinketh in the wisdom of his heart, + +Would I were here, or there, + + and many are the wishes he conceiveth: even so swiftly sped on in her eagerness the queenly Hera; and she came to steep Olympus, and found +the immortal gods gathered together in the house of Zeus, and at sight of her they all sprang up, and greeted her with cups of welcome. She on her part let be the others, but took the cup from Themis, of the fair cheeks, for she ran first to meet her, and spake, and addressed her with winged words: +Hera, wherefore art thou come? Thou art as one distraught. In good sooth the son of Cronos hath affrighted thee, he thine own husband. + + +Then made answer to her, the goddess, white-armed Hera: + +Ask me not at large concerning this, O goddess Themis; of thyself thou knowest what manner of mood is his, how over-haughty and unbending. +Nay, do thou begin for the gods the equal feast in the halls, and this shalt thou hear amid all the immortals, even what manner of evil deeds Zeus declareth. In no wise, methinks, will it delight in like manner the hearts of all, whether mortals or gods, if so be any even now still feasteth with a joyful mind. + +When she had thus spoken, queenly Hera sate her down, and wroth waxed the gods throughout the hall of Zeus. And she laughed with her lips, but her forehead above her dark brows relaxed not, and, moved with indignation, she spake among them all: + +Fools, that in our witlessness are wroth against Zeus! +In sooth we are even yet fain to draw nigh unto him and thwart him of his will by word or by constraint, but he sitteth apart and recketh not, neither giveth heed thereto; for he deemeth that among the immortal gods he is manifestly supreme in might and strength. Wherefore content ye yourselves with whatsoever evil thing he sendeth upon each. +Even now I deem that sorrow hath been wrought for Ares, seeing that his son, dearest of men to him, hath perished in battle, even Ascalaphus, whom mighty Ares declareth to be his own. + + +So spake she, but Ares smote his sturdy thighs with the flat of his hands, and with wailing spake, and said: +Count it not blame for me now, O ye that have dwellings on Olympus, if I go to the ships of the Achaeans and avenge the slaying of my son, even though it be my fate to be smitten with the bolt of Zeus, and to lie low in blood and dust amid the dead. + + +So spake he and bade Terror and Rout yoke his horses, +and himself did on his gleaming armour. Then would yet greater and more grievous wrath and anger have been stirred between Zeus and the immortals, had not Athene, seized with fear for all the gods, sped forth through the doorway, and left the throne whereon she sat, and taken the helm from the head of Ares and the shield from his shoulders; +and she took from his strong hand the spear of bronze, and set it down, and with words rebuked furious Ares: + +Thou madman, distraught of wit, thou art beside thyself! Verily it is for naught that thou hast ears for hearing, and thine understanding and sense of right are gone from thee. +Hearest thou not what the goddess, white-armed Hera, saith, she that is but now come from Olympian Zeus? Wouldest thou thyself fulfill the measure of manifold woes, and so return to Olympus despite thy grief, perforce, and for all the rest sow the seeds of grievous woe? +For he will forthwith leave the Trojans, high of heart, and the Achaeans, and will hie him to Olympus to set us all in tumult, and will lay hands upon each in turn, the guilty alike and him in whom is no guilt. Wherefore now I bid thee put away thy wrath for thine own son. For ere now many a one more excellent than he in might and strength of hand hath been slain, +or will yet be slain; and a hard thing it is to preserve the lineage and offspring of men. + + +She spake she, and made furious Ares to sit down upon his throne. But Hera called Apollo forth from out the hall, and Iris, that is the messenger of the immortal gods; +and she spake and addressed them with winged words: + +Zeus biddeth you twain go to Ida with all the speed ye may; and when ye have come, and looked upon the face of Zeus, then do ye whatsoever he may order and command. + + +When she had thus spoken queenly Hera returned again +and sate her down upon her throne; and the twain sprang up and sped forth upon their way. To many-fountained Ida they came, mother of wild beasts, and found Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, seated on topmost Gargarus; and about him a fragrant cloud was wreathed. The twain then came before the face of Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, +and at sight of them his heart waxed nowise wroth, for that they had speedily obeyed the words of his dear wife. And to Iris first he spake winged words: + +Up, go, swift Iris; unto the lord Poseidon bear thou all these tidings, and see thou tell him true. +Bid him cease from war and battle, and go to join the tribes of gods, or into the bright sea. And if so be he will not obey my words, but shall set them at naught, let him bethink him then in mind and heart, lest, how strong soever he be, he have no hardihood to abide my on-coming; +for I avow me to be better far than he in might, and the elder born. Yet his heart counteth it but a little thing to declare himself the peer of me of whom even the other gods are adread. + + +So spake he, and wind-footed, swift Iris failed not to hearken, but went down from the hills of Ida to sacred Ilios. +And as when from the clouds there flieth snow or chill hail, driven by the blast of the North Wind that is born in the bright heaven, even so fleetly sped in her eagerness swift Iris; and she drew nigh, and spake to the glorious Shaker of Earth, saying: + +A message for thee, O Earth-Enfolder, thou dark-haired god, +have I come hither to bring from Zeus, that beareth the aegis. He biddeth thee cease from war and battle, and go to join the tribes of gods, or into the bright sea. And if so be thou wilt not obey his words, but shalt set them at naught, he threateneth that he will himself come hither to set his might against thine in battle; +and he biddeth thee avoid thee out of his hands; for he avoweth him to be better far than thou in might, and the elder born. Yet thy heart counteth it but a little thing to declare thyself the peer of him, of whom even the other gods are adread. + + +Then, stirred to hot anger, the glorious Shaker of Earth spake unto her: +Out upon it, verily strong though he be he hath spoken overweeningly, if in sooth by force and in mine own despite he will restrain me that am of like honour with himself. For three brethren are we, begotten of Cronos, and born of Rhea,—Zeus, and myself, and the third is Hades, that is lord of the dead below. And in three-fold wise are all things divided, and unto each hath been apportioned his own domain. +I verily, when the lots were shaken, won for my portion the grey sea to be my habitation for ever, and Hades won the murky darkness, while Zeus won the broad heaven amid the air and the clouds; but the earth and high Olympus remain yet common to us all. Wherefore will I not in any wise walk after the will of Zeus; nay in quiet +let him abide in his third portion, how strong soever he be.And with might of hand let him not seek to affright me, as though I were some coward. His daughters and his sons were it better for him to threaten with blustering words, even them that himself begat, who perforce will hearken to whatsoever he may bid. + +Then wind-footed swift Iris answered him: + +Is it thus in good sooth, O Earth-Enfolder, thou dark-haired god, that I am to bear to Zeus this message, unyielding and harsh, or wilt thou anywise turn thee; for the hearts of the good may be turned? Thou knowest how the Erinyes ever follow to aid the elder-born. + +121.1 +Then answered her again Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth: + +Goddess Iris, this word of thine is right fitly spoken; and a good thing verily is this, when a messenger hath an understanding heart. But herein dread grief cometh upon my heart and soul, whenso any is minded to upbraid with angry words +one of like portion with himself, to whom fate hath decreed an equal share. Howbeit for this present will I yield, despite mine indignation; yet another thing will I tell thee, and make this threat in my wrath: if in despite of me, and of Athene, driver of the spoil, +and of Hera, and Hermes, and lord Hephaestus, he shall spare steep Ilios, and shall be minded not to lay it waste, neither to give great might to the Argives, let him know this, that between us twain shall be wrath that naught can appease. + + +So saying, the Shaker of Earth left the host of the Achaeans, and fared to the sea and plunged therein; and the Achaean warriors missed him sore. + +Then unto Apollo spake Zeus, the cloud-gatherer: + +Go now, dear Phoebus, unto Hector, harnessed in bronze, for now is the Enfolder and Shaker of Earth gone into the bright sea, avoiding our utter wrath; else verily had others too heard of our strife, +even the gods that are in the world below with Cronos. But this was better for both, for me and for his own self, that ere then he yielded to my hands despite his wrath, for not without sweat would the issue have been wrought. But do thou take in thine hands the tasselled aegis, +and shake it fiercely over the Achaean warriors to affright them withal. And for thine own self, thou god that smitest afar, let glorious Hector be thy care, and for this time's space rouse in him great might, even until the Achaeans shall come in flight unto their ships and the Hellespont. From that moment will I myself contrive word and deed, +to the end that yet again the Achaeans may have respite from their toil. + + +So spake he, nor was Apollo disobedient to his father s bidding, but went down from the hills of Ida, like a fleet falcon, the slayer of doves, that is the swiftest of winged things. He found the son of wise-hearted Priam, even goodly Hector, +sitting up, for he lay no longer, and he was but newly gathering back his spirit, and knew his comrades round about him, and his gasping and his sweat had ceased, for the will of Zeus, that beareth the aegis, revived him. And Apollo, that worketh afar, drew nigh unto him, and said: + +Hector, son of Priam, why is it that thou apart from the rest +abidest here fainting? Is it haply that some trouble is come upon thee? + + +Then, his strength all spent, spake to him Hector of the flashing helm: + +Who of the gods art thou, mightiest one, that dost make question of me face to face? Knowest thou not that at the sterns of the Achaeans' ships as I made havoc of his comrades, Aias, good at the war-cry, smote me +on the breast with a stone, and made me cease from my furious might? Aye, and I deemed that on this day I should behold the dead and the house of Hades, when I had gasped forth my life. + + +Then spake to him again the lord Apollo, that worketh afar: + +Be now of good cheer, so mighty a helper hath the son of Cronos +sent forth from Ida to stand by thy side and succour thee, even me, Phoebus Apollo of the golden sword, that of old ever protect thee, thyself and the steep citadel withal. But come now, bid thy many charioteers drive against the hollow ships their swift horses, +and I will go before and make smooth all the way for the chariots, and will turn in flight the Achaean warriors. + + +So saying, he breathed great might into the shepherd of the host. And even as when a stalled horse that has fed his fill at the manger, breaketh his halter, and runneth stamping over the plain— +being wont to bathe him in the fair-flowing river—and exulteth; on high doth he hold his head and about his shoulders his mane floateth streaming, and as he glorieth in his splendour his knees nimbly bear him to the haunts and pastures of mares; even so swiftly plied Hector his feet and knees, +urging on his charioteers, when he had heard the voice of the god. But as when dogs and country-folk pursue a horned stag or a wild goat, but a sheer rock or a shadowy thicket saveth him from them, nor is it their lot to find him; +and then at their clamour a bearded lion showeth himself in the way, and forthwith turneth them all back despite their eagerness: even so the Danaans for a time ever followed on in throngs, thrusting with swords and two-edged spears, but when they saw Hector going up and down the ranks of men, +then were they seized with fear, and the spirits of all men sank down to their feet. + + +Then among them spake Thoas, son of Andraemon, far the best of the Aetolians, well-skilled in throwing the javelin, but a good man too in close fight, and in the place of assembly could but few of the Achaeans surpass him, when the young men were striving in debate. +He with good intent addressed their gathering, and spake among them: + +Now look you, verily a great marvel is this that mine eyes behold, how that now he is risen again and hath avoided the fates, even Hector. In sooth the heart of each man of us hoped that he had died beneath the hands of Aias, son of Telamon. +But lo, some one of the gods hath again delivered and saved Hector, who verily hath loosed the knees of many Danaans, as, I deem, will befall even now, since not without the will of loud-thundering Zeus doth he stand forth thus eagerly as a champion. Nay come, even as I shall bid, let us all obey. +The multitude let us bid return to the ships, but ourselves, all we that declare us to be the the best in the host, let us take our stand, if so be we first may face him, and thrust him back with our outstretched spears; methinks, for all his eagerness he will fear at heart to enter into the throng of the Danaans. + +So spake he, and they readily hearkened and obeyed. They that were in the company of Aias and prince Idomeneus, and Teucer, and Meriones, and Meges, the peer of Ares, called to the chieftains, and marshalled the fight, fronting Hector and the Trojans, +but behind them the multitude fared back to the ships of the Achaeans. +Then the Trojans drave forward in close throng, and Hector led them, advancing with long strides, while before him went Phoebus Apollo, his shoulders wrapped in cloud, bearing the fell aegis, girt with shaggy fringe, awful, gleaming bright, that the smith +Hephaestus gave to Zeus to bear for the putting to rout of warriors; this Apollo bare in his hands as he led on the host. + + +And the Argives in close throng abode their coming, and the war-cry rose shrill from either side, and the arrows leapt from the bow-string, and many spears, hurled by bold hands, +were some of them lodged in the flesh of youths swift in battle, and many of them, or ever they reached the white flesh, stood fixed midway in the earth, fain to glut themselves with flesh. Now so long as Phoebus Apollo held the aegis moveless in his hands, even so long the missiles of either side reached their mark and the folk kept falling; +but when he looked full in the faces of the Danaans of swift horses, and shook the aegis, and himself shouted mightily withal, then made he their hearts to faint within their breasts, and they forgat their furious might. And as when two wild beasts drive in confusion a herd of kine or a great flock of sheep in the darkness of black night, +when they have come upon them suddenly, and a herdsman is not by, even so were the Achaeans driven in rout with no might in them; for upon them Apollo had sent panic, and unto the Trojans and Hector was he giving glory. +Then man slew man as the fight was scattered. Hector laid low Stichius and Arcesilaus, +the one a leader of the brazen-coated Boeotians, and the other a trusty comrade of great-souled Menestheus; and Aeneas slew Medon and Iasus. The one verily, Medon, was a bastard son of godlike Oïleus, and brother of Aias, +but he dwelt in Phylace far from his native land, for that he had slain a man of the kin of his stepmother, Eriopis that Oïleus had to wife; and Iasus was a captain of the Athenians, and was called the son of Sphelus, son of Bucolus. And Mecisteus did Polydamas slay, and Polites slew Echius +in the forefront of the fight, and Clonius was slain of goodly Agenor. And Deïochus did Paris smite from behind, as he fled amid the foremost fighters, upon the base of the shoulder, and drave the bronze clean through. + + +While they were stripping the armour from these, meanwhile the Achaeans were flinging themselves into the digged trench and against the palisade, +fleeing this way and that, and were getting them within their wall perforce. And Hector shouted aloud, and called to the Trojans: + +Speed ye against the ships, and let be the blood-stained spoils. Whomsoever I shall mark holding aloof from the ships on the further side, on the very spot shall I devise his death, nor shall his +kinsmen and kinswomen give him his due meed of fire in death, but the dogs shall rend him in front of our city. + + +So saying, with a downward sweep of his arm he smote his horses with the lash, and called aloud to the Trojans along the ranks; and they all raised a shout, and even with him drave the steeds that drew their chariots, with a wondrous din; +and before them Phoebus Apollo lightly dashed down with his feet the banks of the deep trench, and cast them into the midst thereof, bridging for the men a pathway long and broad, even as far as a spear-cast, when a man hurleth, making trial of his strength. +Therethrough they poured forward rank on rank, and before them went Apollo, bearing the priceless aegis. And full easily did he cast down the wall of the Achaeans, even as when a boy scattereth the sand by the sea, one that makes of it a plaything in his childishness, and then again confounds it with hands and feet as he maketh sport: +so lightly didst thou, O archer +133.1 + Phoebus, confound the long toil and labour of the Achaeans, and on themselves send rout. +So then beside their ships the Danaans halted, and were stayed, calling one upon the other, and lifting up their hands to all the gods they made fervent prayer, each man of them; +and most of all prayed Nestor of Gerenia, the warder of the Achaeans, stretching forth his two hands to the starry heaven: + +O father Zeus, if ever any man of us in wheat-bearing Argos burned to thee fat thigh-pieces of bull or of ram with the prayer that he might return, and thou didst promise and nod thy head thereto, +be thou now mindful of these things, and ward from us, O Olympian god, the pitiless day of doom, nor suffer the Achaeans thus to be vanquished by the Trojans. + + +So he spake in prayer, and Zeus the counsellor thundered aloud, hearing the prayer of the aged son of Neleus. + + +But the Trojans, when they heard the thunder of Zeus that beareth the aegis, +leapt yet the more upon the Argives and bethought them of battle. And as when a great billow of the broad-wayed sea sweepeth down over the bulwarks of a ship, whenso it is driven on by the might of the wind, which above all maketh the waves to swell; even so did the Trojans with a great cry rush down over the wall, — +they in their cars, but the Achaeans high up on the decks of their black ships to which they had climbed, fought therefrom with long pikes that lay at hand for them upon the ships for sea-fighting,— jointed pikes, shod at the tip with bronze. + +And Patroclus, so long as the Achaeans and Trojans were fighting about the wall aloof from the swift ships, even so long sat in the hut of kindly Eurypylus, and was making him glad with talk, and on his grievous wound was spreading simples to assuage his dark pangs. +But when he saw the Trojans rushing upon the wall, while the Danaans with loud cries turned in flight, then he uttered a groan, and smote his two thighs with the flat of his hands, and with wailing spake, saying: + +Eurypylus, in no wise may I abide longer with thee here, +albeit thy need is sore; for lo, a mighty struggle hath arisen. Nay, as for thee, let thy squire bring thee comfort, but I will hasten to Achilles, that I may urge him on to do battle. Who knows but that, heaven helping, I may rouse his spirit with my persuading? A good thing is the persuasion of a comrade. + +When he had thus spoken his feet bare him on; but the Achaeans firmly abode the oncoming of the Trojans, yet availed not to thrust them back from the ships, albeit they were fewer, nor ever could the Trojans break the battalions of the Danaans and make way into the midst of the huts and the ships. +But as the carpenter's line maketh straight a ship's timber in the hands of a cunning workman, that is well skilled in all manner of craft by the promptings of Athene, so evenly was strained their war and battle. So fought they on, divers of them about divers ships, +but Hector made straight for glorious Aias. They twain were labouring in the toil of war about the same ship, nor might the one drive back the other and burn the ship with fire, nor the other thrust him in back, now that a god had brought him nigh. Then did glorious Aias cast his spear and smite upon the breast Caletor, son of Clytius, +as he was bearing fire against the ship; and he fell with a thud, and the torch dropped from out his hand. But Hector, when his eyes beheld his cousin fallen in the dust in front of the black ship, called to the Trojans and Lycians with a loud shout: +Ye Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians that fight in close combat, in no wise give ye ground from battle in this strait: nay, save ye the son of Clytius, lest so be the Achaeans strip him of his armour, now that he is fallen amid the gathering of the ships. + + +So saying, he hurled at Aias with his bright spear; +him he missed, but Lycophron, Mastor's son, a squire of Aias from Cythera, who dwelt with him, for that he had slain a man in sacred Cythera—him Hector smote upon the head above the ear with the sharp bronze, even as he stood near Aias, and backward in the dust +he fell to the ground from off the stern of the ship and his limbs were loosed. And Aias shuddered, and spake unto his brother: + +Good Teucer, verily a true comrade of us twain hath been laid low, even the son of Mastor, whom while he abode with us, being come from Cythera, we honoured in our halls even as our own parents. +Him hath great-souled Hector slain. Where now are thy arrows that bring swift death, and the bow that Phoebus Apollos gave thee? + + +So spake he, and the other hearkened, and ran, and took his stand close beside him, bearing in his hand his bent-back bow and the quiver that held his arrows; and full swiftly did he let fly his shafts upon the Trojans. +And he smote Cleitus, the glorious son of Peisenor, comrade of Polydamas, the lordly son of Panthous, even as he was holding the reins in his hand, and was busied with his horses; for thither was he driving them, where the most battalions were being driven in rout, thus doing pleasure unto Hector and the Trojans. But full swiftly +upon himself came evil that not one of them could ward off, how fain soever they were. For upon the back of his neck lighted the arrow fraught with groanings, and he fell from the chariot, and thereat the horses swerved aside, rattling the empty car. And the prince Polydamas swiftly marked it, and was first to stride toward the horses. +These he gave to Astynous, son of Protiaon, and straitly enjoined him to hold them near at hand, watching him the while; and he himself went back and mingled with the foremost fighters. +Then Teucer drew forth another arrow for Hector, harnessed in bronze, and would have made him cease from battle by the ships of the Achaeans, +had he but smitten him while he was showing his prowess and taken away his life. But he was not unmarked of the wise mind of Zeus, who guarded Hector, and took the glory from Teucer, son of Telamon. For Zeus brake the well-twisted string upon the goodly bow, even as he was drawing it against Hector, and his arrow +heavy with bronze was turned aside, and the bow fell from his hand. Then Teucer shuddered, and spake to his brother: + +Now look you, in good sooth a god is utterly bringing to naught the counsels of our battle, in that he hath cast the bow from my hand, and hath broken the newly-twisted string that I bound fast +this morning that it might avail to bear the arrows that should leap thick and fast therefrom. + + +Then great Telamonian Aias answered him: + +Aye, friend, but leave thou thy bow and thy many arrows to lie where they are, seeing that a god has confounded them, in malice toward the Danaans; but take thou in thy hand a long spear and a shield upon thy shoulder, +and do battle with the Trojans, and urge on the rest of the folk. Verily not without a struggle, for all they have overpowered us, shall they take our well-benched ships; nay, let us bethink us of battle. + + +So spake he, and Teucer laid the bow again within the hut, but about his shoulders put a fourfold shield, +and upon his mighty head set a well-wrought helmet with horse-hair crest; and terribly did the plume nod from above; and he took a valorous spear, tipped with sharp bronze, and went his way, and swiftly ran and took his stand by the side of Aias. +But when Hector saw that Teucer's shafts had been brought to naught, +to Trojans and Lycians he called with a loud shout, + +Ye Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians that fight in close combat, be men, my friends, and bethink you of furious valour amid the hollow ships; for verily mine eyes have seen how Zeus hath brought to naught the shafts of a man that is a chieftain. +Full easy to discern is the aid Zeus giveth to men, both to whomso he vouchsafeth the glory of victory, and whomso again he minisheth, and hath no mind to aid, even as now he minisheth the might of the Argives, and beareth aid to us. Nay, fight ye at the ships in close throngs, and if so be any of you, +smitten by dart or thrust, shall meet death and fate, let him lie in death. No unseemly thing is it for him to die while fighting for his country. Nay, but his wife is safe and his children after him, and his house and his portion of land are unharmed, if but the Achaeans be gone with their ships to their dear native land. + +So saying, he aroused the strength and spirit of every man. And Aias again, over against him called to his comrades: + +Shame on you, Argives, now is it sure that we must either perish utterly or find deliverance by thrusting back the peril from the ships. Think ye haply that if Hector of the flashing helm take the ships, +ye shall come afoot each man of you to his own native land? Hear ye not Hector urging on all his host in his fury to burn the ships? Verily it is not to the dance that he biddeth them come, but to battle. And for us there is no counsel or device better than this, +that in close combat we bring our hands and our might against theirs. Better is it once for all either to die or live, than long to be straitened in dread conflict thus bootlessly beside the ships at the hands of men that be meaner. + + +So saying, he aroused the strength and spirit of every man. +Then Hector slew Schedius, son of Perimedes, a leader of the Phocians, and Aias slew Laodamas, the leader of the footmen, the glorious son of Antenor; and Polydamas laid low Otus of Cyllene, comrade of Phyleus' son, captain of the great-souled Epeians. +And Meges saw, and leapt upon him, but Polydamas swerved from beneath him and him Meges missed; for Apollo would not suffer the son of Panthous to be vanquished amid the foremost fighters; but with a spear-thrust he smote Croesmus full upon the breast. And he fell with a thud, and the other set him to strip the armour from his shoulders. +Meanwhile upon him leapt Dolops, well skilled with the spear, the son of Lampus, whom Lampus, son of Laomedon, begat, even his bravest son, well skilled in furious might; he it was that then thrust with his spear full upon the shield of Phyleus' son, setting upon him from nigh at hand. But his cunningly-wrought corselet saved him, +the corselet that he was wont to wear, fitted with plates of mail. This Phyleus had brought from out of Ephyre, from the river Seleïs. For a guest-friend of his, the king of men Euphetes, had given it him that he might wear it in war, a defence against foe-men; and this now warded death from the body of his son. +Then Meges thrust with his sharp spear upon the topmost socket of the helm of bronze with horse-hair plume which Dolops wore, and shore therefrom the plume of horse-hair, and all the plume, bright with its new scarlet dye, fell in the dust. Now while Meges abode and fought with Dolops, and yet hoped for victory, +meanwhile warlike Menelaus came to bear him aid, and he took his stand on one side with his spear, unmarked of Dolops, and cast and smote him on the shoulder from behind; and the spear in its fury sped through his breast, darting eagerly onward, and he fell upon his face; and the twain made for him to strip from his shoulders his armour wrought of bronze. +But Hector called to his kinsmen, one and all, and first did he chide Hicetaon's son, strong Melanippus. He until this time had been wont to feed his kine of shambling gait in Percote, while the foemen were yet afar, but when the curved ships of the Danaans came, +he returned back to Ilios, and was pre-eminent among the Trojans; and he dwelt in the house of Priam, who held him in like honour with his own children. Him did Hector chide, and spake and addressed him, saying: + +In good sooth, Melanippus, are we to be thus slack? Hath thine own heart no regard for thy kinsman that is slain? +Seest thou not in what wise they are busied about the armour of Dolops? Nay, come thou on; for no longer may we fight with the Argives from afar, till either we slay them, or they utterly take steep Ilios, and slay her people. + + +So saying, he led the way, and the other followed with him, a godlike man. +And the Argives did great Telamonian Aias urge on, saying: + +My friends, be men, and take ye shame in your hearts, and have shame each of the other in the fierce conflict. Of men that have shame more are saved than are slain; but from them that flee springeth neither glory nor any avail. + +So spake he, and they even of themselves were eager to ward off the foe, but they laid up his word in their hearts, and fenced in the ships with a hedge of bronze; and against them Zeus urged on the Trojans. Then Menelaus, good at the war-cry, exhorted Antilochus: + +Antilochus, none other of the Achaeans is younger than thou, +nor swifter of foot, nor valiant as thou art in fight; I would thou mightest leap forth, and smite some man of the Trojans. + + +He spake, and hasted back again himself, but aroused the other, and Antilochus leapt forth from amid the foremost fighters and, glancing warily about him, hurled with his bright spear, and back did the Trojans shrink +from the warrior as he cast. Not in vain did he let fly his spear, but smote Hicetaon's son, Melanippus, high of heart, as he was coming to the battle, upon the breast beside the nipple; and he fell with a thud, and darkness enfolded his eyes. And Antilochus sprang upon him, as a hound that darteth upon a wounded fawn, +that a hunter with sure aim hath smitten as it leapt from its lair, and hath loosed its limbs; even in such wise upon thee, O Melanippus, leapt Antilochus staunch in fight, to strip from thee thine armour. Howbeit he was not unseen of goodly Hector, who came running to meet him amid the battle; +and Antilochus abode not, swift warrior though he was, but fled like a wild beast that hath wrought some mischief—one that hath slain a hound or a herdsman beside his kine, and fleeth before the throng of men be gathered together; even so fled the son of Nestor; and the Trojans and Hector +with wondrous shouting poured forth upon him their darts fraught with groanings; but he turned and stood, when he had reached the host of his comrades. + + +But the Trojans, like ravening lions, rushed upon the ships and were fulfilling the behests of Zeus, who ever roused great might in them, but made the hearts +of the Argives to melt, and took away their glory, while he spurred on the others. For his heart was set on giving glory to Hector, son of Priam, to the end that he might cast upon the beaked ships unwearied, wondrous-blazing fire, and so fulfill to the uttermost the presumptuous prayer of Thetis. Even for this was Zeus the counsellor waiting, +that his eyes might behold the glare of a burning ship; for from that time forth was he to ordain a driving-back of the Trojans from the ships, and to grant glory to the Danaans. With this intent he was rousing against the hollow ships Hector son of Priam, that was himself full eager. +And he was raging like Ares, wielder of the spear, or as when consuming fire rageth among the mountains in the thickets of a deep wood; and foam came forth about his mouth, and his two eyes blazed beneath his dreadful brows, and round about his temples terribly shook the helm of Hector as he fought; +for Zeus out of heaven was himself his defender, and vouchsafed him honour and glory, alone as he was amid so many warriors. For brief was his span of life to be, since even now Pallas Athene was hastening on the day of his doom beneath the might of the son of Peleus. +But fain was he to break the ranks of men, making trial of them wheresoever he saw the greatest throng and the goodliest arms. Yet not even so did he avail to break them, for all he was so eager; for they abode firm-fixed as it were a wall, like a crag, sheer and great, hard by the grey sea, +that abideth the swift paths of the shrill winds, and the swelling waves that belch forth against it; even so the Danaans withstood the Trojans steadfastly, and fled not. But Hector shining all about as with fire leapt among the throng, and fell upon them; even as when beneath the clouds a fierce-rushing wave, +swollen by the winds, falleth upon a swift ship, and she is all hidden by the foam thereof, and the dread blast of the wind roareth against the sail, and the hearts of the sailors shudder in their fear, for that by little are they borne forth from death; even so were the hearts of the Achaeans rent within their breasts. +But he fell upon them like a lion of baneful mind coming against kine, that are grazing in the bottom-land of a great marsh, and there is no counting them, and among them is a herdsman that is as yet unskilled to fight with a wild beast over the carcase of a sleek heifer that hath been slain: he verily walketh ever by their side, now abreast of the foremost of the kine, and now of the hindmost, +but the lion leapeth upon the midmost, and devoureth a heifer, and thereat they all flee in terror; even so in wondrous wise were the Achaeans one and all then driven in wondrous rout by Hector and father Zeus, albeit Hector slew one only man, Periphetes of Mycenae, the dear son of Copreus, that had been wont to go on messages from king Eurystheus +to the mighty Heracles. Of him, a father baser by far, was begotten a son goodlier in all manner of excellence, both in fleetness of foot and in fight, and in mind he was among the first of the men of Mycenae; he it was who then yielded to Hector the glory of victory. +For, as he turned back, he tripped upon the rim of the shield that himself bare, a shield that reached to the feet, a defence against javelins: thereon he stumbled and fell backward, and about his temples his helm rang wondrously as he fell. And Hector was quick to mark it, and ran, and stood close beside him, +and fixed his spear in his breast, and slew him hard by his dear comrades; and they availed not to aid him, albeit they sorrowed for their comrade; for themselves were sore adread of goodly Hector. + + +Now were they got among the ships, +1 + and the outermost ships encircled them, even they that had been drawn up in the first line; but their foes rushed on. +And the Argives gave way perforce from the outermost ships, but abode there beside their huts, all in one body, and scattered not throughout the camp; for shame withheld them and fear; and unceasingly they called aloud one to the other. And above all others Nestor of Gerenia, the warder of the Achaeans, +besought each man, adjuring him by them that begat him, saying: + +My friends, play the man, and take in your hearts shame of other men, and be ye mindful, each man of you, of children and wife, of possessions and of his parents, whether in the case of any they be living or be dead. +For the sake of them that are not here with us do I now beseech you to stand firm, and turn not back in flight. + + +So saying, he aroused the strength and spirit of every man, and from their eyes Athene thrust away the wondrous cloud of mist, and mightily did light come to them from either hand, +both from the side of the ships and from that of evil war. And all beheld Hector, good at the war-cry, and his comrades, alike they that stood in the rear and fought not, and all they that did battle by the swift ships. +Now was it no more pleasing to the soul of great-hearted Aias +to stand in the place where the rest of the sons of the Achaeans stood aloof, but he kept faring with long strides up and down the decks of the ships, and he wielded in his hands a long pike for sea-fighting, a pike jointed with rings, of a length two and twenty cubits. And as a man well-skilled in horsemanship +harnesseth together four horses chosen out of many, and driveth them in swift course from the plain toward a great city along a highway, while many marvel at him, both men-folk and women, and ever with sure step he leapeth, and passeth from horse to horse, while they speed on; +even so Aias kept ranging with long strides over the many decks of the swift ships, and his voice went up to heaven, as ever with terrible cries he called to the Danaans to defend their ships and huts. Nor did Hector abide amid the throng of the mail-clad Trojans, +but as a tawny eagle darteth upon a flock of winged fowl that are feeding by a river's bank—a flock of wild geese, or cranes, or long-necked swans, even so Hector made for a dark-prowed ship, rushing straight thereon; and from behind Zeus thrust him on +with exceeding mighty hand, and aroused the host together with him. + + +Then again keen battle was set afoot beside the ships. Thou wouldst have deemed that all unwearied and unworn they faced one another in war, so furiously did they fight. And in their fighting they were minded thus: The Achaeans +verily deemed that they should never escape from out the peril, but should perish, while for the Trojans, the heart in each man's breast hoped that they should fire the ships and slay the Achaean warriors. Such were their thoughts as they stood, each host against the other. But Hector laid hold of the stern of a seafaring ship, +a fair ship, swift upon the brine, that had borne Protesilaus to Troy, but brought him not back again to his native land. About his ship Achaeans and Trojans were slaying one another in close combat, nor did they longer hold aloof and thus endure the flight of arrows and darts, +but standing man against man in oneness of heart, they fought with sharp battle-axes and hatchets, and with great swords and two-edged spears. And many goodly blades, bound with dark thongs at the hilt, fell to the ground, some from the hands and some from the shoulders +of the warriors as they fought; and the black earth flowed with blood. But Hector, when he had grasped the ship by the stern, would not loose his hold, but kept the ensign +159.1 + in his hands, and called to the Trojans: + +Bring fire, and therewithal raise ye the war-cry all with one voice; now hath Zeus vouchsafed us a day that is recompense for all— +to take the ships that came hither in despite of the gods, and brought us many woes, by reason of the cowardice of the elders, who, when I was eager to fight at the sterns of the ships, kept me back, and withheld the host. But if Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, then dulled our wits, +now of himself he urgeth and giveth command. + + +So spake he, and they leapt the more upon the Argives. But Aias no longer abode, for he was sore beset with darts, but, ever foreboding death, gave ground a little along the bridge +161.1 + of seven feet in height, and left the deck of the shapely ship. +There stood he on the watch, and with his spear he ever warded from the ship whosoever of the Trojans sought to bring unwearied fire; and ever with terrible cries he called to the Danaans: + +Friends, Danaan warriors, squires of Ares, be men, my friends, and bethink you of furious might. +Do we haply deem that there are other helpers at our backs, or some stronger wall to ward off ruin from men? In no wise is there hard at hand a city fenced with walls, whereby we might defend ourselves, having a host to turn the tide of battle; nay, it is in the plain of the mail-clad Trojans +that we are set, with naught to support us but the sea, and far from our native land. Therefore in the might of our hands is the light of deliverance, and not in slackness in fight. + + +He spake, and kept driving furiously at the foe with his sharp spear. And whoso of the Trojans would rush upon the hollow ships with blazing fire, doing pleasure to Hector at his bidding, +for him would Aias wait, and wound him with a thrust of his long spear; and twelve men did he wound in close fight in front of the ships. +Thus then they were warring around the well-benched ship, but Patroclus drew nigh to Achilles, shepherd of the host, shedding hot tears, even as a fountain of dark water that down over the face of a beetling cliff poureth its dusky stream; +and swift-footed goodly Achilles had pity when he saw him, and spake and addressed him with winged words: + +Why, Patroclus, art thou bathed in tears, like a girl, a mere babe, that runneth by her mother's side and biddeth her take her up, and clutcheth at her gown, and hindereth her in her going, +and tearfully looketh up at her, till the mother take her up? Even like her, Patroclus, dost thou let fall round tears. Hast thou haply somewhat to declare to the Myrmidons or to mine own self, or is it some tidings out of Phthia that thyself alone hast heard? Still lives Menoetius, men tell us, Actor's son, +and still lives Peleus. son of Aeacus, amid the Myrmidons, for which twain would we grieve right sore, were they dead. Or art thou sorrowing for the Argives, how they are being slain beside the hollow ships by reason of their own presumptuous act? Speak out; hide it not in thy mind;that we both may know. + +Then with a heavy groan, didst thou make answer, O knight Patroclus: + +O Achilles, son of Peleus, far the mightiest of the Achaeans, be not wroth; so great a sorrow hath overmastered the Achaeans. For verily all they that aforetime were bravest, lie among the ships smitten by darts or wounded with spear-thrusts. +Smitten is the son of Tydeus, mighty Diomedes, wounded with spear-thrust is Odysseus, famed for his spear, and Agamemnon, and smitten, too, is Eurypylus with an arrow in the thigh. About these the leeches, skilled in many simples, are busied, seeking to heal their wounds; but with thee may no man deal, Achilles. +Never upon me let such wrath lay hold, as that thou dost cherish, O thou whose valour is but a bane! Wherein shall any other even yet to be born have profit of thee, if thou ward not off shameful ruin from the Argives? Pitiless one, thy father, meseems, was not the knight Peleus, nor was Thetis thy mother, but the grey sea bare thee, +and the beetling cliffs, for that thy heart is unbending. But if in thy mind thou art shunning some oracle, and thy queenly mother hath declared to thee aught from Zeus, yet me at least send thou forth speedily, and with me let the rest of the host of the Myrmidons follow, if so be I may prove a light of deliverance to the Danaans. +And grant me to buckle upon my shoulders that armour of thine, in hope that the Trojans may take me for thee, and so desist from war, and the warlike sons of the Achaeans may take breath, wearied as they are; for scant is the breathing-space in battle. And lightly might we that are unwearied +drive men that are wearied with the battle back to the city from the ships and the huts. + + +So spake he in prayer, fool that he was, for in sooth it was to be his own evil death and fate for which he prayed. Then, his heart deeply stirred, spake to him swift-footed Achilles: + +Ah me, Zeus-born Patroclus, what a thing hast thou said! +Neither reck I of any oracle, that I wot of, nor has my queenly mother declared to me aught from Zeus; but herein dread grief cometh upon heart and soul, whenso a man is minded to rob one that is his equal, and take from him his prize, for that he surpasseth him in power. +Dread grief is this to me, seeing I have suffered woes at heart. The girl that the sons of the Achaeans chose out for me as a prize, and that I won with my spear, when I had laid waste a well-walled city, her hath lord Agamemnon taken back from my arms, this son of Atreus, as though I were some alien that had no rights. +Howbeit these things will we let be, as past and done. In no wise, meseems, was I to be filled with ceaseless wrath at heart; yet verily I deemed that I should not make an end of mine anger, until the hour when unto mine own ships should come the war-cry and the battle. But come, do thou put upon thy shoulders my glorious armour, +and lead forth the war-loving Myrmidons to the fight, if in good sooth the dark cloud of the Trojans lieth encompassed the ships mightily, and those others abide with naught to support them but the shore of the sea, having but scant space of land still left them, even the Argives; while the whole city of the Trojans hath come forth against them +fearlessly, for they see not the front of my helm shining hard at hand; full soon in their flight would they fill the water-courses with their dead, were but lord Agamemnon of kindly mind toward me, whereas now they are warring around the camp. + + +For not in the hands of Diomedes, son of Tydeus, +doth the spear rage, to ward off ruin from the Danaans, neither as yet have I heard the voice of the son of Atreus, shouting from his hated head; nay, it is the voice of man-slaying Hector that breaketh about me, as he calleth to the Trojans, and they with their din possess all the plain, and vanquish the Achaeans in battle. +Yet even so, Patroclus, in warding destruction from the ships fall thou upon them mightily, lest verily they burn the ships with blazing fire and rob the Greeks of their desired return. Howbeit do thou hearken, that I may put in thy mind the sum of my counsel, to the end that thou mayest win me great recompense and glory +at the hands of all the Danaans, and that they send back that beauteous girl, and therewithal give glorious gifts. When thou hast driven them from the ships, come back, and if the loud-thundering lord of Hera grant thee to win glory, be not thou fain apart from me to war +against the war-loving Trojans: thou wilt lessen mine honour. Nor yet do thou, as thou exultest in war and conflict, and slayest the Trojans, lead on unto Ilios, lest one of the gods that are for ever shall come down from Olympus and enter the fray; right dearly doth Apollo, that worketh afar, love them. +Nay, return thou back, when once thou hast set a light of deliverance amid the ships, and suffer the rest to battle over the plain. For I would, O father Zeus, and Athene, and Apollo, that no man of the Trojans might escape death, of all that there are, neither any of the Argives, but that we twain might escape destruction, +that alone we might loose the sacred diadem of Troy. + + +On this wise spake they one to the other, but Aias no longer abode, for he was sore beset with darts; the will of Zeus was overmastering him, and the lordly Trojans with their missiles; and terribly did the bright helm about his temples +ring continually, as it was smitten, for smitten it ever was upon the well-wrought cheek-pieces, and his left shoulder grew weary as he ever firmly held his flashing shield; nor might they beat it back about him, for all they pressed him hard with darts. And evermore was he distressed by laboured breathing, +and down from his limbs on every side abundant sweat kept streaming, nor had he any wise respite to get his breath withal, but every way evil was heaped upon evil. + + + +Tell me now, ye Muses, that have dwellings on Olympus, how fire was first flung upon the ships of the Achaeans. +It was Hector that drew nigh to Aias +and smote his ashen spear with his great sword hard by the socket, at the base ot the point, and shore it clean away, so that Telamonian Aias brandished all vainly a pointless spear, and far from him the head of bronze fell ringing to the ground. And Aias knew in his noble heart, and shuddered +at the deeds of the gods, how that Zeus, who thundereth on high, brought utterly to naught the counsels of his battle, and would have victory for the Trojans. Then he gave ground from out the darts; and the Trojans cast upon the swift ship unwearied fire, and over her forthwith streamed a flame that might not be quenched. +So then was the ship's stern wreathed about with fire, but Achilles +smote both his thighs and spake to Patroclus: + +Up now, Zeus-born Patroclus, master of horsemen. Lo, I see by the ships the rush of consuming fire. Let it not be that they take the ships and there be no more escaping! Do on my armour with all haste, and I will gather the host. + +So spake he,and Patroclus arrayed him in gleaming bronze. The greaves first he set about his legs; beautiful they were, and fitted with silver ankle-pieces; next he did on about his chest the corselet of the swift-footed son of Aeacus, richly-wrought, and spangled with stars. +And about his shoulders he cast the silver-studded sword of bronze, and thereafter the shield, great and sturdy; and upon his mighty head he set the well-wrought helmet with horse-hair crest, and terribly did the plume nod from above; and he took two valorous spears, that fitted his grasp. +Only the spear of the peerless son of Aeacus he took not, the spear heavy and huge and strong; this none other of the Achaeans could wield, but Achilles alone was skilled to wield it, even the Pelian spear of ash, that Cheiron had given to his dear father from the peak of Pelion, to be for the slaying of warriors. +And the horses he bade Automedon yoke speedily, even him that he honoured most after Achilles, breaker of the ranks of men, and that in his eyes was faithful above all to abide his call in battle. At his bidding then Automedon led beneath the yoke the fleet horses, Xanthus and Balius, that flew swift as the winds, horses +that the Harpy Podarge conceived to the West Wind, as she grazed on the meadow beside the stream of Oceanus. And in the side-traces he set the goodly Pedasus that on a time Achilles had brought away, when he took the city of Eetion; and he, being but mortal, kept pace with immortal steeds. + +But Achilles went to and fro throughout the huts and let harness in their armour all the Myrmidons, and they rushed forth like ravening wolves in whose hearts is fury unspeakable—wolves that have slain in the hills a great horned stag, and rend him, and the jaws of all are red with gore; +and in a pack they go to lap with their slender tongues the surface of the black water from a dusky spring, belching forth the while blood and gore, the heart in their breasts unflinching, and their bellies gorged full; even in such wise the leaders and rulers of the Myrmidons sped forth +round about the valiant squire of the swift-footed son of Aeacus. And among them all stood warlike Achilles, urging on both horses and men that bear the shield. +Fifty were the swift ships which Achilles, dear to Zeus, led to Troy, +and in each ship at the thole-pins were fifty men, his comrades; and five leaders had he appointed in whom he trusted to give command, and himself in his great might was king over all. The one rank was led by Menesthius of the flashing corselet, son of Spercheius, the heaven-fed river. +Him did fair Polydora, daughter of Peleus, bear to tireless Spercheius, a woman couched with a god, but in name she bare him to Borus, son of Perieres, who openly wedded her, when he had given gifts of wooing past counting. And of the next company warlike Eudorus was captain, +the son of a girl unwed, and him did Polymele, fair in the dance, daughter of Phylas, bear. Of her the strong Argeiphontes became enamoured, when his eyes had sight of her amid the singing maidens, in the dancing-floor of Artemis, huntress of the golden arrows and the echoing chase. Forthwith then he went up into her upper chamber, and lay with her secretly, +even Hermes the helper, +1 + and she gave him a goodly son, Eudorus, pre-eminent in speed of foot and as a warrior. But when at length Eileithyia, goddess of child-birth, had brought him to the light, and he saw the rays of the sun, then her did the stalwart and mighty Echecles, son of Actor, +lead to his home, when he had given countless gifts of wooing, and Eudorus did old Phylas nurse and cherish tenderly, loving him dearly, as he had been his own son. And of the third company warlike Peisander was captain, son of Maemalus, a man pre-eminent among all the Myrmidons +in fighting with the spear, after the comrade of the son of Peleus. And the fourth company did the old knight Phoenix lead, and the fifth Alcimedon, the peerless son of Laerces. But when at length Achilles had set them all in array with their leaders, duly parting company from company, he laid upon them a stern command: + +Myrmidons, let no man, I bid you, be forgetful of the threats, wherewith heside the swift ships ye threatened the Trojans throughout all the time of my wrath, and upbraided me, each man of you, saying: + +Cruel son of Peleus, surely it was on gall that thy mother reared thee, thou pitiless one, seeing that in their own despite thou holdest back thy comrades beside the ships. +Nay, homeward let us return again with our seafaring ships, since in this wise evil wrath hath fallen upon thy heart. + + With such words would ye ofttimes gather together and prate at me, but now is set before you a great work of war, whereof in time past ye were enamoured. Therefore let it be with valiant heart that each man fights with the Trojans. + +So saying, he aroused the strength and spirit of every man, and yet closer were their ranks serried when they heard their king. And as when a man buildeth the wall of a high house with close-set stones, to avoid the might of the winds, even so close were arrayed their helms and bossed shields; +buckler pressed on buckler, helm upon helm, and man on man. The horse-hair crests on the bright helmet-ridges touched each other, as the men moved their heads, in such close array stood they one by another. And in the front of all two warriors arrayed themselves for war, even Patroclus and Automedon, both of one mind, +to war in the forefront of the Myrmidons. But Achilles went into his hut, and opened the lid of a chest, fair and richly-dight, that silver-footed Thetis had set on his ship for him to carry with him, whem she had filled it well with tunics, and cloaks to keep off the wind, and woollen rugs. +Therein had he a fair-fashioned cup, wherefrom neither was any other man wont to drink the flaming wine, nor was he wont to pour drink offerings to any other of the gods save only to father Zeus. This cup he then took from the chest and cleansed it first with sulphur, and thereafter washed it in fair streams of water; +and himself he washed his hands, and drew flaming wine. Then he made prayer, standing in the midst of the court, and poured forth the wine, looking up to heaven; and not unmarked was he of Zeus, that hurleth the thunderbolt: + +Zeus, thou king, Dodonaean, Pelasgian, thou that dwellest afar, ruling over wintry Dodona,—and about thee dwell the Selli, +thine interpreters, men with unwashen feet that couch on the ground. Aforetime verily thou didst hear my word, when I prayed: me thou didst honour, and didst mightily smite the host of the Achaeans; even so now also fulfill thou for me this my desire. Myself verily will I abide in the gathering of the ships, +but my comrade am I sending forth amid the host of the Myrmidons to war: with him do thou send forth glory, O Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, and make bold the heart in his breast, to the end that Hector, too, may know whether even alone my squire hath skill to fight, or whether his hands +then only rage invincible, whenso I enter the turmoil of Ares. But when away from the ships he hath driven war and the din of war, thea all-unscathed let him come back to the swift ships with all his arms, and his comrades that fight in close combat. + + +So spake he in prayer, and Zeus, the counsellor, heard him, +and a part the Father granted him, and a part denied. That Patroclus should thrust back the war and battle from the ships he granted; but that he should return safe from out the battle he denied. +Achilles then, when he had poured libation and made prayer to father Zeus, went again into his tent, and laid the cup away in the chest, and came forth and +stood in front of the hut; for still his heart was fain to look upon the dread conflict of Trojans and Achaeans. +But they that were arrayed together with great-hearted Patroclus marched forth, until with high spirits they leapt upon the Trojans. Straightway they poured forth like wasps +of the wayside, that boys are wont to stir +1 + to wrath, ever tormenting them in their nests beside the way, foolish that they are; and a common evil they make for many. And the wasps, if so be some wayfaring ran as he passeth by rouse them unwittingly, +fly forth one and all in the valour of their hearts, and fight each in defence of his young; having a heart and spirit like theirs the Myrmidons then poured forth from the ships, and a cry unquenchable arose. But Patroclus called to his comrades with a loud shout: + +Myrmidons, ye comrades of Achilles, son of Peleus, +be men, my friends, and bethink you of furious valour, to the end that we may win honour for the son of Peleus, that is far the best of the Argives by the ships, himself and his squires that fight in close combat; and that the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon, may know his blindness in that he honoured not at all the best of the Achaeans. + +So saying, he roused the strength and spirit of every man, and on the Trojans they fell all in a throng, and round about them the ships echoed wondrously beneath the shouting of the Achaeans. But when the Trojans saw the valiant son of Menoetius, himself and his squire, shining in their armour, +the heart of each man was stirred, and their battalions were shaken, for they deemed that by the ships the swift-footed son of Peleus had cast aside his wrath and had chosen friendliness; and each man gazed about to see how he might escape utter destruction. + + +Then Patroclus was first to cast with his bright spear +straight into the midst where men thronged the thickest, even by the stern of the ship of great-souled Protesilaus, and smote Pyraechmes, that had led the Paeonians, lords of chariots, out of Amydon, from the wide-flowing Axius. Him he smote on the right shoulder, +and backward in the dust he fell with a groan, and about him his comrades were driven in rout, even the Paeonians, for upon them all had Patroclus sent panic, when he slew their leader that was pre-eminent in fight. From out the ships then he drave them, and quenched the blazing fire. And half-burnt the ship was left there, +but the Trojans were driven in rout with a wondrous din, and the Danaans poured in among the hollow ships, and a ceaseless din arose. And as when from the high crest of a great mountain Zeus, that gathereth the lightnings, moveth a dense cloud away, and forth to view appear all mountain peaks, and high headlands, +and glades, and from heaven breaketh open the infinite air; even so the Danaans, when they had thrust back from the ships consuming fire, had respite for a little time; howbeit there was no ceasing from war. For not yet were the Trojans driven in headlong rout by the Achaeans, dear to Ares, from the black ships, +but still they sought to withstand them, and gave ground from the ships perforce. + + +Then man slew man of the chieftains as the fight was scattered. First the valiant son of Menoetius smote the thigh of Areilycus with a cast of his sharp spear at the moment when he turned to flee, and drave the bronze clean through; +and the spear brake the bone, and he fell on his face on the ground. And warlike Menelaus thrust and smote Thoas on the breast, where it was left bare beside the shield, and loosed his limbs. And the son of Phyleus as he watched Amphiclus that was rushing upon him, proved quicker than his foe, and smote him upon the base of the leg, where +a man's muscle is thickest; and round about the spear-point the sinews were rent apart; and darkness enfolded his eyes. Then of the sons of Nestor, the one, Antilochus, thrust at Atymnius with his sharp spear, and drave the spear of bronze through his flank; and he fell forward. But Maris, hard at hand, +rushed upon Antilochus with his spear, wroth for his brother's sake, and took his stand before the dead; howbeit godlike Thrasymedes was too quick for him, and forthwith ere his foe could thrust, smote upon his shoulder, and missed not; but the point of the spear shore the base of the arm away from the muscles, and utterly brake asunder the bone; +and he fell with a thud, and darkness enfolded his eyes. So these twain, overcome by twain brethren, went their way to Erebus, goodly comrades of Sarpedon, spearmen sons of Araisodarus, him that reared the raging Chimaera, a bane to many men. +And Aias, son of Oileus, leapt upon Cleobulus, and caught him alive, entangled in the throng; but even there he loosed his might, smiting him upon the neck with his hilted sword. Thereat all the blade grew warm with his blood, and down over his eyes came dark death and mighty fate. +Then Peneleos and Lyco rushed together, for with their spears either had missed the other, and both had cast in vain; but again they rushed together with their swords. Then Lyco let drive upon the horn of the helm with horse-hair crest, and the sword was shattered at the hilt; +but Peneleos smote him upon the neck beneath the ear, and all the blade sank in, so that naught but the skin held fast, and the head hung to one side, and his limbs were loosed. And Meriones with swift strides overtook Acamas, and thrust and smote him, even as he was mounting his car, upon the right shoulder; and he fell from his car and down over his eyes a mist was shed. +Then Idomeneus smote Erymas upon the mouth with a thrust of the pitiless bronze, and clean through passed the spear of bronze beneath the brain, and clave asunder the white bones; and his teeth were shaken out, and both his eyes were filled with blood;and up through mouth and nostrils he spurted blood as he gaped, +and a black cloud of death enfolded him. + + +These, then, leaders of the Damans, slew each his man. And as murderous wolves fall upon lambs or kids, choosing them from out the flocks, when through the witlessness of the shepherd they are scattered among the mountains, and the wolves seeing it, +forthwith harry the young whose hearts know naught of valour; even so the Damans fell upon the Trojans, and they bethougnt them of ill-sounding flight, and forgat their furious valour. +And the great Aias was ever fain to cast his spear at Hector, harnessed in bronze, but he in his cunning of war, his broad shoulders +covered with shield of bull's-hide, ever watched the whirring of arrows and the hurtling of spears. In sooth he knew the tide of victory was turning, but even so he abode, and sought to save his trustv comrades. +And as when from Olympus a cloud fareth toward heaven +out of the bright air, when Zeus spreadeth forth the tempest, even so from the ships came the shouting and the rout of these; nor was it in good order that they crossed the trench again. Hector verily did his swift-footed horses bear forth with his battle-gear, and he left tbe hosts of Troy, whom the digged trench held back against their will. +And in the trench many pairs of swift horses, drawers of chariots, brake the pole at the end, and left the chariots of their lords. But Patroclus followed after, calling fiercely to the Danaans, with purpose of evil toward the Trojans, while they with shouting and in flight filled all the ways, now that their ranks were broken; +and on high a cloud of dust was spread up beneath the clouds, and the single-hoofed horses strained back toward the city from the ships and the huts. And Patroclus, wheresoever he saw the greatest throng huddled in rout, thither would with shouting; and beneath his axle-trees men kept falling headlong from their cars, and the chariots were overturned. +And straight over the trench leapt the swift horses—the immortal horses that the gods gave as glorious gifts to Peleus—in their onward flight, and against Hector did the heart of Patroclus urge him on, for he was fain to smite him; but his swift horses ever bare Hector forth. And even as beneath a tempest the whole black earth is oppressed, +on a day in harvest-time, when Zeus poureth forth rain most violently, whenso in anger he waxeth wroth against men that by violence give crooked judgments in the place of gathering, and drive justice out, recking not of the vengeance of the gods; and all their rivers flow in flood, +and many a hillside do the torrents furrow deeply, and down to the dark sea they rush headlong from the mountains with a mighty roar, and the tilled fields of men are wasted; even so +1 + mighty was the roar of the mares of Troy as they sped on. + + +But when Patroclus had cut off the foremost battalions, he hemmed them +back again towards the ships and would not suffer them for all their eagerness to set foot in the city, but in the mid-space between the ships and the river and the high wall he rushed among them and slew them, and got him vengeance for many a slain comrade. There verily he first smote Pronous with a cast of his bright spear, +upon the breast where it was left bare beside the shield, and loosed his limbs; and he feIl with a thud. Next upon Thestor, son of Enops, he rushed. Crouching he sat in his polished car, for his wits were distraught with terror, and the reins had slipped from his hands, but Patroclus drew nigh to him, and smote him +upon the right jaw with his spear, and drave it through his teeth; and he laid hold of the spear and dragged him over the chariot-rim, as when a man sitting upon a jutting rock draggeth to land a sacred fish from out the sea, with line and gleaming hook of bronze; even so on the bright spear dragged he him agape from out the car, +and cast him down upon his face; and life left him as he fell. Then as Erylaus rushed upon him, he smote him full upon the head with a stone, and his head was wholly cloven asunder within the heavy helmet; and he fell headlong upon the earth, and death, that slayeth the spirit, was shed about him. +Thereafter Erymas and Amphoterus, and Epaltes, and Tlepolemus, son of Damastor, and Echius and Pyris, and Ipheus and Evippus, and Polymelus, son of Argeas, all these one after another he brought down to the bounteous earth. +But when Sarpedon saw his comrades, that wear the tunic ungirt, +being laid low beneath the hands of Patroclus, son of Menoetius, he called aloud, upbraiding the godlike Lycians: + +Shame, ye Lycians, whither do ye flee? Now be ye swift to fight; for I myself will meet this man, that I may know who he is that prevaileth here, and verily hath wrought the Trojans much mischief, +seeing he hath loosed the knees of many men and goodly. + + +He spake, and leapt in his armour from his chariot to the ground. And Patroclus, over against him, when he beheld him, sprang from his chariot. And as vultures crooked of talon and curved of beak fight with loud cries upon a high rock, +even so with cries rushed they one against the other. And the son of crooked-counselling Cronos took pity when he saw them, and spake to Hera, his sister and his wife: + +Ah, woe is me, for that it is fated that Sarpedon, dearest of men to me, be slain by Patroclus, son of Menoetius! +And in twofold wise is my heart divided in counsel as I ponder in my thought whether I shall snatch him up while yet he liveth and set him afar from the tearful war in the rich land of Lycia, or whether I shall slay him now beneath the hands of the son of Menoetius. + + +Then ox-eyed queenly Hera answered him: +Most dread son of Cronos, what a word hast thou said! A man that is mortal, doomed long since by fate, art thou minded to deliver again from dolorous death? Do as thou wilt; but be sure that we other gods assent not all thereto. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart: +if thou send Sarpedon living to his house, bethink thee lest hereafter some other god also be minded to send his own dear son away from the fierce conflict; for many there be fighting around the great city of Priam that are sons of the immortals, and among the gods wilt thou send dread wrath. +But and if he be dear to thee, and thine heart be grieved, suffer thou him verily to be slain in the fierce conflict beneath the hands of Patroclus, son of Menoetius; but when his soul and life have left him, then send thou Death and sweet Sleep to bear him away +until they come to the land of wide Lycia; and there shall his brethren and his kinsfolk give him burial with mound and pillar; for this is the due of the dead. + + +So spake she, and the father of men and gods failed to hearken. Howbeit he shed bloody rain-drops on the earth, +shewing honour to his dear son—his own son whom Patroclus was about to slay in the deep-soiled land of Troy, far from his native land. +Now when they were come near, as they advanced one against the other, then verily did Patroclus smite glorious Thrasymelus, that was the valiant squire of the prince Sarpedon; +him he smote on the lower belly, and loosed his limbs. But Sarpedon missed him with his bright spear, as in turn he got upon him, but smote with his spear the horse Pedasus on the right shoulder; and the horse shrieked aloud as he gasped forth his life, and down he fell in +1 + the dust with a moan, and his spirit flew from him. +But the other twain reared this way and that, and the yoke creaked, and above them the reins were entangled, when the trace-horse lay low in the dust. Howbeit for this did Automedon, famed for his spear, find him a remedy; drawing his long sword from beside his stout thigh, he sprang forth and cut loose the trace-horse, and faltered not, +and the other two were righted, and strained at the reins; and the two warriors came together again in soul-devouring strife. + + +Then again Sarpedon missed with his bright spear, and over the left shoulder of Patroclus went the point of the spear and smote him not. +But Patroclus in turn rushed on with the bronze, and not in vain did the shaft speed from his hand, but smote his foe where the midriff is set close about the throbbing heart. And he fell as an oak falls, or a poplar, or a tall pine, that among the mountains shipwrights fell with whetted axes to be a ship's timber; +even so before his horses and chariot he lay outstretched, moaning aloud and clutching at the bloody dust. And as a lion cometh into the midst of a herd and slayeth a bull, tawny and high of heart amid the kine of trailing gait, and with a groan he perisheth beneath the jaws of the lion; +even so beneath Patroclus did the leader of the Lycian shieldmen struggle in death; and he called by name his dear comrade: + +Dear Glaucus, warrior amid men of war, now in good sooth it behoveth thee to quit thee as a spearman and a dauntless warrior; now be evil war thy heart's desire if indeed thou art swift to fight. +First fare thou up and down everywhere, and urge on the leaders of the Lycians to fight for Sarpedon, and thereafter thyself do battle with the bronze in my defence. For to thee even in time to come shall I be a reproach and a hanging of the head, all thy days continually, +if so be the Achaeans shall spoil me of my armour, now that I am fallen amid the gathering of the ships. Nay, hold thy ground valiantly, and urge on all the host. + + +Even as he thus spake the end of death enfolded him, his eyes alike and his nostrils; and Patroclus, setting his foot upon his breast, drew the spear from out the flesh, and the midriff followed therewith; +and at the one moment he drew forth the spear-point and the soul of Sarpedon. And the Myrmidons stayed there the snorting horses, that were fain to flee now that they had left the chariot of their lords. + + +But upon Glaucus came dread grief as he heard the voice of Sarpedon, and his heart was stirred, for that he availed not to succour him. +And with his hand he caught and pressed his arm, for his wound tormented him, the wound that Teucer, while warding off destruction from his comrades, had dealt him with his arrow as he rushed upon the high wall. Then in prayer he spake to Apollo, that smiteth afar: + +Hear me, O king that art haply in the rich land of Lycia +or haply in Troy, but everywhere hast power to hearken unto a man that is in sorrow, even as now sorrow is come upon me. For I have this grievous wound and mine arm on this side and on that is shot through with sharp pangs, nor can the blood be staunched; and my shoulder is made heavy with the wound, +and I avail not to grasp my spear firmly, neither to go and fight with the foe-men. And a man far the noblest hath perished, even Sarpedon, the son of Zeus; and he succoureth not his own child. Howbeit, do thou, O king, heal me of this grievous wound, and lull my pains, and give me might, +that I may call to my comrades, the Lycians, and urge them on to fight, and myself do battle about the body of him that is fallen in death. + + +So spake he in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him. Forthwith he made his pains to cease, and staunched the black blood that flowed from his grievous wound, and put might into his heart. +And Glaucus knew in his mind, and was glad that the great god had quickly heard his prayer. First fared he up and down everywhere and urged on the leaders of the Lycians to fight for Sarpedon, and thereafter went with long strides into the midst of the Trojans, +unto Polydamas, son of Panthous, and goodly Agenor, and he went after Aeneas, and after Hector, harnessed in bronze. And he came up to him and spake winged words, saying: + +Hector, now in good sooth art thou utterly forgetful of the allies, that for thy sake far from their friends and their native land +are wasting their lives away, yet thou carest not to aid them. Low lies Sarpedon, leader of the Lycian shieldmen, he that guarded Lycia by his judgments and his might. Him hath brazen Ares laid low beneath the spear of Patroclus. Nay, friends, take your stand beside him, and have indignation in heart, +lest the Myrmidons strip him of his armour and work shame upon his corpse, being wroth for the sake of all the Danaans that have perished, whom we slew with our spears at the swift ships. + + +So spake he, and the Trojans were utterly seized with grief, unbearable, overpowering; for Sarpedon +was ever the stay of their city, albeit he was a stranger from afar; for much people followed with him, and among them he was himself pre-eminent in fight. And they made straight for the Danaans full eagerly, and Hector led them, in wrath for Sarpedon's sake. But the Achaeans were urged on by Patroclus, of the shaggy heart, son of Menoetius. +To the twain Aiantes spake he first, that were of themselves full eager: + +Ye twain Aiantes, now be it your will to ward off the foe, being of such valour as of old ye were amid warriors, or even braver. Low lies the man that was first to leap within the wall of the Achaeans, even Sarpedon. Nay, let us seek to take him, and work shame upon his body, +and strip the armour from his shoulders, and many a one of his comrades that seek to defend his body let us slay with the pitiless bronze. + + +So spake he, and they even of themselves were eager to ward off the foe. Then when on both sides they had made strong their battalions, the Trojans and Lycians, and the Myrmidons and Achaeans, +they joined battle to fight for the body of him that was fallen in death, with terrible shouting; and loud rang the harness of men. And Zeus drew baneful night over the mighty conflict, that around his dear son might be waged the baneful toil of war. + + +And first the Trojans drave back the bright-eyed Achaeans, +for smitten was a man in no wise the worst among the Myrmidons, even the son of great-souled Agacles, goodly Epeigeus, that was king in well-peopled Budeum of old, but when he had slain a goodly man of his kin, to Peleus he came as a suppliant, and to silver-footed Thetis; +and they sent him to follow with Achilles, breaker of the ranks of men, to Ilios, famed for its horses, that he might fight with the Trojans. Him, as he was laying hold of the corpse, glorious Hector smote upon the head with a stone; and his head was wholly cloven asunder within the heavy helmet, +and he fell headlong upon the corpse, and death, that slayeth the spirit, was shed about him. Then over Patroclus came grief for his slain comrade, and he charged through the foremost fighters like a fleet falcon that driveth in flight daws and starlings; even so straight against the Lycians, O Patroclus, master of horsemen, +and against the Trojans didst thou charge, and thy heart was full of wrath for thy comrade. And he smote Sthenelaus, the dear son of Ithaemenes, on the neck with a stone, and brake away therefrom the sinews; and the foremost fighters and glorious Hector gave ground. Far as is the flight of a long javelin, +that a man casteth, making trial of his strength, in a contest, haply, or in war beneath the press of murderous foemen, even so far did the Trojans draw back, and the Achaeans drave them. And Glaucus first, the leader of the Lycian shieldmen, turned him about, and slew great-souled Bathycles, +the dear son of Chalcon, him that had his abode in Hellas, and for wealth and substance was pre-eminent among the Myrmidons. Him did Glaucus smite full upon the breast with a thrust of his spear, turning suddenly upon rum, when the other was about to overtake him in pursuit. And he fell with a thud, and sore grief gat hold of the Achaeans, +for that a good man was fallen; but mightily did the Trojans rejoice. And they came in throngs and took their stand about him, nor did the Achaeans forget their valour, but bare their might straight toward the foe. Then Meriones slew a warrior of the Trojans, in full armour, Laogonus, the bold son of Onetor, +one that was priest of Idaean Zeus, and was honoured of the folk even as a god: him he smote beneath the jaw under the ear, and forthwith his spirit departed from his limbs, and hateful darkness gat hold of hinu. And Aeneas cast at Meriones his spear of bronze, for he hoped to smite him as he advanced under cover of his shield. +But Meriones, looking steadily at him, avoided the spear of bronze; for he stooped forward, and the long spear fixed itself in the ground behind him, and the butt of the spear quivered; howbeit there at length did mighty Ares stay its fury. [And the lance of Aeneas sank quivering down into the earth, +for that it sped in vain from his mighty hand.] Then Aeneas waxed wroth at heart, and spake, saying: + +Meriones, full soon, for all thou art a nimble dancer, would my spear have made thee to cease dancing for ever, had I but struck thee. + + +And Meriones, famed for his spear, made answer: +Aeneas, hard were it for thee, valiant though thou art, to quench the might of every man, whosoever cometh against thee to rake defence. Of mortal stuff, I ween, art thou as well. If so be I should cast, and smite thee fairly with my sharp spear, quickly then, for all thou art strong and trustest in thy hands, +shouldst thou yield glory to me, and thy soul to Hades of the goodly steeds. + + +So spake he, but the valiant son of Menoetius rebuked him, saying: + +Meriones, wherefore dost thou, that art a man of valour, speak on this wise? Good friend, it is not for words of reviling that the Trojans will give ground from the corpse; ere that shall the earth hold many a one. +For in our hands is the issue of war; that of words is in the council. Wherefore it beseemeth not in any wise to multiply words, but to fight. + + +So saying, he led the way, and the other followed, a godlike man. And from them—even as the din ariseth of woodcutters in the glades of a mountain, and afar is the sound thereof heard— +so from them went up a clanging from the broad-wayed earth, a clanging of bronze and of hide and of well-wrought shields, as they thrust one at the other with swords and two-edged spears. Nor could a man, though he knew him well, any more have discerned goodly Sarpedon, for that he was utterly enwrapped with darts and blood and dust, +from his head to the very soles of his feet. And they ever thronged about the corpse as when in a farmstead flies buzz about the full milk-pails, in the season of spring, when the milk drenches the vessels; even so thronged they about the corpse. Nor did Zeus anywise +turn his bright eyes from the fierce conflict, but ever looked down upon them, and debated in heart, pondering much about the slaying of Patroclus, whether in the fierce conflict even there over godlike Sarpedon, glorious Hector +should slay him likewise with the sword, and should strip the armour from his shoulders, or whether for yet more men he should make the utter toil of war to wax. And as he pondered, this thing seemed to him the better, that the valiant squire of Achilles, Peleus' son, +should again drive toward the city the Trojans and Hector, harnessed in bronze, and take the lives of many. In Hector first of all he roused cowardly rout, and he leapt upon his car and turned to flight, and called on the rest of the Trojans to flee; for he knew the turning of the sacred scales of Zeus. + + +Then the valiant Lycians likewise abode not, but were driven in rout +one and all, when they saw their king smitten to the heart, lying in the gathering of the dead; for many had fallen above him, when the son of Cronos strained taut the cords of the fierce conflict. But from the shoulders of Sarpedon they stripped his shining harness of bronze, +and this the valiant son of Menoetius gave to his comrades to bear to the hollow ships. And then unto Apollo spake Zeus, the cloud-gatherer: + +Up now, dear Phoebus, go cleanse from Sarpedon the dark blood, when thou hast taken him forth from out the range of darts, and thereafter bear thou him far away, and bathe him in the streams of the river, +and anoint him with ambrosia, and clothe him about with immortal raiment, and give him to swift conveyers to bear with them, even to the twin brethren, Sleep and Death, who shall set him speedily in the rich land of wide Lycia. There shall his brethren and his kinsfolk give him burial +with mound and pillar; for this is the due of tne dead. + + +So spake he, nor was Apollo disobedient to his father's bidding, but went down from the hills of Ida into the dread din of battle. Forthwith then he lifted up goodly Sarpedon forth from out the range of darts, and when he had borne him far away, bathed him in the streams of the river, +and anointed him with ambrosia, and clothed him about with immortal raiment, and gave him to swift conveyers to bear with them, even to the twin brethren, Sleep and Death, who set him speedily in the rich land of wide Lycia. +But Patroclus with a call to his horses and to Automedon, +pressed after the Trojans and Lycians, and was greatly blinded in heart, fool that he was! for had he observed the word of the son of Peleus, he would verily have escaped the evil fate of black death. But ever is the intent of Zeus stronger than that of men, for he driveth even a valiant man in rout, and robbeth him of victory +full easily, and again of himself he rouseth men to fight; and he it was that now put fury in the breast of Patroclus. +Then whom first, whom last didst thou slay, Patroclus, when the gods called thee deathward? Adrastus first, and Autonous, and Echeclus, +and Perimus, son of Megas, and Epistor, and Melanippus, and thereafter Elasus, and Mulius, and Pylartes: these he slew, and the others bethought them each man of flight. + + +Then would the sons of the Achaeans have taken high-gated Troy by the hands of Patroclus, for around and before him he raged with his spear, +had not Phoebus Apollo taken his stand upon the well-builded wall thinking thoughts of bane for him, but bearing aid to the Trojans. Thrice did Patroclus set foot upon a corner of the high wall, and thrice did Apollo fling him back, thrusting against the bright shield with his immortal hands. +But when for the fourth time he rushed on like a god, then with a terrible cry Apollo spake to him winged words: + +Give back, Zeus-born Patroclus. It is not fated, I tell thee, that by thy spear the city of the lordly Trojans shall be laid waste, nay, nor by that of Achilles, who is better far than thou. + +So spake he, and Patroclus gave ground a great space backward, avoiding the wrath of Apollo that smiteth afar. +But Hector at the Scaean gate was staying his single-hoofed horses, for he was divided in mind, whether he should drive again into the turmoil and do battle, or should call to the host to gather them within the wall. +And while he pondered thus there drew nigh to him Phoebus Apollo in the likeness of a young man and a strong, even of Asius, that was uncle to horse-taming Hector, and own brother to Hecabe, but son of Dymas, that dwelt in Phrygia by the streams of Sangarius. +In his likeness spake Apollo, the son of Zeus, unto Hector: + +Hector, wherefore dost thou cease from battle? It beseemeth thee not. I would that I were as much stronger than thou as I am weaker;then straightway would it be to thine own hurt that thou drawest back from the war. Nay, come, drive against Patroclus thy strong-hoofed horses, +if so be thou mayest slay him, and Apollo give thee glory. + + +So spake he, and went back again, a god into the toil of men. Then unto wise-hearted Cebriones glorious Hector gave command to lash his horses into the battle. But Apollo went his way, and entered into the throng, and sent an evil panic upon the Argives, +and vouchsafed glory to the Trojans and to Hector. But Hector let be the other Danaans, neither sought to stay them, but drave his strong-hoofed horses against Patroclus; and Patroclus over against him leapt from his chariot to the ground with a spear in his left hand, +while with the other he grasped a stone, shining and jagged, that his hand compassed about. Firmly he planted himself, and hurled it, neither had he long awe of his foe, nor sped he his missile in vain, but smote the charioteer of Hector, even Cebriones, a bastard son of glorious Priam, upon the forehead with the sharp stone, as he was holding the reins of the horses. +And both his brows did the stone dash together, and the bone held not, but the eyes fell to the ground in the dust even there, before his feet. And like a diver he fell from the well-wrought car, and his spirit left his bones. Then with mocking words didst thou speak to him, knight Patroclus: +Hah, look you, verily nimble is the man; how lightly he diveth! In sooth if he were on the teeming deep, this man would satisfy many by seeking for oysters, leaping from his ship were the sea never so stormy, seeing that now on the plain he diveth lightly from his car. Verily among the Trojans too there be men that dive. + +So saying he made for the warrior Cebriones with the rush of a lion that, while he wasteth the farm-stead, hath been smitten on the breast, and his own valour bringeth him to ruin; even so upon Cebriones, O Patroclus, didst thou leap furiously. +And Hector over against him leapt from his chariot to the ground. So the twain joined in strife for Cebriones like two lions, that on the peaks of a mountain fight for a slain hind, both of them hungering, both high of heart; even so for Cebriones the two masters of the war-cry, +even Patroclus, son of Menoetius, and glorious Hector, were fain each to cleave the other's flesh with the pitiless bronze. Hector, when once he had seized the corpse by the head, would not loose his hold, and Patroclus over against him held fast hold of the foot; and about them the others, Trojans and Danaans, joined in fierce conflict. +And as the East Wind and the South strive with one another in shaking a deep wood in the glades of a mountain,—a wood of beech and ash and smooth-barked cornel, and these dash one against the other their long boughs with a wondrous din, and there is a crashing of broken branches; +even so the Trojans and Achaeans leapt one upon another and made havoc, nor would either side take thought of ruinous flight. And round about Cebriones many sharp spears were fixed, and many winged arrows that leapt from the bow-string, and many great stones smote against shields, as men fought around him. +But he in the whirl of dust lay mighty in his mightiness, forgetful of his horsemanship. + + +Now as long as the sun bestrode mid-heaven, so long the missiles of either side reached their mark, and the folk kept falling; but when he turned to the time for the unyoking of oxen, +then verily beyond their portion the Achaeans proved the better. Forth from out the range of darts they drew the warrior Cebriones from the battle-din of the Trojans, and stripped the armour from his shoulders; and Patroclus with fell intent leapt upon the Trojans. Thrice then leapt he upon them, the peer of swift Ares, +crying a terrible cry, and thrice he slew nine men. But when for the fourth time he rushed on, like a god, then for thee, Patroclus, did the end of life appear; for Phoebus met thee in the fierce conflict, an awful god. And Patroclus marked him not as he passed through the turmuoil, +for enfolded in thick mist did he meet him; and Apollo took his stand behind him, and smote his back and broad shoulders with the flat of his hand, and his eyes were made to whirl. And from his head Phoebus Apollo smote the helmet, that rang as it rolled +beneath the feet of the horses—the crested helm; and the plumes were befouled with blood and dust. Not until that hour had the gods suffered that helm with plume of horse-hair to be befouled with dust, but ever did it guard the head and comely brow of a godlike man, even of Achilles; but then Zeus vouchsafed it to Hector, +to wear upon his head, yet was destruction near at hand for him. And in the hands of Patroclus the far-shadowing spear was wholly broken, the spear, heavy, and huge, and strong, and tipped with bronze; and from his shoulders the tasselled shield with its baldric fell to the ground, and his corselet did Apollo loose—the prince, the son of Zeus. +Then blindness seized his mind, and his glorious limbs were loosed beneath him, and he stood in a daze; and from behind him from close at hand a Dardanian smote him upon the back between the shoulders with a cast of his sharp spear, even Panthous' son, Euphorbus, that excelled all men of his years in casting the spear, and in horsemanship, and in speed of foot; and lo, twenty warriors had he already cast +from their cars at his first coming with his chariot to learn his lesson of war. He it was that first hurled his spear at thee, knight Patroclus, yet subdued thee not; but he ran back again and mingled with the throng, when he had drawn forth the ashen spear from the flesh, and he abode not +Patroclus, unarmed though he was, in the fray. But Patroclus, overcome by the stroke of the god and by the spear, drew back into the throng of his comrades, avoiding fate. + + +But Hector, when he beheld great-souled Patroclus drawing back, smitten with the sharp bronze, +came nigh him through the ranks, and smote him with a thrust of his spear in the nethermost belly, and drave the bronze clean through; and he fell with a thud, and sorely grieved the host of the Achaeans. And as a lion overmastereth in fight an untiring boar, when the twain fight with high hearts on the peaks of a mountain +for a scant spring, wherefrom both are minded to drink: hard panteth the boar, yet the lion overcometh him by his might; even so from the valiant son of Menoetius, after he had slain many, did Hector, Priam's son, take life away, smiting him from close at hand with his spear. And vaunting over him he spake winged words: +Patroclus, thou thoughtest, I ween, that thou wouldest sack our city, and from the women of Troy wouldest take the day of freedom, and bear them in thy ships to thy dear native land, thou fool. Nay, in front of them the swift horses of Hector stride forth to the fight, +and with the spear I myself am pre-eminent among the war-loving Trojans, even I that ward from them the day of doom; but for thee, vultures shall devour thee here. Ah, poor wretch, even Achilles, for all his valour, availed thee not, who, I ween, though himself abiding behind, laid strait command upon thee, as thou wentest forth: + +Come not back, I charge thee, Patroclus, master of horsemen, +to the hollow ships, till thou hast cloven about the breast of man-slaying Hector the tunic red with his blood. + + So, I ween, spake he to thee, and persuaded thy wits in thy witlessness. + + +Then, thy strength all spent, didst thou answer him, knight Patroclus: + +For this time, Hector, boast thou mightily; for to thee have +Zeus, the son of Cronos, and Apollo, vouchsafed victory, they that subdued me full easily, for of themselves they took the harness from my shoulders. But if twenty such as thou had faced me, here would all have perished, slain by my spear. Nay, it was baneful Fate and the son of Leto that slew me, +and of men Euphorbus, while thou art the third in my slaying. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart: verily thou shalt not thyself be long in life, but even now doth death stand hard by thee, and mighty fate, that thou be slain beneath the hands of Achilles, the peerless son of Aeacus. + +Even as he thus spake the end of death enfolded him; and his soul fleeting from his limbs was gone to Hades, bewailing her fate, leaving manliness and youth. And to him even in his death spake glorious Hector: + +Patroclus, wherefore dost thou prophesy for me sheer destruction? +Who knows but that Achilles, the son of fair-tressed Thetis, may first be smitten by my spear, and lose his life? + + +So saying, he drew forth the spear of bronze from the wound, setting his foot upon the dead, and thrust him backward from the spear. And forthwith he was gone with his spear after Automedon, the god-like squire of the swift-footed son of Aeacus, +for he was fain to smite him; but his swift horses bare him away, the immortal horses that the gods gave as glorious gifts to Peleus. +And the son of Atreus, Menelaus, dear to Ares, failed not to mark that Patroclus had been slain in battle by the Trojans, but fared amid the foremost fighters, harnessed in flaming bronze, and bestrode the dead, as over a calf standeth lowing plaintively its mother, that hath brought forth +her first-born, ere then knowing naught of motherhood; even so over Patroclus strode fair-haired Menelaus, and before him he held his spear and his shield that was well-balanced upon every side, eager to slay the man who should come to seize the corpse. +Then was Panthous' son, of the good spear of ash, not unheedful +of the falling of peerless Patroclus, but he took his stand hard by him, and spake to Menelaus, dear to Ares: + +Menelaus, son of Atreus, fostered of Zeus, thou leader of hosts, give back, and leave the corpse, and let be the bloody spoils; for before me no man of the Trojans and their famed allies smote +Patroclus with the spear in the fierce conflict; wherefore suffer thou me to win goodly renown among the Trojans, lest I cast and smite thee, and rob thee of honey-sweet life. + + +Then, his heart mightily stirred, fair-haired Menelaus spake unto him: + +O father Zeus, no good thing is it to boast overweeningly. +Verily neither is the spirit of pard so high, nor of lion, nor of wild boar, of baneful mind, in whose breast the greatest fury exulteth exceedingly in might, as is the spirit of Panthous' sons, of the good spear of ash. Nay, but in sooth even the mighty Hyperenor, tamer of horses, +had no profit of his youth, when he made light of me and abode my coming, and deemed that among the Danaans I was the meanest warrior; not on his own feet, I ween, did he fare home to make glad his dear wife and his worthy parents. Even so, meseems, shall I loose thy might as well, +if thou stand to face me; nay, of myself I bid thee get thee back into the throng, and stand not forth to face me, ere yet some evil befall thee; when it is wrought even a fool getteth understanding. + + +So spake he, yet persuaded not the other, but he answered, saying: + +Now in good sooth, Menelaus, nurtured of Zeus, +shalt thou verily pay the price for my brother whom thou slewest, and over whom thou speakest vauntingly; and thou madest his wife a widow in her new-built bridal chamber, and broughtest grief unspeakable and sorrow upon his parents. Verily for them in their misery should I prove an assuaging of grief, if I but bring thy head and thy armour +and lay them in the hands of Panthous and queenly Phrontis. Howbeit not for long shall the struggle be untried or unfought, be it for victory or for flight. + + +So saying, he smote upon his shield that was well-balanced upon every side; howbeit the bronze brake not through, +but its point was bent back in the stout shield. Then in turn did Atreus' son, Menelaus, rush upon him with his spear, and made prayer to father Zeus; and as he gave back, stabbed him at the base of the throat, and put his weight into the thrust, trusting in his heavy hand; and clean out through the tender neck passed the point. +And he fell with a thud, and upon him his armour clanged. In blood was his hair drenched, that was like the hair of the Graces, and his tresses that were braided with gold and silver. And as a man reareth a lusty sapling of an olive in a lonely place, where water welleth up abundantly— +a goodly sapling and a fair-growing; and the blasts of all the winds make it to quiver, and it burgeoneth out with white blossoms; but suddenly cometh the wind with a mighty tempest, and teareth it out of its trench, and layeth it low upon the earth; even in such wise did +Menelaus, son of Atreus, slay Panthous' son, Euphorbus of the good ashen spear, and set him to spoil him of his armour. And as when a mountain-nurtured lion, trusting in his might, hath seized from amid a grazing herd the heifer that is goodliest: her neck he seizeth first in his strong jaws, and breaketh it, and thereafter devoureth the blood and all the inward parts in his fury; +and round about him hounds and herds-men folk clamour loudly from afar, but have no will to come against him, for pale fear taketh hold on them; even so dared not the heart in the breast of any Trojan go to face glorious Menelaus. +Full easily then would Atreus' son have borne off the glorious armour of the son of Panthous, but that Phoebus Apollo begrudged it him, and in the likeness of a man, even of Mentes, leader of the Cicones, aroused against him Hector, the peer of swift Ares. And he spake and addressed him in winged words: +Hector, now art thou hasting thus vainly after what thou mayest not attain, even the horses of the wise-hearted son of Aeacus; but hard are they for mortal men to master or to drive, save only for Achilles, whom an immortal mother bare. Meanwhile hath warlike Menelaus, son of Atreus, +bestridden Patroclus, and slain the best man of the Trojans, even Panthous' son, Euphorbus, and hath made him cease from his furious valour. + + +So spake he, and went back again, a god into the toil of men. But the soul of Hector was darkly clouded with dread sorrow, and he glanced then along the lines, and forthwith was ware of the one +stripping off the glorious arms, and of the other lying on the ground; and the blood was flowing down from the stricken wound. Then strode he forth amid the foremost fighters, harnessed in flaming bronze, crying a shrill cry, in fashion like unto the flame of Hephaestus that none may quench. Nor was his shrill cry unheard of the son of Atreus, +but sore troubled he spake to his own great-hearted spirit: + +Ah, woe is me! If I leave behind the goodly arms, and Patroclus, that here lieth low for that he would get me recompense, I fear lest many a Danaan wax wroth against me, whosoever beholdeth it. But if for very shame I, that am alone, do battle with Hector and the Trojans, +I fear lest haply they beset me round about, many against one; for all the Trojans is Hector of the flashing helm leading hitherward. But why doth my heart thus hold converse with me? Whenso a warrior is minded against the will of heaven to fight with another whom a god honoureth, forthwith then upon him rolleth mighty woe. +Therefore shall no man of the Danaans wax wroth against me, whoso shall mark me giving ground before Hector, seeing he fighteth with the help of heaven. But if I might anywhere find Aias, good at the war-cry, then might we twain turn back and bethink us of fight, even were it against the will of heaven, in hope to save the dead +for Achilles, Peleus' son: of ills that were the best. + + + While he pondered thus in mind and heart, meanwhile the ranks of the Trojans came on, and Hector led them. Then Menelaus gave ground backward, and left the corpse, ever turning him about like a bearded lion +that dogs and men drive from a fold with spears and shouting; and the valiant heart in his breast groweth chill, and sore loth he fareth from the farmstead; even so from Patroclus went fair-haired Menelaus. But he turned him about and stood, when he reached the throng of his comrades, +glancing this way and that for great Aias, son of Telamon. Him he marked full quickly on the left of the whole battle, heartening his comrades, and urging them on to fight, for wondrous fear had Phoebus Apollo cast upon them. And he set him to run, and straightway came up to him, and spake, saying: +Aias, come hither, good friend, let us hasten in defence of the dead Patroclus, if so be we may bear forth his corpse at least to Achilles—his naked corpse; but his armour is held by Hector of the flashing helm. + + +So spake he, and stirred the soul of wise-hearted Aias, and he strode amid the foremost fighters, and with him fair-haired Menelaus. +Now Hector, when he had stripped from Patroclus his glorious armour, sought to hale him away that he might cut the head from off his shoulders with the sharp bronze, and drag off the corpse, and give it to the dogs of Troy; but Aias drew near, bearing his shield, that was like a city wall. Then Hector gave ground backward into the throng of his comrades, +and leapt upon his chariot, and gave the goodly armour to the Trojans to bear to the city, to be a great glory unto him. But Aias covered the son of Menoetius round about with his broad shield, and stood as a lion over his whelps, +one that huntsmen have encountered in the forest as he leadeth his young; then he exulteth in his strength, and draweth down all his brows to cover his eyes; even so did Aias bestride the warrior Patroclus, and hard by him stood the son of Atreus, Menelaus, dear to Ares, nursing great sorrow in his breast. + +And Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, leader of the Lycians, with an angry glance from beneath his brows, chid Hector with hard words, saying: + +Hector, most fair to look upon, in battle art thou sorely lacking. In good sooth 'tis but in vain that fair renown possesseth thee that art but a runagate. Bethink thee now how by thyself thou mayest save thy city and home +aided only by the folk that were born in Ilios; for of the Lycians at least will no man go forth to do battle with the Danaans for the city's sake, seeing there were to be no thanks, it seemeth, for warring against the foemen ever without respite. How art thou like to save a meaner man amid the press of battle, +thou heartless one, when Sarpedon, that was at once thy guest and thy comrade, thou didst leave to the Argives to be their prey and spoil!—one that full often proved a boon to thee, to thy city and thine own self, while yet he lived; whereas now thou hadst not the courage to ward from him the dogs. Wherefore now, if any one of the men of Lycia will hearken to me, +homeward will we go, and for Troy shall utter destruction be made plain. Ah, that there were now in the Trojans dauntless courage, that knoweth naught of fear, such as cometh upon men that for their country's sake toil and strive with foemen; then forthwith should we hale Patroclus into Ilios. +And if this man were to come, a corpse, to the great city of king Priam, and we should hale him forth from out the battle, straightway then would the Argives give back the goodly armour of Sarpedon, and we should bring his body into Ilios; for such a man is he whose squire hath been slain, one that is far the best +of the Argives by the ships, himself and his squires that fight in close combat. But thou hadst not the courage to stand before great-hearted Aias, facing him eye to eye amid the battle-cry of the foemen, nor to do battle against him, seeing he is a better man than thou. + + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows, spake to him Hector of the flashing helm: +Glaucus, wherefore hast thou, being such a one as thou art, spoken an overweening word? Good friend, in sooth I deemed that in wisdom thou wast above all others that dwell in deep-soiled Lycia; but now have I altogether scorn of thy wits, that thou speakest thus, seeing thou sayest I stood not to face mighty Aias. +I shudder not at battle, I tell thee, nor at the din of chariots, but ever is the intent of Zeus that beareth the aegis strongest, for he driveth even a valiant man in rout, and robbeth him of victory full easily, and again of himself he rouseth men to fight. Nay, come thou hither, good friend, take thy stand by my side, and behold my handiwork, +whether this whole day through I shall prove me a coward, as thou pratest, or shall stay many a one of the Danaans, how fierce soever for valorous deeds he be, from fighting in defence of the dead Patroclus. + + +So saying, he shouted aloud, and called to the Trojans: + +Ye Trojans, and Lycians, and Dardanians that fight in close combat, +be men, my friends, and bethink you of furious valour, until I put upon me the armour of peerless Achilles, the goodly armour that I stripped from the mighty Patroclus, when I slew him. + + +When he had thus spoken, Hector of the flashing helm went forth from the fury of war, and ran, +and speedily reached his comrades not yet far off, hastening after them with swift steps, even them that were bearing toward the city the glorious armour of the son of Peleus. Then he halted apart from the tear-fraught battle, and changed his armour; his own he gave to the war-loving Trojans to bear to sacred Ilios, but clad himself in the immortal armour +of Peleus' son, Achilles, that the heavenly gods had given to his father and that he had given to his son, when he himself waxed old; howbeit in the armour of the father the son came not to old age. +But when Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, beheld him from afar as he harnessed him in the battle-gear of the godlike son of Peleus, +he shook his head, and thus he spake unto his own heart: + +Ah, poor wretch, death verily is not in thy thoughts, that yet draweth nigh thee; but thou art putting upon thee the immortal armour of a princely man before whom others besides thee are wont to quail. His comrade, kindly and valiant, hast thou slain, +and in unseemly wise hast stripped the armour from his head and shoulders. Howbeit for this present will I vouch-safe thee great might, in recompense for this—that in no wise shalt thou return from out the battle for Andromache to receive from thee the glorious armour of the son of Peleus. + + +The son of Cronos spake and bowed thereto with his dark brows, +and upon Hector's body he made the armour to fit, and there entered into him Ares, the dread Enyalius, and his limbs were filled within with valour and with might. Then went he his way into the company of the famed allies, +crying a great cry, and shewed himself before the eyes of all, +1 + flashing in the armour of the great-souled son of Peleus. And going to and fro he spake and heartened each man, Mesthles and Glaucus and Medon and Thersilochus and Asteropaeus and Deisenor and Hippothous and Phorcys and Chroraius and Ennomus, the augur—these he heartened, and spake to them winged words: +Hear me, ye tribes uncounted of allies that dwell round about. Not because I sought for numbers or had need thereof, did I gather each man of you from, your cities, but that with ready hearts ye might save the Trojans' wives and their little children from the war-loving Achaeans. +With this intent am I wasting the substance of mine own folk that ye may have gifts and food, and thereby I cause the strength of each one of you to wax. Wherefore let every man turn straight against the foe and die haply, or live; for this is the dalliance of war. And whosoever shall hale Patroclus, dead though he be, +into the midst of the horse-taming Trojans, and make Aias to yield, the half of the spoils shall I render unto him, and the half shall I keep mine ownself; and his glory shall be even as mine own. + + +So spake he, and they charged straight against the Danaans with all their weight, holding their spears on high, and their hearts within them +were full of hope to drag the corpse froma beneath Aias, son of Telamon—fools that they were! Verily full many did he rob of life over that corpse. Then spake Aias unto Menelaus, good at the war-cry, + +Good Menelaus, fostered of Zeus, no more have I hope that we twain by ourselves alone shall win back from out the war. +In no wise have I such dread for the corpse of Patroclus that shall presently glut the dogs and birds of the Trojans, as I have for mine own life, lest some evil befall, and for thine as well, for a cloud of war compasseth everything about, even Hector, and for us is utter destruction plain to see. +Howbeit, come thou, call upon the chieftains of the Danaans, if so be any may hear. + + +So spake he, and Menelaus, good at the war-cry, failed not to hearken, but uttered a piercing shout and called to the Danaans: + +Friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, ye that at the board of the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus, +drink at the common cost, and give commands each one to his folk—ye upon whom attend honour and glory from Zeus—hard is it for me to discern each man of the chieftains, in such wise is the strife of war ablaze. Nay, let every man go forth unbidden, and have shame at heart that +Patroclus should become the sport of the dogs of Troy. + + +So spake he, and swift Aias, son of Oileus, heard him clearly, and was first to come running to meet him amid the battle, and after him Idomeneus and Idomeneus' comrade, Meriones, the peer of Enyalius, slayer of men. +But of the rest, what man of his own wit could name the names—of all that came after these and aroused the battle of the Achaeans? +Then the Trojans drave forward in close throng, and Hector led them. And as when at the mouth of some heaven-fed river the mighty wave roareth against the stream, +and the headlands of the shore echo on either hand, as the salt-sea belloweth without; even with such din of shouting came on the Trojans. But the Achaeans stood firm about the son of Menoetius with oneness of heart, fenced about with shields of bronze. And the son of Cronos +shed thick darkness over their bright helms, for even aforetime was the son of Menoetius nowise hated of him, while he was yet alive and the squire of the son of Aeacus; and now was Zeus full loath that he should become the sport of the dogs of his foemen, even them of Troy; wherefore Zeus roused his comrades to defend him. + + +And first the Trojans drave back the bright-eyed Achaeans, +who left the corpse and shrank back before them; howbeit not a man did the Trojans high of heart slay with their spears, albeit they were fain, but they set them to hale the corpse. Yet for but scant space were the Achaeans to hold back therefrom, for full speedily did Aias rally them—Aias that in comeliness and in deeds of war was above +all the other Danaans next to the peerless son of Peleus. Straight through the foremost fighters he strode, in might like a wild boar that, amid the mountains lightly scattereth hounds and lusty youths when he wheeleth upon them in the glades; even so the son of lordly Telamon, glorious Aias, +when he had got among them lightly scattered the battalions of the Trojans, that had taken their stand above Patroclus, and were fain above all to hale him to their city, and get them glory. +Now Hippothous, the glorious son of Pelasgian Lethus, was dragging the corpse by the foot through the fierce conflict, +and had bound his baldric about the tendons of either ankle, doing pleasure unto Hector and the Trojans. But full swiftly upon him came evil that not one of them could ward off, how fain soever they were. For the son of Telamon, darting upon him through the throng, smote him from close at hand through the helmet with cheek-pieces of bronze; +and the helm with horse-hair crest was cloven about the spear-point, smitten by the great spear and the strong hand; and the brain spurted forth from the wound along the socket of the spear all mingled with blood. There then his strength was loosed, and from his hands he let fall +to lie upon the ground the foot of great-hearted Patroclus, and hard thereby himself fell headlong upon the corpse, far from deep-soiled Larissa; nor paid he back to his dear parents the recompense of his upbringing, and but brief was the span of his life, for that he was laid low by the spear of great-souled Aias. And Hector in turn cast at Aias with his bright spear, +but Aias, looking steadily at him, avoided the spear of bronze albeit by a little, and Hector smote Schedius, son of great-souled Iphitus, far the best of the Phocians, that dwelt in a house in famous Panopeus, and was king over many men. Him Hector smote beneath the midst of the collar-bone, +and clean through passed the point of bronze, and came out beneath the base of the shoulder. And he fell with a thud, and upon him his armour clanged. And Aias in his turn smote wise-hearted Phorcys, son of Phaenops, full upon the belly as he bestrode Hippothous, and he brake the plate of his corselet, +and the bronze let forth the bowels there-through; and he fell in the dust and clutched the earth in his palm. Thereat the foremost fighters and glorious Hector gave ground, and the Argives shouted aloud, and drew off the dead, even Phorcys and Hippothous, and set them to strip the armour from their shoulders. + + +Then would the Trojans have been driven again by the Achaeans, +dear to Ares, up to Ilios, vanquished in their cowardice, and the Argives would have won glory even beyond the allotment of Zeus, by reason of their might and their strength, had not Apollo himself aroused Aeneas, taking upon him the form of the herald, Periphas, son of Epytos, that in the house of his old father +had grown old in his heraldship, and withal was of kindly mind toward him. In his likeness spake unto Aeneas the son of Zeus, Apollo: + +Aeneas, how could ye ever guard steep Ilios, in defiance of a god? In sooth I have seen other men that had trust in their strength and might, in their valour +and in their host, and that held their realm even in defiance of Zeus. But for us Zeus willeth the victory far more than for the Danaans; yet yourselves ye have measureless fear, and fight not. + + +So spake he, and Aeneas knew Apollo that smiteth afar, when he looked upon his face, and he called aloud, and spake to Hector: +Hector, and ye other leaders of the Trojans and allies, shame verily were this, if before the Achaeans, dear to Ares, we be driven back to Ilios, vanquished in our cowardice. Howbeit even yet, declareth one of the gods that stood by my side, is Zeus, the counsellor most high, our helper in the fight. +Wherefore let us make straight for the Danaans, and let it not be at their ease that they bring to the ships the dead Patroclus. + + +So spake he, and leapt forth far to the front of the foremost fighters, and there stood. And they rallied, and took their stand with their faces toward the Achaeans. Then Aeneas wounded with a thrust of his spear Leocritus, +son of Arisbas and valiant comrade of Lycomedes. And as he fell Lycomedes, dear to Ares, had pity for him, and came and stood hard by and with a cast of his bright spear smote Apisaon, son of Hippasus, shepherd of the host, in the liver, below the midriff, and straightway loosed his knees—Apisaon +that was come from out of deep-soiled Paeonia, and next to Asteropaeus was preeminent above them all in fight. But as he fell warlike Asteropaeus had pity for him, and he too rushed onward, fain to fight with the Danaans; howbeit thereto could he no more avail, for with shields were they fenced in on every side, +as they stood around Patroclus, and before them they held their spears. For Aias ranged to and fro among them and straitly charged every man; not one, he bade them, should give ground backward from the corpse, nor yet fight in front of the rest of the Achaeans as one pre-eminent above them all; but stand firm close beside the corpse and do battle hand to hand. +Thus mighty Aias charged them, and the earth grew wet with dark blood, and the dead fell thick and fast alike of the Trojans and their mighty allies, and of the Danaans; for these too fought not without shedding of blood, howbeit fewer of them by far were falling; for they ever bethought them +to ward utter destruction from one another in the throng. + + + So fought they like unto blazing fire, nor wouldst thou have deemed that sun or moon yet abode, for with darkness were they shrouded in the fight, all the chieftains that stood around the slain son of Menoetius. +But the rest of the Trojans and the well-greaved Achaeans fought at their ease under clear air, and over them was spread the piercing brightness of the sun, and on all the earth and the mountains was no cloud seen; and they fought resting themselves at times, avoiding one another's shafts, fraught with groaning, +and standing far apart. But those in the midst suffered woes by reason of the darkness and the war, and were sore distressed with the pitiless bronze, even all they that were chieftains. Howbeit two men that were famous warriors, even Thrasymedes and Antilochus, had not yet learned that peerless Patroclus was dead, but deemed that, +yet alive, he was fighting with the Trojans in the forefront of the throng. And they twain, watching against the death and rout of their comrades, were warring in a place apart, for thus had Nestor bidden them, when he roused them forth to the battle from the black ships. +So then the whole day through raged the great strife +of their cruel fray, and with the sweat of toil were the knees and legs and feet of each man beneath him ever ceaselessly bedewed, and his arms and eyes, as the two hosts fought about the goodly squire of swift-footed Achilles. And as when a man +giveth to his people the hide of a great bull for stretching, all drenched in fat, and when they have taken it, they stand in a circle and stretch it, and forthwith its moisture goeth forth and the fat entereth in under the tugging of many hands, and all the hide is stretched to the uttermost; +1 + even so they on this side and on that were haling the corpse hither and thither in scant space; +and their hearts within them were full of hope, the Trojans that they might drag him to Ilios, but the Achaeans to the hollow ships; and around him the battle waxed wild, nor could even Ares, rouser of hosts, nor Athene, at sight of that strife have made light thereof, albeit their anger were exceeding great. + +Such evil toil of men and horses did Zeus on that day strain taut over Patroclus. Nor as yet did goodly Achilles know aught of Patroclus' death, for afar from the swift ships were they fighting beneath the wall of the Trojans. Wherefore Achilles never deemed in his heart +that he was dead, but that he would return alive, after he had reached even to the gates; nor yet thought he this in any wise, that Patroclus would sack the city without him, nay, nor with him, for full often had he heard this from his mother, listening to her privily, whenso she brought him tidings of the purpose of great Zeus. +Howbeit then his mother told him not how great an evil had been brought to pass, that his comrade, far the dearest, had been slain. +But the others round about the corpse, with sharp spears in their hands, ever pressed on continually, and slew each other. And thus would one of the brazen-coated Achaeans say: +Friends, no fair fame verily were it for us to return back to the hollow ships; nay, even here let the black earth gape for us all. That were for us straightway better far, if we are to yield this man to the Trojans, tamers of horses, to hale to their city, and win them glory. + +And thus in like manner would one of the great-hearted Trojans speak: + +Friends, though it be our fate all together to be slain beside this man, yet let none give backward from the fight. + + +Thus would one speak and arouse the might of each. So they fought on, +and the iron din went up through the unresting air to the brazen heaven. But the horses of the son of Aeacus being apart from the battle were weeping, since first they learned that their charioteer had fallen in the dust beneath the hands of man-slaying Hector. In sooth Automedon, valiant son of Diores, +full often plied them with blows of the swift lash, and full often with gentle words bespake them, and oft with threatenings; yet neither back to the ships to the broad Hellespont were the twain minded to go, not yet into the battle amid the Achaeans. Nay, as a pillar abideth firm that standeth on the tomb +of a dead man or woman, even so abode they immovably with the beauteous car, bowing their heads down to the earth. And hot tears ever flowed from their eyes to the ground, as they wept in longing for their charioteer, and their rich manes were befouled, +streaming from beneath the yoke-pad beside the yoke on this aide and on that. And as they mourned, the son of Cronos had sight of them and was touched with pity, and he shook his head, and thus spake unto his own heart: + +Ah unhappy pair, wherefore gave we you to king Peleus, to a mortal, while ye are ageless and immortal? +Was it that among wretched men ye too should have sorrows? For in sooth there is naught, I ween, more miserable than man among all things that breathe and move upon earth. Yet verily not upon you and your car, richly-dight, +shall Hector, Priam's son, mount; that will I not suffer. Sufficeth it not that he hath the armour and therewithal vaunteth him vainly? Nay, in your knees and in your heart will I put strength, to the end that ye may also bear Automedon safe out of the war to the hollow ships; for still shall I vouchsafe glory to the Trojans, to slay and slay, until they come to the well-benched ships, +and the sun sets and sacred darkness cometh on. + + +So saying he breathed great might into the horses. And the twain shook the dust from their manes to the ground, and fleetly bare the swift car amid the Trojans and Achaeans. And behind them fought Automedon, albeit he sorrowed for his comrade, swooping +with his car as a vulture on a flock of geese, for lightly would he flee from out the battle-din of the Trojans, and lightly charge, setting upon them through the great throng. Howbeit no man might he slay as he hasted to pursue them, for in no wise was it possible for him being alone in the sacred +1 + car, +to assail them with the spear, and withal to hold the swift horses. But at last a comrade espied him with his eyes, even Alcimedon, son of Laerces, son of Haemon, and he halted behind the chariot and spake unto Automedon: + +Automedon, what god +hath put in thy breast unprofitable counsel and taken from thee thy heart of understanding, that thus in the foremost throng thou fightest with the Trojans, alone as thou art? For thy comrade hath been slain, and his armour Hector weareth on his own shoulders, even the armour of the son of Aeacus, and glorieth therein. + + +To him then made answer Automedon, son of Diores: +Alcimedon, what man beside of the Achaeans is of like worth to curb and guide the spirit of immortal steeds, save only Patroclus, the peer of the gods in counsel, while yet he lived? But now death and fate have come upon him. Howbeit +take thou the lash and the shining reins, and I will dismount to fight + + +So spake he, and Alcimedon leapt upon the car that was swift in battle, and quickly grasped in his hands the lash and reins; and Automedon leapt down. And glorious Hector espied them, and forthwith spake to Aeneas, that was near: +Aeneas, counsellor of the brazen-coated Trojans, yonder I espy the two horses of the swift-footed son of Aeacus coming forth to view into the battle with weakling charioteers. These twain might I hope to take, if thou in thy heart art willing, seeing the men would not abide the oncoming of us two, +and stand to contend with us in battle. + + +So spake he, and the valiant son of Anchises failed not to hearken. And the twain went straight forward, their shoulders clad with shields of bull's-hide, dry and tough, and abundant bronze had been welded thereupon. +And with them went Chromius, and godlike Aretus both,and their hearts within them were full of hope to slay the men and drive off the horses with high-arched necks—fools that they were! for not without shedding of blood were they to get them back from Automedon. He made prayer to father Zeus, and his dark heart within him was filled with valour and strength; +and forthwith he spake to Alcimedon, his trusty comrade: + +Alcimedon, not afar from me do thou hold the horses, but let their breath smite upon my very back; for I verily deem not that Hector, son of Priam, will be stayed from his fury until he mount behind the fair-maned horses of Achilles, +and have slain the two of us, and driven in rout the ranks of the Argive warriors, or haply himself be slain amid the foremost. + + +So spake he, and called to the two Aiantes and to Menelaus: + +Ye Aiantes twain, leaders of the Argives, and thou Menelaus, lo now, leave ye the corpse in charge of them that are bravest +to stand firm about it and to ward off the ranks of men; but from us twain that yet live ward ye off the pitiless day of doom, for here are pressing hard in tearful war Hector and Aeneas, the best men of the Trojans. Yet these things verily lie on the knees of the gods: +I too will cast, and the issue shall rest with Zeus. + + +He spake, and poised his far-shadowing spear and hurled it, and smote upon the shield of Aretus, that was well-balanced upon every side, and this stayed not the spear, but the bronze passed clean through, and into the lower belly he drave it through the belt. +And as when a strong man with sharp axe in hand smiteth behind the horns of an ox of the steading and cutteth clean through the sinew, and the ox leapeth forward and falleth; even so Aretus leapt forward and fell upon his back, and the spear, exceeding sharp, fixed quivering in his entrails loosed his limbs. +But Hector cast at Automedon with his bright spear, howbeit he, looking steadily at him, avoided the spear of bronze, for he stooped forward, and the long spear fixed itself in the ground behind him, and the butt of the spear quivered; howbeit there at length did mighty Ares stay its fury. +And now had they clashed with their swords in close fight but that the twain Aiantes parted them in their fury, for they came through the throng at the call of their comrade, and seized with fear of them Hector and Aeneas and godlike Chromius gave ground again +and left Aretus lying there stricken to the death. And Automedon, the peer of swift Ares, despoiled him of his armour, and exulted, saying: + +Verily a little have I eased mine heart of grief for the death of Menoetius' son, though it be but a worse man that I have slain. + +So saying, he took up the bloody spoils, and set them in the car, and himself mounted thereon, his feet and his hands above all bloody, even as a lion that hath devoured a bull. + + +Then again over Patroclus was strained taut the mighty conflict, dread and fraught with tears, and Athene roused the strife, +being come down from heaven; for Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, had sent her to urge on the Danaans, for lo, his mind was turned. As Zeus stretcheth forth for mortals a lurid +1 + rainbow from out of heaven to be a portent whether of war or of chill storm that +maketh men to cease from their work upon the face of the earth, and vexeth the flocks; even so Athene, enwrapping herself in a lurid cloud, entered the throng of the Danaans, and urged on each man. First to hearten him she spake to Atreus' son, valiant Menelaus, for he was nigh to her, +likening herself to Phoenix, in form and untiring voice: + +To thee, verily, Menelaus, shall there be shame and a hanging of the head, if the trusty comrade of lordly Achilles he torn by swift dogs beneath the wall of the Trojans. Nay, hold thy ground valiantly, and urge on all the host. + +Then Menelaus, good at the war-cry, answered her: + +Phoenix, old sire, my father of ancient days, would that Athene may give me strength and keep from me the onrush of darts. So should I be full fain to stand by Patroclus' side and succour him; for in sooth his death hath touched me to the heart. +Howbeit, Hector hath the dread fury of fire, and ceaseth not to make havoc with the bronze; for it is to him that Zeus vouchsafeth glory. + + +So spake he, and the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, waxed glad, for that to her first of all the gods he made his prayer. And she put strength into his shoulders and his knees, +and in his breast set the daring of the fly, that though it be driven away never so often from the skin of a man, ever persisteth in biting, and sweet to it is the blood of man; even with such daring filled she his dark heart within him, and he stood over Patroclus and hurled with his bright spear. +Now among the Trojans was one Podes, son of Eetion, a rich man and a valiant, and Hector honoured him above all the people, for that he was his comrade, a welcome companion at the feast. Him, fair-haired Menelaus smote upon the belt with a spear cast as he started to flee, and drave the bronze clean through; +and he fell with a thud. But Menelaus, son of Atreus, dragged the dead body from amid the Trojans into the throng of his comrades. +Then unto Hector did Apollo draw nigh, and urged him on, in the likeness of Asius' son Phaenops, that of all his guest-friends was dearest to him, and had his house at Abydus. +In his likeness Apollo that worketh afar spake unto Hector: + +Hector, what man beside of the Achaeans will fear thee any more, seeing thou hast thus quailed before Menelaus, who aforetime was a weakling warrior? Now with none to aid him hath he taken the dead from out the ranks of the Trojans and is gone—aye, he hath slain thy trusty comrade, +a good man among the foremost fighters, even Podes, son of Eetion. + + +So spake he, and a black cloud of grief enwrapped Hector, and he strode amid the foremost fighters, harnessed in flaming bronze. And then the son of Cronos took his tasselled aegis, all gleaming bright, and enfolded Ida with clouds, +and lightened and thundered mightily, and shook the aegis, giving victory to the Trojans, but the Achaeans he drave in rout. + + +First to begin the rout was Peneleos the Boeotian. For as he abode ever facing the foe he was smitten on the surface of the shoulder with a spear, a grazing blow, +but the spear-point of Polydamas cut even to the bone, +1 + for he it was that cast at him from nigh at hand. And Leitus again, the son of great-souled Alectryon, did Hector wound in close fight, on the hand at the wrist, and made him cease from fighting: and casting an anxious glance about him he shrank back, seeing he no more had hope that bearing spear in hand he might do battle with the Trojans. +And as Hector pursued after Leitus, Idomeneus smote him upon the corselet, on the breast beside the nipple; but the long spear-shaft was broken in the socket, and the Trojans shouted aloud. And Hector cast at Idomeneus, Deucalion's son, as he stood upon his car, and missed him by but little; +howbeit he smote Coeranus the comrade and charioteer of Meriones that followed him from out of well-built Lyctus—for on foot had Idomeneus come at the first from the curved ships, and would have yielded great victory to the Trojans, had not Coeranus speedily driven up the swift-footed horses. +Thus to Idomeneus he came as a light of deliverance, and warded from him the pitiless day of doom, but him self lost his life at the hands of man-slaying Hector— this Coeranus did Hector smite beneath the jaw under the ear, and the spear dashed out his teeth by the roots, +1 + and clave his tongue asunder in the midst; and he fell from out the car, and let fall the reins down upon the ground. +And Meriones stooped, and gathered them in his own hands from the earth, and spake to Idomeneus: + +Ply now the lash, until thou be come to the swift ships. Lo, even of thyself thou knowest that victory is no more with the Achaeans. + + +So spake he, and Idomeneus lashed the fair-maned horses back +to the hollow ships; for verily fear had fallen upon his soul. + + +Nor were great-hearted Aias and Menelaus unaware how that Zeus was giving to the Trojans victory to turn the tide of battle; and of them great Telamonian Aias was first to speak, saying: + +Out upon it, now may any man, how foolish so ever he be, +know that father Zeus himself is succouring the Trojans. For the missiles of all of them strike home, whosoever hurleth them, be he brave man or coward: Zeus in any case guideth them all aright; but for us the shafts of every man fall vainly to the ground. Nay, come, let us of ourselves devise the counsel that is best, +whereby we may both hale away the corpse, and ourselves return home for the joy of our dear comrades, who methinks are sore distressed as they look hither-ward, and deem that the fury and the irresistible hands of man-slaying Hector will not be stayed, but will fall upon the black ships. +But I would there were some comrade to bear word with all speed to the son of Peleus, for methinks he hath not even heard the woeful tale, that his dear comrade is slain. Howbeit, nowhere can I see such a one among the Achaeans, for in darkness are they all enwrapped, themselves and their horses withal. +Father Zeus, deliver thou from the darkness the sons of the Achaeans, and make clear sky, and grant us to see with our eyes. In the light do thou e'en slay us, seeing such is thy good pleasure. + + +So spake he, and the Father had pity on him as he wept, and forthwith scattered the darkness and drave away the mist, +and the sun shone forth upon them and all the battle was made plain to view. Then Aias spake unto Menelaus, good at the war-cry: + +Look forth now, Menelaus, nurtured of Zeus, if so be thou mayest have sight of Antilochus yet alive, son of great-souled Nestor, and bestir thou him to go with speed unto Achilles, wise of heart, +to tell him that his comrade, far the dearest, is slain. + + +So spake he, and Menelaus, good at the war-cry, failed not to hearken, but went his way as a lion from a steading when he waxeth weary with vexing dogs and men that suffer him not to seize the fattest of the herd, +watching the whole night through; but he in his lust for flesh goeth straight on, yet accomplisheth naught thereby, for thick the darts fly to meet him, hurled by bold hands, and blazing brands withal, before which he quaileth, how eager soever he be, and at dawn he departeth with sure heart; +even so from Patroclus departed Menelaus, good at the war-cry, sorely against his will; for exceedingly did he fear lest the Achaeans in sorry rout should leave him to be a prey to the foemen. And many a charge laid he on Meriones and the Aiantes, saying: + +Ye Aiantes twain, leaders of the Argives, and thou, Meriones, +now let each man remember the kindliness of hapless Patroclus; for to all was he ever gentle while yet he lived, but now death and fate have come upon him. + + +So saying fair-haired Menelaus departed, glancing warily on every side as an eagle, which, men say, hath +the keenest sight of all winged things under heaven, of whom, though he be on high, the swift-footed hare is not unseen as he croucheth beneath a leafy bush, but the eagle swoopeth upon him and forthwith seizeth him, and robbeth him of life. Even so then, Menelaus, nurtured of Zeus, did thy bright eyes +range everywhither over the throng of thy many comrades, if so be they niight have sight of Nestor's son yet alive. Him he marked full quickly on the left of the whole battle, heartening his comrades and urging them on to fight. And drawing nigh fair-haired Menelaus spake to him, saying: +Antilochus, up, come hither, thou nurtured of Zeus, that thou mayest learn woeful tidings, such as I would had never been. Even now, I ween, thou knowest, for thine eyes behold it, how that a god rolleth ruin upon the Danaans, and that victory is with the men of Troy. And slain is the best man of the Achaeans, +even Patroclus, and great longing for him is wrought for the Danaans. But do thou with speed run to the ships of the Achaeans and bear word unto Achilles, in hope that he may forthwith bring safe to his ship the corpse—the naked corpse; but his armour is held by Hector of the flashing helm. + + +So spake he, and Antilochus had horror, as he heard that word. +Long time was he speechless, and both his eyes were filled with tears, and the flow of his voice was checked. Yet not even so was he neglectful of the bidding of Menelaus, but set him to run, and gave his armour to his peerless comrade Laodocus, that hard beside him was wheeling his single-hoofed horses. + +Him then as he wept his feet bare forth from out the battle to bear an evil tale to Peleus' son Achilles. Nor was thy heart, Menelaus, nurtured of Zeus, minded to bear aid to the sore-pressed comrades from whom Antilochus was departed, and great longing was wrought for the men of Pylos. +Howbeit, for their aid he sent goodly Thrasymedes, and himself went again to bestride the warrior Patroclus; and he ran, and took his stand beside the Aiantes, and forthwith spake to them +1 + : + +Yon man have I verily sent forth to the swift ships, to go to Achilles, fleet of foot. Howbeit I deem not +that Achilles will come forth, how wroth soever he be against goodly Hector; for in no wise may he fight against the Trojans unarmed as he is. But let us of ourselves devise the counsel that is best, whereby we may both hale away the corpse, and ourselves escape death and fate amid the battle-din of the Trojans. + +Then great Telamonian Aias answered him: + +All this hast thou spoken aright, most glorious Menelaus. But do thou and Meriones stoop with all speed beneath the corpse, and raise him up, and bear him forth from out the toil of war; but behind you we twain will do battle with the Trojans and goodly Hector, +one in heart as we are one in name, even we that aforetime have been wont to stand firm in fierce battle, abiding each by the other's side. + + +So spake he, and the others took in their arms the dead from the ground, and lifted him on high in their great might; and thereat the host of the Trojans behind them shouted aloud, when they beheld the Achaeans lifting the corpse. +And they charged straight upon them like hounds that in front of hunting youths dart upon a wounded wild boar: awhile they rush upon him fain to rend him asunder, but whenso he wheeleth among them trusting in his might, then they give ground and shrink in fear, one here, one there; +even so the Trojans for a time ever followed on in throngs, thrusting with swords and two-edged spears, but whenso the twain Aiantes would wheel about and stand against them, then would their colour change, and no man dared dart forth and do battle for the dead. + +Thus the twain were hasting to bear the corpse forth from out the battle to the hollow ships, and against them was strained a conflict fierce as fire that, rushing upon a city of men with sudden onset, setteth it aflame, and houses fall amid the mighty glare, and the might of the wind driveth it roaring on. +Even so against them as they went came ever the ceaseless din of chariots and of spearmen. But as mules that, putting forth on either side their great strength, drag forth from the mountain down a rugged path a beam haply, or a great ship-timber, and within them their hearts +as they strive are distressed with toil alike and sweat; even so these hasted to bear forth the corpse. And behind them the twain Aiantes held back the foe, as a ridge holdeth back a flood +—some wooded ridge that chanceth to lie all athwart a plain and that holdeth back even the dread streams of mighty rivers, and forthwith turneth the current of them all to wander over the plain, neither doth the might of their flood avail to break through it; even so the twain Aiantes ever kept back the battle of the Trojans, but these ever followed after and two among them above all others, even Aeneas, Anchises' son, and glorious Hector. +And as flieth a cloud of starlings or of daws, shrieking cries of doom, when they see coming upon them a falcon that beareth death unto small birds; so before Aeneas and Hector fled the youths of the Achaeans, shrieking cries of doom, and forgat all fighting. +And fair arms full many fell around and about the trench as the Danaans fled; but there was no ceasing from war. +So fought they like unto blazing fire, but Antilochus, swift of foot, came to bear tidings to Achilles. Him he found in front of his ships with upright horns, +289.1 + boding in his heart the thing that even now was brought to pass; +and sore troubled he spake unto his own great-hearted spirit: + +Ah, woe is me, how is it that again the long-haired Achaeans are being driven toward the ships in rout over the plain? Let it not be that the gods have brought to pass grievous woes for my soul, even as on a time my mother declared unto me, and said that +while yet I lived the best man of the Myrmidons should leave the light of the sun beneath the hands of the Trojans! in good sooth the valiant son of Menoetius must now, be dead, foolhardy one. Surely I bade him come back again to the ships when he had thrust off the consuming fire, and not to fight amain with Hector. + +While he pondered thus in mind and heart, there drew nigh unto him the son of lordly Nestor, shedding hot tears, and spake the grievous tidings: + +Woe is me, thou son of wise-hearted Peleus, full grievous is the tidings thou must hear, such as I would had never been. +Low lies Patroclus, and around his corpse are they fighting—his naked corpse; but his armour is held by Hector of the flashing helm. + + +So spake he, and a black cloud of grief enwrapped Achilles, and with both his hands he took the dark dust +and strewed it over his head and defiled his fair face, and on his fragrant tunic the black ashes fell. And himself in the dust lay outstretched, mighty in his mightiness, and with his own hands he tore and marred his hair. And the handmaidens, that Achilles and Patroclus had got them as booty, shrieked aloud in anguish of heart, +and ran forth around wise-hearted Achilles, and all beat their breasts with their hands, and the knees of each one were loosed be-neath her. And over against them Antilochus wailed and shed tears, holding the hands of Achilles, that in his noble heart was moaning mightily; for he feared lest he should cut his throat asunder with the knife. +Then terribly did Achilles groan aloud, and his queenly mother heard him as she sat in the depths of the sea beside the old man her father. Thereat she uttered a shrill cry, and the goddesses thronged about her, even all the daughters of Nereus that were in the deep of the sea. There were Glauce and Thaleia and Cymodoce, +Nesaea and Speio and Thoë and ox-eyed Halië, and Cymothoë and Actaeä and Limnoreia, and Melite and Iaera and Amphithoe and Agave, Doto and Proto and Pherousa and Dynamene, and Dexamene and Amphinone and Callianeira, +Doris and Pynope and glorious Galatea, Nemertes and Apseudes and Callianassa, and there were Clymene and Ianeira and Ianassa, Maera and Orithyia and fair-tressed Amatheia, and other Nereids that were in the deep of the sea. +With these the bright cave was filled, and they all alike beat their breasts, and Thetis was leader in their lamenting: + +Listen, sister Nereids, that one and all ye may hear and know all the sorrows that are in my heart. Ah, woe is me unhappy, woe is me that bare to my sorrow the best of men, +for after I had borne a son peerless and stalwart, pre-eminent among warriors, and he shot up like a sapling; then when I had reared him as a tree in a rich orchard plot, I sent him forth in the beaked ships to Ilios to war with the Trojans; but never again shall I welcome him +back to his home, to the house of Peleus. And while yet he liveth, and beholdeth the light of the sun, he hath sorrow, neither can I anywise help him, though I go to him. Howbeit go I will, that I may behold my dear child, and hear what grief has come upon him while yet he abideth aloof from the war. + +So saying she left the cave, and the nymphs went with her weeping, and around them the waves of the sea were cloven asunder. And when they were come to the deep-soiled land of Troy they stepped forth upon the beach, one after the other, where the ships of the Myrmidons were drawn up in close lines round about swift Achilles. +Then to his side, as he groaned heavily, came his queenly mother, and with a shrill cry she clasped the head of her son, and with wailing spake unto him winged words: + +My child, why weepest thou? What sorrow hath come upon thy heart. Speak out; hide it not. Thy wish has verily been brought to pass for thee +by Zeus, as aforetime thou didst pray, stretching forth thy hands, even that one and all the sons of the Achaeans should be huddled at the sterns of the ships in sore need of thee, and should suffer cruel things. + + +Then groaning heavily swift-footed Achilles answered her: + +My mother, these prayers verily hath the Olympian brought to pass for me, +but what pleasure have I therein, seeing my dear comrade is dead, even Patroclus, whom I honoured above all my comrades, even as mine own self? Him have I lost, and his armour Hector that slew him hath stripped from him, that fair armour, huge of size, a wonder to behold, that the gods gave as a glorious gift to Peleus +on the day when they laid thee in the bed of a mortal man. Would thou hadst remained where thou wast amid the immortal maidens of the sea, and that Peleus had taken to his home a mortal bride. But now—it was thus that thou too mightest have measureless grief at heart for thy dead son, whom thou shalt never again welcome +to his home; for neither doth my own heart bid me live on and abide among men, unless Hector first, smitten by my spear, shall lose his life, and pay back the price for that he made spoil of Patroclus, son of Menoetius. + + +Then Thetis again spake unto him, shedding tears the while: +Doomed then to a speedy death, my child, shalt thou be, that thou spakest thus; for straightway after Hector is thine own death ready at hand. + + +Then, mightily moved, swift-footed Achilles spake to her: + +Straightway may I die, seeing I was not to bear aid to my comrade at his slaying. Far, far from his own land +hath he fallen, and had need of me to be a warder off of ruin. Now therefore, seeing I return not to my dear native land, neither proved anywise a light of deliverance to Patroclus nor to my other comrades, those many that have been slain by goodly Hector, but abide here by the ships. Profitless burden upon the earth— +I that in war am such as is none other of the brazen-coated Achaeans, albeit in council there be others better— so may strife perish from among gods and men, and anger that setteth a man on to grow wroth, how wise soever he be, and that sweeter far than trickling honey +waxeth like smoke in the breasts of men; even as but now the king of men, Agamemnon, moved me to wrath. Howbeit these things will we let be as past and done, for all our pain, curbing the heart in our breasts, because we must. But now will I go forth that I may light on the slayer of the man I loved, +even on Hector; for my fate, I will accept it whenso Zeus willeth to bring it to pass, and the other immortal gods. For not even the mighty Heracles escaped death, albeit he was most dear to Zeus, son of Cronos, the king, but fate overcame him, and the dread wrath of Hera. +So also shall I, if a like fate hath been fashioned for me, lie low when I am dead. But now let me win glorious renown, and set many a one among the deep-bosomed Trojan or Dardanian dames to wipe with both hands the tears from her tender cheeks, and ceaseless moaning; +and let them know that long in good sooth have I kept apart from the war. Seek not then to hold me back from battle, for all thou lovest me; thou shalt not persuade me. + + +Then answered him the goddess, silver-footed Thetis: + +Aye, verily, as thou sayest, my child, it is in truth no ill thing to ward utter destruction from thy comrades, that are hard beset. +But thy goodly armour is held among the Trojans, thine armour of bronze, all gleaming-bright. This doth Hector of the flashing helm wear on his own shoulders, and exulteth therein. Yet I deem that not for long shall he glory therein. seeing his own death is nigh at hand. But do thou not enter into the turmoil of Ares +until thine eyes shall behold me again coming hither. For in the morning will I return at the rising of the sun, bearing fair armour from the lord Hephaestus. + + +So saying she turned her to go back from her son, and being turned she spake among her sisters of the sea: +Do ye now plunge beneath the broad bosom of the deep, to visit the old man of the sea, and the halls of our father, and tell him all. But I will get me to high Olympus to the house of Hephaestus, the famed craftsman, if so be he will give to my son glorious shining armour. + +So spake she, and they forthwith plunged beneath the surge of the sea, while she, the goddess, silver-footed Thetis, went her way to Olympus, that she might bring glorious armour for her dear son. + + +Her then were her feet bearing to Olympus, but the Achaeans fled with wondrous shouting from before man-slaying Hector, +and came to the ships and the Hellespont. Howbeit Patroclus, the squire of Achilles, might the well-greaved Achaeans not draw forth from amid the darts; for now again there overtook him the host and the chariots of Troy, and Hector, son of Priam, in might as it were a flame. +Thrice from behind did glorious Hector seize him by the feet, fain to drag him away, and called mightily upon the Trojans, and thrice did the two Aiantes, clothed in furious valour, hurl him back from the corpse. But he, ever trusting in his might, would now charge upon them in the fray, and would now stand +and shout aloud; but backward would he give never a whit. And as shepherds of the steading avail not in any wise to drive from a carcase a tawny lion when he hungereth sore, even so the twain warrior Aiantes availed not to affright Hector, Priam's son, away from the corpse. +And now would he have dragged away the body, and have won glory unspeakable, had not wind-footed, swift Iris speeding from Olympus with a message that he array him for battle, come to the son of Peleus, all unknown of Zeus and the other gods, for Hera sent her forth. And she drew nigh, and spake to him winged words: +Rouse thee, son of Peleus, of all men most dread. Bear thou aid to Patroclus, for whose sake is a dread strife afoot before the ships. And men are slaying one another, these seeking to defend the corpse of the dead, while the Trojans charge on to drag him to windy Ilios; and above all glorious Hector +is fain to drag him away; and his heart biddeth him shear the head from the tender neck, and fix it on the stakes of the wall. Nay, up then, lie here no more! Let awe come upon thy soul that Patroclus should become the sport of the dogs of Troy. +Thine were the shame, if anywise he come, a corpse despitefully entreated. + +301.1 + +Then swift-footed goodly Achilles answered her: + +Goddess Iris, who of the gods sent thee a messenger to me? + + +And to him again spake wind-footed, swift Iris: + +Hera sent me forth, the glorious wife of Zeus; +and the son of Cronos, throned on high, knoweth naught hereof, neither any other of the immortals that dwell upon snowy Olympus. + + +Then in answer to her spake Achilles, swift of foot: + +But how shall I enter the fray? They yonder hold my battle-gear; and my dear mother forbade that I array me for the fight +until such time as mine eyes should behold her again coming hither; for she pledged her to bring goodly armour from Hephaestus. No other man know I whose glorious armour I might don, except it were the shield of Aias, son of Telamon. Howbeit himself, I ween, hath dalliance amid the foremost fighters, +as he maketh havoc with his spear in defence of dead Patroclus. + + +And to him again spake wind-footed, swift Iris: + +Well know we of ourselves that thy glorious armour is held of them; but even as thou art go thou to the trench, and show thyself to the men of Troy, if so be that, seized with fear of thee, +the Trojans may desist from battle, and the warlike sons of the Achaeans may take breath, wearied as they are; for scant is the breathing-space in war. + + +When she had thus spoken swift-footed Iris departed; but Achilles, dear to Zeus, roused him, and round about his mighty shoulders Athene flung her tasselled aegis, +and around his head the fair goddess set thick a golden cloud, and forth from the man made blaze a gleaming fire. And as when a smoke goeth up from a city and reacheth to heaven from afar, from an island that foes beleaguer, and the men thereof contend the whole day through in hateful war +from their city's walls, and then at set of sun flame forth the beacon-fires one after another and high aloft darteth the glare thereof for dwellers round about to behold, if so be they may come in their ships to be warders off of bane; even so from the head of Achilles went up the gleam toward heaven. +Then strode he from the wall to the trench, and there took his stand, yet joined him not to the company of the Achaeans, for he had regard to his mother's wise behest. There stood he and shouted, and from afar Pallas Athene uttered her voice; but amid the Trojans he roused confusion unspeakable. + + +Clear as the trumpet's voice when it soundeth aloud +beneath the press of murderous foemen that beleaguer a city, so clear was then the voice of the son of Aeacus. And when they heard the brazen voice of the son of Aeacus the hearts of all were dismayed; and the fair-maned horses +turned their cars backward, for their spirits boded bane. And the charioteers were stricken with terror when they beheld the unwearied fire blaze in fearsome wise above the head of the great-souled son of Peleus; for the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, made it blaze. Thrice over the trench shouted mightily the goodly Achilles, and thrice the Trojans and their famed allies were confounded. +And there in that hour perished twelve men of their best amid their own chariots and their own spears. But the Achaeans with gladness drew Patroclus forth from out the darts and laid him on a bier, and his dear comrades thronged about him weeping; and amid them followed swift-footed Achilles, +shedding hot tears, for that he beheld his trusty comrade lying on the bier, mangled by the sharp bronze. Him verily had he sent forth with horses and chariot into the war, but never again did he welcome his returning. +Then was the unwearying sun sent by ox-eyed, queenly Hera +to go his way, full loath, to the stream of Ocean. So the sun set and the goodly Achaeans stayed them from the fierce strife and the evil war. + + +And on their side, the Trojans, when they were come back from the fierce conflict, loosed from beneath their cars their swift horses, +and gathered themselves in assembly or ever they bethought them to sup. Upon their feet they stood while the gathering was held, neither had any man heart to sit; for they all were holden of fear, seeing Achilles was come forth, albeit he had long kept him aloof from grievous battle. Then among them wise Polydamas was first to speak, +the son of Panthous; for he alone looked at once before and after. Comrade was he of Hector, and in the one night were they born: howbeit in speech was one far the best, the other with the spear. He with good intent addressed their gathering, and spake among them: + +On both sides, my friends, bethink you well. For my own part I bid you +return even now to the city, neither on the plain beside the ships await bright Dawn, for afar from the wall are we. As long as this man continued in wrath against goodly Agamemnon, even so long were the Achaeans easier to fight against; aye, and I too was glad, when hard by the swift ships I spent the night, +in hope that we should take the curved ships. But now do I wondrously fear the swift-footed son of Peleus; so masterful is his spirit, he will not be minded to abide in the plain, where in the midst both Trojans and Achaeans share in the fury of Ares; +but it is for our city that he will fight, and for our wives. Nay, let us go to the city; hearken ye unto me, for on this wise shall it be. For this present hath immortal night stayed the swift-footed son of Peleus, but if on the morrow he shall come forth in harness and light on us yet abiding here, full well shall many a one come to know him; for with joy shall he that escapeth win to sacred Ilios, +and many of the Trojans shall the dogs and vultures devour—far from my ear be the tale thereof. But and if we hearken to my words for all we be loath, this night shall we keep our forces in the place of gathering, and the city shall be guarded by the walls +and high gates and by the tall well-polished doors that are set therein, bolted fast. But in the morning at the coming of Dawn arrayed in our armour will we make our stand upon the walls; and the worse will it be for him, if he be minded to come forth from the ships and fight with us to win the wall. +Back again to his ships shall he hie him, when he hath given his horses, with high-arched necks, surfeit of coursing to and fro, as he driveth vainly beneath the city. But to force his way within will his heart not suffer him nor shall he lay it waste; ere that shall the swift dogs devour him. + + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows spake to him Hector of the flashing helm: +Polydamas, this that thou sayest is no longer to my pleasure, seeing thou biddest us go back and be pent within the city. In good sooth have ye not yet had your fill of being pent within the walls? Of old all mortal men were wont to tell of Priam's city, for its wealth of gold, its wealth of bronze; +but now are its goodly treasures perished from its homes, and lo, possessions full many have been sold away to Phrygia and lovely Maeonia, since great Zeus waxed wroth. But now, when the son of crooked-counselling Cronos hath vouchsafed me to win glory at the ships, and to pen the Achaeans, beside the sea, +no longer, thou fool, do thou show forth counsels such as these among the folk. For not a man of the Trojans will hearken to thee; I will not suffer it. Nay, come; even as I shall bid, let us all obey: for this present take ye your supper throughout the host by companies, and take heed to keep watch, and be wakeful every man. +And of the Trojans whoso is distressed beyond measure for his goods, let him gather them together and give them to the folk for them to feast thereon in common; +311.1 + better were it that they have profit thereof than the Achaeans. But in the morning, at the coming of Dawn, arrayed in our armour, let us arouse sharp battle at the hollow ships. But if in deed and in truth goodly Achilles is arisen by the ships, the worse shall it be for him, if he so will it. I verily will not flee from him out of dolorous war, but face to face will I stand against him, whether he shall win great victory, or haply I. Alike to all is the god of war, and lo, he slayeth him that would slay. + + +So Hector addressed their gathering, and thereat the Trojans shouted aloud, fools that they were! for from them Pallas Athene took away their wits. To Hector they all gave praise in his ill advising, but Polydamas no man praised, albeit he devised counsel that was good. So then they took supper throughout the host; but the Achaeans +the whole night through made moan in lamentation for Patroclus. And among them the son of Peleus began the vehement lamentation, laying his man-slaying hands upon the breast of his comrade and uttering many a groan, even as a bearded lion whose whelps some hunter of stags hath snatched away +from out the thick wood; and the lion coming back thereafter grieveth sore, and through many a glen he rangeth on the track of the footsteps of the man, if so be he may anywhere find him; for anger exceeding grim layeth hold of him. Even so with heavy groaning spake Achilles among the Myrmidons: + +Out upon it! Vain in sooth was the word I uttered on that day, +when I sought to hearten the warrior Menoetius in our halls; and said that when I had sacked Ilios I would bring back to him unto Opoeis his glorious son with the share of the spoil that should fall to his lot. But lo, Zeus fulfilleth not for men all their purposes; for both of us twain are fated to redden the selfsame earth with our blood +here in the land of Troy; since neither shall I come back to be welcomed of the old knight Peleus in his halls, nor of my mother Thetis, but even here shall the earth hold me fast. But now, Patroclus, seeing I shall after thee pass beneath the earth, I will not give thee burial till I have brought hither the armour and the head of Hector, +the slayer of thee, the great-souled; and of twelve glorious sons of the Trojans will I cut the throats before thy pyre in my wrath at thy slaying. Until then beside the beaked ships shalt thou lie, even as thou art, and round about thee shall deep-bosomed Trojan and Dardanian women +make lament night and day with shedding of tears, even they that we twain got us through toil by our might and our long spears, when we wasted rich cities of mortal men. + + +So saying, goodly Achilles bade his comrades set upon the fire a great cauldron, that with speed +they might wash from Patroclus the bloody gore. And they set upon the blazing fire the cauldron for filling the bath, and poured in water, and took billets of wood and kindled them beneath it. Then the fire played about the belly of the cauldron, and the water grew warm. But when the water boiled in the bright bronze, +then they washed him and anointed him richly with oil, filling his wounds with ointment of nine +315.1 + years old; and they laid him upon his bed, and covered him with a soft linen cloth from head to foot, and thereover with a white robe. So the whole night through around Achilles, swift of foot, +the Myrmidons made moan in lamentation for Patroclus; but Zeus spake unto Hera, his sister and his wife: + +Thou hast then had thy way, O ox-eyed, queenly Hera; thou hast aroused Achilles, swift of foot. In good sooth must the long-haired Achaeans be children of thine own womb. + +Then made answer to him the ox-eyed, queenly Hera: + +Most dread son of Cronos, what a word hast thou said. Lo, even a man, I ween, is like to accomplish what he can for another man, one that is but mortal, and knoweth not all the wisdom that is mine. How then was I, that avow me to be highest of goddesses +in twofold wise, for that I am eldest and am called thy wife, and thou art king among all the immortals—how was I not in my wrath against the Trojans to devise against them evil? + + +On this wise spake they one to the other; but silver-footed Thetis came unto the house of Hephaestus, +imperishable, decked with stars, preeminent among the houses of immortals, wrought all of bronze, that the crook-foot god himself had built him. Him she found sweating with toil as he moved to and fro about his bellows in eager haste; for he was fashioning tripods, twenty in all, to stand around the wall of his well-builded hall, +and golden wheels had he set beneath the base of each that of themselves they might enter the gathering of the gods at his wish and again return to his house, a wonder to behold. Thus much were they fully wrought, that not yet were the cunningly fashioned ears set thereon; these was he making ready, and was forging the rivets. +And while he laboured thereat with cunning skill, meanwhile there drew nigh to him the goddess, silver-footed Thetis. And Charis of the gleaming veil came forward and marked her—fair Charis, whom the famed god of the two strong arms had wedded. And she clasped her by the hand, and spake, and addressed her: +Wherefore, long-robed Thetis, art thou come to our house, an honoured guest, and a welcome? Heretofore thou hast not been wont to come. But follow me further, that I may set before thee entertainment. + + +So saying the bright goddess led her on. Then she made her to sit on a silver-studded chair, +a beautiful chair, richly-wrought, and beneath was a footstool for the feet; and she called to Hephaestus, the famed craftsman, and spake to him, saying: + +Hephaestus, come forth hither; Thetis hath need of thee. + + And the famous god of the two strong arms answered her: + +Verily then a dread and honoured goddess is within my halls, +even she that saved me when pain was come upon me after I had fallen afar through the will of my shameless mother, that was fain to hide me away by reason of my lameness. Then had I suffered woes in heart, had not Eurynome and Thetis received me into their bosom—Eurynome, daughter of backward-flowing Oceanus. +With them then for nine years' space I forged much cunning handiwork, brooches, and spiral arm-bands, and rosettes and necklaces, +319.1 + within their hollow cave; and round about me flowed, murmuring with foam, the stream of Oceanus, a flood unspeakable. Neither did any other know thereof, either of gods or of mortal men, +but Thetis knew and Eurynome, even they that saved me. And now is Thetis come to my house; wherefore it verily behoveth me to pay unto fair-tressed Thetis the full price for the saving of my life. But do thou set before her fair entertainment, while I put aside my bellows and all my tools. + +He spake, and from the anvil rose, a huge, panting +319.2 + bulk, halting the while, but beneath him his slender legs moved nimbly. The bellows he set away from the fire, and gathered all the tools wherewith he wrought into a silver chest; and with a sponge wiped he his face and his two hands withal, +and his mighty neck and shaggy breast, and put upon him a tunic, and grasped a stout staff, and went forth halting; but there moved swiftly to support their lord handmaidens wrought of gold in the semblance of living maids. In them is understanding in their hearts, and in them speech +and strength, and they know cunning handiwork by gift of the immortal gods. These busily moved to support their lord, and he, limping nigh to where Thetis was, sat him down upon a shining chair; and he clasped her by the hand, and spake, and addressed her: + +Wherefore, long-robed Thetis, art thou come to our house, +an honoured guest and a welcome? Heretofore thou hast not been wont to come. Speak what is in thy mind; my heart bids me fulfill it, if fulfill it I can, and it is a thing that hath fulfillment. + + +And Thetis made answer to him, shedding tears the while: + +Hephaestus, is there now any goddess, of all those that are in Olympus, +that hath endured so many grievous woes in her heart as are the sorrows that Zeus, son of Cronos, hath given me beyond all others? Of all the daughters of the sea he subdued me alone to a mortal, even to Peleus, son of Aeacus, and I endured the bed of a mortal albeit sore against my will. And lo, he lieth +in his halls fordone with grievous old age, but now other griefs are mine. A son he gave me to bear and to rear, pre-eminent among warriors, and he shot up like a sapling; then when I had reared him as a tree in a rich orchard plot, I sent him forth in the beaked ships to Ilios +to war with the Trojans; but never again shall I welcome him back to his home, to the house of Peleus. And while yet he liveth, and beholdeth the light of the sun, he hath sorrow, nor can I any wise help him, though I go to him. The girl that the sons of the Achaeans chose out for him as a prize, +her hath the lord Agamemnon taken back from out his arms. Verily in grief for her was he wasting his heart; but the Achaeans were the Trojans penning at the sterns of the ships, and would not suffer them to go forth. And to him the elders of the Argives made prayer, and named many glorious gifts. +Then albeit he refused himself to ward from them ruin, yet clad he Patroclus in his own armour and sent him into the war, and added therewithal much people. All day long they fought around the Scaean gates, and on that selfsame day had laid the city waste, but that, +after the valiant son of Menoetius had wrought sore harm, Apollo slew him amid the foremost fighters and gave glory to Hector. Therefore am I now come to thy knees, if so be thou wilt be minded to give my son, that is doomed to a speedy death, shield and helmet, and goodly greaves fitted with ankle-pieces, +and corselet. For the harness that was his aforetime his trusty comrade lost, when he was slain by the Trojans; and my son lieth on the ground in anguish of heart. + + +Then the famous god of the two strong arms answered her: + +Be of good cheer, neither let these things distress thy heart. Would that I might so surely avail to hide him afar from dolorous death, +when dread fate cometh upon him, as verily goodly armour shall be his, such that in aftertime many a one among the multitude of men shall marvel, whosoever shall behold it. + + +So saying he left her there and went unto his bellows, and he turned these toward the fire and bade them work. +And the bellows, twenty in all, blew upon the melting-vats, sending forth a ready blast of every force, now to further him as he laboured hard, and again in whatsoever way Hephaestus might wish and his work go on. And on the fire he put stubborn bronze and tin +and precious gold and silver; and thereafter he set on the anvil-block a great anvil, and took in one hand a massive hammer, and in the other took he the tongs. +First fashioned he a shield, great and sturdy, adorning it cunningly in every part, and round about it set a bright rim, +threefold and glittering, and therefrom made fast a silver baldric. Five were the layers of the shield itself; and on it he wrought many curious devices with cunning skill. +Therein he wrought the earth, therein the heavens therein the sea, and the unwearied sun, and the moon at the full, +and therein all the constellations wherewith heaven is crowned—the Pleiades, and the Hyades and the mighty Orion, and the Bear, that men call also the Wain, that circleth ever in her place, and watcheth Orion, and alone hath no part in the baths of Ocean. + +Therein fashioned he also two cities of mortal men exceeding fair. In the one there were marriages and feastings, and by the light of the blazing torches they were leading the brides from their bowers through the city, and loud rose the bridal song. And young men were whirling in the dance, and in their midst +flutes and lyres sounded continually; and there the women stood each before her door and marvelled. But the folk were gathered in the place of assembly; for there a strife had arisen, and two men were striving about the blood-price of a man slain; the one avowed that he had paid all, +declaring his cause to the people, but the other refused to accept aught; +325.1 + and each was fain to win the issue on the word of a daysman. Moreover, the folk were cheering both, shewing favour to this side and to that. And heralds held back the folk, and the elders were sitting upon polished stones in the sacred circle, +holding in their hands the staves of the loud-voiced heralds. Therewith then would they spring up and give judgment, each in turn. And in the midst lay two talents of gold, to be given to him whoso among them should utter the most righteous judgment. +But around the other city lay in leaguer two hosts of warriors +gleaming in armour. And twofold plans found favour with them, either to lay waste the town or to divide in portions twain all the substance that the lovely city contained within. +327.1 + Howbeit the besieged would nowise hearken thereto, but were arming to meet the foe in an ambush. The wall were their dear wives and little children guarding, +as they stood thereon, and therewithal the men that were holden of old age; but the rest were faring forth, led of Ares and Pallas Athene, both fashioned in gold, and of gold was the raiment wherewith they were clad. Goodly were they and tall in their harness, as beseemeth gods, clear to view amid the rest, and the folk at their feet were smaller. +But when they were come to the place where it seemed good unto them to set their ambush, in a river-bed where was a watering-place for all herds alike, there they sate them down, clothed about with flaming bronze. Thereafter were two scouts set by them apart from the host, waiting till they should have sight of the sheep and sleek cattle. +And these came presently, and two herdsmen followed with them playing upon pipes; and of the guile wist they not at all. + + +But the liers-in-wait, when they saw these coming on, rushed forth against them and speedily cut off the herds of cattle and fair flocks of white-fleeced sheep, and slew the herdsmen withal. +But the besiegers, as they sat before the places of gathering +329.1 + and heard much tumult among the kine, mounted forthwith behind their high-stepping horses, and set out thitherward, and speedily came upon them. Then set they their battle in array and fought beside the river banks, and were ever smiting one another with bronze-tipped spears. +And amid them Strife and Tumult joined in the fray, and deadly Fate, grasping one man alive, fresh-wounded, another without a wound, and another she dragged dead through the mellay by the feet; and the raiment that she had about her shoulders was red with the blood of men. Even as living mortals joined they in the fray and fought; +and they were haling away each the bodies of the others' slain. +Therein he set also soft fallow-land, rich tilth and wide, that was three times ploughed; and ploughers full many therein were wheeling their yokes and driving them this way and that. And whensoever after turning they came to the headland of the field, +then would a man come forth to each and give into his hands a cup of honey-sweet wine; and the ploughmen would turn them in the furrows, eager to reach the headland of the deep tilth. And the field grew black behind and seemed verily as it had been ploughed, for all that it was of gold; herein was the great marvel of the work. + +Therein he set also a king's demesne-land, wherein labourers were reaping, bearing sharp sickles in their hands. Some handfuls were falling in rows to the ground along the swathe, while others the binders of sheaves were binding with twisted ropes of straw. Three binders stood hard by them, while behind them +boys would gather the handfuls, and bearing them in their arms would busily give them to the binders; and among them the king, staff in hand, was standing in silence at the swathe, joying in his heart. And heralds apart beneath an oak were making ready a feast, and were dressing a great ox they had slain for sacrifice; and the women +sprinkled the flesh with white barley in abundance, for the workers' mid-day meal. + + +Therein he set also a vineyard heavily laden with clusters, a vineyard fair and wrought of gold; black were the grapes, and the vines were set up throughout on silver poles. And around it he drave a trench of cyanus, and about that a fence of tin; +and one single path led thereto, whereby the vintagers went and came, whensoever they gathered the vintage. And maidens and youths in childish glee were bearing the honey-sweet fruit in wicker baskets. And in their midst a boy made pleasant music with a clear-toned lyre, +and thereto sang sweetly the Linos-song +331.1 + with his delicate voice; and his fellows beating the earth in unison therewith followed on with bounding feet mid dance and shoutings. +And therein he wrought a herd of straight-horned kine: the kine were fashioned of gold and tin, +and with lowing hasted they forth from byre to pasture beside the sounding river, beside the waving reed. And golden were the herdsmen that walked beside the kine, four in number, and nine dogs swift of foot followed after them. But two dread lions amid the foremost kine +were holding a loud-lowing bull, and he, bellowing mightily, was haled of them, while after him pursued the dogs and young men. The lions twain had rent the hide of the great bull, and were devouring the inward parts and the black blood, while the herdsmen vainly sought to fright them, tarring on the swift hounds. +Howbeit these shrank from fastening on the lions, but stood hard by and barked and sprang aside. +Therein also the famed god of the two strong arms wrought a pasture in a fair dell, a great pasture of white-fleeced sheep, and folds, and roofed huts, and pens. + +Therein furthermore the famed god of the two strong arms cunningly wrought a dancing-floor like unto that which in wide Cnosus Daedalus fashioned of old for fair-tressed Ariadne. There were youths dancing and maidens of the price of many cattle, holding their hands upon the wrists one of the other. +Of these the maidens were clad in fine linen, while the youths wore well-woven tunics faintly glistening with oil; and the maidens had fair chaplets, and the youths had daggers of gold hanging from silver baldrics. Now would they run round with cunning feet +exceeding lightly, as when a potter sitteth by his wheel that is fitted between his hands and maketh trial of it whether it will run; and now again would they run in rows toward each other. And a great company stood around the lovely dance, taking joy therein; +and two tumblers whirled up and down through the midst of them as leaders in the dance. +Therein he set also the great might of the river Oceanus, around the uttermost rim of the strongly-wrought shield. +But when he had wrought the shield, great and sturdy, +then wrought he for him a corselet brighter than the blaze of fire, and he wrought for him a heavy helmet, fitted to his temples, a fair helm, richly-dight, and set thereon a crest of gold; and he wrought him greaves of pliant tin. +But when the glorious god of the two strong arms had fashioned all the armour, +he took and laid it before the mother of Achilles. And like a falcon she sprang down from snowy Olympus, bearing the flashing armour from Hephaestus. +Now Dawn the saffron-robed arose from the streams of Oceanus to bring light to immortals and to mortal men, and Thetis came to the ships bearing gifts from the god. And she found her dear son as he lay, clasping Patroclus, +and wailing aloud; and in throngs round about him his comrades were weeping. Then in the midst of them the bright goddess came to his side, and she clasped his hand, and spake and addressed him: + +My child, this man must we let be, for all our sorrow, to lie as he is, seeing he hath been slain once for all by the will of the gods. +But receive thou from Hephaestus glorious armour, exceeding fair, such as never yet a man bare upon his shoulders. + + +So saying the goddess set down the arms in front of Achilles, and they all rang aloud in their splendour. Then trembling seized all the Myrmidons, +neither dared any man to look thereon, but they shrank in fear. Howbeit, when Achilles saw the arms, then came wrath upon him yet the more, and his eyes blazed forth in terrible wise from beneath their lids, as it had been flame; and he was glad as he held in his arms the glorious gifts of the god. But when in his soul he had taken delight in gazing on the glory of them, +forthwith to his mother he spake winged words: + +My mother, the arms that the god hath given are such as the works of immortals should fitly be, such as no mortal man could fashion. Now therefore will I array me for battle; +yet am I sore afraid lest meantime flies enter the wounds that the bronze hath dealt on the corpse of the valiant son of Menoetius, and breed worms therein, and work shame upon his corpse—for the life is slain out of him—and so all his flesh shall rot. + + +Then the goddess, silver-footed Thetis, answered him: + +My child, let not these things distress thy heart. +From him will I essay to ward off the savage tribes, the flies that feed upon men slain in battle. For even though he lie for the full course of a year, yet shall his flesh be sound continually, or better even than now it is. But do thou call to the place of gathering the Achaean warriors, +and renounce thy wrath against Agamemnon, shepherd of the host, and then array thee with all speed for battle and clothe thee in thy might. + + +So saying, she filled him with dauntless courage, and on Patroclus she shed ambrosia and ruddy nectar through his nostrils, that his flesh might be sound continually. + +But goodly Achilles strode along the shore of the sea, crying a terrible cry, and aroused the Achaean warriors. And even they that aforetime were wont to abide in the gathering of the ships—they that were pilots and wielded the steering-oars of the ships, or were stewards that dealt out food— +even these came then to the place of gathering, because Achilles was come forth, albeit he had long kept him aloof from grievous war. Twain there were, squires of Ares, that came limping, even Tydeus' son, staunch in fight, and goodly Odysseus, leaning each on his spear, for their wounds were grievous still; +and they went and sat them down in the front of the gathering. And last of all came the king of men, Agamemnon, burdened with his wound; for him too in the fierce conflict had Coon, Antenor's son, wounded with a thrust of his bronze-shod spear. But when all the Achaeans were gathered together, +Achilles, swift of foot, arose among them and said: + +Son of Atreus, was this then the better for us twain, for thee and for me, what time with grief at heart we raged in soul-devouring strife for the sake of a girl? Would that amid the ships Artemis had slain her with an arrow +on the day when I took her from out the spoil after I had laid waste Lyrnessus! Then had not so many Achaeans bitten the vast earth with their teeth beneath the hands of the foemen, by reason of the fierceness of my wrath. For Hector and the Trojans was this the better, but long shall the Achaeans, methinks, remember the strife betwixt me and thee. +Howbeit, these things will we let be as past and done, for all our pain, curbing the heart in our breasts because we must. Now verily make I my wrath to cease: it beseemeth me not to be wroth for ever unrelentingly; but come, rouse thou speedily to battle the long-haired Achaeans, +to the end that I may go forth against the Trojans and make trial of them yet again, whether they be fain to spend the night hard by the ships. Nay, many a one of them, methinks, will be glad to bend his knees in rest, whosoever shall escape from the fury of war, and from my spear. + + +So spake he, and the well-greaved Achaeans waxed glad, for that the great-souled son of Peleus +renounced his wrath. And among them spake the king of men, Agamemnon, even from the place where he sat, not standing forth in their midst: +1 +My friends, Danaan warriors, squires of Ares, meet is it to give ear to him that standeth to speak, +nor is it seemly to break in upon his words; grievous were that even for one well-skilled. And amid the uproar of many how should a man either hear or speak? —hampered is he then, clear-voiced talker though he be. To the son of Peleus will I declare my mind, but do ye other Argives give heed, and mark well my words each man of you. +Full often have the Achaeans spoken unto me this word, and were ever fain to chide me; howbeit it is not I that am at fault, but Zeus and Fate and Erinys, that walketh in darkness, seeing that in the midst of the place of gathering they cast upon my soul fierce blindness on that day, when of mine own arrogance I took from Achilles his prize. +But what could I do? It is God that bringeth all things to their issue. Eldest daughter of Zeus is Ate that blindeth all—a power fraught with bane; delicate are her feet, for it is not upon the ground that she fareth, but she walketh over the heads of men, bringing men to harm, and this one or that she ensnareth. +Aye, and on a time she blinded Zeus, albeit men say that he is the greatest among men and gods; yet even him Hera, that was but a woman, beguiled in her craftiness on the day when Alcmene in fair-crowned Thebe was to bring forth the mighty Heracles. +Zeus verily spake vauntingly among all the gods: ‘Hearken unto me, all ye gods and goddesses, that I may speak what the heart in my breast biddeth me. This day shall Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, bring to the light a man that shall be the lord of all them that dwell round about, +even one of the race of those men who are of me by blood.’ But with crafty mind the queenly Hera spake unto him:‘Thou wilt play the cheat, and not bring thy word to fulfillment. Nay, come, Olympian, swear me now a mighty oath that in very truth that man shall be lord of all them that dwell round about, +whoso this day shall fall between a woman's feet, even one of those men who are of the blood of thy stock.’ So spake she; howbeit Zeus in no wise marked her craftiness, but sware a great oath, and therewithal was blinded sore. + + +But Hera darted down and left the peak of Olympus, +and swiftly came to Achaean Argos, where she knew was the stately wife of Sthenelus, son of Perseus, that bare a son in her womb, and lo, the seventh month was come. This child Hera brought forth to the light even before the full tale of the months, but stayed Alcmene's bearing, and held back the Eileithyiae. +And herself spake to Zeus, son of Cronos, to bear him word: ‘Father Zeus, lord of the bright lightning, a word will I speak for thy heeding. Lo, even now, is born a valiant man that shall be lord over the Argives, even Eurystheus, son of Sthenelus, the son of Perseus, of thine own lineage; not unmeet is it that he be lord over the Argives.’ +So spake she, and sharp pain smote him in the deep of his heart, and forthwith he seized Ate by her bright-tressed head, wroth in his soul, and sware a mighty oath that never again unto Olympus and the starry heaven should Ate come, she that blindeth all. +So said he, and whirling her in his hand flung her from the starry heaven, and quickly she came to the tilled fields of men. At thought of her would he ever groan, whenso he beheld his dear son in unseemly travail beneath Eurystheus' tasks. Even so I also, what time great Hector of the flashing helm +was making havoc of the Argives at the sterns of the ships, could not forget Ate, of whom at the first I was made blind. Howbeit seeing I was blinded, and Zeus robbed me of my wits, fain am I to make amends and to give requital past counting. Nay, rouse thee for battle, and rouse withal the rest of thy people. +Gifts am I here ready to offer thee, even all that goodly Odysseus promised thee yesternight, +1 + when he had come to thy hut. Or, if thou wilt, abide a while, eager though thou be for war, and the gifts shall squires take and bring thee from my ship, to the end that thou mayest see that I will give what will satisfy thy heart. + + +Then swift-footed Achilles answered him, and said: +Most glorious son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, for the gifts, to give them if thou wilt, as is but seemly, or to withhold them, rests with thee. But now let us bethink us of battle with all speed; it beseemeth not to dally here in talk, +2 +neither to make delay, for yet is a great work undone—to the end that many a one may again behold Achilles amid the foremost laying waste with his spear of bronze the battalions of the men of Troy. Thereon let each one of you take thought as he fighteth with his man. + + +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him and said: +Nay, valiant though thou art, godlike Achilles, urge not on this wise the sons of the Achaeans to go fasting against Ilios to do battle with the men of Troy, since not for a short space shall the battle last when once the ranks of men are met and the god breathes might into either host. +But bid thou the Achaeans by their swift ships to taste of food and wine; since therein is courage and strength. For there is no man that shall be able the whole day long until set of sun to fight against the foe, fasting the while from food; for though in his heart he be eager for battle, +yet his limbs wax heavy unawares and thirst cometh upon him and hunger withal, and his knees grow weary as he goeth. But whoso, having had his fill of wine and food, fighteth the whole day long against the foemen, lo, his heart within him is of good cheer, and his limbs wax not weary +until all withdraw them from battle. Come then, dismiss thou the host, and bid them make ready their meal. And as touching the gifts, let Agamemnon, king of men, bring them forth into the midst of the place of gathering, that all the Achaeans may behold them with their eyes, and thou be made glad at heart. And let him rise up in the midst of the Argives +and swear to thee an oath, that never hath he gone up into the woman's bed neither had dalliance with her, as is the appointed way, O king, of men and of women; and let the heart in thine own breast be open to appeasement. Thereafter let him make amends to thee in his hut with a feast full rich, +that thou mayest have nothing lacking of thy due. Son of Atreus, towards others also shalt thou be more righteous hereafter; for in no wise is it blame for a king to make amends to another, if so be he wax wroth without a cause. + + +To him then spake again the king of men, Agamemnon: +Glad am I, son of Laertes, to hear thy words, for duly hast thou set forth the whole matter, an told the tale thereof. This oath am I ready to swear, and my heart biddeth me thereto, nor shall I forswear myself before the god. But let Achilles abide here the while, eager though he be for war, +and abide all ye others together, until the gifts be brought from my hut, and we make oaths of faith with sacrifice. And to thine own self do I thus give charge and commandment: Choose thee young men, princes of the host of the Achaeans, and bear from my ship the gifts +even all that we promised yesternight to give Achilles, and bring the women withal. And let Talthybius forthwith make me ready a boar in the midst of the wide camp of the Achaeans, to sacrifice to Zeus and to the Sun. + + +But swift-footed Achilles answered him, and said: + +Most glorious son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, +at some other time were it e'en better that ye be busied thus, when haply there shall come between some pause in war, and the fury in my breast be not so great. Now are they lying mangled, they that Hector, son of Priam, slew, Zeus vouch-safed him glory, +and ye twain are bidding us to meat! Verily for mine own part would I even now bid the sons of the Achaeans do battle fasting and unfed, and at set of sun make them ready a mighty meal, when we shall have avenged the shame. Till that shall be, down my throat, at least, +neither drink nor food shall pass, seeing my comrade is dead, who in my hut lieth mangled by the sharp bronze, his feet turned toward the door, +1 + while round about him our comrades mourn; wherefore it is nowise on these things that my heart is set, but on slaying, and blood, and the grievous groanings of men. + +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: + +O Achilles, son of Peleus, far the mightiest of the Achaeans, better art thou than I and mightier not a little with the spear, howbeit in counsel might I surpass thee by far, seeing I am the elder-born and know the more; +wherefore let thine heart endure to hearken to my words. Quickly have men surfeit of battle, wherein the bronze streweth most straw upon the ground, albeit the harvest is scantiest, whenso Zeus inclineth his balance, he that is for men the dispenser of battle. +But with the belly may it nowise be that the Achaeans should mourn a corpse, for full many are ever falling one after another day by day; when then could one find respite from toil? +2 + Nay, it behoveth to bury him that is slain, steeling our hearts and weeping but the one day's space; +but all they that are left alive from hateful war must needs bethink them of drink and of food, to the end that yet the more we may fight with the foemen ever incessantly, clothed about with stubborn bronze. And let no man of all the host hold back awaiting other summons beside, +for the summons is this: Ill shall it be for him whoso is left at the ships of the Argives. Nay, setting out in one throng let us rouse keen battle against the horse-taming Trojans. + + +He spake, and took to him the sons of glorious Nestor, and Meges, son of Phyleus, and Thoas and Meriones and Lycomedes, +son of Creon, and Melanippus; and they went their way to the hut of Agamemnon, son of Atreus. Then straightway in the one moment was the word said, and the deed fulfilled. Seven tripods bare they from the hut, even as he promised him, and twenty gleaming cauldrons and twelve horses; +and forth they speedily led women skilled in goodly handiwork; seven they were, and the eighth was fair-cheeked Briseis. Then Odysseus weighed out ten talents of gold in all, and led the way and with him the other youths of the Achaeans bare the gifts. These then they set in the midst of the place of gathering, and Agamemnon +rose up, and Talthybius, whose voice was like a god's, took his stand by the side of the shepherd of the people, holding a boar in his hands. And the son of Atreus drew forth with his hand the knife that ever hung beside the great sheath of his sword, and cut the firstling hairs from the boar, and lifting up his hands +made prayer to Zeus; and all the Argives sat thereby in silence, hearkening as was meet unto the king. And he spake in prayer, with a look up to the wide heaven: + +Be Zeus my witness first, highest and best of gods, and Earth and Sun, and the Erinyes, that under earth +take vengeance on men, whosoever hath sworn a false oath, that never laid I hand upon the girl Briseis either by way of a lover's embrace or anywise else, but she ever abode untouched in my huts. And if aught of this oath be false, may the gods give me woes +full many, even all that they are wont to give to him whoso sinneth against them in his swearing. + + +He spake, and cut the boar's throat with the pitiless bronze, and the body Talthybius whirled and flung into the great gulf of the grey sea, to be food for the fishes; but Achilles uprose, and spake among the war-loving Argives: + +Father Zeus, great in good sooth is the blindness thou sendest upon men. Never would the son of Atreus have utterly roused the wrath within my breast, nor led off the girl ruthlessly in my despite, but mayhap it was the good pleasure of Zeus that on many of the Achaeans death should come. +But now go ye to your meal, that we may join in battle. + + +So spake he, and hastily brake up the gathering. Then the others scattered, each to his own ship, but the great-hearted Myrmidons busied themselves about the gifts, and bare them forth to the ship of godlike Achilles. +And they bestowed them in the huts, and set the women there, and the horses proud squires drave off to the herd. +But Briseis, that was like unto golden Aphrodite, when she had sight of Patroclus mangled with the sharp bronze, flung herself about him and shrieked aloud, +and with her hands she tore her breast and tender neck and beautiful face. And amid her wailing spake the woman like unto the goddesses: + +Patroclus, dearest to my hapless heart, alive I left thee when I went from the hut, and now I find thee dead, thou leader of hosts, +as I return thereto: thus for me doth evil ever follow hard on evil. My husband, unto whom my father and queenly mother gave me, I beheld mangled with the sharp bronze before our city, and my three brethren whom mine own mother bare, brethren beloved, all these met their day of doom. +But thou, when swift Achilles slew my husband, and laid waste the city of godlike Mynes, wouldst not even suffer me to weep, but saidest that thou wouldst make me the wedded wife of Achilles, +1 + and that he would bear me in his ships to Phthia, and make me a marriage-feast among the Myrmidons. +Wherefore I wail for thee in thy death and know no ceasing, for thou wast ever kind. + + +So spake she wailing, and thereto the women added their laments; Patroclus indeed they mourned, +2 + but therewithal each one her own sorrows. But around Achilles gathered the elders of the Achaeans, beseeching him that he would eat; but he refused them, moaning the while: +I beseech you, if any of my dear comrades will hearken unto me, bid me not before the time sate my heart with food or drink, seeing dread grief is come upon me. Till set of sun will I abide, and endure even as I am. + + +So spake he, and sent from him the other chieftains, +but the two sons of Atreus abode, and goodly Odysseus, and Nestor and Idomeneus and the old man Phoenix, driver of chariots, seeking to comfort him in his exceeding sorrow; but no whit would his heart be comforted until he entered the mouth of bloody war. And as he thought thereon he heaved a heavy sigh and spake, saying: +Ah verily of old, thou too, O hapless one, dearest of my comrades, thyself wast wont to set forth in our hut with nimble haste a savoury meal, whenso the Achaeans made haste to bring tearful war against the horse-taming Trojans. But now thou liest here mangled, and my heart +will have naught of meat and drink, though they be here at hand, through yearning for thee. Naught more grievous than this could I suffer, not though I should hear of the death of mine own father, who now haply in Phthia is shedding round tears for lack of a son like me, while I in a land of alien folk +for the sake of abhorred Helen am warring with the men of Troy; nay, nor though it were he that in Scyrus is reared for me, my son +1 + well-beloved —if so be godlike Neoptolemus still liveth. For until now the heart in my breast had hope that I alone should perish far from horse-pasturing Argos, +here in the land of Troy, but that thou shouldest return to Phthia, that so thou mightest take my child in thy swift, black ship from Scyrus, and show him all things—my possessions, my slaves, and my great high-roofed house. For by now I ween is Peleus either +dead and gone, or else, though haply he still liveth feebly, is sore distressed with hateful old age, and with waiting ever for woeful tidings of me, when he shall hear that I am dead. + + +So spake he weeping, and thereto the elders added their laments, bethinking them each one of what he had left at home. +And as they mourned the son of Cronos had sight of them, and was touched with pity; and forthwith he spake winged words unto Athene: + +My child, lo thou forsakest utterly thine own warrior. Is there then no place in thy thought any more for Achilles? Yonder +he sitteth in front of his ships with upright horns, mourning for his dear comrade; the others verily are gone to their meal but he fasteth and will have naught of food. Nay go, shed thou into his breast nectar and pleasant ambrosia, that hunger-pangs come not upon him. + + +So saying he urged on Athene, that was already eager: +and she like a falcon, +1 + wide of wing and shrill of voice, leapt down upon him from out of heaven through the air. Then while the Achaeans were arraying them speedily for battle throughout the camp, into the breast of Achilles she shed nectar and pleasant ambrosia that grievous hunger-pangs should not come upon his limbs; +and then herself was gone to the stout-builded house of her mighty sire, and the Achaeans poured forth from the swift ships. As when thick and fast the snowflakes flutter down from Zeus chill beneath the blast of the North Wind, born in the bright heaven; even so then thick and fast from the ships were borne the helms, bright-gleaming, +and the bossed shields, the corselets with massive plates, and the ashen spears. And the gleam thereof went up to heaven, and all the earth round about laughed by reason of the flashing of bronze; and there went up a din from beneath the feet of men; and in their midst goodly Achilles arrayed him for battle. +There was a gnashing of his teeth, and his two eyes blazed as it had been a flame of fire, and into his heart there entered grief that might not be borne. Thus in fierce wrath against the Trojans he clad him in the gifts of the god, that Hephaestus had wrought for him with toil. The greaves first he set about his legs: +beautiful they were, and fitted with silver ankle-pieces, and next he did on the corselet about his chest. And about his shoulders he cast the silver-studded sword of bronze, and thereafter grasped the shield great and sturdy, wherefrom went forth afar a gleam as of the moon. +And as when forth ower the sea there appeareth to seamen the gleam of blazing fire, and it burneth high up in the mountains in a lonely steading—but sore against their will the storm-winds bear them over the teeming deep afar from their friends; even so from the shield of Achilles went up a gleam to heaven, from that shield +fair and richly-dight. And he lifted the mighty helm and set it upon his head; and it shone as it were a star—the helm with crest of horse-hair, and around it waved the plumes of gold, that Hephaestus had set thick about the crest. And goodly Achilles made proof of himself in his armour, +whether it fitted him, and his glorious limbs moved free; and it became as it were wings to him, and lifted up the shepherd of the people. + + +And forth from its stand he drew his father's spear, heavy and huge and strong, that none other of the Achaeans could wield, but Achilles alone was skilled to wield it, +even the Pelian spear of ash that Cheiron had given to his dear father from the peak of Pelion, to be for the slaying of warriors. And Automedon and Alcinous set them busily to yoke the horses, and about them they set the fair breast-straps, and cast bits within their jaws, and drew the reins +behind to the jointed car. And Automedon grasped in his hand the bright lash, that fitted it well, and leapt upon the car; and behind him stepped Achilles harnessed for fight, gleaming in his armour like the bright Hyperion. Then terribly he called aloud to the horses of his father: + +Xanthus and Balius, ye far-famed children of Podarge, in some other wise bethink you to bring your charioteer back safe to the host of the Danaans, when we have had our fill of war, and leave ye not him there dead, as ye did Patroclus. + + +Then from beneath the yoke spake to him the horse Xanthus, of the swift-glancing feet; +on a sudden he bowed his head, and all his mane streamed from beneath the yoke-pad beside the yoke, and touched the ground; and the goddess, white-armed Hera, gave him speech: +1 +Aye verily, yet for this time will we save thee, mighty Achilles, albeit the day of doom is nigh thee, nor shall we be the cause thereof, +but a mighty god and overpowering Fate. For it was not through sloth or slackness of ours that the Trojans availed to strip the harness from the shoulders of Patroclus, but one, far the best of gods, even he that fair-haired Leto bare, slew him amid the foremost fighters and gave glory to Hector. +But for us twain, we could run swift as the blast of the West Wind, which, men say, is of all winds the fleetest; nay, it is thine own self that art fated to be slain in fight by a god and a mortal. + + +When he had thus spoken, the Erinyes checked his voice. Then, his heart mightily stirred, spake to him swift-footed Achilles: + +Xanthus, why dost thou prophesy my death? Thou needest not at all. Well know I even of myself that it is my fate to perish here, far from my father dear, and my mother; howbeit even so will I not cease, until I have driven the Trojans to surfeit of war. + + +He spake, and with a cry drave amid the foremost his single-hooved horses. +So by the beaked ships around thee, O son of Peleus, insatiate of fight, the Achaeans arrayed them for battle; and likewise the Trojans over against them on the rising ground of the plain. But Zeus bade Themis summon the gods to the place of gathering from the +brow of many-ribbed Olympus; and she sped everywhither, and bade them come to the house of Zeus. There was no river that came not, save only Oceanus, nor any nymph, of all that haunt the fair copses, the springs that feed the rivers, and the grassy meadows. +And being come to the house of Zeus they sate them down within the polished colonnades which for father Zeus Hephaestus had builded with cunning skill. +Thus were they gathered within the house of Zeus; nor did the Shaker of Earth fail to heed the call of the goddess, but came forth from the sea to join their company; +and he sate him in the midst, and made question concerning the purpose of Zeus: + +Wherefore, thou lord of the bright lightning, hast thou called the gods to the place of gathering? Is it that thou art pondering on somewhat concerning the Trojans and Achaeans? for now is their battle and fighting kindled hard at hand. + + +Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered him, and said: +Thou knowest, O Shaker of Earth, the purpose in my breast, for the which I gathered you hither; I have regard unto them, even though they die. Yet verily, for myself will I abide here sitting in a fold of Olympus, wherefrom I will gaze and make glad my heart; but do ye others all go forth till ye be come among the Trojans and Achaeans, and bear aid to this side or that, even as the mind of each may be. +For if Achilles shall fight alone against the Trojans, not even for a little space will they hold back the swift-footed son of Peleus. Nay, even aforetime were they wont to tremble as they looked upon him, and now when verily his heart is grievously in wrath for his friend, I fear me lest even beyond what is ordained he lay waste the wall. + +So spake the son of Cronos, and roused war unabating. And the gods went their way into the battle, being divided in counsel: Hera gat her to the gathering of the ships, and with her Pallas Athene, and Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, and the helper Hermes, that was beyond all in the cunning of his mind; +and together with these went Hephaestus, exulting in his might, halting, but beneath him his slender legs moved nimbly; but unto the Trojans went Ares, of the flashing helm, and with him Phoebus, of the unshorn locks, and Artemis, the archer, +and Leto and Xanthus and laughter-loving Aphrodite. +Now as long as the gods were afar from the mortal men, even for so long triumphed the Achaeans mightily, seeing Achilles was come forth, albeit he had long kept him aloof from grievous battle; but upon the Trojans came dread trembling on the limbs of every man +in their terror, when they beheld the swift-footed son of Peleus, flaming in his harness, the peer of Ares, the bane of men. But when the Olympians were come into the midst of the throng of men, then up leapt mighty Strife, the rouser of hosts, and Athene cried a1oud,—now would she stand beside the digged trench without the wall, +and now upon the loud-sounding shores would she utter her loud cry. And over against her shouted Ares, dread as a dark whirlwind, calling with shrill tones to the Trojans from the topmost citadel, and now again as he sped by the shore of Simois over Callicolone. + + +Thus did the blessed gods urge on the two hosts to +clash in battle, and amid them made grievous strife to burst forth. Then terribly thundered the father of gods and men from on high; and from beneath did Poseidon cause the vast earth to quake, and the steep crests of the mountains. All the roots of many-fountained Ida were shaken, +and all her peaks, and the city of the Trojans, and the ships of the Achaeans. And seized with fear in the world below was Aidoneus, lord of the shades, and in fear leapt he from his throne and cried aloud, lest above him the earth be cloven by Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, and his abode be made plain to view for mortals and immortals- +the dread and dank abode, wherefor the very gods have loathing: so great was the din that arose when the gods clashed in strife. For against king Poseidon stood Phoebus Apollo with his winged arrows, and against Enyalius the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene; +against Hera stood forth the huntress of the golden arrows, and the echoing chase, even the archer Artemis, sister of the god that smiteth afar; against Leto stood forth the strong helper, Hermes, and against Hephaestus the great, deep-eddying river, that god called Xanthus, and men Scamander. + +Thus gods went forth to meet with gods. But Achilles was fain to meet with Hector, Priam's son, above all others in the throng, for with his blood as with that of none other did his spirit bid him glut Ares, the warrior with tough shield of hide. Howbeit Aeneas did Apollo, rouser of hosts, make to go forth +to face the son of Peleus, and he put into him great might: and he likened his own voice to that of Lycaon, son of Priam. In his likeness spake unto Aeneas the son of Zeus, Apollo: + +Aeneas, counsellor of the Trojans, where be now thy threats, wherewith thou wast wont to declare unto the princes of the Trojans over thy wine, +that thou wouldst do battle man to man against Achilles, son of Peleus? + + +Then Aeneas answered him, and said: + +Son of Priam, why on this wise do thou bid me face in fight the son of Peleus, high of heart, though I be not minded thereto? +Not now for the first time shall I stand forth against swift-footed Achilles; nay, once ere now he drave me with his spear from Ida, when he had come forth against our kine, and laid Lyrnessus waste and Pedasus withal; howbeit Zeus saved me, who roused my strength and made swift my knees. Else had I been slain beneath the hands of Achilles and of Athene, +who ever went before him and set there a light of deliverance, and bade him slay Leleges and Trojans with spear of bronze. Wherefore may it not be that any man face Achilles in fight, for that ever by his side is some god, that wardeth from him ruin. Aye, and of itself his spear flieth straight, and ceaseth not +till it have pierced through the flesh of man. Howbeit were a god to stretch with even hand the issue of war, then not lightly should he vanquish me, nay, not though he vaunt him to be wholly wrought of bronze. + + +Then in answer to him spake the prince Apollo, son of Zeus: + +Nay, warrior, come, pray thou also +to the gods that are for ever; for of thee too men say that thou wast born of Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, while he is sprung from a lesser goddess. For thy mother is daughter of Zeus, and his of the old man of the sea. Nay, bear thou straight against him thy stubborn bronze, nor let him anywise turn thee back with words of contempt and with threatenings. + +So saying he breathed great might into the shepherd of the host, and he strode amid the foremost fighters, harnessed in flaming bronze. Nor was the son of Anchises unseen of white-armed Hera, as he went forth to face the son of Peleus amid the throng of men, but she gathered the gods together, and spake among them, saying: +Consider within your hearts, ye twain, O Poseidon and Athene, how these things are to be. Lo, here is Aeneas, gone forth, harnessed in flaming bronze, to face the son of Peleus, and it is Phoebus Apollo that hath set him on. +Come ye then, let us turn him back forthwith; or else thereafter let one of us stand likewise by Achilles' side, and give him great might, and suffer not the heart in his breast anywise to fail; to the end that he may know that they that love him are the best of the immortals, and those are worthless as wind, that hitherto have warded from the Trojans war and battle. +All we are come down from Olympus to mingle in this battle, that Achilles take no hurt among the Trojans for this days' space; but thereafter shall he suffer whatever Fate spun for him with her thread at his birth, when his mother bare him. But if Achilles learn not this from some voice of the gods, +he shall have dread hereafter when some god shall come against him in battle; for hard are the gods to look upon when they appear in manifest presence. + + +Then Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, answered her: + +Hera, be not thou wroth beyond what is wise; thou needest not at all. I verily were not fain to make gods clash +with gods in strife. Nay, for our part let us rather go apart from the track unto some place of outlook, and sit us there, and war shall be for men. But if so be Ares or Phoebus Apollo shall make beginning of fight, or shall keep Achilles in check and suffer him not to do battle, +then forthwith from us likewise shall the strife of war arise; and right soon, methinks, shall they separate them from the battle and hie them back to Olympus, to the gathering of the other gods, vanquished beneath our hands perforce. + + +So saying, the dark-haired god led the way +to the heaped-up wall of godlike Heracles, the high wall that the Trojans and Pallas Athene had builded for him, to the end that he might flee thither and escape from the monster of the deep, whenso the monster drave him from the seashore to the plain. There Poseidon and the other gods sate them down, +and clothed their shoulders round about with a cloud that might not be rent; and they of the other part sat over against them on the brows of Callicolone, round about thee, O archer Phoebus, and Ares, sacker of cities. +So sat they on either side devising counsels, but to make beginning of grievous war +both sides were loath, albeit Zeus, that sitteth on high, had bidden them. +Howbeit the whole plain was filled with men and horses, and aflame with bronze, and the earth resounded beneath their feet as they rushed together; and two warriors best by far of all came one against the other into the space between the two hosts, eager to do battle, +even Aeneas, Anchises' son, and goodly Achilles. Aeneas first strode forth with threatening mien, his heavy hem nodding above him; his valorous shield he held before his breast, and he brandished a spear of bronze. And on the other side the son of Peleus rushed against him him like a lion, +a ravening lion that men are fain to slay, even a whole folk that be gathered together; and he at the first recking naught of them goeth his way, but when one of the youths swift in battle hath smitten him with a spear-cast, then he gathereth himself open-mouthed, and foam cometh forth about his teeth, and in his heart his valiant spirit groaneth, +and with his tail he lasheth his ribs and his flanks on this side and on that, and rouseth himself to fight, and with glaring eyes he rusheth straight on in his fury, whether he slay some man or himself be slain in the foremost throng; even so was Achilles driven by his fury, +and his lordly spirit to go forth to face great-hearted Aeneas. + + +And when they were come near, as they advanced one against the other, then first unto Aeneas spake swift-footed goodly Achilles: + +Aeneas, wherefore hast thou sallied thus far forth from the throng to stand and face me? Is it that thy heart biddeth thee fight with me +in hope that thou shalt be master of Priam's sovreignty amid the horse-taming Trojans? Nay, but though thou slayest me, not for that shall Priam place his kingship in thy hands, for he hath sons, and withal is sound and nowise flighty of mind. +Or have the Trojans meted out for thee a demesne pre-eminent above all, a fair tract of orchard and of plough-land, that thou mayest possess it, if so be thou slayest me? Hard, methinks, wilt thou find that deed. Aye, for on another day ere now methinks I drave thee before my, spear. Dost thou not remember when thou wast alone and I made thee run from the kine down with swift steps from Ida's hills +in headlong haste? On that day didst thou not once look behind thee in thy flight. Thence thou fleddest forth to Lyrnessus, but I laid it waste, assailing it with the aid of Athene and father Zeus, and the women I led captive and took from them the day of freedom; but thyself thou wast saved by Zeus and the other gods. Howbeit not this day, methinks, shall he save thee, +as thou deemest in thy heart; nay, of myself I bid thee get thee back into the throng and stand not forth to face me, ere yet some evil befall thee; when it is wrought even a fool getteth understanding. + + +Then Aeneas answered him and said: +Son of Peleus, think not with words to afright me, as I were a child, seeing I know well of myself to utter taunts and withal speech that is seemly. We know each other's lineage, and each other's parents, for we have heard the tales told in olden days by mortal men; +but with sight of eyes hast thou never seen my parents nor I thine. Men say that thou art son of peerless Peleus, and that thy mother was fair-tressed Thetis, a daughter of the sea; but for me, I declare thiat I am son of great-hearted Anchises, and my mother is Aphrodite. +Of these shall one pair or the other mourn a dear son this day; for verily not with childish words, I deem, shall we twain thus part one from the other and return from out the battle. Howbeit, if thou wilt, hear this also, that thou mayest know well my lineage, and many there be that know it: +at the first Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, begat Dardanus, and he founded Dardania, for not yet was sacred Ilios builded in the plain to be a city of mortal men, but they still dwelt upon the slopes of many-fountained Ida. And Dardanus in turn begat a son, king Erichthonius, +who became richest of mortal men. Three thousand steeds had he that pastured in the marsh-land; mares were they. rejoicing in their tender foals. Of these as they grazed the North Wind became enamoured, and he likened himself to a dark-maned stallion and covered them; +and they conceived, and bare twelve fillies These, when they bounded over the earth, the giver of grain, would course over the topmost ears of ripened corn and break them not, and whenso they bounded over the broad back of the sea, would course over the topmost breakers of the hoary brine. +And Erichthonius begat Tros to be king among the Trojans, and from Tros again three peerless sons were born, Ilus, and Assaracus, and godlike Ganymedes that was born the fairest of mortal men; wherefore the gods caught him up on high to be cupbearer to Zeus by reason of his beauty, that he might dwell with the immortals. +And Ilus again begat a son, peerless Laomedon, and Laomedon begat Tithonus and Priam and Clytius, and Hicetaon, scion of Ares. And Assaracus begat Capys, and he Anchises; but Anchises begat me and Priam goodly Hector. +This then is the lineage amid the blood wherefrom I avow me sprung. + + +But as for valour, it is Zeus that increaseth it for men or minisheth it, even as himself willeth, seeing he is mightiest of all. But come, no longer let us talk thus like children, +as we twain stand in the midst of the strife of battle. Revilings are there for both of us to utter, revilings full many; a ship of an hundred benches would not bear the load thereof. Glib is the tongue of mortals, and words there be therein many and manifold, and of speech the range is wide on this side and on that. +Whatsoever word thou speakest, such shalt thou also hear. But what need have we twain to bandy strifes and wranglings one with the other like women, that when they have waxed wroth in soul-devouring strife go forth into the midst of the street +and wrangle one against the other with words true and false; for even these wrath biddeth them speak. But from battle, seeing I am eager therefor, shalt thou not by words turn me till we have fought with the bronze man to man; nay, come, let us forthwith make trial each of the other with bronze-tipped spears. + + +He spake, and let drive his mighty spear against the other's dread and wondrous shield, and loud rang the shield about the spear-point. +And the son of Peleus held the shield from him with his stout hand, being seized with dread; for he deemed that the far-shadowing spear of great-hearted Aeneas would lightly pierce it through— +fool that he was, nor knew in his mind and heart that not easy are the glorious gifts of the gods for mortal men to master or that they give place withal. Nor did the mighty spear of wise-hearted Aeneas then break through the shield, for the gold stayed it, the gift of the god. Howbeit through two folds he drave it, yet were there still three, +for five layers had the crook-foot god welded, two of bronze, and two within of tin, and one of gold, in which the spear of ash was stayed. + + +Then Achilles in his turn hurled his far-shadowing spear and smote upon Aeneas' shield that was well-balanced upon every side, +beneath the outermost rim where the bronze ran thinnest, and thinnest was the backing of bull's-hide; and straight through sped the spear of Pelian ash, and the shield rang beneath the blow. And Aeneas cringed and held from him the shield, being seized with fear; and the spear passed over his back and was stayed in the ground +for all its fury, albeit it tore asunder two circles of the sheltering shield. And having escaped the long spear he stood up, and over his eyes measureless grief was shed, and fear came over him for that the spear was planted so nigh. But Achilles drew his sharp sword and leapt upon him furiously, +crying a terrible cry; and Aeneas grasped in his hand a stone—a mighty deed—one that not two mortals could bear, such as men are now; yet lightly did he wield it even alone. Then would Aeneas have smitten him with the stone, as he rushed upon him, either on helm or on the shield that had warded from him woeful destruction, +and the son of Peleus in close combat would with his sword have robbed Aeneas of life, had not Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, been quick to see. And forthwith he spake among the immortal gods, saying: + +Now look you, verily have I grief for great-hearted Aeneas, who anon shall go down to the house of Hades, +slain by the son of Peleus, for that he listened to the bidding of Apollo that smiteth afar—fool that he was! nor will the god in any wise ward from him woeful destruction. But wherefore should he, a guiltless man, suffer woes vainly by reason of sorrows that are not his own?—whereas he ever giveth acceptable gifts to the gods that hold broad heaven. +Nay, come, let us head him forth from out of death, lest the son of Cronos be anywise wroth, if so be Achilles slay him; for it is ordained unto him to escape, that the race of Dardanus perish not without seed and be seen no more—of Dardanus whom the son of Cronos loved above all the children born to him +from mortal women. For at length hath the son of Cronos come to hate the race of Priam; and now verily shall the mighty Aeneas be king among the Trojans, and his sons' sons that shall be born in days to come. + + +Then made answer to him the ox-eyed, queenly Hera: +Shaker of Earth, of thine own self take counsel in thine heart as touching Aeneas, whether thou wilt save him or suffer him to be slain for all his valour by Achilles, Peleus' son. We twain verily, even Pallas Athene and I, +have sworn oaths full many among the immortals never to ward off from the Trojans the day of evil, nay, not when all Troy shall burn in the burning of consuming fire, and the warlike sons of the Achaeans shall be the burners thereof. + + +Now when Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, heard this, he went his way amid the battle and the hurtling of spears, +and came to the place where Aeneas was and glorious Achilles. Forthwith then he shed a mist over the eyes of Achilles, Peleus' son, and the ashen spear, well-shod with bronze, he drew forth from the shield of the great-hearted Aeneas and set it before the feet of Achilles, +but Aeneas he lifted up and swung him on high from off the ground. Over many ranks of warriors and amny of chariots sprang Aeneas, soaring from the hand of the god, and came to the uttermost verge of the furious battle, where the Caucones were arraying them for the fight. Then close to his side came Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, +and he spake, and addressed him with winged words: + +Aeneas, what god is it that thus biddeth thee in blindness of heart do battle man to man with the high-hearted son of Peleus, seeing he is a better man than thou, and therewithal dearer to the immortals? Nay, draw thou back, whensoever thou fallest in with him, lest even beyond thy doom thou enter the house of Hades. But when it shall be that Achilles hath met his death and fate, then take thou courage to fight among the foremost, for there is none other of the Achaeans that shall slay thee. + +So saying he left him there, when he had told him all. Then quickly from Achilles' eyes he scattered the wondrous mist; and he stared hard with his eyes, and mightily moved spake unto his own great-hearted spirit: + +Now look you, verily a great marvel is this that mine eyes behold. +My spear lieth here upon the ground, yet the man may I nowise see at whom I hurled it, eager to slay him. Verily, it seemeth, Aeneas likewise is dear to the immortal gods, albeit I deemed that his boasting was idle and vain. Let him go his way! no heart shall he find to make trial of me again, +seeing that now he is glad to have escaped from death. But come, I will call to the war-loving Danaans and go forth against the other Trojans to make trial of them. + + +He spake, and leapt along the ranks, and called to each man: + +No longer now stand ye afar from the Trojans, ye goodly Achaeans, +but come, let man go forth against man and be eager for the fray. Hard is it for me, how mighty soever I be, to deal with men so many, and to fight them all; not even Ares, for all he is an immortal god, nor Athene could control by dint of toil the jaws of such a fray. +Howbeit so far as I avail with hands and feet and might, in no wise, methiinks, shall I be slack, nay, not a whit; but straight through their line will I go, nor deem I that any of the Trojans will be glad, whosoever shall draw nigh my spear. + + +So spake he, urging them on; and to the Trojans glorious Hector +called with a shout, and declared that he would go forth to face Achilles: + +Ye Trojans, high of heart, fear not the son of Peleus I too with words could fight even the immortals, but with the spear it were hard, for they are mightier far, Neither shall Achilles bring to fulfillment all his words, +but a part thereof will he fulfill, and a part leave incomplete. Against him will I go forth, though his hands be even as fire, though his hands be as fire and his fury as the flashing steel. + + +So spake he, urging them on; and the Trojans with their faces toward the foe lifted their spears on high, and the fury of both sides clashed confusedly, and the battle cry arose. +Then Phoebus Apollo drew nigh to Hector, and spake, saying: + +Hector, no longer do thou anywise stand forth as a champion against Achilles, but in the throng await thou him and from amid the din of conflict, lest so be he smite thee with a cast of his spear or with his sword in close combat. + +' +So spake he, and Hector fell back again into the throng of men, +seized with fear, when he heard the voice of the god as he spoke. +But Achilles leapt among the Trojans, his heart clothed about in might, crying a terrible cry, and first he slew Iphition, the valiant son of Otrynteus, the leader of a great host, whom a Naiad nymph bare to Otrynteus, sacker of cities, +beneath snowy Timolus in the rich land of Hyde. Him, as he rushed straight upon him, goodly Achilles smote with a cast of his spear full upon the head, and his head was wholly choven asunder. And he fell with a thud, and goodly Achilles exulted over him: + +Low thou liest, +son of + Otrynteus, of all men most dread; +here is thy death, albeit thy birth was by the Gygaean lake, where is the demesne of thy fathers, even by Hyllus, that teems with fish, and eddying Hermus. + + +So spake he vauntingly, but darkness enfolded the other's eyes. Him the chariots of the Achaeans tore asunder +with their tires in the forefront of the fray, and over him Demoleon, Antenor's son, a valiant warder of battle, did Achilles pierce in the temple through the helmet with cheek-pieces of bronze. Nor did the bronze helm stay the spear, but through it sped the spear-point and brake asunder the bone; and all the brain +was scattered about within; so stayed he him in his fury. Hippodamas thereafter, as he leapt down from his car and fled before him, he smote upon the back with a thrust of his spear. And as he breathed forth his spirit he gave a bellowing cry, even as a bull that is dragged belloweth, when young men drag him about the altar of the lord of Helice; +for in such doth the Shaker of Earth delight; even so bellowed Hippodamas, as his lordly spirit left his bones. But Achilles with his spear went on after godlike Polydorus, son of Priam. Him would his father nowise suffer to fight, for that among his children he was the youngest born +and was dearest in his eyes; and in swiftness of foot he surpassed all. And lo, now in his folly, making show of his fleetness of foot, he was rushing through the foremost fighters, until he lost his life. Him swift-footed goodly Achilles smote full upon the back with a cast of his spear, as he darted past, even where the golden clasps of the belt +were fastened, and the corselet overlapped; through this straight on its way beside the navel passed the spear-point, and he fell to his knees with a groan and a cloud of darkness enfolded him, and as he sank he clasped his bowels to him with his hands. + + +But when Hector beheld his brother Polydorus, +clasping his bowels in his hand and sinking to earth, down over his eyes a mist was shed, nor might he longer endure to range apart, but strode against Achilles, brandishing his sharp spear, in fashion like a flame. But when Achilles beheld him, even then sprang he up and spake vauntingly: +Lo, nigh is the man, that above all hath stricken me to the heart, for that he slew the comrade I honoured. Not for long shall we any more shrink one from the other along the dykes of war. + + +He said, and with an angry glance from beneath his brows spake unto goodly Hector: + +Draw nigh, that thou mayest the sooner enter the toils of destruction. + +But with no touch of fear, spake to him Hector of the flashing helm: + +Son of Peleus, think not with words to affright me, as I were a child, seeing I know well of myself to utter taunts and withal speech that is seemly. I know that thou art valiant, and I am weaker far than thou. +Yet these things verily lie on the knees of the gods, whether I,albeit the weaker, shall rob thee of life with a cast of my spear; for my missile too hath been found keen ere now. + + +He spake, and poised his spear and hurled it, but Athene with a breath turned it back from glorious Achilles, +breathing full lightly; and it came back to goodly Hector, and fell there before his feet. But Achilles leapt upon him furiously, fain to slay him, crying a terrible cry. But Apollo snatched up Hector full easily, as a god may, and shrouded him in thick mist. +Thrice then did swift-footed, goodly Achilles heap upon him with spear of bronze, and thrice he smote the thick mist. But when for the fourth time he rushed upon him like a god, then with a terrible cry he spake to him winged words: + +Now again, thou dog, art thou escaped from death, though verily +thy bane came nigh thee; but once more hath Phoebus Apollo saved thee, to whom of a surety thou must make prayer, whenso thou goest amid the hurtling of spears. Verily I will yet make an end of thee, when I meet thee hereafter, if so be any god is helper to me likewise. But now will I make after others, whomsoever I may light upon. + +So saying he smote Dryops full upon the neck with a thrust of his spear, and he fell down before his feet. But he left him there, and stayed from fight Demuchus, Philetor's son, a valiant man and tall, striking him upon the knee with a cast of his spear; and thereafter he smote him with his great sword, and took away his life. +Then setting upon Laogonus and Dardanus, sons twain of Bias, he thrust them both from their chariot to the ground, smiting the one with a cast of his spear and the other with his sword in close fight. Then Tros, Alastor's son—he came to clasp his knees, if so be he would spare him, by taking him captive, and let him go alive, +and slay him not, having pity on one of like age, fool that he was! nor knew, he this, that with him was to be no hearkening; for nowise soft of heart or gentle of mind was the man, but exceeding fierce— he sought to clasp Achilles' knees with his hands, fain to make his prayer; but he smote him upon the liver with his sword, and forth the liver slipped, +and the dark blood welling forth therefrom filled his bosom; and darkness enfolded his eyes, as he swooned. Then with his spear Achilles drew nigh unto Mulius and smote him upon the ear, and clean through the other ear passed the spear-point of bronze. Then smote he Agenor's son Echeclus +full upon the head with his hilted sword, and all the blade grew warm with his blood, and down over his eyes came dark death and mighty fate. Thereafter Deucalion, at the point where the sinews of the elbow join, even there pierced he him through the arm +with spear-point of bronze; and he abode his oncoming with arm weighed down, beholding death before him; but Achilles, smiting him with the sword upon his neck, hurled afar his head and therewithal his helmet; and the marrow spurted forth from the spine, and the corpse lay stretched upon the ground. Then went he on after the peerless son of Peires, +even Rhigmus, that had come from deep-soiled Thrace. Him he smote in the middle with a cast of his spear, and the bronze was fixed in his belly; and he fell forth from out his car. And Areithous, his squire, as he was turning round the horses, did Achilles pierce in the back with his sharp spear, and thrust him from the car; and the horses ran wild. + +As through the deep glens of a parched mountainside rageth wondrous-blazing fire, and the deep forest burneth, and the wind as it driveth it on whirleth the flame everywhither, even so raged he everywhither with his spear, like some god, ever pressing hard upon them that he slew; and the black earth ran with blood. +And as a man yoketh bulls broad of brow to tread white barley in a well-ordered threshing-floor, and quickly is the grain trodden out beneath the feet of the loud-bellowing bulls; even so beneath great-souled Achilles his single-hooved horses trampled alike on the dead and on the shields; and with blood +was all the axle sprinkled beneath, and the rims round about the car, for drops smote upon them from the horses' hooves and from the tires. But the son of Peleus pressed on to win him glory, and with gore were his invincible hands bespattered. +But when they were now come to the ford of the fair-flowing river, even eddying Xanthus that immortal Zeus begat, there Achilles cleft them asunder, and the one part he drave to the plain toward the city, even where the Achaeans were fleeing in rout +the day before, what time glorious Hector was raging—thitherward poured forth some in rout, and Hera spread before them a thick mist to hinder them; but the half of them were pent into the deep-flowing river with its silver eddies. Therein they flung themselves with a great din, and the sheer-falling streams resounded, +and the banks round about rang loudly; and with noise of shouting swam they this way and that, whirled about in the eddies. And as when beneath the onrush of fire locusts take wing to flee unto a river, and the unwearied fire burneth them with its sudden oncoming, and they shrink down into the water; +even so before Achilles was the sounding stream of deep-eddying Xanthus filled confusedly with chariots and with men. +But the Zeus-begotten left there his spear upon the bank, leaning against the tamarisk bushes, and himself leapt in like a god with naught but his sword; and grim was the work he purposed in his heart, and turning him this way +and that he smote and smote; and from them uprose hideous groaning as they were smitten with the sword, and the water grew red with blood. And as before a dolphin, huge of maw, other fishes flee and fill the nooks of some harbour of fair anchorage in their terror, for greedily doth he devour whatsoever one he catcheth; +even so cowered the Trojans in the streams of the dread river beneath the steep banks. And he, when his hands grew weary of slaying, chose twelve youths alive from out the river as blood-price for dead Patroclus, son of Menoetius. These led he forth dazed like fawns, +and bound their hands behind them with shapely thongs, which they themselves wore about their pliant tunics, and gave them to his comrades to lead to the hollow ships. Then himself he sprang back again, full eager to slay. + + +There met he a son of Dardanian Priam +fleeing forth from the river, even Lycaon, whom on a time he had himself taken and brought sore against his will, from his father's orchard being come forth in the night; he was cutting with the sharp bronze the young shoots of a wild fig-tree, to be the rims of a chariot; but upon him, an unlooked-for bane, came goodly Achilles. +For that time had he sold him into well-built Lemnos, bearing him thither on his ships, and the son of Jason had given a price for him; but from thence a guest-friend had ransomed him— and a great price he gave—even Eetion of Imbros, and had sent him unto goodly Arisbe; whence he had fled forth secretly and come to the house of his fathers. +For eleven days' space had he joy amid his friends, being come forth from Lemnos; but on the twelfth a god cast him once more into the hands of Achilles, who was to send him to the house of Hades, loath though he was to go. When the swift-footed, goodly Achilles was ware of him, +all unarmed, without helm or shield, nor had he a spear, but had thrown all these from him to the ground; for the sweat vexed him as he sought to flee from out the river, and weariness overmastered his knees beneath him; then, mightily moved, Achilles spake unto his own great-hearted spirit: + +Now look you, verily a great marvel is this that mine eyes behold! +In good sooth the great-hearted Trojans that I have slain will rise up again from beneath the murky darkness, seeing this man is thus come back and hath escaped the pitiless day of doom, albeit he was sold into sacred Lemnos; neither hath the deep of the grey sea stayed him, that holdeth back full many against their will. +Nay, but come, of the point of our spear also shall he taste, that I may see and know in heart whether in like manner he will come back even from beneath, or whether the life-giving earth will hold him fast, she that holdeth even him that is strong. + + +So pondered he, and abode; but the other drew nigh him, dazed, +eager to touch his knees, and exceeding fain of heart was he to escape from evil death and black fate. Then goodly Achilles lifted on high his long spear, eager to smite him, but Lycaon stooped and ran thereunder, and clasped his knees; and the spear passed over his back and was stayed in the ground, +albeit fain to glut itself with the flesh of man. Then Lycaon besought him, with the one hand clasping his knees while with the other he held the sharp spear, and would not let it go; and he spake and addressed him with winged words: + +I beseech thee by thy knees, Achilles, and do thou respect me and have pity; in thine eyes, O thou +nurtured of Zeus, am I even as a sacred suppliant, for at thy table first did I eat of the grain of Demeter on the day when thou didst take me captive in the well-ordered orchard, and didst lead me afar from father and from friends, and sell me into sacred Lemnos; and I fetched thee the price of an hundred oxen. +Lo, now have I bought my freedom by paying thrice as much, and this is my twelfth morn since I came to Ilios, after many sufferings; and now again has deadly fate put me in thy hands; surely it must be that I am hated of father Zeus, seeing he hath given me unto thee again; +and to a brief span of life did my mother bear me, even Laothoe, daughter of the old man Altes,—Altes that is lord over the war-loving Leleges, holding steep Pedasus on the Satnioeis. His daughter Priam had to wife, and therewithal many another, and of her we twain were born, and thou wilt butcher us both. +Him thou didst lay low amid the foremost foot-men, even godlike Polydorus, when thou hadst smitten him with a cast of thy sharp spear, and now even here shall evil come upon me; for I deem not that I shall escape thy hands, seeing a god hath brought me nigh thee. Yet another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart: +slay me not; since I am not sprung from the same womb as Hector, who slew thy comrade the kindly and valiant. + + +So spake to him the glorious son of Priam with words of entreaty, but all ungentle was the voice he heard: + +Fool, tender not ransom to me, neither make harangue. +Until Patroclus met his day of fate, even till then was it more pleasing to me to spare the Trojans, and full many I took alive and sold oversea; but now is there not one that shall escape death, whomsoever before the walls of Ilios God shall deliver into my hands— +aye, not one among all the Trojans, and least of all among the sons of Priam. Nay, friend, do thou too die; why lamentest thou thus? Patroclus also died, who was better far than thou. And seest thou not what manner of man am I, how comely and how tall? A good man was my father, and a goddess the mother that bare me; yet over me too hang death and mighty fate. +There shall come a dawn or eve or mid-day, when my life too shall some man take in battle, whether he smite me with cast of the spear, or with an arrow from the string. + + +So spake he, and the other's knees were loosened where he was and his heart was melted. +The spear he let go, but crouched with both hands outstretched. But Achilles drew his sharp sword and smote him upon the collar-bone beside the neck, and all the two-edged sword sank in; and prone upon the earth he lay outstretched, and the dark blood flowed forth and wetted the ground. +Him then Achilles seized by the foot and flung into the river to go his way, and vaunting over him he spake winged words: + +Lie there now among the fishes that shall lick the blood from thy wound, nor reck aught of thee, +1 + neither shall thy mother lay thee on a bier and make lament; +nay, eddying Scamander shall bear thee into the broad gulf of the sea. Many a fish as he leapeth amid the waves, shall dart up beneath the black ripple to eat the white fat of Lycaon. So perish ye, till we be come to the city of sacred Ilios, ye in flight, and I making havoc in your rear. +Not even the fair-flowing river with his silver eddies shall aught avail you, albeit to him, I ween, ye have long time been wont to sacrifice bulls full many, and to cast single-hooved horses while yet they lived. +1 + into his eddies. Howbeit even so shall ye perish by an evil fate till ye have all paid the price for the slaying of Patroclus and for the woe of the Achaeans, +whom by the swift ships ye slew while I tarried afar. + + +So spake he, and the river waxed the more wroth at heart, and pondered in mind how he should stay goodly Achilles from his labour and ward off ruin from the Trojans. Meanwhile the son of Peleus bearing his far-shadowing spear leapt, eager to slay him, +upon Asteropaeus, son of Pelegon, that was begotten of wide-flowing Axius and Periboea, eldest of the daughters of Acessamenus; for with her lay the deep-eddying River. Upon him rushed Achilles, and Asteropaeus +stood forth from the river to face him, holding two spears; and courage was set in his heart by Xanthus, being wroth because of the youths slain in battle, of whom Achilles was making havoc along the stream and had no pity. But when they were come near, as they advanced one against the other, then finst unto Asteropaeus spake swift-footed, goodly Achilles: +Who among men art thou, and from whence, that thou darest come forth against me? Unhappy are they whose children face my might. + + +Then spake unto him the glorious son of Pelegon: + +Great-souled son of Peleus, wherefore enquirest thou of my lineage? I come from deep-soiled Paeonia, a land afar, +leading the Paeonians with their long spears, and this is now my eleventh morn, since I came to Ilios. But my lineage is from wide-flowing Axius—Axius, the water whereof flows the fairest over the face of the earth—who begat Pelegon famed for his spear, and he, men say, +was my father. Now let us do battle, glorious Achilles. + + +So spake he threatening, but goodly Achilles raised on high the spear of Pelian ash; howbeit the warrior Asteropaeus hurled with both spears at once, for he was one that could use both hands alike. With the one spear he smote the shield, +but it brake not through, for the gold stayed it, the gift of the god and with the other he smote the right forearm of Achilles a grazing blow, and the black blood gushed forth; but the spear-point passed above him and fixed itself in the earth, fain to glut itself with flesh. Then Achilles in his turn hurled +at Asteropaeus his straight-flying spear of ash, eager to slay him but missed the man and struck the high bank and up to half its length he fixed in the bank the spear of ash. But the son of Peleus, drawing his sharp sword from beside his thigh, leapt upon him furiously, +and the other availed not to draw in his stout hand the ashen spear of Achilles forth from out the bank. Thrice he made it quiver in his eagerness to draw it, and thrice he gave up his effort; but the fourth time his heart was fain to bend and break the ashen spear of the son of Aeacus; howbeit ere that might be Achilles drew nigh and robbed him of life with his sword. +In the belly he smote him beside the navel, and forth upon the ground gushed all his bowels, and darkness enfolded his eyes as he lay gasping. And Achilles leapt upon his breast and despoiled him of his arms, and exulted saying: + +Lie as thou art! Hard is it +to strive with the children of the mighty son of Cronos, albeit for one begotten of a River. Thou verily declarest that thy birth is from the wide-flowing River, whereas I avow me to be of the lineage of great Zeus. The father that begat me is one that is lord among the many Myrmidons, even Peleus, son of Aeacus; and Aeacus was begotten of Zeus. +Wherefore as Zeus is mightier than rivers that murmur seaward, so mightier too is the seed of Zeus than the seed of a river. For lo, hard beside thee is a great River, if so be he can avail thee aught; but it may not be that one should fight with Zeus the son of Cronos. With him doth not even king Achelous vie, +nor the great might of deep-flowing Ocean, from whom all rivers flow and every sea, and all the springs and deep wells; howbeit even he hath fear of the lightning of great Zeus, and his dread thunder, whenso it crasheth from heaven. + +He spake, and drew forth from the bank his spear of bronze, and left Asteropaeus where he was, when he had robbed him of his life, lying in the sands; and the dark water wetted him. With him then the eels and fishes dealt, plucking and tearing the fat about his kidneys; +but Achilles went his way after the Paeonians, lords of chariots, who were still huddled in rout along the eddying river, when they saw their best man mightily vanquished in the fierce conflict beneath the hands and sword of the son of Peleus. There slew he Thersilochus and Mydon and Astypylus +and Mnesus and Thrasius and Aenius and Ophelestes; and yet more of the Paeonians would swift Achilles have slain, had not the deep-eddying River waxed wroth and called to him in the semblance of a man, sending forth a voice from out the deep eddy: + +O Achilles, beyond men art thou in might, and beyond men doest deeds of evil; +for ever do the very gods give thee aid. If so be the son of Cronos hath granted thee to slay all the men of Troy, forth out of my stream at least do thou drive them, and work thy direful work on the plain. Lo, full are my lovely streams with dead men, nor can I anywise avail to pour my waters forth into the bright sea, +being choked with dead, while thou ever slayest ruthlessly. Nay, come, let be; amazement holds me, thou leader of hosts. + + +Then swift-footed Achilles answered him, saying: + +Thus shall it be, Scamander, nurtured of Zeus, even as thou biddest. Howbeit the proud Trojan will I not cease to slay +until I have pent them in their city, and have made trial of Hector, man to man, whether he shall slay me or I him. + + +So saying he leapt upon the Trojans like a god. Then unto Apollo spake the deep-eddying River: + +Out upon it, thou lord of the silver bow, child of Zeus, thou verily hast not kept the commandment +of the son of Cronos, who straitly charged thee to stand by the side of the Trojans and to succour them, until the late-setting star of even shall have come forth and darkened the deep-soiled earth. + + +He spake, and Achilles, famed for his spear, sprang from the bank and leapt into his midst; but the River rushed upon him with surging flood, and roused all his streams tumultuously, and swept along the many dead +that lay thick within his bed, slain by Achilles; these lie cast forth to the land, bellowing the while like a bull, and the living he saved under his fair streams, hiding them in eddies deep and wide. +In terrible wise about Achilles towered the tumultuous wave, and the stream as it beat upon his shield thrust him backward, nor might he avail to stand firm upon his feet. Then grasped he an elm, shapely and tall, but it fell uprooted and tore away all the bank, and stretched over the fair streams +with its thick branches, and dammed the River himself, falling all within him; but Achilles, springing forth from the eddy hasted to fly with swift feet over the plain, for he was seized with fear. Howbeit the great god ceased not, but rushed upon him with dark-crested wave, that he might stay +goodly Achilles from his labour, and ward off ruin from the Trojans. But the son of Peleus rushed back as far as a spear-cast with the swoop of a black eagle, the mighty hunter, that is alike the strongest and swiftest of winged things; like him he darted, and upon his breast +the bronze rang terribly, while he swerved from beneath the flood and fled ever onward, and the River followed after, flowing with a mighty roar. As when a man that guideth its flow leadeth from a dusky spring a stream of water amid his plants and garden-lots a mattock in his hands and cleareth away the dams from the channel— +and as it floweth all the pebbles beneath are swept along therewith, and it glideth swiftly onward with murmuring sound down a sloping place and outstrippeth even him that guideth it;—even thus did the flood of the River +ever overtake Achilles for all he was fleet of foot; for the gods are mightier than men. And oft as swift-footed, goodly Achilles strove to make stand against him and to learn if all the immortals that hold broad heaven were driving him in rout, so often would the great flood of the heaven-fed River beat upon his shoulders from above; and he would spring on high with his feet +in vexation of spirit, and the River was ever tiring his knees with its violent flow beneath, and was snatching away the ground from under his feet. + + +Then the son of Peleus uttered a bitter cry, with a look at the broad heaven: + +Father Zeus, how is it that no one of the gods taketh it upon him in my pitiless plight to save me from out the River! thereafter let come upon me what may. +None other of the heavenly gods do I blame so much, but only my dear mother, that beguiled me with false words, saying that beneath the wall of the mail-clad Trojans I should perish by the swift missiles of Apollo. Would that Hector had slain me, the best of the men bred here; +then had a brave man been the slayer, and a brave man had he slain. But now by a miserable death was it appointed me to be cut off, pent in the great river, like a swine-herd boy whom a torrent sweepeth away as he maketh essay to cross it in winter. + + +So spake he, and forthwith Poseidon and Pallas Athene +drew nigh and stood by his side, being likened in form to mortal men, and they clasped his hand in theirs and pledged him in words. And among them Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, was first to speak: + +Son of Peleus, tremble not thou overmuch, neither be anywise afraid, such helpers twain are we from the gods— +and Zeus approveth thereof —even I and Pallas Athene. Therefore is it not thy doom to be vanquished by a river; nay, he shall soon give respite, and thou of thyself shalt know it. But we will give thee wise counsel, if so be thou wilt hearken. Make not thine hands to cease from evil battle +until within the famed walls of Ilios thou hast pent the Trojan host, whosoever escapeth. But for thyself, when thou hast bereft Hector of life, come thou back to the ships; lo, we grant thee to win glory. + + +When the twain had thus spoken, they departed to the immortals, but he went on +toward the plain, or mightily did the bidding of the gods arouse him; and the whole plain was filled with a flood of water, and many goodly arms and corpses of youths slain in battle were floating there. But on high leapt his knees, as he rushed straight on against the flood, nor might the wide-flowing River stay him; for Athene put in him great strength. +Nor yet would Scamander abate his fury, but was even more wroth against the son of Peleus, and raising himself on high he made the surge of his flood into a crest, and he called with a shout to Simois: + +Dear brother, the might of this man let us stay, though it need the two of us, seeing presently he will lay waste the great city of king Priam, +neither will the Trojans abide him in battle. Nay, bear thou aid with speed, and fill thy streams with water from thy springs, and arouse all thy torrents; raise thou a great wave, and stir thou a mighty din of tree-trunks and stones, that we may check this fierce man +that now prevaileth, and is minded to vie even with the gods. For I deem that his strength shall naught avail him, neither anywise his comeliness, nor yet that goodly armour, which, I ween, deep beneath the mere shall lie covered over with slime; and himself will I enwrap in sands and shed over him great store of shingle +past all measuring; nor shall the Achaeans know where to gather his bones, with such a depth of silt shall I enshroud him. Even here shall be his sepulchre, nor shall he have need of a heaped-up mound, when the Achaeans make his funeral. + + +He spake, and rushed tumultuously upon Achilles, raging on high +and seething with foam and blood and dead men. And the dark flood of the heaven-fed River rose towering above him, and was at point to overwhelm the son of Peleus. But Hera called aloud, seized with fear for Achilles, lest the great deep-eddying River should sweep him away. +And forthwith she spake unto Hephaestus, her dear son: + +Rouse thee, Crook-foot, my child! for it was against thee that we deemed eddying Xanthus to be matched in fight. +1 + Nay, bear thou aid with speed, and put forth thy flames unstintedly. +But I will hasten and rouse from the sea a fierce blast of the West Wind and the white South, that shall utterly consume the dead Trojans and their battle gear, ever driving on the evil flame; and do thou along the banks of Xanthus burn up his trees, and beset him about with fire, nor let him anywise turn thee back with soft words or with threatenings; +neither stay thou thy fury, save only when I call to thee with a shout; then do thou stay thy unwearied fire. + + +So spake she, and Hephaestus made ready wondrous-blazing fire. First on the plain was the fire kindled, and burned the dead, the many dead that lay thick therein, slain by Achilles; +and all the plain was parched, and the bright water was stayed. And as when in harvest-time the North Wind quickly parcheth again a freshly-watered orchard, and glad is he that tilleth it; so was the whole plain parched, and the dead he utterly consumed; and then against the River he turned his gleaming flame. +Burned were the elms and the willows and the tamarisks, burned the lotus and the rushes and the galingale, that round the fair streams of the river grew abundantly; tormented were the eels and the fishes in the eddies, and in the fair streams they plunged this way and that, +sore distressed by the blast of Hephaestus of many wiles. Burned too was the mighty River, and he spake and addressed the god: + +Hephaestus, there is none of the gods that can vie with thee, nor will I fight thee, ablaze with fire as thou art. Cease thou from strife,, and as touching the Trojans, let goodly Achilles forthwith +drive them forth from out their city; what part have I in strife or in bearing aid? + + +So spake he, burning the while with fire, and his fair streams were seething. And as a cauldron boileth within, when the fierce flame setteth upon it, while it melteth the lard of a fatted hog, and it bubbleth in every part, and dry faggots are set thereunder; +so burned in fire his fair streams, and the water boiled; nor had he any mind to flow further onward, but was stayed; for the blast of the might of wise-hearted Hephaestus distressed him. Then with instant prayer he spake winged words unto Hera: + +Hera, wherefore hath thy son beset my stream to afflict it +beyond all others? I verily am not so much at fault in thine eyes, as are all those others that are helpers of the Trojans. Howbeit I will refrain me, if so thou biddest, and let him also refrain. And I will furthermore swear this oath, never to ward off from the Trojans the day of evil, +nay, not when all Troy shall burn with the burning of consuming fire, and the warlike sons of the Achaeans shall be the burners thereof. + + +But when the goddess, white-armed Hera, heard this plea, forthwith she spake unto Hephaestus, her dear son: + +Hephaestus, withhold thee, my glorious son; it is nowise seemly +thus to smite an immortal god for mortals' sake. + + +So spake she, and Hephaestus quenched his wondrous-blazing fire, and once more in the fair river-bed the flood rushed down. +But when the fury of Xanthus was quelled, the twain thereafter ceased, for Hera stayed them, albeit she was wroth; +but upon the other gods fell strife heavy and grievous, and in diverse ways the spirit in their breasts was blown. Together then they clashed with a mighty din and the wide earth rang, and round about great heaven pealed as with a trumpet. And Zeus heard it where he sat upon Olympus, and the heart within him laughed aloud +in joy as he beheld the gods joining in strife. Then no more held they long aloof, for Ares, piercer of shields, began the fray, and first leapt upon Athene, brazen spear in hand, and spake a word of reviling: + +Wherefore now again, thou dog-fly, +art thou making gods to clash with gods in strife, in the fierceness +1 + of thy daring, as thy proud spirit sets thee on? Rememberest thou not what time thou movedst Diomedes, Tydeus' son, to wound me, and thyself in the sight of all didst grasp the spear and let drive straight at me, and didst rend my fair flesh? Therefore shalt thou now methinks, pay the full price of all that thou hast wrought. + +So saying he smote upon her tasselled aegis—the awful aegis against which not even the lightning of Zeus can prevail—thereon blood-stained Ares smote with his long spear. But she gave ground, and seized with her stout hand a stone that lay upon the plain, black and jagged and great, +that men of former days had set to be the boundary mark of a field. Therewith she smote furious Ares on the neck, and loosed his limbs. Over seven roods he stretched in his fall, and befouled his hair with dust, and about him his armour clanged. But Pallas Athene broke into a laugh, and vaunting over him she spake winged words: +Fool, not even yet hast thou learned how much mightier than thou I avow me to be, that thou matchest thy strength with mine. On this wise shalt thou satisfy to the full the Avengers invoked of thy mother, who in her wrath deviseth evil against thee, for that thou hast deserted the Achaeans and bearest aid to the overweening Trojans. + +When she had thus spoken, she turned from Ares her bright eyes. Him then the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite, took by the hand, and sought to lead away, as he uttered many a moan, and hardly could he gather back to him his spirit. But when the goddess, white-armed Hera, was ware of her, forthwith she spake winged words to Athene: +Out upon it, thou child of Zeus that beareth the aegis, unwearied one, lo, there again the dog-fly is leading Ares, the bane of mortals, forth from the fury of war amid the throng; nay, have after her. + + +So spake she, and Athene sped in pursuit, glad at heart, and rushing upon her she smote Aphrodite on the breast with her stout hand; +and her knees were loosened where she stood, and her heart melted. So the twain lay upon the bounteous earth, and vaunting over them Athene spake winged words: + +In such plight let all now be that are aiders of the Trojans when they fight against the mail-clad Argives, +and on this wise bold and stalwart, even as Aphrodite came to bear aid to Ares, and braved my might. Then long ere this should we have ceased from war, having sacked Ilios, that well-peopled city. + + +So spake she, and the goddess, white-armed Hera smiled thereat. +But unto Apollo spake the lord Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth: + +Phoebus, wherefore do we twain stand aloof? It beseemeth not, seeing others have begun. Nay, it were the more shameful, if without fighting we should fare back to Olympus, to the house of Zeus with threshold of bronze. Begin, since thou art the younger; +it were not meet for me, seeing I am the elder-born and know the more. Fool, how witless is the heart thou hast! Neither rememberest thou all the woes that we twain alone of all the gods endured at Ilios, what time we came +at the bidding of Zeus and served the lordly Laomedon for a year's space at a fixed wage, and he was our taskmaster and laid on us his commands. I verily built for the Trojans round about their city a wall, wide and exceeding fair, that the city might never be broken; and thou, Phoebus, didst herd the sleek kine of shambling gait amid the spurs of wooded Ida, the many-ridged. +But when at length the glad seasons were bringing to its end the term of our hire, then did dread Laomedon defraud us twain of all hire, and send us away with a threatening word. He threatened that he would bind together our feet and our hands above, and would sell us into isles that lie afar. +Aye, and he made as if he would lop off with the bronze the ears of us both. So we twain fared aback with angry hearts, wroth for the hire he promised but gave us not. It is to his folk now that thou showest favour, neither seekest thou with us that the overweening Trojans may perish miserably +in utter ruin with their children and their honoured wives. + + +Then spake unto him lord Apollo, that worketh afar: + +Shaker of Earth, as nowise sound of mind wouldest thou count me, if I should war with thee for the sake of mortals, pitiful creatures, that like unto leaves +are now full of flaming life, eating the fruit of the field, and now again pine away and perish. Nay, with speed let us cease from strife, and let them do battle by themselves. + + +So saying he turned him back, for he had shame to deal in blows with his father's brother. +But his sister railed at him hotly, even the queen of the wild beasts, Artemis of the wild wood, and spake a word of reviling: + +Lo, thou fleest, thou god that workest afar, and to Poseidon hast thou utterly yielded the victory, and given him glory for naught! Fool, why bearest thou a bow thus worthless as wind? +Let me no more hear thee in the halls of our father boasting as of old among the immortal gods that thou wouldest do battle in open combat with Poseidon. + + +So spake she, but Apollo, that worketh afar, answered her not. Howbeit the revered wife of Zeus waxed wroth, and chid the archer queen with words of reviling: +How now art thou fain, thou bold and shameless thing, to stand forth against me? No easy foe I tell thee, am I, that thou shouldst vie with me in might, albeit thou bearest the bow, since it was against women that Zeus made thee a lion, and granted thee to slay whomsoever of them thou wilt. +In good sooth it is better on the mountains to be slaying beasts and wild deer than to fight amain with those mightier than thou. Howbeit if thou wilt, learn thou of war, that thou mayest know full well how much mightier am I, seeing thou matchest thy strength with mine. + + +Therewith she caught both the other's hands by the wrist +with her left hand, and with her right took the bow and its gear from her shoulders, and with these self-same weapons, smiling the while, she beat her about the ears, as she turned this way and that; and the swift arrows fell from out the quiver. Then weeping the goddess fled from before her even as a dove that from before a falcon flieth into a hollow rock, +a cleft—nor is it her lot to be taken; even so fled Artemis weeping, and left her bow and arrows where they lay. But unto Leto spake the messenger Argeiphontes: + +Leto, it is not I that will anywise fight with thee; a hard thing were it to bandy blows with the wives of Zeus, the cloud-gatherer; +nay, with a right ready heart boast thou among the immortal gods that thou didst vanquish me with thy great might. + + +So spake he, and Leto gathered up the curved bow and the arrows that had fallen hither and thither amid the whirl of dust. She then, when she had taken her daughter's bow and arrows, went back; +but the maiden came to Olympus, to the house of Zeus with threshold of bronze, and sat down weeping upon her father's knees, while about her the fragrant robe quivered; and her father, the son of Cronos, clasped her to him, and asked of her, laughing gently: + +Who now of the sons of heaven, dear child, hath entreated thee +thus wantonly as though thou wert working some evil before the face of all? + + +Then answered him the fair-crowned huntress of the echoing chase: + +Thy wife it was that buffeted me, father, even white-armed Hera, from whom strife and contention have been made fast upon the immortals. + + +On this wise spake they one to the other; +but Phoebus Apollo entered into sacred Ilios, for he was troubled for the wall of the well-builded city, lest the Danaans beyond what was ordained should lay it waste on that day. But the other gods that are for ever went unto Olympus, some of them in wrath and some exulting greatly, +and they sate them down beside the Father, the lord of the dark clouds. But Achilles was still slaying alike the Trojans themselves and their single-hooved horses. And as when smoke riseth and reacheth the wide heaven from a city that burneth, and the wrath of the gods driveth it on—it causeth toil to all and upon many doth it let loose woes— +even so caused Achilles toil and woes for the Trojans. +And the old man Priam stood upon the heaven-built wall, and was ware of monstrous Achilles, and how before him the Trojans were being driven in headlong rout; and help there was none. Then with a groan he gat him down to the ground from the wall, +calling the while to the glorious keepers of the gate along the wall: + +Wide open hold ye the gates with your hands until the folk shall come to the city in their rout, for lo, here at hand is Achilles, as he driveth them on; now methinks shall there be sorry work. But whenso they have found respite, being gathered within the wall, +then close ye again the double doors, close fitted; for I am adread lest yon baneful man leap within the wall. + + +So spake he, and they undid the gates and thrust back the bars; and the gates being flung wide wrought deliverance. But Apollo leapt forth to face Achilles, that so he might ward off ruin from the Trojans. +And they, the while, were fleeing straight for the city and the high wall, parched with thirst, and begrimed with dust from the plain, while Achilles pressed upon them furiously with his spear; for fierce madness ever possessed his heart, and he was eager to win him glory. +Then would the sons of the Achaeans have taken high-gated Troy, +had not Phoebus Apollo aroused goodly Agenor, Antenor's son, a peerless warrior and a stalwart. In his heart he put courage, and himself stood by his side, that he might ward from him the heavy hands of death; against the oak +1 + he leaned, and he was enfolded in deep mist. +So when Agenor was ware of Achilles, sacker of cities, he halted, and many things did his heart darkly ponder as he abode; and mightily moved he spake unto his own great-hearted spirit: + +Ah, woe is me; if I flee before mighty Achilles, there where the rest are being driven in rout, +even so shall he overtake and butcher me in my cowardice. But what if I leave these to be driven before Achilles, son of Peleus, and with my feet flee from the wall elsewhither, toward the Ilean plain, until I be come to the glens and the spurs of Ida, and hide me in the thickets? +Then at even, when I have bathed me in the river and cooled me of my sweat, I might get me back to Ilios. But why doth my heart thus hold converse with me? Let it not be that he mark me as I turn away from the city toward the plain, and darting after me overtake me by his fleetness of foot. +Then will it no more be possible to escape death and the fates, for exceeding mighty is he above all mortal men. What then if in front of the city I go forth to meet him? Even his flesh too, I ween, may be pierced with the sharp bronze, and in him is but one life, and mortal do men deem him +to be; howbeit Zeus, son of Cronos, giveth him glory. + + +So saying he gathered himself together to abide Achilles' oncoming, and within him his valiant heart was fain to war and to do battle. Even as a pard goeth forth from a deep thicket before the face of a huntsman, +neither is anywise afraid at heart, nor fleeth when she heareth the baying of the hounds; for though the man be beforehand with her and smite her with thrust or with dart, yet even pierced through with the spear she ceaseth not from her fury until she grapple with him or be slain; even so lordly Antenor's son, goodly Agenor, +refused to flee till he should make trial of Achilles, but held before him his shield that was well-balanced upon every side, and aimed at Achilles with his spear, and shouted aloud: + +Verily, I ween, thou hopest in thy heart, glorious Achilles, +on this day to sack the city of the lordly Trojans. Thou fool! in sooth many be the woes that shall yet be wrought because of her. Within her are we, many men and valiant, that in front of our dear parents and wives and sons guard Ilios; nay, it is thou that shalt here meet thy doom, for all thou art so dread and so bold a man of war. + +He spake, and hurled the sharp spear from his heavy hand, and smote him on the shin below the knee, and missed him not; and the greave of new-wrought tin rang terribly upon him; but back from him it smote leapt the bronze, and pierced not through, for the gift of the god stayed it. +And the son of Peleus in his turn set upon godlike Agenor; howbeit Apollo suffered him not to win glory, but snatched away Agenor, and shrouded him in thick mist, and sent him forth from the war to go his way in peace. +But Apollo by craft kept the son of Peleus away from the folk, for likened in all things to Agenor's self the god that worketh afar took his stand before his feet; and Achilles rushed upon him swiftly to pursue him. And while he pursued him over the wheat-bearing plain, turning him toward the river, deep-eddying Scamander, as he by but little outran him—for by craft did Apollo beguile him, +that he ever hoped to overtake him in his running—meanwhile the rest of the Trojans that were fleeing in rout came crowding gladly toward the city, and the town was filled with the throng of them. Neither dared they longer to await one another outside the city and wall, and to know who perchance was escaped and +who had been slain in the fight; but with eager haste they poured into the city, whomsoever of them his feet and knees might save. +So they throughout the city, huddled in rout like fawns, were cooling their sweat and drinking and quenching their thirst, as they rested on the fair battlements; while the Achaeans drew near the wall leaning their shields against their shoulders. +But Hector did deadly fate ensnare to abide there where he was in front of Ilios and the Scaean gates. Then unto the son of Peleus spake Phoebus Apollo: + +Wherefore, son of Peleus, dost thou pursue me with swift feet, thyself a mortal, while I am an immortal god? +Not even yet hast thou known me that I am a god, but thou ragest incessantly! Hast thou in good sooth no care for thy toil regarding the Trojans whom thou dravest in rout, who now are gathered into the city, while thou hast turned thee aside hitherward? Thou shalt never slay me, for lo, I am not one that is appointed to die. + + +Then with a mighty burst of anger spake to him swift-footed Achilles: +Thou hast foiled me, thou god that workest afar, most cruel of all gods in that thou hast now turned me hither from the wall; else had many a man yet bitten the ground or ever they came into Ilios. Now hast thou robbed me of great glory, aud them hast thou saved full easily, seeing thou hadst no fear of vengeance in the aftertime. +Verily I would avenge me on thee, had I but the power. + + +So spake he, and was gone toward the city in pride of heart, speeding as speedeth with a chariot a horse that is winner of prizes, one that lightly courseth at full speed over the plain; even so swiftly plied Achilles his feet and knees. + +Him the old man Priam was first to behold with his eyes, as he sped all-gleaming over the plain, like to the star that cometh forth at harvest-time, and brightly do his rays shine amid the host of stars in the darkness of night, the star that men call by name the Dog of Orion. +Brightest of all is he, yet withal is he a sign of evil, and bringeth much fever upon wretched mortals. Even in such wise did the bronze gleam upon the breast of Achilles as he ran. And the old man uttered a groan, and beat upon his head with his hands, lifting them up on high, and with a groan he called aloud, +beseeching his dear son, that was standing before the gates furiously eager to do battle with Achilles. To him the old man spake piteously, stretching forth his arms: + +Hector, my dear child, abide not, I pray thee, yon man, alone with none to aid thee, lest forthwith thou meet thy doom, +slain by the son of Peleus, since verily he is far the mightier— cruel that he is. I would that he were loved by the gods even as by me! Then would the dogs and vuhtures speedily devour him as he lay unburied; so would dread sorrow depart from my soul, seeing he hath made me bereft of sons many and valiant, +slaying them and selling them into isles that hie afar. For even now there be twain of my sons, Lycaon and Polydorus, that I cannot see amid the Trojans that are gathered into the city, even they that Laothoe bare me, a princess among women. But if they be yet alive in the camp of the foe, then verily +will we ransom them with bronze and gold, seeing there is store thereof in my house; for gifts full many did the old Altes, of glorious name, give to his daughter. But and if they be even now dead and in the house of Hades, then shall there be sorrow to my heart and to their mother, to us that gave them birth; but to the rest of the host a briefer sorrow, +if so be thou die not as well, slain by Achilles. Nay, enter within the walls, my child, that thou mayest save the Trojan men and Trojan women, and that thou give not great glory to the son of Peleus, and be thyself reft of thy dear life. Furthermore, have thou compassion on me that yet can feel — +on wretched me whom the father, son of Cronos, will shay by a grievous fate on the threshold of old age, when I have beheld ills full many, my sons perishing and my daughters haled away, and my treasure chambers laid waste, and little children hurled to the ground in the dread conflict, and my sons" wives +being haled away beneath the deadly hands of the Achaeans. Myself then last of all at the entering in of my door shall ravening dogs rend, when some man by thrust or cast of the sharp bronze hath reft my limbs of life—even the dogs that in my halls I reared at my table to guard my door, +which then having drunk my blood in the madness of their hearts, shall lie there in the gateway. A young man it beseemeth wholly, when he is slain in battle, that he lie mangled by the sharp bronze; dead though he be, all is honourable whatsoever be seen. But when dogs work shame upon the hoary head and hoary beard +and on the nakedness of an old man slain, lo, this is the most piteous thing that cometh upon wretched mortals. + + +Thus spake the old man, and with his hands he plucked and tore the hoary hairs from his head; but he could not persuade the heart of Hector. And over against him the mother in her turn wailed and shed tears, +loosening the folds of her robe, while with the other hand she showed her breast, and amid shedding of tears she spake unto him winged words: + +Hector, my child, have thou respect unto this and pity me, if ever I gave thee the breast to lull thy pain. Think thereon, dear child, and ward off yon foemen +from within the wall, neither stand thou forth to face him. Cruel is he; for if so be he shay thee, never shall I lay thee on a bier and bewail thee, dear plant, born of mine own self, nay, nor shall thy bounteous wife; but far away from us by the ships of the Argives shall swift dogs devour thee. + +So the twain with weeping spake unto their dear son, beseeching him instantly; howbeit they could not persuade the heart of Hector, but he abode Achilles as he drew nigh in his mightiness. And as a serpent of the mountain awaiteth a man at his lair, having fed upon evil herbs, and dread wrath hath entered into him, +and terribly he glareth as he coileth him about within his lair; even so Hector in his courage unquenchable would not give ground, leaning his bright shield against the jutting wall. Then, mightily moved, he spake unto his own great-hearted spirit: + +Ah, woe is me, if I go within the gates and the walls +Polydamas will be the first to put reproach upon me, for that he bade me lead the Trojans to the city during this fatal night, when goodly Achilles arose. Howbeit I hearkened not—verily it had been better far! But now, seeing I have brought the host to ruin in my blind folly, +I have shame of the Trojans, and the Trojans' wives with trailing robes, lest haply some other baser man may say: ‘Hector, trusting in his own might, brought ruin on the host.’ So will they say; but for me it were better far to meet Achilles man to man and shay him, and so get me home, +or myself perish gloriously before the city. + + +Or what if I lay down my bossed shield and my heavy helm, and leaning my spear against the wall, go myself to meet peerless Achilles, and promise him that Helen, +and with her all the store of treasure that Alexander brought in his hollow ships to Troy —the which was the beginning of strife—will we give to the sons of Atreus to take away, and furthermore and separate therefrom will make due division with the Achaeans of all that this city holdeth; and if thereafter I take from the Trojans an oath sworn by the elders +that they will hide nothing, but will divide all in twain, even all the treasure that the lovely city holdeth within? But why doth my heart thus hold converse with me? Let it not be that I go and draw nigh him, but he then pity me not nor anywise have reverence unto me, but slay me out of hand all unarmed, +as I were a woman, when I have put from me mine armour. In no wise may I now from oak-tree or from rock hold dalliance with him, even as youth and maiden—youth and maiden! —hold dalliance one with the other. Better were it to clash in strife with all speed; +let us know to which of us twain the Olympian will vouchsafe glory. + + +So he pondered as he abode, and nigh to him came Achilles, the peer of Enyalius, warrior of the waving helm, brandishing over his right shoulder the Pelian ash, his terrible spear; and all round about the bronze flashed like the gleam +of blazing fire or of the sun as he riseth. But trembling gat hold of Hector when he was ware of him, neither dared he any more abide where he was, but left the gates behind him, and fled in fear; and the son of Peleus rushed after him, trusting in his fleetness of foot. As a falcon in the mountains, swiftest of winged things, +swoopeth lightly after a trembling dove: she fleeth before him, and he hard at hand darteth ever at her with shrill cries, and his heart biddeth him seize her; even so Achilles in his fury sped straight on, and Hector fled beneath the wall of the Trojans, and plied his limbs swiftly. +Past the place of watch, and the wind-waved wild fig-tree they sped, ever away from under the wall along the waggon-track, and came to the two fair-flowing fountains, where well up the two springs that feed eddying Scamander. The one floweth with warm water, and round about a smoke +goeth up therefrom as it were from a blazing fire, while the other even in summer floweth forth cold as hail or chill snow or ice that water formeth. And there hard by the selfsame springs are broad washing-tanks, fair and wrought of stone, +where the wives and fair daughters of the Trojans were wont to wash bright raiment of old in the time of peace, before the sons of the Achaeans came. Thereby they ran, one fleeing, and one pursuing. In front a good man fled, but one mightier far pursued him swiftly; for it was not for beast of sacrifice or for bull's hide +that they strove, such as are men's prizes for swiftness of foot, but it was for the life of horse-taming Hector that they ran. And as when single-hooved horses that are winners of prizes course swiftly about the turning-points, and some — great prize is set forth, a tripod haply or a woman, in honour of a warrior that is dead; +even so these twain circled thrice with swift feet about the city of Priam; and all the gods gazed upon them. Then among these the father of men and gods was first to speak: + +Look you now, in sooth a well-loved man do mine eyes behold pursued around the wall; and my heart hath sorrow +for Hector, who hath burned for me many thighs of oxen on the crests of many-ridged Ida, and at other times on the topmost citadel; but now again is goodly Achilles pursuing him with swift feet around the city of Priam. Nay then, come, ye gods, bethink you and take counsel +whether we shall save him from death, or now at length shall slay him, good man though he be, by the hand of Achilles, son of Peleus. + + +Then spake unto him the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene: + +O Father, Lord of the bright lightning and of the dark cloud, what a word hast thou said! A man that is mortal, doomed long since by fate, art thou minded +to deliver again from dolorous death? Do as thou wilt; but be sure that we other gods assent not all thereto. + + +Then in answer to her spake Zeus, the cloud-gatherer: + +Be of good cheer, Tritogeneia, dear child. In no wise do I speak with full purpose of heart, but am minded to be kindly to thee. +Do as thy pleasure is and hold thee back no more. + + +So saying he urged on Athene that was already eager, and down from the peaks of Olympus she went darting. +But hard upon Hector pressed swift Achilles in ceaseless pursuit. And as when on the mountains a hound +rouseth from his covert the fawn of a deer and chaseth him through glens and glades, and though he escape for a time, cowering beneath a thicket, yet doth the hound track him out and run ever on until he find him; even so Hector escaped not the swift-footed son of Peleus. Oft as he strove to rush straight for the Dardanian gates +to gain the shelter of the well-built walls, if so be his fellows from above might succour him with missiles, so oft would Achilles be beforehand with him and turn him back toward the plain, but himself sped on by the city's walls. And as in a dream a man availeth not to pursue one that fleeth before him— +the one availeth not to flee, nor the other to pursue—even so Achilles availed not to overtake Hector in his fleetness, neither Hector to escape. And how had Hector escaped the fates of death, but that Apollo, albeit for the last and latest time, drew nigh him to rouse his strength and make swift his knees? +And to his folk goodly Achilles made sign with a nod of his head, and would not suffer them to hurl at Hector their bitter darts, lest another might smite him and win glory, and himself come too late. But when for the fourth time they were come to the springs, lo then the Father lifted on high his golden scales, +and set therein two fates of grievous death, one for Achilles, and one for horse-taming Hector; then he grasped the balance by the midst and raised it; and down sank the day of doom of Hector, and departed unto Hades; and Phoebus Apollo left him. But unto Peleus' son came the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, +and drawing nigh she spake to him winged words: + +Now in good sooth, glorious Achilles, dear to Zeus, have I hope that to the ships we twain shall bear off great glory for the Achaeans, having slain Hector, insatiate of battle though he be; for now is it no more possible for him to escape us, +nay, not though Apollo, that worketh afar, should travail sore, grovelling before Father Zeus, that beareth the aegis. But do thou now stand, and get thy breath; myself will I go and persuade yon warrior to do battle with thee man to man. + + +So spake Athene, and he obeyed and was glad at heart, +and stood leaning upon his bronze-barbed spear of ash. But she left him, and came to goodly Hector in the likeness of Deiphobus both in form and untiring voice; and drawing nigh she spake to him winged words: + +Dear brother, full surely fleet Achilles doeth violence unto thee, +chasing thee with swift feet around the city of Priam. But come, let us stand, and abiding here ward off his onset. + + +Then spake to her great Hector of the flashing helm: + +Deiphobus, verily in time past thou wast far the dearest of my brethren, that were born of Hecabe and Priam, +but now I deem that I shall honour thee in my heart even more, seeing thou hast dared for my sake, when thine eyes beheld me, to come forth from out the wall, while the others abide within. + + +To him then spake again the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene: + +Dear brother, in sooth my father and queenly mother, yea, and my comrades round about me, +besought me much, entreating me each in turn that I should abide there, in such wise do they all tremble before Achilles; but my heart within me was sore distressed with bitter grief. Howbeit now let us charge straight at him and do battle, neither let there be anywise a sparing of spears, to the end that we may know whether Achilles +shall slay us twain, and bear our bloody spoils to the hollow ships, or whether he shall haply be vanquished by thy spear. + + +By such words and by guile Athene led him on. And when they were come near as they advanced one against the other, then first unto Achilles spake great Hector of the glancing helm: +No longer, son of Peleus, will I flee from thee, as before I thrice fled around the great city of Priam, nor ever had the heart to abide thy onset; but now again my spirit biddeth me stand and face thee, whether I slay or be slain. But come hither, let us call the gods to witness, for they shall be the best +witnesses and guardians of our covenant: I will do unto thee no foul despite, if Zeus grant me strength to outstay thee, and I take thy life; but when I have stripped from thee thy glorious armour, Achilles, I will give thy dead body back to the Achaeans; and so too do thou. + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows spake unto him Achilles, swift of foot: + +Hector, talk not to me, thou madman, of covenants. As between lions and men there are no oaths of faith, nor do wolves and lambs have hearts of concord but are evil-minded continually one against the other, +even so is it not possible for thee and me to be friends, neither shall there be oaths between us till one or the other shall have fallen, and glutted with his blood Ares, the warrior with tough shield of hide. Bethink thee of all manner of valour: now in good sooth it behoveth thee to quit thee as a spearman and a dauntless warrior. No more is there any escape for thee, but forthwith shall Pallas Athene +lay thee low by my spear. Now shalt thou pay back the full price of all my sorrows for my comrades, whom thou didst slay when raging with thy spear. + + +He spake, and poised his far-shadowing spear, and hurled it; howbeit glorious Hector, looking steadily at him, avoided it; +for he was ware of it in time and crouched, and the spear of bronze flew over, and fixed itself in the earth; but Pallas Athene caught it up, and gave it back to Achilles, unseen of Hector, shepherd of the host. And Hector spake unto the peerless son of Peleus: + +Thou hast missed, neither in any wise, as it seemeth, O Achilles like to the gods, hast thou yet known from Zeus of my doom, though +verily thou thoughtest it. Howbeit thou wast but glib of tongue and a cunning knave in speech, to the end that seized with fear of thee I might be forgetful of my might and my valour. Not as I flee shalt thou plant thy spear in my back; nay, as I charge upon thee drive thou it straight through my breast, +if a god hath vouchsafed thee this. Now in turn avoid thou my spear of bronze. Would that thou mightest take it all into thy flesh! So would war be lighter for the Trojans, if thou wert but dead; for thou art their greatest bane. + + +He spake, and poised his far-shadowing spear and hurled it, +and smote full upon the shield of the son of Peleus, and missed him not; but far from the shield the spear leapt back. And Hector waxed wroth for that the swift shaft had flown vainly from his hand, and he stood confounded, for he had no second spear of ash. Then he shouted aloud, and called to Deiphobus of the white shield, +and asked of him a long spear; but he was nowise nigh. And Hector knew all in his heart, and spake, saying: + +Out upon it, in good sooth have the gods called me to my death. For I deemed that the warrior Deiphobus was at hand, but lo, he is within the wall, and Athene hath beguiled me. +Now of a surety is evil death nigh at hand, and no more afar from me, neither is there way of escape. So I ween from of old was the good pleasure of Zeus, and of the son of Zeus, the god that smiteth afar, even of them that aforetime were wont to succour me with ready hearts; but now again is my doom come upon me. Nay, but not without a struggle let me die, neither ingloriously, +but in the working of some great deed for the hearing of men that are yet to be. + + +So saying, he drew his sharp sword that hung beside his flank, a great sword and a mighty, and gathering himself together swooped like an eagle of lofty flight that darteth to the plain through the dark clouds to seize a tender lamb or a cowering hare; +even so Hector swooped, brandishing his sharp sword. And Achilles rushed upon him, his beart ful of savage wrath, and before his breast he made a covering of his shield, fair and richly-dight, and tossed his bright +four-horned helm; and fair about it waved the plumes wrought of gold, that Hephaestus had set thick about the crest. As a star goeth forth amid stars in the darkness of night, the star of evening, that is set in heaven as the fairest of all; even so went forth a gleam from the keen spear that Achilles poised in his right hand, +as he devised evil for goodly Hector, looking the while upon his fair flesh to find where it was most open to a blow. Now all the rest of his flesh was covered by the armour of bronze, the goodly armour that he had stripped from mighty Patroclus when he slew him; but there was an opening where the collar bones part the neck and shoulders, even the gullet, +where destruction of life cometh most speedily; even there, as he rushed upon him, goodly Achilles let drive with his spear; and clean out through the tender neck went the point. Howbeit the ashen spear, heavy with bronze, clave not the windpipe, to the end that he might yet make answer and speak unto his foe. Then fell he in the dust, +and goodly Achilles exulted over him; + +Hector, thou thoughtest, I ween, whilst thou wast spoiling Patroclus, that thou wouldest be safe, and hadst no thought of me that was afar, thou fool. Far from him a helper, mightier far, was left behind at the hollow ships, +even I, that have loosed thy knees. Thee shall dogs and birds rend in unseemly wise, but to him shall the Achaeans give burial. + + +Then, his strength all spent, spake to him Hector of the flashing helm: + +I implore thee by thy life and knees and parents, suffer me not to be devoured of dogs by the ships of the Achaeans; +nay, take thou store of bronze and gold, gifts that my fathec and queenly mother shall give thee, but my bodv give thou back to my home, that the Trojans and the Trojans' wives may give me my due meed of fire in my death. + + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows spake unto him Achilhes swift of foot: +Implore me not, dog, by knees or parents. Would that in any wise wrath and fury might bid me carve thy flesh and myself eat it raw, because of what thou hast wrought, as surely as there lives no man that shall ward off the dogs from thy head; nay, not though they should bring hither and weigh out ransom ten-fold, aye, twenty-fold, +and should promise yet more; nay, not though Priam, son of Dardanus, should bid pay thy weight in gold; not even so shall thy queenly mother lay thee on a bier and make lament for thee, the son herself did bear, but dogs and birds shall devour thee utterly. + +Then even in dying spake unto him Hector of the flashing helm: + +Verily I know thee well, and forbode what shall be, neither was it to be that I should persuade thee; of a truth the heart in thy breast is of iron. Bethink thee now lest haply I bring the wrath of the gods upon thee on the day when Paris and Phoebus Apollo shall slay thee, +valorous though thou art, at the Scaean gate. + + +Even as he thus spake the end of death enfolded him and his soul fleeting from his limbs was gone to Hades, bewailing her fate, leaving manliness and youth. And to him even in his death spake goodly Achilles: +Lie thou dead; my fate will I accept whenso Zeus willeth to bring it to pass and the other immortal gods. + + +He spake, and from the corpse drew forth his spear of bronze and laid it aside, and set him to strip from the shoulders the blood-stained armour. And the other sons of the Achaeans ran up round about, +and gazed upon the stature and wondrous comeliness of Hector, neither did any draw nigh but dealt him a wound. And thus would one speak, with a look at his neighbour: + +Look you, in good sooth softer is Hector for the handling now than when he burned the ships with blazing fire. + +Thus would one speak, and drawing nigh would deal a wound. But when goodly Achilles, swift of foot, had despoiled him, then stood he up among the Achaeans and spake winged words: + +My friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, seeing the gods have vouchsafed us to slay this man, +that hath wrought much evil beyond all the host of the others, come, let us make trial in arms about the city, to the end that we may yet further know what purpose the Trojans have in mind, whether they will leave their high city now that this man is fallen, or whether they are minded to abide, even though Hector be no more. +But why doth my heart thus hold converse with me? There lieth by the ships a dead man unwept, unburied, even Patroclus; him will I not forget so long as I abide among the living, and my knees are quick. Nay, if even in the house of Hades men forget their dead, +yet will I even there remember my dear comrade. But come, singing our song of victory, ye sons of the Achaeans, let us go back to the hollow ships and bring thither this corpse. We have won us great glory; we have slain goodly Hector, to whom the Trojans made prayer throughout their city, as unto a god. + +He spake, and devised foul entreatment for goodly Hector. The tendons of both his feet behind he pierced from heel to ankle, and made fast therethrough thongs of oxhide, and bound them to his chariot, but left the head to trail. Then when he had mounted his car and had lifted therein the glorious armour, +he touched the horses with the lash to start thiem, and nothing loath the pair sped onward. And from Hector as he was dragged the dust rose up, and on either side his dark hair flowed outspread, and all in the dust lay the head that was before so fair; but now had Zeus given him over to his foes to suffer foul entreatment in his own native land. + +So was his head all befouled with dust; but his mother tore her hair and from her flung far her gleaming veil and uttered a cry exceeding loud at sight of her son. And a piteous groan did his father utter, and around them the folk was holden of wailing and groaning throughout the city. +Most like to this was it as though all beetling Ilios were utterly burning with fire. And the folk had much ado to hold back the old man in his frenzy, fain as he was to go forth from the Dardanian gates. To all he made prayer, grovelling the while in the filth, +and calling on each man by name: + +Withhold, my friends, and suffer me for all your love to go forth from the city alone, and hie me to the ships of the Achaeans. I will make prayer to yon ruthless man, yon worker of violence, if so be he may have shame before his fellows and have pity on my old age. +He too, I ween, hath a father such as I am, even Peleus, that begat him and reared him to be a bane to Trojans; but above all others hath he brought woe upon me, so many sons of mine hath he slain in their prime. Yet for them all I mourn not so much, despite my grief, +as for one only, sharp grief for whom will bring me down to the house of Hades—even for Hector. Ah, would he had died in my arms; then had we taken our fill of weeping and wailing, the mother that bare him to her sorrow, and myself. + + +So spake he weeping, and thereto the townsfolk added their laments. +And among the women of Troy Hecabe led the vehement lamentation: + +My child, ah woe is me! How shall I live in my sore anguish, now thou art dead?—thou that wast my boast night and day in the city, and a blessing to all, both to the men and women of Troy throughout the town, who ever greeted thee as a god; +for verily thou wast to them a glory exceeding great, while yet thou livedst; but now death and fate are come upon thee. + + +So spake she weeping; but the wife knew naught as yet the wife of Hector—for no true messenger had come to tell her that her husband abode without the gates; +but she was weaving a web in the innermost part of the lofty house, a purple web of double fold, and therein was broidering flowers of varied hue. And she called to her fair-tressed handmaids through the house to set a great tripod on the fire,to the end that there should be a hot bath for Hector whenso he returned from out the battle—unwitting one, +neither wist she anywise that far from all baths flashing-eyed Athene had laid him low by the hand of Achilles. But the shrieks she heard and the groanings from the wall, and her limbs reeled, and from her hand the shuttle fell to earth. Then she spake again among her fair-tressed handmaids: +Come hither two of you, and follow me, let me see what deeds have been wrought. It was the voice of my husband's honoured mother that I heard, and in mine own breast my heart leapeth to my mouth, and beneath me my knees are numbed; verily hard at hand is some evil thing for the children of Priam. Far from my ear be the word, +but sorely am I afraid lest to my sorrow goodly Achilles may have cut off from the city bold Hector by himself alone, and have driven him to the plain, aye, and have by now made him to cease from the baneful valour that possessed him; seeing he would never abide in the throng of men, but would ever charge far to the front, yielding to no man in his might. + +So saying she hasted through the hall with throbbing heart as one beside herself, and with her went her handmaidens. But when she was come to the wall and the throng of men, then on the wall she stopped and looked, and was ware of him as he was dragged before the city; and swift horses +were dragging him ruthlessly toward the hollow ships of the Achaeans. Then down over her eyes came the darkness of night, and enfolded her, and she fell backward and gasped forth her spirit. Far from off her head she cast the bright attiring thereof, the frontlet and coif and kerchief and woven band, +and the veil that golden Aphrodite had given her on the day when Hector of the flashing helm hed her as his bride forth from the house of Eetion, after he had brought bride-gifts past counting. + + +And round about her came thronging ber husband's sisters and his brothers' wives, who bare her up in their midst, distraught even unto death. +But when she revived, and her spirit was returned into her breast,then she lifted up her voice in wailing, and spake among the women of Troy: + +Ah Hector, woe is me! to one fate, it seemeth, were we born, both of us twain, thou in Troy in the house of Priam, and I in Thebe beneath wooded Placus +in the house of Eetion, who reared me when I was a babe, hapless father of a cruel-fated child; would God he had never begotten me. Now thou unto the house of Hades beneath the deeps of earth art departing, but me thou leavest in bitter grief, a widow in thy halls, +and thy son is still a mere babe, the son born of thee and me in our haplessness; nor shalt thou be any profit to him, Hector, seeing thou art dead, neither he to thee. For even though he escape the woeful war of the Achaeans, yet shall his portion be labour and sorrow in the aftertime, for others will take away his lands. +The day of orphanhood cutteth a child off from the friends of his youth; ever is his head bowed how, and his cheeks are bathed in tears, and in his need the child hieth him to his father's friends, plucking one by the cloak and another by the tunic; and of them that are touched with pity, one holdeth forth his cup for a moment: +his hips he wetteth, but his palate he wetteth not. And one whose father and mother yet live thrusteth him from the feast with smiting of the hand, and chideth him with words of reviling:‘Get thee gone, even as thou art! No father of thine feasteth in our company.’ Then in tears unto his widowed mother cometh back the child— +Astyanax, that aforetime on his father's knees ate only marrow and the rich fat of sheep; and when sleep came upon him and he ceased from his childish play, then would he slumber on a couch in the arms of his nurse in his soft bed, his heart satisfied with good things. +But now, seeing he has lost his dear father, he will suffer ills full many—my Astyanax, whom the Troians call by this name for that thou alone didst save their gates and their high walls. But now by the beaked ships far from thy parents shall writhing worms devour thee, when the dogs have had their fill, as thou liest a naked corpse; +yet in thy halls lieth raiment, finely-woven and fair, wrought by the hands of women. Howbeit all these things will I verily burn in blazing fire—in no wise a profit unto thee, seeing thou shalt not lie therein, but to be an honour unto thee from the men and women of Troy. + +So spake she weeping, and thereto the women added their laments. +Thus they made lamentation throughout the city; but the Achaeans, when they were come to the ships and the Hellespont, scattered each man to his own ship; howbeit the Myrmidons would Achilles nowise suffer to be scattered, +but spake among his war-loving comrades, saying: + +Ye Myrmidons of fleet steeds, my trusty comrades, let us not yet loose our single-hooved horses from their cars, but with horses and chariots let us draw nigh and mourn Patroclus; for that is the due of the dead. +Then when we have taken our fill of dire lamenting, we will unyoke our horses and sup here all together. + + +So spake he, and they raised the voice of wailing all with one accord, and Achilles was leader thereof. Then thrice about the corpse they drave their fair-maned steeds, mourning the while; and among them Thetis roused desire of wailing. +Wetted were the sands and wetted the armour of the warriors with their tears; so mighty a deviser of rout was he for whom they mourned. And among them the son of Peleus was leader in the vehement lamentation; laying his man-slaying hands upon the breast of his comrade: + +Hail, I bid thee, O Patroclus, even in the house of Hades, +for even now I am bringing to fulfillment all that aforetime I promised thee: that I would drag Hector hither and give him raw unto dogs to devour, and of twelve glorious sons of the Trojans would I cut the throats before thy pyre, in my wrath at thy slaying. + + +He spake, and devised foul entreatment for goodly Hector, +stretching him on his face in the dust before the bier of the son of Menoetius. And they put off, each man of them, their shining harnesses of bronze, and loosed their loud-neighing horses, and themselves sat down beside the ship of the swift-footed son of Aeacus, a countless host; and he made them a funeral feast to satisfy their hearts. +Many sleek bulls bellowed about the knife, as they were slaughtered, many sheep and bleating goats, and many white-tusked swine, rich with fat, were stretched to singe over the flame of Hephaestus; and everywhere about the corpse the blood ran so that one might dip cups therein. + +But the prince, the swiftfooted son of Peleus, was led unto goodly Agamemnon by the chiefs of the Achaeans, that had much ado to persuade him thereto, so wroth at heart was he for his comrade. But when, as they went, they were come to the hut of Agamemnon, forthwith they bade clear-voiced heralds +set upon the fire a great cauldron, if so be they might persuade the son of Peleus to wash from him the bloody gore. But he steadfastly denied them, and swore an oath thereto: + +Nay, verily by Zeus, that is highest and best of gods, it may not be that water should come nigh my head, +until such time as I have laid Patroclus on the fire, and have heaped him a barrow, and shorn my hair withal, since never more shall a second grief thus reach my heart, while yet I abide among the living. Howbeit for this present let us yield us to the banquet we needs must loathe; but in the morning rouse thou the folk, king of men Agamemnon, +to bring wood, and to make ready all that it beseemeth a dead man to have, whenso he goeth beneath the murky darkness, to the end that unwearied fire may burn him quickly from sight, and the host betake it to its tasks. + + +So spake he, and they readily hearkened to him and obeyed, +and speedily making ready each man his meal they supped, nor did thelr hearts lack aught of the equal feast. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, they went each man to his hut to take his rest; but the son of Peleus upon the shore of the loud-resounding sea +lay groaning heavily amid the host of the Myrmidons, in an open space where the waves splashed upon the shore. And when sleep seized him, loosenlng the cares of his heart, being shed in sweetness round about him — for sore weary were his glorious limbs with speeding after Hector unto windy Ilios— +then there came to him the spirit of hapless Patroclus, in all things like his very self, in stature and fair eyes and in voice, and in like raiment was he clad withal; and he stood above Achilles' head and spake to him, saying: + +Thou sleepest, and hast forgotten me, Achilles. +Not in my life wast thou unmindful of me, but now in my death! Bury me with all speed, that I pass within the gates of Hades. Afar do the spirits keep me aloof, the phantoms of men that have done with toils, neither suffer they me to join myself to them beyond the River, but vainly I wander through the wide-gated house of Hades. +And give me thy hand, I pitifully entreat thee, for never more again shall I come back from out of Hades, when once ye have given me my due of fire. Never more in life shall we sit apart from our dear comrades and take counsel together, but for me hath loathly fate +opened its maw, the fate that was appointed me even from my birth. Aye, and thou thyself also, Achilles like to the gods, art doomed to be brought low beneath the wall of the wealthy Trojans. And another thing will I speak, and charge thee, if so be thou wilt hearken. Lay not my bones apart from thine, Achilles, but let them lie together, even as we were reared in your house, +when Menoetius brought me, being yet a little lad, from Opoeis to your country, by reason of grievous man-slaying, on the day when I slew Amphidamus' son in my folly, though I willed it not, in wrath over the dice. Then the knight Peleus received me into his house +and reared me with kindly care and named me thy squire; even so let one coffer enfold our bones, a golden coffer with handles twain, the which thy queenly mother gave thee. + + +Then in answer spake to him Achilles, swift of foot: + +Wherefore, O head beloved, art thou come hither, +and thus givest me charge about each thing? Nay, verily I will fulfill thee all, and will hearken even as thou biddest. But, I pray thee, draw thou nigher; though it be but for a little space let us clasp our arms one about the other, and take our fill of dire lamenting. + + +So saying he reached forth with his hands, +yet clasped him not; but the spirit like a vapour was gone beneath the earth, gibbering faintly. And seized with amazement Achilles sprang up, and smote his hands together, and spake a word of wailing: + +Look you now, even in the house of Hades is the spirit and phantom somewhat, albeit the mind be not anywise therein; +for the whole night long hath the spirit of hapless Patroclus stood over me, weeping and wailing, and gave me charge concerning each thing, and was wondrously like his very self. + + +So spake he, and in them all aroused the desire of lament, and rosy-fingered Dawn shone forth upon them +while yet they wailed around the piteous corpse. But the lord Agamemnon sent forth mules and men from all sides from out the huts to fetch wood and a man of valour watched thereover, even Meriones, squire of kindly Idomeneus. And they went forth bearing in their hands axes for the cutting of wood +and well-woven ropes, and before them went the mules: and ever upward, downward, sideward, and aslant they fared. But when they were come to the spurs of many-fountained Ida, forthwith they set them to fill high-crested oaks with the long-edged bronze in busy haste and with a mighty crash the trees kept falling. +Then the Achaeans split the trunks asunder and bound them behind the mules, and these tore up the earth with their feet as they hasted toward the plain through the thick underbrush. And all the woodcutters bare logs; for so were they bidden of Meriones, squire of kindly Idomeneus. +Then down upon the shore they cast these, man after man, where Achilles planned a great barrow for Patroclus and for himself. But when on all sides they had cast down the measureless wood, they sate them down there and abode, all in one throng. And Achilles straightway bade the war-loving Myrmidons +gird them about with bronze, and yoke each man his horses to his car. And they arose and did on their armour and mounted their chariots,warriors and charioteers alike. In front fared the men in chariots, and thereafter followed a cloud of footmen, a host past counting and in the midst his comrades bare Patroclus. +And as with a garment they wholly covered the corpse with their hair that they shore off and cast thereon; and behind them goodly Achilles clasped the head, sorrowing the while; for peerless was the comrade whom he was speeding to the house of Hades. + + +But when they were come to the place that Achilles had appointed unto them, they set down the dead, and swiftly heaped up for him abundant store of wood. +Then again swift-footed goodly Achilles took other counsel; he took his stand apart from the fire and shore off a golden lock, the rich growth whereof he had nursed for the river Spercheüs, and his heart mightily moved, he spake, with a look over the wine-dark sea: + +Spercheüs, to no purpose did my father Peleus vow to thee +that when I had come home thither to my dear native land, I would shear my hair to thee and offer a holy hecatomb, and on the selfsame spot would sacrifice fifty rams, males without blemish, into thy waters, where is thy demesne and thy fragrant altar. So vowed that old man, but thou didst not fulfill for him his desire. +Now, therefore, seeing I go not home to my dear native land, I would fain give unto the warrior Patroclus this lock to fare with him. + + +He spake and set the lock in the hands of his dear comrade, and in them all aroused the desire of lament. And now would the light of the sun have gone down upon their weeping, +had not Achilles drawn nigh to Agamemnon's side and said: + +Son of Atreus—for to thy words as to those of none other will the host of the Achaeans give heed— of lamenting they may verily take their fill, but for this present disperse them from the pyre, and bid them make ready their meal; for all things here we to whom the dead is nearest and dearest will take due care; +and with us let the chieftains also abide. + + +Then when the king of men Agamemnon heard this word, he forthwith dispersed the folk amid the shapely ships, but they that were neareat and dearest to the dead abode there, and heaped up the wood, and made a pyre of an hundred feet this way and that, +and on the topmost part thereof they set the dead man, their hearts sorrow-laden. And many goodly sheep and many sleek kine of shambling gait they flayed and dressed before the pyre; and from them all great-souled Achilles gathered the fat, and enfolded the dead therein from head to foot, and about him heaped the flayed bodies. +And thereon he set two-handled jars of honey and oil, leaning them against the bier; and four horses with high arched neeks he cast swiftly upon the pyre, groaning aloud the while. Nine dogs had the prince, that fed beneath his table, and of these did Achilles cut the throats of twain, and cast them upon the pyre. +And twelve valiant sons of the great-souled Trojans slew he with the bronze—and grim was the work he purposed in his heart and thereto he set the iron might of fire, to range at large. Then he uttered a groan, and called on his dear comrade by name: + +Hail, I bid thee, O Patroclus, even in the house of Hades, +for now am I bringing all to pass, which afore-time I promised thee. Twelve valiant sons of the great-souled Trojans, lo all these together with thee the flame devoureth; but Hector, son of Priam, will I nowise give to the fire to feed upon, but to dogs. + + +So spake he threatening, but with Hector might no dogs deal; +nay, the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite, kept dogs from him by day alike and by night, and with oil anointed she him, rose-sweet, ambrosial, to the end that Achilles might not tear him as he dragged him. And over him Phoebus Apollo drew a dark cloud from heaven to the plain, and covered all the place +whereon the dead man lay, lest ere the time the might of the sun should shrivel his flesh round about on his sinews and limbs. + + +Howbeit the pyre of dead Patroclus kindled not. Then again did swift footed goodlyAchilles take other counsel; he took his stand apart from the pyre, and made prayer to the two winds, +to the North Wind and the West Wind, and promised fair offerings, and full earnestly, as he poured libations from a cup of gold, he besought them to come, to the end that the corpses might speedily blaze with fire, and the wood make haste to be kindled. Then forthwith Iris heard his prayer, and hied her with the message to the winds. +They in the house of the fierce-blowing West Wind were feasting all together at the banquet and Iris halted from her running on the threshold of stone. Soon as their eyes beheld her, they all sprang up and called her each one to himself. But she refused to sit, and spake saying: +I may not sit, for I must go back unto the streams of Oceanus, unto the land of the Ethiopians, where they are sacrificing hecatombs to the immortals, that I too may share in the sacred feast. But Achilles prayeth the North Wind and the noisy West Wind to come, and promiseth them fair offerings, that so ye may rouse the pyre to burn whereon lieth +Patroclus, for whom all the Achaeans groan aloud. + + +When she had thus departed, and they arose with a wondrous din, driving the clouds tumultuously before them. And swiftly they came to the sea to blow thereon, and the wave swelled +beneath the shrill blast; and they came to deep-soiled Troyland, and fell upon the pyre, and mightily roared the wordrous blazing fire. So the whole night long as with one blast they beat upon the flame of the pyre, blowing shrill; and the whole night long swift Achilles, taking a two-handled cup in hand, +drew wine from a golden howl and poured it upon the earth, and wetted the ground, calling ever upon the spirit of hapless Patroclus. As a father waileth for his son, as he burneth his bones, a son newly wed whose death has brought woe to his hapless parents, even so wailed Achilles for his comrade as he burned his bones, +going heavily about the pyre with ceaseless groaning. + + +But at the hour when the star of morning goeth forth to herald light over the face of the earth—the star after which followeth saffron-robed Dawn and spreadeth over the sea—even then grew the burning faint, and the flame thereof died down. And the winds went back again to return to their home +over the Thracian sea, and it roared with surging flood. Then the son of Peleus withdrew apart from the burning pyre, and laid him down sore-wearied; and sweet sleep leapt upon him. But they that were with the son of Atreus gathered in a throng, and the noise and din of their oncoming aroused him; +and he sat upright and spake to them saying: + +Son of Atreus, and ye other princes of the hosts of Achaea, first quench ye with flaming wine the burning pyre, even all whereon the might of the fire hath come, and thereafter let us gather the bones of Patroclus, Menoetius' son, singling them out well from the rest; +and easy they are to discern, for he lay in the midst of the pyre, while the others burned apart on the edges thereof, horses and men mingled together. Then let us place the bones in a golden urn wrapped in a double layer of fat until such time as I myself be hidden in Hades. +Howbeit no huge barrow do I bid you rear with toil for him, but such a one only as beseemeth; but in aftertime do ye Achaeans build it broad and high, ye that shall be left amid the benched ships when I am gone. + + +So spake he, and they hearkened to the swift-footed son of Peleus. +First they quenched with flaming wine the pyre, so far as the flame had come upon it, and the ash had settled deep; and with weeping they gathered up the white bones of their gentle comrade into a golden urn, and wrapped them in a double layer of fat, and placing the urn in the hut they covered it with a soft linen cloth. +Then they traced the compass of the barrow and set forth the foundations thereof round about the pyre, and forthwith they piled the up-piled earth. And when they had piled the barrow, they set them to go back again. But Achilles stayed the folk even where they were, and made them to sit in a wide gathering; and from his ships brought forth prizes; cauldrons and tripods +and horses and mules and strong oxen and fair-girdled women and grey iron. + + +For swift charioteers first he set forth goodly prizes, a woman to lead away, one skilled in goodly handiwork, and an eared tripod of two and twenty measures +for him that should be first; and for the second he appointed a mare of six years, unbroken, with a mule foal in her womb; and for the third he set forth a cauldron untouched of fire, a fair cauldron that held four measures, white even as the first; and for the fourth he appointed two talents of gold; +and for the fifth a two-handled urn, yet untouched of fire. Then he stood up, and spake among the Argives, saying: + +Son of Atreus, and ye other well-greaved Achaeans, for the charioteers these prizes lie waiting in the lists. If for some other's honour we Achaeans were now holding contests, +surely it were I that should win the first prize, and bear it to my hut; for ye know how far my horses twain surpass in excellence, seeing they are immortal, and it was Poseidon that gave them to my father Peleus, and he gave them to me. Howbeit I verily will abide, I and my single-hooved horses, +so valiant and glorious a charioteer have they lost, and one so kind, who full often would pour upon their manes soft soil when he had washed them in bright water. For him they stand and mourn, and on the ground their manes are trailing, and the twain stand there, grieving at heart. +But do ye others make yourselves ready throughout the host, whosoever of the Achaeans hath trust in his horses and his jointed car. + + +So spake the son of Peleus, and the swift charioteers bestirred them. Upsprang, for the first, Eumelus, king of men, Admetus' dear son, a man well-skilled in horsemanship +and after him upsprang Tydeus' son, mighty Diomedes, and led beneath the yoke the horses of Tros, even them that on a time he had taken from Aeneas, albeit Apollo snatched away Aeneas' self; and after him uprose Atreus' son, fair-haired Menelaus, sprung from Zeus, and led beneath the yoke swift steeds, Aethe, Agamemnon's mare, and his own horse Podargus. +The mare had Anchises' son Echepolus given to Agamemnon without price, to the end that he might not follow him to windy Ilios, but might abide at home and take his joy; for great wealth had Zeus given him, and he dwelt in spaclous Sicyon: +her Menelaus led beneath the yoke, and exceeding fain was she of the race. And fourth Antilochus made ready his fair-maned horses, he the peerless son of Nestor, the king high of heart, the son of Neleus; and bred at Pylos were the swift-footed horses that drew his car. And his father drew nigh and gave counsel +to him for his profit — a wise man to one that himself had knowledge. + +Antilochus, for all thou art young, yet have Zeus and Poseidon loved thee and taught thee all manner of horsemanship; wherefore to teach thee is no great need, for thou knowest well how to wheel about the turning-post; yet are thy horses slowest in the race: therefore I deem there will be sorry work for thee. The horses of the others are swifter, but the men know not how to devise more cunning counsel than thine own self. Wherefore come, dear son, lay thou up in thy mind cunning of every sort, to the end that the prizes escape thee not. +By cunning, thou knowest, is a woodman far better than by might; by cunning too doth a helmsman on the wine-dark deep guide aright a swift ship that is buffeted by winds; and by cunning doth charioteer prove better than charioteer. + + + Another man, trusting in his horses and car, +heedlessly wheeleth wide to this side and that, and his horses roam over the course, neither keepeth he them in hand; whereas he that hath crafty mind, albeit he drive worse horses, keepeth his eye ever on the turning-post and wheeleth close thereby, neither is unmindful how at the first to force his horses with the oxhide reins, +but keepeth them ever in hand, and watcheth the man that leadeth him in the race. Now will I tell thee a manifest sign that will not escape thee. There standeth, as it were a fathom's height above the ground, a dry stump, whether of oak or of pine, which rotteth not in the rain, and two white stones on either side +thereof are firmly set against it at the joinings of the course, and about it is smooth ground for driving. Haply it is a monnment of some man long ago dead, or haply was made the turning-post of a race in days of men of old; and now hath switft-footed goodly Achilles appointed it his turningpost. Pressing hard thereon do thou drive close thy chariot and horses, and thyself lean in thy well-plaited +car a little to the left of the pair, and to the off horse do thou give the goad, calling to him with a shout, and give him rein from thy hand. But to the post let the near horse draw close, that the nave of the well-wrought wheel seem to graze the surface thereof— +but be thou ware of touching the stone, lest haply thou wound thy horses and wreck thy car; so should there be joy for the rest, but reproach it for thyself. Nay, dear son, be thou wise and on thy guard; for if at the turning-post thou shalt drive past the rest in thy course, +there is no man that shall catch thee by a burst of speed, neither pass thee by, nay, not though in pursuit he were driving goodly Arion, the swift horse of Adrastus, that was of heavenly stock, or those of Laomedon, the goodly breed of this land. + + +So saying Nestor, son of Neleus, sate him down again in his place, +when he had told his son the sum of every matter. + + +And fifth Meriones made ready his fair-maned horses. Then they mounted their cars, and cast in the lots; and Achilles shook them, and forth leapt the lot of Nestor's son, Antilochus; after him had the lord Eumelus a place, +and next to him Atreus' son, Menelaus, famed for his spear, and next to him Meriones drew his place; and last of all the son of Tydeus, albeit far the best, drew a place for his chariot. Then took they their places in a row, and Achilles shewed them the turning-post afar off in the smooth plain; and thereby he set as an umpire +godlike Phoenix, his father's follower, that he might mark the running and tell the truth thereof. +Then they all at one moment lifted the lash each above his yoke of horses, and smote them with the reins, and called to them with words, full eagerly and forthwith they sped swiftly over the plain +away from the ships and beneath their breasts the dust arose and stood, as it were a cloud or a whirlwind, and their manes streamed on the blasts of the wind. And the chariots would now course over the bounteous earth, and now again would bound on high; and they that drave +stood in the cars, and each man's heart was athrob as they strove for victory; and they called every man to his horses, that flew in the dust over the plain. +But when now the swift horses were fulfilling the last stretch of the course, back toward the grey sea, then verily was made manifest the worth of each, +and the pace of their horses was forced to the uttermost. And forthwith the swift-footed mares of the son of Pheres shot to the front, and after them Diomedes' stallions of the breed of Tros; not far behind were they, but close behind, for they seemed ever like to mount upon +Eumelus' car, and with their breath his back waxed warm and his broad shoulders, for right over him did they lean their heads as they flew along. And now would Tydeus' son have passed him by or left the issue in doubt, had not Phoebus Apollo waxed wroth with him and smitten from his hand the shining lash. +Then from his eyes ran tears in his wrath for that he saw the mares coursing even far swiftlier still than before, while his own horses were hampered, as running without goad. + + +But Athene was not unaware of Apollo's cheating of the son of Tydeus, and right swiftly sped she after the shepherd of the host, +and gave him back the lash and put strength into his horses. Then in wrath was she gone after the son of Admetus, and the goddess brake the yoke of his steeds, and to his cost the mares swerved to this side and that of the course, and the pole was swung to the earth; and Eumelus himself was hurled from out the car beside the wheel, +and from his elbows and his mouth and nose the skin was stripped, and his forehead above his brows was bruised; and both his eyes were filled with tears and the flow of his voice was checked. Then Tydeus' son turned his single-hooved horses aside and drave on, darting out far in advance of the rest; for Athene +put strength in his horses and gave glory to himself. And after him drave the son of Atreus, fair-haired Menelaus. But Antilochus called to the horses of his father: + +Go in now, ye twain as well; strain to your utmost speed. With yon steeds verily I nowise bid you strive, +with the horses of wise-hearted Tydeus to the which Athene hath now given speed and vouchsafed glory to him that driveth them. But the horses of the son of Atreus do ye overtake with speed, and be not outstripped of them, lest shame be shed on you by Aethe that is but a mare. Why are ye outstripped, good steeds? +For thus will I speak out to you, and verily it shall be brought to pass: no tendance shall there be for you twain with Nestor, the shepherd of the host, but forthwith will he slay you with the sharp bronze, if through your heedlessness we win but a worse prize. Nay, have after them with all speed ye may, +and this will I myself contrive and plan, that we slip past them in the narrow way; it shall not escape me. + + +So spake he, and they, seized with fear at the rebuke of their master, ran swiftlier on for a little time, and then quickly did Antilochus, staunch in fight, espy a narrow place in the hollow road. +A rift there was in the ground, where the water, swollen by winter rains, had broken away a part of the road and had hollowed all the place. There drave Menelaus in hope that none other might drive abreast of him. But Antilochus turned aside his single-hooved horses, and drave on outside the track, and followed after him, a little at one side. +And the son of Atreus was seized with fear, and shouted to Antilochus: + +Antilochus, thou art driving recklessly; nay, rein in thy horses! Here is the way straitened, but presently it will be wider for passing; lest haply thou work harm to us both by fouling my car. + + +So spake he, but Antilochus drave on even the more hotly, +and plied the goad, as he were one that heard not. And far is the range of a discus swung from the shoulder, which a young man hurleth, making trial of his strength, even so far ran they on; but the mares of the son of Atreus gave back, for of his own will he forbare to urge them, +lest haply the single-hooved horses should clash together in the track, and overturn the well-plaited cars, and themselves be hurled in the dust in their eager haste for victory. Then fair-haired Menelaus chid Antilochus, and said: + +Antilochus, than thou is none other of mortals more malicious. +Go, and perdition take thee, since falsely did we Achaeans deem thee wise. Howbeit even so shalt thou not bear off the prize without an oath. + +527.1 + +So said he, and called to his horses, saying: + +Hold not back, I bid you, neither stand ye still with grief at heart. Their feet and knees will grow weary +before yours, for they both are lacking in youth. + + +So spake be, and they, seized with fear at the rebuke of their master, ran swiftlier on, and quickly came close anigh the others. +But the Argives sitting in the place of gathering were gazing at the horses, that flew amid the dust over the plain. +And the first to mark them was Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, for he sat without the gathering, the highest of all, in a place of outlook, and when he heard the voice of him that shouted, albeit afar off, he knew it; and he was ware of a horse, shewing clear to view in front, one that was a bay all the rest of him, but on his forehead was +a white spot round like the moon. And he stood up, and spake among the Argives saying: + +My friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, is it I alone that discern the horses, or do ye as well? Other are they, meseemeth, that be now in front, +and other is the charioteer that appeareth; and the mares will have come to harm out yonder on the plain, they that were in front on the outward course. For in truth I marked them sweeping first about the turning-post, but now can I nowhere spy them, though mine eyes glance everywhither over the Trojan plain, as I gaze. +Did the reins haply slip from the charioteer, and was he unable to guide the course aright about the post, and did he fail in the turn? Even there, methinks, must he have been hurled to earth, and have wrecked his car, and the mares must have swerved from the course in wild terror of heart. Howbeit stand ye up also, and look; for myself +I discern not clearly, but the man seemeth to me to be an Aetolian by race, and is king among the Argives, even the son of horse-taming Tydeus, mighty Diomedes. + + +Then shamefully chid him swift Aias, son of Oïleus: + +Idomeneus, why art thou a braggart from of old? Nay, still afar off are +the high-stepping mares speeding over the wide plain. Neither art thou so far the youngest among the Argives, nor do thine eyes look forth from thy head so far the keenliest yet thou ever pratest loudly. It beseemeth thee not to be loud of speech, for here be others better than thou. +The selfsame mares are in the lead, that led of old, even they of Eumelus, and himself he standeth firmly in the car and holdeth the reins. + + +Then the leader of the Cretans waxed wroth, and spake in answer: + +Aias, thou master of railing, witless in counsel, in all things else thou fallest behind the other Argives, for thy mind is stubborn. +Come now, let us wager a tripod or a cauldron, and as umpire betwixt us twain let us choose Atreus' son Agamemnon, as to which mares are in the lead — that thou mayst learn by paying the price. + + +So spake he, and forthwith uprose in wrath swift Aias, son of Oïleus, to answer him with angry words; +and yet furthur would the strife between the twain have gone, had not Achilles himself stood up, and spoken, saying: + +No longer now, O Aias and Idomeneus, answer ye one another with angry words, with evil words, for that were unseemly. Ye have indignation with another, whoso should act thus. +Nay, sit ye down in the place of gathering, and watch ye the horses; full soon in their eager haste for victory will they come hither, and then shall ye know, each man of you, the horses of the Argives, which be behind, and which in the lead. + + +So spake he, and Tydeus' son came hard anigh as he drave, +and with his lash dealt many a stroke down from the shoulder; and his horses leapt on high as they swiftly sped on their way. And ever did flakes of dust smite the charioteer, and his chariot overlaid with gold and tin ran on behind the swift-footed horses, and small trace there was +of the wheel tires behind in the light dust, as the twain flew speeding on. Then he drew up in the midst of the place of gathering, and in streams the sweat flowed from the necks and chests of the horses to the ground. And Diomedes himself leapt to the ground from his gleaming car, +and leaned the goad against the yoke. Neither did mighty Sthenelus anywise tarry, but speedily took the prize, and gave to his comrades, high of heart, the woman and the eared tripod to bear away; and himself loosed the horses from beneath the yoke. + + +And next after him Antilochus of the stock of Neleus drave his horses, +for that by guile, and nowise by speed, had he outstripped Menelaus; howbeit even so Menelaus guided his swift horses close behind. Far as a horse is from the wheel, a horse that draweth his master over the plain,and straineth at the car—the tire thereof do the hindmost hairs of his tail touch, +for it runneth close behind, and but scant space is there between, as he courseth over the wide plain—even by so much was Menelaus behind peerless Antilochus, though at the first he was behind far as a man hurleth the discus; howbeit quickly was he overtaking Antilochus, for the goodly mettle +of the mare of Agamemnon, fair-maned Aethe, waxed ever higher. And if the course had been yet longer for the twain, then had he passed him by, neither left the issue in doubt. But Meriones, valiant squire of Idomeneus, was a spear-cast behind glorious Menelaus, +for slowest of all were his fair-maned horses, and himself least skilled to drive a chariot in the race. And the son of Admetus came in last, behind all the rest, dragging his fair chariot and driving his horses before him. And at sight of him swift-footed, goodly Achilles had pity +and he stood up amid the Argives, and spake winged words: + +Lo, in the last place driveth his single-hooved horses the man that is far the best. But come, let us give him a prize, as is meet, a prize for the second place; but the first let the son of Tydeus bear away. + + +So spake he, and they all assented even as he bade. +And now would he have given him the mare —for the Achaeans assented thereto —but that Antilochus, son of great-souled Nestor, uprose and answered Achilles, son of Peleus, to claim his due: + +Achilles, sore wroth shall I be with thee if thou fulfill this word, for thou art minded to rob me of my prize, +bethinking thee of this, how his chariot and his swift honses came to harm, and himself withal, good man though he be. Nay, he should have made prayer to the immortals, then had he nowise come in last of all in the race. But if so be thou pitiest him, and he be dear to thy heart, lo, in thy hut is great store of gold, and bronze is there +and sheep, aye, and handmaids too, and single-hooved horses. Thereof do thou hereafter take and give him even a goodlier prize, or even now forthwith, that the Achaeans may applaud thee. But the mare will I not yield; for her let any man that will, essay to do battle with me by might of hand. + +So spake he , and swift-footed, goodly Achilles smiled, having joy in Antilochus, for that he was his dear comrade; and he made answer, and spake to him winged words: + +Antilochus, if thou wilt have men give to Eumelus some other thing from out my house as a further prize, even this will I do. +I will give him the corselet that I took from Asteropaeus; of bronze is it, and thereon is set in circles a casting of bright tin, and it shall be to him a thing of great worth. + + +He spake, and bade his dear comrade Automedon bring it from the hut and he went and brought it, +and placed it in Eumelus' hands and he received it gladly. +Then among them uprose also Menelaus, sore vexed at heart, furiously wroth at Antilochus; and a herald gave the staff into his hand, and proclaimed silence among the Argives; and thereafter spake among them the godlike man: + +Antilochus, thou that aforetime wast wise, what a thing hast thou wrought! Thou hast put my skill to shame and hast thwarted my horses, thrusting to the front thine own that were worser far. Come now, ye leaders and rulers of the Argives, judge ye aright betwixt us twain, neither have regard unto either, +lest in aftertime some one of the brazen-coated Achaeans shall say: ‘Over Antilochus did Menelaus prevail by lies, and depart with the mare, for that his horses were worser far, but himself the mightier in worth and in power.’ Nay, but I will myself declare the right, and I deem that +none other of the Danaans shall reproach me, for my judgement shall be just. Antilochus, fostered of Zeus, up, come thou hither and, as is the appointed way, stand thou before thy horses and chariot, and take in hand the slender lash with which aforetimethou wast wont to drive, and laying thy hand on thy horses swear by him that holdeth and shaketh the earth +that not of thine own will didst thou hinder my chariot by guile. + + +Then in turn wise Antilochus answered him: + +Bear with me, now, for far younger am I than thou, king Menelaus, and thou art the elder and the better man. Thou knowest of what sort are the transgressions of a man that he is young, +for hasty is he of purpose and but slender is his wit. Wherefore let thy heart be patient; the mare that I have won will I give thee of my self. Aye, and if thou shouldst ask some other goodlier thing from out my house, forthwith were I fain to give it thee out of hand, rather than all my days be cast out of thy heart, thou nurtured of Zeus, +and be a sinner in the eyes of the gods. + + +So spake the son of great-souled Nestor, and led up the mare, and gave her into the hands of Menelaus. And his heart was gladdened even as the corn when with the dew upon the ears it waxeth ripe, what time the fields are bristling. +In such wise, Menelaus, was thy heart gladdened in thy breast. Then he spake winged words unto Antilochos, saying: + +Antilochus, lo now, I of myself cease from mine anger against thee, since nowise flighty or light of wit wast thou of old, albeit now hath thy youth got the better of thy reason. +Another time seek not to outwit thy betters. Verily not soon should another of the Achaeans have persuaded me, but thou hast suffered greatly and toiled greatly, thou and thy brave father and thy brother, for my sake; wherefore I will hearken to thy prayer, aye, +and will give unto thee the mare, for all she is mine own, to the end that these too may know that my heart is never over-haughty neither unbending. + + +He spake, and gave the mare unto Nosmon, the comrade of Antilochus, to lead away, and himself thereafter took the shining cauldron. And Meriones took up the two talents of gold in the fourth place, +even as he drave; but the fifth prize was left unclaimed, even the two-handled urn. Unto Nestor Achilles gave this, bearing it through the gathering of the Argives; and he came to his side, and said + +Take this now, old sire, and let it be treasure for thee, a memorial of Patroclus' burying; for nevermore shalt thou behold him +among the Argives. Lo, I give thee this prize unwon; for not in boxing shalt thou contend, neither in wrestling, nor shalt thou enter the lists for the casting of javelins, neither run upon thy feet; for now grievous old age weigheth heavy upon thee. + + +So saying he placed the urn in his arms, and Nestor received it gladly, +and spake, and addressed him with winged words : + +Aye, verily, my son, all this hast thou spoken aright, for my limbs, even my feet, are no more firm, O my friend, as of old, nor do my arms as of old dart out lightly from my shoulders on either side. Would that I were young, and my strength were firm +as on the day when the Epeians were burying lord Amarynceus at Buprasium, and his sons appointed prizes in honour of the king. Then was there no man that proved himself my peer, neither of the Epeians nor of Pylians themselves nor of the great-souled Aetolians. In boxing I overcame Clytomedes, son of Enops, +and in wrestling Ancaeus of Pleuron, who stood up against me; Iphiclus I outran in the foot-race, good man though he was; and in casting the spear I outthrew Phyleus and Polydorus. In the chariot race alone the twain sons of Actor outstripped me by force of numbers crowding their horses to the front, being exceeding jealous for victory, +for that the goodliest prize abode yet there in the lists. Twin brethren were they— the one drave with sure hand, drave with sure hand, while the other plied the goad. Thus was I on a time, but now let men that be younger face such-like tasks; me it behoveth to yield to grievous old age, +but then was I pre-eminent among warriors. But come, for thy comrade too hold thou funeral rites with contests. For this gift, I receive it with gladness, and my heart rejoiceth that thou rememberest me, thy friend, neither am I forgotten of thee, and the honour wherewith it beseemeth that I be honoured among the Achaeans. +And to thee may the gods in requital thereof grant grace to satisfy thy heart. + + +So spake he, and the son of Peleus went his way through the great throng of the Achaeans, when he had hearkened to all the praise of the son of Neleus. Then set he forth prizes for grievous boxing. A sturdy mule he brought and tethered in the place of gathering, +a mule of six years, unbroken, the which is hardest of all to break; and for him that should be worsted he appointed a two-handled cup. Then he stood up, and spake among the Argives, saying: + +Son of Atreus, and ye other well-greaved Achaeans, for these prizes we invite warriors twain, the best there are, to lift up their hands and box amain. +Let him to whom Apollo shall grant strength to endure, and all the Achaeans have knowledge thereof, go his way to his hut leading the sturdy muIe; but he that is worsted shall bear as his prize the two-handled cup. + + +So spake he, and forthwith uprose a man valiant and tall, +well-skilled in boxing, even Epeius, son of Panopeus; and he laid hold of the sturdy mule, and spake, saying: + +Let him draw nigh, whoso is to bear as his prize the two-handled cup: the mule I deem that none other of the Achaeans shall lead away, by worsting me with his fists, for I avow me to be the best man. +Sufficeth it not that I fall short in battle? One may not, meseemeth, prove him a man of skill in every work. For thus will I speak, and verily this thing shall be brought to pass : utterly will I rend his flesh and crush his bones. Wherefore let them that be next of kin abide here in a throng, +that they may bear him forth when worsted by my hands. + + +So spake he, and they all became hushed in silence. Euryalus alone uprose to face him, a godlike man, son of king Mecisteus, son of Talaus, who on a time had come to Thebes for the burial of Oedipus, +when he had fallen, and there had worsted all the sons of Cadmus. And Tydeus' son, famed for his spear, made Euryalus ready, heartening him with words, and much he wished for him victory. A girdle first he cast about him, and thereafter gave him well-cut thongs of the hide of an ox of the field. +So the twain, when they had girded themselves, stepped into the midst of the place of gathering, and lifting their mighty hands on high one against the other, fell to, and their hands clashed together in heavy blows. Dread then was the grinding of their teeth, and the sweat flowed on every side from off their limbs But upon him goodly Epeius rushed +as he peered for an opening,and smote him on the cheek, nor after that, methinks, did he long stand upright, for even there did his glorious limbs sink beneath him. And as when beneath the ripple of the North Wind a fish leapeth up on the tangle-strewn sand of a shallow, and then the black wave hideth it, even so leapt up Euryalus when he was smitten. But great-souled Epeius +took him in his hands and set him on his feet, and his dear comrades thronged about him and led him through the place of gathering with trailing feet, spitting out clotted blood and letting his head hang to one side; and they brought him wandering in his wits and set him down in the midst of their company, and themselves went and fetched the two-handled cup. + +Then the son of Peleus forthwith ordained in the sight of the Danaans other prizes for a third contest, even for toilsome wrestling — for him that should win, a great tripod to stand upon the fire, that the Achaeans prized amongst them at the worth of twelve oxen; and for him that should be worsted he set in the midst a woman +of manifold skill in handiwork, and they prized her at the worth of four oxen. And he stood up and spake among the Argives saying: + +Up now, ye twain that will make essay likewise in this contest. + + So spake he, and thereat arose great Telamonian Aias, and up stood Odysseus of many wiles, he of guileful mind. +Then the twain, when they had girded themselves, stepped into the midst of the place of gathering, and laid hold each of the other in close grip with their mighty hands, even as the gable-rafters of a high house, which some famous craftsman joineth together, that he may have shelter from the might of the winds. And their backs creaked beneath the violent tugging of bold hands, +and the sweat flowed down in streams; and many a weal, red with blood, sprang up along their ribs and shoulders; and ever they strove amain for victory, to win the fashioned tripod. Neither might Odysseus avail to trip Aias and throw him to the ground, +nor Aias him, for the mighty strength of Odysseus held firm. But when at the last they were like to weary the well-greaved Achaeans, then unto Odysseus spake great Telamonian Aias, saying: + +Zeus-born, son of Laertes, Odysseus of many wiles, lift thou me, or let me lift thee; but the issue shall rest with Zeus. + +He spake, and lifted him; but Odysseus forgat not his guile. He smote with a sure blow the hollow of Aias' knee from behind, and loosed his limbs, so that he was thrown backward, and Odysseus fell upon his chest; and the people gazed thereon and were seized with wonder. Then in his turn the much-enduring goodly Odysseus essayed to lift, +and moved him a little from the ground, but lifted him not, howbeit he crooked his knee within that of Aias, and upon the ground the twain fell one hard by the other, and were befouled with dust. And now would they have sprung up again for the third time and have wrestled, but that Achilles himself uprose, and held them back: +No longer strain ye now, neither be worn with pain. Victory is with you both; take then equa1 prizes and go your ways, that other Achaeans too may strive. + + +So spake he, and they readily hearkened to him and obeyed, and wiping from their bodies the dust they put upon them their tunics. + +Then the son of Peleus straightway set forth other prizes for fleetness of foot: a mixingbowl of silver, richly wrought; six measures it held, and in beauty it was far the goodliest in all the earth, seeing that Sidonians, well skilled in deft handiwork, had wrought it cunningly, and men of the Phoenicians brought it over the murky deep, and landed it in harbour, +and gave it as a gift to Thoas; and as a ransom for Lycaon, son of Priam, Jason's son Euneos gave it to the warrior Patroclus. This bowl did Achilles set forth as a prize in honour of his comrade, even for him whoso should prove fleetest in speed of foot. +For the second again he set an ox great and rich with fat; and a half-talent in gold he appointed for the last. And he stood up, and spake among the Argives saying: + +Up now, ye that will make essay likewise in this contest. + + So spake he, and forthwith uprose swift Aias, son of Oïleus, +and Odysseus of many wiles, and after them Antilochus, Nestor's son, for he surpassed all the youths in swiftness of foot. Then took they their places in a row, and Achilles showed them the goal, and a course was marked out for them from the turning-point. +551.1 + Then speedily the son of Oïleus forged to the front, and close after him sped goodly Odysseus; +close as is the weaving-rod to the breast of a fair-girdled woman, when she deftly draweth it in her hands, pulling the spool past the warp, and holdeth the rod nigh to her breast; +551.2 + even so close behind ran Odysseus, +and his feet trod in the footsteps of Aias or ever the dust had settled therein, and down upon his head beat the breath of goodly Odysseus, as he ran ever swiftly on; and all the Achaeans shouted to further him as he struggled for victory, and called to him as he strained to the utmost. But when now they were running the last part of the course, straightway Odysseus made prayer in his heart to flashing-eyed Athene: +Hear me, goddess, and come a goodly helper to my feet. + + So spake he in prayer, and Pallas Athene heard him, and made his limbs light, his feet and his hands above. But when they were now about to dart forth to win the prize, then Aias slipped as he ran—for Athene hampered him— +where was strewn the filth from the slaying of the loud bellowing bulls that swift-footed Achilles had slain in honour of Patroclus; and with the filth of the bulls were his mouth and nostrils filled. So then much-enduring, goodly Odysseus took up the bowl, seeing he came in the first, and glorious Aias took the ox. +And he stood holding in his hands the horn of the ox of the field, spewing forth the filth; and he spake among the Argives: + +Out upon it, lo, the goddess hampered me in my running, she that standeth ever by Odysseus' side like a mother, and helpeth him. + + +So spake he, but they all laughed merrily at him. +Then Antilochus bare away the last prize, smiling the while, and spake among the Argives, saying: + +Among you all that know it well, will I declare, my friends, that even to this day the immortals shew honour to older men. For Aias is but a little older than I, +whereas Odysseus is of an earlier generation and of earlier men—a green old age is his, men say—yet hard were he for any other Achaean to contend with in running, save only for Achilles. + + +So spake he,and gave glory to the son of Peleus, swift of foot. And Achilles made answer, and spake to him, saying: +Antilochus, not in vain shall thy word of praise be spoken; nay, I will add to thy prize a half-talent of gold. + + +So saying, he set it in his hands, and Antilochus received it gladly. But the son of Peleus brought and set in the place of gathering a far-shadowing spear, and therewith a shield and helmet, +the battlegear of Sarpedon, that Patroclus stripped from him; and he stood up, and spake among the Argives, saying: + +To win these prizes invite we warriors twain, the best there are, to clothe them in their armour and take bronze that cleaveth the flesh, and so make trial each of the other before the host. +Whoso of the twain shall first reach the other's fair flesh, and touch the inward parts through armour and dark blood, to him will I give this silver-studded sword—a goodly Thracian sword which I took from Asteropaeus; and these arms let the twain bear away to hold in common; +and a goodly banquet shall we set before them in our huts. + + +So spake he, and thereat arose great Telamonian Aias, and up rose the son of Tydeus, stalwart Diomedes. So when they had armed them on either side of the throng, into the midst strode the twain, eager for battle, +glaring terribly; and amazement held all the Achaeans. But when they were come near as they advanced one against the other, thrice they set upon each other, and thrice they clashed together. Then Aias thrust upon the shield, that was well-balanced upon every side, but reached not the flesh, for the corselet within kept off the spear. +But Tydeus' son over the great shield sought ever to reach the neck with the point of his shining spear. Then verily the Achaeans, seized with fear for Aias, bade them cease and take up equal prizes. Howbeit to Tydeus' son the warrior gave the great sword, +bringing it with its scabbard and its well-cut baldric. + + +Then the son of Peleus set forth a mass of rough-cast iron, which of old the mighty strength of Eëtion was wont to hurl; but him had swift-footed goodly Achilles slain, and bare this away on his ships with his other possessions. +And he stood up, and spake among the Argives, saying : + +Up now, ye that will make essay likewise in this contest. Though his rich fields lie very far remote, the winner hereof will have it five revolving years to serve his need; for not through lack of iron will his shepherd or ploughman +fare to the city; nay, this will supply them. + + +So spake he, and thereat arose Polypoetes, staunch in fight, and the mighty strength of godlike Leonteus, and Aias, son of Telamon, and goodly Epeius. Then they took their places in order, and goodly Epeius grasped the mass, +and whirled and flung it; and all the Achaeans laughed aloud thereat. Then in turn Leonteus, scion of Ares, made a cast; and thirdly great Telamonian Aias hurled it from his strong hand, and sent it past the marks of all. But when Polypoetes, staunch in fight, +grasped the mass, far as a herdsman flings his crook, and it flieth whirling over the herds of kine, even so far cast he it beyond all the gathering; and the folk shouted aloud. And the comrades of strong Polypoetes rose up and bare to the hollow ships the prize of the king. + +Then for the archers he set forth as a prize dark iron—ten double axes laid he down, and ten single; and he set up the mast of a dark-prowed ship far off in the sands, and with a slender cord made fast thereto by the foot a timorous dove, and bade shoot thereat. +Whoso shall hit the timorous dove let him take up all the double axes and bear them home, and whoso shall hit the cord, albeit he miss the bird: lo, his is the worser shot; he shall bear as his prize the single axes. + + +So spake he, and there arose the might of the prince Teucer, +and Meriones the valiant squire of Idomeneus. Then took they the lots and shook them in a helmet of bronze, and Teucer drew by lot the first place. Forthwith he let fly an arrow with might, howbeit he vowed not that he would sacrifice to the king a glorious hecatomb of firstling lambs. +So he missed the bird, for Apollo grudged him that, but hit the cord beside its foot wherewith the bird was tied, and clean away the bitter arrow cut the cord. Then the dove darted skyward, and the cord hung loose toward earth; and the Achaeans shouted aloud. +But Meriones speedily snatched the bow from Teucer's hand—an arrow had he long been holding while Teucer aimed—and vowed forthwith that he would sacrifice to Apollo that smiteth afar a glorious hecatomb of firstling lambs. High up beneath the cloud he spied the timorous dove; +there as she circled round he struck her in the midst beneath the wing, and clean through passed the shaft, and fell again and fixed itself in the ground before the foot of Meriones; but the dove, lighting on the mast of the dark-prowed ship, hung down her head, and her thick plumage drooped. +Swiftly the life fled from her limbs, and she fell far from the mast; and the people gazed thereon and were seized with wonder. And Meriones took up all ten double axes, and Teucer bare the single to the hollow ships. +Then the son of Peleus brought and set in the place of gathering a far-shadowing spear +and a cauldron, that the fire had not yet touched, of an ox's worth, embossed with flowers; and men that were hurlers of javelins arose. Up rose the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon and Meriones, the valiant squire of Idomeneus. But among them spake swift-footed, goodly Achilles: +Son of Atreus, we know how far thou excellest all, and how far thou art the best in might and in the casting of the spear; nay, take thou this prize and go thy way to the hollow ships; but the spear let us give to the warrior Meriones, if thy heart consenteth thereto: so at least would I have it: + +So spake he, and the king of men, Agamemnon, failed not to hearken. Then to Meriones he gave the spear of bronze, but the warrior handed to the herald Talthybius the beauteous prize. +Then was the gathering broken up, and the folk scattered, each man to go to his own ship. The rest bethought them of supper and of sweet sleep, to take their fill thereof; but Achilles wept, ever remembering his dear comrade, neither might sleep, +that mastereth all, lay hold of him, but he turned him ever to this side or to that, yearning for the man-hood and valorous might of Patroclus, thinking on all he had wrought with him and all the woes he had borne, passing though wars of men and the grievous waves. Thinking thereon he would shed big tears, +lying now upon his side, now upon his back, and now upon his face; and then again he would rise upon his feet and roam distraught along the shore of the sea. Neither would he fail to mark the Dawn, as she shone over the sea and the sea-beaches, but would yoke beneath the car his swift horses, +and bind Hector behind the chariot to drag him withal; and when he had haled him thrice about the barrow of the dead son of Menoetius, he would rest again in his hut, but would leave Hector outstretched on his face in the dust. Howbeit Apollo kept all defacement from his flesh, pitying the warrior +even in death, and with the golden aegis he covered him wholly, that Achilles might not tear his body as he dragged him. + + +Thus Achilles in his fury did foul despite unto goodly Hector; but the blessed gods had pity on him as they beheld him, and bestirred the keen-sighted Argeiphontes to steal away the corpse. +And the thing was pleasing unto all the rest, yet not unto Hera or Poseidon or the flashing-eyed maiden, but they continued even as when at the first sacred Ilios became hateful in their eyes and Priam and his folk, by reason of the sin of Alexander, for that he put reproach upon those goddesses when they came to his steading, +and gave precedence to her who furthered his fatal lustfulness. But when at length the twelfth morn thereafter was come, then among the immortals spake Phoebus Apollo: + +Cruel are ye, O ye gods, and workers of bane. Hath Hector then never burned for you thighs of bulls and goats without blemish? +Him now have ye not the heart to save, a corpse though he be, for his wife to look upon and his mother and his child, and his father Priam and his people, who would forthwith burn him in the fire and pay him funeral rites. Nay, it is the ruthless Achilles, O ye gods, that ye are fain to succour, +him whose mind is nowise right, neither the purpose in his breast one that may be bent; but his heart is set on cruelty, even as a lion that at the bidding of his great might and lordly spirit goeth forth against the flocks of men to win him a feast; even so hath Achilles lost all pity, neither is shame in his heart, +the which harmeth men greatly and profiteth them withal. Lo, it may be that a man hath lost one dearer even than was this—a brother, that the selfsame mother bare, or haply a son; yet verily when he hath wept and wailed for him he maketh an end; for an enduring soul have the Fates given unto men. +But this man, when he hath reft goodly Hector of life, bindeth him behind his chariot and draggeth him about the barrow of his dear comrade; in sooth neither honour nor profit shall he have therefrom. Let him beware lest we wax wroth with him, good man though he be; for lo, in his fury he doth foul despite unto senseless clay. + +Then stirred to anger spake to him white-armed Hera: + +Even this might be as thou sayest, Lord of the silver bow, if indeed ye gods will vouchsafe like honour to Achilles and to Hector. Hector is but mortal and was suckled at a woman's breast, but Achilles is the child of a goddess that I mine own self +fostered and reared, and gave to a warrior to be his wife, even to Peleus, who was heartily dear to the immortals. And all of you, O ye gods, came to her marriage, and among them thyself too didst sit at the feast, thy lyre in thy hand, O thou friend of evil-doers, faithless ever. + + +Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered her, and said: +Hera, be not thou utterly wroth against the gods; the honour of these twain shall not be as one; howbeit Hector too was dearest to the gods of all mortals that are in Ilios. So was he to me at least, for nowise failed he of acceptable gifts. For never was my altar in lack of the equal feast, +the drink-offiering and the savour of burnt-offering, even the worship that is our due. Howbeit of the stealing away of bold Hector will we naught; it may not be but that Achilles would be ware thereof; for verily his mother cometh ever to his side alike by night and day. But I would that one of the gods would call Thetis to come unto me, +that I may speak to her a word of wisdom, to the end that Achilles may accept gifts from Priam, and give Hector back. + + + So spake he, and storm-footed Iris hasted to bear his message, and midway between Samos and rugged Imbros she leapt into the dark sea, and the waters sounded loud above her. +Down sped she to the depths hike a plummet of lead, the which, set upon the horn of an ox of the field, goeth down bearing death to the ravenous fishes. And she found Thetis in the hollow cave, and round about her other goddesses of the sea sat in a throng, and she in their midst +was wailing for the fate of her peerless son, who to her sorrow was to perish in deep-soiled Troy, far from his native land. And swift-footed Iris drew near, and spake to her: + +Rouse thee, 0 Thetis; Zeus, whose counsels are everlasting, calleth thee. + + Then spake in answer Thetis, the silver-footed goddess: +Wherefore summoneth me that mighty god? I have shame to mingle in the company of the immortals, seeing I have measurehess griefs at heart. Howbeit I will go, neither shall his word be vain, whatsoever he shall speak. + + +So saying, the fair goddess took a dark-hued veil, than which was no raiment more black, +and set out to go, and before her wind-footed swift Iris led the way; and about them the surge of the sea parted asunder. And when they had stepped forth upon the beach they sped unto heaven; and they found the son of Cronos, whose voice is borne afar, and around him sat gathered together all the other blessed gods that are for ever. +Then she sate her down beside father Zeus, and Athene gave place. And Hera set in her hand a fair golden cup, and spake words of cheer.; and Thetis drank, and gave back the cup. Then among them the father of men and gods was first to speak: + +Thou art come to Olympus, 0, goddess Thetis, +for all thy sorrow, though thou hast comfortless grief at heart; I know it of myself; yet even so will I tell thee wherefore I called thee hither. For nine days' space hath strife arisen among the immortals as touching the corpse of Hector and Achilles, sacker of cities. They are for bestirring the keen-sighted Argeiphontes to steal the body away, +yet herein do I accord honour unto Achilles; for I would fain keep in time to come thy worship and thy love. Haste thee with all speed to the host and declare unto thy son my bidding. Say unto him that the gods are angered with him, and that I above all immortals am filled with wrath, for that in the fury of his heart +he holdeth Hector at the beaked ships and gave him not back, if so be he may be seized with fear of me and give Hector back. But I will send forth Iris unto great-hearted Priam, to bid him go to the ships of the Achaeans to ransom his dear son, and to bear gifts unto Achilles which shall make glad his heart. + +So spake he, and the goddess, silver-footed Thetis, failed not to hearken, but went darting down from the peaks of Olympus, and came to the hut of her son. There she found him groaning ceaselessly, and round about him his dear comrades with busy haste were making ready their early meal, +and in the hut a ram, great and shaggy, lay slaughtered for them. Then she, his queenly mother, sate her down close by his side and stroked him with her hand, and spake, and called him by name: + +My child, how long wilt thou devour thine heart with weeping and sorrowing, and wilt take no thought of food, +neither of the couch? Good were it for thee even to have dalliance in a woman's embrace. For, I tell thee, thou shalt not thyself be long in life, but even now doth death stand hard by thee and mighty fate. But hearken thou forthwith unto me, for I am a messenger unto thee from Zeus. He declareth that that the gods are angered with thee, +and that himself above all immortals is filled with wrath, for that in the fury of thine heart thou holdest Hector at the beaked ships, and gavest him not back. Nay come, give him up, and take ransom for the dead. + + +Then in answer to her spake Achilles, swift of foot: + +So let it be; whoso bringeth ransom, let him bear away the dead, +if verily with full purpose of heart the Olympian himself so biddeth. + + +On this wise amid the gathering of the ships mother and son spake many winged words one to the other, but the son of Cronos sent forth Iris to sacred Ilios: + +Up, go, swift Iris; leave thou the abode of Olympus +and bear tidings within Ilios unto great-hearted Priam that he go to the ships of the Achaeans to ransom his dear son, and that he bear gifts unto Achilles which shall make glad his heart; alone let him go, neither let any man beside of the Trojans go with him. A herald may attend him, an elder man, +to guide the mules and the light-running waggon, and to carry back to the city the dead, even him that Achilles slew. Let not death be in his thoughts. neither any fear; such a guide will we give him, even Argeiphontes, who shall lead him, until in his leading he bring him nigh to Achilles. +And when he shall have led him into the hut, neither shall Achilles himself slay him nor suffer any other to slay; for not without wisdom is he, neither without purpose, nor yet hardened in sin; nay, with all kindliness will he spare a suppliant man. + + +So spake he, and storm-footed Iris hasted to bear his message. +She came to the house of Priam, and found therein clamour and wailing. His sons sat about their father within the court sullying their garments with their tears, and in their midst was the old king close-wrapped in his mantle; and upon the old man's head and neck was filth in abundance, +which he had gathered in his hands as he grovelled on the earth. And his daughters and his sons' wives were wailing throughout the house, bethinking them of the warriors many and valiant who were lying low, slain by the hands of the Argives. And the messenger of Zeus drew nigh to Priam, and spake to him; +softly she uttered her voice, yet trembling gat hold of his limbs: + +Be of good courage, O Priam, son of Dardanus, and fear thou not at all. Not to forbode any evil to thee am I come hither, but with good intent. I am a messenger to thee from Zeus, who far away though he be, hath exceeding care for thee and pity. +The Olympian biddeth thee ransom goodly Hector, and bear gifts to Achilles which shall make glad his heart; alone do thou go, neither let any man beside of the Trojans go with thee. A herald may attend thee, an elder man, to guide the mules and the light-running waggon, +and to carry back to the city the dead, even him that Achilles slew. Let not death be in thy thoughts, neither any fear; such a guide shall go with thee, even Argeiphontes, who shall lead thee, until in his heading he bring thee nigh to Achilles. And when he shall have led thee into the hut, +neither shall Achilles himself slay thee nor suffer any other to slay; for not without wisdom is he, neither without purpose, nor yet hardened in sin; nay, with all kindliness will he spare a suppliant man. + + +When she had thus spoken swift-footed Iris departed; but the king bade his sons +make ready the running mule waggon, and bind the wicker box thereon. And himself he went down to the vaulted treasure-chamber, fragrant of cedar wood and high of roof, that held jewels full many: and he called to him Hecabe his wife, and spake: + +Lady, from Zeus hath an Olympian messenger come to me, +that I go to the ships of the Achaeans to ransom my dear son, and that I bear gifts to Achilles which shall make glad his heart. But come, tell me this, how seemeth it to thy mind? For as touching mine own self, wondrously doth the desire of my heart bid me go thither to the ships, into the wide camp of the Achaeans. + +So spake he, but his wife uttered a shrill cry, and spake in answer: + +Ah, woe is me, whither now is gone the wisdom for the which of old thou wast famed among stranger folk and among them thou rulest? How art thou fain to go alone to the ships of the Achaeans to meet the eyes of the man who +hath slain thy sons, many and valiant? Of iron verily is thy heart. For if so be he get thee in his power and his eyes behold thee, so savage and faithless is the man, he will neither pity thee nor anywise have reverence. Nay, let us now make our lament afar from him we mourn, abiding here in the hall. On this wise for him did mighty Fate spin +with her thread at his birth, when myself did bear him, that he should glut swift-footed dogs far from his parents, in the abode of a violent man, in whose inmost heart I were fain to fix my teeth and feed thereon; then haply might deeds of requital be wrought for my son, seeing in no wise while playing the dastard was he slain of him, +but while standing forth in defence of the men and deep-bosomed women of Troy, with no thought of shelter or of flight. + + +Then in answer spake unto her the old man, god-like Priam: + +Seek not to stay me that am fain to go, neither be thyself a bird of ill-boding in my halls; thou shalt not persuade me. +For if any other of the men that are upon the face of the earth had bidden me this, whether of seers that divine from sacrifice or of priests, a false thing might we deem it, and turn away therefrom the more; but now—for myself I heard the voice of the goddess and looked upon her face—I will go forth, neither shall her word be vain. And if it be my fate +to lie dead by the ships of the brazen-coated Achaeans, so would I have it; forthwith let Achilles slay me, when once I have clasped in my arms my son, and have put from me the desire for wailing. + + +He spake, and opened the goodly lids of chests, wherefrom he took twelve beauteous robes +and twelve cloaks of single fold, and as many coverlets, and as many white mantles, and therewithal as many tunics. And of gold he weighed out and bare forth talents, ten in all, and two gleaming tripods, and four cauldrons, and a cup exceeding fair, that the men of Thrace had given him +when he went thither on an embassage, a great treasure; not even this did the old man spare in his halls, for he was exceeding fain to ransom his dear son. Then drave he all the Trojans from out the portico, and chid them with words of reviling: + +Get ye hence, wretches, ye that work me shame! +Have ye not also lamentation at home, that ye come hither to vex me? Count ye it not enough that Zeus, son of Cronos, hath brought this sorrow upon me, that I should lose my son the best of all? Nay, but yourselves too shall know it, for easier shall ye be, now he is dead, for the Achaeans to slay. +But for me, or ever mine eyes behold the city sacked and laid waste, may I go down into the house of Hades. + + +He spake, and plying his staff went among the men, and they went forth from before the old man in his haste. Then called he aloud to his sons, chiding Helenus and Paris and goodly Agathon +and Pammon and Antiphonus and Polites, good at the war-cry, and Deiphobus and Hippothous and lordly Dius. To these nine the old man called aloud, and gave command: + +Haste ye, base children that are my shame; would that ye all together in Hector's stead had been slain at the swift ships! +Woe is me, that am all unblest, seeing that I begat sons the best in the broad land of Troy, yet of them I avow that not one is left, not godlike Mestor, not Troilus the warrior charioteer, not Hector that was a god among men, neither seemed he as the son of a mortal man, but of a god: +all them hath Ares slain, yet these things of shame are all left me, false of tongue, nimble of foot, peerless at beating the floor in the dance, robbers of lambs and kids from your own folk. Will ye not make me ready a waggon, and that with speed, and lay all these things therein, that we may get forward on our way? + +So spake he, and they, seized with fear of the rebuke of their father, brought forth the light-running waggon drawn of mules, fair and newly-wrought, and bound upon it the wicker box; and down from its peg they took the mule-yoke, a box-wood yoke with a knob thereon, well-fitted with guiding-rings; +and they brought forth the yoke-band of nine cubits, and therewithal the yoke. The yoke they set with care upon the polished pole at the upturned end thereof, and cast the ring upon the thole; and they bound it fast to the knob with three turns to left and right, and thereafter made it fast to the post, and bent the hook thereunder. +Then they brought forth from the treasure-chamber and heaped upon the polished waggon the countless ransom for Hector's head, and yoked the strong-hooved mules that toil in harness, which on a time the Mysians had given to Priam, a splendid gift. And for Priam they led beneath the yoke horses that the old king +kept for his own and reared at the polished stall. +Thus were the twain letting yoke their cars, in the high palace, even the herald and Priam, with thoughts of wisdom in their hearts, when nigh to them came Hecabe, her heart sore stricken, bearing in her right hand honey-hearted wine in a cup of gold, that they might make libation ere they went. +And she stood before the horses, and spake, saying: + +Take now, pour libation to father Zeus, and pray that thou mayest come back home from the midst of the foemen, seeing thy heart sendeth thee forth to the ships, albeit I am fain thou shouldst not go, +Thereafter make thou prayer unto the son of Cronos, lord of the dark chouds, the god of Ida, that looketh down upon all the land of Troy, and ask of him a bird of omen, even the swift messenger that to himself is dearest of birds and is mightiest in strength; let him appear upon thy right hand, to the end that marking the sign with thine own eyes, +thou mayest have trust therein, and go thy way to the ships of the Danaans of fleet steeds. But if so be Zeus whose voice is borne afar grant thee not his own messenger, then I of a surety should not urge thee on and bid thee go to the ships of the Argives, how eager soever thou be. + + +Then in answer spake unto her godlike Priam: +Wife, I will not disregard this hest of thine; for good is it to lift up hands to Zeus, if so be he will have pity. + + +Thus spake the old man, and bade the housewife that attended pour over his hands water undefiled; and the handmaid drew nigh bearing in her hands alike basin and ewer. +Then, when he had washed his hands, he took the cup from his wife and then made prayer, standing in the midst of thie court, and poured forth the wine, with a look toward heaven, and spake ahoud, saying: + +Father Zeus, that rulest from Ida, most glorious, most great, grant that I may come unto Achilles' hut as one to be welcomed and to be pitied; +and send a bird of omen, even the swift messenger that to thyself is dearest of birds and is mightiest in strength; let him appear upon my right hand, to the end that, marking the sign with mine own eyes, I may have trust therein, and go my way to the ships of the Danaans of fleet steeds. + + +So spake he in prayer, and Zeus the Counsellor heard him. +Forthwith he sent an eagle, surest of omen among winged birds, the dusky eagle, even the hunter, that men call also the black eagle. Wide as is the door of some rich man's high-roofed treasure-chamber, a door well fitted with bolts, even so wide spread his wings to this side and to that; and he appeared to them on the right, +darting across the city. And at sight of him they waxed glad, and the hearts in the breasts of all were cheered. +Then the old man made haste and stepped upon his car, and drave forth from the gateway and the echoing portico. In front the mules drew the four-wheeled waggon, +driven of wise-hearted Idaeus, and behind came the horses that the old man ever plying the lash drave swiftly through the city; and his kinsfolk all followed wailing aloud as for one faring to his death. But when they had gone down from the city and were come to the plain, +back then to Ilios turned his sons and his daughters' husbands; howbeit the twain were not unseen of Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, as they came forth upon the plain, but as he saw the old man he had pity, and forthwith spake to Hermes, his dear son: + +Hermes, seeing thou lovest above all others to companion a man, +and thou givest ear to whomsoever thou art minded up, go and guide Priam unto the hollow ships of the Achaeans in such wise that no man may see him or be ware of him among all the Damans, until he be come to the son of Peleus. + + +So spake he, and the messenger, Argeiphontes, failed not to hearken. +Straightway he bound beneath his feet his beautiful sandals, immortal, golden, which were wont to bear him over the waters of the sea and over the boundless land swift as the blasts of the wind. And he took the wand wherewith he lulls to sleep the eyes of whom he will, while others again he awakens even out of slumber. +With this in his hand the strong Argeiphontes flew, and quickly came to Troy-land and the Hellespont. Then went he his way in the likeness of a young man that is a prince, with the first down upon his lip, in whom the charm of youth is fairest. +Now when the others had driven past the great barrow of Ilus, +they halted the mules and the horses in the river to drink; for darkness was by now come down over the earth. Then the herald looked and was ware of Hermes hard at hand, and he spake to Priam, saying: + +Bethink thee, son of Dardanus, +here is somewhat that calls for prudent thought. I see a man, and anon methinks shall we be cut to pieces. Come, let us flee in thie chariot, or at least clasp his knees and entreat him, if so be he will have pity. + + +So spake he, and the old man's mind was confounded and he was sore afraid, and up stood the hair on his pliant limbs, +and he stood in a daze. But of himself the Helper drew nigh, and took the ohd man's hand, and made question of him, saying: + +Whither, Father, dost thou thus guide horses and mules through the immortal night when other mortals are sleeping? Art thou untouched by fear of the fury-breathing Achaeans, +hostile men and ruthless that are hard anigh thee? If one of them should espy thee bearing such store of treasure through the swift bhack night, what were thy counsel then? Thou art not young thyself, and thy companion here is old, that ye should defend you against a man, when one waxes wroth without a cause. +But as for me, I will nowise harm thee, nay, I will even defend thee against another; for like unto my dear father art thou in mine eyes. + + +Then the old man, godlike Priam, answered him: + +Even so, dear son, are all these things as thou dost say. Howbeit still hath some god stretched out his hand even over me, +seeing he hath sent a way-farer such as thou to meet me, a bringer of blessing, so wondrous in form and comeliness, and withal thou art wise of heart; blessed parents are they from whom thou art sprung. + + +Then again the messenger, Argeiphontes, spake to him: + +Yea verily, old sire, all this hast thou spoken according to right. +But come, tell me this, and declare it truly, whether thou art bearing forth these many treasures and goodly unto some foreign folk, where they may abide for thee in safety, or whether by now ye are all forsaking holy Ilios in fear; so great a warrior, the noblest of all, hath perished, +even thy son; for never held he back from warring with the Achaeans. + + +And the old man, godlike Priam, answered him: + +Who art thou, noble youth, and from what parents art thou sprung, seeing thou speakest thus fitly of the fate of my hapless son? + + +Then again the messenger, Argeiphontes, spake to him: +Thou wouldest make trial of me, old sire, in asking me of goodly Hector. Him have mine eyes full often seen in battle, where men win glory, and when after driving the Argives to the ships he would slay them in havoc with the sharp bronze; and we stood there and marvelled, +for Achilles would not suffer us to fight, being filled with wrath against the son of Atreus. His squire am I, and the selfsame well-wrought ship brought us hither. Of the Myrmidons am I one, and my father is Polyctor. Rich in substance is he, and an old man even as thou, and six sons hath he, and myself the seventh. +From these by the casting of lots was I chosen to fare hitherward. And now am I come to the plain from the ships; for at dawn the bright-eyed Achaeans will set the battle in array about the city. For it irketh them that they sit idle here, nor can the kings of the Achaeans avail to hold them back in their eagerness for war. + +And the old man, godlike Priam, answered him: + +If thou art indeed a squire of Peleus' son Achilles, come now, tell me all the truth, whether my son is even yet by the ships or whether by now Achilles hath hewn him limb from limb and cast him before his dogs. + +Then again the messenger Argeiphontes spake to him: + +Old sire, not yet have dogs and birds devoured him, but still he lieth there beside the ship of Achilles amid the huts as he was at the first; and this is now the twelfth day that he lieth there, yet his flesh decayeth not at all, +neither do worms consume it, such as devour men that be slain in fight. Truly Achilles draggeth him ruthlessly about the barrow of his dear comrade, so oft as sacred Dawn appeareth, howbeit he marreth him not; thou wouldst thyself marvel, wert thou to come and see how dewy-fresh he lieth, and is washen clean of blood, +neither hath anywhere pollution; and all the wounds are closed wherewith he was stricken, for many there were that drave the bronze into his flesh. In such wise do the blessed gods care for thy son, a corpse though he be, seeing he was dear unto their hearts. + + +So spake he, and the old man waxed glad, and answered, saying: +My child, a good thing is it in sooth e'en to give to the immortals such gifts as be due; for never did my son—as sure as ever such a one there was—forget in our halls the gods that hold Olympus; wherefore they have remembered this for him, even though he be in the doom of death. But come, take thou from me this fair goblet, +and guard me myself, and guide me with the speeding of the gods, until I be come unto the hut of the son of Peleus. + + +And again the messenger, Argeiphontes, spake to him: + +Thou dost make trial of me, old sire, that am younger than thou; but thou shalt not prevail upon me, seeing thou biddest me take gifts from thee while Achilles knoweth naught thereof. +Of him have I fear and awe at heart, that I should defraud him, lest haply some evil befall me hereafter. Howbeit as thy guide would I go even unto glorious Argos, attending thee with kindly care in a swift ship or on foot; nor would any man make light of thy guide and set upon thee. + +So spake the Helper, and leaping upon the chariot behind the horses quickly grasped in his hands the lash and reins, and breathed great might into the horses and mules. But when they were come to the walls and the trench that guarded the ships, even as the watchers were but now busying them about their supper, +upon all of these the messenger Argeiphontes shed sleep, and forthwith opened the gates, and thrust back the bars, and brought within Priam, and the splendid gifts upon the wain. But when they were come to the hut of Peleus' son, the lofty hut which the Myrmidons had builded for their king, +hewing therefor beams of fir —and they had roofed it over with downy thatch, gathered from the meadows; and round it they reared for him, their king, a great court with thick-set pales; and the door thereof was held by one single bar of fir that +three Achaeans were wont to drive home, and three to draw back the great bolt of the door (three of the rest, but Achilles would drive it home even of himself)—then verily the helper Hermes opened the door for the old man, and brought in the glorious gifts for the swift-footed son of Peleus; and from the chariot he stepped down to the ground and spake, saying: + +Old sire, I that am come to thee am immortal god, even Hermes; for the Father sent me to guide thee on thy way. But now verily will I go back, neither come within Achilles' sight; good cause for wrath would it be that an immortal god should thus openly be entertained of mortals. +But go thou in, and clasp the knees of the son of Peleus and entreat him by his father and his fair-haired mother and his child, that thou mayest stir his soul. + + +So spake Hermes, and departed unto high Olympus; and Priam leapt from his chariot to the ground, +and left there Idaeus, who abode holding the horses and mules; but the old man went straight toward the house where Achilles, dear to Zeus, was wont to sit. Therein he found Achilles, but his comrades sat apart: two only, the warrior Automedon and Alcimus, scion of Ares, +waited busily upon him; and he was newly ceased from meat, even from eating and drinking, and the table yet stood by his side. Unseen of these great Priam entered in, and coming close to Achilles, clasped in his hands his knees, and kissed his hands, the terrible, man-slaying hands that had slain his many sons. +And as when sore blindness of heart cometh upon a man, that in his own country slayeth another and escapeth to a land of strangers, to the house of some man of substance, and wonder holdeth them that look upon him; even so was Achilles seized with wonder at sight of godlike Priam, and seized with wonder were the others likewise, and they glanced one at the other. +But Priam made entreaty, and spake to him, saying: + +Remember thy father, O Achilles like to the gods, whose years are even as mine, on the grievous threshold of old age. Him full likely the dwellers that be round about are entreating evilly, neither is there any to ward from him ruin and bane. +Howbeit, while he heareth of thee as yet alive he hath joy at heart, and therewithal hopeth day by day that he shall see his dear son returning from Troy-land. But I—I am utterly unblest, seeing I begat sons the best in the broad land of Troy, yet of them I avow that not one is left. +Fifty I had, when the sons of the Achaeans came; nineteen were born to me of the self-same womb, and the others women of the palace bare. Of these, many as they were, furious Ares hath loosed the knees, and he that alone was left me, that by himself guarded the city and the men, +him thou slewest but now as he fought for his country, even Hector. For his sake am I now come to the ships of the Achaeans to win him back from thee, and I bear with me ransom past counting. Nay, have thou awe of the gods, Achilles, and take pity on me, remembering thine own father. Lo, I am more piteous far than he, +and have endured what no other mortal on the face of earth hath yet endured, to reach forth my hand to the face of him that hath slain my sons. + + +So spake he, and in Achilles he roused desire to weep for his father; and he took the old man by the hand, and gently put him from him. So the twain bethought them of their dead, and wept; the one for man-slaying Hector wept sore, +the while he grovelled at Achilles' feet, but Achilles wept for his own father, and now again for Patroclus; and the sound of their moaning went up through the house. But when goodly Achilles had had his fill of lamenting, and the longing therefor had departed from his heart and limbs, +forthwith then he sprang from his seat, and raised the old man by his hand, pitying his hoary head and hoary beard; and he spake and addressed him with winged words: + + Ah, unhappy man, full many in good sooth are the evils thou hast endured in thy soul. How hadst thou the heart to come alone to the ships of the Achaeans, +to meet the eyes of me that have slain thy sons many and valiant? Of iron verily is thy heart. But come, sit thou upon a seat, and our sorrows will we suffer to lie quiet in our hearts, despite our pain; for no profit cometh of chill lament. +For on this wise have the gods spun the thread for wretched mortals, that they should live in pain; and themselves are sorrowless. For two urns are set upon the floor of Zeus of gifts that he giveth, the one of ills, the other of blessings. To whomsoever Zeus, that hurleth the thunderbolt, giveth a mingled lot, +that man meeteth now with evil, now with good; but to whomsoever he giveth but of the baneful, him he maketh to be reviled of man, and direful madness driveth him over the face of the sacred earth, and he wandereth honoured neither of gods nor mortals. Even so unto Peleus did the gods give glorious gifts +from his birth; for he excelled all men in good estate and in wealth, and was king over the Myrmidons, and to him that was but a mortal the gods gave a goddess to be his wife. +Howbeit even upon him the gods brought evil, in that there nowise sprang up in his halls offspring of princely sons, but he begat one only son, doomed to an untimely fate. Neither may I tend him as he groweth old, seeing that far, far from mine own country I abide in the land of Troy, vexing thee and thy children. And of thee, old sire, we hear that of old thou wast blest; how of all that toward the sea Lesbos, the seat of Macar, encloseth, +and Phrygia in the upland, and the boundless Hellespont, over all these folk, men say, thou, old sire, wast preeminent by reason of thy wealth and thy sons. Howbeit from the time when the heavenly gods brought upon thee this bane, ever around thy city are battles and slayings of men. Bear thou up, neither wail ever ceaselessly in thy heart; for naught wilt thou avail by grieving for thy son, +neither wilt thou bring him back to life; ere that shalt thou suffer some other ill. + + + And the old man, godlike Priam, answered him: + +Seat me not anywise upon a chair, O thou fostered of Zeus, so long as Hector lieth uncared-for amid the huts; +nay, give him back with speed, that mine eyes may behold him; and do thou accept the ransom, the great ransom, that we bring. So mayest thou have joy thereof, and come to thy native land, seeing that from the first thou hast spared me. + + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows spake to him Achilles swift of foot: +Provoke me no more, old sir; I am minded even of myself to give Hector back to thee; for from Zeus there came to me a messenger, even the mother that bare me, daughter of the old man of the sea. And of thee, Priam, do I know in my heart—it nowise escapeth me—that some god led thee to the swift ships of the Achaeans. +For no mortal man, were he never so young and strong, would dare to come amid the host; neither could he then escape the watch, nor easily thrust back the bar of our doors. Wherefore now stir my heart no more amid my sorrows, lest, old sire, I spare not even thee within the huts, +my suppliant though thou art, and so sin against the behest of Zeus. + + +So spake he, and the old man was seized with fear, and hearkened to his word. But like a lion the son of Peleus sprang forth from the houses—not alone, for with him went two squires as well, even the warrior Automedon and Alcimus, +they that Achilles honoured above all his comrades, after the dead Patroclus. These then loosed from beneath the yoke the horses and mules, and led within the herald, the crier of the old king, and set him on a chair; and from the wain of goodly felloes they took the countless ransom for Hector's head. +But they left there two robes and a fair-woven tunic, to the end that Achilles might enwrap the dead therein and so give him to be borne to his home. Then Achilles called forth the hand-maids and bade them wash and anoint him, bearing him to a place apart that Priam might not have sight of his son, lest in grief of heart he should not restrain his wrath, +whenso he had sight of his son, and Achilles' own spirit be stirred to anger, and he slay him, and so sin against the behest of Zeus. So when the handmaids had washed the body and anointed it with oil, and had cast about it a fair cloak and a tunic, then Achilles himself lifted it and set it upon a bier, +and his comrades with him lifted it upon the polished waggon. Then he uttered a groan, and called by name upon his dear comrade: + +Be not thou wroth with me, Patroclus, if thou hearest even in the house of Hades that I have given back goodly Hector to his dear father, seeing that not unseemly is the ransom he hath given me. +And unto thee shall I render even of this all that is thy due. + + +So spake goodly Achilles, and went back within the hut and on the richly-wrought chair wherefrom he had risen sate him down by the opposite wall, and he spake unto Priam, saying: + +Thy son, old sire, is given back according to thy wish, +and lieth upon a bier; and at break of day thou shalt thyself behold him, as thou bearest him hence; but for this present let us bethink us of supper. For even the fair-haired Niobe bethought her of meat, albeit twelve children perished in her halls, six daughters and six lusty sons. +The sons Apollo slew with shafts from his silver bow, being wroth against Niobe, and the daughters the archer Artemis, for that Niobe had matched her with fair-cheeked Leto, saying that the goddess had borne but twain, while herself was mother to many; wherefore they, for all they were but twain, destroyed them all. +For nine days' space they lay in their blood, nor was there any to bury them, for the son of Cronos turned the folk to stones; howbeit on the tenth day the gods of heaven buried them; and Niobe bethought her of meat, for she was wearied with the shedding of tears. And now somewhere amid the rocks, on the lonely mountains, +on Sipylus, where, men say, are the couching-places of goddesses, even of the nymphs that range swiftly in the dance about Achelous, there, albeit a stone, she broodeth over her woes sent by the gods. But come, let us twain likewise, noble old sire, bethink us of meat; and thereafter shalt thou make lament over thy dear son, +when thou hast borne him into Ilios; mourned shall he be of thee many tears. + + +Therewith swift Achilles sprang up, and slew a white-fleeced sheep, and his comrades flayed it and made it ready well and duly, and sliced it cunningly and spitted the morsels, and roasted them carefully and drew all off the spits. +And Automedon took bread and dealt it forth on the table in fair baskets, while Achilles dealt the meat. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, then verily Priam, son of Dardanus, marvelled at Achilles, how tall he was and how comely; +for he was like the gods to look upon. And a son of Dardanus, did Achilles marvel, beholding his goodly aspect and hearkening to his words. But when they had had their fill of gazing one upon the other, then the old man, godlike Priam, was first to speak, saying: +Show me now my bed with speed, O thou nurtured of Zeus, that lulled at length by sweet sleep we may rest and take our joy; for never yet have mine eyes closed beneath mine eyelids since at thy hands my son lost his life, but ever do I wail and brood over my countless sorrows, +grovelling in the filth in the closed spaces of the court. But now have I tasted of meat, and have let flaming wine pass down my throat; whereas till now had I tasted naught. + + +He spake, and Achilles bade his comrades and the handmaids set bedsteads beneath the portico, +and to lay on them fair purple blankets, and to spread thereover coverlets, and on these to put fleecy cloaks for clothing. So the maids went forth from the hall with torches in their hands, and straightway spread two beds in busy haste. Then mockingly spake unto Priam Achilles, swift of foot: +Without do thou lay thee down, dear old sire, lest there come hither one of the counsellors of the Achaeans, that ever sit by my side and take counsel, as is meet. If one of these were to have sight of thee through the swift black night, forthwith might he haply tell it to Agamemnon, shepherd of the host, +and so should there arise delay in the giving back of the body. But come, tell me this, and declare it truly: for how many days' space thou art minded to make funeral for goodly Hector, to the end that for so long I may myself abide, and may keep back the host. + + +And the old man, godlike Priam, answered him: saying: +If thou indeed art willing that I accomplish for goodly Hector his burial, then in doing on this wise, O Achilles, wilt thou do according to my wish. Thou knowest how we are pent within the city, and far is it to fetch wood from the mountain, and the Trojans are sore afraid. +For nine days' space will we wail for him in our halls, and on the tenth will we make his funeral, and the folk shall feast, and on the eleventh will we heap a barrow over him, and on the twelfth will we do battle, if so be we must. + + +Then spake to him in answer swift-footed, goodly Achilles: + +Thus shall this also be aged Priam, even as thou wouldest have it; +for I will hold back the battle for such time as thou dost bid. + + +When he had thus spoken he clasped the old man's right hand by the wrist, lest his heart should any wise wax fearful. So they laid them to sleep there in the fore-hall of the house, the herald and Priam, with hearts of wisdom in their breasts; +but Achilles slept in the innermost part of the well-builded hut, and by his side lay fair-cheeked Briseis. + + +Now all the other gods and men, lords of chariots, slumbered the whole night through, overcome of soft sleep; but not upon the helper Hermes might sleep lay hold, +as he pondered in mind how he should guide king Priam forth from the ships unmarked of the strong keepers of the gate. He took his stand above his head and spake to him, saying: + +Old sire, no thought then hast thou of any evil, that thou still sleepest thus amid foemen, for that Achilles has spared thee. +Now verily hast thou ransomed thy son, and a great price thou gavest. But for thine own life must the sons thou hast, they that be left behind, give ransom thrice so great, if so be Agamemnon, Atreus' son, have knowledge of thee, or the host of the Achaeans have knowledge. + + +So spake he, and the old man was seized with fear, and made the herald to arise. +And Hermes yoked for them the horses and mules, and himself lightly drave them through the camp, neither had any man knowledge thereof. +But when they were now come to the ford of the fair-flowing river, even eddying Xanthus, that immortal Zeus begat, then Hermes departed to high Olympus, +and Dawn, the saffron-robed, was spreading over the face of all the earth. So they with moaning and wailing drave the horses to the city, and the mules bare the dead. Neither was any other ware of them, whether man or fair-girdled woman; but in truth Cassandra, peer of golden Aphrodite, +having gone up upon Pergamus, marked her dear father as he stood in the car, and the herald, the city's crier; and she had sight of that other lying on the bier in the waggon drawn of the mules. Thereat she uttered a shrill cry, and called throughout all the town: + +Come ye, men and women of Troy, and behold Hector, +if ever while yet he lived ye had joy of his coming back from battle; since great joy was he to the city and to all the folk. + + +So spake she, nor was any man left there within the city, neither any woman, for upon all had come grief that might not be borne; and hard by the gates they met Priam, as he bare home the dead. +First Hector's dear wife and queenly mother flung themselves upon the light-running waggon, and clasping his head the while, wailed and tore their hair; and the folk thronged about and wept. And now the whole day long until set of sun had they made lament for Hector with shedding of tears there without the gates, +had not the old man spoken amid the folk from out the car: + +Make me way for the mules to pass through; thereafter shall ye take your fill of wailing, when I have brought him to the house. + + +So spake he, and they stood apart and made way for the waggon. But the others, when they had brought him to the glorious house, +laid him on a corded bedstead, and by his side set singers, leaders of the dirge, who led the song of lamentation—they chanted the dirge, and thereat the women made lament. And amid these white-armed Andromache led the wailing, holding in her arms the while the head of man-slaying Hector: +Husband, perished from out of life art thou, yet in thy youth, and leavest me a widow in thy halls; and thy son is still but a babe, the son born of thee and me in our haplessness; neither do I deem that he will come to manhood, for ere that shall this city be wasted utterly. For thou hast perished that didst watch thereover, +thou that didst guard it, and keep safe its noble wives and little children. These, I ween, shall soon be riding upon the hollow ships, and I among them; and thou, my child, shalt follow with me to a place where thou shalt labour at unseemly tasks, toiling before the face of some ungentle master, or else some Achaean shall seize thee by the arm +and hurl thee from the wall, a woeful death, being wroth for that Hector slew his brother haply, or his father, or his son, seeing that full many Achaeans at the hands of Hector have bitten the vast earth with their teeth; for nowise gentle was thy father in woeful war. +Therefore the folk wail for him throughout the city, and grief unspeakable and sorrow hast thou brought upon thy parents, Hector; and for me beyond all others shall grievous woes be left. For at thy death thou didst neither stretch out thy hands to me from thy bed, nor speak to me any word of wisdom whereon +I might have pondered night and day with shedding of tears. + + +So spake she wailing, and thereat the women made lament. And among them Hecabe in turns led the vehement wailing: + +Hector, far dearest to my heart of all my children, lo, when thou livedst thou wast dear to the gods, +and therefore have they had care of thee for all thou art in the doom of death. For of other sons of mine whomsoever he took would swift-footed Achilles sell beyond the unresting sea, unto Samos and Imbros and Lemnos, shrouded in smoke, but, when from thee he had taken away thy life with the long-edged bronze +oft would he drag thee about the barrow of his comrade, Patroclus, whom thou didst slay; howbeit even so might he not raise him up. But now all dewy-fresh thou liest in my halls as wert thou newly slain, like as one whom Apollo of the silver bow assaileth with his gentle shafts and slayeth. + +So spake she wailing, and roused unabating lament. And thereafter Helen was the third to lead the wailing: + +Hector, far dearest to my heart of all my husband's brethren! In sooth my husband is godlike Alexander, that brought me to Troy-land —would I died ere then! +For this is now the twentieth year from the time when I went from thence and am gone from my native land, but never yet heard I evil or despiteful word from thee; nay, if so be any other spake reproachfully of me in the halls, a brother of thine or a sister, or brother's fair-robed wife, +or thy mother—but thy father was ever gentle as he had been mine own—yet wouldst thou turn them with speech and restrain them by the gentleness of thy spirit and thy gentle words. Wherefore I wail alike for thee and for my hapless self with grief at heart; for no longer have I anyone beside in broad Troy +that is gentle to me or kind; but all men shudder at me. + + +So spake she wailing, and thereat the countless throng made moan. But the old man Priam spake among the folk, saying: + +Bring wood now, ye men of Troy, unto the city, neither have ye anywise fear at heart of a cunning ambush of the Argives; for verily Achilles laid upon me this word +when he sent me forth from the black ships, that he would do us no hurt until the twelfth dawn be come. + + +So spake he, and they yoked oxen and mules to waggons, and speedily thereafter gathered together before the city. For nine days' space they brought in measureless store of wood, +but when the tenth Dawn arose, giving light unto mortals, then bare they forth bold Hector, shedding tears the while, and on the topmost pyre they laid the dead man, and cast fire thereon. +But soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, then gathered the folk about the pyre of glorious Hector. +And when they were assembled and met together, first they quenched with flaming wine all the pyre, so far as the fire's might had come upon it, and thereafter his brethren and his comrades gathered the white bones, mourning, and big tears flowed ever down their cheeks. +The bones they took and placed in a golden urn, covering them over with soft purple robes, and quickly laid the urn in a hollow grave, and covered it over with great close-set stones. Then with speed heaped they the mound, and round about were watchers set on every side, +lest the well-greaved Achaeans should set upon them before the time. And when they had piled the barrow they went back, and gathering together duly feasted a glorious feast in the palace of Priam, the king fostered of Zeus. +On this wise held they funeral for horse-taming Hector. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt b/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt index e69de29..b11bb19 100644 --- a/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt +++ b/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng4.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14504 @@ +Sing, O goddess, the anger [ +mênis +] of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon + the Achaeans. Many a brave soul [ +psukhê +] did it + send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs +and vultures, for so was the will of Zeus + fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great + Achilles, first fell out with one another. And which of the gods was it that + set them on to quarrel? It was the son of Zeus and Leto; for he was angry with + the king +and sent a pestilence upon the host to plague + the people, because the son of Atreus had dishonored Chryses his priest. Now + Chryses had come to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and had + brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the scepter of + Apollo wreathed with a suppliant's wreath +and he besought the Achaeans, but most of all + the two sons of Atreus, who were their chiefs. "Sons of Atreus," he cried, "and + all other Achaeans, may the gods who dwell in +Olympus + grant you to sack the city of Priam, and to reach your + homes in safety; +but free my daughter, and accept a ransom for + her, in reverence to Apollo, son of Zeus." On this the rest of the Achaeans + with one voice were for respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he + offered; but not so Agamemnon, +who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly + away. "Old man," said he, "let me not find you tarrying about our ships, nor + yet coming hereafter. Your scepter of the god and your wreath shall profit you + nothing. I will not free her. She shall grow old +in my house at +Argos + far from her own home, busying herself with her loom and + visiting my couch; so go, and do not provoke me or it shall be the worse for + you." The old man feared him and obeyed. Not a word he spoke, but went by the + shore of the sounding sea +and prayed apart to King Apollo whom lovely Leto + had borne. "Hear me," he cried, "O god of the silver bow, you who protect + +Chryse + and holy Cilla and rule + +Tenedos + with your might, hear + me O god of Sminthe. If I have ever decked your temple with garlands, +or burned for you thigh-bones in fat of bulls or + goats, grant my prayer, and let your arrows avenge these my tears upon the + Danaans." Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. He came down furious + from the summits of +Olympus +, +with his bow and his quiver upon his shoulder, + and the arrows rattled on his back with the rage that trembled within him. He + sat himself down away from the ships with a face as dark as night, and his + silver bow rang death as he shot his arrow in the midst of them. +First he smote their mules and their hounds, but + presently he aimed his shafts at the people themselves, and all day long the + pyres of the dead were burning. For nine whole days he shot his arrows among + the people, but upon the tenth day Achilles called them in assembly - +moved thereto by Hera, who saw the Achaeans in + their death-throes and had compassion upon them. Then, when they were got + together, he rose and spoke among them. "Son of Atreus," said he, "I deem that + we should now +turn roving home if we would escape destruction, + for we are being cut down by war and pestilence at once. Let us ask some priest + or seer [ +mantis +], or some reader of dreams (for + dreams, too, are of Zeus) who can tell us why Phoebus Apollo is so angry, and + say +whether it is for some vow that we have broken, + or hecatomb that we have not offered, and whether he will accept the savor of + lambs and goats without blemish, so as to take away the plague from us." With + these words he sat down, and Kalkhas son of Thestor, wisest of augurs, +who knew things past present and to come, rose + to speak. He it was who had guided the Achaeans with their fleet to +Ilion +, through the prophesyings with which + Phoebus Apollo had inspired him. With all sincerity and goodwill he addressed + them thus: - "Achilles, loved of heaven, you bid me tell you about the +anger [ +mênis +] of + King Apollo, I will therefore do so; but consider first and swear that you will + stand by me heartily in word and deed, for I know that I shall offend one who + rules the Argives with might, to whom all the Achaeans are in subjection. +A plain man cannot stand against the anger of a + king, who if he swallow his displeasure now, will yet nurse revenge till he has + wreaked it. Consider, therefore, whether or no you will protect me." And + Achilles answered, +"Fear not, but speak as it is borne in upon you + from heaven, for by Apollo, Kalkhas, to whom you pray, and whose oracles you + reveal to us, not a Danaan at our ships shall lay his hand upon you, while I + yet live to look upon the face of the earth - +no, not though you name Agamemnon himself, who + is by far the foremost of the Achaeans." Thereon the seer [ +mantis +] spoke boldly. "The god," he said, "is angry neither about + vow nor hecatomb, but for his priest's sake, whom Agamemnon has dishonored, +in that he would not free his daughter nor take + a ransom for her; therefore has he sent these evils upon us, and will yet send + others. He will not deliver the Danaans from this pestilence till Agamemnon has + restored the girl without fee or ransom to her father, and has sent a holy + hecatomb +to +Chryse +. Thus we may perhaps appease him." With these words he + sat down, and Agamemnon rose in anger. His heart was black with rage, and his + eyes flashed fire +as he scowled on Kalkhas and said, "Seer [ +mantis +] of evil, you never yet prophesied smooth + things concerning me, but have ever loved to foretell that which was evil. You + have brought me neither comfort nor performance; and now you come seeing among + Danaans, and saying +that Apollo has plagued us because I would not + take a ransom for this girl, the daughter of Chryses. I have set my heart on + keeping her in my own house, for I love her better even than my own wife + Clytemnestra, whose peer she is alike in +form and feature, in understanding and + accomplishments. Still I will give her up if I must, for I would have the + people live, not die; but you must find me a prize instead, or I alone among + the Argives shall be without one. This is not well; +for you behold, all of you, that my prize is to + go elsewhere." And Achilles answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, covetous + beyond all humankind, how shall the Achaeans find you another prize? We have no + common store from which to take one. +Those we took from the cities have been + awarded; we cannot disallow the awards that have been made already. Give this + girl, therefore, to the god, and if ever Zeus grants us to sack the city of + +Troy + we will requite you three and + fourfold." +Then Agamemnon said, "Achilles, valiant though + you be, you shall not thus get the better of me in matters of the mind [ +noos +]. You shall not overreach and you shall not + persuade me. Are you to keep your own prize, while I sit tamely under my loss + and give up the girl at your bidding? +Let the Achaeans find me a prize in fair + exchange to my liking, or I will come and take your own, or that of Ajax or of + Odysseus; and he to whomsoever I may come shall rue my coming. +But of this we will take thought hereafter; for + the present, let us draw a ship into the sea, and find a crew for her + expressly; let us put a hecatomb on board, and let us send Chryseis also; + further, let some chief man among us be in command, +either Ajax, or Idomeneus, or yourself, son of + Peleus, mighty warrior that you are, that we may offer sacrifice and appease + the anger of the god." Achilles scowled at him and answered, "You are steeped + in insolence and lust of gain. +With what heart can any of the Achaeans do your + bidding, either on foray or in open fighting? I came to make war here not + because the Trojans are responsible [ +aitioi +] for + any wrong committed against me. I have no quarrel with them. They have not + raided my cattle nor my horses, +nor cut down my harvests on the fertile plains + of +Phthia +; for between me and them + there is a great space, both mountain and sounding sea. We have followed you, + Sir Insolence! for your pleasure, not ours - to gain satisfaction [ +timê +] from the Trojans for your shameless self and for + Menelaos. +You forget this, and threaten to rob me of the + prize for which I have toiled, and which the sons of the Achaeans have given + me. Never when the Achaeans sack any rich city of the Trojans do I receive so + good a prize as you do, +though it is my hands that do the better part + of the fighting. When the sharing comes, your share is far the largest, and I, + indeed, must go back to my ships, take what I can get and be thankful, when my + labor of fighting is done. Now, therefore, I shall go back to +Phthia +; it will be much better +for me to return home with my ships, for I will + not stay here dishonored to gather gold and substance for you." And Agamemnon + answered, "Flee if you will, I shall make you no prayers to stay you. I have + others here +who will do me honor, and above all Zeus, the + lord of counsel. There is no king here so hateful to me as you are, for you are + ever quarrelsome and ill affected. What though you be brave? Was it not heaven + that made you so? Go home, then, with your ships and comrades +to lord it over the Myrmidons. I care neither + for you nor for your anger; and thus will I do: since Phoebus Apollo is taking + Chryseis from me, I shall send her with my ship and my followers, but I shall + come to your tent and +take your own prize Briseis, that you may learn + how much more prestigious I am than you are, and that another may fear to set + himself up as equal or comparable with me." The son of Peleus felt grief [ +akhos +], and his heart within his shaggy breast was + divided +whether to draw his sword, push the others + aside, and kill the son of Atreus, or to restrain himself and check his anger. + While he was thus in two minds, and was drawing his mighty sword from its + scabbard, Athena came down +from heaven (for Hera had sent her in the love + she bore to them both), and seized the son of Peleus by his yellow hair, + visible to him alone, for of the others no man could see her. Achilles turned + in amaze, and by the fire that flashed from her eyes at once knew that she was + +Athena. "Why are you here," said he, "daughter + of aegis-bearing Zeus? To see the pride [ +hubris +] of + Agamemnon, son of Atreus? Let me tell you - and it shall surely be - +he shall pay for this insolence with his life." + And Athena said, "I come from heaven, if you will hear me, to bid you stay your + anger. Hera has sent me, who cares for both of you alike. +Cease, then, this brawling, and do not draw + your sword; rail at him if you will, and your railing will not be vain, for I + tell you - and it shall surely be - that you shall hereafter receive gifts + three times as splendid by reason of this present insult [ +hubris +]. Hold, therefore, and obey." +"Goddess," answered Achilles, "however angry a + man may be, he must do as you two command him. This will be best, for the gods + ever hear the prayers of him who has obeyed them." He stayed his hand on the + silver hilt of his sword, +and thrust it back into the scabbard as Athena + bade him. Then she went back to +Olympus + among the other gods [ +daimones +], and to the house of aegis-bearing Zeus. But the son of + Peleus again began railing at the son of Atreus, for he was still in a rage. +"Wine-bibber," he cried, "with the face of a + dog and the heart of a hind, you never dare to go out with the host in fight, + nor yet with our chosen men in ambuscade. You shun this as you do death itself. + You had rather go round and +rob his prizes from any man who contradicts + you. You devour your people, for you are king over a feeble folk; otherwise, + son of Atreus, henceforward you would insult no man. Therefore I say, and swear + it with a great oath - nay, by this my scepter which shall sprout neither leaf + nor shoot, +nor bud anew from the day on which it left its + parent stem upon the mountains - for the axe stripped it of leaf and bark, and + now the sons of the Achaeans bear it as judges and guardians of the decrees + [ +themistes +] of heaven - so surely and solemnly + do I swear +that hereafter they shall look fondly for + Achilles and shall not find him. In the day of your distress, when your men + fall dying by the murderous hand of Hektor, you shall not know how to help + them, and shall rend your heart with rage for the hour when you offered insult + to the best [ +aristos +] of the Achaeans." +With this the son of Peleus dashed his + gold-bestudded scepter on the ground and took his seat, while the son of Atreus + was beginning fiercely from his place upon the other side. Then stood up + smooth-tongued Nestor, the facile speaker of the Pylians, and the words fell + from his lips sweeter than honey. +Two generations of men born and bred in + +Pylos + had passed away under his + rule, and he was now reigning over the third. With all sincerity and goodwill, + therefore, he addressed them thus: - "Of a truth," he said, "a great sorrow + [ +penthos +] has befallen the Achaean land. +Surely Priam with his sons would rejoice, and + the Trojans be glad at heart if they could hear this quarrel between you two, + who are so excellent in fight and counsel. I am older than either of you; + therefore be guided by me. +Moreover I have been the familiar friend of men + even greater than you are, and they did not disregard my counsels. Never again + can I behold such men as Peirithoos and Dryas shepherd of his people, or as + Kaineus, Exadios, godlike Polyphemus, +and Theseus son of Aegeus, peer of the + immortals. These were the mightiest men ever born upon this earth: mightiest + were they, and when they fought the fiercest tribes of mountain savages they + utterly overthrew them. I came from distant +Pylos +, and went about among them, +for they would have me come, and I fought as it + was in me to do. Not a man now living could withstand them, but they heard my + words, and were persuaded by them. So be it also with yourselves, for this is + the more excellent way. +Therefore, Agamemnon, though you be + prestigious, take not this girl away, for the sons of the Achaeans have already + given her to Achilles; and you, Achilles, strive not further with the king, for + no man who by the grace of Zeus wields a scepter has like honor [ +timê +] with Agamemnon. +You are strong, and have a goddess for your + mother; but Agamemnon is more prestigious than you, for he has more people + under him. Son of Atreus, check your anger, I implore you; end this quarrel + with Achilles, who in the day of battle is a tower of strength to the + Achaeans." +And Agamemnon answered, "Old sir, all that you + have said is true, but this man wants to become our lord and master: he must be + lord of all, king of all, and leader of all, and this shall hardly be. +Granted that the gods have made him a great + warrior, have they also given him the right to speak with railing?" Achilles in + turn said to him: "I should be a mean coward," he cried, "were I to give in to + you in all things. +Order other people about, not me, for I shall + obey no longer. Furthermore I say - and lay my saying to your heart - I shall + fight neither you nor any man about this girl, for those that take were those + also that gave. +But of all else that is at my ship you shall + carry away nothing by force. Try, that others may see; if you do, my spear + shall be reddened with your blood." When they had quarreled thus angrily, +they rose, and broke up the assembly at the + ships of the Achaeans. The son of Peleus went back to his tents and ships with + the son of Menoitios and his company, while Agamemnon drew a vessel into the + water and chose a crew of twenty oarsmen. +He escorted Chryseis on board and sent moreover + a hecatomb for the god. And Odysseus went as leader. These, then, went on board + and sailed their ways over the sea. But the son of Atreus bade the people + purify themselves; so they purified themselves and cast their filth into the + sea. +Then they offered hecatombs of bulls and goats + without blemish on the sea-shore, and the smoke with the savor of their + sacrifice rose curling up towards heaven. Thus did they busy themselves + throughout the host. But Agamemnon did not forget the threat that he had made + Achilles, +and called his trusty messengers and squires + [ +therapontes +] Talthybios and Eurybates. "Go," + said he, "to the tent of Achilles, son of Peleus; take Briseis by the hand and + bring her hither; if he will not give her I shall come +with others and take her - which will press him + harder." He charged them straightly further and dismissed them, whereon they + went their way sorrowfully by the seaside, till they came to the tents and + ships of the Myrmidons. They found Achilles sitting by his tent and his ships, +and ill-pleased he was when he beheld them. + They stood fearfully and reverently before him, and never a word did they + speak, but he knew them and said, "Welcome, heralds, messengers of gods and + men; +draw near; my quarrel is not with you but with + Agamemnon who has sent you for the girl Briseis. Therefore, Patroklos, bring + her and give her to them, but let them be witnesses by the blessed gods, by + mortal men, +and by the fierceness of Agamemnon's anger, + that if ever again there be need of me to save the people from ruin, they shall + seek and they shall not find. Agamemnon is mad with rage and knows not how to + look before and after that the Achaeans may fight by their ships in safety." +Patroklos did as his dear comrade had bidden + him. He brought Briseis from the tent and gave her over to the heralds, who + took her with them to the ships of the Achaeans - and the woman was loath to + go. Then Achilles went all alone +by the side of the hoar sea [ +pontos +], weeping and looking out upon the boundless + waste of waters. He raised his hands in prayer to his immortal mother, + "Mother," he cried, "you bore me doomed to live but for a brief season; surely + Zeus, who thunders from +Olympus +, might + have given honor [ +timê +] in return. It is not so. +Agamemnon, son of Atreus, has done me dishonor, + and has robbed me of my prize by force." As he spoke he wept aloud, and his + mother heard him where she was sitting in the depths of the sea hard by the Old + One, her father. Forthwith she rose as it were a gray mist out of the waves, + +sat down before him as he stood weeping, + caressed him with her hand, and said, "My son, why are you weeping? What is it + that gives you grief [ +penthos +]? Keep it not from my + thinking [ +noos +], but tell me, that we may know it + together." Achilles drew a deep sigh and said, +"You know it; why tell you what you know well + already? We went to Thebe the strong city of Eetion, sacked it, and brought + hither the spoil. The sons of the Achaeans shared it duly among themselves, and + chose lovely Chryseis as the prize of Agamemnon; +but Chryses, priest of Apollo, came to the + ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and brought with him a great + ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the scepter of Apollo, wreathed with a + suppliant's wreath, and he besought the Achaeans, +but most of all the two sons of Atreus who were + their chiefs. On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for + respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but not so + Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away. +So he went back in anger, and Apollo, who loved + him dearly, heard his prayer. Then the god sent a deadly dart upon the Argives, + and the people died thick on one another, for the arrows went everywhere among + the wide host of the Achaeans. At last a seer [ +mantis +] +in the fullness of his knowledge declared to us + the oracles of Apollo, and I was myself first to say that we should appease + him. Whereon the son of Atreus rose in anger, and threatened that which he has + since done. The Achaeans are now taking the girl in a ship +to +Chryse +, and sending gifts of sacrifice to the god; but the + heralds have just taken from my tent the daughter of Briseus, whom the Achaeans + had awarded to myself. Help your brave son, therefore, if you are able. Go to + +Olympus +, and if you have ever +done him service in word or deed, implore the + aid of Zeus. Ofttimes in my father's house have I heard you glory in that you + alone of the immortals saved the son of Kronos from ruin, when the others, +with Hera, Poseidon, and Pallas Athena would + have put him in bonds. It was you, goddess, who delivered him by calling to + +Olympus + the hundred-handed one whom + gods call Briareus, but men Aigaion, for he has more force [ +biê +] even than his father; +when therefore he took his seat all-glorious + beside the son of Kronos, the other gods were afraid, and did not bind him. Go, + then, to him, remind him of all this, clasp his knees, and bid him give succor + to the Trojans. Let the Achaeans be hemmed in at the sterns of their ships, and + perish on the sea-shore, +that they may reap what joy they may of their + king, and that Agamemnon may rue his derangement [ +atê +] in offering insult to the best [ +aristos +] of the Achaeans." Thetis wept and answered, "My son, woe is + me that I should have borne or suckled you. +Would indeed that you had lived your span free + from all sorrow at your ships, for it is all too brief; alas, that you should + be at once short of life and long of sorrow above your peers: woe, therefore, + was the hour in which I bore you; +nevertheless I will go to the snowy heights of + +Olympus +, and tell this tale to + Zeus, if he will hear our prayer: meanwhile stay where you are with your ships, + nurse your anger [ +mênis +] against the Achaeans, and + hold aloof from fight. For Zeus went yesterday to Okeanos, to a feast among the + Ethiopians, and the other gods went with him. +He will return to +Olympus + twelve days hence; I will then go to his mansion paved + with bronze and will beseech him; nor do I doubt that I shall be able to + persuade him." On this she left him, still furious at the loss of her +that had been taken by force [ +biê +] from him. Meanwhile Odysseus reached +Chryse + with the hecatomb. When they had + come inside the harbor they furled the sails and laid them in the ship's hold; + they slackened the forestays, lowered the mast into its place, +and rowed the ship to the place where they + would have her lie; there they cast out their mooring-stones and made fast the + hawsers. They then got out upon the sea-shore and landed the hecatomb for + Apollo; Chryseis also left the ship, +and Odysseus led her to the altar to deliver + her into the hands of her father. "Chryses," said he, "King Agamemnon has sent + me to bring you back your child, and to offer sacrifice to Apollo on behalf of + the Danaans, that we may propitiate the god, +who has now brought sorrow upon the Argives." + So saying he gave the girl over to her father, who received her gladly, and + they ranged the holy hecatomb all orderly round the altar of the god. They + washed their hands and took up the barley-meal to sprinkle over the victims, +while Chryses lifted up his hands and prayed + aloud on their behalf. "Hear me," he cried, "O god of the silver bow, you who + protect +Chryse + and holy Cilla, and + rule +Tenedos + with your might. Even + as you did hear me aforetime when I prayed, and did press hard upon the + Achaeans, +so hear me yet again, and stay this fearful + pestilence from the Danaans." Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. + When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley-meal, they drew back the + heads of the victims and killed and flayed them. +They cut out the thigh-bones, wrapped them + round in two layers of fat, set some pieces of raw meat on the top of them, and + then Chryses laid them on the wood fire and poured wine over them, while the + young men stood near him with five-pronged spits in their hands. When the + thigh-bones were burned and they had tasted the inward meats, +they cut the rest up small, put the pieces upon + the spits, roasted them till they were done, and drew them off: then, when they + had finished their work [ +ponos +] and the feast was + ready, they ate it, and every man had his full share, so that all were + satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, +pages filled the mixing-bowl with wine and + water and handed it round, after giving every man his drink-offering. Thus all + day long the young men worshipped the god with song, hymning him and chanting + the joyous paean, and the god took pleasure in their voices; +but when the sun went down, and it came on + dark, they laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables of the ship, and + when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they again set sail for + the host of the Achaeans. Apollo sent them a fair wind, +so they raised their mast and hoisted their + white sails aloft. As the sail bellied with the wind the ship flew through the + seething deep water, and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onward. + When they reached the wide-stretching host of the Achaeans, +they drew the vessel ashore, high and dry upon + the sands, set her strong props beneath her, and went their ways to their own + tents and ships. But Achilles stayed at his ships and nursed his anger [ +mênis +]. +He went not to the honorable assembly, and + sallied not forth to fight, but gnawed at his own heart, pining for battle and + the war-cry. Now after twelve days the immortal gods came back in a body to + +Olympus +, +and Zeus led the way. Thetis was not unmindful + of the charge her son had laid upon her, so she rose from under the sea and + went, enveloped in mist, through great heaven with early morning to +Olympus +, where she found the mighty son of + Kronos sitting all alone upon its topmost ridges. +She sat herself down before him, and with her + left hand seized his knees, while with her right she caught him under the chin, + and besought him, saying - "Father Zeus, if I ever did you service in word or + deed among the immortals, hear my prayer, +and do honor to my son, whose life is to be cut + short so early. King Agamemnon has dishonored him by taking his prize and + keeping her. Honor him then yourself, Olympian lord of counsel, and grant + victory to the Trojans, till the Achaeans +give my son his due and load him with riches in + requital [ +timê +]." Zeus sat for a while silent, and + without a word, but Thetis still kept firm hold of his knees, and besought him + a second time. "Nod your head," said she, "and promise me surely, +or else deny me - for you have nothing to fear + - that I may learn how greatly you disdain me." At this Zeus was much troubled + and answered, "I shall have trouble if you set me quarreling with Hera, for she + will provoke me with her taunting speeches; +even now she is always railing at me before the + other gods and accusing me of giving aid to the Trojans. Go back now, lest she + should find out. I will consider the matter, and will bring it about as wish. +See, I nod my head that you believe me. This is + the most solemn act that I can offer to any god. I never recall my word, or + deceive, or fail to do what I say, when I have nodded my head." As he spoke the + son of Kronos bowed his dark brows, and the ambrosial locks swayed +on his immortal head, till vast +Olympus + reeled. When the pair had thus laid + their plans, they parted - Zeus to his mansion, while the goddess left the + splendor of +Olympus +, and plunged into + the depths of the sea. The gods rose from their seats, before the coming of + their sire. Not one of them dared +to remain sitting, but all stood up as he came + among them. There, then, he took his seat. But Hera, when she saw him, knew + that he and silver-footed Thetis, the daughter of the Old One of the Sea, had + been planning mischief, so she at once began to upbraid him. +"Trickster," she cried, "which of the gods have + you been taking into your counsels now? You are always settling matters in + secret behind my back, and have never yet told me, if you could help it, one + word of your intentions." +"Hera," replied the sire of gods and men, "you + must not expect to be informed of all my counsels. You are my wife, but you + would find it hard to understand them. When it is proper for you to hear, there + is no one, god or man, who will be told sooner, but when I mean to keep a + matter to myself, +you must not pry nor ask questions." "Dread son + of Kronos," answered Hera, "what are you talking about? I? Pry and ask + questions? Never. I let you have your own way in everything. +Still, I have a strong misgiving that Thetis, + daughter of the Old One of the Sea, has been talking you over, for she was with + you and had hold of your knees this self-same morning. I believe, therefore, + that you have been promising her to give glory to Achilles, and to kill many + people at the ships of the Achaeans." +"Wife," said Zeus, "I can do nothing but you + suspect me and find it out. You will take nothing by it, for I shall only + dislike you the more, and it will go harder with you. Granted that it is as you + say; I mean to have it so; +sit down and hold your tongue as I bid you for + if I once begin to lay my hands about you, though all heaven were on your side + it would profit you nothing." On this Hera was frightened, so she curbed her + stubborn will and sat down in silence. +But the heavenly beings were disquieted + throughout the house of Zeus, till the cunning workman Hephaistos began to try + and pacify his mother Hera. "It will be intolerable," said he, "if you two fall + to wrangling +and setting heaven in an uproar about a pack of + mortals. If such ill counsels are to prevail, we shall have no pleasure at our + banquet. Let me then advise my mother - and she must herself know that it will + be better - to make friends with my dear father Zeus, lest he again scold her + and disturb our feast. +If the Olympian Thunderer wants to hurl us all + from our seats, he can do so, for he is far the strongest, so give him fair + words, and he will then soon be in a good humor with us." As he spoke, he took + a double cup of nectar, +and placed it in his mother's hand. "Cheer up, + my dear mother," said he, "and make the best of it. I love you dearly, and + should be very sorry to see you get a thrashing; however grieved I might be, I + could not help for there is no standing against Zeus. +Once before when I was trying to help you, he + caught me by the foot and flung me from the heavenly threshold. All day long + from morn till eve, was I falling, till at sunset I came to ground in the + island of +Lemnos +, and there I lay, + with very little life left in me, till the Sintians came and tended me." +Hera smiled at this, and as she smiled she took + the cup from her son's hands. Then Hephaistos drew sweet nectar from the + mixing-bowl, and served it round among the gods, going from left to right; and + the blessed gods laughed out a loud approval +as they saw him bustling about the heavenly + mansion. Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun they + feasted, and every one had his full share, so that all were satisfied. Apollo + struck his lyre, and the Muses lifted up their sweet voices, taking turns. +But when the sun's glorious light had faded, + they went home to bed, each in his own abode, which lame Hephaistos with his + consummate skill had fashioned for them. So Zeus, the Olympian Lord of Thunder, + hied him to the bed +in which he always slept; and when he had got + on to it he went to sleep, with Hera of the golden throne by his side. +Now the other gods and the armed warriors on the + plain slept soundly, but Zeus was wakeful, for he was thinking how to do honor + to Achilles, and destroy many people at the ships of the Achaeans. +In the end he deemed it would be best to send a + lying dream to King Agamemnon; so he called one to him and said to it, "Lying + Dream, go to the ships of the Achaeans, +into the tent of Agamemnon, and say to him word + to word as I now bid you. Tell him to get the Achaeans instantly under arms, + for he shall take +Troy +. There are no + longer divided counsels among the gods; +Hera has brought them to her own mind, and woe + betides the Trojans." The dream went when it had heard its message, and soon + reached the ships of the Achaeans. It sought Agamemnon son of Atreus and found + him in his tent, wrapped in a profound slumber. +It hovered over his head in the likeness of + Nestor, son of Neleus, whom Agamemnon honored above all his councilors, and + said: - "You are sleeping, son of Atreus; +one who has the welfare of his host and so much + other care upon his shoulders should dock his sleep. Hear me at once, for I + come as a messenger from Zeus, who, though he be not near, yet takes thought + for you and pities you. He bids you get the Achaeans instantly under arms, for + you shall take +Troy +. There are no longer divided + counsels among the gods; Hera has brought them over to her own mind, and woe + betides the Trojans at the hands of Zeus. Remember this, and when you wake see + that it does not escape you." +The dream then left him, and he thought of + things that were, surely not to be accomplished. He thought that on that same + day he was to take the city of Priam, but he little knew what was in the mind + of Zeus, who had many another +hard-fought fight in store alike for Danaans and + Trojans. Then presently he woke, with the divine message still ringing in his + ears; so he sat upright, and put on his soft shirt so fair and new, and over + this his heavy cloak. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet, +and slung his silver-studded sword about his + shoulders; then he took the imperishable staff of his father, and sallied forth + to the ships of the Achaeans. The goddess Dawn now wended her way to vast + +Olympus + that she might herald day + to Zeus and to the other immortals, +and Agamemnon sent the criers round to call the + people in assembly; so they called them and the people gathered thereon. But + first he summoned a meeting of the elders at the ship of Nestor king of + +Pylos +, +and when they were assembled he laid a cunning + counsel before them. "My friends," said he, "I have had a dream from heaven in + the dead of night, and its face and figure resembled none but Nestor's. It + hovered over my head and said, +‘You are sleeping, son of Atreus; one who has + the welfare of his host and so much other care upon his shoulders should dock + his sleep. Hear me at once, for I am a messenger from Zeus, who, though he be + not near, yet takes thought for you and pities you. +He bids you get the Achaeans instantly under + arms, for you shall take +Troy +. There + are no longer divided counsels among the gods; Hera has brought them over to + her own mind, and woe betides the Trojans +at the hands of Zeus. Remember this.’ The dream + then vanished and I awoke. Let us now, therefore, arm the sons of the Achaeans. + But it will be the right thing [ +themis +] that I + should first sound them, and to this end I will tell them to flee with their + ships; +but do you others go about among the host and + prevent their doing so." He then sat down, and Nestor the king of +Pylos + with all sincerity and goodwill + addressed them thus: "My friends," said he, "princes and councilors of the + Argives, +if any other man of the Achaeans had told us of + this dream we should have declared it false, and would have had nothing to do + with it. But he who has seen it is the foremost man among us; we must therefore + set about getting the people under arms." With this he led the way from the + assembly, +and the other sceptered kings rose with him in + obedience to the word of Agamemnon; but the people pressed forward to hear. + They swarmed like bees that sally from some hollow cave and flit in countless + throng among the spring flowers, +bunched in knots and clusters; even so did the + mighty multitude pour from ships and tents to the assembly, and range + themselves upon the wide-watered shore, while among them ran Wildfire Rumor, + messenger of Zeus, urging them ever to the fore. +Thus they gathered in a pell-mell of mad + confusion, and the earth groaned under the tramp of men as the people sought + their places. Nine heralds went crying about among them to stay their tumult + and bid them listen to the kings, till at last they were got into their several + places and ceased their clamor. +Then King Agamemnon rose, holding his scepter. + This was the work of Hephaistos, who gave it to Zeus the son of Kronos. Zeus + gave it to Hermes, slayer of +Argos +, + guide and guardian. King Hermes gave it to Pelops, the mighty charioteer, and +Pelops to Atreus, shepherd of his people. + Atreus, when he died, left it to Thyestes, rich in flocks, and Thyestes in his + turn left it to be borne by Agamemnon, that he might be lord of all +Argos + and of the isles. Leaning, then, on + his scepter, he addressed the Argives. +"My friends," he said, "heroes, squires [ +therapontes +] of Ares, Zeus the son of Kronos has tied + me down with +atê +. Cruel, he gave me his solemn + promise that I should sack the city of Priam before returning, but he has + played me false, and is now bidding me +go ingloriously back to +Argos + with the loss of many people. Such is + the will of Zeus, who has laid many a proud city in the dust, as he will yet + lay others, for his power is above all. It will be a sorry tale hereafter that + an +Achaean host, at once so great and valiant, + battled in vain against men fewer in number than themselves; but as yet the end + is not in sight. Think that the Achaeans and Trojans have sworn to a solemn + covenant, and that they have each been numbered - +the Trojans by the roll of their householders, + and we by companies of ten; think further that each of our companies desired to + have a Trojan householder to pour out their wine; we are so greatly more in + number that full many a company would have to go without its cup-bearer. +But they have in the town allies from other + places, and it is these that hinder me from being able to sack the rich city of + +Ilion +. Nine of Zeus years are gone; +the timbers of our ships have rotted; their + tackling is sound no longer. Our wives and little ones at home look anxiously + for our coming, but the work that we came hither to do has not been done. Now, + therefore, let us all do as I say: +let us sail back to our own land, for we shall + not take +Troy +." With these words he + moved the hearts of the multitude, so many of them as knew not the cunning + counsel of Agamemnon. They surged to and fro like the waves +of the Ikarian Sea [ +pontos +], when the east and south winds break from heaven's clouds to + lash them; or as when the west wind sweeps over a field of grain and the ears + bow beneath the blast, even so were they swayed as they flew with loud cries +towards the ships, and the dust from under + their feet rose heavenward. They cheered each other on to draw the ships into + the sea; they cleared the channels in front of them; they began taking away the + stays from underneath them, and the welkin rang with their glad cries, so eager + were they to return. +Then surely the Argives would have had a return + [ +nostos +] after a fashion that was not fated. But + Hera said to Athena, "Alas, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, unweariable, shall + the Argives flee home to their own land over the broad sea, +and leave Priam and the Trojans the glory of + still keeping Helen, for whose sake so many of the Achaeans have died at + +Troy +, far from their homes? Go + about at once among the host, and speak fairly to them, man by man, +that they draw not their ships into the sea." + Athena was not slack to do her bidding. Down she darted from the topmost + summits of +Olympus +, and in a moment + she was at the ships of the Achaeans. There she found Odysseus, peer of Zeus in + counsel, +standing alone. He had not as yet laid a hand + upon his ship, for he felt grief [ +akhos +] and was + sorry; so she went close up to him and said, "Odysseus, noble son of +Laertes +, +are you going to fling yourselves into your + ships and be off home to your own land in this way? Will you leave Priam and + the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, for whose sake so many of the + Achaeans have died at +Troy +, far from + their homes? Go about at once among the host, +and speak fairly to them, man by man, that they + draw not their ships into the sea." Odysseus knew the voice as that of the + goddess: he flung his cloak from him and set off to run. His squire Eurybates, + a man of Ithaca, who waited on him, took charge of the cloak, +whereon Odysseus went straight up to Agamemnon + and received from him his ancestral, imperishable staff. With this he went + about among the ships of the Achaeans. Whenever he met a king or chieftain, he + stood by him and spoke him fairly. +"Sir," said he, "this flight is cowardly and + unworthy. Stand to your post, and bid your people also keep their places. You + do not yet know the full mind [ +noos +] of Agamemnon; + he was sounding us, and ere long will visit the Achaeans with his displeasure. + We were not all of us at the council to hear what he then said; +see to it lest he be angry and do us a + mischief; for the +timê + of kings is great, and the + hand of Zeus is with them." But when he came across some man from some locale + [ +dêmos +] who was making a noise, he struck him + with his staff and rebuked him, saying, +"What kind of +daimôn + has possessed you? Hold your peace, and listen to better men + than yourself. You are a coward and no warrior; you are nobody either in fight + or council; we cannot all be kings; it is not well that there should be many + masters; one man must be supreme - +one king to whom the son of scheming Kronos has + given the scepter and divine laws to rule over you all." Thus masterfully did + he go about among the host, and the people hurried back to the council from + their tents and ships with a sound as the thunder of surf when it comes + crashing down upon the shore, +and all the sea [ +pontos +] is in an uproar. The rest now took their seats and kept to + their own several places, but Thersites still went on wagging his unbridled + tongue - a man of many words, and those unseemly; a monger of sedition, a + railer against all who were in authority [ +kosmos +], + who cared not what he said, +so that he might set the Achaeans in a laugh. + He was the ugliest man of all those that came before +Troy + - bandy-legged, lame of one foot, with + his two shoulders rounded and hunched over his chest. His head ran up to a + point, but there was little hair on the top of it. +Achilles and Odysseus hated him worst of all, + for it was with them that he was most wont to wrangle; now, however, with a + shrill squeaky voice he began heaping his abuse on Agamemnon. The Achaeans were + angry and disgusted, yet none the less he kept on brawling and bawling at the + son of Atreus. +"Agamemnon," he cried, "what ails you now, and + what more do you want? Your tents are filled with bronze and with fair women, + for whenever we take a town we give you the pick of them. Would you have yet + more gold, +which some Trojan is to give you as a ransom + for his son, when I or another Achaean has taken him prisoner? or is it some + young girl to hide and lie with? It is not well that you, the ruler of the + Achaeans, should bring them into such misery. +Weakling cowards, women rather than men, let us + sail home, and leave this man here at +Troy + to stew in his own prizes of honor, and discover whether + we were of any service to him or no. Achilles is a much better man than he is, + and see how he has treated him - +robbing him of his prize and keeping it + himself. Achilles takes it meekly and shows no fight; if he did, son of Atreus, + you would never again insult him." Thus railed Thersites, but Odysseus at once + went up to him +and rebuked him sternly. "Check your glib + tongue, Thersites," said be, "and babble not a word further. Chide not with + princes when you have none to back you. There is no viler creature come before + +Troy + with the sons of Atreus. +Drop this chatter about kings, and neither + revile them nor keep harping about homecoming [ +nostos +]. We do not yet know how things are going to be, nor whether + the Achaeans are to return with good success or evil. How dare you gibe at + Agamemnon +because the Danaans have awarded him so many + prizes? I tell you, therefore - and it shall surely be - that if I again catch + you talking such nonsense, I will either forfeit my own head +and be no more called father of Telemakhos, or + I will take you, strip away from you all respect [ +aidôs +], and whip you out of the assembly till you go blubbering back + to the ships." +On this he beat him with his staff about the + back and shoulders till he dropped and fell a-weeping. The golden scepter + raised a bloody weal on his back, so he sat down frightened and in pain, + looking foolish as he wiped the tears from his eyes. +The people were sorry for him, yet they laughed + heartily, and one would turn to his neighbor saying, "Odysseus has done many a + good thing ere now in fight and council, but he never did the Argives a better + turn +than when he stopped this man's mouth from + prating further. He will give the kings no more of his insolence." Thus said + the people. Then Odysseus rose, scepter in hand, and Athena +in the likeness of a herald bade the people be + still, that those who were far off might hear him and consider his council. He + therefore with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus: - "King + Agamemnon, the Achaeans are for +making you a by-word among all humankind. They + forget the promise they made you when they set out from +Argos +, that you should not return till you + had sacked the town of +Troy +, and, + like children or widowed women, +they murmur and would set off homeward. True it + is that they have had toil [ponos] enough to be disheartened. A man chafes at + having to stay away from his wife even for a single month, when he is on + shipboard, at the mercy of wind and sea, +but it is now nine long years that we have been + kept here; I cannot, therefore, blame the Achaeans if they turn restive; still + we shall be shamed if we go home empty after so long a stay - therefore, my + friends, be patient yet a little longer that we may learn +whether the prophesyings of Kalkhas were false + or true. "All who have not since perished must remember as though it were + yesterday or the day before, how the ships of the Achaeans were detained in + +Aulis + when we were on our way + hither to make war on Priam and the Trojans. +We were ranged round about a fountain offering + hecatombs to the gods upon their holy altars, and there was a fine plane-tree + from beneath which there welled a stream of pure water. Then we saw a sign + [ +sêma +]; for Zeus sent a fearful serpent out of + the ground, with blood-red stains upon its back, +and it darted from under the altar on to the + plane-tree. Now there was a brood of young sparrows, quite small, upon the + topmost bough, peeping out from under the leaves, eight in all, and their + mother that hatched them made nine. The serpent ate the poor cheeping things, +while the old bird flew about lamenting her + little ones; but the serpent threw his coils about her and caught her by the + wing as she was screaming. Then, when he had eaten both the sparrow and her + young, the god who had sent him made him become a sign; for the son of scheming + Kronos turned him into stone, +and we stood there wondering at that which had + come to pass. Seeing, then, that such a fearful portent had broken in upon our + hecatombs, Kalkhas forthwith declared to us the oracles of heaven. ‘Why, + Achaeans,’ said he, ‘are you thus speechless? Zeus has sent us this sign, +long in coming, and long ere it be fulfilled, + though its fame [ +kleos +] shall last for ever. As the + serpent ate the eight fledglings and the sparrow that hatched them, which makes + nine, so shall we fight nine years at +Troy +, but in the tenth shall take the town.’ +This was what he said, and now it is all coming + true. Stay here, therefore, all of you, till we take the city of Priam." On + this the Argives raised a shout, till the ships rang again with the uproar. +Nestor, horseman of Gerene, then addressed + them. "Shame on you," he cried, "to stay talking here like children, when you + should fight like men. Where are our covenants now, and where the oaths that we + have taken? +Shall our counsels be flung into the fire, with + our drink-offerings and the right hands of fellowship wherein we have put our + trust? We waste our time in words, and for all our talking here shall be no + further forward. Stand, therefore, son of Atreus, by your own steadfast + purpose; +lead the Argives on to battle, and leave this + handful of men to rot, who scheme, and scheme in vain, to get back to + +Argos + ere they have learned + whether Zeus be true or a liar. +For the mighty son of Kronos surely promised + that we should succeed, when we Argives set sail to bring death and destruction + upon the Trojans. He showed us favorable signs [ +sêmata +] by flashing his lightning on our right hands; therefore let + none make haste to go +till he has first lain with the wife of some + Trojan, and avenged the toil and sorrow that he has suffered for the sake of + Helen. Nevertheless, if any man is in such haste to be at home again, let him + lay his hand to his ship that he may meet his doom in the sight of all. +But, O king, consider and give ear to my + counsel, for the word that I say may not be neglected lightly. Divide [ +krinô +] your men, Agamemnon, into their several tribes + and clans, that clans and tribes may stand by and help one another. If you do + this, and if the Achaeans obey you, +you will find out who, both chiefs and peoples, + are brave, and who are cowards; for they will vie against the other. Thus you + shall also learn whether it is through the counsel of heaven or the cowardice + of man that you shall fail to take the town." And Agamemnon answered, +"Nestor, you have again outdone the sons of the + Achaeans in counsel. Would, by Father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo, that I had + among them ten more such councilors, for the city of King Priam would then soon + fall beneath our hands, and we should sack it. +But the son of Kronos afflicts me with bootless + wranglings and strife. Achilles and I are quarreling about this girl, in which + matter I was the first to offend; if we can be of one mind again, +the Trojans will not stave off destruction for + a day. Now, therefore, get your morning meal, that our hosts join in fight. + Whet well your spears; see well to the ordering of your shields; give good + feeds to your horses, and look your chariots carefully over, +that we may do battle the livelong day; for we + shall have no rest, not for a moment, till night falls to part us. The bands + that bear your shields shall be wet with the sweat upon your shoulders, your + hands shall weary upon your spears, +your horses shall steam in front of your + chariots, and if I see any man shirking the fight, or trying to keep out of it + at the ships, there shall be no help for him, but he shall be a prey to dogs + and vultures." Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans roared approval. As when the + waves run high +before the blast of the south wind and break on + some lofty headland, dashing against it and buffeting it without ceasing, as + the storms from every quarter drive them, even so did the Achaeans rise and + hurry in all directions to their ships. There they lighted their fires at their + tents and got dinner, +offering sacrifice every man to one or other of + the gods, and praying each one of them that he might live to come out of the + fight. Agamemnon, king of men, sacrificed a fat five-year-old bull to the + mighty son of Kronos, and invited the princes and elders of his host. +First he asked Nestor and King Idomeneus, then + the two Ajaxes and the son of Tydeus, and sixthly Odysseus, peer of gods in + counsel; but Menelaos came of his own accord, for he knew how busy his brother + then was. +They stood round the bull with the barley-meal + in their hands, and Agamemnon prayed, saying, "Zeus, most glorious, supreme, + you who dwell in heaven, and ride upon the storm-cloud, grant that the sun may + not go down, nor the night fall, till the palace of Priam is laid low, +and its gates are consumed with fire. Grant + that my sword may pierce the shirt of Hektor about his heart, and that full + many of his comrades may bite the dust as they fall dying round him." Thus he + prayed, but the son of Kronos would not fulfill his prayer. +He accepted the sacrifice, yet none the less + increased their toil [ +ponos +] continually. When they + had done praying and sprinkling the barley-meal upon the victim, they drew back + its head, killed it, and then flayed it. They cut out the thigh-bones, wrapped + them round in two layers of fat, and set pieces of raw meat on the top of them. +These they burned upon the split logs of + firewood, but they spitted the inward meats, and held them in the flames to + cook. When the thigh-bones were burned, and they had tasted the inward meats, + they cut the rest up small, put the pieces upon spits, roasted them till they + were done, and drew them off; +then, when they had finished their work [ +ponos +] and the feast was ready, they ate it, and every + man had his full share, so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had + enough to eat and drink, Nestor, horseman of Gerene, began to speak. "King + Agamemnon," said he, +"let us not stay talking here, nor be slack in + the work that heaven has put into our hands. Let the heralds summon the people + to gather at their several ships; we will then go about among the host, +that we may begin fighting at once." Thus did + he speak, and Agamemnon heeded his words. He at once sent the criers round to + call the people in assembly. So they called them, and the people gathered + thereon. +The chiefs about the son of Atreus chose their + men and marshaled [ +krinô +] them, while Athena went + among them holding her priceless aegis that knows neither age nor death. From + it there waved a hundred tassels of pure gold, all deftly woven, and each one + of them worth a hundred oxen. +With this she darted furiously everywhere among + the hosts of the Achaeans, urging them forward, and putting courage into the + heart of each, so that he might fight and do battle without ceasing. Thus war + became sweeter in their eyes even than returning home in their ships. +As when some great forest fire is raging upon a + mountain top and its light is seen afar, even so as they marched the gleam of + their armor flashed up into the firmament of heaven. They were like great + flocks +of geese, or cranes, or swans on the plain + about the waters of Cayster, that wing their way hither and thither, glorying + in the pride of flight, and crying as they settle till the fen is alive with + their screaming. Even thus did their tribes pour from ships and tents +on to the plain of the Skamandros, and the + ground rang as brass under the feet of men and horses. They stood as thick upon + the flower-bespangled field as leaves that bloom in season [ +hôra +]. As countless swarms of flies +buzz around a herdsman's homestead in the + season [ +hôra +] of spring when the pails are drenched + with milk, even so did the Achaeans swarm on to the plain to charge the Trojans + and destroy them. The chiefs disposed their men this way and that before the + fight began, drafting them out +as easily as goatherds draft their flocks when + they have got mixed while feeding; and among them went King Agamemnon, with a + head and face like Zeus the lord of thunder, a waist like Ares, and a chest + like that of Poseidon. +As some great bull that lords it over the herds + upon the plain, even so did Zeus make the son of Atreus stand peerless among + the multitude of heroes. And now, O Muses, dwellers in the mansions of + +Olympus +, tell me - +for you are goddesses and are in all places so + that you see all things, while we know nothing but by report [ +kleos +] - who were the chiefs and princes of the + Danaans? As for the common warriors, they were so that I could not name every + single one of them though I had ten tongues, +and though my voice failed not and my heart + were of bronze within me, unless you, O Olympian Muses, daughters of + aegis-bearing Zeus, were to recount them to me. Nevertheless, I will tell the + leaders of the ships and all the fleet together. Peneleos, Leitos, +Arkesilaos, Prothoenor, and Klonios were + leaders of the Boeotians. These were they that dwelt in +Hyria + and rocky +Aulis +, and who held Schoinos, Skolos, and + the highlands of Eteonos, with Thespeia, Graia, and the fair city of +Mykalessos +. They also held +Harma +, Eilesium, and Erythrae; +and they had Eleon, Hyle, and Peteon; Ocalea + and the strong fortress of +Medeon +; + Copae, +Eutresis +, and +Thisbe + the haunt of doves; +Coronea +, and the pastures of Haliartus; + +Plataea + and +Glisas +; +the fortress of +Thebes + the less; holy +Onchestos + with its famous grove of Poseidon; +Arne + rich in vineyards; +Midea +, sacred +Nisa +, and +Anthedon + upon the sea. From these there came fifty ships, and + in each +there were a hundred and twenty young men of + the Boeotians. Askalaphos and Ialmenos, sons of Ares, led the people that dwelt + in +Aspledon + and +Orkhomenos + the realm of Minyas. Astyoche a + noble maiden bore them in the house of Aktor son of Azeus; for she had gone + with Ares secretly into an upper chamber, +and he had lain with her. With these there came + thirty ships. The Phocaeans were led by Schedios and Epistrophos, sons of + mighty Iphitos the son of Naubolos. These were they that held Cyparissus, rocky + +Pytho +, +holy +Crisa +, +Daulis +, and + Panopeus; they also that dwelt in Anemorea and +Hyampolis +, and about the waters of the + river Kephissos, and Lilaea by the springs of the Kephissos; with their + chieftains came forty ships, +and they marshaled the forces of the Phocaeans, + which were stationed next to the Boeotians, on their left. Ajax, the fleet son + of Oileus, commanded the Locrians. He was not so great, nor nearly so great, as + Ajax the son of Telamon. He was a little man, and his breastplate was made of + linen, +but in use of the spear he excelled all the + Hellenes and the Achaeans. These dwelt in +Cynus +, Opous, Calliarus, Bessa, Scarphe, fair Augeae, Tarphe, + and Thronium about the river Boagrios. With him there came forty ships +of the Locrians who dwell beyond +Euboea +. The fierce Abantes held +Euboea + with its cities, +Khalkis +, +Eretria +, Histiaea rich in vines, Cerinthus upon the sea, and + the rock-perched town of +Dion +; with + them were also the men of +Karystos + and +Styra +; +Elephenor of the race of Ares was in command of + these; he was son of Khalkodon, and chief over all the Abantes. With him they + came, fleet of foot and wearing their hair long behind, brave warriors, who + would ever strive to tear open the corselets of their foes with their long + ashen spears. +Of these there came fifty ships. And they that + held the strong city of +Athens +, the + +dêmos + of great Erechtheus, who was born of the + soil itself, but Zeus' daughter, Athena, fostered him, and established him at + +Athens + in her own rich + sanctuary. There, year by year, the Athenian youths worship him +with sacrifices of bulls and rams. These were + commanded by Menestheus, son of Peteos. No man living could equal him in the + marshaling of chariots and foot soldiers. +Nestor could alone rival him, for he was older. + With him there came fifty ships. Ajax brought twelve ships from +Salamis +, and stationed them alongside those of + the Athenians. The men of +Argos +, + again, and those who held the walls of +Tiryns +, +with +Hermione +, and +Asine + + upon the gulf; Trozen, Eionae, and the vineyard lands of +Epidaurus +; the Achaean youths, moreover, who + came from +Aegina + and +Mases +; these were led by Diomedes of the + loud battle-cry, and Sthenelos son of famed Kapaneus. +With them in command was Euryalos, son of king + Mekisteus, son of Talaos; but Diomedes was chief over them all. With these + there came eighty ships. Those who held the strong city of +Mycenae +, +rich +Corinth + and Cleonae; Orneae, Araethyrea, and Licyon, where + Adrastos reigned of old; +Hyperesia +, high Gonoessa, and +Pellene +; Aegium +and all the coast-land round about +Helike +; these sent a hundred ships under + the command of King Agamemnon, son of Atreus. His force was far both finest and + most numerous, and in their midst was the king himself, all glorious in his + armor of gleaming bronze - foremost among the heroes, +for he was the greatest king, and had most men + under him. And those that dwelt in +Lacedaemon +, lying low among the hills, Pharis, +Sparta +, with Messe the haunt of doves; + +Bryseae +, Augeae, Amyclae, and + +Helos + upon the sea; +Laas +, moreover, and Oetylus; these + were led by Menelaos of the loud battle-cry, brother to Agamemnon, and of them + there were sixty ships, drawn up apart from the others. Among them went + Menelaos himself, strong in zeal, urging his men to fight; for he longed to +avenge the toil and sorrow that he had suffered + for the sake of Helen. The men of +Pylos + and +Arene +, and + Thryum where is the ford of the river Alpheus; strong Aipy, Cyparisseis, and + Amphigenea; Pteleum, +Helos +, and + Dorium, where the Muses +met Thamyris, and stilled his minstrelsy for + ever. He was returning from +Oechalia +, where Eurytos lived and reigned, and boasted that he + would surpass even the Muses, daughters of aegis-bearing Zeus, if they should + sing against him; whereon they were angry, and maimed him. +They robbed him of his divine power of song, + and thenceforth he could strike the lyre no more. These were commanded by + Nestor, horseman of Gerene, and with him there came ninety ships. And those + that held +Arcadia +, under the high + mountain of Cyllene, near the tomb of Aipytos, where the people fight hand to + hand; +the men of Pheneus also, and +Orkhomenos + rich in flocks; of Rhipae, Stratie, + and bleak +Enispe +; of +Tegea + and fair +Mantinea +; of Stymphelus and +Parrhasia +; of these King Agapenor son of + Ankaios was commander, +and they had sixty ships. Many Arcadians, good + warriors, came in each one of them, but Agamemnon found them the ships in which + to cross the sea [ +pontos +], for they were not a + people that occupied their business upon the waters. +The men, moreover, of Bouprasion and of + +Elis +, so much of it as is enclosed + between Hyrmine, Myrsinus upon the sea-shore, the rock Olene and Alesium. These + had four leaders, and each of them had ten ships, with many Epeans on board. +Their leaders were Amphimakhos and Thalpios - + the one, son of Kteatos, and the other, of Eurytos - both of the race of Aktor. + The two others were Diores, son of Amarynkes, and Polyxenos, son of King + Agasthenes, son of Augeas. +And those of Dulichium with the sacred Echinean + islands, who dwelt beyond the sea off +Elis +; these were led by Meges, peer of Ares, and the son of + valiant Phyleus, dear to Zeus, who quarreled with his father, and went to + settle in Dulichium. +With him there came forty ships. Odysseus led + the brave Cephallenians, who held +Ithaca +, Neritum with its forests, Crocylea, rugged Aegilips, + +Samos + and +Zacynthus +, +with the mainland also that was over against + the islands. These were led by Odysseus, peer of Zeus in counsel, and with him + there came twelve ships. Thoas, son of Andraimon, commanded the Aetolians, who + dwelt in +Pleuron +, +Olenus +, Pylene, +Khalkis + by the sea, and rocky Calydon, + for the great king Oeneus had now no sons living, and was himself dead, as was + also golden-haired Meleager, who had been set over the Aetolians to be their + king. And with Thoas there came forty ships. +The famous spearsman Idomeneus led the Cretans, + who held +Knossos +, and the + well-walled city of +Gortys +; Lyktos + also, +Miletus + and +Lykastos + that lies upon the chalk; the + populous towns of +Phaistos + and + Rhytium, with the other peoples that dwelt in the hundred cities of +Crete +. +All these were led by Idomeneus, and by + Meriones, peer of murderous Ares. And with these there came eighty ships. + Tlepolemos, son of Herakles, a man both brave and large of stature, brought + nine ships of lordly warriors from +Rhodes +. +These dwelt in +Rhodes + which is divided among the three cities of +Lindos +, +Ialysos +, and +Kameiros +, that lies upon the chalk. These were commanded by + Tlepolemos, son of mighty Herakles and born of Astyochea, whom he had carried + off from +Ephyra +, on the river + Selleis, +after sacking many cities of valiant warriors. + When Tlepolemos grew up, he killed his father's uncle Likymnios, who had been a + famous warrior in his time, but was then grown old. On this he built himself a + fleet, gathered a great following, +and fled beyond the sea [ +pontos +], for he was menaced by the other sons and grandsons of + Herakles. After a voyage. during which he suffered great hardship, he came to + +Rhodes +, where the people divided + into three communities, according to their tribes, and were dearly loved by + Zeus, the lord, of gods and men; +wherefore the son of Kronos showered down great + riches upon them. And Nireus brought three ships from +Syme + - Nireus, who was the handsomest man that + came up under +Ilion + of all the Danaans + after the son of Peleus - +but he was a man of no substance, and had but a + small following. And those that held Nisyrus, +Carpathus +, and Casus, with Cos, the city of Eurypylos, and the + Calydnian islands, these were commanded by Pheidippos and Antiphos, two sons of + King Thessalos the son of Herakles. +And with them there came thirty ships. Those + again who held Pelasgian Argos, +Alos +, + Alope, and +Trachis +; and those of + +Phthia + and +Hellas + the land of fair women, who were called + Myrmidons, Hellenes, and Achaeans; +these had fifty ships, over which Achilles was + in command. But they now took no part in the war, inasmuch as there was no one + to marshal them; for Achilles stayed by his ships, furious about the loss of + the girl Briseis, whom he had taken from Lyrnessos at his own great peril, +when he had sacked Lyrnessos and Thebe, and had + overthrown Mynes and Epistrophos, sons of king Euenor, son of Selepus. For her + sake Achilles was still in grief [ +akhos +], but ere + long he was again to join them. +And those that held Phylake and the flowery + meadows of Pyrasus, sanctuary of Demeter ; +Iton +, the mother of sheep; Antrum upon the sea, and Pteleum + that lies upon the grass lands. Of these brave Protesilaos had been leader + while he was yet alive, but he was now lying under the earth. +He had left a wife behind him in Phylake to + tear her cheeks in sorrow, and his house was only half finished, for he was + slain by a Dardanian warrior while leaping foremost of the Achaeans upon the + soil of +Troy +. Still, though his + people mourned their chieftain, they were not without a leader, for Podarkes, + of the race of Ares, marshaled them; +he was son of Iphiklos, rich in sheep, who was + the son of Phylakos, and he was own brother to Protesilaos, only younger, + Protesilaos being at once the elder and the more valiant. So the people were + not without a leader, though they mourned him whom they had lost. +With him there came forty ships. And those that + held +Pherai + by the Boebean lake, + with Boebe, Glaphyrae, and the populous city of Iolkos, these with their eleven + ships were led by Eumelos, son of Admetos, +whom Alcestis bore to him, loveliest of the + daughters of Pelias. And those that held +Methone + and Thaumacia, with Meliboia and rugged +Olizon +, these were led by the skillful + archer Philoctetes, and they had seven ships, each with fifty oarsmen +all of them good archers; but Philoctetes was + lying in great pain in the Island of +Lemnos +, where the sons of the Achaeans left him, for he had + been bitten by a poisonous water snake. There he lay sick and in grief [ +akhos +], +and full soon did the Argives come to miss him. + But his people, though they felt his loss were not leaderless, for Medon, the + bastard son of Oileus by Rhene, set them in array. Those, again, of +Tricca + and the stony region of +Ithome +, +and they that held +Oechalia +, the city of Oechalian Eurytos, + these were commanded by the two sons of Asklepios, skilled in the art of + healing, Podaleirios and Machaon. And with them there came thirty ships. The + men, moreover, of Ormenios, and by the fountain of Hypereia, +with those that held Asterios, and the white + crests of Titanus, these were led by Eurypylos, the son of Euaemon, and with + them there came forty ships. Those that held Argissa and Gyrtone, Orthe, Elone, + and the white city of Oloosson, +of these brave Polypoites was leader. He was + son of Peirithoos, who was son of Zeus himself, for Hippodameia bore him to + Peirithoos on the day when he took his revenge on the shaggy mountain savages + and drove them from Mount Pelion to the Aithikes. +But Polypoites was not sole in command, for + with him was Leonteus, of the race of Ares, who was son of Koronos, the son of + Kaineus. And with these there came forty ships. Guneus brought two and twenty + ships from Cyphus, and he was followed by the Enienes and the valiant Peraebi, +who dwelt about wintry +Dodona +, and held the lands round the lovely + river Titaresios, which sends its waters into the Peneus. They do not mingle + with the silver eddies of the Peneus, but flow on the top of them like oil; +for the Titaresios is a branch of dread Orcus + and of the river Styx. Of the Magnetes, Prothoos son of Tenthredon was + commander. They were they that dwelt about the river Peneus and Mount Pelion. + Prothoos, fleet of foot, was their leader, and with him there came forty ships. + +Such were the chiefs and princes of the + Danaans. Who, then, O Muse, was the foremost, whether man or horse, among those + that followed after the sons of Atreus? Of the horses, those of the son of + Pheres were by far the finest. They were driven by Eumelos, and were as fleet + as birds. +They were of the same age and color, and + perfectly matched in height. Apollo, of the silver bow, had bred them in Perea + - both of them mares, and terrible as Ares in battle. Of the men, Ajax, son of + Telamon, was much the foremost so long as Achilles' anger lasted, for Achilles + excelled him greatly +and he had also better horses; but Achilles was + now holding aloof at his ships by reason of his quarrel with Agamemnon, and his + people passed their time upon the sea shore, throwing discs or aiming with + spears at a mark, +and in archery. Their horses stood each by his + own chariot, champing lotus and wild celery. The chariots were housed under + cover, but their owners, for lack of leadership, wandered hither and thither + about the host and went not forth to fight. +Thus marched the host like a consuming fire, + and the earth groaned beneath them when the lord of thunder is angry and lashes + the land about Typhoeus among the Arimi, where they say Typhoeus lies. Even so + did the earth groan beneath them +as they sped over the plain. And now Iris, + fleet as the wind, was sent by Zeus to tell the bad news among the Trojans. + They were gathered in assembly, old and young, at Priam's gates, +and Iris came close up to Priam, speaking with + the voice of Priam's son Polites, who, being fleet of foot, was stationed as + watchman for the Trojans on the tomb of old Aisyetes, to look out for any sally + of the Achaeans. +In his likeness Iris spoke, saying, "Old man, + you talk idly, as in time of peace, while war is at hand. I have been in many a + battle, but never yet saw such a host as is now advancing. They are crossing + the plain to attack the city as +thick as leaves or as the sands of the sea. + Hektor, I charge you above all others, do as I say. There are many allies + dispersed about the city of Priam from distant places and speaking divers + tongues. +Therefore, let each chief give orders to his + own people, setting them severally in array and leading them forth to battle." + Thus she spoke, but Hektor knew that it was the goddess, and at once broke up + the assembly. The men flew to arms; all the gates were opened, and the people + thronged through them, +horse and foot, with the tramp as of a great + multitude. Now there is a high mound before the city, rising by itself upon the + plain. Men call it Batieia, but the gods know that it is the tomb [ +sêma +] of lithe Myrrhine. +Here the Trojans and their allies divided their + forces. Priam's son, great Hektor of the gleaming helmet, commanded the + Trojans, and with him were arrayed by far the greater number and most valiant + of those who were longing for the fray. The Dardanians were led by brave +Aeneas, whom Aphrodite bore to Anchises, when + she, goddess though she was, had lain with him upon the mountain slopes of Ida. + He was not alone, for with him were the two sons of Antenor, Archilokhos and + Akamas, both skilled in all the arts of war. They that dwelt in Telea under the + lowest spurs of +Mount Ida +, +men of substance, who drink the limpid waters + of the Aesepos, and are of Trojan blood - these were led by Pandaros son of + Lykaon, whom Apollo had taught to use the bow. They that held Adrasteia and the + district [ +dêmos +] of Apaesus, with Pityeia, and the + high mountain of Tereia - +these were led by Adrastos and Amphios, whose + breastplate was of linen. These were the sons of Merops of Perkote, who + excelled in all kinds of divination. He told them not to take part in the war, + but they gave him no heed, for fate lured them to destruction. +They that dwelt about Perkote and Praktios, + with +Sestos +, +Abydos +, and Arisbe - these were led by Asios, + son of Hyrtakos, a brave commander - Asios, the son of Hyrtakos, whom his + powerful dark bay steeds, of the breed that comes from the river Selleis, had + brought from Arisbe. +Hippothoos led the tribes of Pelasgian + spearsmen, who dwelt in fertile Larissa - Hippothoos, and Pylaios of the race + of Ares, two sons of the Pelasgian Lethus, son of Teutamus. Akamas and the + warrior Peirous commanded the Thracians +and those that came from beyond the mighty + stream of the +Hellespont +. Euphemos, + son of Troizenos, the son of +Ceos +, was + leader of the Ciconian spearsmen. Pyraikhmes led the Paeonian archers from + distant +Amydon +, by the broad waters + of the river +Axios +, +the fairest that flow upon the earth. The + Paphlagonians were commanded by stout-hearted Pylaimenes from Enetae, where the + mules run wild in herds. These were they that held Cytorus and the country + round Sesamus, with the cities by the river Parthenios, +Cromna, Aigialos, and lofty Erithinoi. Odios + and Epistrophos were leaders over the Halizoni from distant Alybe, where there + are mines of silver. Chromis, and Ennomos the augur, led the Mysians, but his + skill in augury availed not to save him from destruction, +for he fell by the hand of the fleet descendant + of Aiakos in the river, where he slew others also of the Trojans. Phorkys, + again, and noble Askanios led the Phrygians from the far country of Askania, + and both were eager for the fray. Mesthles and Antiphos commanded the Meonians, +sons of Talaimenes, born to him of the Gygaean + lake. These led the Meonians, who dwelt under Mount Tmolos. Nastes led the + Carians, men of a strange speech. These held +Miletus + and the wooded mountain of Phthires, with the water of + the river +Maeander + and the lofty + crests of Mount Mycale. +These were commanded by Nastes and Amphimakhos, + the brave sons of Nomion. He came into the fight with gold about him, like a + girl; fool that he was, his gold was of no avail to save him, for he fell in + the river by the hand of the fleet descendant of Aiakos, +and Achilles bore away his gold. Sarpedon and + Glaukos led the Lycians from their distant land, by the eddying waters of the + +Xanthos +. +When the companies were thus arrayed, each under + its own leader, the Trojans advanced as a flight of wild fowl or cranes that + scream overhead when rain and winter drive them over the flowing waters of + Okeanos to bring death and destruction on the Pygmies, and they wrangle in the + air as they fly; but the Achaeans marched silently, in high heart, and minded + to stand by one another. +As when the south wind spreads a curtain of mist + upon the mountain tops, bad for shepherds but better than night for thieves, + and a man can see no further than he can throw a stone, even so rose the dust + from under their feet as they made all speed over the plain. +When they were close up with one another, + Alexander came forward as champion on the Trojan side. On his shoulders he bore + the skin of a panther, his bow, and his sword, and he brandished two spears + shod with bronze as a challenge to the bravest of the Achaeans to meet him in + single fight. Menelaos saw him thus stride out before the ranks, and was glad + as a hungry lion that lights on the carcass of some goat or horned stag, and + devours it there and then, though dogs and youths set upon him. Even thus was + Menelaos glad when his eyes caught sight of Alexander, for he deemed that now + he should be revenged. +He sprang, therefore, from his chariot, clad in + his suit of armor. +Alexander quailed as he saw Menelaos come + forward, and shrank in fear of his life under cover of his men. As one who + starts back affrighted, trembling and pale, when he comes suddenly upon a + serpent in some mountain glade, even so did Alexander plunge into the throng of + Trojan warriors, terror-stricken at the sight of the son Atreus. +Then Hektor upbraided him. " +Paris +," said he, "evil-hearted +Paris +, fair to see, but woman-mad, and false + of tongue, would that you had never been born, or that you had died unwed. + Better so, than live to be disgraced and looked askance at. Will not the + Achaeans mock at us and say that we have sent one to champion us who is fair to + see but who has neither wit nor force [ +biê +]? Did + you not, such as you are, get your following together and sail beyond the seas + [ +pontos +]? Did you not from your a far country + carry off a lovely woman wedded among a people of warriors - to bring sorrow + upon your father, your city, and your whole district [ +dêmos +], but joy to your enemies, and hang-dog shamefacedness to + yourself? And now can you not dare face Menelaos and learn what manner of man + he is whose wife you have stolen? Where indeed would be your lyre and your + love-tricks, your comely locks and your fair favor, when you were lying in the + dust before him? The Trojans are a weak-kneed people, or ere this you would + have had a shirt of stones for the wrongs you have done them." +And Alexander answered, "Hektor, your rebuke is + just. You are hard as the axe which a shipwright wields at his work, and + cleaves the timber to his liking. As the axe in his hand, so keen is the edge + of your mind [ +noos +]. Still, taunt me not with the + gifts that golden Aphrodite has given me; they are precious; let not a man + disdain them, for the gods give them where they are minded, and none can have + them for the asking. If you would have me do battle with Menelaos, bid the + Trojans and Achaeans take their seats, while he and I fight in their midst for + Helen and all her wealth. +Let him who shall be victorious and prove to be + the better man take the woman and all she has, to bear them to his home, but + let the rest swear to a solemn covenant of peace whereby you Trojans shall stay + here in +Troy +, while the others go + home to +Argos + and the land of the + Achaeans." +When Hektor heard this he was glad, and went + about among the Trojan ranks holding his spear by the middle to keep them back, + and they all sat down at his bidding: but the Achaeans still aimed at him with + stones and arrows, till Agamemnon shouted to them saying, "Hold, Argives, shoot + not, sons of the Achaeans; Hektor desires to speak." +They ceased taking aim and were still, whereon + Hektor spoke. "Hear from my mouth," said he, "Trojans and Achaeans, the saying + of Alexander, through whom this quarrel has come about. He bids the Trojans and + Achaeans lay their armor upon the ground, while he and Menelaos fight in the + midst of you for Helen and all her wealth. Let him who shall be victorious and + prove to be the better man take the woman and all she has, to bear them to his + own home, but let the rest swear to a solemn covenant of peace." +Thus he spoke, and they all held their peace, + till Menelaos of the loud battle-cry addressed them. "And now," he said, "hear + me too, for it is I who am the most aggrieved. I deem that the parting of + Achaeans and Trojans is at hand, as well it may be, seeing how much have + suffered for my quarrel with Alexander and the wrong he did me. Let him who + shall die, die, and let the others fight no more. Bring, then, two lambs, a + white ram and a black ewe, for Earth and Sun, and we will bring a third for + Zeus. Moreover, you shall bid mighty Priam come, that he may swear to the + covenant himself; for his sons are high-handed and ill to trust, and the oaths + of Zeus must not be transgressed or taken in vain. Young men's minds are light + as air, but when an old man comes he looks before and after, deeming that which + shall be fairest upon both sides." +The Trojans and Achaeans were glad when they + heard this, for they thought that they should now have rest. They backed their + chariots toward the ranks, got out of them, and put off their armor, laying it + down upon the ground; and the hosts were near to one another with a little + space between them. Hektor sent two messengers to the city to bring the lambs + and to bid Priam come, while Agamemnon told Talthybios to fetch the other lamb + from the ships, and he did as Agamemnon had said. +Meanwhile Iris went to Helen in the form of her + sister-in-law, wife of the son of Antenor, for Helikaon, son of Antenor, had + married Laodike, the fairest of Priam's daughters. She found her in her own + room, working at a great web of purple linen, on which she was embroidering the + struggles [ +athloi +] between Trojans and Achaeans, + that Ares had made them fight for her sake. Iris then came close up to her and + said, "Come hither, child, and see the strange doings of the Trojans and + Achaeans till now they have been warring upon the plain, mad with lust of + battle, but now they have left off fighting, and are leaning upon their + shields, sitting still with their spears planted beside them. Alexander and + Menelaos are going to fight about yourself, and you are to the wife of him who + is the victor." +Thus spoke the goddess, and Helen's heart + yearned after her former husband, her city, and her parents. She threw a white + mantle over her head, and hurried from her room, weeping as she went, not + alone, but attended by two of her handmaids, Aithra, daughter of Pittheus, and + Klymene. And straightway they were at the Scaean gates. +The two sages, Ucalegon and Antenor, elders of + the people, were seated by the Scaean gates, with Priam, Panthoos, Thymoetes, + Lampos, Klytios, and Hiketaon of the race of Ares. These were too old to fight, + but they were fluent orators, and sat on the tower like cicadas that chirrup + delicately from the boughs of some high tree in a wood. When they saw Helen + coming towards the tower, +they said softly to one another, "No wonder the + Trojans and Achaeans endure so much and so long, for the sake of a woman so + marvelously and divinely lovely. There is no sense of +nemesis + here. Still, fair though she be, let them take her and go, + or she will breed sorrow for us and for our children after us." +But Priam bade her draw nigh. "My child," said + he, "take your seat in front of me that you may see your former husband, your + kinsmen and your friends. I lay no responsibility [ +aitia +] upon you, it is the gods, not you who are responsible [ +aitioi +]. It is they that have brought about this + terrible war with the Achaeans. Tell me, then, who is yonder huge hero so great + and goodly? I have seen men taller by a head, but none so comely and so royal. + Surely he must be a king." +"Sir," answered Helen, "father of my husband, + dear and reverend in my eyes, would that I had chosen death rather than to have + come here with your son, far from my bridal chamber, my friends, my darling + daughter, and all the companions of my girlhood. But it was not to be, and my + lot is one of tears and sorrow. As for your question, the hero of whom you ask + is Agamemnon, son of Atreus, a good king and a brave warrior, brother-in-law as + surely as that he lives, to my abhorred and miserable self." +The old man marveled at him and said, "Happy + son of Atreus, child of good fortune. I see that the Achaeans are subject to + you in great multitudes. When I was in +Phrygia + I saw much horsemen, the people of Otreus and of + Mygdon, who were camping upon the banks of the river Sangarios; I was their + ally, and with them when the Amazons, peers of men, came up against them, but + even they were not so many as the Achaeans." +The old man next looked upon Odysseus; "Tell + me," he said, "who is that other, shorter by a head than Agamemnon, but broader + across the chest and shoulders? His armor is laid upon the ground, and he + stalks in front of the ranks as it were some great woolly ram ordering his + ewes." +And Helen answered, "He is Odysseus, a man of + great craft, son of +Laertes +. He + was born in the district [ +dêmos +] of rugged + +Ithaca +, and excels in all manner of + stratagems and subtle cunning." +On this Antenor said, "my lady, you have spoken + truly. Odysseus once came here as envoy about yourself, and Menelaos with him. + I received them in my own house, and therefore know both of them by sight and + conversation. When they stood up in presence of the assembled Trojans, Menelaos + was the broader shouldered, but when both were seated Odysseus had the more + royal presence. After a time they delivered their message, and the speech of + Menelaos ran trippingly on the tongue; he did not say much, for he was a man of + few words, but he spoke very clearly and to the point, though he was the + younger man of the two; Odysseus, on the other hand, when he rose to speak, was + at first silent and kept his eyes fixed upon the ground. There was no play nor + graceful movement of his scepter; he kept it straight and stiff like a man + unpracticed in oratory - one might have taken him for a mere churl or + simpleton; but when he raised his voice, and the words came driving from his + deep chest like winter snow before the wind, then there was none to touch him, + and no man thought further of what he looked like." +Priam then caught sight of Ajax and asked, "Who + is that great and goodly warrior whose head and broad shoulders tower above the + rest of the Argives?" +"That," answered Helen, "is huge Ajax, bulwark + of the Achaeans, and on the other side of him, among the Cretans, stands + Idomeneus looking like a god, and with the leaders of the Cretans round him. + Often did Menelaos receive him as a guest in our house when he came visiting us + from +Crete +. I see, moreover, many + other Achaeans whose names I could tell you, but there are two whom I can + nowhere find, Castor, breaker of horses, and Pollux the mighty boxer; they are + children of my mother, and own brothers to myself. Either they have not left + +Lacedaemon +, or else, though they + have brought their ships, they will not show themselves in battle for the shame + and disgrace that I have brought upon them." +She knew not that both these heroes were + already lying under the earth in their own land of +Lacedaemon +. +Meanwhile the heralds were bringing the holy + oath-offerings through the city - two lambs and a goatskin of wine, the gift of + earth; and Idaios brought the mixing bowl and the cups of gold. He went up to + Priam and said, "Son of Laomedon, the princes of the Trojans and Achaeans bid + you come down on to the plain and swear to a solemn covenant. Alexander and + Menelaos are to fight for Helen in single combat, that she and all her wealth + may go with him who is the victor. We are to swear to a solemn covenant of + peace whereby we others shall dwell here in +Troy +, while the Achaeans return to +Argos + and the land of the Achaeans." +The old man trembled as he heard, but bade his + followers yoke the horses, and they made all haste to do so. He mounted the + chariot, gathered the reins in his hand, and Antenor took his seat beside him; + they then drove through the Scaean gates on to the plain. When they reached the + ranks of the Trojans and Achaeans they left the chariot, and with measured pace + advanced into the space between the hosts. +Agamemnon and Odysseus both rose to meet them. + The attendants brought on the oath-offerings and mixed the wine in the + mixing-bowls; they poured water over the hands of the chieftains, and the son + of Atreus drew the dagger that hung by his sword, and cut wool from the lambs' + heads; this the men-servants gave about among the Trojan and Achaean princes, + and the son of Atreus lifted up his hands in prayer. "Father Zeus," he cried, + "you who rule in Ida, most glorious in power, and you O Sun, who see and give + ear to all things, Earth and Rivers, and you who in the realms below chastise + those mortals who have broken their oath, witness these rites and guard them, + that they be not vain. If Alexander kills Menelaos, let him keep Helen and all + her wealth, while we sail home with our ships; but if Menelaos kills Alexander, + let the Trojans give back Helen and all that she has; let them moreover pay + such fine [ +timê +] to the Achaeans as shall be agreed + upon, in testimony among those that shall be born hereafter. +And if Priam and his sons refuse such fine + [ +timê +] when Alexander has fallen, then will I + stay here and fight on till the war reaches its completion [ +telos +]. " +As he spoke he drew his knife across the + throats of the victims, and laid them down gasping and dying upon the ground, + for the knife had reft them of their strength. Then they poured wine from the + mixing-bowl into the cups, and prayed to the everlasting gods, saying, Trojans + and Achaeans among one another, "Zeus, most great and glorious, and you other + everlasting gods, grant that the brains of them who shall first violate their + oaths - of them and their children - may be shed upon the ground even as this + wine, and let their wives become the slaves of strangers." +Thus they prayed, but not as yet would Zeus + grant them their prayer. Then Priam, descendant of +Dardanos +, spoke, saying, "Hear me, + Trojans and Achaeans, I will now go back to the wind-beaten city of +Ilion +: I dare not with my own eyes witness + this fight between my son and Menelaos, for Zeus and the other immortals alone + know which of the two is doomed to undergo the outcome of death." +On this he laid the two lambs on his chariot + and took his seat. He gathered the reins in his hand, and Antenor sat beside + him; the two then went back to +Ilion +. + Hektor and Odysseus measured the ground, and cast lots from a helmet of bronze + to see which should take aim first. Meanwhile the two hosts lifted up their + hands and prayed saying, "Father Zeus, you who rule from Ida, most glorious in + power, grant that he who first brought about this war between us may die, and + enter the house of Hades, while we others remain at peace and abide by our + oaths." +Great Hektor now turned his head aside while he + shook the helmet, and the lot of +Paris + + flew out first. The others took their several stations, each by his horses and + the place where his arms were lying, while Alexander, husband of lovely Helen, + put on his goodly armor. +First he greaved his legs with greaves of good + make and fitted with ankle-clasps of silver; after this he donned the cuirass + of his brother Lykaon, and fitted it to his own body; he hung his + silver-studded sword of bronze about his shoulders, and then his mighty shield. + On his comely head he set his helmet, well-wrought, with a crest of horse-hair + that nodded menacingly above it, and he grasped a redoubtable spear that suited + his hands. In like fashion Menelaos also put on his armor. +When they had thus armed, each amid his own + people, they strode fierce of aspect into the open space, and both Trojans and + Achaeans were struck with awe as they beheld them. They stood near one another + on the measured ground, brandishing their spears, and each furious against the + other. Alexander aimed first, and struck the round shield of the son of Atreus, + but the spear did not pierce it, for the shield turned its point. Menelaos next + took aim, praying to Father Zeus as he did so. "King Zeus," he said, "grant me + revenge on Alexander who has wronged me; subdue him under my hand that in ages + yet to come a man may shrink from doing ill deeds in the house of his host." +He poised his spear as he spoke, and hurled it + at the shield of Alexander. Through shield and cuirass it went, and tore the + shirt by his flank, but Alexander swerved aside, and thus saved his life. Then + the son of Atreus drew his sword, and drove at the projecting part of his + helmet, but the sword fell shivered in three or four pieces from his hand, and + he cried, looking towards Heaven, "Father Zeus, of all gods you are the most + spiteful; I made sure of my revenge, but the sword has broken in my hand, my + spear has been hurled in vain, and I have not killed him." +With this he flew at Alexander, caught him by + the horsehair plume of his helmet, and began dragging him towards the Achaeans. + The strap of the helmet that went under his chin was choking him, and Menelaos + would have dragged him off to his own great glory had not Zeus' daughter + Aphrodite been quick to mark and to break the strap of oxhide, so that the + empty helmet came away in his hand. This he flung to his comrades among the + Achaeans, and was again springing upon Alexander to run him through with a + spear, but Aphrodite snatched him up in a moment (as a god can do), hid him + under a cloud of darkness, and conveyed him to his own bedchamber. +Then she went to call Helen, and found her on a + high tower with the Trojan women crowding round her. She took the form of an + old woman who used to dress wool for her when she was still in +Lacedaemon +, and of whom she was very fond. + Thus disguised she plucked her by perfumed robe and said, "Come hither; + Alexander says you are to go to the house; he is on his bed in his own room, + radiant with beauty and dressed in gorgeous apparel. No one would think he had + just come from fighting, but rather that he was going to a dance [ +khoros +], or had done dancing [ +khoros +] and was sitting down." +With these words she moved the heart of Helen + to anger. When she marked the beautiful neck of the goddess, her lovely bosom, + and sparkling eyes, she marveled at her and said, "Goddess, why do you thus + beguile me? Are you going to send me afield still further to some man whom you + have taken up in +Phrygia + or fair + Meonia? Menelaos has just vanquished Alexander, and is to take my hateful self + back with him. You are come here to betray me. Go sit with Alexander yourself; + henceforth be goddess no longer; never let your feet carry you back to + +Olympus +; worry about him and look + after him till he make you his wife, or, for the matter of that, his slave - + but me? I shall not go; I can garnish his bed no longer; I should be a by-word + among all the women of +Troy +. Besides, + I have trouble [ +akhos +] on my mind." +Aphrodite was very angry, and said, "Bold + hussy, do not provoke me; if you do, I shall leave you to your fate and hate + you as much as I have loved you. I will stir up fierce hatred between Trojans + and Achaeans, and you shall come to a bad end." +At this Helen was frightened. She wrapped her + mantle about her and went in silence, following the divinity [ +daimôn +] and unnoticed by the Trojan women. +When they came to the house of Alexander the + maid-servants set about their work, but Helen went into her own room, and the + laughter-loving goddess took a seat and set it for her facing Alexander. On + this Helen, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, sat down, and with eyes askance + began to upbraid her husband. +"So you are come from the fight," said she; + "would that you had fallen rather by the hand of that brave man who was my + husband. You used to brag that you were a better man with might [ +biê +] of hands and spear than Menelaos. Go, then, and + challenge him again - but I would advise you not to do so, for if you are + foolish enough to meet him in single combat, you will soon fall by his spear." +And +Paris + answered, "Woman, do not vex me with your reproaches. + This time, with the help of Athena, Menelaos has vanquished me; another time I + may myself be victor, for I too have gods that will stand by me. Come, let us + lie down together and make friends. Never yet was I so passionately enamored of + you as at this moment - not even when I first carried you off from +Lacedaemon + and sailed away with you - not even + when I had converse with you upon the couch of love in the island of Cranae was + I so enthralled by desire of you as now." On this he led her towards the bed, + and his wife went with him. +Thus they laid themselves on the bed together; + but the son of Atreus strode among the throng, looking everywhere for + Alexander, and no man, neither of the Trojans nor of the allies, could find + him. If they had seen him they were in no mind to hide him, for they all of + them hated him as they did death itself. Then Agamemnon, king of men, +spoke, saying, "Hear me, Trojans, Dardanians, + and allies. The victory has been with Menelaos; therefore give back Helen with + all her wealth, and pay such fine [ +timê +] as shall + be agreed upon, in testimony among them that shall be born hereafter." +Thus spoke the son of Atreus, and the Achaeans + shouted in approval. +Now the gods were sitting with Zeus in council + upon the golden floor while Hebe went round pouring out nectar for them to + drink, and as they pledged one another in their cups of gold they looked down + upon the town of +Troy +. The son of + Kronos then began to tease Hera, talking at her so as to provoke her. + "Menelaos," said he, "has two good friends among the goddesses, Hera of + +Argos +, and Athena of Alalkomene, + but they only sit still and look on, while Aphrodite keeps ever by Alexander's + side to defend him in any danger; indeed she has just rescued him when he made + sure that it was all over with him - for the victory really did lie with + Menelaos. We must consider what we shall do about all this; shall we set them + fighting anew or make peace between them? If you will agree to this last + Menelaos can take back Helen and the city of Priam may remain still inhabited." +Athena and Hera muttered their discontent as + they sat side by side hatching mischief for the Trojans. Athena scowled at her + father, for she was in a furious passion with him, and said nothing, but Hera + could not contain herself. "Dread son of Kronos," said she, "what, pray, is the + meaning of all this? Is my trouble [ +ponos +], then, + to go for nothing, +and the sweat that I have sweated, to say + nothing of my horses, while getting the people together against Priam and his + children? Do as you will, but we other gods shall not all of us approve your + counsel." +Zeus was angry and answered, "My dear, what harm + have Priam and his sons done you that you are so hotly bent on sacking the city + of +Ilion +? Will nothing do for you but + you must within their walls and eat Priam raw, with his sons and all the other + Trojans to boot? Have it your own way then; for I would not have this matter + become a bone of contention between us. I say further, and lay my saying to + your heart, if ever I want to sack a city belonging to friends of yours, you + must not try to stop me; you will have to let me do it, for I am giving in to + you sorely against my will. Of all inhabited cities under the sun and stars of + heaven, there was none that I so much respected as +Ilion + with Priam and his whole people. Equitable feasts were + never wanting about my altar, nor the savor of burning fat, which is honor due + to ourselves." +"My own three favorite cities," answered Hera, + "are +Argos +, +Sparta +, and +Mycenae +. Sack them whenever you may be + displeased with them. I shall not defend them and I shall not care. Even if I + did, and tried to stay you, I should take nothing by it, for you are much + stronger than I am, but I will not have my own work wasted. I too am a god and + of the same race with yourself. I am Kronos' eldest daughter, and am honorable + not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife, and you are king over + the gods. Let it be a case, then, of give-and-take between us, and the rest of + the gods will follow our lead. Tell Athena to go and take part in the fight at + once, and let her contrive that the Trojans shall be the first to break their + oaths and set upon the Achaeans." +The sire of gods and men heeded her words, and + said to Athena, "Go at once into the Trojan and Achaean hosts, and contrive + that the Trojans shall be the first to break their oaths and set upon the + Achaeans." +This was what Athena was already eager to do, so + down she darted from the topmost summits of +Olympus +. She shot through the sky as some brilliant meteor + which the son of scheming Kronos has sent as a sign to mariners or to some + great army, and a fiery train of light follows in its wake. The Trojans and + Achaeans were struck with awe as they beheld, and one would turn to his + neighbor, saying, "Either we shall again have war and din of combat, or Zeus + the lord of battle will now make peace between us." +Thus did they converse. Then Athena took the + form of Laodokos, son of Antenor, and went through the ranks of the Trojans to + find Pandaros, the redoubtable son of Lykaon. She found him standing among the + stalwart heroes who had followed him from the banks of the Aesepos, so she went + close up to him and said, "Brave son of Lykaon, will you do as I tell you? If + you dare send an arrow at Menelaos you will win honor and thanks [ +kharis +] from all the Trojans, and especially from + prince Alexander - he would be the first to requite you very handsomely if he + could see Menelaos mount his funeral pyre, slain by an arrow from your hand. + Take your home aim then, and pray to Lycian Apollo, the famous archer; vow that + when you get home to your strong city of Zelea you will offer a hecatomb of + firstling lambs in his honor." +His fool's heart was persuaded, and he took his + bow from its case. This bow was made from the horns of a wild ibex which he had + killed as it was bounding from a rock; he had stalked it, and it had fallen as + the arrow struck it to the heart. Its horns were sixteen palms long, and a + worker in horn had made them into a bow, smoothing them well down, and giving + them tips of gold. When Pandaros had strung his bow he laid it carefully on the + ground, and his brave followers held their shields before him lest the Achaeans + should set upon him before he had shot Menelaos. Then he opened the lid of his + quiver and took out a winged arrow that had yet been shot, fraught with the + pangs of death. +He laid the arrow on the string and prayed to + Lycian Apollo, the famous archer, vowing that when he got home to his strong + city of Zelea he would offer a hecatomb of firstling lambs in his honor. He + laid the notch of the arrow on the oxhide bowstring, and drew both notch and + string to his breast till the arrow-head was near the bow; then when the bow + was arched into a half-circle he let fly, and the bow twanged, and the string + sang as the arrow flew gladly on over the heads of the throng. +But the blessed gods did not forget you, O + Menelaos, and Zeus' daughter, driver of the spoil, was the first to stand + before you and ward off the piercing arrow. She turned it from his skin as a + mother whisks a fly from off her child when it is sleeping sweetly; she guided + it to the part where the golden buckles of the belt that passed over his double + cuirass were fastened, so the arrow struck the belt that went tightly round + him. It went right through this and through the cuirass of cunning workmanship; + it also pierced the belt beneath it, which he wore next his skin to keep out + darts or arrows; it was this that served him in the best stead, nevertheless + the arrow went through it and grazed the top of the skin, so that blood began + flowing from the wound. +As when some woman of Meonia or +Caria + strains purple dye on to a piece of + ivory that is to be the cheek-piece of a horse, and is to be laid up in a + treasure house - many a horseman is fain to bear it, but the king keeps it as + an ornament [ +kosmos +] of which both horse and driver + may be proud - even so, O Menelaos, were your shapely thighs and your legs down + to your fair ankles stained with blood. +When King Agamemnon saw the blood flowing from + the wound he was afraid, and so was brave Menelaos himself till he saw that the + barbs of the arrow and the thread that bound the arrow-head to the shaft were + still outside the wound. Then he took heart, but Agamemnon heaved a deep sigh + as he held Menelaos' hand in his own, and his comrades made moan in concert. +"Dear brother, "he cried, "I have been the + death of you in pledging this covenant and letting you come forward as our + champion. The Trojans have trampled on their oaths and have wounded you; + nevertheless the oath, the blood of lambs, the drink-offerings and the right + hands of fellowship in which have put our trust shall not be vain. If he that + rules +Olympus + fulfill it not here and + now, he. will yet fulfill it hereafter, and they shall pay dearly with their + lives and with their wives and children. The day will surely come when mighty + +Ilion + shall be laid low, with Priam + and Priam's people, when the son of Kronos from his high throne shall + overshadow them with his awful aegis in punishment of their present treachery. + This shall surely be; but how, Menelaos, shall I feel grief [ +akhos +] for you, if it be your lot now to die? I should + return to +Argos + as a by-word, for + the Achaeans will at once go home. We shall leave Priam and the Trojans the + glory of still keeping Helen, and the earth will rot your bones as you lie here + at +Troy + with your purpose not + fulfilled. Then shall some braggart Trojan leap upon your tomb and say, ‘Ever + thus may Agamemnon wreak his vengeance; he brought his army in vain; he is gone + home to his own land with empty ships, and has left Menelaos behind him.’ Thus + will one of them say, and may the earth then swallow me." +But Menelaos reassured him and said, "Take + heart, and do not alarm the people; the arrow has not struck me in a mortal + part, for my outer belt of burnished metal first stayed it, and under this my + cuirass and the belt of mail which the bronze-smiths made me." +And Agamemnon answered, "I trust, dear + Menelaos, that it may be even so, but the surgeon shall examine your wound and + lay herbs upon it to relieve your pain." +He then said to Talthybios, "Talthybios, tell + Machaon, son to the great physician, Asklepios, to come and see Menelaos + immediately. Some Trojan or Lycian archer has wounded him with an arrow to our + dismay [ +penthos +], and to his own great glory [ +kleos +]." +Talthybios did as he was told, and went about + the host trying to find Machaon. Presently he found standing amid the brave + warriors who had followed him from +Tricca +; thereon he went up to him and said, "Son of Asklepios, + King Agamemnon says you are to come and see Menelaos immediately. Some Trojan + or Lycian archer has wounded him with an arrow to our dismay [ +penthos +] and to his own great glory [ +kleos +]." +Thus did he speak, and Machaon was moved to go. + They passed through the spreading host of the Achaeans and went on till they + came to the place where Menelaos had been wounded and was lying with the + chieftains gathered in a circle round him. Machaon passed into the middle of + the ring and at once drew the arrow from the belt, bending its barbs back + through the force with which he pulled it out. He undid the burnished belt, and + beneath this the cuirass and the belt of mail which the bronze-smiths had made; + then, when he had seen the wound, he wiped away the blood and applied some + soothing drugs which Chiron had given to Asklepios out of the good will he bore + him. +While they were thus busy about Menelaos, the + Trojans came forward against them, for they had put on their armor, and now + renewed the fight. +You would not have then found Agamemnon asleep + nor cowardly and unwilling to fight, but eager rather for the fray. He left his + chariot rich with bronze and his panting steeds in charge of the squire [ +therapôn +] Eurymedon, son of Ptolemaios the son of + Peiraios, and bade him hold them in readiness against the time his limbs should + weary of going about and giving orders to so many, for he went among the ranks + on foot. When he saw men hastening to the front he stood by them and cheered + them on. "Argives," said he, "slacken not one whit in your onset; father Zeus + will be no helper of liars; +the Trojans have been the first to break their + oaths and to attack us; therefore they shall be devoured of vultures; we shall + take their city and carry off their wives and children in our ships." +But he angrily rebuked those whom he saw + shirking and disinclined to fight. "Argives," he cried, "cowardly miserable + creatures, have you no shame to stand here like frightened fawns who, when they + can no longer scud over the plain, huddle together, but show no fight? You are + as dazed and spiritless as deer. Would you wait till the Trojans reach the + sterns of our ships as they lie on the shore, to see, whether the son of Kronos + will hold his hand over you to protect you?" +Thus did he go about giving his orders among + the ranks. Passing through the crowd, he came presently on the Cretans, arming + round Idomeneus, who was at their head, fierce as a wild boar, while Meriones + was bringing up the battalions that were in the rear. Agamemnon was glad when + he saw him, and spoke him fairly. "Idomeneus," said he, "I treat you with + greater distinction than I do any others of the Achaeans, whether in war or in + other things, or at table. When the princes are mixing my choicest wines in the + mixing-bowls, they have each of them a fixed allowance, but your cup is kept + always full like my own, that you may drink whenever you are minded. Go, + therefore, into battle, and show yourself the man you have been always proud to + be." +Idomeneus answered, "I will be a trusty + comrade, as I promised you from the first I would be. Urge on the other + Achaeans, that we may join battle at once, for the Trojans have trampled upon + their covenants. Death and destruction shall be theirs, seeing they have been + the first to break their oaths and to attack us." +The son of Atreus went on, glad at heart, till + he came upon the two Ajaxes arming themselves amid a host of foot-soldiers. As + when a goat-herd from some high post watches a storm drive over the deep [ +pontos +] before the west wind +- black as pitch is the offing and a mighty + whirlwind draws towards him, so that he is afraid and drives his flock into a + cave - even thus did the ranks of stalwart youths move in a dark mass to battle + under the Ajaxes, horrid with shield and spear. Glad was King Agamemnon when he + saw them. "No need," he cried, "to give orders to such leaders of the Argives + as you are, for of your own selves you spur your men on to fight with might and + main. Would, by father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo that all were so minded as you + are, for the city of Priam would then soon fall beneath our hands, and we + should sack it." +With this he left them and went onward to + Nestor, the facile speaker of the Pylians, who was marshaling his men and + urging them on, in company with Pelagon, Alastor, Chromios, Haimon, and Bias + shepherd of his people. He placed his horsemen with their chariots and horses + in the front rank, while the foot-soldiers, brave men and many, whom he could + trust, were in the rear. The cowards he drove into the middle, that they might + fight whether they would or no. He gave his orders to the horsemen first, + bidding them hold their horses well in hand, so as to avoid confusion. "Let no + man," he said, "relying on his strength or horsemanship, get before the others + and engage singly with the Trojans, nor yet let him lag behind or you will + weaken your attack; but let each when he meets an enemy's chariot throw his + spear from his own; this be much the best; this is how the men of old took + towns and strongholds; in this wise was their thinking [ +noos +]." +Thus did the old man charge them, for he had + been in many a fight, and King Agamemnon was glad. "I wish," he said to him, + that your limbs were as supple and your strength [ +biê +] as sure as your judgment is; but age, the common enemy of + humankind, has laid his hand upon you; would that it had fallen upon some + other, and that you were still young." +And Nestor, horseman of Gerene, answered, "Son + of Atreus, I too would gladly be the man I was when I slew mighty Ereuthalion; + but the gods will not give us everything at one and the same time. I was then + young, and now I am old; +still I can go with my horsemen and give them + that counsel which old men have a right to give. The wielding of the spear I + leave to those who are younger and has more force [ +biê +] than myself." +Agamemnon went his way rejoicing, and presently + found Menestheus, son of Peteos, tarrying in his place, and with him were the + Athenians loud of tongue in battle. Near him also tarried cunning Odysseus, + with his sturdy Cephallenians round him; they had not yet heard the battle-cry, + for the ranks of Trojans and Achaeans had only just begun to move, so they were + standing still, waiting for some other columns of the Achaeans to attack the + Trojans and begin the fighting. When he saw this Agamemnon rebuked them and + said, "Son of Peteos, and you other, steeped in cunning, heart of guile, why + stand you here cowering and waiting on others? You two should be of all men + foremost when there is hard fighting to be done, for you are ever foremost to + accept my invitation when we councilors of the Achaeans are holding feast. You + are glad enough then to take your fill of roast meats and to drink wine as long + as you please, whereas now you would not care though you saw ten columns of + Achaeans engage the enemy in front of you." +Odysseus glared at him and answered, "Son of + Atreus, what are you talking about? How can you say that we are slack? When the + Achaeans are in full fight with the Trojans, you shall see, if you care to do + so, that the father of Telemakhos will join battle with the foremost of them. + You are talking idly." +When Agamemnon saw that Odysseus was angry, he + smiled pleasantly at him and withdrew his words. "Odysseus," said he, "noble + son of +Laertes +, excellent in all + good counsel, I have neither fault to find nor orders to give you, for I know + your heart is right, and that you and I are of a mind. Enough; I will make you + amends for what I have said, and if any ill has now been spoken may the gods + bring it to nothing." +He then left them and went on to others. + Presently he saw the son of Tydeus, noble Diomedes, standing by his chariot and + horses, with Sthenelos the son of Kapaneus beside him; whereon he began to + upbraid him. "Son of Tydeus," he said, "why stand you cowering here upon the + brink of battle? Tydeus did not shrink thus, but was ever ahead of his men when + leading them on against the foe - so, at least, say they that saw him in + battle, for I never set eyes upon him myself. They say that there was no man + like him. He came once to +Mycenae +, + not as an enemy but as a guest, in company with Polyneikes to recruit his + forces, for they were levying war against the strong city of +Thebes +, and prayed our people for a body of + picked men to help them. The men of +Mycenae + were willing to let them have one, but Zeus dissuaded + them by showing them unfavorable omens [ +sêmata +]. + Tydeus, therefore, and Polyneikes went their way. When they had got as far the + deep-meadowed and rush-grown banks of the Aesepos, the Achaeans sent Tydeus as + their envoy, and he found the Cadmeans gathered in great numbers to a banquet + in the house of Eteokles. Stranger though he was, he knew no fear on finding + himself single-handed among so many, but challenged them to contests of all + kinds, and in each one of them was at once victorious, so mightily did Athena + help him. The Cadmeans were incensed at his success, and set a force of fifty + youths with two leaders - the godlike hero Maion, son of Haimon, and + Polyphontes, son of Autophonos - at their head, to lie in wait for him on his + return journey; but Tydeus slew every man of them, save only Maion, whom he let + go in obedience to heaven's omens. Such was Tydeus of +Aetolia +. His son can talk more glibly, but he + cannot fight as his father did." +Diomedes made no answer, for he was shamed by + the rebuke of Agamemnon; but the son of Kapaneus took up his words and said, + "Son of Atreus, tell no lies, for you can speak truth if you will. +We boast ourselves as even better men than our + fathers; we took seven-gated +Thebes +, though the wall was stronger and our men were fewer in + number, for we trusted in the omens of the gods and in the help of Zeus, + whereas they perished through their own sheer folly; hold not, then, our + fathers in like honor [ +timê +] with us." +Diomedes looked sternly at him and said, "Hold + your peace, my friend, as I bid you. It is not amiss that Agamemnon should urge + the Achaeans forward, for the glory will be his if we take the city, and his + the grief [ +penthos +] if we are vanquished. Therefore + let us acquit ourselves with valor." +As he spoke he sprang from his chariot, and his + armor rang so fiercely about his body that even a brave man might well have + been scared to hear it. +As when some mighty wave that thunders on the + beach when the west wind has lashed it into fury at sea [ +pontos +]- it has reared its head afar and now comes crashing down on + the shore; it bows its arching crest high over the jagged rocks and spews its + salt foam in all directions - even so did the serried phalanxes of the Danaans + march steadfastly to battle. The chiefs gave orders each to his own people, but + the men said never a word; no man would think it, for huge as the host was, it + seemed as though there was not a tongue among them, so silent were they in + their obedience; and as they marched the armor about their bodies glistened in + the sun. But the clamor of the Trojan ranks was as that of many thousand ewes + that stand waiting to be milked in the yards of some rich flockmaster, and + bleat incessantly in answer to the bleating of their lambs; for they had not + one speech nor language, but their tongues were diverse, and they came from + many different places. These were inspired of Ares, but the others by Athena - + and with them came Panic, Rout, and Strife whose fury never tires, sister and + friend of murderous Ares, who, from being at first but low in stature, grows + till she uprears her head to heaven, though her feet are still on earth. She it + was that went about among them and flung down discord to the waxing of sorrow + with even hand between them. +When they were got together in one place shield + clashed with shield and spear with spear in the rage of battle. The bossed + shields beat one upon another, and there was a tramp as of a great multitude - + death-cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers, and the earth ran red with + blood. As torrents swollen with rain course madly down their deep channels till + the angry floods meet in some gorge, and the shepherd the hillside hears their + roaring from afar - even such was the toil [ +ponos +] + and uproar of the hosts as they joined in battle. +First Antilokhos slew an armed warrior of the + Trojans, Ekhepolos, son of Thalysios, fighting in the foremost ranks. He struck + at the projecting part of his helmet and drove the spear into his brow; the + point of bronze pierced the bone, and darkness veiled his eyes; headlong as a + tower he fell amid the press of the fight, and as he dropped King Elephenor, + son of Khalkodon and leader of the proud Abantes began dragging him out of + reach of the darts that were falling around him, in haste to strip him of his + armor. But his purpose was not for long; Agenor saw him haling the body away, + and smote him in the side with his bronze-shod spear - for as he stooped his + side was left unprotected by his shield - and thus he perished. Then the fight + between Trojans and Achaeans grew furious over his body, and they flew upon + each other like wolves, man and man crushing one upon the other. +Forthwith Ajax, son of Telamon, slew the fair + youth Simoeisios, son of Anthemion, whom his mother bore by the banks of the + Simoeis, as she was coming down from +Mount + Ida +, where she had been with her parents to see their flocks. + Therefore he was named Simoeisios, but he did not live to pay his parents for + his rearing, for he was cut off untimely by the spear of mighty Ajax, who + struck him in the breast by the right nipple as he was coming on among the + foremost fighters; +the spear went right through his shoulder, and + he fell as a poplar that has grown straight and tall in a meadow by some mere, + and its top is thick with branches. Then the wheelwright lays his axe to its + roots that he may fashion a felloe for the wheel of some goodly chariot, and it + lies seasoning by the waterside. In such wise did Ajax fell to earth + Simoeisios, son of Anthemion. Thereon Antiphos of the gleaming corselet, son of + Priam, hurled a spear at Ajax from amid the crowd and missed him, but he hit + Leukos, the brave comrade of Odysseus, in the groin, as he was dragging the + body of Simoeisios over to the other side; so he fell upon the body and loosed + his hold upon it. Odysseus was furious when he saw Leukos slain, and strode in + full armor through the front ranks till he was quite close; then he glared + round about him and took aim, and the Trojans fell back as he did so. His dart + was not sped in vain, for it struck Demokoön, the bastard son of Priam, who had + come to him from +Abydos +, where he had + charge of his father's mares. Odysseus, infuriated by the death of his comrade, + hit him with his spear on one temple, and the bronze point came through on the + other side of his forehead. Thereon darkness veiled his eyes, and his armor + rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Hektor, and they that + were in front, then gave round while the Argives raised a shout and drew off + the dead, pressing further forward as they did so. But Apollo looked down from + +Pergamos + and called aloud to the + Trojans, for he was displeased. "Trojans," he cried, "rush on the foe, and do + not let yourselves be thus beaten by the Argives. Their skins are not stone nor + iron that when hit them you do them no harm. Moreover, Achilles, the son of + lovely Thetis, is not fighting, but is nursing his anger at the ships." +Thus spoke the mighty god, crying to them from + the city, while Zeus' redoubtable daughter, the Trito-born, went about among + the host of the Achaeans, and urged them forward whenever she beheld them + slackening. +Then fate fell upon Diores, son of Amarynkeus, + for he was struck by a jagged stone near the ankle of his right leg. He that + hurled it was Peirous, son of Imbrasos, leader of the Thracians, who had come + from +Ainos +; the bones and both the + tendons were crushed by the pitiless stone. He fell to the ground on his back, + and in his death throes stretched out his hands towards his comrades. But + Peirous, who had wounded him, sprang on him and thrust a spear into his belly, + so that his bowels came gushing out upon the ground, and darkness veiled his + eyes. As he was leaving the body, Thoas of +Aetolia + struck him in the chest near the nipple, and the point + fixed itself in his lungs. Thoas came close up to him, pulled the spear out of + his chest, and then drawing his sword, smote him in the middle of the belly so + that he died; but he did not strip him of his armor, for his Thracian comrades, + men who wear their hair in a tuft at the top of their heads, stood round the + body and kept him off with their long spears for all his great stature and + valor; so he was driven back. Thus the two corpses lay stretched on earth near + to one another, the one leader of the Thracians and the other of the Epeans; + and many another fell round them. +And now no man would have made light of the + fighting if he could have gone about among it scatheless and unwounded, with + Athena leading him by the hand, and protecting him from the storm of spears and + arrows. For many Trojans and Achaeans on that day lay stretched side by side + face downwards upon the earth. +Then Pallas Athena put valor into the heart of + Diomedes, son of Tydeus, that he might excel all the other Argives, and cover + himself with glory [ +kleos +]. She made a stream of + fire flare from his shield and helmet like the star that shines most + brilliantly in summer after its bath in the waters of Okeanos - even such a + fire did she kindle upon his head and shoulders as she bade him speed into the + thickest uproar of the fight. +Now there was a certain rich and honorable man + among the Trojans, priest of Hephaistos, and his name was Dares. He had two + sons, Phegeus and Idaios, both of them skilled in all the arts of war. These + two came forward from the main body of Trojans, and set upon Diomedes, he being + on foot, while they fought from their chariot. When they were close up to one + another, Phegeus took aim first, but his spear went over Diomedes ‘s left + shoulder without hitting him. Diomedes then threw, and his spear sped not in + vain, for it hit Phegeus on the breast near the nipple, and he fell from his + chariot. Idaios did not dare to bestride his brother's body, but sprang from + the chariot and took to flight, or he would have shared his brother's fate; +whereon Hephaistos saved him by wrapping him in + a cloud of darkness, that his old father might not be utterly overwhelmed with + grief; but the son of Tydeus drove off with the horses, and bade his followers + take them to the ships. The Trojans were scared when they saw the two sons of + Dares, one of them in fright and the other lying dead by his chariot. Athena, + therefore, took Ares by the hand and said, "Ares, Ares, bane of men, + bloodstained stormer of cities, may we not now leave the Trojans and Achaeans + to fight it out, and see to which of the two Zeus will grant the victory? Let + us go away, and thus avoid his anger [ +mênis +]." +So saying, she drew Ares out of the battle, and + set him down upon the steep banks of the Skamandros. Upon this the Danaans + drove the Trojans back, and each one of their chieftains killed his man. First + King Agamemnon flung mighty Odios, leader of the Halizonoi, from his chariot. + The spear of Agamemnon caught him on the broad of his back, just as he was + turning in flight; it struck him between the shoulders and went right through + his chest, and his armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the + ground. +Then Idomeneus killed Phaesus, son of Boros the + Meonian, who had come from Varne. Mighty Idomeneus speared him on the right + shoulder as he was mounting his chariot, and the darkness of death enshrouded + him as he fell heavily from the car. +The squires [therapontes] of Idomeneus spoiled + him of his armor, while Menelaos, son of Atreus, killed Skamandrios the son of + Strophios, a mighty huntsman and keen lover of the chase. Artemis herself had + taught him how to kill every kind of wild creature that is bred in mountain + forests, but neither she nor his famed skill in archery could now save him, for + the spear of Menelaos struck him in the back as he was fleeing; it struck him + between the shoulders and went right through his chest, so that he fell + headlong and his armor rang rattling round him. +Meriones then killed Phereklos the son of + Tekton, who was the son of Harmon, a man whose hand was skilled in all manner + of cunning workmanship, for Pallas Athena had dearly loved him. He it was that + made the ships for Alexander, which were the beginning of all mischief, and + brought evil alike both on the Trojans and on Alexander himself; for he heeded + not the decrees of heaven. Meriones overtook him as he was fleeing, and struck + him on the right buttock. The point of the spear went through the bone into the + bladder, and death came upon him as he cried aloud and fell forward on his + knees. +Meges, moreover, slew Pedaios, son of Antenor, + who, though he was a bastard, had been brought up by Theano as one of her own + children, for the love she bore her husband. The son of Phyleus got close up to + him and drove a spear into the nape of his neck: it went under his tongue all + among his teeth, so he bit the cold bronze, and fell +dead in the dust. +And Eurypylos, son of Euaemon, killed Hypsenor, + the son of noble Dolopion, who had been made priest of the river Skamandros, + and was honored in the +dêmos + as though he were a + god. Eurypylos gave him chase as he was fleeing before him, smote him with his + sword upon the arm, and lopped his strong hand from off it. The bloody hand + fell to the ground, and the shades of death, with fate that no man can + withstand, came over his eyes. +Thus furiously did the battle rage between them. + As for the son of Tydeus, you could not say whether he was more among the + Achaeans or the Trojans. He rushed across the plain like a winter torrent that + has burst its barrier in full flood; no dikes, no walls of fruitful vineyards + can embank it when it is swollen with rain from heaven, but in a moment it + comes tearing onward, and lays many a field waste that many a strong man hand + has reclaimed - even so were the dense phalanxes of the Trojans driven in rout + by the son of Tydeus, and many though they were, they dared not abide his + onslaught. +Now when the son of Lykaon saw him scouring the + plain and driving the Trojans pell-mell before him, he aimed an arrow and hit + the front part of his cuirass near the shoulder: the arrow went right through + the metal and pierced the flesh, so that the cuirass was covered with blood. On + this the son of Lykaon shouted in triumph, "Horsemen Trojans, come on; the + bravest of the Achaeans is wounded, and he will not hold out much longer if + King Apollo was indeed with me when I sped from +Lycia + hither." +Thus did he vaunt; but his arrow had not killed + Diomedes, who withdrew and made for the chariot and horses of Sthenelos, the + son of Kapaneus. "Dear son of Kapaneus," said he, "come down from your chariot, + and draw the arrow out of my shoulder." +Sthenelos sprang from his chariot, and drew the + arrow from the wound, whereon the blood came spouting out through the hole that + had been made in his shirt. Then Diomedes prayed, saying, "Hear me, daughter of + aegis-bearing Zeus, unweariable, if ever you loved my father well and stood by + him in the thick of a fight, do the like now by me; grant me to come within a + spear's throw of that man and kill him. He has been too quick for me and has + wounded me; and now he is boasting that I shall not see the light of the sun + much longer." +Thus he prayed, and Pallas Athena heard him; + she made his limbs supple and quickened his hands and his feet. Then she went + up close to him and said, "Fear not, Diomedes, to do battle with the Trojans, + for I have set in your heart the spirit of your father, the horseman Tydeus. + Moreover, I have withdrawn the veil from your eyes, that you know gods and men + apart. If, then, any other god comes here and offers you battle, do not fight + him; but should Zeus' daughter Aphrodite come, strike her with your spear and + wound her." +When she had said this Athena went away, and + the son of Tydeus again took his place among the foremost fighters, three times + more fierce even than he had been before. He was like a lion that some mountain + shepherd has wounded, but not killed, as he is springing over the wall of a + sheep-yard to attack the sheep. +The shepherd has roused the brute to fury but + cannot defend his flock, so he takes shelter under cover of the buildings, + while the sheep, panic-stricken on being deserted, are smothered in heaps one + on top of the other, and the angry lion leaps out over the sheep-yard wall. + Even thus did Diomedes go furiously about among the Trojans. +He killed Astynoos, and shepherd of his people, + the one with a thrust of his spear, which struck him above the nipple, the + other with a sword - cut on the collar-bone, that severed his shoulder from his + neck and back. He let both of them lie, and went in pursuit of Abas and + Polyidos, sons of the old man who read [ +krinô +] + dreams, Eurydamas: they never came back for him to read them any more dreams, + for mighty Diomedes made an end of them. He then gave chase to +Xanthos + and Thoon, the two sons of + Phainops, both of them very dear to him, for he was now worn out with age, and + begat no more sons to inherit his possessions. But Diomedes took both their + lives and left their father sorrowing bitterly, for he nevermore saw them come + home from battle alive, and his kinsmen divided his wealth among + themselves. +Then he came upon two sons of Priam, Echemmon + and Chromios, as they were both in one chariot. He sprang upon them as a lion + fastens on the neck of some cow or heifer when the herd is feeding in a + coppice. For all their vain struggles he flung them both from their chariot and + stripped the armor from their bodies. Then he gave their horses to his comrades + to take them back to the ships. +When Aeneas saw him thus making havoc among the + ranks, he went through the fight amid the rain of spears to see if he could + find Pandaros. When he had found the brave son of Lykaon he said, "Pandaros, + where is now your bow, your winged arrows, and your renown [ +kleos +] as an archer, in respect of which no man here + can rival you nor is there any in +Lycia + that can beat you? Lift then your hands to Zeus and send + an arrow at this man who is going so masterfully about, +and has done such deadly work among the + Trojans. He has killed many a brave man - unless indeed he is some god who is + angry with the Trojans about their sacrifices, and has set his hand against + them in his anger [ +mênis +]." +And the son of Lykaon answered, "Aeneas, I take + him for none other than the son of Tydeus. I know him by his shield, the visor + of his helmet, and by his horses. It is possible that he may be a god, but if + he is the man I say he is, he is not making all this havoc without heaven's + help, but has some god by his side who is shrouded in a cloud of darkness, and + who turned my arrow aside when it had hit him. I have taken aim at him already + and hit him on the right shoulder; my arrow went through the breastplate of his + cuirass; and I made sure I should send him hurrying to the world below, but it + seems that I have not killed him. There must be a god who is angry with me. + Moreover I have neither horse nor chariot. In my father's stables there are + eleven excellent chariots, fresh from the builder, quite new, with cloths + spread over them; and by each of them there stand a pair of horses, champing + barley and rye; my old father Lykaon urged me again and again when I was at + home and on the point of starting, to take chariots and horses with me that I + might lead the Trojans in battle, but I would not listen to him; it would have + been much better if I had done so, but I was thinking about the horses, which + had been used to eat their fill, and I was afraid that in such a great + gathering of men they might be ill-fed, so I left them at home and came on foot + to +Ilion + armed only with my bow and + arrows. These it seems, are of no use, for I have already hit two chieftains, + the sons of Atreus and of Tydeus, and though I drew blood surely enough, I have + only made them still more furious. I did ill to take my bow down from its peg + on the day I led my band of Trojans to +Ilion + as a favor [ +kharis +] to + Hektor, and if ever +I get home again to set eyes on my native + place, my wife, and the greatness of my house, may some one cut my head off + then and there if I do not break the bow and set it on a hot fire - such pranks + as it plays me." +Aeneas answered, "Say no more. Things will not + mend till we two go against this man with chariot and horses and bring him to a + trial of arms. Mount my chariot, and note how cleverly the horses of Tros can + speed hither and thither over the plain in pursuit or flight. If Zeus again + grants glory to the son of Tydeus they will carry us safely back to the city. + Take hold, then, of the whip and reins while I stand upon the car to fight, or + else do you wait this man's onset while I look after the horses." +"Aeneas." replied the son of Lykaon, "take the + reins and drive; if we have to flee before the son of Tydeus the horses will go + better for their own driver. If they miss the sound of your voice when they + expect it they may be frightened, and refuse to take us out of the fight. The + son of Tydeus will then kill both of us and take the horses. Therefore drive + them yourself and I will be ready for him with my spear." +They then mounted the chariot and drove + full-speed towards the son of Tydeus. Sthenelos, son of Kapaneus, saw them + coming and said to Diomedes, "Diomedes, son of Tydeus, man after my own heart, + I see two heroes speeding towards you, both of them men of might the one a + skillful archer, Pandaros son of Lykaon, the other, Aeneas, whose sire is + Anchises, while his mother is Aphrodite. Mount the chariot and let us retreat. + Do not, I pray you, press so furiously forward, or you may get killed." +Diomedes looked angrily at him and answered: + "Talk not of flight, for I shall not listen to you: I am of a race that knows + neither flight nor fear, and my limbs are as yet unwearied. I am in no mind to + mount, but will go against them even as I am; Pallas Athena bids me be afraid + of no man, and even though one of them escape, their steeds shall not take both + back again. I say further, +and lay my saying to your heart - if Athena + sees fit to grant me the glory of killing both, stay your horses here and make + the reins fast to the rim of the chariot; then be sure you spring Aeneas' + horses and drive them from the Trojan to the Achaean ranks. They are of the + stock that great Zeus gave to Tros in payment for his son Ganymede, and are the + finest that live and move under the sun. King Anchises stole the blood by + putting his mares to them without Laomedon's knowledge, and they bore him six + foals. Four are still in his stables, but he gave the other two to Aeneas. We + shall win great glory [ +kleos +] if we can take them." + +Thus did they converse, but the other two had + now driven close up to them, and the son of Lykaon spoke first. "Great and + mighty son," said he, "of noble Tydeus, my arrow failed to lay you low, so I + will now try with my spear." +He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it + from him. It struck the shield of the son of Tydeus; the bronze point pierced + it and passed on till it reached the breastplate. Thereon the son of Lykaon + shouted out and said, "You are hit clean through the belly; you will not stand + out for long, and the glory of the fight is mine." +But Diomedes all undismayed made answer, "You + have missed, not hit, and before you two see the end of this matter one or + other of you shall glut tough-shielded Ares with his blood." +With this he hurled his spear, and Athena + guided it on to Pandaros' nose near the eye. It went crashing in among his + white teeth; the bronze point cut through the root of his to tongue, coming out + under his chin, and his glistening armor rang rattling round him as he fell + heavily to the ground. The horses started aside for fear, and he was reft of + life [ +psukhê +] and strength [ +menos +]. +Aeneas sprang from his chariot armed with + shield and spear, fearing lest the Achaeans should carry off the body. He + bestrode it as a lion in the pride of strength, with shield and on spear before + him and a cry of battle on his lips resolute to kill the first that should dare + face him. But the son of Tydeus caught up a mighty stone, so huge and great + that as men now are it would take two to lift it; nevertheless he bore it aloft + with ease unaided, and with this he struck Aeneas on the groin where the hip + turns in the joint that is called the "cup-bone." The stone crushed this joint, + and broke both the sinews, while its jagged edges tore away all the flesh. The + hero fell on his knees, and propped himself with his hand resting on the ground + till the darkness of night fell upon his eyes. And now Aeneas, king of men, + would have perished then and there, had not his mother, Zeus' daughter + Aphrodite, who had conceived him by Anchises when he was herding cattle, been + quick to mark, and thrown her two white arms about the body of her dear son. + She protected him by covering him with a fold of her own fair garment, lest + some Danaan should drive a spear into his breast and kill him. +Thus, then, did she bear her dear son out of + the fight. But the son of Kapaneus was not unmindful of the orders that + Diomedes had given him. He made his own horses fast, away from the struggle, by + binding the reins to the rim of the chariot. Then he sprang upon Aeneas' horses + and drove them from the Trojan to the Achaean ranks. When he had so done he + gave them over to his chosen comrade Deipylos, whom he valued above all others + as the one who was most like-minded with himself, to take them on to the ships. + He then remounted his own chariot, seized the reins, and drove with all speed + in search of the son of Tydeus. +Now the son of Tydeus was in pursuit of the + Cyprian goddess, spear in hand, for he knew her to be feeble and not one of + those goddesses that can lord it among men in battle like Athena or Enyo the + waster of cities, and when at last after a long chase he caught her up, +he flew at her and thrust his spear into the + flesh of her delicate hand. The point tore through the ambrosial robe which the + Graces [ +kharites +] had woven for her, and pierced + the skin between her wrist and the palm of her hand, so that the immortal + blood, or ichor, that flows in the veins of the blessed gods, came pouring from + the wound; for the gods do not eat bread nor drink wine, hence they have no + blood such as ours, and are immortal. Aphrodite screamed aloud, and let her son + fall, but Phoebus Apollo caught him in his arms, and hid him in a cloud of + darkness, lest some Danaan should drive a spear into his breast and kill him; + and Diomedes shouted out as he left her, "Daughter of Zeus, leave war and + battle alone, can you not be contented with beguiling silly women? If you + meddle with fighting you will get what will make you shudder at the very name + of war." +The goddess went dazed and discomfited away, + and Iris, fleet as the wind, drew her from the throng, in pain and with her + fair skin all besmirched. She found fierce Ares waiting on the left of the + battle, with his spear and his two fleet steeds resting on a cloud; whereon she + fell on her knees before her brother and implored him to let her have his + horses. "Dear brother," she cried, "save me, and give me your horses to take me + to +Olympus + where the gods dwell. I am + badly wounded by a mortal, the son of Tydeus, who would now fight even with + father Zeus." +Thus she spoke, and Ares gave her his + gold-bedizened steeds. She mounted the chariot sick and sorry at heart, while + Iris sat beside her and took the reins in her hand. She lashed her horses on + and they flew forward nothing loath, till in a trice they were at high + +Olympus +, where the gods have their + dwelling. There she stayed them, unloosed them from the chariot, and gave them + their ambrosial forage; but Aphrodite flung herself on to the lap of her mother + Dione, who threw her arms about her and caressed her, saying, "Which of the + heavenly beings has been treating you in this way, as though you had been doing + something wrong in the face of day?" +And laughter-loving Aphrodite answered, "Proud + Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, wounded me because I was bearing my dear son + Aeneas, whom I love best of all humankind, out of the fight. The war is no + longer one between Trojans and Achaeans, for the Danaans have now taken to + fighting with the immortals." +"Bear it, my child," replied Dione, "and make + the best of it. We dwellers in +Olympus + + have to put up with much at the hands of men, and we lay much suffering on one + another. Ares had to suffer when Otos and Ephialtes, children of Aloeus, bound + him in cruel bonds, so that he lay thirteen months imprisoned in a vessel of + bronze. Ares would have then perished had not fair Eeriboia, stepmother to the + sons of Aloeus, told Hermes, who stole him away when he was already well-nigh + worn out by the severity of his bondage. Hera, again, suffered when the mighty + son of Amphitryon wounded her on the right breast with a three-barbed arrow, + and nothing could assuage her pain. So, also, did huge Hades, when this same + man, the son of aegis-bearing Zeus, hit him with an arrow even at the gates of + Hades, and hurt him badly. Thereon Hades went to the house of Zeus on great + +Olympus +, angry and full of pain + [ +akhos +]; and the arrow in his brawny shoulder + caused him great anguish till Paieon healed him by spreading soothing herbs on + the wound, for Hades was not of mortal mold. Daring, head-strong, evildoer who + recked not of his evil deed in shooting the gods that dwell in +Olympus +. And now Athena has egged this son of + Tydeus on against yourself, fool that he is for not reflecting that no man who + fights with gods will live long or hear his children prattling about his knees + when he returns from battle. Let, then, the son of Tydeus see that he does not + have to fight with one who is stronger than you are. +Then shall his brave wife Aigialeia, daughter + of Adrastos, rouse her whole house from sleep, wailing for the loss of her + wedded lord, Diomedes the bravest of the Achaeans." +So saying, she wiped the ichor from the wrist + of her daughter with both hands, whereon the pain left her, and her hand was + healed. But Athena and Hera, who were looking on, began to taunt Zeus with + their mocking talk, and Athena was first to speak. "Father Zeus," said she, "do + not be angry with me, but I think the Cyprian must have been persuading some + one of the Achaean women to go with the Trojans of whom she is so very fond, + and while caressing one or other of them she must have torn her delicate hand + with the gold pin of the woman's brooch." +The sire of gods and men smiled, and called + golden Aphrodite to his side. "My child," said he, "it has not been given you + to be a warrior. Attend, henceforth, to your own delightful matrimonial duties, + and leave all this fighting to Ares and to Athena." +Thus did they converse. But Diomedes sprang + upon Aeneas, though he knew him to be in the very arms of Apollo. Not one whit + did he fear the mighty god, so set was he on killing Aeneas and stripping him + of his armor. Thrice did he spring forward with might and main to slay him, and + thrice did Apollo beat back his gleaming shield. When he was coming on for the + fourth time, equal to a +daimôn +, Apollo shouted to + him with an awful voice and said, "Take heed, son of Tydeus, and draw off; + think not to match yourself against gods, for men that walk the earth cannot + hold their own with the immortals." +The son of Tydeus then gave way for a little + space, to avoid the anger [ +mênis +] of the god, while + Apollo took Aeneas out of the crowd and set him in sacred +Pergamos +, where his temple stood. There, + within the mighty sanctuary, Leto and Artemis healed him and made him glorious + to behold, while Apollo of the silver bow fashioned a wraith in the likeness of + Aeneas, and armed as he was. Round this the Trojans and Achaeans hacked at the + bucklers about one another's breasts, hewing each other's round shields and + light hide-covered targets. Then Phoebus Apollo said to Ares, "Ares, Ares, bane + of men, blood-stained stormer of cities, can you not go to this man, the son of + Tydeus, who would now fight even with father Zeus, and draw him out of the + battle? He first went up to the Cyprian and wounded her in the hand near her + wrist, and afterwards sprang upon me too, equal to a +daimôn +." +He then took his seat on the top of +Pergamos +, while murderous Ares went about + among the ranks of the Trojans, cheering them on, in the likeness of fleet + Akamas chief of the Thracians. "Sons of Priam," said he, "how long will you let + your people be thus slaughtered by the Achaeans? Would you wait till they are + at the walls of +Troy +? Aeneas the son + of Anchises has fallen, he whom we held in as high honor as Hektor himself. + Help me, then, to rescue our brave comrade from the stress of the fight." +With these words he put heart and soul into + them all. Then Sarpedon rebuked Hektor very sternly. "Hektor," said he, "where + is your prowess now? You used to say that though you had neither people nor + allies you could hold the town alone with your brothers and brothers-in-law. I + see not one of them here; they cower as hounds before a lion; it is we, your + allies, who bear the brunt of the battle. I have come from afar, even from + +Lycia + and the banks of the river + +Xanthos +, where I have left my + wife, my infant son, and much wealth to tempt whoever is needy; nevertheless, I + head my Lycian warriors and stand my ground against any who would fight me + though I have nothing here for the Achaeans to plunder, while you look on, + without even bidding your men stand firm in defense of their wives. See that + you fall not into the hands of your foes as men caught in the meshes of a net, + and they sack your fair city forthwith. Keep this before your mind night and + day, and beseech the leaders of your allies to hold on without flinching, and + thus put away their reproaches from you." +So spoke Sarpedon, and Hektor smarted under his + words. He sprang from his chariot clad in his suit of armor, and went about + among the host brandishing his two spears, exhorting the men to fight and + raising the terrible cry of battle. Then they rallied and again faced the + Achaeans, but the Argives stood compact and firm, and were not driven back. As + the breezes sport with the chaff upon some goodly threshing-floor, when men are + winnowing - while yellow Demeter blows with the wind to sift [ +krinô +] the chaff from the grain, and the chaff- heaps + grow whiter and whiter - even so did the Achaeans whiten in the dust which the + horses' hoofs raised to the firmament of heaven, as their drivers turned them + back to battle, and they bore down with might upon the foe. Fierce Ares, to + help the Trojans, covered them in a veil of darkness, and went about everywhere + among them, inasmuch as Phoebus Apollo had told him that when he saw Pallas, + Athena leave the fray he was to put courage into the hearts of the Trojans - + for it was she who was helping the Danaans. Then Apollo sent Aeneas forth from + his rich sanctuary, and filled his heart with valor, whereon he took his place + among his comrades, who were overjoyed at seeing him alive, sound, and of a + good courage; but they could not ask him how it had all happened, for they had + too much pain [ +ponos +] with the turmoil raised by + Ares and by Strife, who raged insatiably in their midst. +The two Ajaxes, Odysseus and Diomedes, cheered + the Danaans on, fearless of the fury and onset of the Trojans. They stood as + still as clouds which the son of Kronos has spread upon the mountain tops when + there is no air and fierce Boreas sleeps with the other boisterous winds whose + shrill blasts scatter the clouds in all directions - even so did the Danaans + stand firm and unflinching against the Trojans. The son of Atreus went about + among them and exhorted them. "My friends," said he, "quit yourselves like + brave men, and shun dishonor in one another's eyes amid the stress of battle. + +They that shun dishonor more often live than + get killed, but they that flee save neither life nor name [ +kleos +]." +As he spoke he hurled his spear and hit one of + those who were in the front rank, the comrade of Aeneas, Deikoön son of + Pergasus, whom the Trojans held in no less honor than the sons of Priam, for he + was ever quick to place himself among the foremost. The spear of King Agamemnon + struck his shield and went right through it, for the shield stayed it not. It + drove through his belt into the lower part of his belly, and his armor rang + rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. +Then Aeneas killed two champions of the + Danaans, Crethon and Orsilokhos. Their father was a rich man who lived in the + strong city of Phere and was descended from the river Alpheus, whose broad + stream flows through the land of the Pylians. The river begat Orsilokhos, who + ruled over many people and was father to Diokles, who in his turn begat twin + sons, Crethon and Orsilokhos, well skilled in all the arts of war. These, when + they grew up, went to +Ilion + with the + +Argive + fleet in honor [ +timê +] of Menelaos and Agamemnon sons of Atreus, and + there they both of them reached the final outcome [ +telos +]. As two lions whom their dam has reared in the depths of some + mountain forest to plunder homesteads and carry off sheep and cattle till they + get killed by the hand of man, so were these two vanquished by Aeneas, and fell + like high pine-trees to the ground. +Brave Menelaos pitied them in their fall, and + made his way to the front, clad in gleaming bronze and brandishing his spear, + for Ares egged him on to do so with intent that he should be killed by Aeneas; + but Antilokhos the son of Nestor saw him and sprang forward, fearing that the + king might come to harm and thus bring all their labor [ +ponos +] to nothing; when, therefore Aeneas and Menelaos were setting + their hands and spears against one another eager to do battle, Antilokhos + placed himself by the side of Menelaos. +Aeneas, bold though he was, drew back on seeing + the two heroes side by side in front of him, so they drew the bodies of Crethon + and Orsilokhos to the ranks of the Achaeans and committed the two poor men into + the hands of their comrades. They then turned back and fought in the front + ranks. +They killed Pylaimenes peer of Ares, leader of + the Paphlagonian warriors. Menelaos struck him on the collar-bone as he was + standing on his chariot, while Antilokhos hit his charioteer and squire [ +therapôn +] Mydon, the son of Atymnios, who was turning + his horses in flight. He hit him with a stone upon the elbow, and the reins, + enriched with white ivory, fell from his hands into the dust. Antilokhos rushed + towards him and struck him on the temples with his sword, whereon he fell head + first from the chariot to the ground. There he stood for a while with his head + and shoulders buried deep in the dust - for he had fallen on sandy soil till + his horses kicked him and laid him flat on the ground, as Antilokhos lashed + them and drove them off to the host of the Achaeans. +But Hektor marked them from across the ranks, + and with a loud cry rushed towards them, followed by the strong battalions of + the Trojans. Ares and dread Enyo led them on, she fraught with ruthless turmoil + of battle, while Ares wielded a monstrous spear, and went about, now in front + of Hektor and now behind him. +Diomedes shook with passion as he saw them. As + a man crossing a wide plain is dismayed to find himself on the brink of some + great river rolling swiftly to the sea - he sees its boiling waters and starts + back in fear - even so did the son of Tydeus give ground. Then he said to his + men, "My friends, how can we wonder that Hektor wields the spear so well? Some + god is ever by his side to protect him, and now Ares is with him in the + likeness of mortal man. Keep your faces therefore towards the Trojans, but give + ground backwards, for we dare not fight with gods." +As he spoke the Trojans drew close up, and + Hektor killed two men, both in one chariot, Menesthes and Anchialos, heroes + well versed in war. Ajax son of Telamon pitied them in their fall; he came + close up and hurled his spear, hitting Amphios the son of Selagus, a man of + great wealth who lived in Paesus and owned much grain-growing land, but his lot + had led him to come to the aid of Priam and his sons. Ajax struck him in the + belt; the spear pierced the lower part of his belly, and he fell heavily to the + ground. Then Ajax ran towards him to strip him of his armor, but the Trojans + rained spears upon him, many of which fell upon his shield. He planted his heel + upon the body and drew out his spear, but the darts pressed so heavily upon him + that he could not strip the goodly armor from his shoulders. The Trojan + chieftains, moreover, many and valiant, came about him with their spears, so + that he dared not stay; great, brave and valiant though he was, they drove him + from them and he was beaten back. +Thus, then, did the battle rage between them. + Presently the strong hand of fate impelled Tlepolemos, the son of Herakles, a + man both brave and of great stature, to fight Sarpedon; so the two, son and + grandson of great Zeus, drew near to one another, and Tlepolemos spoke first. + "Sarpedon," said he, "councilor of the Lycians, why should you come skulking + here you who are a man of peace? They lie who call you son of aegis-bearing + Zeus, for you are little like those who were of old his children. Far other was + Herakles, my own brave and lion-hearted father, who came here for the horses of + Laomedon, and though he had six ships only, and few men to follow him, sacked + the city of +Ilion + and made a + wilderness of her highways. You are a coward, and your people are falling from + you. For all your strength, and all your coming from +Lycia +, you will be no help to the Trojans but + will pass the gates of Hades vanquished by my hand." +And Sarpedon, leader of the Lycians, answered, + "Tlepolemos, your father overthrew +Ilion + by reason of Laomedon's folly in refusing payment to one + who had served him well. He would not give your father the horses which he had + come so far to fetch. As for yourself, you shall meet death by my spear. You + shall yield glory to myself, and your soul [ +psukhê +] + to Hades of the noble steeds." +Thus spoke Sarpedon, and Tlepolemos upraised + his spear. They threw at the same moment, and Sarpedon struck his foe in the + middle of his throat; the spear went right through, and the darkness of death + fell upon his eyes. Tlepolemos' spear struck Sarpedon on the left thigh with + such force that it tore through the flesh and grazed the bone, but his father + as yet warded off destruction from him. +His comrades bore Sarpedon out of the fight, in + great pain by the weight of the spear that was dragging from his wound. They + were in such haste and stress [ +ponos +] as they bore + him that no one thought of drawing the spear from his thigh so as to let him + walk uprightly. Meanwhile the Achaeans carried off the body of Tlepolemos, + whereon Odysseus was moved to pity, and panted for the fray as he beheld them. + He doubted whether to pursue the son of Zeus, or to make slaughter of the + Lycian rank and file; it was not decreed, however, that he should slay the son + of Zeus; Athena, therefore, turned him against the main body of the Lycians. He + killed Koiranos, Alastor, Chromios, Alkandros, Halios, Noemon, and Prytanis, + and would have slain yet more, had not great Hektor marked him, and sped to the + front of the fight clad in his suit of mail, filling the Danaans with terror. + Sarpedon was glad when he saw him coming, and besought him, saying, "Son of + Priam, let me not he here to fall into the hands of the Danaans. Help me, and + since I may not return home to gladden the hearts of my wife and of my infant + son, let me die within the walls of your city." +Hektor made him no answer, but rushed onward to + fall at once upon the Achaeans and. kill many among them. His comrades then + bore Sarpedon away and laid him beneath Zeus' spreading oak tree. Pelagon, his + friend and comrade drew the spear out of his thigh, but Sarpedon lost his + life-breath [ +psukhê +], and a mist came over his + eyes. Presently he came to again, for the breath of the north wind as it played + upon him gave him new life, and brought him out of the deep swoon into which he + had fallen. +Meanwhile the Argives were neither driven + towards their ships by Ares and Hektor, nor yet did they attack them; when they + knew that Ares was with the Trojans they retreated, but kept their faces still + turned towards the foe. Who, then, was first and who last to be slain by Ares + and Hektor? They were valiant Teuthras, and Orestes the renowned charioteer, + Trechos the Aetolian warrior, Oinomaos, Helenos the son of Oinops, and Oresbios + of the gleaming belt, who was possessed of great wealth, and dwelt by the + Cephisian lake with the other Boeotians who lived near him, owners of a fertile + district [ +dêmos +]. +Now when the goddess Hera saw the Argives thus + falling, she said to Athena, "Alas, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, + unweariable, the promise we made Menelaos that he should not return till he had + sacked the city of +Ilion + will be of + none effect if we let Ares rage thus furiously. Let us go into the fray at + once." +Athena did not gainsay her. Thereon the august + goddess, daughter of great Kronos, began to harness her gold-bedizened steeds. + Hebe with all speed fitted on the eight-spoked wheels of bronze that were on + either side of the iron axle-tree. The felloes of the wheels were of gold, + imperishable, and over these there was a tire of bronze, wondrous to behold. + The naves of the wheels were silver, turning round the axle upon either side. + The car itself was made with plaited bands of gold and silver, and it had a + double top-rail running all round it. From the body of the car there went a + pole of silver, on to the end of which she bound the golden yoke, with the + bands of gold that were to go under the necks of the horses Then Hera put her + steeds under the yoke, eager for battle and the war-cry. +Meanwhile Athena flung her richly embroidered + vesture, made with her own hands, on to her father's threshold, and donned the + shirt of Zeus, arming herself for battle. She threw her tasseled aegis about. + her shoulders, wreathed round with Rout as with a fringe, and on it were + Strife, and Strength, and Panic whose blood runs cold; moreover there was the + head of the dread monster Gorgon,, grim and awful to behold, portent of + aegis-bearing Zeus. On her head she set her helmet of gold, with four plumes, + and coming to a peak both in front and behind - decked with the emblems of a + hundred cities; then she stepped into her flaming chariot and grasped the + spear, so stout and sturdy and strong, with which she quells the ranks of + heroes who have displeased her. Hera lashed the horses on, and the gates of + heaven bellowed as they flew open of their own accord -gates over which the + flours preside, in whose hands are Heaven and +Olympus +, either to open the dense cloud that hides them, or to + close it. Through these the goddesses drove their obedient steeds, and found + the son of Kronos sitting all alone on the topmost ridges of +Olympus +. There Hera stayed her horses, and + spoke to Zeus the son of Kronos, lord of all. "Father Zeus," said she, "are you + not angry with Ares for these high doings? how great and goodly a host of the + Achaeans he has destroyed to my great grief [ +akhos +], in violation of the order [ +kosmos +] + of things, while the Cyprian and Apollo are enjoying it all at their ease and + setting this unrighteous madman on to keep on doing things that are not right + [ +themis +]. I hope, Father Zeus, that you will not + be angry if I hit Ares hard, and chase him out of the battle." +And Zeus answered, "Set Athena on to him, for + she punishes him more often than any one else does." +Hera did as he had said. She lashed her horses, + and they flew forward nothing loath midway betwixt earth and sky. As far as a + man can see when he looks out upon the sea [ +pontos +] + from some high beacon, so far can the loud-neighing horses of the gods spring + at a single bound. When they reached +Troy + and the place where its two flowing streams Simoeis and + Skamandros meet, there Hera stayed them and took them from the chariot. She hid + them in a thick cloud, and Simoeis made ambrosia spring up for them to eat; the + two goddesses then went on, flying like turtledoves in their eagerness to help + the Argives. When they came to the part where the bravest and most in number + were gathered about mighty Diomedes, fighting like lions or wild boars of great + strength and endurance, there Hera stood still and raised a shout like that of + brazen-voiced Stentor, whose cry was as loud as that of fifty men together. + "Argives," she cried; "shame [ +aidôs +] on cowardly + creatures, brave in semblance only; as long as Achilles was fighting, his spear + was so deadly that the Trojans dared not show themselves outside the Dardanian + gates, but now they sally far from the city and fight even at your ships." +With these words she put heart and soul into + them all, while Athena sprang to the side of the son of Tydeus, whom she found + near his chariot and horses, cooling the wound that Pandaros had given him. For + the sweat caused by the hand that bore the weight of his shield irritated the + hurt: his arm was weary with pain, and he was lifting up the strap to wipe away + the blood. The goddess laid her hand on the yoke of his horses and said, "The + son of Tydeus is not such another as his father. Tydeus was a little man, but + he could fight, and rushed madly into the fray even when I told him not to do + so. When he went all unattended as envoy to the city of +Thebes + among the Cadmeans, I bade him feast + in their houses and be at peace; but with that high spirit which was ever + present with him, he challenged the youth of the Cadmeans, +and at once beat them in all that he attempted, so mightily did + I help him. I stand by you too to protect you, and I bid you be instant in + fighting the Trojans; but either you are tired out, or you are afraid and out + of heart, and in that case I say that you are no true son of Tydeus the son of + Oeneus." +Diomedes answered, "I know you, goddess, + daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, and will hide nothing from you. I am not afraid + nor out of heart, nor is there any slackness in me. I am only following your + own instructions; you told me not to fight any of the blessed gods; but if + Zeus' daughter Aphrodite came into battle I was to wound her with my spear. + Therefore I am retreating, and bidding the other Argives gather in this place, + for I know that Ares is now lording it in the field." "Diomedes, son of + Tydeus," replied Athena, "man after my own heart, fear neither Ares nor any + other of the immortals, for I will befriend you. Nay, drive straight at Ares, + and smite him in close combat; fear not this raging madman, villain incarnate, + first on one side and then on the other. But now he was holding talk with Hera + and myself, saying he would help the Argives and attack the Trojans; + nevertheless he is with the Trojans, and has forgotten the Argives." +With this she caught hold of Sthenelos and + lifted him off the chariot on to the ground. In a second he was on the ground, + whereupon the goddess mounted the car and placed herself by the side of + Diomedes. The oaken axle groaned aloud under the burden of the awful goddess + and the hero; Pallas Athena took the whip and reins, and drove straight at + Ares. He was in the act of stripping huge Periphas, son of Ochesios and bravest + of the Aetolians. Bloody Ares was stripping him of his armor, and Athena donned + the helmet of Hades, that he might not see her; when, therefore, he saw + Diomedes, he made straight for him and let Periphas lie where he had fallen. As + soon as they were at close quarters he let fly with his bronze spear over the + reins and yoke, +thinking to take the life of + Diomedes, but Athena caught the spear in her hand and made it fly harmlessly + over the chariot. Diomedes then threw, and Pallas Athena drove the spear into + the pit of Ares' stomach where his under-belt went round him. There Diomedes + wounded him, tearing his fair flesh and then drawing his spear out again. Ares + roared as loudly as nine or ten thousand men in the thick of a fight, and the + Achaeans and Trojans were struck with panic, so terrible was the cry he + raised. +As a dark cloud in the sky when it comes on to + blow after heat, even so did Diomedes son of Tydeus see Ares ascend into the + broad heavens. With all speed he reached high +Olympus +, home of the gods, and in great pain sat down beside + Zeus the son of Kronos. He showed Zeus the immortal blood that was flowing from + his wound, and spoke piteously, saying, "Father Zeus, are you not angered by + such doings? We gods are continually suffering in the most cruel manner at one + another's hands while doing a favor [ +kharis +] for + mortals; and we all owe you a grudge for having begotten that mad termagant of + a daughter, who is always committing outrage of some kind. We other gods must + all do as you bid us, but her you neither scold nor punish; you encourage her + because the pestilent creature is your daughter. See how she has been inciting + proud Diomedes to vent his rage on the immortal gods. First he went up to the + Cyprian and wounded her in the hand near her wrist, and then he sprang upon me + too, equal to a +daimôn +. Had I not run for it I must + either have lain there for long enough in torments among the ghastly corpses, + or have been eaten alive with spears till I had no more strength left in + me." +Zeus looked angrily at him and said, "Do not + come whining here, Sir Facing-bothways. I hate you worst of all the gods in + +Olympus +, for you are ever fighting + and making mischief. You have the intolerable and stubborn spirit of your + mother Hera: it is all I can do to manage her, and it is her doing that you are + now in this plight: +still, I cannot let you + remain longer in such great pain; you are my own off-spring, and it was by me + that your mother conceived you; if, however, you had been the son of any other + god, you are so destructive that by this time you should have been lying lower + than the Titans." +He then bade Paieon heal him, whereon Paieon + spread pain-killing herbs upon his wound and cured him, for he was not of + mortal mold. As the juice of the fig-tree curdles milk, and thickens it in a + moment though it is liquid, even so instantly did Paieon cure fierce Ares. Then + Hebe washed him, and clothed him in goodly raiment, and he took his seat by his + father Zeus all glorious to behold. +But Hera of +Argos + and Athena of Alalkomene, now that they had put a stop to + the murderous doings of Ares, went back again to the house of Zeus. +The fight between Trojans and Achaeans was now + left to rage as it would, and the tide of war surged hither and thither over + the plain as they aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another between the + streams of Simoeis and +Xanthos +. +First, Ajax son of Telamon, tower of strength to + the Achaeans, broke a phalanx of the Trojans, and came to the assistance of his + comrades by killing Akamas son of Eussoros, the best man among the Thracians, + being both brave and of great stature. The spear struck the projecting peak of + his helmet: its bronze point then went through his forehead into the brain, and + darkness veiled his eyes. +Then Diomedes killed Axylos son of Teuthranos, a + rich man who lived in the strong city of Arisbe, and was beloved by all men; + for he had a house by the roadside, and entertained every one who passed; + howbeit not one of his guests stood before him to save his life, and Diomedes + killed both him and his squire [ +therapôn +] Kalesios, + who was then his charioteer - so the pair passed beneath the earth. +Euryalos killed Dresus and Opheltios, and then + went in pursuit of Aesepos and Pedasos, whom the naiad nymph Abarbarea had + borne to noble Bucolion. Bucolion was eldest son to Laomedon, but he was a + bastard. While tending his sheep he had converse with the nymph, and she + conceived twin sons; these the son of Mekisteus now slew, and he stripped the + armor from their shoulders. +Polypoites then + killed Astyalos, Odysseus Pidytes of Perkote, and Teucer Aretaon. Ablerus fell + by the spear of Nestor's son Antilokhos, and Agamemnon, king of men, killed + Elatus who dwelt in Pedasos by the banks of the river Satnioeis. Leitos killed + Phylakos as he was fleeing, and Eurypylos slew Melanthos. Then Menelaos of the + loud war-cry took Adrastos alive, for his horses ran into a tamarisk bush, as + they were flying wildly over the plain, and broke the pole from the car; they + went on towards the city along with the others in full flight, but Adrastos + rolled out, and fell in the dust flat on his face by the wheel of his chariot; + Menelaos came up to him spear in hand, but Adrastos caught him by the knees + begging for his life. "Take me alive," he cried, "son of Atreus, and you shall + have a full ransom for me: my father is rich and has much treasure of gold, + bronze, and wrought iron laid by in his house. From this store he will give you + a large ransom should he hear of my being alive and at the ships of the + Achaeans." +Thus did he plead, and Menelaos was for yielding + and giving him to a squire [ +therapôn +] to take to + the ships of the Achaeans, but Agamemnon came running up to him and rebuked + him. "My good Menelaos," said he, "this is no time for giving quarter. Has, + then, your house fared so well at the hands of the Trojans? Let us not spare a + single one of them - not even the child unborn and in its mother's womb; let + not a man of them be left alive, but let all in +Ilion + perish, unheeded and forgotten." +Thus did he speak, and his brother was persuaded + by him, for his words were just. Menelaos, therefore, thrust Adrastos from him, + whereon King Agamemnon struck him in the flank, and he fell: then the son of + Atreus planted his foot upon his breast to draw his spear from the body. +Meanwhile Nestor shouted to the Argives, saying, + "My friends, Danaan warriors, squires [therapontes] of Ares, let no man lag + that he may spoil the dead, and bring back much booty to the ships. Let us kill + as many as we can; the bodies will lie upon the plain, and you can despoil them + later at your leisure." +With these words he put heart and soul into them + all. And now the Trojans would have been routed and driven back into +Ilion +, had not Priam's son Helenos, wisest of + augurs, said to Hektor and Aeneas, "Hektor and Aeneas, the labors of you two + make you the mainstays of the Trojans and Lycians, for you are foremost at all + times, alike in fight and counsel; hold your ground here, and go about among + the host to rally them in front of the gates, or they will fling themselves + into the arms of their wives, to the great joy of our foes. Then, when you have + put heart into all our companies, we will stand firm here and fight the Danaans + however hard they press us, for there is nothing else to be done. Meanwhile do + you, Hektor, go to the city and tell our mother what is happening. Tell her to + bid the matrons gather at the temple of Athena in the acropolis; let her then + take her key and open the doors of the sacred building; there, upon the knees + of Athena, let her lay the largest, fairest robe she has in her house - the one + she sets most store by; let her, moreover, promise to sacrifice twelve yearling + heifers that have never yet felt the goad, in the temple of the goddess, if she + will take pity on the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and + keep the son of Tydeus from falling on the goodly city of +Ilion +; for he fights with fury and fills men's + souls with panic. I hold him mightiest of them all; we did not fear even their + great champion Achilles, son of a goddess though he be, as we do this man: his + rage is beyond all bounds, and there is none can vie with him in prowess" +Hektor did as his brother bade him. He sprang + from his chariot, and went about everywhere among the host, brandishing his + spears, urging the men on to fight, and raising the dread cry of battle. + Thereon they rallied and again faced the Achaeans, +who gave ground and ceased their murderous onset, for they + deemed that some one of the immortals had come down from starry heaven to help + the Trojans, so strangely had they rallied. And Hektor shouted to the Trojans, + "Trojans and allies, be men, my friends, and fight with might and main, while I + go to +Ilion + and tell the old men of + our council and our wives to pray to the gods [ +daimones +] and vow hecatombs in their honor." +With this he went his way, and the black rim of + hide that went round his shield beat against his neck and his ankles. +Then Glaukos son of Hippolokhos, and the son of + Tydeus went into the open space between the hosts to fight in single combat. + When they were close up to one another Diomedes of the loud war-cry was the + first to speak. "Who, my good sir," said he, "who are you among men? I have + never seen you in battle until now, but you are daring beyond all others if you + abide my onset. Woe to those fathers whose sons face my might. If, however, you + are one of the immortals and have come down from heaven, I will not fight you; + for even valiant Lycurgus, son of Dryas, did not live long when he took to + fighting with the gods. He it was that drove the nursing women who were in + charge of frenzied Bacchus through the land of +Nysa +, and they flung their thyrsi on the ground as murderous + Lycurgus beat them with his oxgoad. Bacchus himself plunged terror-stricken + into the sea, and Thetis took him to her bosom to comfort him, for he was + scared by the fury with which the man reviled him. Thereon the gods who live at + ease were angry with Lycurgus and the son of Kronos struck him blind, nor did + he live much longer after he had become hateful to the immortals. Therefore I + will not fight with the blessed gods; but if you are of them that eat the fruit + of the ground, draw near and meet your doom." +And the son of Hippolokhos answered, son of + Tydeus, why ask me of my lineage? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon + the trees. Those of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground, but when the season + [ +hôra +] of spring returns the forest buds forth + with fresh vines. +Even so is it with the generations of + humankind, the new spring up as the old are passing away. If, then, you would + learn my descent, it is one that is well known to many. There is a city in the + heart of +Argos +, pasture land of + horses, called +Ephyra +, where + Sisyphus lived, who was the craftiest of all humankind. He was the son of + Aeolus, and had a son named Glaukos, who was father to Bellerophon, whom heaven + endowed with the most surpassing comeliness and beauty. But Proetus devised his + ruin, and being stronger than he, drove him from the district [ +dêmos +] of the Argives, over which Zeus had made him + ruler. For Antaea, wife of Proetus, lusted after him, and would have had him + lie with her in secret; but Bellerophon was an honorable man and would not, so + she told lies about him to Proetus. ‘Proetus,’ said she, ‘kill Bellerophon or + die, for he would have had converse with me against my will.’ The king was + angered, but shrank from killing Bellerophon, so he sent him to +Lycia + bearing baneful signs [ +sêmata +], written inside a folded tablet and containing + much ill against the bearer. He bade Bellerophon show these written signs to + his father-in-law, to the end that he might thus perish; Bellerophon therefore + went to +Lycia +, and the gods convoyed + him safely. +"When he reached the river +Xanthos +, which is in +Lycia +, the king received him with all + goodwill, feasted him nine days, and killed nine heifers in his honor, but when + rosy-fingered morning appeared upon the tenth day, he questioned him and + desired to see the written signs [ +sêmata +] from his + son-in-law Proetus. When he had received the wicked written signs [ +sêmata +] he first commanded Bellerophon to kill that + savage monster, the Chimaera, who was not a human being, but a goddess, for she + had the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent, while her body was that of a + goat, and she breathed forth flames of fire; but Bellerophon slew her, for he + was guided by signs from heaven. He next fought the far-famed Solymoi, and + this, he said, was the hardest of all his battles. +Thirdly, he killed the Amazons, women who were + the peers of men, and as he was returning thence the king devised yet another + plan for his destruction; he picked [ +krinô +] the + bravest warriors in all +Lycia +, and + placed them in ambuscade, but not a man ever came back, for Bellerophon killed + every one of them. Then the king knew that he must be the valiant offspring of + a god, so he kept him in +Lycia +, gave + him his daughter in marriage, and made him of equal honor [ +timê +] in the kingdom with himself; and the Lycians gave him a piece + of land, the best in all the country, fair with vineyards and tilled fields, to + have and to hold. +"The king's daughter bore Bellerophon three + children, Isandros, Hippolokhos, and Laodameia. Zeus, the lord of counsel, lay + with Laodameia, and she bore him noble Sarpedon; but when Bellerophon came to + be hated by all the gods, he wandered all desolate and dismayed upon the Alean + plain, gnawing at his own heart, and shunning the path of man. Ares, insatiate + of battle, killed his son Isandros while he was fighting the Solymi; his + daughter was killed by Artemis of the golden reins, for she was angered with + her; but Hippolokhos was father to myself, and when he sent me to +Troy + he urged me again and again to fight + ever among the foremost and outvie my peers, so as not to shame the blood of my + fathers who were the noblest in +Ephyra + and in all +Lycia +. This, then, is the descent I claim." +Thus did he speak, and the heart of Diomedes + was glad. He planted his spear in the ground, and spoke to him with friendly + words. "Then," he said, you are an old friend of my father's house. Great + Oeneus once entertained Bellerophon for twenty days, and the two exchanged + presents. Oeneus gave a belt rich with purple, and Bellerophon a double cup, + which I left at home when I set out for +Troy +. I do not remember Tydeus, for he was taken from us while + I was yet a child, when the army of the Achaeans was cut to pieces before + +Thebes +. +Henceforth, however, I must be your host in + middle +Argos +, and you mine in + +Lycia +, if I should ever go to that + district [ +dêmos +]; let us avoid one another's spears + even during a general engagement; there are many noble Trojans and allies whom + I can kill, if I overtake them and heaven delivers them into my hand; so again + with yourself, there are many Achaeans whose lives you may take if you can; we + two, then, will exchange armor, that all present may know of the old ties that + subsist between us." +With these words they sprang from their + chariots, grasped one another's hands, and plighted friendship. But the son of + Kronos made Glaukos take leave of his wits, for he exchanged golden armor for + bronze, the worth of a hundred head of cattle for the worth of nine. +Now when Hektor reached the Scaean gates and + the oak tree, the wives and daughters of the Trojans came running towards him + to ask after their sons, brothers, kinsmen, and husbands: he told them to set + about praying to the gods, and many were made sorrowful as they heard him. +Presently he reached the splendid palace of + King Priam, adorned with colonnades of hewn stone. In it there were fifty + bedchambers - all of hewn stone - built near one another, where the sons of + Priam slept, each with his wedded wife. Opposite these, on the other side the + courtyard, there were twelve upper rooms also of hewn stone for Priam's + daughters, built near one another, where his sons-in-law slept with their + wives. When Hektor got there, his fond mother came up to him with Laodike the + fairest of her daughters. She took his hand within her own and said, "My son, + why have you left the battle to come hither? Are the Achaeans, woe betide them, + pressing you hard about the city that you have thought fit to come and uplift + your hands to Zeus from the citadel? Wait till I can bring you wine that you + may make offering to Zeus and to the other immortals, and may then drink and be + refreshed. Wine gives a man fresh strength when he is wearied, as you now are + with fighting on behalf of your kinsmen." +And Hektor answered, "Honored mother, bring no + wine, lest you unman me and I forget my strength. I dare not make a + drink-offering to Zeus with unwashed hands; one who is bespattered with blood + and filth may not pray to the son of Kronos. Get the matrons together, and go + with offerings to the temple of Athena driver of the spoil; there, upon the + knees of Athena, lay the largest and fairest robe you have in your house - the + one you set most store by; promise, moreover, to sacrifice twelve yearling + heifers that have never yet felt the goad, in the temple of the goddess if she + will take pity on the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and + keep the son of Tydeus from off the goodly city of +Ilion +, for he fights with fury, and fills men's souls with + panic. Go, then, to the temple of Athena, while I seek +Paris + and exhort him, if he will hear my + words. Would that the earth might open her jaws and swallow him, for Zeus bred + him to be the bane of the Trojans, and of Priam and Priam's sons. Could I but + see him go down into the house of Hades, my heart would forget its heaviness." +His mother went into the house and called her + waiting-women who gathered the matrons throughout the city. She then went down + into her fragrant store-room, where her embroidered robes were kept, the work + of Sidonian women, whom Alexander had brought over from +Sidon + when he sailed the seas [ +pontos +] upon that voyage during which he carried off + Helen. Hecuba took out the largest robe, and the one that was most beautifully + enriched with embroidery, as an offering to Athena: it glittered like a star, + and lay at the very bottom of the chest. With this she went on her way and many + matrons with her. +When they reached the temple of Athena, lovely + Theano, daughter of Kisseus and wife of Antenor, opened the doors, for the + Trojans had made her priestess of Athena. The women lifted up their hands to + the goddess with a loud cry, and Theano took the robe to lay it upon the knees + of Athena, praying the while to the daughter of great Zeus. +"Holy Athena," she cried, "protectress of our + city, mighty goddess, break the spear of Diomedes and lay him low before the + Scaean gates. Do this, and we will sacrifice twelve heifers that have never yet + known the goad, in your temple, if you will have pity upon the town, with the + wives and little ones If the Trojans." Thus she prayed, but Pallas Athena + granted not her prayer. +While they were thus praying to the daughter of + great Zeus, Hektor went to the fair house of Alexander, which he had built for + him by the foremost builders in the land. They had built him his house, + storehouse, and courtyard near those of Priam and Hektor on the acropolis. Here + Hektor entered, with a spear eleven cubits long in his hand; the bronze point + gleamed in front of him, and was fastened to the shaft of the spear by a ring + of gold. He found Alexander within the house, busied about his armor, his + shield and cuirass, and handling his curved bow; there, too, sat Argive Helen + with her women, setting them their several tasks; and as Hektor saw him he + rebuked him with words of scorn. "Sir," said he, "you do ill to nurse this + rancor; the people perish fighting round this our town; you would yourself + chide one whom you saw shirking his part in the combat. Up then, or ere long + the city will be in a blaze." +And Alexander answered, "Hektor, your rebuke is + just; listen therefore, and believe me when I tell you that I am not here so + much through rancor or ill-will [nemesis] towards the Trojans, as from a desire + to indulge my grief. My wife was even now gently urging me to battle, and I + hold it better that I should go, for victory is ever fickle. Wait, then, while + I put on my armor, or go first and I will follow. I shall be sure to overtake + you." +Hektor made no answer, but Helen tried to + soothe him. "Brother," said she, "to my abhorred and sinful self, would that a + whirlwind had caught me up on the day my mother brought me forth, and had borne + me to some mountain or +to the waves of the roaring sea that should + have swept me away ere this mischief had come about. But, since the gods have + devised these evils, would, at any rate, that I had been wife to a better man - + to one who could smart under dishonor [nemesis] and men's evil speeches. This + man was never yet to be depended upon, nor never will be, and he will surely + reap what he has sown. Still, brother, come in and rest upon this seat, for it + is you who bear the brunt of that toil [ +ponos +] that + has been caused by my hateful self and by the veering [ +atê +] of Alexander - both of whom Zeus has doomed to be a theme of + song among those that shall be born hereafter." +And Hektor answered, "Bid me not be seated, + Helen, for all the goodwill you bear me. I cannot stay. I am in haste to help + the Trojans, who miss me greatly when I am not among them; but urge your + husband, and of his own self also let him make haste to overtake me before I am + out of the city. I must go home to see my household, my wife and my little son, + for I know not whether I shall ever again return to them, or whether the gods + will cause me to fill by the hands of the Achaeans." +Then Hektor left her, and forthwith was at his + own house. He did not find Andromache, for she was on the wall with her child + and one of her maids, weeping bitterly. Seeing, then, that she was not within, + he stood on the threshold of the women's rooms and said, "Women, tell me, and + tell me true, where did Andromache go when she left the house? Was it to my + sisters, or to my brothers' wives? or is she at the temple of Athena where the + other women are propitiating the awful goddess?" +His good housekeeper answered, "Hektor, since + you bid me tell you truly [ +alêthea +], she did not go + to your sisters nor to your brothers' wives, nor yet to the temple of Athena, + where the other women are propitiating the awful goddess, but she is on the + high wall of +Ilion +, for she had heard + the Trojans were being hard pressed, and that the Achaeans were in great force: + she went to the wall in frenzied haste, and the nurse went with her carrying + the child." +Hektor hurried from the house when she had done + speaking, and went down the streets by the same way that he had come. When he + had gone through the city and had reached the Scaean gates through which he + would go out on to the plain, his wife came running towards him, Andromache, + daughter of great Eetion who ruled in Thebe under the wooded slopes of Mount + Plakos, and was king of the Cilicians. His daughter had married Hektor, and now + came to meet him with a nurse who carried his little child in her bosom - a + mere babe. Hektor's darling son, and lovely as a star. Hektor had named him + Skamandrios, but the people called him Astyanax, for his father stood alone as + chief guardian of +Ilion +. Hektor smiled + as he looked upon the boy, but he did not speak, and Andromache stood by him + weeping and taking his hand in her own. "Dear husband," said she, "your valor + will bring you to destruction; think on your infant son, and on my hapless self + who ere long shall be your widow - for the Achaeans will set upon you in a body + and kill you. It would be better for me, should I lose you, to lie dead and + buried, for I shall have nothing left to comfort me when you are gone, save + only sorrow [ +akhos +]. I have neither father nor + mother now. Achilles slew my father when he sacked Thebe the goodly city of the + Cilicians. He slew him, but did not for very shame despoil him; when he had + burned him in his wondrous armor, he raised a barrow over his ashes and the + mountain nymphs, daughters of aegis-bearing Zeus, planted a grove of elms about + his tomb [ +sêma +]. I had seven brothers in my + father's house, but on the same day they all went within the house of Hades. + Achilles killed them as they were with their sheep and cattle. My mother - her + who had been queen of all the land under Mount Plakos - he brought hither with + the spoil, and freed her for a great sum, but the archer - queen Artemis took + her in the house of your father. Nay - Hektor - you who to me are father, + mother, brother, and dear husband - have mercy upon me; +stay here upon this wall; make not your child + fatherless, and your wife a widow; as for the host, place them near the + fig-tree, where the city can be best scaled, and the wall is weakest. Thrice + have the bravest of them come thither and assailed it, under the two Ajaxes, + Idomeneus, the sons of Atreus, and the brave son of Tydeus, either of their own + bidding, or because some soothsayer had told them." +And Hektor answered, "Wife, I too have thought + upon all this, but with what face should I look upon the Trojans, men or women, + if I shirked battle like a coward? I cannot do so: I know nothing save to fight + bravely in the forefront of the Trojan host and win renown [kleos] alike for my + father and myself. Well do I know that the day will surely come when mighty + +Ilion + shall be destroyed with Priam + and Priam's people, but I grieve for none of these - not even for Hecuba, nor + King Priam, nor for my brothers many and brave who may fall in the dust before + their foes - for none of these do I grieve as for yourself when the day shall + come on which some one of the Achaeans shall rob you for ever of your freedom, + and bear you weeping away. It may be that you will have to ply the loom in + +Argos + at the bidding of a + mistress, or to fetch water from the springs Messeis or Hypereia, treated + brutally by some cruel task-master; then will one say who sees you weeping, + ‘She was wife to Hektor, the bravest warrior among the Trojans during the war + before +Ilion +.’ On this your tears will + break forth anew for him who would have put away the day of captivity from you. + May I lie dead under the barrow that is heaped over my body ere I hear your cry + as they carry you into bondage." +He stretched his arms towards his child, but + the boy cried and nestled in his nurse's bosom, scared at the sight of his + father's armor, and at the horse-hair plume that nodded fiercely from his + helmet. His father and mother laughed to see him, but Hektor took the helmet + from his head and laid it all gleaming upon the ground. Then he took his + darling child, +kissed him, and dandled him in his arms, + praying over him the while to Zeus and to all the gods. "Zeus," he cried, + "grant that this my child may be even as myself, chief among the Trojans; let + him be not less excellent in strength, and let him rule +Ilion + with his might. Then may one say of him + as he comes from battle, ‘The son is far better than the father.’ May he bring + back the blood-stained spoils of him whom he has laid low, and let his mother's + heart be glad.’" +With this he laid the child again in the arms + of his wife, who took him to her own soft bosom, smiling through her tears. As + her husband watched her his heart yearned towards her and he caressed her + fondly, saying, "My own wife, do not take these things too bitterly to heart. + No one can hurry me down to Hades before my time, but if a man's hour is come, + be he brave or be he coward, there is no escape for him when he has once been + born. Go, then, within the house, and busy yourself with your daily duties, + your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for war is man's + matter, and mine above all others of them that have been born in +Ilion +." +He took his plumed helmet from the ground, and + his wife went back again to her house, weeping bitterly and often looking back + towards him. When she reached her home she found her maidens within, and bade + them all join in her lament; so they mourned Hektor in his own house though he + was yet alive, for they deemed that they should never see him return safe from + battle, and from the furious hands of the Achaeans. +Paris + did not remain long in his + house. He donned his goodly armor overlaid with bronze, and hastened through + the city as fast as his feet could take him. As a horse, stabled and fed, + breaks loose and gallops gloriously over the plain to the place where he is + wont to bathe in the fair-flowing river - he holds his head high, and his mane + streams upon his shoulders as he exults in his strength and flies like the wind + to the haunts and feeding ground of the mares - +even so went forth +Paris + from high +Pergamos +, gleaming like sunlight in his armor, and he laughed + aloud as he sped swiftly on his way. Forthwith he came upon his brother Hektor, + who was then turning away from the place where he had held converse with his + wife, and he was himself the first to speak. "Sir," said he, "I fear that I + have kept you waiting when you are in haste, and have not come as quickly as + you bade me." +"My good brother," answered Hektor, you fight + bravely, and no man with any justice can make light of your doings in battle. + But you are careless and willfully remiss. It grieves me to the heart to hear + the ill that the Trojans speak about you, for they have suffered much toil + [ +ponos +] on your account. Let us be going, and we + will make things right hereafter, should Zeus grant us to set the cup of our + deliverance before ever-living gods of heaven in our own homes, when we have + chased the Achaeans from +Troy +." + +With these words Hektor passed through the gates, + and his brother Alexander with him, both eager for the fray. As when heaven + sends a breeze to sailors who have long looked for one in vain, and have + labored at their oars at sea [ +pontos +] till they are + faint with toil, even so welcome was the sight of these two heroes to the + Trojans. +Thereon Alexander killed Menesthios the son of + Areithoos; he lived in Ame, and was son of Areithoos the Mace-man, and of + Phylomedousa. Hektor threw a spear at Eioneus and struck him dead with a wound + in the neck under the bronze rim of his helmet. Glaukos, moreover, son of + Hippolokhos, leader of the Lycians, in hard hand-to-hand fight smote Iphinoos + son of Dexios on the shoulder, as he was springing on to his chariot behind his + fleet mares; so he fell to earth from the car, and there was no life left in + him. +When, therefore, Athena saw these men making + havoc of the Argives, she darted down to +Ilion + from the summits of +Olympus +, and Apollo, who was looking on from +Pergamos +, went out to meet her; for he wanted + the Trojans to be victorious. The pair met by the oak tree, and King Apollo son + of Zeus was first to speak. "What would you have said he, "daughter of great + Zeus, that your proud spirit has sent you hither from +Olympus +? Have you no pity upon the Trojans, + and would you incline the scales of victory in favor of the Danaans? Let me + persuade you - for it will be better thus - stay the combat for to-day, but let + them renew the fight hereafter till they compass the doom of +Ilion +, since you goddesses have made up your + minds to destroy the city." +And Athena answered, "So be it, Far-Darter; it + was in this mind that I came down from +Olympus + to the Trojans and Achaeans. Tell me, then, how do you + propose to end this present fighting?" +Apollo, son of Zeus, replied, "Let us incite + great Hektor to challenge some one of the Danaans in single combat; on this the + Achaeans will be shamed into finding a man who will fight him." +Athena assented, and Helenos son of Priam + divined the counsel of the gods; he therefore went up to Hektor and said, + "Hektor son of Priam, peer of gods in counsel, I am your brother, let me then + persuade you. Bid the other Trojans and Achaeans all of them take their seats, + and challenge the best man among the Achaeans to meet you in single combat. I + have heard the voice of the ever-living gods, and the hour of your doom is not + yet come." +Hektor was glad when he heard this saying, and + went in among the Trojans, grasping his spear by the middle to hold them back, + and they all sat down. Agamemnon also bade the Achaeans be seated. But Athena + and Apollo, in the likeness of vultures, perched on father Zeus' high oak tree, + proud of their men; and the ranks sat close ranged together, bristling with + shield and helmet and spear. As when the rising west wind furs the face of the + sea [ +pontos +] and the waters grow dark beneath it, + so sat the companies of Trojans and Achaeans upon the plain. And Hektor spoke + thus:- +"Hear me, Trojans and Achaeans, that I may speak + even as I am minded; Zeus on his high throne has brought our oaths and + covenants to nothing, and foreshadows ill for both of us, till you either take + the towers of +Troy +, or are yourselves + vanquished at your ships. The princes of the Achaeans are here present in the + midst of you; +let him, then, that will fight me stand forward + as your champion against Hektor. Thus I say, and may Zeus be witness between + us. If your champion slay me, let him strip me of my armor and take it to your + ships, but let him send my body home that the Trojans and their wives may give + me my dues of fire when I am dead. In like manner, if Apollo grant me glory and + I slay your champion, I will strip him of his armor and take it to the city of + +Ilion +, where I will hang it in the + temple of Apollo, but I will give up his body, that the Achaeans may bury him + at their ships, and the build him a tomb [ +sêma +] by + the wide waters of the +Hellespont +. + Then will one say hereafter as he sails his ship over the sea [ +pontos +], ‘This is the marker [ +sêma +] of one who died long since a champion who was slain by mighty + Hektor.’ Thus will one say, and my fame [ +kleos +] + shall not be lost." +Thus did he speak, but they all held their + peace, ashamed to decline the challenge, yet fearing to accept it, till at last + Menelaos rose and rebuked them, for he was angry. "Alas," he cried, "vain + braggarts, women indeed not men, double-dyed indeed will be the stain upon us + if no man of the Danaans will now face Hektor. May you be turned every man of + you into earth and water as you sit spiritless and inglorious in your places. I + will myself go out against this man, but the upshot of the fight will be from + on high in the hands of the immortal gods." +With these words he put on his armor; and then, + O Menelaos, your life would have come to an end at the hands of hands of + Hektor, for he was far better the man, had not the princes of the Achaeans + sprung upon you and checked you. King Agamemnon caught him by the right hand + and said, "Menelaos, you are mad; a truce to this folly. Be patient in spite of + passion, do not think of fighting a man so much stronger than yourself as + Hektor son of Priam, who is feared by many another as well as you. +Even Achilles, who is far more doughty than you + are, shrank from meeting him in battle. Sit down your own people, and the + Achaeans will send some other champion to fight Hektor; fearless and fond of + battle though he be, I ween his knees will bend gladly under him if he comes + out alive from the struggle of this fight." +With these words of reasonable counsel he + persuaded his brother, whereon his squires [therapontes] gladly stripped the + armor from off his shoulders. Then Nestor rose and spoke, "For sure," said he, + "grief [ +penthos +] has befallen the Achaean land. The + old horseman Peleus, counselor and orator among the Myrmidons, loved when I was + in his house to question me concerning the race and lineage of all the Argives. + How would it not grieve him could he hear of them as now quailing before + Hektor? Many a time would he lift his hands in prayer that his soul might leave + his body and go down within the house of Hades. Would, by father Zeus, Athena, + and Apollo, that I were still young and strong as when the Pylians and + Arcadians were gathered in fight by the rapid river Keladon under the walls of + +Pheia +, and round about the waters + of the river Iardanos. The godlike hero Ereuthalion stood forward as their + champion, with the armor of King Areithoos upon his shoulders - Areithoos whom + men and women had surnamed ‘the Mace-man,’ because he fought neither with bow + nor spear, but broke the battalions of the foe with his iron mace. Lycurgus + killed him, not in fair fight, but by entrapping him in a narrow way where his + mace served him in no stead; for Lycurgus was too quick for him and speared him + through the middle, so he fell to earth on his back. Lycurgus then spoiled him + of the armor which Ares had given him, and bore it in battle thenceforward; but + when he grew old and stayed at home, he gave it to his faithful squire [ +therapôn +] Ereuthalion, who in this same armor + challenged the foremost men among us. The others quaked and quailed, but my + high spirit bade me fight him though none other would venture; I was the + youngest man of them all; +but when I fought him Athena granted me + victory. He was the biggest and strongest man that ever I killed, and covered + much ground as he lay sprawling upon the earth. Would that I were still young + and strong as I then was, for the son of Priam would then soon find one who + would face him. But you, foremost among the whole host though you be, have none + of you any stomach for fighting Hektor." +Thus did the old man rebuke them, and forthwith + nine men started to their feet. Foremost of all stood up King Agamemnon, and + after him brave Diomedes the son of Tydeus. Next were the two Ajaxes, men + clothed in valor as with a garment, and then Idomeneus, and Meriones his + brother in arms. After these Eurypylos son of Euaemon, Thoas the son of + Andraimon, and Odysseus also rose. Then Nestor horseman of Gerene again spoke, + saying: "Cast lots among you to see who shall be chosen. If he come alive out + of this fight he will have done good service alike to his own soul and to the + Achaeans." +Thus he spoke, and when each of them had marked + his lot, and had thrown it into the helmet of Agamemnon son of Atreus, the + people lifted their hands in prayer, and thus would one of them say as he + looked into the vault of heaven, "Father Zeus, grant that the lot fall on Ajax, + or on the son of Tydeus, or upon the king of rich +Mycenae + himself." +As they were speaking, Nestor horseman of + Gerene shook the helmet, and from it there fell the very lot which they wanted + - the lot of Ajax. The herald bore it about and showed it to all the chieftains + of the Achaeans, going from left to right; but they none of them owned it. + When, however, in due course he reached the man who had written upon it and had + put it into the helmet, brave Ajax held out his hand, and the herald gave him + the lot. When Ajax saw his mark [ +sêma +] he knew it + and was glad; he threw it to the ground and said, "My friends, the lot is mine, + and I rejoice, for I shall vanquish Hektor. I will put on my armor; +meanwhile, pray to King Zeus in silence among + yourselves that the Trojans may not hear you - or aloud if you will, for we + fear no man. None shall overcome me, neither by force nor cunning, for I was + born and bred in +Salamis +, and can hold + my own in all things." +With this they fell praying to King Zeus the + son of Kronos, and thus would one of them say as he looked into the vault of + heaven, "Father Zeus, you who rule from Ida, most glorious in power, grant + victory to Ajax, and let him win great glory: but if you wish well to Hektor + also and would protect him, grant to each of them equal fame and prowess. Thus + they prayed, and Ajax armed himself in his suit of gleaming bronze. When he was + in full array he sprang forward as monstrous Ares when he takes part among men + whom Zeus has set fighting with one another - even so did huge Ajax, bulwark of + the Achaeans, spring forward with a grim smile on his face as he brandished his + long spear and strode onward. The Argives were elated as they beheld him, but + the Trojans trembled in every limb, and the heart even of Hektor beat quickly, + but he could not now retreat and withdraw into the ranks behind him, for he had + been the challenger. Ajax came up bearing his shield in front of him like a + wall - a shield of bronze with seven folds of oxhide - the work of Tychios, who + lived in Hyle and was by far the best worker in leather. He had made it with + the hides of seven full-fed bulls, and over these he had set an eighth layer of + bronze. Holding this shield before him, Ajax son of Telamon came close up to + Hektor, and menaced him saying, "Hektor, you shall now learn, man to man, what + kind of champions the Danaans have among them even besides lion-hearted + Achilles cleaver of the ranks of men. He now abides at the ships in anger with + Agamemnon shepherd of his people, but there are many of us who are well able to + face you; therefore begin the fight." +And Hektor answered, "Noble Ajax, son of + Telamon, leader of the host, treat me not as though I were some puny boy or + woman that cannot fight. +I have been long used to the blood and + butcheries of battle. I am quick to turn my leathern shield either to right or + left, for this I deem the main thing in battle. I can charge among the chariots + and horsemen, and in hand to hand fighting can delight the heart of Ares; + howbeit I would not take such a man as you are off his guard - but I will smite + you openly if I can." +He poised his spear as he spoke, and hurled it + from him. It struck the sevenfold shield in its outermost layer - the eighth, + which was of bronze - and went through six of the layers but in the seventh + hide it stayed. Then Ajax threw in his turn, and struck the round shield of the + son of Priam. The terrible spear went through his gleaming shield, and pressed + onward through his cuirass of cunning workmanship; it pierced the shirt against + his side, but he swerved and thus saved his life. They then each of them drew + out the spear from his shield, and fell on one another like savage lions or + wild boars of great strength and endurance: the son of Priam struck the middle + of Ajax's shield, but the bronze did not break, and the point of his dart was + turned. Ajax then sprang forward and pierced the shield of Hektor; the spear + went through it and staggered him as he was springing forward to attack; it + gashed his neck and the blood came pouring from the wound, but even so Hektor + did not cease fighting; he gave ground, and with his brawny hand seized a + stone, rugged and huge, that was lying upon the plain; with this he struck the + shield of Ajax on the boss that was in its middle, so that the bronze rang + again. But Ajax in turn caught up a far larger stone, swung it aloft, and + hurled it with prodigious force. This millstone of a rock broke Hektor's shield + inwards and threw him down on his back with the shield crushing him under + it, +but Apollo raised him at once. Thereon they + would have hacked at one another in close combat with their swords, had not + heralds, messengers of gods and men, come forward, one from the Trojans and the + other from the Achaeans - Talthybios and Idaios both of them honorable men; + these parted them with their staves, and the good herald Idaios said, "My sons, + fight no longer, you are both of you valiant, and both are dear to Zeus; we + know this; but night is now falling, and the behests of night may not be well + gainsaid." +Ajax son of Telamon answered, "Idaios, bid + Hektor say so, for it was he that challenged our princes. Let him speak first + and I will accept his saying." +Then Hektor said, "Ajax, heaven has granted you + stature and strength, and judgment; and in wielding the spear you excel all + others of the Achaeans. Let us for this day cease fighting; hereafter we will + fight anew till a +daimôn + decides between us, and + give victory to one or to the other; night is now falling, and the behests of + night may not be well gainsaid. Gladden, then, the hearts of the Achaeans at + your ships, and more especially those of your own followers and clansmen, while + I, in the great city of King Priam, bring comfort to the Trojans and their + women, who vie with one another in their prayers directed at me. Let us, + moreover, exchange presents that it may be said among the Achaeans and Trojans, + ‘They fought with might and main, but were reconciled and parted in + friendship.’ +On this he gave Ajax a silver-studded sword + with its sheath and leathern Balearic, and in return Ajax gave him a belt dyed + with purple. Thus they parted, the one going to the host of the Achaeans, and + the other to that of the Trojans, who rejoiced when they saw their hero come to + them safe and unharmed from the strong hands of mighty Ajax. They led him, + therefore, to the city as one that had been saved beyond their hopes. On the + other side the Achaeans brought Ajax elated with victory to Agamemnon. +When they reached the quarters of the son of + Atreus, Agamemnon sacrificed for them a five-year-old bull in honor of Zeus the + son of Kronos. They flayed the carcass, made it ready, and divided it into + joints; these they cut carefully up into smaller pieces, putting them on the + spits, roasting them sufficiently, and then drawing them off. When they had + done all this and had prepared the feast, they ate it, and every man had his + full and equal share, so that all were satisfied, and King Agamemnon gave Ajax + some slices cut lengthwise down the loin, as a mark of special honor. As soon + as they had had enough to eat and drink, old Nestor whose counsel was ever + truest began to speak; with all sincerity and goodwill, therefore, he addressed + them thus: +"Son of Atreus, and other chieftains, inasmuch + as many of the Achaeans are now dead, whose blood Ares has shed by the banks of + the Skamandros, and their +psukhai + have gone down to + the house of Hades, it will be well when morning comes that we should cease + fighting; we will then wheel our dead together with oxen and mules and burn + them not far from the ships, that when we sail hence we may take the bones of + our comrades home to their children. Hard by the funeral pyre we will build a + barrow that shall be raised from the plain for all in common; near this let us + set about building a high wall, to shelter ourselves and our ships, and let it + have well-made gates that there may be a way through them for our chariots. + Close outside we will dig a deep trench all round it to keep off both horse and + foot, that the Trojan chieftains may not bear hard upon us." +Thus he spoke, and the princes shouted in + approval. Meanwhile the Trojans held a council, angry and full of discord, on + the acropolis by the gates of King Priam's palace; and wise Antenor spoke. + "Hear me he said, "Trojans, Dardanians, and allies, that I may speak even as I + am minded. Let us give up Argive Helen and her wealth to the sons of Atreus, + for we are now fighting in violation of our solemn covenants, and shall not + prosper till we have done as I say." +He then sat down and Alexander husband of + lovely Helen rose to speak. "Antenor," said he, "your words are not to my + liking; you can find a better saying than this if you will; if, however, you + have spoken in good earnest, then indeed has heaven robbed you of your reason. + I will speak plainly, and hereby notify to the Trojans that I will not give up + the woman; but the wealth that I brought home with her from +Argos + I will restore, and will add yet + further of my own." +On this, when +Paris + had spoken and taken his seat, Priam of the race of + +Dardanos +, peer of gods in + council, rose and with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus: "Hear + me, Trojans, Dardanians, and allies, that I may speak even as I am minded. Get + your suppers now as hitherto throughout the city, but keep your watches and be + wakeful. At daybreak let Idaios go to the ships, and tell Agamemnon and + Menelaos sons of Atreus the saying of Alexander through whom this quarrel has + come about; and let him also be instant with them that they now cease fighting + till we burn our dead; hereafter we will fight anew, till a +daimôn + decides between us and give victory to one or + to the other." +Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had + said. They took supper in their companies and at daybreak Idaios went his way + to the ships. He found the Danaans, squires [ +therapontes +] of Ares, in council at the stern of Agamemnon's ship, + and took his place in the midst of them. "Son of Atreus," he said, "and princes + of the Achaean host, Priam and the other noble Trojans have sent me to tell you + the saying of Alexander through whom this quarrel has come about, if so be that + you may find it acceptable. All the treasure he took with him in his ships to + +Troy + - would that he had sooner + perished - he will restore, and will add yet further of his own, but he will + not give up the wedded wife of Menelaos, though the Trojans would have him do + so. Priam bade me inquire further if you will cease fighting till we burn our + dead; +hereafter we will fight anew, till a +daimôn + decides between us and gives victory to one or + to the other." +They all held their peace, but presently + Diomedes of the loud war-cry spoke, saying, "Let there be no taking, neither + treasure, nor yet Helen, for even a child may see that the doom of the Trojans + is at hand." +The sons of the Achaeans shouted approval at + the words that Diomedes had spoken, and thereon King Agamemnon said to Idaios, + "Idaios, you have heard the answer the Achaeans make you-and I with them. But + as concerning the dead, I give you leave to burn them, for when men are once + dead there should be no grudging them the rites of fire. Let Zeus the mighty + husband of Hera be witness to this covenant." +As he spoke he upheld his scepter in the sight + of all the gods, and Idaios went back to the strong city of +Ilion +. The Trojans and Dardanians were + gathered in council waiting his return; when he came, he stood in their midst + and delivered his message. As soon as they heard it they set about their + twofold labor, some to gather the corpses, and others to bring in wood. The + Argives on their part also hastened from their ships, some to gather the + corpses, and others to bring in wood. +The sun was beginning to beat upon the fields, + fresh risen into the vault of heaven from the slow still currents of deep + Okeanos, when the two armies met. They could hardly recognize their dead, but + they washed the clotted gore from off them, shed tears over them, and lifted + them upon their wagons. Priam had forbidden the Trojans to wail aloud, so they + heaped their dead sadly and silently upon the pyre, and having burned them went + back to the city of +Ilion +. The + Achaeans in like manner heaped their dead sadly and silently on the pyre, and + having burned them went back to their ships. +Now in the twilight when it was not yet dawn, + chosen bands of the Achaeans were gathered round the pyre and built one barrow + that was raised in common for all, and hard by this they built a high wall to + shelter themselves and their ships; they gave it strong gates that there might + be a way through them for their chariots, and close outside it they dug a + trench deep and wide, and they planted it within with stakes. +Thus did the Achaeans toil, and the gods, + seated by the side of Zeus the lord of lightning, marveled at their great work; + but Poseidon, lord of the earthquake, spoke, saying, "Father Zeus, what mortal + in the whole world will again take the gods into his counsel [ +noos +]? See you not how the Achaeans have built a wall + about their ships and driven a trench all round it, without offering hecatombs + to the gods? The fame [ +kleos +] of this wall will + reach as far as dawn itself, and men will no longer think anything of the one + which Phoebus Apollo and myself built with so much labor for Laomedon." +Zeus was displeased and answered, "What, O + shaker of the earth, are you talking about? A god less powerful than yourself + might be alarmed at what they are doing, but your fame [ +kleos +] reaches as far as dawn itself. Surely when the Achaeans have + gone home with their ships, you can shatter their wall and Ring it into the + sea; you can cover the beach with sand again, and the great wall of the + Achaeans will then be utterly effaced." +Thus did they converse, and by sunset the work + of the Achaeans was completed; they then slaughtered oxen at their tents and + got their supper. Many ships had come with wine from +Lemnos +, sent by Euneus the son of Jason, born + to him by Hypsipyle. The son of Jason freighted them with ten thousand measures + of wine, which he sent specially to the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaos. + From this supply the Achaeans bought their wine, some with bronze, some with + iron, some with hides, some with whole heifers, and some again with captives. + They spread a goodly banquet and feasted the whole night through, as also did + the Trojans and their allies in the city. +But all the time Zeus boded them ill and roared + with his portentous thunder. Pale fear got hold upon them, and they spilled the + wine from their cups on to the ground, nor did any dare drink till he had made + offerings to the most mighty son of Kronos. Then they laid themselves down to + rest and enjoyed the boon of sleep. +Now when Morning, clad in her robe of saffron, + had begun to suffuse light over the earth, Zeus called the gods in council on + the topmost crest of serrated +Olympus +. + Then he spoke and all the other gods gave ear. "Hear me," said he, "gods and + goddesses, that I may speak even as I am minded. Let none of you neither + goddess nor god try to cross me, but obey me every one of you that I may bring + this matter to an end. If I see anyone acting apart and helping either Trojans + or Danaans, he shall be beaten beyond the limits of universal order [ +kosmos +] ere he come back again to +Olympus +; or I will hurl him down into dark + Tartaros far into the deepest pit under the earth, where the gates are iron and + the floor bronze, as far beneath Hades as heaven is high above the earth, that + you may learn how much the mightiest I am among you. Try me and find out for + yourselves. Hang me a golden chain from heaven, and lay hold of it all of you, + gods and goddesses together - tug as you will, you will not drag Zeus the + supreme counselor from heaven to earth; but were I to pull at it myself I + should draw you up with earth and sea into the bargain, then would I bind the + chain about some pinnacle of +Olympus + + and leave you all dangling in the mid firmament. So far am I above all others + either of gods or men." +They were frightened and all of them of held + their peace, for he had spoken masterfully; but at last Athena answered, + "Father, son of Kronos, king of kings, we all know that your might is not to be + gainsaid, but we are also sorry for the Danaan warriors, who are perishing and + coming to a bad end. We will, however, since you so bid us, refrain from actual + fighting, but we will make serviceable suggestions to the Argives that they may + not all of them perish in your displeasure." +Zeus smiled at her and answered, "Take heart, my + child, Trito-born; I am not really in earnest, and I wish to be kind to you." +With this he yoked his fleet horses, with hoofs + of bronze and manes of glittering gold. He girded himself also with gold about + the body, seized his gold whip and took his seat in his chariot. Thereon he + lashed his horses and they flew forward nothing loath midway twixt earth and + starry heaven. After a while he reached many-fountained Ida, mother of wild + beasts, and Gargaros, where are his grove and fragrant altar. There the father + of gods and men stayed his horses, took them from the chariot, and hid them in + a thick cloud; then he took his seat all glorious upon the topmost crests, + looking down upon the city of +Troy + + and the ships of the Achaeans. +The Achaeans took their morning meal hastily at + the ships, and afterwards put on their armor. The Trojans on the other hand + likewise armed themselves throughout the city, fewer in numbers but + nevertheless eager perforce to do battle for their wives and children. All the + gates were flung wide open, and horse and foot sallied forth with the tramp as + of a great multitude. +When they were got together in one place, shield + clashed with shield, and spear with spear, in the conflict of mail-clad men. + Mighty was the din as the bossed shields pressed hard on one another- death - + cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers, and the earth ran red with + blood. +Now so long as the day waxed and it was still + morning their weapons beat against one another, and the people fell, but when + the sun had reached mid-heaven, the sire of all balanced his golden scales, and + put two fates of death within them, one for the Trojans and the other for the + Achaeans. He took the balance by the middle, and when he lifted it up the day + of the Achaeans sank; the death-fraught scale of the Achaeans settled down upon + the ground, while that of the Trojans rose heavenwards. Then he thundered aloud + from Ida, and sent the glare of his lightning upon the Achaeans; when they saw + this, pale fear fell upon them and they were sore afraid. +Idomeneus dared not stay nor yet Agamemnon, nor + did the two Ajaxes, squires [therapontes] of Ares, hold their ground. Nestor + horseman of Gerene alone stood firm, bulwark of the Achaeans, not of his own + will, but one of his horses was disabled. Alexander husband of lovely Helen had + hit it with an arrow just on the top of its head where the mane begins to grow + away from the skull, a very deadly place. The horse bounded in his anguish as + the arrow pierced his brain, and his struggles threw others into confusion. The + old man instantly began cutting the traces with his sword, but Hektor's fleet + horses bore down upon him through the rout with their bold charioteer, even + Hektor himself, and the old man would have perished there and then had not + Diomedes been quick to mark, and with a loud cry called Odysseus to help him. + +"Odysseus," he cried, "noble son of +Laertes + where are you fleeing to, with + your back turned like a coward? See that you are not struck with a spear + between the shoulders. Stay here and help me to defend Nestor from this man's + furious onset." +Odysseus would not give ear, but sped onward to + the ships of the Achaeans, and the son of Tydeus flinging himself alone into + the thick of the fight took his stand before the horses of the son of Neleus. + "Sir," said he, "these young warriors are pressing you hard, your force is + spent, +and age is heavy upon you, your squire [ +therapôn +] is naught, and your horses are slow to move. + Mount my chariot and see what the horses of Tros can do- how cleverly they can + scud hither and thither over the plain either in flight or in pursuit. I took + them from the hero Aeneas. Let our squires [ +theraponte +] attend to your own steeds, but let us drive mine + straight at the Trojans, that Hektor may learn how furiously I too can wield my + spear." +Nestor horseman of Gerene hearkened to his + words. Thereon the doughty squires [ +therapontes +], + Sthenelos and kind-hearted Eurymedon, saw to Nestor's horses, while the two + both mounted Diomedes' chariot. Nestor took the reins in his hands and lashed + the horses on; they were soon close up with Hektor, and the son of Tydeus aimed + a spear at him as he was charging full speed towards them. He missed him, but + struck his charioteer and squire [ +therapôn +] + Eniopeus son of noble Thebaios in the breast by the nipple while the reins were + in his hands, so that he lost his life-breath [ +psukhê +] there and then, and the horses swerved as he fell headlong + from the chariot. Hektor was greatly grieved at the loss of his charioteer, but + let him lie, despite his sorrow [ +akhos +], while he + went in quest of another driver; nor did his steeds have to go long without + one, for he presently found brave Arkheptolemos the son of Iphitos, and made + him get up behind the horses, giving the reins into his hand. +All had then been lost and no help for it, for + they would have been penned up in +Ilion + like sheep, had not the sire of gods and men been quick + to mark, and hurled a fiery flaming thunderbolt which fell just in front of + Diomedes' horses with a flare of burning brimstone. The horses were frightened + and tried to back beneath the car, while the reins dropped from Nestor's hands. + Then he was afraid and said to Diomedes, "Son of Tydeus, turn your horses in + flight; see you not that the hand of Zeus is against you? To-day he grants + victory to Hektor; tomorrow, if it so please him, he will again grant it to + ourselves; no man, however brave, may thwart the purpose [noon] of Zeus, for he + is far stronger than any." +Diomedes answered, "All that you have said is + true; there is a grief [ +akhos +], however, which + pierces me to the very heart, for Hektor will talk among the Trojans and say, + ‘The son of Tydeus fled before me to the ships.’ This is the vaunt he will + make, and may earth then swallow me." +"Son of Tydeus," replied Nestor, "what mean + you? Though Hektor say that you are a coward the Trojans and Dardanians will + not believe him, nor yet the wives of the mighty warriors whom you have laid + low." +So saying he turned the horses back through the + thick of the battle, and with a cry that rent the air the Trojans and Hektor + rained their darts after them. Hektor shouted to him and said, "Son of Tydeus, + the Danaans have done you honor hitherto as regards your place at table, the + meals they give you, and the filling of your cup with wine. Henceforth they + will despise you, for you are become no better than a woman. Be off, girl and + coward that you are, you shall not try to scale our towers without my stopping + you; neither shall you carry off our wives in your ships, for I shall give you, + with my own hand, a fate [ +daimôn +] that will doom + you." +The son of Tydeus was in two minds whether or + no to turn his horses round again and fight him. Thrice did he doubt, and + thrice did Zeus thunder from the heights of Ida in token [ +sêma +] to the Trojans that he would turn the battle in their favor. + Hektor then shouted to them and said, "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians, lovers + of close fighting, be men, my friends, and fight with might and with main; I + see that Zeus is minded to grant victory and great glory to myself, while he + will deal destruction upon the Danaans. Fools, for having thought of building + this weak and worthless wall. It shall not stay my fury; my horses will spring + lightly over their trench, and when I am at their ships forget not to bring me + fire that I may burn them, while I slaughter the Argives who will be all dazed + and bewildered by the smoke." +Then he cried to his horses, " +Xanthos + and Podagros, and you Aithon and + goodly Lampos, pay me for your keep now and for all the honey-sweet grain with + which Andromache daughter of great Eetion has fed you, and for she has mixed + wine and water for you to drink whenever you would, before doing so even for me + who am her own husband. Haste in pursuit, that we may take the shield of + Nestor, the fame [ +kleos +] of which ascends to + heaven, for it is of solid gold, arm-rods and all, and that we may strip from + the shoulders of Diomedes. the cuirass which Hephaistos made him. Could we take + these two things, the Achaeans would set sail in their ships this self-same + night." +Thus did he vaunt, but Queen Hera made high + +Olympus + quake as she shook with + rage upon her throne. Then said she to the mighty god of Poseidon, "What now, + wide ruling lord of the earthquake? Can you find no compassion in your heart + for the dying Danaans, who bring you many a welcome offering to +Helike + and to +Aigai +? Wish them well then. If all of us who are with the + Danaans were to drive the Trojans back and keep Zeus from helping them, he + would have to sit there sulking alone on Ida." +King Poseidon was greatly troubled and + answered, "Hera, rash of tongue, what are you talking about? We other gods must + not set ourselves against Zeus, for he is far stronger than we are." +Thus did they converse; but the whole space + enclosed by the ditch, from the ships even to the wall, was filled with horses + and warriors, who were pent up there by Hektor son of Priam, now that the hand + of Zeus was with him. He would even have set fire to the ships and burned them, + had not Queen Hera put it into the mind of Agamemnon, to bestir himself and to + encourage the Achaeans. To this end he went round the ships and tents carrying + a great purple cloak, and took his stand by the huge black hull of Odysseus' + ship, which was middlemost of all; it was from this place that his voice would + carry farthest, on the one hand towards the tents of Ajax son of Telamon, and + on the other towards those of Achilles- +for these two heroes, well assured of their own + strength, had valorously drawn up their ships at the two ends of the line. From + this spot then, with a voice that could be heard afar, he shouted to the + Danaans, saying, "Argives, shame +on you cowardly creatures, brave in semblance + only; where are now our vaunts that we should prove victorious - the vaunts we + made so vaingloriously in +Lemnos +, when + we ate the flesh of horned cattle and filled our mixing-bowls to the brim? You + vowed that you would each of you stand against a hundred or two hundred men, + and now you prove no match even for one- for Hektor, who will be ere long + setting our ships in a blaze. Father Zeus, did you ever before cause the ruin + [ +atê +] of a great king to such an extent and rob + him so utterly of his greatness? yet, when to my sorrow I was coming hither, I + never let my ship pass your altars without offering the fat and thigh-bones of + heifers upon every one of them, so eager was I to sack the city of +Troy +. Vouchsafe me then this prayer- suffer + us to escape at any rate with our lives, and let not the Achaeans be so utterly + vanquished by the Trojans." +Thus did he pray, and father Zeus pitying his + tears granted him that his people should live, not die; forthwith he sent them + an eagle, most unfailingly portentous of all birds, with a young fawn in its + talons; the eagle dropped the fawn by the altar on which the Achaeans + sacrificed to Zeus the lord of omens; When, therefore, the people saw that the + bird had come from Zeus, they sprang more fiercely upon the Trojans and fought + more boldly. +There was no man of all the many Danaans who + could then boast that he had driven his horses over the trench and gone forth + to fight sooner than the son of Tydeus; long before any one else could do so he + slew an armed warrior of the Trojans, Agelaos the son of Phradmon. He had + turned his horses in flight, but the spear struck him in the back midway + between his shoulders and went right through his chest, and his armor rang + rattling round him as he fell forward from his chariot. +After him came Agamemnon and Menelaos, sons of + Atreus, the two Ajaxes clothed in valor as with a garment, Idomeneus and his + companion in arms Meriones, peer of murderous Ares, and Eurypylos the brave son + of Euaemon. Ninth came Teucer with his bow, and took his place under cover of + the shield of Ajax son of Telamon. When Ajax lifted his shield Teucer would + peer round, and when he had hit any one in the throng, the man would fall dead; + then Teucer would hie back to Ajax as a child to its mother, and again duck + down under his shield. +Which of the Trojans did brave Teucer first + kill? Orsilokhos, and then Ormenos and Ophelestes, Daitor, Chromios, and + godlike Lykophontes, Amopaon son of Polyaimon, and Melanippos. these in turn + did he lay low upon the earth, and King Agamemnon was glad when he saw him + making havoc of the Trojans with his mighty bow. He went up to him and said, + "Teucer, man after my own heart, son of Telamon, leader among the host, shoot + on, and be at once the saving of the Danaans and the glory of your father + Telamon, who brought you up and took care of you in his own house when you were + a child, bastard though you were. Cover him with glory though he is far off; I + will promise and I will assuredly perform; if aegis-bearing Zeus and Athena + grant me to sack the city of +Ilion +, + you shall have the next best prize of honor after my own - a tripod, or two + horses with their chariot, or a woman who shall go up into your bed." +And Teucer answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, + you need not urge me; from the moment we began to drive them back to +Ilion +, I have never ceased so far as in me + lies to look out for men whom I can shoot and kill; I have shot eight barbed + shafts, and all of them have been buried in the flesh of warlike youths, but + this mad dog I cannot hit." +As he spoke he aimed another arrow straight at + Hektor, for he was bent on hitting him; nevertheless he missed him, and the + arrow hit Priam's brave son Gorgythion in the breast. +His mother, fair Kastianeira, lovely as a + goddess, had been married from Aisyme, and now he bowed his head as a garden + poppy in full bloom when it is weighed down by showers in spring- even thus + heavy bowed his head beneath the weight of his helmet. +Again he aimed at Hektor, for he was longing to + hit him, and again his arrow missed, for Apollo turned it aside; but he hit + Hektor's brave charioteer Arkheptolemos in the breast, by the nipple, as he was + driving furiously into the fight. The horses swerved aside as he fell headlong + from the chariot, and there was no life-breath [ +psukhê +] left in him. Hektor was greatly grieved at the loss of his + charioteer, but for all his sorrow [ +akhos +] he let + him lie where he fell, and bade his brother Kebriones, who was hard by, take + the reins. Kebriones did as he had said. Hektor thereon with a loud cry sprang + from his chariot to the ground, and seizing a great stone made straight for + Teucer with intent kill him. Teucer had just taken an arrow from his quiver and + had laid it upon the bow-string, but Hektor struck him with the jagged stone as + he was taking aim and drawing the string to his shoulder; he hit him just where + the collar-bone divides the neck from the chest, a very deadly place, and broke + the sinew of his arm so that his wrist was less, and the bow dropped from his + hand as he fell forward on his knees. Ajax saw that his brother had fallen, and + running towards him bestrode him and sheltered him with his shield. Meanwhile + his two trusty squires, Mekisteus son of Echios, and Alastor, came up and bore + him to the ships groaning in his great pain. glad when he saw +Zeus now again put heart into the Trojans, and + they drove the Achaeans to their deep trench with Hektor in all his glory at + their head. As a hound grips a wild boar or lion in flank or buttock when he + gives him chase, and watches warily for his wheeling, even so did Hektor follow + close upon the Achaeans, ever killing the hindmost as they rushed + panic-stricken onwards. When they had fled through the set stakes and trench + and many Achaeans had been laid low at the hands of the Trojans, +they halted at their ships, calling upon one + another and praying every man instantly as they lifted up their hands to the + gods; but Hektor wheeled his horses this way and that, his eyes glaring like + those of Gorgo or murderous Ares. +Hera when she saw them had pity upon them, and + at once said to Athena, "Alas, child of aegis-bearing Zeus, shall you and I + take no more thought for the dying Danaans, though it be the last time we ever + do so? See how they perish and come to a bad end before the onset of but a + single man. Hektor the son of Priam rages with intolerable fury, and has + already done great mischief." +Athena answered, "Would, indeed, this man might + die in his own land, and fall by the hands of the Achaeans; but my father Zeus + is mad with spleen, ever foiling me, ever headstrong and unjust. He forgets how + often I saved his son when he was worn out by the labors [ +athloi +] Eurystheus had laid on him. He would weep till his cry came + up to heaven, and then Zeus would send me down to help him; if I had had the + sense to foresee all this, when Eurystheus sent him to the house of Hades, to + fetch the hell-hound from Erebos, he would never have come back alive out of + the deep waters of the river Styx. And now Zeus hates me, while he lets Thetis + have her way because she kissed his knees and took hold of his beard, when she + was begging him to do honor to Achilles. I shall know what to do next time he + begins calling me his gray-eyed darling. Get our horses ready, while I go + within the house of aegis-bearing Zeus and put on my armor; we shall then find + out whether Priam's son Hektor will be glad to meet us in the highways of + battle, or whether the Trojans will glut hounds and vultures with the fat of + their flesh as they he dead by the ships of the Achaeans." +Thus did she speak and white-armed Hera, + daughter of great Kronos, obeyed her words; she set about harnessing her + gold-bedizened steeds, while Athena daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus +flung her richly vesture, made with her own + hands, on to the threshold of her father, and donned the shirt of Zeus, arming + herself for battle. Then she stepped into her flaming chariot, and grasped the + spear so stout and sturdy and strong with which she quells the ranks of heroes + who have displeased her. Hera lashed her horses, and the gates of heaven + bellowed as they flew open of their own accord- gates over which the Hours + preside, in whose hands are heaven and +Olympus +, either to open the dense cloud that hides them or to + close it. Through these the goddesses drove their obedient steeds. +But father Zeus when he saw them from Ida was + very angry, and sent winged Iris with a message to them. "Go," said he, "fleet + Iris, turn them back, and see that they do not come near me, for if we come to + fighting there will be mischief. This is what I say, and this is what I mean to + do. I will lame their horses for them; I will hurl them from their chariot, and + will break it in pieces. It will take them all ten years to heal the wounds my + lightning shall inflict upon them; my gray-eyed daughter will then learn what + quarreling with her father means. I am less surprised and angry with Hera, for + whatever I say she always contradicts me." +With this Iris went her way, fleet as the wind, + from the heights of Ida to the lofty summits of +Olympus +. She met the goddesses at the outer gates of its many + valleys and gave them her message. "What," said she, "are you about? Are you + mad? The son of Kronos forbids going. This is what he says, and this is he + means to do, he will lame your horses for you, he will hurl you from your + chariot, and will break it in pieces. It will take you all ten years to heal + the wounds his lightning will inflict upon you, that you may learn, gray-eyed + goddess, what quarreling with your father means. He is less hurt and angry with + Hera, for whatever he says she always contradicts him but you, bold hussy, will + you really dare to raise your huge spear in defiance of Zeus?" +With this she left them, and Hera said to + Athena, "Of a truth, child of aegis-bearing Zeus, I am not for fighting men's + battles further in defiance of Zeus. Let them live or die as luck will have it, + and let Zeus mete out his judgments upon the Trojans and Danaans according to + his own pleasure." +She turned her steeds; the Hours presently + unyoked them, made them fast to their ambrosial mangers, and leaned the chariot + against the end wall of the courtyard. The two goddesses then sat down upon + their golden thrones, amid the company of the other gods; but they were very + angry. +Presently father Zeus drove his chariot to + +Olympus +, and entered the assembly + of gods. The mighty lord of the earthquake unyoked his horses for him, set the + car upon its stand, and threw a cloth over it. Zeus then sat down upon his + golden throne and +Olympus + reeled + beneath him. Athena and Hera sat alone, apart from Zeus, and neither spoke nor + asked him questions, but Zeus knew what they meant, and said, "Athena and Hera, + why are you so angry? Are you fatigued with killing so many of your dear + friends the Trojans? Be this as it may, such is the might of my hands that all + the gods in +Olympus + cannot turn me; + you were both of you trembling all over ere ever you saw the fight and its + terrible doings. I tell you therefore-and it would have surely been - I should + have struck you with lighting, and your chariots would never have brought you + back again to +Olympus +." +Athena and Hera groaned in spirit as they sat + side by side and brooded mischief for the Trojans. Athena sat silent without a + word, for she was in a furious passion and bitterly incensed against her + father; but Hera could not contain herself and said, "What, dread son of + Kronos, are you talking about? We know how great your power is, nevertheless we + have compassion upon the Danaan warriors who are perishing and coming to a bad + end. +We will, however, since you so bid us, refrain + from actual fighting, but we will make serviceable suggestions to the Argives, + that they may not all of them perish in your displeasure." +And Zeus answered, "Tomorrow morning, Hera, if + you choose to do so, you will see the son of Kronos destroying large numbers of + the Argives, for fierce Hektor shall not cease fighting till he has roused the + son of Peleus when they are fighting in dire straits at their ships' sterns + about the body of Patroklos. Like it or no, this is how it is decreed; for I + don't care, you may go to the lowest depths beneath earth and sea [ +pontos +], where Iapetos and Kronos dwell in lone + Tartaros with neither ray of light nor breath of wind to cheer them. You may go + on and on till you get there, and I shall not care one whit for your + displeasure; you are the greatest vixen living." +Hera made him no answer. The sun's glorious orb + now sank into Okeanos and drew down night over the land. Sorry indeed were the + Trojans when light failed them, but welcome and thrice prayed for did darkness + fall upon the Achaeans. +Then Hektor led the Trojans back from the + ships, and held a council on the open space near the river, where there was a + spot ear corpses. They left their chariots and sat down on the ground to hear + the speech he made them. He grasped a spear eleven cubits long, the bronze + point of which gleamed in front of it, while the ring round the spear-head was + of gold Spear in hand he spoke. "Hear me," said he, "Trojans, Dardanians, and + allies. I deemed but now that I should destroy the ships and all the Achaeans + with them ere I went back to +Ilion +, + but darkness came on too soon. It was this alone that saved them and their + ships upon the seashore. Now, therefore, let us obey the behests of night, and + prepare our suppers. Take your horses out of their chariots and give them their + feeds of grain; then make speed to bring sheep and cattle from the city; +bring wine also and grain for your horses and + gather much wood, that from dark till dawn we may burn watchfires whose flare + may reach to heaven. For the Achaeans may try to flee beyond the sea by night, + and they must not embark scatheless and unmolested; many a man among them must + take a dart with him to nurse at home, hit with spear or arrow as he is leaping + on board his ship, that others may fear to bring war and weeping upon the + Trojans. Moreover let the heralds tell it about the city that the growing + youths and gray-bearded men are to camp upon its heaven-built walls. Let the + women each of them light a great fire in her house, and let watch be safely + kept lest the town be entered by surprise while the host is outside. See to it, + brave Trojans, as I have said, and let this suffice for the moment; at daybreak + I will instruct you further. I pray in hope to Zeus and to the gods that we may + then drive those fate-sped hounds from our land, for ‘tis the fates that have + borne them and their ships hither. This night, therefore, let us keep watch, + but with early morning let us put on our armor and rouse fierce war at the + ships of the Achaeans; I shall then know whether brave Diomedes the son of + Tydeus will drive me back from the ships to the wall, or whether I shall myself + slay him and carry off his bloodstained spoils. Tomorrow let him show his + mettle [ +aretê +], abide my spear if he dare. I ween + that at break of day, he shall be among the first to fall and many another of + his comrades round him. Would that I were as sure of being immortal and never + growing old, and of being worshipped like Athena and Apollo, as I am that this + day will bring evil to the Argives." +Thus spoke Hektor and the Trojans shouted + approval. They took their sweating steeds from under the yoke, and made them + fast each by his own chariot. They made haste to bring sheep and cattle from + the city, they brought wine also and grain from their houses and gathered much + wood. +They then offered unblemished hecatombs to the + immortals, and the wind carried the sweet savor of sacrifice to heaven - but + the blessed gods partook not thereof, for they bitterly hated +Ilion + with Priam and Priam's people. Thus high + in hope they sat through the livelong night by the highways of war, and many a + watchfire did they kindle. As when the stars shine clear, and the moon is + bright- there is not a breath of air, not a peak nor glade nor jutting headland + but it stands out in the ineffable radiance that breaks from the serene of + heaven; the stars can all of them be told and the heart of the shepherd is glad + - even thus shone the watchfires of the Trojans before +Ilion + midway between the ships and the river + +Xanthos +. A thousand camp-fires + gleamed upon the plain, and in the glow of each there sat fifty men, while the + horses, champing oats and wheat beside their chariots, waited till dawn should + come. +Thus did the Trojans watch. But Panic, comrade of + blood-stained Rout, had taken fast hold of the Achaeans and their princes were + all of them in despair. As when the two winds that blow from +Thrace + - the north and the northwest - spring + up of a sudden and rouse the fury of the main [ +pontos +] - in a moment the dark waves uprear their heads and scatter + their sea-wrack in all directions - even thus troubled were the hearts of the + Achaeans. +The son of Atreus in dismay bade the heralds call + the people to a council man by man, but not to cry the matter aloud; he made + haste also himself to call them, and they sat sorry at heart in their assembly. + Agamemnon shed tears as it were a running stream or cataract on the side of + some sheer cliff; and thus, with many a heavy sigh he spoke to the Achaeans. + "My friends," said he, "princes and councilors, Zeus has tied down with ruin + [ +atê +] more than any other +Argive +. The cruel god gave me his solemn + promise that I should sack the city of +Troy + before returning, but he has played me false, and is now + bidding me go back to +Argos + with bad + +kleos + and with the loss of many people. Such is + the will of Zeus, who has laid many a proud city in the dust as he will yet lay + others, for his power is above all. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say and + sail back to our own country, for we shall not take +Troy +." +Thus he spoke, and the sons of the Achaeans for + a long while sat sorrowful there, but they all held their peace, till at last + Diomedes of the loud battle-cry made answer saying, +"Son of Atreus, I will chide your folly, as is + my right [themis] in council. Be not then aggrieved that I should do so. In the + first place you attacked me before all the Danaans and said that I was a coward + and no warrior. The Argives young and old know that you did so. But the son of + scheming Kronos endowed you by halves only. He gave you honor as the chief + ruler over us, but valor, which is the highest both right and might he did not + give you. Sir, think you that the sons of the Achaeans are indeed as unwarlike + and cowardly as you say they are? If your own mind is set upon going home - go + - the way is open to you; the many ships that followed you from +Mycenae + stand ranged upon the seashore; + but the rest of us stay here till we have sacked +Troy +. Nay though these too should turn homeward with their + ships, Sthenelos and myself will still fight on till we reach the goal of + +Ilion +, for heaven was with us when + we came." +The sons of the Achaeans shouted approval at the + words of Diomedes, and presently Nestor rose to speak. "Son of Tydeus," said + he, "in war your prowess is beyond question, and in council you excel all who + are of your own years; no one of the Achaeans can make light of what you say + nor gainsay it, but you have not yet come to the end [ +telos +] of the whole matter. You are still young - you might be the + youngest of my own children - still you have spoken wisely and have counseled + the chief of the Achaeans not without discretion; nevertheless I am older than + you and I will tell you every" thing; therefore let no man, not even King + Agamemnon, disregard my saying, for he that foments civil discord is a + clanless, hearthless outlaw. +"Now, however, let us obey the behests of night + and get our suppers, but let the sentinels every man of them camp by the trench + that is without the wall. I am giving these instructions to the young men; when + they have been attended to, do you, son of Atreus, give your orders, for you + are the most royal among us all. Prepare a feast for your councilors; it is + right and reasonable that you should do so; +there is abundance of wine in your tents, which + the ships of the Achaeans bring from +Thrace + daily over the sea [ +pontos +]. + You have everything at your disposal wherewith to entertain guests, and you + have many subjects. When many are got together, you can be guided by him whose + counsel is wisest - and sorely do we need shrewd and prudent counsel, for the + foe has lit his watchfires hard by our ships. Who can be other than dismayed? + This night will either be the ruin of our host, or save it." +Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had + said. The sentinels went out in their armor under command of Nestor's son + Thrasymedes, a leader of the host, and of the bold warriors Askalaphos and + Ialmenos: there were also Meriones, Aphareus and Deipyros, and the son of + Kreion, noble Lykomedes. There were seven leaders of the sentinels, and with + each there went a hundred youths armed with long spears: they took their places + midway between the trench and the wall, and when they had done so they lit + their fires and got every man his supper. +The son of Atreus then bade many councilors of + the Achaeans to his quarters prepared a great feast in their honor. They laid + their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had + enough to eat and drink, old Nestor, whose counsel was ever truest, was the + first to lay his mind before them. He, therefore, with all sincerity and + goodwill addressed them thus. +"With yourself, most noble son of Atreus, king + of men, Agamemnon, will I both begin my speech and end it, for you are king + over many people. Zeus, moreover, has granted you to wield the scepter and to + uphold what is right [ +themis +] that you may take + thought for your people under you; therefore it behooves you above all others + both to speak and to give ear, and to out the counsel of another who shall have + been minded to speak wisely. All turns on you and on your commands, therefore I + will say what I think will be best. No man will be of a truer mind [ +noos +] than that which has been mine from the hour when + you, sir, angered Achilles by taking the girl Briseis from his tent against my + judgment [ +noos +]. +I urged you not to do so, but you yielded to + your own pride, and dishonored a hero whom heaven itself had honored - for you + still hold the prize that had been awarded to him. Now, however, let us think + how we may appease him, both with presents and fair speeches that may + conciliate him." +And King Agamemnon answered, "Sir, you have + reproved my folly [ +atê +] justly. I was wrong. I own + it. One whom heaven befriends is in himself a host, and Zeus has shown that he + befriends this man by destroying many people of the Achaeans. I was blinded + with passion and yielded to my worser mind; therefore I will make amends, and + will give him great gifts by way of atonement. I will tell them in the presence + of you all. I will give him seven tripods that have never yet been on the fire, + and ten talents of gold. I will give him twenty iron cauldrons and twelve + strong horses that have won races and carried off prizes. Rich, indeed, both in + land and gold is he that has as many prizes as my horses have won me. I will + give him seven excellent workwomen, from +Lesbos +, whom I chose for myself when he took Lesbos - all of + surpassing beauty. I will give him these, and with them her whom I erewhile + took from him, the daughter of Briseus; and I swear a great oath that I never + went up into her couch, nor did I lie down with her, even though it is right + [ +themis +] for humans, both men and women, to do + this. +"All these things will I give him now down, and + if hereafter the gods grant me to sack the city of Priam, let him come when we + Achaeans are dividing the spoil, and load his ship with gold and bronze to his + liking; furthermore let him take twenty Trojan women, the loveliest after Helen + herself. Then, when we reach Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, he shall + be my son-in-law and I will show him like honor with my own dear son Orestes, + who is being nurtured in all abundance. I have three daughters, Chrysothemis, + Laodike, and Iphianassa, let him take the one of his choice, freely and without + gifts of wooing, to the house of Peleus; +I will add such dower to boot as no man ever + yet gave his daughter, and will give him seven well established cities, + +Kardamyle +, Enope, and Hire, + where there is grass; holy +Pherai + + and the fertile meadows of +Anthea +; + Aipeia also, and the vine-clad slopes of Pedasos, all near the sea, and on the + borders of sandy +Pylos +. The men that + dwell there are rich in cattle and sheep; they will honor him with gifts as + though he were a god, and be obedient to his comfortable ordinances [ +themistes +]. All this will I do if he will now forgo + his anger. Let him then yield: it is only Hades who is utterly ruthless and + unyielding - and hence he is of all gods the one most hateful to humankind. + Moreover I am older and more royal than himself. Therefore, let him now obey + me." +Then Nestor answered, "Most noble son of + Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon. The gifts you offer are no small ones, let us + then send chosen messengers, who may go to the tent of Achilles son of Peleus + without delay. Let those go whom I shall name. Let Phoenix, dear to Zeus, lead + the way; let Ajax and Odysseus follow, and let the heralds Odios and Eurybates + go with them. Now bring water for our hands, and bid all keep silence while we + pray to Zeus the son of Kronos, if so be that he may have mercy upon us." +Thus did he speak, and his saying pleased them + well. Men-servants poured water over the hands of the guests, while pages + filled the mixing-bowls with wine and water, and handed it round after giving + every man his drink-offering; then, when they had made their offerings, and had + drunk each as much as he was minded, the envoys set out from the tent of + Agamemnon son of Atreus; and Nestor, looking first to one and then to another, + but most especially at Odysseus, was instant with them that they should prevail + with the noble son of Peleus. +They went their way by the shore of the + sounding sea, and prayed earnestly to earth-encircling Poseidon that the high + spirit of the son of Aiakos might incline favorably towards them. When they + reached the ships and tents of the Myrmidons, +they found Achilles playing on a lyre, fair, of + cunning workmanship, and its cross-bar was of silver. It was part of the spoils + which he had taken when he sacked the city of Eetion, and he was now diverting + himself with it and singing the glories [ +klea +] of + heroes. Patroklos alone sat facing him, in silence, waiting till he should + cease singing. Odysseus and Ajax now came in - Odysseus leading the way -and + stood before him. Achilles sprang from his seat with the lyre still in his + hand, and Patroklos, when he saw the strangers, rose also. Achilles then + greeted them saying, "All hail and welcome - you must come upon some great + matter, you, who for all my anger are still dearest to me of the Achaeans." +With this he led them forward, and bade them + sit on seats covered with purple rugs; then he said to Patroklos who was close + by him, "Son of Menoitios, set a larger bowl upon the table, mix less water + with the wine, and give every man his cup, for these are very dear friends, who + are now under my roof." +Patroklos did as his comrade bade him; he set + the chopping-block in front of the fire, and on it he laid the loin of a sheep, + the loin also of a goat, and the chine of a fat hog. Automedon held the meat + while Achilles chopped it; he then sliced the pieces and put them on spits + while the son of Menoitios made the fire burn high. When the flame had died + down, he spread the embers, laid the spits on top of them, lifting them up and + setting them upon the spit-racks; and he sprinkled them with salt. When the + meat was roasted, he set it on platters, and handed bread round the table in + fair baskets, while Achilles dealt them their portions. Then Achilles took his + seat facing Odysseus against the opposite wall, and bade his comrade Patroklos + offer sacrifice to the gods; so he cast the offerings into the fire, and they + laid their hands upon the good things that were before them. As soon as they + had had enough to eat and drink, Ajax made a sign to Phoenix, and when he saw + this, Odysseus filled his cup with wine and pledged Achilles. +"Hail," said he, "Achilles, we have had no + scant of good cheer, neither in the tent of Agamemnon, nor yet here; there has + been plenty to eat and drink, but our thought turns upon no such matter. Sir, + we are in the face of great disaster, and without your help know not whether we + shall save our fleet or lose it. The Trojans and their allies have camped hard + by our ships and by the wall; they have lit watchfires throughout their host + and deem that nothing can now prevent them from falling on our fleet. Zeus, + moreover, has sent his lightnings on the right side, as signs [ +sêmata +]; Hektor, in all his glory, rages like a + maniac; confident that Zeus is with him he fears neither god nor man, but is + gone raving mad, and prays for the approach of day. He vows that he will hew + the high sterns of our ships in pieces, set fire to their hulls, and make havoc + of the Achaeans while they are dazed and smothered in smoke; I much fear that + heaven will make good his boasting, and it will prove our lot to perish at + +Troy + far from our home in + +Argos +. Up, then, and late though + it be, save the sons of the Achaeans who faint before the fury of the Trojans. + You will have grief [ +akhos +] hereafter for all time + to come if you do not, for when the harm is done there will be no cure for it; + consider ere it be too late, and save the Danaans from destruction. +"My good friend, when your father Peleus sent + you from +Phthia + to Agamemnon, did + he not charge you saying, ‘Son, Athena and Hera will make you strong if they + choose, but check your high temper, for the better part is in goodwill. Eschew + vain quarreling, and the Achaeans old and young will respect you more for doing + so.’ These were his words, but you have forgotten them. Even now, however, be + appeased, and put away your anger from you. Agamemnon will make you great + amends if you will forgive him; listen, and I will tell you what he has said in + his tent that he will give you. He will give you seven tripods that have never + yet been on the fire, and ten talents of gold; twenty iron cauldrons, and + twelve strong horses that have won races and carried off prizes. +Rich indeed both in land and gold is he who has + as many prizes as these horses have won for Agamemnon. Moreover he will give + you seven excellent workers, women of +Lesbos +, whom he chose for himself, when you took Lesbos - all + of surpassing beauty. He will give you these, and with them her whom he + erewhile took from you, the daughter of Briseus, and he will swear a great + oath, he has never gone up into her couch nor lain down with her, though it is + right [ +themis +] for men and women to do so. All + these things will he give you now down, and if hereafter the gods grant him to + sack the city of Priam, you can come when we Achaeans are dividing the spoil, + and load your ship with gold and bronze to your liking. You can take twenty + Trojan women, the loveliest after Helen herself. Then, when we reach Achaean + Argos, wealthiest of all lands, you shall be his son-in-law, and he will show + you like honor with his own dear son Orestes, who is being nurtured in all + abundance. Agamemnon has three daughters, Chrysothemis, Laodike, and + Iphianassa; you may take the one of your choice, freely and without gifts of + wooing, to the house of Peleus; he will add such dower to boot as no man ever + yet gave his daughter, and will give you seven well-established cities, + +Kardamyle +, Enope, and Hire + where there is grass; holy Pheras and the fertile meadows of +Anthea +; Aipeia also, and the vine-clad + slopes of Pedasos, all near the sea, and on the borders of sandy +Pylos +. The men that dwell there are rich in + cattle and sheep; they will honor you with gifts as though were a god, and be + obedient to your comfortable ordinances [ +themistes +]. All this will he do if you will now forgo your anger. + Moreover, though you hate both him and his gifts with all your heart, yet pity + the rest of the Achaeans who are being harassed in all their host; they will + honor you as a god, and you will earn great glory at their hands. You might + even kill Hektor; he will come within your reach, for he is infatuated, and + declares that not a Danaan whom the ships have brought can hold his own against + him." +Achilles answered, "Odysseus, noble son of + +Laertes +, I should give you + formal notice plainly and in all fixity of purpose that there be no more of + this cajoling, from whatsoever quarter it may come. Hateful [ +ekhthros +] to me like the gates of Hades is the man who + says one thing while he hides another thing in his mind [ +phrenes +]; therefore I will say what I mean. I will be appeased + neither by Agamemnon son of Atreus nor by any other of the Danaans, for I see + that I have no thanks [ +kharis +] for all my fighting. + He that fights fares no better than he that does not; coward and hero are held + in equal honor [ +timê +], and death deals like measure + to him who works and him who is idle. I have taken nothing by all my hardships + - with my life [ +psukhê +] ever at risk; as a bird + when she has found a morsel takes it to her nestlings, and herself fares + hardly, even so many a long night have I been wakeful, and many a bloody battle + have I waged by day against those who were fighting for their women. With my + ships I have taken twelve cities, and eleven round about +Troy + have I stormed with my men by land; I + took great store of wealth from every one of them, but I gave all up to + Agamemnon son of Atreus. He stayed where he was by his ships, yet of what came + to him he gave little, and kept much himself. +"Nevertheless he did distribute some prizes of + honor among the chieftains and kings, and these have them still; from me alone + of the Achaeans did he take the woman in whom I delighted - let him keep her + and sleep with her. Why, pray, must the Argives needs fight the Trojans? What + made the son of Atreus gather the host and bring them? Was it not for the sake + of Helen? Are the sons of Atreus the only men in the world who love their + wives? Any man of common right feeling will love and cherish her who is his + own, as I this woman, with my whole heart, though she was but a fruitling of my + spear. Agamemnon has taken her from me; he has played me false; I know him; let + him tempt me no further, for he shall not move me. Let him look to you, + Odysseus, and to the other princes to save his ships from burning. +He has done much without me already. He has + built a wall; he has dug a trench deep and wide all round it, and he has + planted it within with stakes; but even so he stays not the murderous might of + Hektor. So long as I fought the Achaeans Hektor suffered not the battle range + far from the city walls; he would come to the Scaean gates and to the oak tree, + but no further. Once he stayed to meet me and hardly did he escape my onset: + now, however, since I am in no mood to fight him, I will tomorrow offer + sacrifice to Zeus and to all the gods; I will draw my ships into the water and + then victual them duly; tomorrow morning, if you care to look, you will see my + ships on the +Hellespont +, and my men + rowing out to sea with might and main. If great Poseidon grants me a fair + passage, in three days I shall be in +Phthia +. I have much there that I left behind me when I came + here to my sorrow, and I shall bring back still further store of gold, of red + copper, of fair women, and of iron, my share of the spoils that we have taken; + but one prize, he who gave has insolently taken away. Tell him all as I now bid + you, and tell him in public that the Achaeans may hate him and beware of him + should he think that he can yet dupe others for his effrontery never fails him. +"As for me, hound that he is, he dares not look + me in the face. I will take no counsel with him, and will undertake nothing in + common with him. He has wronged me and deceived me enough, he shall not cozen + me further; let him go his own way, for Zeus has robbed him of his reason. + Hateful [ +ekhthra +] to me are his presents, and for + himself care not one straw. He may offer me ten or even twenty times what he + has now done, nay- not though it be all that he has in the world, both now or + ever shall have; he may promise me the wealth of +Orkhomenos + or of Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in + the whole world, for it has a hundred gates through each of which two hundred + men may drive at once with their chariots and horses; +he may offer me gifts as the sands of the sea + or the dust of the plain in multitude, but even so he shall not move me till I + have been revenged in full for the bitter wrong he has done me. I will not + marry his daughter; she may be fair as Aphrodite, and skillful as Athena, but I + will have none of her: let another take her, who may be a good match for her + and who rules a larger kingdom. If the gods spare me to return home, Peleus + will find me a wife; there are Achaean women in +Hellas + and +Phthia +, + daughters of kings that have cities under them; of these I can take whom I will + and marry her. Many a time was I minded when at home in +Phthia + to woo and wed a woman who would + make me a suitable wife, and to enjoy the riches of my old father Peleus. My + life [ +psukhê +] means more to me than all the wealth + of +Ilion + while it was yet at peace + before the Achaeans went there, or than all the treasure that lies on the stone + floor of Apollo's temple beneath the cliffs of +Pytho +. Cattle and sheep are to be had for harrying, and a man + buy both tripods and horses if he wants them, but when his life has once left + him it can neither be bought nor harried back again. +"My mother Thetis tells me that there are two + ways in which I may meet my end [ +telos +]. If I stay + here and fight, I shall lose my safe homecoming [ +nostos +] but I will have a glory [ +kleos +] + that is unwilting: whereas if I go home my glory [ +kleos +] will die, but it will be a long time before the outcome + [ +telos +] of death shall take me. To the rest of + you, then, I say, ‘Go home, for you will not take +Ilion +.’ Zeus has held his hand over her to protect her, and her + people have taken heart. Go, therefore, as in duty bound, and tell the princes + of the Achaeans the message that I have sent them; tell them to find some other + plan for the saving of their ships and people, for so long as my displeasure + lasts the one that they have now hit upon may not be. As for Phoenix, let him + sleep here that he may sail with me in the morning if he so will. But I will + not take him by force." +They all held their peace, dismayed at the + sternness with which he had denied them, till presently the old horseman + Phoenix in his great fear for the ships of the Achaeans, burst into tears and + said, "Noble Achilles, if you are now minded to have your homecoming [ +nostos +], and in the fierceness of your anger will do + nothing to save the ships from burning, how, my son, can I remain here without + you? Your father Peleus bade me go with you when he sent you as a mere lad from + +Phthia + to Agamemnon. You knew + nothing neither of war nor of the arts whereby men make their mark in council, + and he sent me with you to train you in all excellence of speech and action. + Therefore, my son, I will not stay here without you - no, not though heaven + itself grant to strip my years from off me, and make me young as I was when I + first left +Hellas + the land of fair + women. I was then fleeing the anger of father Amyntor, son of Ormenus, who was + furious with me in the matter of his concubine, of whom he was enamored to the + wronging of his wife my mother. My mother, therefore, prayed me without ceasing + to lie with the woman myself, that so she hate my father, and in the course of + time I yielded. But my father soon came to know, and cursed me bitterly, + calling the dread Erinyes to witness. He prayed that no son of mine might ever + sit upon knees - and the gods, Zeus of the world below and awful Persephone, + fulfilled his curse. I took counsel to kill him, but some god stayed my + rashness and bade me think on men's evil tongues and how I should be branded as + the murderer of my father: nevertheless I could not bear to stay in my father's + house with him so bitter a against me. My cousins and clansmen came about me, + and pressed me sorely to remain; many a sheep and many an ox did they + slaughter, and many a fat hog did they set down to roast before the fire; many + a jar, too, did they broach of my father's wine. Nine whole nights did they set + a guard over me taking it in turns to watch, and they kept a fire always + burning, both in the room of the outer court and in the inner court at the + doors of the room wherein I lay; +but when the darkness of the tenth night came, + I broke through the closed doors of my room, and climbed the wall of the outer + court after passing quickly and unperceived through the men on guard and the + women servants. I then fled through +Hellas + till I came to fertile +Phthia +, mother of sheep, and to King Peleus, who made me + welcome and treated me as a father treats an only son who will be heir to all + his wealth. He made me rich and set me over many people, establishing me on the + borders of +Phthia + where I was chief + ruler over the Dolopians. +"It was I, Achilles, who had the making of you; + I loved you with all my heart: for you would eat neither at home nor when you + had gone out elsewhere, till I had first set you upon my knees, cut up the + dainty morsel that you were to eat, and held the wine-cup to your lips. Many a + time have you slobbered your wine in baby helplessness over my shirt; I had + infinite trouble with you, but I knew that heaven had granted me no offspring + of my own, and I made a son of you, Achilles, that in my hour of need you might + protect me. Now, therefore, I say battle with your pride and beat it; cherish + not your anger for ever; the excellence [ +aretê +] and + might [ +biê +] and honor [ +timê +] of the gods are more than ours, but even gods may be appeased; + and if a man has erred he prays the gods, and reconciles them to himself by his + piteous cries and by frankincense, with drink-offerings and the savor of burnt + sacrifice. For prayers are as daughters to great Zeus; halt, wrinkled, with + eyes askance, they follow in the footsteps of Derangement [ +Atê +], who, being fierce and fleet of foot, leaves them far behind + him, and ever baneful to humankind outstrips them even to the ends of the + world; but nevertheless the prayers come hobbling and healing after. If a man + has pity upon these daughters of Zeus when they draw near him, they will bless + him and hear him too when he is praying; but if he deny them and will not + listen to them, they go to Zeus the son of Kronos and pray that he may + presently fall into derangement [ +atê +] - to his + ruing bitterly hereafter. +Therefore, Achilles, give these daughters of + Zeus due reverence [ +timê +], just as every other + person does whose mind [ +noos +] they change. Were not + the son of Atreus offering you gifts and promising others later - if he were + still furious and implacable - I am not he that would bid you throw off your + anger [ +mênis +] and help the Achaeans, no matter how + great their need; but he is giving much now, and more hereafter; he has sent + his leading men to urge his suit, and has chosen [ +krinô +] those who of all the Argives are most near-and-dear [ +philoi +] to you; make not then their words and their + coming to be of no effect. Your anger has been righteous so far. We have heard + in song the glories [ +klea +] of heroes of old time: + how they quarreled when they were roused to fury, but still they could be won + by gifts, and fair words could soothe them. +"I totally recall [ +memnêmai +] this event of the past - it is not a new thing - and how + it happened. You are all near and dear [ +philoi +], + and I will tell it in your presence. The Curetes and the Aetolians were + fighting and killing one another round Calydon - the Aetolians defending the + city and the Curetes trying to destroy it. For Artemis of the golden throne was + angry and did them hurt because Oeneus had not offered her his harvest + first-fruits. The other gods had all been feasted with hecatombs, but to the + daughter of great Zeus alone he had made no sacrifice. He had forgotten her, or + somehow or other it had escaped him, and this was a grievous derangement. + Thereon the archer goddess in her displeasure sent a prodigious creature + against him - a savage wild boar with great white tusks that did much harm to + his orchard lands, uprooting apple-trees in full bloom and throwing them to the + ground. But Meleager son of Oeneus got huntsmen and hounds from many cities and + killed it - for it was so monstrous that not a few were needed, and many a man + did it stretch upon his funeral pyre. On this the goddess set the Curetes and + the Aetolians fighting furiously about the head and skin of the boar. "So long + as Meleager was in the field things went badly with the Curetes, and for all + their numbers they could not hold their ground under the city walls; but in the + course of time the anger weighed heavy on the thinking [ +noos +] of Meleager : this can sometimes happen even to a sensible + man. +He was incensed with his mother Althaia, and + therefore stayed at home with his wedded wife fair Cleopatra, who was daughter + of Marpessa daughter of Euenos, and of Ides the man then living. He it was who + took his bow and faced King Apollo himself for fair Marpessa's sake; her father + and mother then named her Halcyone, because her mother had mourned with the + strains of the halcyon, bird of much grief [ +penthos +], when Phoebus Apollo had carried her off. Meleager, then, + stayed at home with Cleopatra, nursing the anger which he felt by reason of his + mother's curses. His mother, grieving for the death of her brother, prayed the + gods, and beat the earth with her hands, calling upon Hades and on awful + Persephone; she went down upon her knees and her bosom was wet with tears as + she prayed that they would kill her son - and Erinys that walks in darkness and + knows no ruth heard her from Erebos. +"Then was heard the din of battle about the + gates of Calydon, and the dull thump of the battering against their walls. + Thereon the elders of the Aetolians besought Meleager; they sent the chiefest + of their priests, and begged him to come out and help them, promising him a + great reward. They bade him choose fifty plough-gates, the most fertile in the + plain of Calydon, the one-half vineyard and the other open plough-land. The old + warrior Oeneus implored him, standing at the threshold of his room and beating + the doors in supplication. His sisters and his mother herself besought him + sore, but he the more refused them; those of his comrades who were nearest and + dearest to him also prayed him, but they could not move him till the foe was + battering at the very doors of his chamber, and the Curetes had scaled the + walls and were setting fire to the city. Then at last his sorrowing wife + detailed the horrors that befall those whose city is taken; she reminded him + how the men are slain, and the city is given over to the flames, while the + women and children are carried into captivity; +when he heard all this, his heart was touched, + and he donned his armor to go forth. Thus of his own inward motion he saved the + city of the Aetolians; but they now gave him nothing of those rich rewards that + they had offered earlier, and though he saved the city he took nothing by it. + Be not then, my son, thus minded; let not heaven lure you into any such course. + When the ships are burning it will be a harder matter to save them. Take the + gifts, and go, for the Achaeans will then honor you as a god [ +daimôn +]; whereas if you fight without taking them, you + may beat the battle back, but you will not be held in like honor [ +timê +]." +And Achilles answered, "Phoenix, old friend and + foster-father, I have no need of such honor. I have honor [ +timê +] from Zeus himself, which will abide with me at my ships while + I have breath in my body, and my limbs are strong. I say further - and lay my + saying to your heart - vex me no more with this weeping and lamentation, all to + do a favor [ +kharis +] for the son of Atreus. Love him + so well, and you may lose the love I bear you. You ought to help me rather in + troubling those that trouble me; be king as much as I am, and share like honor + [ +timê +] with myself; the others shall take my + answer; stay here yourself and sleep comfortably in your bed; at daybreak we + will consider whether to remain or go." +On this he nodded quietly to Patroklos as a + sign that he was to prepare a bed for Phoenix, and that the others should take + their leave [ +nostos +]. Ajax son of Telamon then + said, "Odysseus, noble son of +Laertes +, let us be gone, for I see that our journey is vain. We + must now take our answer, unwelcome though it be, to the Danaans who are + waiting to receive it. Achilles is savage and remorseless; he is cruel, and + cares nothing for the affection [ +philotês +] that his + comrades lavished upon him more than on all the others. He is implacable - and + yet if a man's brother or son has been slain he will accept a fine by way of + amends from him that killed him, and the wrong-doer having paid in full remains + in peace in his own district [ +dêmos +]; but as for + you, Achilles, the gods have put a wicked unforgiving spirit [ +thumos +] in your breast, and this, all about one single + girl, +whereas we now offer you the seven best we + have, and much else into the bargain. Be then of a more gracious mind, respect + the hospitality of your own roof. We are with you as messengers from the host + of the Danaans, and would fain he held nearest and dearest to yourself of all + the Achaeans." +"Ajax," replied Achilles, "noble son of + Telamon, you have spoken much to my liking, but my blood boils when I think it + all over, and remember how the son of Atreus treated me with contumely as + though I were some vile tramp, and that too in the presence of the Argives. Go, + then, and deliver your message; say that I will have no concern with fighting + till Hektor, son of noble Priam, reaches the tents of the Myrmidons in his + murderous course, and flings fire upon their ships. For all his lust of battle, + I take it he will be held in check when he is at my own tent and ship." +On this they took every man his double cup, + made their drink-offerings, and went back to the ships, Odysseus leading the + way. But Patroklos told his men and the maid-servants to make ready a + comfortable bed for Phoenix; they therefore did so with sheepskins, a rug, and + a sheet of fine linen. The old man then laid himself down and waited till + morning came. But Achilles slept in an inner room, and beside him the daughter + of Phorbas lovely Diomede, whom he had carried off from +Lesbos +. Patroklos lay on the other side of the + room, and with him fair Iphis whom Achilles had given him when he took + +Skyros + the city of Enyeus. +When the envoys reached the tents of the son of + Atreus, the Achaeans rose, pledged them in cups of gold, and began to question + them. King Agamemnon was the first to do so. Tell me, Odysseus," said he, "will + he save the ships from burning, or did be refuse, and is he still furious?" +Odysseus answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, + king of men, Agamemnon, Achilles will not be calmed, but is more fiercely angry + than ever, and spurns both you and your gifts. He bids you take counsel with + the Achaeans to save the ships and host as you best may; +as for himself, he said that at daybreak he + should draw his ships into the water. He said further that he should advise + every one to sail home likewise, for that you will not reach the goal of + +Ilion +. ‘Zeus,’ he said, ‘has laid + his hand over the city to protect it, and the people have taken heart.’ This is + what he said, and the others who were with me can tell you the same story - + Ajax and the two heralds, men, both of them, who may be trusted. The old man + Phoenix stayed where he was to sleep, for so Achilles would have it, that he + might go home with him in the morning if he so would; but he will not take him + by force." +They all held their peace, sitting for a long + time silent and dejected, by reason of the sternness with which Achilles had + refused them, till presently Diomedes said, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of + men, Agamemnon, you ought not to have sued the son of Peleus nor offered him + gifts. He is proud enough as it is, and you have encouraged him in his pride am + further. Let him stay or go as he will. He will fight later when he is in the + humor, and heaven puts it in his mind to do so. Now, therefore, let us all do + as I say; we have eaten and drunk our fill, let us then take our rest, for in + rest there is both strength and stay. But when fair rosy-fingered morn appears, + forthwith bring out your host and your horsemen in front of the ships, urging + them on, and yourself fighting among the foremost." +Thus he spoke, and the other chieftains + approved his words. They then made their drink-offerings and went every man to + his own tent, where they laid down to rest and enjoyed the boon of + sleep. +Now the other princes of the Achaeans slept + soundly the whole night through, but Agamemnon son of Atreus was troubled, so + that he could get no rest. As when fair Hera's lord flashes his lightning in + token of great rain or hail or snow when the snow-flakes whiten the ground, or + again as a sign that he will open the wide jaws of hungry war, even so did + Agamemnon heave many a heavy sigh, for his soul trembled within him. When he + looked upon the plain of +Troy + he + marveled at the many watchfires burning in front of +Ilion +, and at the sound of pipes and flutes + and of the hum of men, but when presently he turned towards the ships and hosts + of the Achaeans, he tore his hair by handfuls before Zeus on high, and groaned + aloud for the very disquietness of his soul. In the end he deemed it best to go + at once to Nestor son of Neleus, and see if between them they could find any + way of the Achaeans from destruction. He therefore rose, put on his shirt, + bound his sandals about his comely feet, flung the skin of a huge tawny lion + over his shoulders - a skin that reached his feet- and took his spear in his + hand. +Neither could Menelaos sleep, for he, too, boded + ill for the Argives who for his sake had sailed from far over the seas to fight + the Trojans. He covered his broad back with the skin of a spotted panther, put + a casque of bronze upon his head, and took his spear in his brawny hand. Then + he went to rouse his brother, who was by far the most powerful of the Achaeans, + and was honored in his district [ +dêmos +] as though + he were a god. He found him by the stern of his ship already putting his goodly + array about his shoulders, and right glad was he that his brother had come. +Menelaos spoke first. "Why," said he, "my dear + brother, are you thus arming? Are you going to send any of our comrades to + exploit the Trojans? I greatly fear that no one will do you this service, and + spy upon the enemy alone in the dead of night. It will be a deed of great + daring." +And King Agamemnon answered, "Menelaos, we both + of us need shrewd counsel to save the Argives and our ships, for Zeus has + changed his mind, and inclines towards Hektor's sacrifices rather than ours. I + never saw nor heard tell of any man as having wrought such ruin in one day as + Hektor has now wrought against the sons of the Achaeans - and that too of his + own unaided self, for he is son neither to god nor goddess. The Argives will + rue it long and deeply. Run, therefore, with all speed by the line of the + ships, and call Ajax and Idomeneus. Meanwhile I will go to Nestor, and bid him + rise and go about among the companies of our sentinels to give them their + instructions; they will listen to him sooner than to any man, for his own son, + and Meriones brother in arms to Idomeneus, are leaders over them. It was to + them more particularly that we gave this charge." +Menelaos replied, "How do I take your meaning? + Am I to stay with them and wait your coming, or shall I return here as soon as + I have given your orders?" "Wait," answered King Agamemnon, "for there are so + many paths about the camp that we might miss one another. Call every man on + your way, and bid him be stirring; name him by his lineage and by his father's + name, give each all titular observance, and stand not too much upon your own + dignity; we must take our full share of toil, for at our birth Zeus laid this + heavy burden upon us." +With these instructions he sent his brother on + his way, and went on to Nestor shepherd of his people. He found him sleeping in + his tent hard by his own ship; his goodly armor lay beside him - his shield, + his two spears and his helmet; beside him also lay the gleaming belt with which + the old man girded himself when he armed to lead his people into battle - for + his age stayed him not. He raised himself on his elbow and looked up at + Agamemnon. "Who is it," said he, "that goes thus about the host and the ships + alone and in the dead of night, when men are sleeping? Are you looking for one + of your mules or for some comrade? Do not stand there and say nothing, but + speak. What is your business?" +And Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, son of Neleus, + honor to the Achaean name, it is I, Agamemnon son of Atreus, on whom Zeus has + laid labor [ +ponoi +] and sorrow so long as there is + breath in my body and my limbs carry me. I am thus abroad because sleep sits + not upon my eyelids, but my heart is big with war and with the jeopardy of the + Achaeans. I am in great fear for the Danaans. I am at sea, and without sure + counsel; my heart beats as though it would leap out of my body, and my limbs + fail me. If then you can do anything - for you too cannot sleep - let us go the + round of the watch, and see whether they are drowsy with toil and sleeping to + the neglect of their duty. The enemy is encamped hard and we know not but he + may attack us by night." +Nestor replied, "Most noble son of Atreus, king + of men, Agamemnon, Zeus will not do all for Hektor that Hektor thinks he will; + he will have troubles yet in plenty if Achilles will lay aside his anger. I + will go with you, and we will rouse others, either the son of Tydeus, or + Odysseus, or fleet Ajax and the valiant son of Phyleus. Some one had also + better go and call Ajax and King Idomeneus, for their ships are not near at + hand but the farthest of all. I cannot however refrain from blaming Menelaos, + much as I love him and respect him - +and I will say so plainly, even at the risk of + offending you - for sleeping and leaving all this trouble to yourself. He ought + to be going about imploring aid from all the princes of the Achaeans, for we + are in extreme danger." +And Agamemnon answered, "Sir, you may sometimes + blame him justly, for he is often remiss and unwilling to exert himself - not + indeed from sloth, nor yet lack of thought [ +noos +], + but because he looks to me and expects me to take the lead. On this occasion, + however, he was awake before I was, and came to me of his own accord. I have + already sent him to call the very men whom you have named. And now let us be + going. We shall find them with the watch outside the gates, for it was there I + said that we would meet them." +"In that case," answered Nestor, "the Argives + will not blame him nor disobey his orders when he urges them to fight or gives + them instructions." +With this he put on his shirt, and bound his + sandals about his comely feet. He buckled on his purple coat, of two + thicknesses, large, and of a rough shaggy texture, grasped his redoubtable + bronze-shod spear, and wended his way along the line of the Achaean ships. + First he called loudly to Odysseus peer of gods in counsel and woke him, for he + was soon roused by the sound of the battle-cry. He came outside his tent and + said, "Why do you go thus alone about the host, and along the line of the ships + in the stillness of the night? What is it that you find so urgent?" And Nestor + horseman of Gerene answered, "Odysseus, noble son of +Laertes +, take it not amiss, for the + Achaeans are in great sorrow [ +akhos +]. Come with me + and let us wake some other, who may advise well with us whether we shall fight + or flee." +On this Odysseus went at once into his tent, + put his shield about his shoulders and came out with them. First they went to + Diomedes son of Tydeus, and found him outside his tent clad in his armor with + his comrades sleeping round him and using their shields as pillows; as for + their spears, +they stood upright on the spikes of their butts + that were driven into the ground, and the burnished bronze flashed afar like + the lightning of father Zeus. The hero was sleeping upon the skin of an ox, + with a piece of fine carpet under his head; Nestor went up to him and stirred + him with his heel to rouse him, upbraiding him and urging him to bestir + himself. "Wake up," he exclaimed, "son of Tydeus. How can you sleep on in this + way? Can you not see that the Trojans are encamped on the brow of the plain + hard by our ships, with but a little space between us and them?" +On these words Diomedes leaped up instantly and + said, "Old man, your heart is of iron; you rest not one moment from your labors + [ +ponos +]. Are there no younger men among the + Achaeans who could go about to rouse the princes? There is no tiring you." +And Nestor horseman of Gerene made answer, "My + son, all that you have said is true. I have good sons, and also many people who + might call the chieftains, but the Achaeans are in the gravest danger; life and + death are balanced as it were on the edge of a razor. Go then, for you are + younger than I, and of your courtesy rouse Ajax and the fleet son of Phyleus." + +Diomedes threw the skin of a great tawny lion + about his shoulders - a skin that reached his feet - and grasped his spear. + When he had roused the heroes, he brought them back with him; they then went + the round of those who were on guard, and found the leaders not sleeping at + their posts but wakeful and sitting with their arms about them. As sheep dogs + that watch their flocks when they are yarded, and hear a wild beast coming + through the mountain forest towards them - forthwith there is a hue and cry of + dogs and men, and slumber is broken - even so was sleep chased from the eyes of + the Achaeans as they kept the watches of the wicked night, for they turned + constantly towards the plain whenever they heard any stir among the Trojans. + The old man was glad bade them be of good cheer. "Watch on, my children," said + he, "and let not sleep get hold upon you, lest our enemies triumph over us." +With this he passed the trench, and with him + the other chiefs of the Achaeans who had been called to the council. Meriones + and the brave son of Nestor went also, for the princes bade them. When they + were beyond the trench that was dug round the wall they held their meeting on + the open ground where there was a space clear of corpses, for it was here that + when night fell Hektor had turned back from his onslaught on the Argives. They + sat down, therefore, and held debate with one another. +Nestor spoke first. "My friends," said he, "is + there any man bold enough to venture the Trojans, and cut off some straggler, + or us news of what the enemy mean to do whether they will stay here by the + ships away from the city, or whether, now that they have worsted the Achaeans, + they will retire within their walls. If he could learn all this and come back + safely here, his fame [ +kleos +] would be high as + heaven in the mouths of all men, and he would be rewarded richly; for the + chiefs from all our ships would each of them give him a black ewe with her lamb + - which is a present of surpassing value - and he would be asked as a guest to + all feasts and clan-gatherings." +They all held their peace, but Diomedes of the + loud war-cry spoke saying, "Nestor, gladly will I visit the host of the Trojans + over against us, but if another will go with me I shall do so in greater + confidence and comfort. When two men are together, one of them may see some + opportunity [ +kerdos +] which the other has not caught + sight of; if a man is alone he is less full of resource, and his wit [ +noos +] is weaker." +On this several offered to go with Diomedes. + The two Ajaxes, squires [ +therapontes +] of Ares, + Meriones, and the son of Nestor all wanted to go, so did Menelaos son of + Atreus; Odysseus also wished to go among the host of the Trojans, for he was + ever full of daring, and thereon Agamemnon king of men spoke thus: "Diomedes," + said he, "son of Tydeus, man after my own heart, choose your comrade for + yourself - take the best man of those that have offered, for many would now go + with you. Do not through delicacy reject the better man, and take the worst out + of respect [ +aidôs +] for his lineage, because he is + of more royal blood." +He said this because he feared for Menelaos. + Diomedes answered, "If you bid me take the man of my own choice, how in that + case can I fail to think of Odysseus, than whom there is no man more eager to + face all kinds of danger [ +ponoi +] - and Pallas + Athena loves him well? If he were to go with me we should pass safely through + fire itself, for he is quick to see and understand." +"Son of Tydeus," replied Odysseus, "say neither + good nor ill about me, for you are among Argives who know me well. Let us be + going, for the night wanes and dawn is at hand. The stars have gone forward, + two-thirds of the night are already spent, and the third is alone left us." +They then put on their armor. Brave Thrasymedes + provided the son of Tydeus with a sword and a shield (for he had left his own + at his ship) and on his head he set a helmet of bull's hide without either peak + or crest; it is called a skull-cap and is a common headgear. Meriones found a + bow and quiver for Odysseus, and on his head he set a leathern helmet that was + lined with a strong plaiting of leathern thongs, while on the outside it was + thickly studded with boar's teeth, well and skillfully set into it; next the + head there was an inner lining of felt. This helmet had been stolen by + Autolykos out of Eleon when he broke into the house of Amyntor son of Ormenus. + He gave it to Amphidamas of +Cythera + to + take to Scandea, and Amphidamas gave it as a guest-gift to Molos, who gave it + to his son Meriones; and now it was set upon the head of Odysseus. +When the pair had armed, they set out, and left + the other chieftains behind them. Pallas Athena sent them a heron by the + wayside upon their right hands; they could not see it for the darkness, but + they heard its cry. Odysseus was glad when he heard it and prayed to + Athena: +"Hear me," he cried, "daughter of aegis-bearing + Zeus, you who spy out all my ways and who are with me in all my hardships + [ +ponoi +]; befriend me in this mine hour, and + grant that we may return to the ships covered with glory after having achieved + some mighty exploit that shall bring sorrow to the Trojans." +Then Diomedes of the loud war-cry also prayed: + "Hear me too," said he, "daughter of Zeus, unweariable; be with me even as you + were with my noble father Tydeus when he went to +Thebes + as envoy sent by the Achaeans. He + left the Achaeans by the banks of the river Aesopos, and went to the city + bearing a message of peace to the Cadmeans; on his return thence, with your + help, goddess, he did great deeds of daring, for you were his ready helper. + Even so guide me and guard me now, and in return I will offer you in sacrifice + a broad-browed heifer of a year old, unbroken, and never yet brought by man + under the yoke. I will gild her horns and will offer her up to you in + sacrifice." +Thus they prayed, and Pallas Athena heard their + prayer. When they had done praying to the daughter of great Zeus, they went + their way like two lions prowling by night amid the armor and blood-stained + bodies of them that had fallen. +Neither again did Hektor let the Trojans sleep; + for he too called the princes and councilors of the Trojans that he might set + his counsel before them. "Is there one," said he, "who for a great reward will + do me the service of which I will tell you? He shall be well paid if he will. I + will give him a chariot and a couple of horses, the fleetest that can be found + at the ships of the Achaeans, if he will dare this thing; and he will win + infinite honor to boot; he must go to the ships and find out whether they are + still guarded as heretofore, or whether now that we have beaten them the + Achaeans design to flee, and through sheer exhaustion are neglecting to keep + their watches." +They all held their peace; but there was among + the Trojans a certain man named Dolon, son of Eumedes, the famous herald - a + man rich in gold and bronze. He was ill-favored, but a good runner, and was an + only son among five sisters. He it was that now addressed the Trojans. "I, + Hektor," said he, "Will to the ships and will exploit them. But first hold up + your scepter and swear that you will give me the chariot, equipped with bronze, + and the horses that now carry the noble son of Peleus. I will make you a good + scout, and will not fail you. I will go through the host from one end to the + other till I come to the ship of Agamemnon, where I take it the princes of the + Achaeans are now consulting whether they shall fight or flee." +When he had done speaking Hektor held up his + scepter, and swore him his oath saying, "May Zeus the thundering husband of + Hera bear witness that no other Trojan but yourself shall mount those steeds, + and that you shall have your will with them for ever." +The oath he swore was bootless, but it made + Dolon more keen on going. He hung his bow over his shoulder, and as an overall + he wore the skin of a gray wolf, while on his head he set a cap of ferret skin. + Then he took a pointed javelin, and left the camp for the ships, but he was not + to return with any news for Hektor. When he had left the horses and the troops + behind him, he made all speed on his way, but Odysseus perceived his coming and + said to Diomedes, "Diomedes, here is some one from the camp; I am not sure + whether he is a spy, or whether it is some thief who would plunder the bodies + of the dead; let him get a little past us, we can then spring upon him and take + him. If, however, he is too quick for us, go after him with your spear and hem + him in towards the ships away from the Trojan camp, to prevent his getting back + to the town." +With this they turned out of their way and lay + down among the corpses. Dolon suspected nothing and soon passed them, but when + he had got about as far as the distance by which a mule-plowed furrow exceeds + one that has been ploughed by oxen (for mules can plow fallow land quicker than + oxen) they ran after him, and when he heard their footsteps he stood still, for + he made sure they were friends from the Trojan camp come by Hektor's orders to + bid him return; when, however, they were only a spear's cast, or less away form + him, he saw that they were enemies as fast as his legs could take him. The + others gave chase at once, and as a couple of well-trained hounds press forward + after a doe or hare that runs screaming in front of them, even so did the son + of Tydeus and Odysseus pursue Dolon and cut him off from his own people. But + when he had fled so far towards the ships that he would soon have fallen in + with the outposts, Athena infused fresh strength into the son of Tydeus for + fear some other of the Achaeans might have the glory of being first to hit him, + and he might himself be only second; he therefore sprang forward with his spear + and said, "Stand, or I shall throw my spear, and in that case I shall soon make + an end of you." +He threw as he spoke, but missed his aim on + purpose. The dart flew over the man's right shoulder, and then stuck in the + ground. He stood stock still, trembling and in great fear; his teeth chattered, + and he turned pale with fear. The two came breathless up to him and seized his + hands, whereon he began to weep and said, "Take me alive; I will ransom myself; + we have great store of gold, bronze, and wrought iron, and from this my father + will satisfy you with a very large ransom, should he hear of my being alive at + the ships of the Achaeans." +"Fear not," replied Odysseus, "let no thought + of death be in your mind; but tell me, and tell me true, why are you thus going + about alone in the dead of night away from your camp and towards the ships, + while other men are sleeping? Is it to plunder the bodies of the slain, or did + Hektor send you to spy out what was going on at the ships? Or did you come here + of your own mere notion [noon]?" +Dolon answered, his limbs trembling beneath + him: "Hektor, with his vain flattering promises, lured me into derangement + [ +atê +]. He said he would give me the horses of + the noble son of Peleus and his bronze-bedizened chariot; he bade me go through + the darkness of the fleeing night, get close to the enemy, and find out whether + the ships are still guarded as heretofore, or whether, now that we have beaten + them, the Achaeans design to flee, and through sheer exhaustion are neglecting + to keep their watches." +Odysseus smiled at him and answered, "You had + indeed set your heart upon a great reward, but the horses of the descendant of + Aiakos are hardly to be kept in hand or driven by any other mortal man than + Achilles himself, whose mother was an immortal. But tell me, and tell me true, + where did you leave Hektor when you started? Where lies his armor and his + horses? How, too, are the watches and sleeping-ground of the Trojans ordered? + What are their plans? Will they stay here by the ships and away from the city, + or now that they have worsted the Achaeans, will they retire within their + walls?" +And Dolon answered, "I will tell you truly all. + Hektor and the other councilors are now holding conference by the monument + [ +sêma +] of great Ilos, away from the general + tumult; as for the guards about which you ask me, there is no chosen watch to + keep guard over the host. The Trojans have their watchfires, for they are bound + to have them; they, therefore, are awake and keep each other to their duty as + sentinels; but the allies who have come from other places are asleep and leave + it to the Trojans to keep guard, for their wives and children are not here." +Odysseus then said, "Now tell me; are they + sleeping among the Trojan troops, or do they lie apart? Explain this that I may + understand it." +"I will tell you truly all," replied Dolon. "To + the seaward lie the Carians, the Paeonian bowmen, the Leleges, the Cauconians, + and the noble Pelasgi. The Lysians and proud Mysians, +with the Phrygians and Meonians, have their + place on the side towards Thymbra; but why ask about an this? If you want to + find your way into the host of the Trojans, there are the Thracians, who have + lately come here and lie apart from the others at the far end of the camp; and + they have Rhesus son of Eioneus for their king. His horses are the finest and + strongest that I have ever seen, they are whiter than snow and fleeter than any + wind that blows. His chariot is equipped with silver and gold, and he has + brought his marvelous golden armor, of the rarest workmanship - too splendid + for any mortal man to carry, and meet only for the gods. Now, therefore, take + me to the ships or bind me securely here, until you come back and have proved + my words whether they be false or true." +Diomedes looked sternly at him and answered, + "Think not, Dolon, for all the good information you have given us, that you + shall escape now you are in our hands, for if we ransom you or let you go, you + will come some second time to the ships of the Achaeans either as a spy or as + an open enemy, but if I kill you and an end of you, you will give no more + trouble." +On this Dolon would have caught him by the + beard to beseech him further, but Diomedes struck him in the middle of his neck + with his sword and cut through both sinews so that his head fell rolling in the + dust while he was yet speaking. They took the ferret-skin cap from his head, + and also the wolf-skin, the bow, and his long spear. Odysseus hung them up + aloft in honor of Athena the goddess of plunder, and prayed saying, "Accept + these, goddess, for we give them to you in preference to all the gods in + +Olympus +: therefore speed us still + further towards the horses and sleeping-ground of the Thracians." +With these words he took the spoils and set + them upon a tamarisk tree, and they made a mark [ +sêma +] at the place by pulling up reeds and gathering boughs of + tamarisk that they might not miss it as they came back through the fleeing + hours of darkness. The two then went onwards amid the fallen armor and the + blood, and came presently to the company of Thracian warriors, who were + sleeping, tired out with their day's toil; their goodly armor was lying on the + ground beside them all in order [ +kosmos +], in three + rows, and each man had his yoke of horses beside him. Rhesus was sleeping in + the middle, and hard by him his horses were made fast to the topmost rim of his + chariot. Odysseus from some way off saw him and said, "This, Diomedes, is the + man, and these are the horses about which Dolon whom we killed told us. Do your + very utmost; dally not about your armor, but loose the horses at once - or else + kill the men yourself, while I see to the horses." +Thereon Athena put courage into the heart of + Diomedes, and he smote them right and left. They made a hideous groaning as + they were being hacked about, and the earth was red with their blood. As a lion + springs furiously upon a flock of sheep or goats when he finds without their + shepherd, so did the son of Tydeus set upon the Thracian warriors till he had + killed twelve. As he killed them Odysseus came and drew them aside by their + feet one by one, that the horses might go forward freely without being + frightened as they passed over the dead bodies, for they were not yet used to + them. When the son of Tydeus came to the king, he killed him too (which made + thirteen), as he was breathing hard, for by the counsel of Athena an evil + dream, the seed of Oeneus, hovered that night over his head. Meanwhile Odysseus + untied the horses, made them fast one to another and drove them off, striking + them with his bow, for he had forgotten to take the whip from the chariot. Then + he whistled as a sign to Diomedes. +But Diomedes stayed where he was, thinking what + other daring deed he might accomplish. He was doubting whether to take the + chariot in which the king's armor was lying, and draw it out by the pole, or to + lift the armor out and carry it off; or whether again, he should not kill some + more Thracians. While he was thus hesitating Athena came up to him and said, + "Make your homecoming [ +nostos +], Diomedes, to the + ships or you may be driven thither, should some other god rouse the Trojans." +Diomedes knew that it was the goddess, and at + once sprang upon the horses. Odysseus beat them with his bow and they flew + onward to the ships of the Achaeans. +But Apollo kept no blind look-out when he saw + Athena with the son of Tydeus. He was angry with her, and coming to the host of + the Trojans he roused Hippokoön, a counselor of the Thracians and a noble + kinsman of Rhesus. He started up out of his sleep and saw that the horses were + no longer in their place, and that the men were gasping in their death-agony; + on this he groaned aloud, and called upon his friend by name. Then the whole + Trojan camp was in an uproar as the people kept hurrying together, and they + marveled at the deeds of the heroes who had now got away towards the ships. + +When they reached the place where they had + killed Hektor's scout, Odysseus stayed his horses, and the son of Tydeus, + leaping to the ground, placed the blood-stained spoils in the hands of Odysseus + and remounted: then he lashed the horses onwards, and they flew forward nothing + loath towards the ships as though of their own free will. Nestor was first to + hear the tramp of their feet. "My friends," said he, "princes and counselors of + the Argives, shall I guess right or wrong? - but I must say what I think: there + is a sound in my ears as of the tramp of horses. I hope it may Diomedes and + Odysseus driving in horses from the Trojans, but I much fear that the bravest + of the Argives may have come to some harm at their hands." +He had hardly done speaking when the two men + came in and dismounted, whereon the others shook hands right gladly with them + and congratulated them. Nestor horseman of Gerene was first to question them. + "Tell me," said he, "renowned Odysseus, how did you two come by these horses? + Did you steal in among the Trojan forces, or did some god meet you and give + them to you? They are like sunbeams. I am well conversant with the Trojans, for + old warrior though I am I never hold back by the ships, but I never yet saw or + heard of such horses as these are. Surely some god must have met you and given + them to you, for you are both of dear to Zeus, and to Zeus' daughter Athena." +And Odysseus answered, "Nestor son of Neleus, + honor to the Achaean name, heaven, if it so will, can give us even better + horses than these, for the gods are far mightier than we are. These horses, + however, about which you ask me, are freshly come from +Thrace +. Diomedes killed their king with the + twelve bravest of his companions. Hard by the ships we took a thirteenth man - + a scout whom Hektor and the other Trojans had sent as a spy upon our ships." +He laughed as he spoke and drove the horses + over the ditch, while the other Achaeans followed him gladly. When they reached + the strongly built quarters of the son of Tydeus, they tied the horses with + thongs of leather to the manger, where the steeds of Diomedes stood eating + their sweet grain, but Odysseus hung the blood-stained spoils of Dolon at the + stern of his ship, that they might prepare a sacred offering to Athena. As for + themselves, they went into the sea and washed the sweat from their bodies, and + from their necks and thighs. When the sea-water had taken all the sweat from + off them, and had refreshed them, they went into the baths and washed + themselves. After they had so done and had anointed themselves with oil, they + sat down to table, and drawing from a full mixing-bowl, made a drink-offering + of wine to Athena. +And now as Dawn rose from her couch beside + Tithonos, harbinger of light alike to mortals and immortals, Zeus sent fierce + Discord with the ensign of war in her hands to the ships of the Achaeans. She + took her stand by the huge black hull of Odysseus' ship which was middlemost of + all, so that her voice might carry farthest on either side, on the one hand + towards the tents of Ajax son of Telamon, and on the other towards those of + Achilles - for these two heroes, well-assured of their own strength, had + valorously drawn up their ships at the two ends of the line. There she took her + stand, and raised a cry both loud and shrill that filled the Achaeans with + courage, giving them heart to fight resolutely and with all their might, so + that they had rather stay there and do battle than go home in their ships. +The son of Atreus shouted aloud and bade the + Argives gird themselves for battle while he put on his armor. First he girded + his goodly greaves about his legs, making them fast with ankle clasps of + silver; and about his chest he set the breastplate which Cinyras had once given + him as a guest-gift. There had been a report [ +kleos +] abroad, reaching as far as +Cyprus +, that the Achaeans were about to sail for +Troy +, +and therefore he gave it to the king. It had ten + courses of dark lapis lazuli, twelve of gold, and ten of tin. There were + serpents of lapis lazuli that reared themselves up towards the neck, three upon + either side, like the rainbows which the son of Kronos has set in heaven as a + sign to mortal men. About his shoulders he threw his sword, studded with bosses + of gold; and the scabbard was of silver with a chain of gold wherewith to hang + it. He took moreover the richly-equipped shield that covered his body when he + was in battle - fair to see, with ten circles of bronze running all round see, + wit it. On the body of the shield there were twenty bosses of white tin, with + another of dark lapis lazuli in the middle: this last was made to show a + Gorgon's head, fierce and grim, with Rout and Panic on either side. The band + for the arm to go through was of silver, on which there was a writhing snake of + lapis lazuli with three heads that sprang from a single neck, and went in and + out among one another. On his head Agamemnon set a helmet, with a peak before + and behind, and four plumes of horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it; then + he grasped two redoubtable bronze-shod spears, and the gleam of his armor shot + from him as a flame into the firmament, while Hera and Athena thundered in + honor of the king of rich +Mycenae +. +Every man now left his horses in charge of his + charioteer to hold them in proper order [ +kosmos +] by + the trench, while he went into battle on foot clad in full armor, and a mighty + uproar rose on high into the dawning. The chiefs were armed and at the trench + before the horses got there, but these came up presently. The son of Kronos + sent a portent of evil sound about their host, and the dew fell red with blood, + for he was about to send many a brave man hurrying down to Hades. +The Trojans, on the other side upon the rising + slope of the plain, were gathered round great Hektor, noble Polydamas, Aeneas + who was honored in the district [ +dêmos +] of the + Trojans like an immortal, and the three sons of Antenor - Polybos, Agenor, +and young Akamas, beauteous as a god. Hektor's + round shield showed in the front rank, and as some baneful star that shines for + a moment through a rent in the clouds and is again hidden beneath them; even so + was Hektor now seen in the front ranks and now again in the hindermost, and his + bronze armor gleamed like the lightning of aegis-bearing Zeus. +And now as a band of reapers mow swathes of + wheat or barley upon a rich man's land, and the sheaves fall thick before them, + even so did the Trojans and Achaeans fall upon one another; they were in no + mood for yielding but fought like wolves, and neither side got the better of + the other. Discord was glad as she beheld them, for she was the only god that + went among them; the others were not there, but stayed quietly each in his own + home among the dells and valleys of +Olympus +. All of them blamed the son of Kronos for wanting to + Live victory to the Trojans, but father Zeus heeded them not: he held aloof + from all, and sat apart in his all-glorious majesty, looking down upon the city + of the Trojans, the ships of the Achaeans, the gleam of bronze, and alike upon + the slayers and on the slain. +Now so long as the day waxed and it was still + morning, their darts rained thick on one another and the people perished, but + as the hour drew nigh when a woodsman working in some mountain forest will get + his midday meal - for he has felled till his hands are weary; he is tired out, + and must now have food - then the Danaans, by force of their striving [ +aretê +], broke the battalions of the enemy with a cry + that rang through all their ranks. Agamemnon led them on, and slew first + Bienor, a leader of his people, and afterwards his comrade and charioteer + Oileus, who sprang from his chariot and was coming full towards him; but + Agamemnon struck him on the forehead with his spear; his bronze visor was of no + avail against the weapon, which pierced both bronze and bone, so that his + brains were battered in and he was killed in full fight. +Agamemnon stripped their shirts from off them + and left them with their breasts all bare to lie where they had fallen. He then + went on to kill Isos and Antiphos two sons of Priam, the one a bastard, the + other born in wedlock; they were in the same chariot - the bastard driving, + while noble Antiphos fought beside him. Achilles had once taken both of them + prisoners in the glades of Ida, and had bound them with fresh withies as they + were shepherding, but he had taken a ransom for them; now, however, Agamemnon + son of Atreus smote Isos in the chest above the nipple with his spear, while he + struck Antiphos hard by the ear and threw him from his chariot. Forthwith he + stripped their goodly armor from off them and recognized them, for he had + already seen them at ships when Achilles brought them in from Ida. As a lion + fastens on the fawns of a hind and crushes them in his great jaws, robbing them + of their tender life while he on his way back to his lair - the hind can do + nothing for them even though she be close by, for she is in an agony of fear, + and flies through the thick forest, sweating, and at her utmost speed before + the mighty monster - so, no man of the Trojans could help Isos and Antiphos, + for they were themselves fleeing panic before the Argives. +Then King Agamemnon took the two sons of + Antimakhos, Peisandros and brave Hippolokhos. It was Antimakhos who had been + foremost in preventing Helen's being restored to Menelaos, for he was largely + bribed by Alexander; and now Agamemnon took his two sons, both in the same + chariot, trying to bring their horses to a stand - for they had lost hold of + the reins and the horses were mad with fear. The son of Atreus sprang upon them + like a lion, and the pair besought him from their chariot. "Take us alive," + they cried, "son of Atreus, and you shall receive a great ransom for us. Our + father Antimakhos has great store of gold, bronze, and wrought iron, and from + this he will satisfy you with a very large ransom should he hear of our being + alive at the ships of the Achaeans." +With such piteous words and tears did they + beseech the king, but they heard no pitiful answer in return. "If," said + Agamemnon, "you are sons of Antimakhos, who once at a council of Trojans + proposed that Menelaos and Odysseus, who had come to you as envoys, should be + killed and not suffered to return, you shall now pay for the foul iniquity of + your father." +As he spoke he felled Peisandros from his + chariot to the earth, smiting him on the chest with his spear, so that he lay + face uppermost upon the ground. Hippolokhos fled, but him too did Agamemnon + smite; he cut off his hands and his head - which he sent rolling in among the + crowd as though it were a ball. There he let them both lie, and wherever the + ranks were thickest thither he flew, while the other Achaeans followed. Foot + soldiers drove the foot soldiers of the foe in rout before them, and slew them; + horsemen did the like by horsemen, and the thundering tramp of the horses + raised a cloud of dust from off the plain. King Agamemnon followed after, ever + slaying them and cheering on the Achaeans. As when some mighty forest is all + ablaze- the eddying gusts whirl fire in all directions till the thickets + shrivel and are consumed before the blast of the flame - even so fell the heads + of the fleeing Trojans before Agamemnon son of Atreus, and many a noble pair of + steeds drew an empty chariot along the highways of war, for lack of drivers who + were lying on the plain, more useful now to vultures than to their wives. +Zeus drew Hektor away from the darts and dust, + with the carnage and din of battle; but the son of Atreus sped onwards, calling + out lustily to the Danaans. They flew on by the tomb [ +sêma +] of old Ilos, son of +Dardanos +, in the middle of the plain, and past the place of the + wild fig-tree making always for the city - the son of Atreus still shouting, + and with hands all bedrabbled in gore; but when they had reached the Scaean + gates and the oak tree, there they halted and waited for the others to come + up. +Meanwhile the Trojans kept on fleeing over the + middle of the plain like a herd cows maddened with fright when a lion has + attacked them in the dead of night - he springs on one of them, seizes her neck + in the grip of his strong teeth and then laps up her blood and gorges himself + upon her entrails - even so did King Agamemnon son of Atreus pursue the foe, + ever slaughtering the hindmost as they fled pell-mell before him. Many a man + was flung headlong from his chariot by the hand of the son of Atreus, for he + wielded his spear with fury. +But when he was just about to reach the high + wall and the city, the father of gods and men came down from heaven and took + his seat, thunderbolt in hand, upon the crest of many-fountained Ida. He then + told Iris of the golden wings to carry a message for him. "Go," said he, "fleet + Iris, and speak thus to Hektor - say that so long as he sees Agamemnon heading + his men and making havoc of the Trojan ranks, he is to keep aloof and bid the + others bear the brunt of the battle, but when Agamemnon is wounded either by + spear or arrow, and takes to his chariot, then will I grant him strength to + slay till he reach the ships and night falls at the going down of the sun." +Iris hearkened and obeyed. Down she went to + strong +Ilion + from the crests of Ida, + and found Hektor son of Priam standing by his chariot and horses. Then she + said, "Hektor son of Priam, peer of gods in counsel, father Zeus has sent me to + bear you this message - so long as you see Agamemnon heading his men and making + havoc of the Trojan ranks, you are to keep aloof and bid the others bear the + brunt of the battle, but when Agamemnon is wounded either by spear or arrow, + and takes to his chariot, then will Zeus grant you strength to slay till you + reach the ships, and till night falls at the going down of the sun." +When she had thus spoken Iris left him, and + Hektor sprang full armed from his chariot to the ground, brandishing his spear + as he went about everywhere among the host, cheering his men on to fight, and + stirring the dread strife of battle. The Trojans then wheeled round, and again + met the Achaeans, while the Argives on their part strengthened their + battalions. The battle was now in array and they stood face to face with one + another, Agamemnon ever pressing forward in his eagerness to be ahead of all + others. +Tell me now you Muses that dwell in the + mansions of Olympus, who, whether of the Trojans or of their allies, was first + to face Agamemnon? It was Iphidamas son of Antenor, a man both brave and of + great stature, who was brought up in fertile +Thrace + the mother of sheep. Kissês, his mother's father, + brought him up in his own house when he was a child - Kissês, father to fair + Theano. When he reached manhood, Kissês would have kept him there, and was for + giving him his daughter in marriage, but as soon as he had married, he went + away from the bride chamber, looking for glory [ +kleos +] from the Achaeans. He came with twelve ships: these he had + left at Perkote and had come on by land to +Ilion +. He it was that now met Agamemnon son of Atreus. When + they were close up with one another, the son of Atreus missed his aim, and + Iphidamas hit him on the belt below the cuirass and then flung himself upon + him, trusting to his strength of arm; the belt, however, was not pierced, nor + nearly so, for the point of the spear struck against the silver and was turned + aside as though it had been lead: King Agamemnon caught it from his hand, and + drew it towards him with the fury of a lion; he then drew his sword, and killed + Iphidamas by striking him on the neck. So there the poor young man lay, + sleeping a sleep as it were of bronze, killed in the defense of his + fellow-citizens, far from his wedded wife, of whom he had had no joy [ +kharis +] though he had given much for her: he had given + a hundred-head of cattle down, and had promised later on to give a thousand + sheep and goats mixed, from the countless flocks of which he was possessed. + Agamemnon son of Atreus then despoiled him, and carried off his armor into the + host of the Achaeans. +When noble Koön, Antenor's eldest son, saw + this, the grief [ +penthos +] made his eyes sore at the + sight of his fallen brother. Unseen by Agamemnon he got beside him, spear in + hand, and wounded him in the middle of his arm below the elbow, the point of + the spear going right through the arm. Agamemnon was convulsed with pain, but + still not even for this did he leave off struggling and fighting, but grasped + his spear that flew as fleet as the wind, and sprang upon Koön who was trying + to drag off the body of his brother - his father's son - by the foot, and was + crying for help to all the bravest of his comrades; but Agamemnon struck him + with a bronze-shod spear and killed him as he was dragging the dead body + through the press of men under cover of his shield: he then cut off his head, + standing over the body of Iphidamas. Thus did the sons of Antenor meet their + fate at the hands of the son of Atreus, and go down into the house of Hades. +As long as the blood still welled warm from his + wound Agamemnon went about attacking the ranks of the enemy with spear and + sword and with great handfuls of stone, but when the blood had ceased to flow + and the wound grew dry, the pain became great. As the sharp pangs which the + Eileithuiai, goddesses of childbirth, daughters of Hera and dispensers of cruel + pain, send upon a woman when she is in labor- even so sharp were the pangs of + the son of Atreus. He sprang on to his chariot, and bade his charioteer drive + to the ships, for he was in great agony. With a loud clear voice he shouted to + the Danaans, "My friends, princes and counselors of the Argives, defend the + ships yourselves, for Zeus has not suffered me to fight the whole day through + against the Trojans." +With this the charioteer turned his horses + towards the ships, and they flew forward nothing loath. Their chests were white + with foam and their bellies with dust, as they drew the wounded king out of the + battle. +When Hektor saw Agamemnon quit the field, he + shouted to the Trojans and Lycians saying, "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanian + warriors, be men, my friends, and acquit yourselves in battle bravely; their + best man has left them, and Zeus has granted me a great triumph; charge the foe + with your chariots that. you may win still greater glory." +With these words he put heart and soul into + them all, and as a huntsman hounds his dogs on against a lion or wild boar, + even so did Hektor, peer of Ares, hound the proud Trojans on against the + Achaeans. Full of hope he plunged in among the foremost, and fell on the fight + like some fierce tempest that swoops down upon the sea, and lashes its deep + violet waters [ +pontos +] into fury. +What, then is the full tale of those whom + Hektor son of Priam killed in the hour of triumph which Zeus then granted him? + First Asaios, Autonoos, and Opites; Dolops son of Klytios, Opheltios and + Agelaos; Aisymnos, Orus and Hipponoos steadfast in battle; these chieftains of + the Achaeans did Hektor slay, and then he fell upon the rank and file. As when + the west wind hustles the clouds of the white south and beats them down with + the fierceness of its fury - the waves of the sea roll high, and the spray is + flung aloft in the rage of the wandering wind - even so thick were the heads of + them that fell by the hand of Hektor. +All had then been lost and no help for it, and + the Achaeans would have fled pell-mell to their ships, had not Odysseus cried + out to Diomedes, "Son of Tydeus, what has happened to us that we thus forget + our prowess? Come, my good man, stand by my side and help me, we shall be + shamed for ever if Hektor takes the ships." +And Diomedes answered, "Come what may, I will + stand firm; but we shall have scant joy of it, for Zeus is minded to give + victory to the Trojans rather than to us." +With these words he struck Thymbraios from his + chariot to the ground, smiting him in the left breast with his spear, while + Odysseus killed Molion who was his squire [ +therapôn +]. These they let lie, now that they had stopped their + fighting; the two heroes then went on playing havoc with the foe, like two wild + boars that turn in fury and rend the hounds that hunt them. Thus did they turn + upon the Trojans and slay them, and the Achaeans were thankful to have + breathing time in their flight from Hektor. +They then took two princes with their chariot, + the two sons of Merops of Perkote, who excelled in the arts of divination all + others from the district [ +dêmos +]. He had forbidden + his sons to go to the war, but they would not obey him, for fate lured them to + their fall. Diomedes son of Tydeus deprived them both of their life-breath + [ +psukhê +] and stripped them of their armor, while + Odysseus killed Hippodamos and Hypeirochos. +And now the son of Kronos as he looked down + from Ida ordained that neither side should have the advantage, and they kept on + killing one another. The son of Tydeus speared Agastrophos son of Paeon in the + hip-joint with his spear. His chariot was not at hand for him to fly with, so + blindly confident had he been. His squire [ +therapôn +] was in charge of it at some distance and he was fighting on + foot among the foremost until he lost his life. Hektor soon marked the havoc + Diomedes and Odysseus were making, and bore down upon them with a loud cry, + followed by the Trojan ranks; brave Diomedes was dismayed when he saw them, and + said to Odysseus who was beside him, "Great Hektor is bearing down upon us and + we shall be undone; let us stand firm and wait his onset." +He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it, + nor did he miss his mark. He had aimed at Hektor's head near the top of his + helmet, but bronze was turned by bronze, and Hektor was untouched, for the + spear was stayed by the visored helm made with three plates of metal, which + Phoebus Apollo had given him. Hektor sprang back with a great bound under cover + of the ranks; he fell on his knees and propped himself +with his brawny hand leaning on the ground, for + darkness had fallen on his eyes. The son of Tydeus having thrown his spear + dashed in among the foremost fighters, to the place where he had seen it strike + the ground; meanwhile Hektor recovered himself and springing back into his + chariot mingled with the crowd, by which means he saved his life. But Diomedes + made at him with his spear and said, "Dog, you have again got away though death + was close on your heels. Phoebus Apollo, to whom I ween you pray ere you go + into battle, has again saved you, nevertheless I will meet you and make and end + of you hereafter, if there is any god who will stand by me too and be my + helper. For the present I must pursue those I can lay hands on." +As he spoke he began stripping the spoils from + the son of Paeon, but Alexander husband of lovely Helen aimed an arrow at him, + leaning against a pillar of the monument which men had raised to Ilos son of + +Dardanos +, a ruler in days of + old. Diomedes had taken the cuirass from off the breast of Agastrophos, his + heavy helmet also, and the shield from off his shoulders, when +Paris + drew his bow and let fly an arrow that + sped not from his hand in vain, but pierced the flat of Diomedes' right foot, + going right through it and fixing itself in the ground. Thereon +Paris + with a hearty laugh sprang forward from + his hiding-place, and taunted him saying, "You are wounded - my arrow has not + been shot in vain; would that it had hit you in the belly and killed you, for + thus the Trojans, who fear you as goats fear a lion, would have had a truce + from evil." +Diomedes all undaunted answered, "Archer, you + who without your bow are nothing, slanderer and seducer, if you were to be + tried in single combat fighting in full armor, your bow and your arrows would + serve you in little stead. Vain is your boast in that you have scratched the + sole of my foot. I care no more than if a girl or some silly boy had hit me. A + worthless coward can inflict but a light wound; when I wound a man though I but + graze his skin it is another matter, for my weapon will lay him low. +His wife will tear her cheeks for grief and his + children will be fatherless: there will he rot, reddening the earth with his + blood, and vultures, not women, will gather round him." +Thus he spoke, but Odysseus came up and stood + over him. Under this cover he sat down to draw the arrow from his foot, and + sharp was the pain he suffered as he did so. Then he sprang on to his chariot + and bade the charioteer drive him to the ships, for he was sick at heart. +Odysseus was now alone; not one of the Argives + stood by him, for they were all panic-stricken. "Alas," said he to himself in + his dismay, "what will become of me? It is ill if I turn and flee before these + odds, but it will be worse if I am left alone and taken prisoner, for the son + of Kronos has struck the rest of the Danaans with panic. But why talk to myself + in this way? Well do I know that though cowards quit the field, a hero, whether + he wound or be wounded, must stand firm and hold his own." +While he was thus in two minds, the ranks of + the Trojans advanced and hemmed him in, and bitterly did they come to me it. As + hounds and lusty youths set upon a wild boar that sallies from his lair + whetting his white tusks - they attack him from every side and can hear the + gnashing of his jaws, but for all his fierceness they still hold their ground - + even so furiously did the Trojans attack Odysseus. First he sprang spear in + hand upon Deiopites and wounded him on the shoulder with a downward blow; then + he killed Thoon and Ennomos. After these he struck Chersidamas in the loins + under his shield as he had just sprung down from his chariot; so he fell in the + dust and clutched the earth in the hollow of his hand. These he let lie, and + went on to wound Charops son of Hippasus, brother to noble Sokos. Sokos, hero + that he was, made all speed to help him, and when he was close to Odysseus he + said, "Far-famed Odysseus, insatiable of craft and toil [ +ponos +], this day you shall either boast of having killed both the + sons of Hippasus and stripped them of their armor, or you shall fall before my + spear." +With these words he struck the shield of + Odysseus. The spear went through the shield and passed on through his richly + wrought cuirass, tearing the flesh from his side, but Pallas Athena did not + suffer it to pierce the entrails of the hero. Odysseus knew that his hour + [ +telos +] was not yet come, but he gave ground and + said to Sokos, "Wretch, you shall now surely die. You have stayed me from + fighting further with the Trojans, but you shall now fall by my spear, yielding + glory to myself, and your life-breath [ +psukhê +] to + Hades of the noble steeds." +Sokos had turned in flight, but as he did so, + the spear struck him in the back midway between the shoulders, and went right + through his chest. He fell heavily to the ground and Odysseus vaunted over him + saying, "O Sokos, son of Hippasus tamer of horses, the outcome [ +telos +] of death has been too quick for you and you + have not escaped him: poor wretch, not even in death shall your father and + mother close your eyes, but the ravening vultures shall enshroud you with the + flapping of their dark wings and devour you. Whereas even though I fall the + Achaeans will give me my due rites of burial." +So saying he drew Sokos' heavy spear out of his + flesh and from his shield, and the blood welled forth when the spear was + withdrawn so that he was much dismayed. When the Trojans saw that Odysseus was + bleeding they raised a great shout and came on in a body towards him; he + therefore gave ground, and called his comrades to come and help him. Thrice did + he cry as loudly as man can cry, and thrice did brave Menelaos hear him; he + turned, therefore, to Ajax who was close beside him and said, "Ajax, noble son + of Telamon, leader of your people, the cry of Odysseus rings in my ears, as + though the Trojans had cut him off and were worsting him while he is + single-handed. Let us make our way through the throng; it will be well that we + defend him; I fear he may come to harm for all his valor if he be left without + support, and the Danaans would miss him sorely." +He led the way and mighty Ajax went with him. + The Trojans had gathered round Odysseus like ravenous mountain jackals round + the carcass of some horned stag that has been hit with an arrow - the stag has + fled at full speed so long as his blood was warm and his strength has lasted, + but when the arrow has overcome him, the savage jackals devour him in the shady + glades of the forest. Then some +daimôn + sends a + fierce lion thither, whereon the jackals flee in terror and the lion robs them + of their prey - even so did Trojans many and brave gather round crafty + Odysseus, but the hero stood at bay and kept them off with his spear. Ajax then + came up with his shield before him like a wall, and stood hard by, whereon the + Trojans fled in all directions. Menelaos took Odysseus by the hand, and led him + out of the press while his squire [ +therapôn +] + brought up his chariot, but Ajax rushed furiously on the Trojans and killed + Doryklos, a bastard son of Priam; then he wounded Pandokos, Lysandros, Pyrasus, + and Pylartes; as some swollen torrent comes rushing in full flood from the + mountains on to the plain, big with the rain of heaven - many a dry oak and + many a pine does it engulf, and much mud does it bring down and cast into the + sea - even so did brave Ajax chase the foe furiously over the plain, slaying + both men and horses. +Hektor did not yet know what Ajax was doing, + for he was fighting on the extreme left of the battle by the banks of the river + Skamandros, where the carnage was thickest and the war-cry loudest round Nestor + and brave Idomeneus. Among these Hektor was making great slaughter with his + spear and furious driving, and was destroying the ranks that were opposed to + him; still the Achaeans would have given no ground, had not Alexander husband + of lovely Helen stayed the prowess of Machaon shepherd of his people, by + wounding him in the right shoulder with a triple-barbed arrow. The Achaeans + were in great fear that as the fight had turned against them the Trojans might + take him prisoner, +and Idomeneus said to Nestor, "Nestor son of + Neleus, honor to the Achaean name, mount your chariot at once; take Machaon + with you and drive your horses to the ships as fast as you can. A physician is + worth more than several other men put together, for he can cut out arrows and + spread healing herbs." +Nestor horseman of Gerene did as Idomeneus had + counseled; he at once mounted his chariot, and Machaon son of the famed + physician Asklepios went with him. He lashed his horses and they flew onward + nothing loath towards the ships, as though of their own free will. +Then Kebriones seeing the Trojans in confusion + said to Hektor from his place beside him, "Hektor, here are we two fighting on + the extreme wing of the battle, while the other Trojans are in pell-mell rout, + they and their horses. Ajax son of Telamon is driving them before him; I know + him by the breadth of his shield: let us turn our chariot and horses thither, + where horse and foot are fighting most desperately, and where the cry of battle + is loudest." +With this he lashed his goodly steeds, and when + they felt the whip they drew the chariot full speed among the Achaeans and + Trojans, over the bodies and shields of those that had fallen: the axle was + bespattered with blood, and the rail round the car was covered with splashes + both from the horses' hoofs and from the tires of the wheels. Hektor tore his + way through and flung himself into the thick of the fight, and his presence + threw the Danaans into confusion, for his spear was not long idle; nevertheless + though he went among the ranks with sword and spear, and throwing great stones, + he avoided Ajax son of Telamon, for Zeus would have been angry with him if he + had fought a better man than himself. +Then father Zeus from his high throne struck + fear into the heart of Ajax, so that he stood there dazed and threw his shield + behind him- looking fearfully at the throng of his foes as though he were some + wild beast, and turning hither and thither but crouching slowly backwards. +As peasants with their hounds chase a lion from + their stockyard, and watch by night to prevent his carrying off the pick of + their herd - he makes his greedy spring, but in vain, for the darts from many a + strong hand fall thick around him, with burning brands that scare him for all + his fury, and when morning comes he slinks foiled and angry away - even so did + Ajax, sorely against his will, retreat angrily before the Trojans, fearing for + the ships of the Achaeans. Or as some lazy ass that has had many a cudgel + broken about his back, when he into a field begins eating the grain - boys beat + him but he is too many for them, and though they lay about with their sticks + they cannot hurt him; still when he has had his fill they at last drive him + from the field - even so did the Trojans and their allies pursue great Ajax, + ever smiting the middle of his shield with their darts. Now and again he would + turn and show fight, keeping back the battalions of the Trojans, and then he + would again retreat; but he prevented any of them from making his way to the + ships. Single-handed he stood midway between the Trojans and Achaeans: the + spears that sped from their hands stuck some of them in his mighty shield, + while many, though thirsting for his blood, fell to the ground ere they could + reach him to the wounding of his fair flesh. +Now when Eurypylos the brave son of Euaemon saw + that Ajax was being overpowered by the rain of arrows, he went up to him and + hurled his spear. He struck Apisaon son of Phausios in the liver below the + midriff, and laid him low. Eurypylos sprang upon him, and stripped the armor + from his shoulders; but when Alexander saw him, he aimed an arrow at him which + struck him in the right thigh; the arrow broke, but the point that was left in + the wound dragged on the thigh; he drew back, therefore, under cover of his + comrades to save his life, shouting as he did so to the Danaans, "My friends, + princes and counselors of the Argives, rally to the defense of Ajax who is + being overpowered, and I doubt whether he will come out of the fight alive. + Hither, then, to the rescue of great Ajax son of Telamon." +Even so did he cry when he was wounded; thereon + the others came near, and gathered round him, holding their shields upwards + from their shoulders so as to give him cover. Ajax then made towards them, and + turned round to stand at bay as soon as he had reached his men. +Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming + fire. Meanwhile the mares of Neleus, all in a lather with sweat, were bearing + Nestor out of the fight, and with him Machaon shepherd of his people. Achilles + saw and took note, for he was standing on the stern of his ship watching the + hard stress [ +ponos +] and struggle of the fight. He + called from the ship to his comrade Patroklos, who heard him in the tent and + came out looking like Ares himself - here indeed was the beginning of the ill + that presently befell him. "Why," said he, "Achilles do you call me? what do + you what do you want with me?" And Achilles answered, "Noble son of Menoitios, + man after my own heart, I take it that I shall now have the Achaeans praying at + my knees, for they are in great straits; go, Patroklos, and ask Nestor who is + that he is bearing away wounded from the field; from his back I should say it + was Machaon son of Asklepios, but I could not see his face for the horses went + by me at full speed." +Patroklos did as his dear comrade had bidden + him, and set off running by the ships and tents of the Achaeans. +When Nestor and Machaon had reached the tents + of the son of Neleus, they dismounted, and an esquire [ +therapôn +], Eurymedon, took the horses from the chariot. The pair + then stood in the breeze by the seaside to dry the sweat from their shirts, and + when they had so done they came inside and took their seats. Fair Hekamede, + whom Nestor had had awarded to him from +Tenedos + when Achilles took it, mixed them a mess; she was + daughter of wise Arsinoos, and the Achaeans had given her to Nestor because he + excelled all of them in counsel. First she set for them a fair and well-made + table that had feet of lapis lazuli; +on it there was a vessel of bronze and an onion + to give relish to the drink, with honey and cakes of barley-meal. There was + also a cup of rare workmanship which the old man had brought with him from + home, studded with bosses of gold; it had four handles, on each of which there + were two golden doves feeding, and it had two feet to stand on. Any one else + would hardly have been able to lift it from the table when it was full, but + Nestor could do so quite easily. In this the woman, as fair as a goddess, mixed + them a mess with Pramnian wine; she grated goat's milk cheese into it with a + bronze grater, threw in a handful of white barley-meal, and having thus + prepared the mess she bade them drink it. When they had done so and had thus + quenched their thirst, they fell talking with one another, and at this moment + Patroklos appeared at the door. +When the old man saw him he sprang from his + seat, seized his hand, led him into the tent, and bade him take his place among + them; but Patroklos stood where he was and said, "Noble sir, I may not stay, + you cannot persuade me to come in; he that sent me is not one to be trifled + with, and he bade me ask who the wounded man was whom you were bearing away + from the field. I can now see for myself that he is Machaon shepherd of his + people. I must go back and tell Achilles. You, sir, know what a terrible man he + is, and how ready to blame even where no blame should lie." +And Nestor answered, "Why should Achilles care + to know how many of the Achaeans may be wounded? He recks not of the grief + [ +penthos +] that reigns in our host; our most + valiant chieftains lie disabled, brave Diomedes son of Tydeus is wounded; so + are Odysseus and Agamemnon; Eurypylos has been hit with an arrow in the thigh, + and I have just been bringing this man from the field - he too wounded - with + an arrow; nevertheless Achilles, so valiant though he be, cares not and knows + no ruth. Will he wait till the ships, do what we may, are in a blaze, and we + perish one upon the other? +As for me, I have no strength nor stay in me + any longer; would that I were still young and strong as in the days when there + was a fight between us and the men of +Elis + about some cattle-raiding. I then killed Itymoneus the + valiant son of Hypeirochos a dweller in +Elis +, as I was driving in the spoil; he was hit by a dart + thrown my hand while fighting in the front rank in defense of his cows, so he + fell and the country people around him were in great fear. We drove off a vast + quantity of booty from the plain, fifty herds of cattle and as many flocks of + sheep; fifty droves also of pigs, and as many wide-spreading flocks of goats. + Of horses moreover we seized a hundred and fifty, all of them mares, and many + had foals running with them. All these did we drive by night to +Pylos + the city of Neleus, taking them within + the city; and the heart of Neleus was glad in that I had taken so much, though + it was the first time I had ever been in the field. At daybreak the heralds + went round crying that all in +Elis + to + whom there was a debt owing should come; and the leading Pylians assembled to + divide the spoils. There were many to whom the Epeans owed chattels, for we men + of +Pylos + were few and had been + oppressed with wrong; in former years Herakles had come, and had laid his hand + heavy upon us, so that all our best men had perished. Neleus had had twelve + sons, but I alone was left; the others had all been killed. The Epeans + presuming upon all this had looked down upon us and had done us much evil. My + father chose [ +krinô +] a herd of cattle and a great + flock of sheep - three hundred in all - and he took their shepherds with him, + for there was a great debt due to him in +Elis +, to wit four horses, winners of prizes. They and their + chariots with them had gone to the games and were to run for a tripod, but King + Augeas took them, and sent back their driver grieving for the loss of his + horses. Neleus was angered by what he had both said and done, and took great + value in return, but he gave the rest to the people of the district [ +dêmos +] to divide among themselves, so that no man + might have less than his full share. +"Thus did we order all things, and offer + sacrifices to the gods throughout the city; but three days afterwards the + Epeans came in a body, many in number, they and their chariots, in full array, + and with them the two Moliones in their armor, though they were still lads and + unused to fighting. Now there is a certain town, Thryoessa, perched upon a rock + on the river Alpheus, the border city +Pylos +; this they would destroy, and pitched their camp about + it, but when they had crossed their whole plain, Athena darted down by night + from +Olympus + and bade us set ourselves + in array; and she found willing warriors in +Pylos +, for the men meant fighting. Neleus would not let me arm, + and hid my horses, for he said that as yet I could know nothing about war; + nevertheless Athena so ordered the fight that, all on foot as I was, I fought + among our mounted forces and vied with the foremost of them. There is a river + Minyeios that falls into the sea near +Arene +, and there they that were mounted (and I with them) + waited till morning, when the companies of foot soldiers came up with us in + force. Thence in full panoply and equipment we came towards noon to the sacred + waters of the Alpheus, and there we offered victims to almighty Zeus, with a + bull to Alpheus, another to Poseidon, and a herd-heifer to Athena. After this + we took supper in our companies, and laid us down to rest each in his armor by + the river. +"The Epeans were beleaguering the city and were + determined to take it, but ere this might be there was a desperate fight in + store for them. When the sun's rays began to fall upon the earth we joined + battle, praying to Zeus and to Athena, and when the fight had begun, I was the + first to kill my man and take his horses - to wit the warrior Moulios. He was + son-in-law to Augeas, having married his eldest daughter, golden-haired + Agamede, who knew the virtues of every herb which grows upon the face of the + earth. I speared him as he was coming towards me, +and when he fell headlong in the dust, I sprang + upon his chariot and took my place in the front ranks. The Epeans fled in all + directions when they saw the leader of their horsemen (the best man they had) + laid low, and I swept down on them like a whirlwind, taking fifty chariots - + and in each of them two men bit the dust, slain by my spear. I should have even + killed the two Moliones sons of Aktor, unless their real father, Poseidon lord + of the earthquake, had hidden them in a thick mist and borne them out of the + fight. Thereon Zeus granted the Pylians a great victory, for we chased them far + over the plain, killing the men and bringing in their armor, till we had + brought our horses to Bouprasion rich in wheat and to the Olenian rock, with + the hill that is called Alision, at which point Athena turned the people back. + There I slew the last man and left him; then the Achaeans drove their horses + back from Bouprasion to +Pylos + and + gave thanks to Zeus among the gods, and among mortal men to Nestor. +"Such was I among my peers, as surely as ever + was, but Achilles is for keeping all his valor [ +aretê +] for himself; bitterly will he rue it hereafter when the host + is being cut to pieces. My good friend, did not Menoitios charge you thus, on + the day when he sent you from +Phthia + to Agamemnon? Odysseus and I were in the house, inside, + and heard all that he said to you; for we came to the fair house of Peleus + while beating up recruits throughout all +Achaea +, and when we got there we found Menoitios and yourself, + and Achilles with you. The old horseman Peleus was in the outer court, roasting + the fat thigh-bones of a heifer to Zeus the lord of thunder; and he held a gold + chalice in his hand from which he poured drink-offerings of wine over the + burning sacrifice. You two were busy cutting up the heifer, and at that moment + we stood at the gates, whereon Achilles sprang to his feet, led us by the hand + into the house, placed us at table, and set before us such hospitable + entertainment as is right [ +themis +] for guests to + expect. +When we had satisfied ourselves with meat and + drink, I said my say and urged both of you to join us. You were ready enough to + do so, and the two old men charged you much and straitly. Old Peleus bade his + son Achilles fight ever among the foremost and outvie his peers, while + Menoitios the son of Aktor spoke thus to you: ‘My son,’ said he, ‘Achilles is + of nobler birth than you are, but you are older than he, though he is far the + better man of the two. Counsel him wisely, guide him in the right way, and he + will follow you to his own profit.’ Thus did your father charge you, but you + have forgotten; nevertheless, even now, say all this to Achilles if he will + listen to you. Who knows but with the help of a +daimôn + you may talk him over, for it is good to take a friend's + advice. If, however, he is fearful about some oracle, or if his mother has told + him something from Zeus, then let him send you, and let the rest of the + Myrmidons follow with you, if perchance you may bring light and saving to the + Danaans. And let him send you into battle clad in his own armor, that the + Trojans may mistake you for him and leave off fighting; the sons of the + Achaeans may thus have time to get their breath, for they are hard pressed and + there is little breathing time in battle. You, who are fresh, might easily + drive a tired enemy back to his walls and away from the tents and ships." +With these words he moved the heart of + Patroklos, who set off running by the line of the ships to Achilles, descendant + of Aiakos. When he had got as far as the ships of Odysseus, where was their + place of assembly and rendering of judgment [ +themis +], with their altars dedicated to the gods, Eurypylos son of + Euaemon met him, wounded in the thigh with an arrow, and limping out of the + fight. Sweat rained from his head and shoulders, and black blood welled from + his cruel wound, but his mind [ +noos +] did not + wander. The son of Menoitios when he saw him had compassion upon him and spoke + piteously saying, +"O unhappy princes and counselors of the + Danaans, are you then doomed to feed the hounds of +Troy + with your fat, far from your friends and + your native land? say, noble Eurypylos, will the Achaeans be able to hold great + Hektor in check, or will they fall now before his spear?" +Wounded Eurypylos made answer, "Noble + Patroklos, there is no hope left for the Achaeans but they will perish at their + ships. All they that were princes among us are lying struck down and wounded at + the hands of the Trojans, who are waxing stronger and stronger. But save me and + take me to your ship; cut out the arrow from my thigh; wash the black blood + from off it with warm water, and lay upon it those gracious herbs which, so + they say, have been shown you by Achilles, who was himself shown them by + Chiron, most righteous of all the centaurs. For of the physicians Podaleirios + and Machaon, I hear that the one is lying wounded in his tent and is himself in + need of healing, while the other is fighting the Trojans upon the plain." +"Hero Eurypylos," replied the brave son of + Menoitios, "how may these things be? What can I do? I am on my way to bear a + message to noble Achilles from Nestor of Gerene, bulwark of the Achaeans, but + even so I will not be unmindful your distress." +With this he clasped him round the middle and + led him into the tent, and a squire [ +therapôn +], + when he saw him, spread bullock-skins on the ground for him to lie on. He laid + him at full length and cut out the sharp arrow from his thigh; he washed the + black blood from the wound with warm water; he then crushed a bitter herb, + rubbing it between his hands, and spread it upon the wound; this was a virtuous + herb which killed all pain; so the wound presently dried and the blood left off + flowing. +So the son of Menoitios was attending to the hurt + of Eurypylos within the tent, but the Argives and Trojans still fought + desperately, nor were the trench and the high wall above it, to keep the + Trojans in check longer. They had built it to protect their ships, and had dug + the trench all round it that it might safeguard both the ships and the rich + spoils which they had taken, but they had not offered hecatombs to the gods. It + had been built without the consent of the immortals, and therefore it did not + last. So long as Hektor lived and Achilles continued his anger [ +mênis +], and so long as the city of Priam remained + untaken, the great wall of the Achaeans stood firm; but when the bravest of the + Trojans were no more, and many also of the Argives, though some were yet left + alive when, moreover, the city was sacked in the tenth year, and the Argives + had gone back with their ships to their own country - then Poseidon and Apollo + took counsel to destroy the wall, and they turned on to it the streams of all + the rivers from +Mount Ida + into the + sea, Rhesus, Heptaporos, Caresus, Rhodios, Grenicus, Aesopos, and goodly + Skamandros, with Simoeis, where many a shield and helm had fallen, and many a + hero of the race of demigods had bitten the dust. Phoebus Apollo turned the + mouths of all these rivers together and made them flow for nine days against + the wall, while Zeus rained the whole time that he might wash it sooner into + the sea. Poseidon himself, trident in hand, surveyed the work and threw into + the sea all the foundations of beams and stones which the Achaeans had laid + with so much toil; +he made all level by the mighty stream of the + +Hellespont +, and then when he had + swept the wall away he spread a great beach of sand over the place where it had + been. This done he turned the rivers back into their old courses. +This was what Poseidon and Apollo were to do in + after time; but as yet battle and turmoil were still raging round the wall till + its timbers rang under the blows that rained upon them. The Argives, cowed by + the scourge of Zeus, were hemmed in at their ships in fear of Hektor the mighty + minister of Rout, who as heretofore fought with the force and fury of a + whirlwind. As a lion or wild boar turns fiercely on the dogs and men that + attack him, while these form solid wall and shower their javelins as they face + him - his courage is all undaunted, but his high spirit will be the death of + him; many a time does he charge at his pursuers to scatter them, and they fall + back as often as he does so - even so did Hektor go about among the host + exhorting his men, and cheering them on to cross the trench. +But the horses dared not do so, and stood + neighing upon its brink, for the width frightened them. They could neither jump + it nor cross it, for it had overhanging banks all round upon either side, above + which there were the sharp stakes that the sons of the Achaeans had planted so + close and strong as a defense against all who would assail it; a horse, + therefore, could not get into it and draw his chariot after him, but those who + were on foot kept trying their very utmost. Then Polydamas went up to Hektor + and said, "Hektor, and you other leaders of the Trojans and allies, it is + madness for us to try and drive our horses across the trench; it will be very + hard to cross, for it is full of sharp stakes, and beyond these there is the + wall. Our horses therefore cannot get down into it, and would be of no use if + they did; moreover it is a narrow place and we should come to harm. If, indeed, + great Zeus is minded to help the Trojans, and in his anger will utterly destroy + the Achaeans, +I would myself gladly see them perish now and + here far from +Argos +; but if they + should rally and we are driven back from the ships pell-mell into the trench + there will be not so much as a man get back to the city to tell the tale. Now, + therefore, let us all do as I say; let our squires [ +therapontes +] hold our horses by the trench, but let us follow Hektor + in a body on foot, clad in full armor, and if the day of their doom is at hand + the Achaeans will not be able to withstand us." +Thus spoke Polydamas and his saying pleased + Hektor, who sprang in full armor to the ground, and all the other Trojans, when + they saw him do so, also left their chariots. Each man then gave his horses + over to his charioteer in charge to hold them ready, in proper order [ +kosmos +], for him at the trench. Then they formed + themselves into companies, made themselves ready, and in five bodies followed + their leaders. Those that went with Hektor and Polydamas were the bravest and + most in number, and the most determined to break through the wall and fight at + the ships. Kebriones was also joined with them as third in command, for Hektor + had left his chariot in charge of a less valiant warrior. The next company was + led by +Paris +, Alkathoos, and Agenor; + the third by Helenos and Deiphobos, two sons of Priam, and with them was the + hero Asios - Asios the son of Hyrtakos, whose great black horses of the breed + that comes from the river Selleis had brought him from Arisbe. Aeneas the + valiant son of Anchises led the fourth; he and the two sons of Antenor, + Arkhelokhos and Akamas, men well versed in all the arts of war. Sarpedon was + leader over the allies, and took with him Glaukos and Asteropaios whom he + deemed most valiant after himself - for he was far the best man of them all. + These helped to array one another in their ox-hide shields, and then charged + straight at the Danaans, for they felt sure that they would not hold out longer + and that they should themselves now fall upon the ships. +The rest of the Trojans and their allies now + followed the counsel of Polydamas but Asios son of Hyrtakos would not leave his + horses and his esquire [ +therapôn +] behind him; in + his foolhardiness he took them on with him towards the ships, nor did he fail + to come by his end in consequence. Nevermore was he to return to wind-beaten + +Ilion +, exulting in his chariot and + his horses; ere he could do so, death of ill-omened name had overshadowed him + and he had fallen by the spear of Idomeneus the noble son of Deukalion. He had + driven towards the left wing of the ships, by which way the Achaeans used to + return with their chariots and horses from the plain. Hither he drove and found + the gates with their doors opened wide, and the great bar down - for the + gatemen kept them open so as to let those of their comrades enter who might be + fleeing towards the ships. Hither of set purpose did he direct his horses, and + his men followed him with a loud cry, for they felt sure that the Achaeans + would not hold out longer, and that they should now fall upon the ships. Little + did they know that at the gates they should find two of the bravest chieftains, + proud sons of the fighting Lapiths - the one, Polypoites, mighty son of + Peirithoos, and the other Leonteus, peer of murderous Ares. These stood before + the gates like two high oak trees upon the mountains, that tower from their + wide-spreading roots, and year after year battle with wind and rain - even so + did these two men await the onset of great Asios confidently and without + flinching. The Trojans led by him and by Iamenos, Orestes, Adamas the son of + Asios, Thoon and Oinomaos, raised a loud cry of battle and made straight for + the wall, holding their shields of dry ox-hide above their heads; for a while + the two defenders remained inside and cheered the Achaeans on to stand firm in + the defense of their ships; when, however, they saw that the Trojans were + attacking the wall, while the Danaans were crying out for help and being + routed, they rushed outside and fought in front of the gates like two wild + boars upon the mountains that abide the attack of men and dogs, and charging on + either side break down the wood all round them tearing it up by the roots, +and one can hear the clattering of their tusks, + till some one hits them and makes an end of them - even so did the gleaming + bronze rattle about their breasts, as the weapons fell upon them; for they + fought with great fury, trusting to their own prowess and to those who were on + the wall above them. These threw great stones at their assailants in defense of + themselves their tents and their ships. The stones fell thick as the flakes of + snow which some fierce blast drives from the dark clouds and showers down in + sheets upon the earth - even so fell the weapons from the hands alike of + Trojans and Achaeans. Helmet and shield rang out as the great stones rained + upon them, and Asios the son of Hyrtakos in his dismay cried aloud and smote + his two thighs. "Father Zeus," he cried, "of a truth you too are altogether + given to lying. I made sure the +Argive + + heroes could not withstand us, whereas like slim-waisted wasps, or bees that + have their nests in the rocks by the wayside - they leave not the holes wherein + they have built undefended, but fight for their little ones against all who + would take them - even so these men, though they be but two, will not be driven + from the gates, but stand firm either to slay or be slain." +He spoke, but moved not the mind of Zeus, whose + counsel it then was to give glory to Hektor. Meanwhile the rest of the Trojans + were fighting about the other gates; I, however, am no god to be able to tell + about all these things, for the battle raged everywhere about the stone wall as + it were a fiery furnace. The Argives, discomfited though they were, were forced + to defend their ships, and all the gods who were defending the Achaeans were + vexed in spirit; but the Lapiths kept on fighting with might and main. +Thereon Polypoites, mighty son of Peirithoos, + hit Damasos with a spear upon his cheek-pierced helmet. The helmet did not + protect him, for the point of the spear went through it, and broke the bone, so + that the brain inside was scattered about, and he died fighting. He then slew + Pylon and Ormenus. Leonteus, of the race of Ares, killed Hippomakhos the son of + Antimakhos by striking him with his spear upon the belt. He then drew his sword + and sprang first upon Antiphates whom he killed in combat, and who fell face + upwards on the earth. After him he killed Menon, Iamenos, and Orestes, and laid + them low one after the other. +While they were busy stripping the armor from + these heroes, the youths who were led on by Polydamas and Hektor (and these + were the greater part and the most valiant of those that were trying to break + through the wall and fire the ships) were still standing by the trench, + uncertain what they should do; for they had seen a sign from heaven when they + had essayed to cross it - a soaring eagle that flew skirting the left wing of + their host, with a monstrous blood-red snake in its talons still alive and + struggling to escape. The snake was still bent on revenge, wriggling and + twisting itself backwards till it struck the bird that held it, on the neck and + breast; whereon the bird being in pain, let it fall, dropping it into the + middle of the host, and then flew down the wind with a sharp cry. The Trojans + were struck with terror when they saw the snake, portent of aegis-bearing Zeus, + writhing in the midst of them, and Polydamas went up to Hektor and said, + "Hektor, at our councils of war you are ever given to rebuke me, even when I + speak wisely, as though it were not well, indeed, that one of the people of the + local district [ +dêmos +] should cross your will + either in the field or at the council board; you would have them support you + always: nevertheless I will say what I think will be best; let us not now go on + to fight the Danaans at their ships, for I know what will happen if this + soaring eagle which skirted the left wing of our with a monstrous blood-red + snake in its talons (the snake being still alive) was really sent as an omen to + the Trojans on their essaying to cross the trench. The eagle let go her hold; + she did not succeed in taking it home to her little ones, and so will it be - + with ourselves; +even though by a mighty effort we break through + the gates and wall of the Achaeans, and they give way before us, still we shall + not return in good order [ +kosmos +] by the way we + came, but shall leave many a man behind us whom the Achaeans will do to death + in defense of their ships. Thus would any seer who was expert in these matters, + and was trusted by the people, read the portent." +Hektor looked fiercely at him and said, + "Polydamas, I like not of your reading. You can find a better saying than this + if you will. If, however, you have spoken in good earnest, then indeed has + heaven robbed you of your reason. You would have me pay no heed to the counsels + of Zeus, nor to the promises he made me - and he bowed his head in + confirmation; you bid me be ruled rather by the flight of wild-fowl. What care + I whether they flee towards dawn or dark, and whether they be on my right hand + or on my left? Let us put our trust rather in the counsel of great Zeus, king + of mortals and immortals. There is one omen, and one only - that a man should + fight for his country. Why are you so fearful? Though we be all of us slain at + the ships of the Argives you are not likely to be killed yourself, for you are + not steadfast nor courageous. If you will. not fight, or would talk others over + from doing so, you shall fall forthwith before my spear." +With these words he led the way, and the others + followed after with a cry that rent the air. Then Zeus the lord of thunder sent + the blast of a mighty wind from the mountains of Ida, that bore the dust down + towards the ships; he thus lulled the thinking [ +noos +] of the Achaeans into security, and gave victory to Hektor and + to the Trojans, who, trusting to their own might and to the signs he had shown + them, essayed to break through the great wall of the Achaeans. They tore down + the breastworks from the walls, and overthrew the battlements; they upheaved + the buttresses, which the Achaeans had set in front of the wall in order to + support it; when they had pulled these down they made sure of breaking through + the wall, but the Danaans still showed no sign of giving ground; they still + fenced the battlements with their shields of ox-hide, and hurled their missiles + down upon the foe as soon as any came below the wall. +The two Ajaxes went about everywhere on the + walls cheering on the Achaeans, giving fair words to some while they spoke + sharply to any one whom they saw to be remiss. "My friends," they cried, + "Argives one and all - good bad and indifferent, for there was never fight yet, + in which all were of equal prowess - there is now work enough, as you very well + know, for all of you. See that you none of you turn in flight towards the + ships, daunted by the shouting of the foe, but press forward and keep one + another in heart, if it may so be that Olympian Zeus the lord of lightning will + grant us to repel our foes, and drive them back towards the city." +Thus did the two go about shouting and cheering + the Achaeans on. As the flakes that fall thick upon a winter's day, when Zeus + is minded to snow and to display these his arrows to humankind - he lulls the + wind to rest, and snows hour after hour till he has buried the tops of the high + mountains, the headlands that jut into the sea, the grassy plains, and the + tilled fields of men; the snow lies deep upon the forelands, and havens of the + gray sea, but the waves as they come rolling in stay it that it can come no + further, though all else is wrapped as with a mantle so heavy are the heavens + with snow - even thus thickly did the stones fall on one side and on the other, + some thrown at the Trojans, and some by the Trojans at the Achaeans; and the + whole wall was in an uproar. +Still the Trojans and brave Hektor would not + yet have broken down the gates and the great bar, had not Zeus turned his son + Sarpedon against the Argives as a lion against a herd of horned cattle. Before + him he held his shield of hammered bronze, that the smith had beaten so fair + and round, and had lined with ox hides which he had made fast with rivets of + gold all round the shield; +this he held in front of him, and brandishing + his two spears came on like some lion of the wilderness, who has been long + famished for want of meat and will dare break even into a well-fenced homestead + to try and get at the sheep. He may find the shepherds keeping watch over their + flocks with dogs and spears, but he is in no mind to be driven from the fold + till he has had a try for it; he will either spring on a sheep and carry it + off, or be hit by a spear from strong hand - even so was Sarpedon fain to + attack the wall and break down its battlements. Then he said to Glaukos son of + Hippolokhos, "Glaukos, why in +Lycia + do + we receive especial honor as regards our place at table? Why are the choicest + portions served us and our cups kept brimming, and why do men look up to us as + though we were gods? Moreover we hold a large estate by the banks of the river + +Xanthos +, fair with orchard + lawns and wheat-growing land; it becomes us, therefore, to take our stand at + the head of all the Lycians and bear the brunt of the fight, that one may say + to another, Our princes in +Lycia + eat + the fat of the land and drink best of wine, but they are fine men; they fight + well and are ever at the front in battle.’ My good friend, if, when we were + once out of this fight, we could escape old age and death thenceforward and for + ever, I should neither press forward myself nor bid you do so, but death in ten + thousand shapes hangs ever over our heads, and no man can elude him; therefore + let us go forward and either win glory for ourselves, or yield it to another." +Glaukos heeded his saying, and the pair + forthwith led on the host of Lycians. Menestheus son of Peteos was dismayed + when he saw them, for it was against his part of the wall that they came - + bringing destruction with them; he looked along the wall for some chieftain to + support his comrades and saw the two Ajaxes, men ever eager for the fray, and + Teucer, who had just come from his tent, standing near them; but he could not + make his voice heard by shouting to them, so great an uproar was there from + crashing shields and helmets and the battering of gates with a din which + reached the skies. For all the gates had been closed, and the Trojans were + hammering at them to try and break their way through them. Menestheus, + therefore, sent Thoötes with a message to Ajax. "Run, good Thoötes," said and + call Ajax, or better still bid both come, for it will be all over with us here + directly; the leaders of the Lycians are upon us, men who have ever fought + desperately heretofore. But if the have too much trouble [ +ponos +] on their hands to let them come, at any rate let Ajax son of + Telamon do so, and let Teucer the famous bowman come with him." +The messenger did as he was told, and set off + running along the wall of the Achaeans. When he reached the Ajaxes he said to + them, "Sirs, princes of the Argives, the son of noble Peteos bids you come to + him for a while and help him. You had better both come if you can, or it will + be all over with him directly; the leaders of the Lycians are upon him, men who + have ever fought desperately heretofore; if you have too much on your hands to + let both come, at any rate let Ajax son of Telamon do so, and let Teucer the + famous bowman come with him." +Great Ajax, son of Telamon, heeded the message, + and at once spoke to the son of Oileus. "Ajax," said he, "do you two, yourself + and brave Lykomedes, stay here and keep the Danaans in heart to fight their + hardest. I will go over yonder, and bear my part in the fray, but I will come + back here at once as soon as I have given them the help they need." +With this, Ajax son of Telamon set off, and + Teucer his brother by the same father went also, with Pandion to carry Teucer's + bow. They went along inside the wall, and when they came to the tower where + Menestheus was (and hard pressed indeed did they find him) the brave leaders + and leaders of the Lycians were storming the battlements as it were a thick + dark cloud, fighting in close quarters, and raising the battle-cry aloud. +First, Ajax son of Telamon killed brave + Epikles, a comrade of Sarpedon, hitting him with a jagged stone that lay by the + battlements at the very top of the wall. As men now are, even one who is in the + bloom of youth could hardly lift it with his two hands, but Ajax raised it high + aloft and flung it down, smashing Epikles' four-crested helmet so that the + bones of his head were crushed to pieces, and he fell from the high wall as + though he were diving, with no more life left in him. Then Teucer wounded + Glaukos the brave son of Hippolokhos as he was coming on to attack the wall. He + saw his shoulder bare and aimed an arrow at it, which made Glaukos leave off + fighting. Thereon he sprang covertly down for fear some of the Achaeans might + see that he was wounded and taunt him. Sarpedon was stung with grief [ +akhos +] when he saw Glaukos leave him, still he did not + leave off fighting, but aimed his spear at Alkmaon the son of Thestor and hit + him. He drew his spear back again Alkmaon came down headlong after it with his + bronzed armor rattling round him. Then Sarpedon seized the battlement in his + strong hands, and tugged at it till it an gave way together, and a breach was + made through which many might pass. +Ajax and Teucer then both of them attacked him. + Teucer hit him with an arrow on the band that bore the shield which covered his + body, but Zeus saved his son from destruction that he might not fall by the + ships' sterns. Meanwhile Ajax sprang on him and pierced his shield, but the + spear did not go clean through, though it hustled him back that he could come + on no further. He therefore retired a little space from the battlement, yet + without losing all his ground, for he still thought to cover himself with + glory. Then he turned round and shouted to the brave Lycians saying, "Lycians, + why do you thus fail me? For all my prowess I cannot break through the wall and + open a way to the ships single-handed. Come close on behind me, for the more + there are of us the better." +The Lycians, shamed by his rebuke, pressed + closer round him who was their counselor their king. The Argives on their part + got their men in fighting order within the wall, and there was a deadly + struggle between them. The Lycians could not break through the wall and force + their way to the ships, nor could the Danaans drive the Lycians from the wall + now that they had once reached it. As two men, measuring-rods in hand, quarrel + about their boundaries in a field that they own in common, and stickle for + their rights though they be but in a mere strip, even so did the battlements + now serve as a bone of contention, and they beat one another's round shields + for their possession. Many a man's body was wounded with the pitiless bronze, + as he turned round and bared his back to the foe, and many were struck clean + through their shields; the wall and battlements were everywhere deluged with + the blood alike of Trojans and of Achaeans. But even so the Trojans could not + rout the Achaeans, who still held on; and as some honest hard-working woman + weighs wool in her balance and sees that the scales be true [ +alêthês +], for she would gain some pitiful earnings for + her little ones, even so was the fight balanced evenly between them till the + time came when Zeus gave the greater glory to Hektor son of Priam, who was + first to spring towards the wall of the Achaeans. As he did so, he cried aloud + to the Trojans, "Up, Trojans, break the wall of the Argives, and fling fire + upon their ships." +Thus did he hound them on, and in one body they + rushed straight at the wall as he had bidden them, and scaled the battlements + with sharp spears in their hands. Hektor laid hold of a stone that lay just + outside the gates and was thick at one end but pointed at the other; two of the + best men in a district [ +dêmos +], as men now are, + could hardly raise it from the ground and put it on to a wagon, but Hektor + lifted it quite easily by himself, for the son of scheming Kronos made it light + for him. As a shepherd picks up a ram's fleece with one hand and finds it no + burden, so easily did Hektor lift the great stone and drive it right at the + doors that closed the gates so strong and so firmly set. +These doors were double and high, and were kept + closed by two cross-bars to which there was but one key. When he had got close + up to them, Hektor strode towards them that his blow might gain in force and + struck them in the middle, leaning his whole weight against them. He broke both + hinges, and the stone fell inside by reason of its great weight. The portals + re-echoed with the sound, the bars held no longer, and the doors flew open, one + one way, and the other the other, through the force of the blow. Then brave + Hektor leaped inside with a face as dark as that of fleeing night. The gleaming + bronze flashed fiercely about his body and he had tow spears in his hand. None + but a god could have withstood him as he flung himself into the gateway, and + his eyes glared like fire. Then he turned round towards the Trojans and called + on them to scale the wall, and they did as he bade them - some of them at once + climbing over the wall, while others passed through the gates. The Danaans then + fled panic-stricken towards their ships, and all was uproar and confusion. + +Now when Zeus had thus brought Hektor and the + Trojans to the ships, he left them to their never-ending toil [ +ponos +], and turned his keen eyes away, looking + elsewhere towards the horse-breeders of +Thrace +, the Mysians, fighters at close quarters, the noble + Hippemolgoi, who live on milk, and the Abians, the most just [ +dikaioi +] of humankind. He no longer turned so much as + a glance towards +Troy +, for he did not + think that any of the immortals would go and help either Trojans or Danaans. +But King Poseidon had kept no blind look-out; he + had been looking admiringly on the battle from his seat on the topmost crests + of wooded +Samothrace +, whence he could + see all Ida, with the city of Priam and the ships of the Achaeans. He had come + from under the sea and taken his place here, for he pitied the Achaeans who + were being overcome by the Trojans; and he was furiously angry with Zeus. +Presently he came down from his post on the + mountain top, and as he strode swiftly onwards the high hills and the forest + quaked beneath the tread of his immortal feet. Three strides he took, and with + the fourth he reached his goal - +Aigai +, where is his glittering golden palace, imperishable, in the + depths of the sea. When he got there, he yoked his fleet brazen-footed steeds + with their manes of gold all flying in the wind; +he clothed himself in raiment of gold, grasped + his gold whip, and took his stand upon his chariot. As he went his way over the + waves the sea-monsters left their lairs, for they knew their lord, and came + gamboling round him from every quarter of the deep, while the sea in her + gladness opened a path before his chariot. So lightly did the horses fly that + the bronze axle of the car was not even wet beneath it; and thus his bounding + steeds took him to the ships of the Achaeans. +Now there is a certain huge cavern in the depths + of the sea midway between +Tenedos + + and rocky Imbros; here Poseidon lord of the earthquake stayed his horses, + unyoked them, and set before them their ambrosial forage. He hobbled their feet + with hobbles of gold which none could either unloose or break, so that they + might stay there in that place until their lord should return. This done he + went his way to the host of the Achaeans. +Now the Trojans followed Hektor son of Priam in + close array like a storm-cloud or flame of fire, fighting with might and main + and raising the cry battle; for they deemed that they should take the ships of + the Achaeans and kill all their chiefest heroes then and there. Meanwhile + earth-encircling Poseidon lord of the earthquake cheered on the Argives, for he + had come up out of the sea and had assumed the form and voice of Kalkhas. +First he spoke to the two Ajaxes, who were doing + their best already, and said, "Ajaxes, you two can be the saving of the + Achaeans if you will put out all your strength and not let yourselves be + daunted. I am not afraid that the Trojans, who have got over the wall in force, + will be victorious in any other part, for the Achaeans can hold all of them in + check, but I much fear that some evil will befall us here where furious Hektor, + who boasts himself the son of great Zeus himself, is leading them on like a + pillar of flame. May some god, then, put it into your hearts to make a firm + stand here, and to incite others to do the like. In this case you will drive + him from the ships even though he be inspired by Zeus himself." +As he spoke the earth-encircling lord of the + earthquake struck both of them with his scepter and filled their hearts with + daring. He made their legs light and active, as also their hands and their + feet. Then, as the soaring falcon poises on the wing high above some sheer + rock, and presently swoops down to chase some bird over the plain, even so did + Poseidon lord of the earthquake wing his flight into the air and leave them. Of + the two, swift Ajax son of Oileus was the first to know who it was that had + been speaking with them, and said to Ajax son of Telamon, "Ajax, this is one of + the gods that dwell on Olympus, who in the likeness of the seer is bidding us + fight hard by our ships. It was not Kalkhas the seer and diviner of omens; I + knew him at once by his feet and knees as he turned away, for the gods are soon + recognized. Moreover I feel the lust of battle burn more fiercely within me, + while my hands and my feet under me are more eager for the fray." +And Ajax son of Telamon answered, "I too feel my + hands grasp my spear more firmly; my strength is greater, and my feet more + nimble; I long, moreover, to meet furious Hektor son of Priam, even in single + combat." +Thus did they converse, exulting in the hunger + after battle with which the god had filled them. Meanwhile the earth-encircler + roused the Achaeans, who were resting in the rear by the ships overcome at once + by hard fighting and by grief [ +akhos +] at seeing + that the Trojans had got over the wall in force. Tears began falling from their + eyes as they beheld them, for they made sure that they should not escape + destruction; but the lord of the earthquake passed lightly about among them and + urged their battalions to the front. +First he went up to Teucer and Leitos, the hero + Peneleos, and Thoas and Deipyros; Meriones also and Antilokhos, valiant + warriors; all did he exhort. "Shame [ +aidôs +] on you + young Argives," he cried, "it was on your prowess I relied for the saving of + our ships; +if you fight not with might and main, this very + day will see us overcome by the Trojans. Of a truth my eyes behold a great and + terrible portent which I had never thought to see - the Trojans at our ships - + they, who were heretofore like panic-stricken hinds, the prey of jackals and + wolves in a forest, with no strength but in flight for they cannot defend + themselves. Hitherto the Trojans dared not for one moment face the attack of + the Achaeans, but now they have sallied far from their city and are fighting at + our very ships through the cowardice of our leader and the disaffection of the + people themselves, who in their discontent care not to fight in defense of the + ships but are being slaughtered near them. True, King Agamemnon son of Atreus + is responsible [ +aitios +] for our disaster by having + insulted the son of Peleus, still this is no reason why we should leave off + fighting. Let us be quick to heal, for the hearts of the brave heal quickly. + You do ill to be thus remiss, you, who are the finest warriors in our whole + army. I blame no man for keeping out of battle if he is a weakling, but I am + indignant with such men as you are. My good friends, matters will soon become + even worse through this slackness; think, each one of you, of his own respect + [ +aidôs +] and sense of +nemesis +, for the hazard of the fight is extreme. Great Hektor is now + fighting at our ships; he has broken through the gates and the strong bolt that + held them." +Thus did the earth-encircler address the + Achaeans and urge them on. Thereon round the two Ajaxes there gathered strong + bands of men, of whom not even Ares nor Athena, marshaler of hosts could make + light if they went among them, for they were the picked [ +krinô +] men of all those who were now awaiting the onset of Hektor + and the Trojans. They made a living fence, spear to spear, shield to shield, + buckler to buckler, helmet to helmet, and man to man. The horse-hair crests on + their gleaming helmets touched one another as they nodded forward, so closely + locked in battle were they; the spears they brandished in their strong hands + were interlaced, and their hearts were set on battle. +The Trojans advanced in a dense body, with + Hektor at their head pressing right on as a rock that comes thundering down the + side of some mountain from whose brow the winter torrents have torn it; the + foundations of the dull thing have been loosened by floods of rain, and as it + bounds headlong on its way it sets the whole forest in an uproar; it swerves + neither to right nor left till it reaches level ground, but then for all its + fury it can go no further - even so easily did Hektor for a while seem as + though he would career through the tents and ships of the Achaeans till he had + reached the sea in his murderous course; but the closely serried battalions + stayed him when he reached them, for the sons of the Achaeans thrust at him + with swords and spears pointed at both ends, and drove him from them so that he + staggered and gave ground; thereon he shouted to the Trojans, "Trojans, + Lycians, and Dardanians, fighters in close combat, stand firm: the Achaeans + have set themselves as a wall against me, but they will not check me for long; + they will give ground before me if the mightiest of the gods, the thundering + spouse of Hera, has indeed inspired my onset." +With these words he put heart and soul into + them all. Deiphobos son of Priam went about among them intent on deeds of + daring with his round shield before him, under cover of which he strode quickly + forward. Meriones took aim at him with a spear, nor did he fail to hit the + broad orb of ox-hide; but he was far from piercing it for the spear broke in + two pieces long ere he could do so; moreover Deiphobos had seen it coming and + had held his shield well away from him. Meriones drew back under cover of his + comrades, angry alike at having failed to vanquish Deiphobos, and having broken + his spear. He turned therefore towards the ships and tents to fetch a spear + which he had left behind in his tent. +The others continued fighting, and the cry of + battle rose up into the heavens. Teucer son of Telamon was the first to kill + his man, to wit, the warrior Imbrios son of Mentor rich in horses. Until the + Achaeans came he had lived in Pedaeum, and had married Medesikaste a bastard + daughter of Priam; but on the arrival of the Danaan fleet he had gone back to + +Ilion +, and was a great man among + the Trojans, dwelling near Priam himself, who gave him like honor with his own + sons. The son of Telamon now struck him under the ear with a spear which he + then drew back again, and Imbrios fell headlong as an ash-tree when it is + felled on the crest of some high mountain beacon, and its delicate green + foliage comes toppling down to the ground. Thus did he fall with his + bronze-equipped armor ringing harshly round him, and Teucer sprang forward with + intent to strip him of his armor; but as he was doing so, Hektor took aim at + him with a spear. Teucer saw the spear coming and swerved aside, whereon it hit + Amphimakhos, son of Kteatos son of Aktor, in the chest as he was coming into + battle, and his armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. + Hektor sprang forward to take Amphimakhos' helmet from off his temples, and in + a moment Ajax threw a spear at him, but did not wound him, for he was encased + all over in his terrible armor; nevertheless the spear struck the boss of his + shield with such force as to drive him back from the two corpses, which the + Achaeans then drew off. Stichios and Menestheus, leaders of the Athenians, bore + away Amphimakhos to the host of the Achaeans, while the two brave and impetuous + Ajaxes did the like by Imbrios. As two lions snatch a goat from the hounds that + have it in their fangs, and bear it through thick brushwood high above the + ground in their jaws, thus did the Ajaxes bear aloft the body of Imbrios, and + strip it of its armor. Then the son of Oileus severed the head from the neck in + revenge for the death of Amphimakhos, and sent it whirling over the crowd as + though it had been a ball, till fell in the dust at Hektor's feet. +Poseidon was exceedingly angry that his + grandson Amphimakhos should have fallen; he therefore went to the tents and + ships of the Achaeans to urge the Danaans still further, and to devise evil for + the Trojans. Idomeneus met him, as he was taking leave of a comrade, who had + just come to him from the fight, wounded in the knee. His fellow-warriors bore + him off the field, and Idomeneus having given orders to the physicians went on + to his tent, for he was still thirsting for battle. Poseidon spoke in the + likeness and with the voice of Thoas son of Andraimon who ruled the Aetolians + of all +Pleuron + and high Calydon, + and was honored in his district [ +dêmos +] as though + he were a god. "Idomeneus," said he, "lawgiver to the Cretans, what has now + become of the threats with which the sons of the Achaeans used to threaten the + Trojans?" +And Idomeneus chief among the Cretans answered, + "Thoas, no one, so far as I know, is responsible [ +aitios +], for we can all fight. None are held back neither by fear + nor slackness, but it seems to be the of almighty Zeus that the Achaeans should + perish ingloriously here far from +Argos +: you, Thoas, have been always staunch, and you keep + others in heart if you see any fail in duty; be not then remiss now, but exhort + all to do their utmost." +To this Poseidon lord of the earthquake made + answer, "Idomeneus, may he never return from +Troy +, but remain here for dogs to batten upon, who is this day + willfully slack in fighting. Get your armor and go, we must make all haste + together if we may be of any use, though we are only two. Even cowards gain a + sense of striving [ +aretê +] from companionship, and + we two can hold our own with the bravest." +Therewith the god went back into the thick of + the fight [ +ponos +], and Idomeneus when he had + reached his tent donned his armor, grasped his two spears, and sallied forth. + As the lightning which the son of Kronos brandishes from bright +Olympus + when he would show a sign [ +sêma +] to mortals, and its gleam flashes far and wide + - +even so did his armor gleam about him as he + ran. Meriones his sturdy squire [ +therapôn +] met him + while he was still near his tent (for he was going to fetch his spear) and + Idomeneus said +"Meriones, fleet son of Molos, best of + comrades, why have you left the field? Are you wounded, and is the point of the + weapon hurting you? or have you been sent to fetch me? I want no fetching; I + had far rather fight than stay in my tent." +"Idomeneus," answered Meriones, "I come for a + spear, if I can find one in my tent; I have broken the one I had, in throwing + it at the shield of Deiphobos." +And Idomeneus leader of the Cretans answered, + "You will find one spear, or twenty if you so please, standing up against the + end wall of my tent. I have taken them from Trojans whom I have killed, for I + am not one to keep my enemy at arm's length; therefore I have spears, bossed + shields, helmets, and burnished corselets." +Then Meriones said, "I too in my tent and at my + ship have spoils taken from the Trojans, but they are not at hand. I have been + at all times valorous, and wherever there has been hard fighting have held my + own among the foremost. There may be those among the Achaeans who do not know + how I fight, but you know it well enough yourself." +Idomeneus answered, "I know you for a man of + excellence [ +aretê +]: you need not tell me. If the + best men at the ships were being chosen to go on an ambush- and there is + nothing like this for showing what a man is made of; it comes out then who is + cowardly and who has a sense of striving [ +aretê +]; + the coward will change color at every touch and turn; he is full of fears, and + keeps shifting his weight first on one knee and then on the other; his heart + beats fast as he thinks of death, and one can hear the chattering of his teeth; + whereas the brave man will not change color nor be on finding himself in + ambush, but is all the time longing to go into action - +if the best men were being chosen for such a + service, no one could make light of your courage nor feats of arms. If you were + struck by a dart or smitten in close combat, it would not be from behind, in + your neck nor back, but the weapon would hit you in the chest or belly as you + were pressing forward to a place in the front ranks. But let us no longer stay + here talking like children, lest we be ill spoken of; go, fetch your spear from + the tent at once." +On this Meriones, peer of Ares, went to the + tent and got himself a spear of bronze. He then followed after Idomeneus, big + with great deeds of valor. As when baneful Ares sallies forth to battle, and + his son Panic so strong and dauntless goes with him, to strike terror even into + the heart of a hero - the pair have gone from +Thrace + to arm themselves among the Ephyroi or the brave + Phlegyans, but they will not listen to both the contending hosts, and will give + victory to one side or to the other - even so did Meriones and Idomeneus, + leaders of men, go out to battle clad in their bronze armor. Meriones was first + to speak. "Son of Deukalion," said he, "where would you have us begin fighting? + On the right wing of the host, in the center, or on the left wing, where I take + it the Achaeans will be weakest?" +Idomeneus answered, "There are others to defend + the center - the two Ajaxes and Teucer, who is the finest archer of all the + Achaeans, and is good also in a hand-to-hand fight. These will give Hektor son + of Priam enough to do; fight as he may, he will find it hard to vanquish their + indomitable fury, and fire the ships, unless the son of Kronos fling a + firebrand upon them with his own hand. Great Ajax son of Telamon will yield to + no man who is in mortal mold and eats the grain of Demeter , if bronze and + great stones can overthrow him. He would not yield even to Achilles in + hand-to-hand fight, and in fleetness of foot there is none to beat him; let us + turn therefore towards the left wing, that we may know forthwith whether we are + to give glory to some other, or he to us." +Meriones, peer of fleet Ares, then led the way + till they came to the part of the host which Idomeneus had named. +Now when the Trojans saw Idomeneus coming on + like a flame of fire, him and his squire [ +therapôn +] + clad in their richly wrought armor, they shouted and made towards him all in a + body, and a furious hand-to-hand fight raged under the ships' sterns. Fierce as + the shrill winds that whistle upon a day when dust lies deep on the roads, and + the gusts raise it into a thick cloud - even such was the fury of the combat, + and might and main did they hack at each other with spear and sword throughout + the host. The field bristled with the long and deadly spears which they bore. + Dazzling was the sheen of their gleaming helmets, their fresh-burnished + breastplates, and glittering shields as they joined battle with one another. + Iron indeed must be his courage who could take pleasure in the sight of such a + turmoil [ +ponos +], and look on it without being + dismayed. +Thus did the two mighty sons of Kronos devise + evil for mortal heroes. Zeus was minded to give victory to the Trojans and to + Hektor, so as to do honor to fleet Achilles, nevertheless he did not mean to + utterly overthrow the Achaean host before +Ilion +, and only wanted to glorify Thetis and her valiant son. + Poseidon on the other hand went about among the Argives to incite them, having + come up from the gray sea in secret, for he was grieved at seeing them + vanquished by the Trojans, and was furiously angry with Zeus. Both were of the + same race and country, but Zeus was elder born and knew more, therefore + Poseidon feared to defend the Argives openly, but in the likeness of man, he + kept on encouraging them throughout their host. Thus, then, did these two + devise a knot of war and battle, that none could unloose or break, and set both + sides tugging at it, to the failing of men's knees beneath them. +And now Idomeneus, though his hair was already + flecked with gray, called loud on the Danaans and spread panic among the + Trojans as he leaped in among them. He slew Othryoneus from Cabesus, a + sojourner, who had but lately come to take part in the +kleos + of the war. He sought Cassandra the fairest of Priam's + daughters in marriage, but offered no gifts of wooing, for he promised a great + thing, to wit, that he would drive the sons of the Achaeans, like it or not, + from +Troy +; old King Priam had given + his consent and promised her to him, whereon he fought on the strength of the + promises thus made to him. Idomeneus aimed a spear, and hit him as he came + striding on. His cuirass of bronze did not protect him, and the spear stuck in + his belly, so that he fell heavily to the ground. Then Idomeneus vaunted over + him saying, "Othryoneus, there is no one in the world whom I shall admire more + than I do you, if you indeed perform what you have promised Priam son of + +Dardanos + in return for his + daughter. We too will make you an offer; we will give you the loveliest + daughter of the son of Atreus, and will bring her from +Argos + for you to marry, if you will sack the + goodly city of +Ilion + in company with + ourselves; so come along with me, that we may make a covenant at the ships + about the marriage, and we will not be hard upon you about gifts of wooing." +With this Idomeneus began dragging him by the + foot through the thick of the fight, but Asios came up to protect the body, on + foot, in front of his horses which his esquire [ +therapôn +] drove so close behind him that he could feel their ‘breath + upon his shoulder. He was longing to strike down Idomeneus, but ere he could do + so Idomeneus smote him with his spear in the throat under the chin, and the + bronze point went clean through it. He fell as an oak, or poplar, or pine which + shipwrights have felled for ship's timber upon the mountains with whetted axes- + even thus did he lie full length in front of his chariot and horses, grinding + his teeth and clutching at the bloodstained just. His charioteer was struck + with panic and did not dare turn his horses round and escape: thereupon + Antilokhos hit him in the middle of his body with a spear; his cuirass of + bronze did not protect him, and the spear stuck in his belly. He fell gasping + from his chariot and Antilokhos great Nestor's son, drove his horses from the + Trojans to the Achaeans. +Deiphobos then came close up to Idomeneus to + avenge Asios, and took aim at him with a spear, but Idomeneus was on the + look-out and avoided it, for he was covered by the round shield he always bore + - a shield of oxhide and bronze with two arm-rods on the inside. He crouched + under cover of this, and the spear flew over him, but the shield rang out as + the spear grazed it, and the weapon sped not in vain from the strong hand of + Deiphobos, for it struck Hypsenor son of Hippasus, shepherd of his people, in + the liver under the midriff, and his limbs failed beneath him. Deiphobos + vaunted over him and cried with a loud voice saying, "Of a truth Asios has not + fallen unavenged; he will be glad even while passing into the house of Hades, + strong warden of the gate, that I have sent some one to escort him." +Thus did he vaunt, and the Argives were stung + with grief [ +akhos +] over what he said. Noble + Antilokhos was more angry than any one, but grief did not make him forget his + friend and comrade. He ran up to him, bestrode him, and covered him with his + shield; then two of his staunch comrades, Mekisteus son of Echios, and Alastor + stooped down, and bore him away groaning heavily to the ships. But Idomeneus + ceased not his fury. He kept on striving continually either to enshroud some + Trojan in the darkness of death, or himself to fall while warding off the evil + day from the Achaeans. Then fell Alkathoos son of noble Aisyetes: he was + son-in-law to Anchises, having married his eldest daughter Hippodameia who was + the darling of her father and mother, and excelled all her generation in + beauty, accomplishments, and understanding, wherefore the bravest man in all + +Troy + had taken her to wife - him + did Poseidon lay low by the hand of Idomeneus, blinding his bright eyes and + binding his strong limbs in fetters so that he could neither go back nor to one + side, but stood stock still like pillar or lofty tree when Idomeneus struck him + with a spear in the middle of his chest. +The coat of mail that had hitherto protected + his body was now broken, and rang harshly as the spear tore through it. He fell + heavily to the ground, and the spear stuck in his heart, which still beat, and + made the butt-end of the spear quiver till dread Ares put an end to his life. + Idomeneus vaunted over him and cried with a loud voice saying, "Deiphobos, + since you are in a mood to vaunt, shall we cry quits now that we have killed + three men to your one? Nay, sir, stand in fight with me yourself, that you may + learn what manner of Zeus-begotten man am I that have come hither. Zeus first + begot Minos chief ruler in +Crete +, and + Minos in his turn begot a son, noble Deukalion; Deukalion begot me to be a + ruler over many men in +Crete +, and my + ships have now brought me hither, to be the bane of yourself, your father, and + the Trojans." +Thus did he speak, and Deiphobos was in two + minds, whether to go back and fetch some other Trojan to help him, or to take + up the challenge single-handed. In the end, he deemed it best to go and fetch + Aeneas, whom he found standing in the rear, for he had long been aggrieved with + Priam because in spite his brave deeds he did not give him his due share of + honor. Deiphobos went up to him and said, "Aeneas, prince among the Trojans, if + you know any ties of kinship, help me now to defend the body of your sister's + husband; come with me to the rescue of Alkathoos, who being husband to your + sister brought you up when you were a child in his house, and now Idomeneus has + slain him." +With these words he moved the heart of Aeneas, + and he went in pursuit of Idomeneus, big with great deeds of valor; but + Idomeneus was not to be thus daunted as though he were a mere child; he held + his ground as a wild boar at bay upon the mountains, who abides the coming of a + great crowd of men in some lonely place - the bristles stand upright on his + back, his eyes flash fire, and he whets his tusks in his eagerness to defend + himself against hounds and men - +even so did famed Idomeneus hold his ground and + budge not at the coming of Aeneas. He cried aloud to his comrades looking + towards Askalaphos, Aphareus, Deipyros, Meriones, and Antilokhos, all of them + brave warriors- "Hither my friends," he cried, "and leave me not single-handed + - I go in great fear by fleet Aeneas, who is coming against me, and is a + redoubtable dispenser of death battle. Moreover he is in the flower of youth + when a man's strength is greatest; if I was of the same age as he is and in my + present mind, either he or I should soon bear away the prize of victory +On this, all of them as one man stood near him, + shield on shoulder. Aeneas on the other side called to his comrades, looking + towards Deiphobos, +Paris +, and Agenor, + who were leaders of the Trojans along with himself, and the people followed + them as sheep follow the ram when they go down to drink after they have been + feeding, and the heart of the shepherd is glad - even so was the heart of + Aeneas gladdened when he saw his people follow him. +Then they fought furiously in close combat + about the body of Alkathoos, wielding their long spears; and the bronze armor + about their bodies rang fearfully as they took aim at one another in the press + of the fight, while the two heroes Aeneas and Idomeneus, peers of Ares, outdid + every one in their desire to hack at each other with sword and spear. Aeneas + took aim first, but Idomeneus was on the lookout and avoided the spear, so that + it sped from Aeneas' strong hand in vain, and fell quivering in the ground. + Idomeneus meanwhile smote Oinomaos in the middle of his belly, and broke the + plate of his corselet, whereon his bowels came gushing out and he clutched the + earth in the palms of his hands as he fell sprawling in the dust. Idomeneus + drew his spear out of the body, but could not strip him of the rest of his + armor for the rain of darts that were showered upon him: moreover his strength + was now beginning to fail him so that he could no longer charge, +and could neither spring forward to recover his + own weapon nor swerve aside to avoid one that was aimed at him; therefore, + though he still defended himself in hand-to-hand fight, his heavy feet could + not bear him swiftly out of the battle. Deiphobos aimed a spear at him as he + was retreating slowly from the field, for his bitterness against him was as + fierce as ever, but again he missed him, and hit Askalaphos, the son of Ares; + the spear went through his shoulder, and he clutched the earth in the palms of + his hands as he fell sprawling in the dust. +Grim Ares of awful voice did not yet know that + his son had fallen, for he was sitting on the summits of +Olympus + under the golden clouds, by command of + Zeus, where the other gods were also sitting, forbidden to take part in the + battle. Meanwhile men fought furiously about the body. Deiphobos tore the + helmet from off his head, but Meriones sprang upon him, and struck him on the + arm with a spear so that the visored helmet fell from his hand and came ringing + down upon the ground. Thereon Meriones sprang upon him like a vulture, drew the + spear from his shoulder, and fell back under cover of his men. Then Polites, + brother of Deiphobos, passed his arms around his waist, and bore him away from + the battle till he got to his horses that were standing in the rear of the + fight with the chariot and their driver. These took him towards the city + groaning and in great pain, with the blood flowing from his arm. +The others still fought on, and the battle-cry + rose to heaven without ceasing. Aeneas sprang on Aphareus son of Kaletor, and + struck him with a spear in his throat which was turned towards him; his head + fell on one side, his helmet and shield came down along with him, and death, + life's foe, was shed around him. Antilokhos spied his chance, flew forward + towards Thoon, and wounded him as he was turning round. He laid open the vein + that runs all the way up the back to the neck; he cut this vein clean away + throughout its whole course, and Thoon fell in the dust face upwards, + stretching out his hands imploringly towards his comrades. +Antilokhos sprang upon him and stripped the + armor from his shoulders, glaring round him fearfully as he did so. The Trojans + came about him on every side and struck his broad and gleaming shield, but + could not wound his body, for Poseidon stood guard over the son of Nestor, + though the darts fell thickly round him. He was never clear of the foe, but was + always in the thick of the fight; his spear was never idle; he poised and aimed + it in every direction, so eager was he to hit some one from a distance or to + fight him hand to hand. +As he was thus aiming among the crowd, he was + seen by Adamas son of Asios, who rushed towards him and struck him with a spear + in the middle of his shield, but Poseidon made its point without effect, for he + grudged him the life of Antilokhos. One half, therefore, of the spear stuck + fast like a charred stake in Antilokhos' shield, while the other lay on the + ground. Adamas then sought shelter under cover of his men, but Meriones + followed after and hit him with a spear midway between the private parts and + the navel, where a wound is particularly painful to wretched mortals. There did + Meriones transfix him, and he writhed convulsively about the spear as some bull + whom mountain herdsmen have bound with ropes of withies and are taking away + perforce. Even so did he move convulsively for a while, but not for very long, + till Meriones came up and drew the spear out of his body, and his eyes were + veiled in darkness. +Helenos then struck Deipyros with a great + Thracian sword, hitting him on the temple in close combat and tearing the + helmet from his head; the helmet fell to the ground, and one of those who were + fighting on the Achaean side took charge of it as it rolled at his feet, but + the eyes of Deipyros were closed in the darkness of death. +On this Menelaos was stung by grief [ +akhos +], and made menacingly towards Helenos, + brandishing his spear; but Helenos drew his bow, and the two attacked one + another at one and the same moment, the one with his spear, and the other with + his bow and arrow. +The son of Priam hit the breastplate of + Menelaos' corselet, but the arrow glanced from off it. As black beans or pulse + come pattering down on to a threshing-floor from the broad winnowing-shovel, + blown by shrill winds and shaken by the shovel - even so did the arrow glance + off and recoil from the shield of Menelaos, who in his turn wounded the hand + with which Helenos carried his bow; the spear went right through his hand and + stuck in the bow itself, so that to his life he retreated under cover of his + men, with his hand dragging by his side - for the spear weighed it down till + Agenor drew it out and bound the hand carefully up in a woolen sling which his + esquire [ +therapôn +] had with him. +Peisandros then made straight at Menelaos - his + evil destiny luring him on to his doom [ +telos +], for + he was to fall in fight with you, O Menelaos. When the two were hard by one + another the spear of the son of Atreus turned aside and he missed his aim; + Peisandros then struck the shield of brave Menelaos but could not pierce it, + for the shield stayed the spear and broke the shaft; nevertheless he was glad + and made sure of victory; forthwith, however, the son of Atreus drew his sword + and sprang upon him. Peisandros then seized the bronze battle-axe, with its + long and polished handle of olive wood that hung by his side under his shield, + and the two made at one another. Peisandros struck the peak of Menelaos' + crested helmet just under the crest itself, and Menelaos hit Peisandros as he + was coming towards him, on the forehead, just at the rise of his nose; the + bones cracked and his two gore-bedrabbled eyes fell by his feet in the dust. He + fell backwards to the ground, and Menelaos set his heel upon him, stripped him + of his armor, and vaunted over him saying, "Even thus shall you Trojans leave + the ships of the Achaeans, proud and insatiate of battle though you be: nor + shall you lack any of the disgrace and shame which you have heaped upon myself. + Cowardly she-wolves that you are, you feared not the anger [ +mênis +] of dread Zeus, avenger of violated + hospitality, +who will one day destroy your city; you stole + my wedded wife and wickedly carried off much treasure when you were her guest, + and now you would fling fire upon our ships, and kill our heroes. A day will + come when, rage as you may, you shall be stayed. O father Zeus, you, who they + say art above all both gods and men in wisdom, and from whom all things that + befall us do proceed, how can you thus favor the Trojans - men so proud and + overweening, that they are never tired of fighting? All things pall after a + while - sleep, love, sweet song, and stately dance - still these are things of + which a man would surely have his fill rather than of battle, whereas it is of + battle that the Trojans are insatiate." +So saying Menelaos stripped the blood-stained + armor from the body of Peisandros, and handed it over to his men; then he again + ranged himself among those who were in the front of the fight. +Harpalion son of King Pylaimenes then sprang + upon him; he had come to fight at +Troy + along with his father, but he did not go home again. He + struck the middle of Menelaos' shield with his spear but could not pierce it, + and to save his life drew back under cover of his men, looking round him on + every side lest he should be wounded. But Meriones aimed a bronze-tipped arrow + at him as he was leaving the field, and hit him on the right buttock; the arrow + pierced the bone through and through, and penetrated the bladder, so he sat + down where he was and breathed his last in the arms of his comrades, stretched + like a worm upon the ground and watering the earth with the blood that flowed + from his wound. The brave Paphlagonians tended him with all due care; they + raised him into his chariot, and bore him sadly off to the city of +Troy +; his father went also with him weeping + bitterly, but there was no ransom that could bring his dead son to life again. +Paris + was deeply grieved by the death + of Harpalion, who was his host when he went among the Paphlagonians; he aimed + an arrow, therefore, in order to avenge him. Now there was a certain man named + Euchenor, son of Polyidos the seer [ +mantis +], a + brave man and wealthy, whose home was in +Corinth +. This Euchenor had set sail for +Troy + well knowing that it would be the death + of him, for his good old father Polyidos had often told him that he must either + stay at home and die of a terrible disease, or go with the Achaeans and perish + at the hands of the Trojans; he chose, therefore, to avoid incurring the heavy + fine the Achaeans would have laid upon him, and at the same time to escape the + pain and suffering of disease. +Paris + + now smote him on the jaw under his ear, whereon the life went out of him and he + was enshrouded in the darkness of death. +Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming + fire. But Hektor had not yet heard, and did not know that the Argives were + making havoc of his men on the left wing of the battle, where the Achaeans ere + long would have triumphed over them, so vigorously did Poseidon cheer them on + and help them. He therefore held on at the point where he had first forced his + way through the gates and the wall, after breaking through the serried ranks of + Danaan warriors. It was here that the ships of Ajax and Protesilaos were drawn + up by the sea-shore; here the wall was at its lowest, and the fight both of man + and horse raged most fiercely. The Boeotians and the Ionians with their long + tunics, the Locrians, the men of Phthia, and the famous force of the Epeans + could hardly stay Hektor as he rushed on towards the ships, nor could they + drive him from them, for he was as a wall of fire. The chosen men of the + Athenians were in the van, led by Menestheus son of Peteos, with whom were also + Pheidas, Stichios, and stalwart Bias: Meges son of Phyleus, Amphion, and + Drakios commanded the Epeans, while Medon and staunch Podarkes led the men of + Phthia. Of these, Medon was bastard son to Oileus and brother of Ajax, but he + lived in Phylake away from his own country, for he had killed the brother of + his stepmother Eriopis, the wife of Oileus; the other, Podarkes, was the son of + Iphiklos son of Phylakos. These two stood in the van of the Phthians, and + defended the ships along with the Boeotians. +Ajax son of Oileus never for a moment left the + side of Ajax son of Telamon, but as two swart oxen both strain their utmost at + the plough which they are drawing in a fallow field, and the sweat steams + upwards from about the roots of their horns - nothing but the yoke divides them + as they break up the ground till they reach the end of the field - even so did + the two Ajaxes stand shoulder to shoulder by one another. Many and brave + comrades followed the son of Telamon, to relieve him of his shield when he was + overcome with sweat and toil, but the Locrians did not follow so close after + the son of Oileus, for they could not hold their own in a hand-to-hand fight. + They had no bronze helmets with plumes of horse-hair, neither had they shields + nor ashen spears, but they had come to +Troy + armed with bows, and with slings of twisted wool from + which they showered their missiles to break the ranks of the Trojans. The + others, therefore, with their heavy armor bore the brunt of the fight with the + Trojans and with Hektor, while the Locrians shot from behind, under their + cover; and thus the Trojans began to lose heart, for the arrows threw them into + confusion. +The Trojans would now have been driven in sorry + plight from the ships and tents back to windy +Ilion +, had not Polydamas presently said to Hektor, "Hektor, + there is no persuading you to take advice. Because heaven has so richly endowed + you with the arts of war, you think that you must therefore excel others in + counsel; but you cannot thus claim preeminence in all things. Heaven has made + one man an excellent warrior; of another it has made a dancer or a singer and + player on the lyre; while yet in another Zeus has implanted a wise + understanding [ +noos +] of which men reap fruit to the + saving of many, and he himself knows more about it than any one; therefore I + will say what I think will be best. The fight has hemmed you in as with a + circle of fire, +and even now that the Trojans are within the + wall some of them stand aloof in full armor, while others are fighting + scattered and outnumbered near the ships. Draw back, therefore, and call your + chieftains round you, that we may advise together whether to fall now upon the + ships in the hope that heaven may grant us victory, or to beat a retreat while + we can yet safely do so. I greatly fear that the Achaeans will pay us their + debt of yesterday in full, for there is one abiding at their ships who is never + weary of battle, and who will not hold aloof much longer." +Thus spoke Polydamas, and his words pleased + Hektor well. He sprang in full armor from his chariot and said, "Polydamas, + gather the chieftains here; I will go yonder into the fight, but will return at + once when I have given them their orders." +He then sped onward, towering like a snowy + mountain, and with a loud cry flew through the ranks of the Trojans and their + allies. When they heard his voice they all hastened to gather round Polydamas + the excellent son of Panthoos, but Hektor kept on among the foremost, looking + everywhere to find Deiphobos and prince Helenos, Adamas son of Asios, and Asios + son of Hyrtakos; living, indeed, and scatheless he could no longer find them, + for the two last were lying by the sterns of the Achaean ships, having lost + their lives [ +psukhai +] at the hands of the Argives, + while the others had been also stricken and wounded by them; but upon the left + wing of the dread battle he found Alexander, husband of lovely Helen, cheering + his men and urging them on to fight. He went up to him and upbraided him. + " +Paris +," said he, "evil-hearted + +Paris +, fair to see but woman-mad + and false of tongue, where are Deiphobos and King Helenos? Where are Adamas son + of Asios, and Asios son of Hyrtakos? Where too is Othryoneus? +Ilion + is undone and will now surely fall!" +Alexander answered, "Hektor, why find fault + when there is no one to find fault with? I should hold aloof from battle on any + day rather than this, for my mother bore me with nothing of the coward about + me. From the moment when you set our men fighting about the ships we have been + staying here and doing battle with the Danaans. Our comrades about whom you ask + me are dead; Deiphobos and King Helenos alone have left the field, wounded both + of them in the hand, but the son of Kronos saved them alive. Now, therefore, + lead on where you would have us go, and we will follow with right goodwill; you + shall not find us fail you in so far as our strength holds out, but no man can + do more than in him lies, no matter how willing he may be." +With these words he satisfied his brother, and + the two went towards the part of the battle where the fight was thickest, about + Kebriones, brave Polydamas, Phalces, Orthaios, godlike Polyphetes, Palmys, + Askanios, and Morys son of Hippotion, who had come from fertile Askania on the + preceding day to relieve other troops. Then Zeus urged them on to fight. They + flew forth like the blasts of some fierce wind that strike earth in the van of + a thunderstorm - they buffet the salt sea into an uproar; many and mighty are + the great waves that come crashing in one after the other upon the shore with + their arching heads all crested with foam - even so did rank behind rank of + Trojans arrayed in gleaming armor follow their leaders onward. The way was led + by Hektor son of Priam, peer of murderous Ares, with his round shield before + him - his shield of ox-hides covered with plates of bronze - and his gleaming + helmet upon his temples. He kept stepping forward under cover of his shield in + every direction, making trial of the ranks to see if they would give way be + him, but he could not daunt the courage of the Achaeans. Ajax was the first to + stride out and challenge him. "Sir," he cried, "draw near; why do you think + thus vainly to dismay the Argives? We Achaeans are excellent warriors, but the + scourge of Zeus has fallen heavily upon us. Your heart, indeed, is set on + destroying our ships, +but we too have bands that can keep you at bay, + and your own fair town shall be sooner taken and sacked by ourselves. The time + is near when you shall pray Zeus and all the gods in your flight, that your + steeds may be swifter than hawks as they raise the dust on the plain and bear + you back to your city." +As he was thus speaking a bird flew by upon his + right hand, and the host of the Achaeans shouted, for they took heart at the + omen. But Hektor answered, "Ajax, braggart and false of tongue, would that I + were as sure of being son for evermore to aegis-bearing Zeus, with Queen Hera + for my mother, and of being held in like honor with Athena and Apollo, as I am + that this day is big with the destruction of the Achaeans; and you shall fall + among them if you dare abide my spear; it shall rend your fair body and bid you + glut our hounds and birds of prey with your fat and your flesh, as you fall by + the ships of the Achaeans." +With these words he led the way and the others + followed after with a cry that rent the air, while the host shouted behind + them. The Argives on their part raised a shout likewise, nor did they forget + their prowess, but stood firm against the onslaught of the Trojan chieftains, + and the cry from both the hosts rose up to heaven and to the brightness of + Zeus' presence. +Nestor was sitting over his wine, but the cry of + battle did not escape him, and he said to the son of Asklepios, "What, noble + Machaon, is the meaning of all this? The shouts of men fighting by our ships + grow stronger and stronger; stay here, therefore, and sit over your wine, while + fair Hekamede heats you a bath and washes the clotted blood from off you. I + will go at once to the look-out station and see what it is all about." +As he spoke he took up the shield of his son + Thrasymedes that was lying in his tent, all gleaming with bronze, for + Thrasymedes had taken his father's shield; he grasped his redoubtable + bronze-shod spear, and as soon as he was outside saw the disastrous rout of the + Achaeans who, now that their wall was overthrown, were fleeing pell-mell before + the Trojans. As when there is a heavy swell upon the sea, but the waves are + dumb - they keep their eyes on the watch for the quarter whence the fierce + winds may spring upon them, but they stay where they are and set neither this + way nor that, till some particular wind sweeps down from heaven to determine + [ +krinô +] them - even so did the old man ponder + whether to make for the crowd of Danaans, or go in search of Agamemnon. In the + end he deemed it best to go to the son of Atreus; but meanwhile the hosts were + fighting and killing one another, and the hard bronze rattled on their bodies, + as they thrust at one another with their swords and spears. +The wounded kings, the son of Tydeus, Odysseus, + and Agamemnon son of Atreus, fell in Nestor as they were coming up from their + ships - for theirs were drawn up some way from where the fighting was going on, + being on the shore itself inasmuch as they had been beached first, while the + wall had been built behind the hindermost. The stretch of the shore, wide + though it was, did not afford room for all the ships, and the host was cramped + for space, therefore they had placed the ships in rows one behind the other, + and had filled the whole opening of the bay between the two points that formed + it. The kings, leaning on their spears, were coming out to survey the fight, + being in great anxiety, and when old Nestor met them they were filled with + dismay. Then King Agamemnon said to him, "Nestor son of Neleus, honor to the + Achaean name, why have you left the battle to come hither? I fear that what + dread Hektor said will come true, when he vaunted among the Trojans saying that + he would not return to +Ilion + till he + had fired our ships and killed us; this is what he said, and now it is all + coming true. Alas! others of the Achaeans, like Achilles, are in anger with me + that they refuse to fight by the sterns of our ships." +Then Nestor horseman of Gerene answered, "It is + indeed as you say; it is all coming true at this moment, and even Zeus who + thunders from on high cannot prevent it. Fallen is the wall on which we relied + as an impregnable bulwark both for us and our fleet. The Trojans are fighting + stubbornly and without ceasing at the ships; look where you may you cannot see + from what quarter the rout of the Achaeans is coming; they are being killed in + a confused mass and the battle-cry ascends to heaven; let us think, if counsel + [ +noos +] can be of any use, what we had better do; + but I do not advise our going into battle ourselves, for a man cannot fight + when he is wounded." +And King Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, if the + Trojans are indeed fighting at the rear of our ships, and neither the wall nor + the trench has served us - over which the Danaans toiled so hard, and which + they deemed would be an impregnable bulwark both for us and our fleet - I see + it must be the will of Zeus that the Achaeans should perish ingloriously here, + far from +Argos +. I knew when Zeus was + willing to defend us, and I know now that he is raising the Trojans to like + honor with the gods, while us, on the other hand, he bas bound hand and foot. + Now, therefore, let us all do as I say; let us bring down the ships that are on + the beach and draw them into the water; let us make them fast to their + mooring-stones a little way out, against the fall of night - if even by night + the Trojans will desist from fighting; we may then draw down the rest of the + fleet. There is no sense of +nemesis + in fleeing ruin + even by night. It is better for a man that he should flee and be saved than be + caught and killed." +Odysseus looked fiercely at him and said, "Son + of Atreus, what are you talking about? Wretch, you should have commanded some + other and baser army, and not been ruler over us to whom Zeus has allotted a + life of hard fighting from youth to old age, till we every one of us perish. Is + it thus that you would quit the city of +Troy +, to win which we have suffered so much hardship? Hold your + peace, lest some other of the Achaeans hear you say what no man who knows how + to give good counsel, no king over so great a host as that of the Argives + should ever have let fall from his lips. I despise your judgment utterly for + what you have been saying. Would you, then, have us draw down our ships into + the water while the battle is raging, and thus play further into the hands of + the conquering Trojans? It would be ruin; the Achaeans will not go on fighting + when they see the ships being drawn into the water, but will cease attacking + and keep turning their eyes towards them; your counsel, therefore, Sir leader, + would be our destruction." +Agamemnon answered, "Odysseus, your rebuke has + stung me to the heart. I am not, however, ordering the Achaeans to draw their + ships into the sea whether they will or no. Some one, it may be, old or young, + can offer us better counsel which I shall rejoice to hear." +Then said Diomedes, "Such an one is at hand; he + is not far to seek, if you will listen to me and not resent my speaking though + I am younger than any of you. I am by lineage son to a noble sire, Tydeus, who + lies buried at +Thebes +. For Portheus + had three noble sons, two of whom, Agrios and +Melas +, abode in +Pleuron + and rocky Calydon. The third was the horseman Oeneus, + my father's father, and he was the most valor [ +aretê +] of them all. Oeneus remained in his own country, but my + father (as Zeus and the other gods ordained it) migrated to +Argos +. He married into the family of + Adrastos, and his house was one of great abundance, for he had large estates of + fertile grain-growing land, with much orchard ground as well, and he had many + sheep; moreover he excelled all the Argives in the use of the spear. You must + yourselves have heard whether these things are true or no; therefore when I say + well despise not my words as though I were a coward or of ignoble birth. I say, + then, let us go to the fight as we needs must, wounded though we be. When + there, we may keep out of the battle and beyond the range of the spears lest we + get fresh wounds in addition to what we have already, but we can spur on + others, who have been indulging their spleen and holding aloof from battle + hitherto." +Thus did he speak; whereon they did even as he + had said and set out, King Agamemnon leading the way. +Meanwhile Poseidon had kept no blind look-out, + and came up to them in the semblance of an old man. He took Agamemnon's right + hand in his own and said, "Son of Atreus, I take it Achilles is glad now that + he sees the Achaeans routed and slain, for he is utterly without remorse - may + he come to a bad end and heaven confound him. As for yourself, the blessed gods + are not yet so bitterly angry with you but that the princes and counselors of + the Trojans shall again raise the dust upon the plain, and you shall see them + fleeing from the ships and tents towards their city." +With this he raised a mighty cry of battle, and + sped forward to the plain. The voice that came from his deep chest was as that + of nine or ten thousand men when they are shouting in the thick of a fight, and + it put fresh courage into the hearts of the Achaeans to wage war and do battle + without ceasing. +Hera of the golden throne looked down as she + stood upon a peak of +Olympus + and her + heart was gladdened at the sight of him who was at once her brother and her + brother-in-law, hurrying hither and thither amid the fighting. Then she turned + her eyes to Zeus as he sat on the topmost crests of many-fountained Ida, and + loathed him. She set herself to think how she might trick his thinking [ +noos +], and in the end she deemed that it would be best + for her to go to Ida and array herself in rich attire, in the hope that Zeus + might become enamored of her, and wish to embrace her. While he was thus + engaged a sweet and careless sleep might be made to steal over his eyes and + senses. +She went, therefore, to the room which her son + Hephaistos had made her, and the doors of which he had cunningly fastened by + means of a secret key so that no other god could open them. Here she entered + and closed the doors behind her. She cleansed all the dirt from her fair body + with ambrosia, then she anointed herself with olive oil, ambrosial, very soft, + and scented specially for herself - if it were so much as shaken in the + bronze-floored house of Zeus, the scent pervaded the universe of heaven and + earth. With this she anointed her delicate skin, and then she plaited the fair + ambrosial locks that flowed in a stream of golden tresses from her immortal + head. She put on the wondrous robe which Athena had worked for her with + consummate art, and had embroidered with manifold devices; she fastened it + about her bosom with golden clasps, and she girded herself with a girdle that + had a hundred tassels: then she fastened her earrings, three brilliant pendants + with much charm radiating from them, +through the pierced lobes of her ears, and + threw a lovely new veil over her head. She bound her sandals on to her feet, + and when she had finished making herself up in perfect order [ +kosmos +], she left her room and called Aphrodite to + come aside and speak to her. "My dear child," said she, "will you do what I am + going to ask of you, or will refuse me because you are angry at my being on the + Danaan side, while you are on the Trojan?" +Zeus' daughter Aphrodite answered, "Hera, + august queen of goddesses, daughter of mighty Kronos, say what you want, and I + will do it for at once, if I can, and if it can be done at all." +Then Hera told her a lying tale and said, "I + want you to endow me with some of those fascinating charms, the spells of which + bring all things mortal and immortal to your feet. I am going to the world's + end to visit Okeanos (from whom all we gods proceed) and mother Tethys: they + received me in their house, took care of me, and brought me up, having taken me + over from Rhaea when Zeus imprisoned great Kronos in the depths that are under + earth and sea. I must go and see them that I may make peace between them; they + have been quarreling, and are so angry that they have not slept with one + another this long while; if I can bring them round and restore them to one + another's embraces, they will be grateful to me and love me for ever + afterwards." +Thereon laughter-loving Aphrodite said, "I + cannot and must not refuse you, for you sleep in the arms of Zeus who is our + king." +As she spoke she loosed from her bosom the + curiously embroidered girdle into which all her charms had been wrought - love, + desire, and that sweet flattery which steals the judgment [ +noos +] even of the most prudent. She gave the girdle to Hera and + said, "Take this girdle wherein all my charms reside and lay it in your bosom. + If you will wear it I promise you that your errand, be it what it may, will not + be bootless." +When she heard this Hera smiled, and still + smiling she laid the girdle in her bosom. +Aphrodite now went back into the house of Zeus, + while Hera darted down from the summits of +Olympus +. She passed over +Pieria + and fair +Emathia +, and went on and on till she came to the snowy ranges + of the Thracian horsemen, over whose topmost crests she sped without ever + setting foot to ground. When she came to +Athos + she went on over the, waves of the sea [ +pontos +] till she reached +Lemnos +, the city of noble Thoas. There she met Sleep, own + brother to Death, and caught him by the hand, saying, "Sleep, you who lord it + alike over mortals and immortals, if you ever did me a service in times past, + do one for me now, and I shall show gratitude [ +kharis +] to you ever after. Close Zeus' keen eyes for me in slumber + while I hold him clasped in my embrace, and I will give you a beautiful golden + seat, that can never fall to pieces; my clubfooted son Hephaistos shall make it + for you, and he shall give it a footstool for you to rest your fair feet upon + when you are at table." +Then Sleep answered, "Hera, great queen of + goddesses, daughter of mighty Kronos, I would lull any other of the gods to + sleep without compunction, not even excepting the waters of Okeanos from whom + all of them proceed, but I dare not go near Zeus, nor send him to sleep unless + he bids me. I have had one lesson already through doing what you asked me, on + the day when Zeus' mighty son Herakles set sail from +Ilion + after having sacked the city of the + Trojans. At your bidding I suffused my sweet self over the mind [ +noos +] of aegis-bearing Zeus, and laid him to rest; + meanwhile you hatched a plot against Herakles, and set the blasts of the angry + winds beating upon the sea [ +pontos +], till you took + him to the goodly city of Cos away from all his friends. Zeus was furious when + he awoke, and began hurling the gods about all over the house; he was looking + more particularly for myself, and would have flung me down through space into + the sea [ +pontos +] where I should never have been + heard of any more, had not Night who cows both men and gods protected me. I + fled to her and Zeus left off looking for me in spite of his being so angry, + for he did not dare do anything to displease Night. And now you are again + asking me to do something on which I cannot venture." +And Hera said, "Sleep, why do you take such + notions as those into your head? Do you think Zeus will be as anxious to help + the Trojans, as he was about his own son? Come, I will marry you to one of the + youngest of the Graces [ +kharites +], and she shall be + your own - Pasithea, whom you have always wanted to marry." +Sleep was pleased when he heard this, and + answered, "Then swear it to me by the dread waters of the river Styx; lay one + hand on the bounteous earth, and the other on the sheen of the sea, so that all + the gods who dwell down below with Kronos may be our witnesses, and see that + you really do give me one of the youngest of the Graces [ +kharites +] - Pasithea, whom I have always wanted to marry." +Hera did as he had said. She swore, and invoked + all the gods of the nether world, who are called Titans, to witness. When she + had completed her oath, the two enshrouded themselves in a thick mist and sped + lightly forward, leaving +Lemnos + and + Imbros behind them. Presently they reached many-fountained Ida, mother of wild + beasts, and Lectum where they left the sea to go on by land, and the tops of + the trees of the forest soughed under the going of their feet. Here Sleep + halted, and ere Zeus caught sight of him he climbed a lofty pine-tree - the + tallest that reared its head towards heaven on all Ida. He hid himself behind + the branches and sat there in the semblance of the sweet-singing bird that + haunts the mountains and is called +Khalkis + by the gods, but men call it Kymindis. Hera then went + to Gargaros, the topmost peak of Ida, and Zeus, driver of the clouds, set eyes + upon her. As soon as he did so he became inflamed with the same passionate + desire for her that he had felt when they had first enjoyed each other's + embraces, and slept with one another without their dear parents knowing + anything about it. +He went up to her and said, "What do you want + that you have come hither from +Olympus + + - and that too with neither chariot nor horses to convey you?" +Then Hera told him a lying tale and said, "I am + going to the world's end, to visit Okeanos, from whom all we gods proceed, and + mother Tethys; they received me into their house, took care of me, and brought + me up. I must go and see them that I may make peace between them: they have + been quarreling, and are so angry that they have not slept with one another + this long time. The horses that will take me over land and sea are stationed on + the lowermost spurs of many-fountained Ida, and I have come here from + +Olympus + on purpose to consult you. + I was afraid you might be angry with me later on, if I went to the house of + Okeanos without letting you know." +And Zeus said, "Hera, you can choose some other + time for paying your visit to Okeanos - for the present let us devote ourselves + to love and to the enjoyment of one another. Never yet have I been so + overpowered by passion neither for goddess nor mortal woman as I am at this + moment for yourself - not even when I was in love with the wife of Ixion who + bore me Peirithoos, peer of gods in counsel, nor yet with Danae the + daintily-ankled daughter of Acrisius, who bore me the famed hero Perseus. Then + there was the daughter of Phoenix, who bore me Minos and Rhadamanthus: there + was Semele, and Alkmene in +Thebes + + by whom I begot my lion-hearted son Herakles, while Semele became mother to + Bacchus the comforter of humankind. There was queen Demeter again, and lovely + Leto, and yourself - but with none of these was I ever so much enamored as I + now am with you." +Hera again answered him with a lying tale. + "Most dread son of Kronos," she exclaimed, "what are you talking about? Would + you have us enjoy one another here on the top of +Mount Ida +, where everything can be seen? What if one of the + ever-living gods should see us sleeping together, and tell the others? It would + be such a scandal that when I had risen from your embraces I could never show + myself inside your house again; but if you are so minded, there is a room which + your son Hephaistos has made me, and he has given it good strong doors; if you + would so have it, let us go thither and lie down." +And Zeus answered, "Hera, you need not be + afraid that either god or man will see you, for I will enshroud both of us in + such a dense golden cloud, that the very sun for all his bright piercing beams + shall not see through it." +With this the son of Kronos caught his wife in + his embrace; whereon the earth sprouted them a cushion of young grass, with + dew-bespangled lotus, crocus, and hyacinth, so soft and thick that it raised + them well above the ground. Here they laid themselves down and overhead they + were covered by a fair cloud of gold, from which there fell glittering + dew-drops. +Thus, then, did the sire of all things repose + peacefully on the crest of Ida, overcome at once by sleep and love, and he held + his spouse in his arms. Meanwhile Sleep made off to the ships of the Achaeans, + to tell earth-encircling Poseidon, lord of the earthquake. When he had found + him he said, "Now, Poseidon, you can help the Danaans with a will, and give + them victory though it be only for a short time while Zeus is still sleeping. I + have sent him into a sweet slumber, and Hera has beguiled him into going to bed + with her." +Sleep now departed and went his ways to and fro + among humankind, leaving Poseidon more eager than ever to help the Danaans. He + darted forward among the first ranks and shouted saying, "Argives, shall we let + Hektor son of Priam have the triumph of taking our ships and covering himself + with glory? This is what he says that he shall now do, seeing that Achilles is + still in dudgeon at his ship; We shall get on very well without him if we keep + each other in heart and stand by one another. Now, therefore, let us all do as + I say. Let us each take the best and largest shield we can lay hold of, put on + our helmets, and sally forth with our longest spears in our hands; will lead + you on, and Hektor son of Priam, rage as he may, will not dare to hold out + against us. If any good staunch warrior has only a small shield, let him hand + it over to a worse man, and take a larger one for himself." +Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had + said. The son of Tydeus, Odysseus, and Agamemnon, wounded though they were, set + the others in array, and went about everywhere effecting the exchanges of + armor; the most valiant took the best armor, and gave the worse to the worse + man. When they had donned their bronze armor they marched on with Poseidon at + their head. In his strong hand he grasped his terrible sword, keen of edge and + flashing like lightning; it is not the right thing [ +themis +] to do, to come across it in the day of battle; all men quake + for fear and keep away from it. +Hektor on the other side set the Trojans in + array. Thereon Poseidon and Hektor waged fierce war on one another - Hektor on + the Trojan and Poseidon on the +Argive + + side. Mighty was the uproar as the two forces met; the sea came rolling in + towards the ships and tents of the Achaeans, but waves do not thunder on the + shore more loudly when driven before the blast of Boreas, nor do the flames of + a forest fire roar more fiercely when it is well alight upon the mountains, nor + does the wind bellow with ruder music as it tears on through the tops of when + it is blowing its hardest, than the terrible shout which the Trojans and + Achaeans raised as they sprang upon one another. +Hektor first aimed his spear at Ajax, who was + turned full towards him, nor did he miss his aim. The spear struck him where + two bands passed over his chest - the band of his shield and that of his + silver-studded sword - and these protected his body. Hektor was angry that his + spear should have been hurled in vain, and withdrew under cover of his men. As + he was thus retreating, Ajax son of Telamon struck him with a stone, of which + there were many lying about +under the men's feet as they fought - brought + there to give support to the ships' sides as they lay on the shore. Ajax caught + up one of them and struck Hektor above the rim of his shield close to his neck; + the blow made him spin round like a top and reel in all directions. As an oak + falls headlong when uprooted by the lightning flash of father Zeus, and there + is a terrible smell of brimstone - no man can help being dismayed if he is + standing near it, for a thunderbolt is a very awful thing - even so did Hektor + fall to earth and bite the dust. His spear fell from his hand, but his shield + and helmet were made fast about his body, and his bronze armor rang about him. +The sons of the Achaeans came running with a + loud cry towards him, hoping to drag him away, and they showered their darts on + the Trojans, but none of them could wound him before he was surrounded and + covered by the princes Polydamas, Aeneas, Agenor, Sarpedon leader of the + Lycians, and noble Glaukos: of the others, too, there was not one who was + unmindful of him, and they held their round shields over him to cover him. His + comrades then lifted him off the ground and bore him away from the battle + [ +ponos +] to the place where his horses stood + waiting for him at the rear of the fight with their driver and the chariot; + these then took him towards the city groaning and in great pain. When they + reached the ford of the air stream of +Xanthos +, begotten of Immortal Zeus, they took him from off his + chariot and laid him down on the ground; they poured water over him, and as + they did so he breathed again and opened his eyes. Then kneeling on his knees + he vomited blood, but soon fell back on to the ground, and his eyes were again + closed in darkness for he was still stunned by the blow. +When the Argives saw Hektor leaving the field, + they took heart and set upon the Trojans yet more furiously. Ajax fleet son of + Oileus began by springing on Satnios son of Enops and wounding him with his + spear: a fair naiad nymph had borne him to Enops +as he was herding cattle by the banks of the + river Satnioeis. The son of Oileus came up to him and struck him in the flank + so that he fell, and a fierce fight between Trojans and Danaans raged round his + body. Polydamas son of Panthoos drew near to avenge him, and wounded Prothoenor + son of Areilykos on the right shoulder; the terrible spear went right through + his shoulder, and he clutched the earth as he fell in the dust. Polydamas + vaunted loudly over him saying, "Again I take it that the spear has not sped in + vain from the strong hand of the son of Panthoos; an +Argive + has caught it in his body, and it will + serve him for a staff as he goes down into the house of Hades." +The Argives were stung by grief [ +akhos +] on account of this boasting. Ajax son of + Telamon was more angry than any, for the man had fallen close be, him; so he + aimed at Polydamas as he was retreating, but Polydamas saved himself by + swerving aside and the spear struck Arkhelokhos son of Antenor, for heaven + counseled his destruction; it struck him where the head springs from the neck + at the top joint of the spine, and severed both the tendons at the back of the + head. His head, mouth, and nostrils reached the ground long before his legs and + knees could do so, and Ajax shouted to Polydamas saying, "Think, Polydamas, and + tell me truly whether this man is not as well worth killing as Prothoenor was: + he seems rich, and of rich family, a brother, it may be, or son of the horseman + Antenor, for he is very like him." +But he knew well who it was, and the Trojans + were greatly vexed with grief [ +akhos +]. Akamas then + bestrode his brother's body and wounded Promakhos the Boeotian with his spear, + for he was trying to drag his brother's body away. Akamas vaunted loudly over + him saying, " +Argive + archers, braggarts + that you are, toil [ +ponos +] and suffering shall not + be for us only, but some of you too shall fall here as well as ourselves. See + how Promakhos now sleeps, vanquished by my spear; payment for my brother's + blood has not long delayed; a man, therefore, may well be thankful if he leaves + a kinsman in his house behind him to avenge his fall." +His taunts gave grief [ +akhos +] to the Argives, and Peneleos was more enraged than any of + them. He sprang towards Akamas, but Akamas did not stand his ground, and he + killed Ilioneus son of the rich flock-master Phorbas, whom Hermes had favored + and endowed with greater wealth than any other of the Trojans. Ilioneus was his + only son, and Peneleos now wounded him in the eye under his eyebrows, tearing + the eye-ball from its socket: the spear went right through the eye into the + nape of the neck, and he fell, stretching out both hands before him. Peneleos + then drew his sword and smote him on the neck, so that both head and helmet + came tumbling down to the ground with the spear still sticking in the eye; he + then held up the head, as though it had been a poppy-head, and showed it to the + Trojans, vaunting over them as he did so. "Trojans," he cried, "bid the father + and mother of noble Ilioneus make moan for him in their house, for the wife + also of Promakhos son of Alegenor will never be gladdened by the coming of her + dear husband - when we Argives return with our ships from +Troy +." +As he spoke fear fell upon them, and every man + looked round about to see whither he might flee for safety. +Tell me now, O Muses that dwell on +Olympus +, who was the first of the Argives to + bear away blood-stained spoils after Poseidon lord of the earthquake had turned + the fortune of war. Ajax son of Telamon was first to wound Hyrtios son of + Gyrtios, leader of the staunch Mysians. Antilokhos killed Phalces and Mermerus, + while Meriones slew Morys and Hippotion, Teucer also killed Prothoon and + Periphetes. The son of Atreus then wounded Hyperenor shepherd of his people, in + the flank, and the bronze point made his entrails gush out as it tore in among + them; on this his life-breath [ +psukhê +] came + hurrying out of him at the place where he had been wounded, and his eyes were + closed in darkness. Ajax son of Oileus killed more than any other, for there + was no man so fleet as he to pursue fleeing foes when Zeus had spread panic + among them. +But when their flight had taken them past the + trench and the set stakes, and many had fallen by the hands of the Danaans, the + Trojans made a halt on reaching their chariots, routed and pale with fear. Zeus + now woke on the crests of Ida, where he was lying with golden-throned Hera by + his side, and starting to his feet he saw the Trojans and Achaeans, the one + thrown into confusion, and the others driving them pell-mell before them with + King Poseidon in their midst. He saw Hektor lying on the ground with his + comrades gathered round him, gasping for breath, wandering in mind and vomiting + blood, for it was not the feeblest of the Achaeans who struck him. +The sire of gods and men had pity on him, and + looked fiercely on Hera. "I see, Hera," said he, "you mischief-making + trickster, that your cunning has stayed Hektor from fighting and has caused the + rout of his host. I am in half a mind to thrash you, in which case you will be + the first to reap the fruits of your scurvy knavery. Do you not remember how + once upon a time I had you hanged? I fastened two anvils on to your feet, and + bound your hands in a chain of gold which none might break, and you hung in + mid-air among the clouds. All the gods in Olympus were in a fury, but they + could not reach you to set you free; when I caught any one of them I gripped + him and hurled him from the heavenly threshold till he came fainting down to + earth; yet even this did not relieve my mind from the incessant anxiety +which I felt about noble Herakles whom you and + Boreas had spitefully conveyed beyond the seas [ +pontos +] to Cos, after suborning the tempests; but I rescued him, and + notwithstanding all his mighty labors I brought him back again to +Argos +. I would remind you of this that you + may learn to leave off being so deceitful, and discover how much you are likely + to gain by the embraces out of which you have come here to trick me." +Hera trembled as he spoke, and said, "May heaven + above and earth below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx - and + this is the most solemn oath that a blessed god can take - nay, I swear also by + your own almighty head and by our bridal bed - things over which I could never + possibly perjure myself - that Poseidon is not punishing Hektor and the Trojans + and helping the Achaeans through any doing of mine; it is all of his own mere + motion because he was sorry to see the Achaeans hard pressed at their ships: if + I were advising him, I should tell him to do as you bid him." +The sire of gods and men smiled and answered, + "If you, Hera, were always to support me when we sit in council of the gods, + Poseidon, like it or no, would soon come round to your and my way of thinking + [noon]. If, then, you are speaking the truth and mean what you say, go among + the rank and file of the gods, and tell Iris and Apollo lord of the bow, that I + want them - Iris, that she may go to the Achaean host and tell Poseidon to + leave off fighting and go home, and Apollo, that he may send Hektor again into + battle and give him fresh strength; he will thus forget his present sufferings, + and drive the Achaeans back in confusion till they fall among the ships of + Achilles son of Peleus. Achilles will then send his comrade Patroklos into + battle, and Hektor will kill him in front of +Ilion + after he has slain many warriors, and among them my own + noble son Sarpedon. Achilles will kill Hektor to avenge Patroklos, and from + that time I will bring it about that the Achaeans shall persistently drive the + Trojans back till they fulfill the counsels of Athena and take +Ilion +. But I will not stay my anger, nor + permit any god to help the Danaans till I have accomplished the desire of the + son of Peleus, according to the promise I made by bowing my head on the day + when Thetis touched my knees and besought me to give him honor." +Hera heeded his words and went from the heights + of Ida to great +Olympus +. Swift as the + thought [ +noos +] of one whose fancy carries him over + vast continents, and he says to himself, "Now I will be here, or there," and he + would have all manner of things - even so swiftly did Hera wing her way till + she came to high +Olympus + and went in + among the gods who were gathered in the house of Zeus. When they saw her they + all of them came up to her, and held out their cups to her by way of greeting. + She let the others be, but took the cup offered her by lovely Themis, who was + first to come running up to her. "Hera," said she, "why are you here? And you + seem troubled - has your husband the son of Kronos been frightening you?" +And Hera answered, "Themis, do not ask me about + it. You know what a proud and cruel disposition my husband has. Lead the gods + to table, where you and all the immortals can hear the wicked designs which he + has avowed. Many a one, mortal and immortal, will be angered by them, however + peaceably he may be feasting now." +On this Hera sat down, and the gods were + troubled throughout the house of Zeus. Laughter sat on her lips but her brow + was furrowed with care, and she spoke up in a rage. "Fools that we are," she + cried, "to be thus madly angry with Zeus; we keep on wanting to go up to him + and stay him by force or by persuasion, but he sits aloof and cares for nobody, + for he knows that he is much stronger than any other of the immortals. Make the + best, therefore, of whatever ills he may choose to send each one of you; Ares, + I take it, has had a taste of them already, for his son Askalaphos has fallen + in battle - the man whom of all others he loved most dearly and whose father he + owns himself to be." +When he heard this Ares smote his two sturdy + thighs with the flat of his hands, and said in anger, "Do not blame me, you + gods that dwell in heaven, if I go to the ships of the Achaeans and avenge the + death of my son, even though it end in my being struck by Zeus' lightning and + lying in blood and dust among the corpses." +As he spoke he gave orders to yoke his horses + Panic and Rout, while he put on his armor. On this, Zeus would have been roused + to still more fierce and implacable anger [ +mênis +] + against the other immortals, had not Athena, alarmed for the safety of the + gods, sprung from her seat and hurried outside. She tore the helmet from his + head and the shield from his shoulders, and she took the bronze spear from his + strong hand and set it on one side; then she said to Ares, "Mad one, you are + undone; you have ears that hear not, or you have lost all sense of respect + [ +aidôs +] and understanding [ +noos +]; have you not heard what Hera has said on coming straight from + the presence of Olympian Zeus? Do you wish to go through all kinds of suffering + before you are brought back sick and sorry to +Olympus +, after having caused infinite mischief to all us + others? Zeus would instantly leave the Trojans and Achaeans to themselves; he + would come to +Olympus + to punish us, + and would grip us up one after another, guilty [ +aitios +] or not guilty. Therefore lay aside your anger for the death + of your son; better men than he have either been killed already or will fall + hereafter, and one cannot protect every one's whole family." +With these words she took Ares back to his + seat. Meanwhile Hera called Apollo outside, with Iris the messenger of the + gods. "Zeus," she said to them, "desires you to go to him at once on +Mount Ida +; when you have seen him you are to + do as he may then bid you." +Thereon Hera left them and resumed her seat + inside, while Iris and Apollo made all haste on their way. When they reached + many-fountained Ida, mother of wild beasts, they found Zeus seated on topmost + Gargaros with a fragrant cloud encircling his head as with a diadem. They stood + before his presence, and he was pleased with them for having been so quick in + obeying the orders his wife had given them. +He spoke to Iris first. "Go," said he, "fleet + Iris, tell King Poseidon what I now bid you - and tell him true. Bid him leave + off fighting, and either join the company of the gods, or go down into the sea. + If he takes no heed and disobeys me, let him consider well whether he is strong + enough to hold his own against me if I attack him. I am older and much stronger + than he is; yet he is not afraid to set himself up as on a level with myself, + of whom all the other gods stand in awe." +Iris, fleet as the wind, obeyed him, and as the + cold hail or snowflakes that fly from out the clouds before the blast of + Boreas, even so did she wing her way till she came close up to the great shaker + of the earth. Then she said, "I have come, O dark-haired king that holds the + world in his embrace, to bring you a message from Zeus. He bids you leave off + fighting, and either join the company of the gods or go down into the sea; if, + however, you take no heed and disobey him, he says he will come down here and + fight you. He would have you keep out of his reach, for he is older and much + stronger than you are, and yet you are not afraid to set yourself up as on a + level with himself, of whom all the other gods stand in awe." +Poseidon was very angry and said, "Great + heavens! strong as Zeus may be, he has said more than he can do if he has + threatened violence against me, who am of like honor with himself. We were + three brothers whom Rhea bore to Kronos - Zeus, myself, and Hades who rules the + world below. Heaven and earth were divided into three parts, and each of us was + to have an equal share. When we cast lots, it fell to me to have my dwelling in + the sea for evermore; Hades took the darkness of the realms under the earth, + while air and sky and clouds were the portion that fell to Zeus; but earth and + great +Olympus + are the common property + of all. +Therefore I will not walk as Zeus would have + me. For all his strength, let him keep to his own third share and be contented + without threatening to lay hands upon me as though I were nobody. Let him keep + his bragging talk for his own sons and daughters, who must perforce obey him. + +Iris fleet as the wind then answered, "Am I + really, Poseidon, to take this daring and unyielding message to Zeus, or will + you reconsider your answer? Sensible people are open to argument, and you know + that the Erinyes always range themselves on the side of the older person." +Poseidon answered, "Goddess Iris, your words + have been spoken in season. It is well when a messenger shows so much + discretion. Nevertheless it cuts me to the very heart with grief [ +akhos +] that any one should rebuke so angrily another + who is his own peer, and of like empire with himself. Now, however, I will give + way in spite of my displeasure; furthermore let me tell you, and I mean what I + say - if contrary to the desire of myself, Athena driver of the spoil, Hera, + Hermes, and King Hephaistos, Zeus spares steep +Ilion +, and will not let the Achaeans have the great triumph of + sacking it, let him understand that he will incur our implacable resentment." +Poseidon now left the field to go down under + the sea [ +pontos +], and sorely did the Achaeans miss + him. Then Zeus said to Apollo, "Go, dear Phoebus, to Hektor, for Poseidon who + holds the earth in his embrace has now gone down under the sea to avoid the + severity of my displeasure. Had he not done so those gods who are below with + Kronos would have come to hear of the fight between us. It is better for both + of us that he should have curbed his anger and kept out of my reach, for I + should have had much trouble with him. Take, then, your tasseled aegis, and + shake it furiously, so as to set the Achaean heroes in a panic; take, moreover, + brave Hektor, O Far-Darter, into your own care, and rouse him to deeds of + daring, till the Achaeans are sent fleeing back to their ships and to the + +Hellespont +. From that point I will + think it well over, how the Achaeans may have a respite from their troubles + [ +ponos +]." +Apollo obeyed his father's saying, and left the + crests of Ida, flying like a falcon, bane of doves and swiftest of all birds. + He found Hektor no longer lying upon the ground, but sitting up, for he had + just come to himself again. He knew those who were about him, and the sweat and + hard breathing had left him from the moment when the will [ +noos +] of aegis-bearing Zeus had revived him. Apollo stood beside him + and said, "Hektor, son of Priam, why are you so faint, and why are you here + away from the others? Has any mishap befallen you?" +Hektor in a weak voice answered, "And which, + kind sir, of the gods are you, who now ask me thus? Do you not know that Ajax + struck me on the chest with a stone as I was killing his comrades at the ships + of the Achaeans, and compelled me to leave off fighting? I made sure that this + very day I should breathe my last and go down into the house of Hades." +Then King Apollo said to him, "Take heart; the + son of Kronos has sent you a mighty helper from Ida to stand by you and defend + you, even me, Phoebus Apollo of the golden sword, who have been guardian + hitherto not only of yourself but of your city. Now, therefore, order your + horsemen to drive their chariots to the ships in great multitudes. I will go + before your horses to smooth the way for them, and will turn the Achaeans in + flight." +As he spoke he infused great strength into the + shepherd of his people. And as a horse, stabled and full-fed, breaks loose and + gallops gloriously over the plain to the place where he is wont to take his + bath in the river - he tosses his head, and his mane streams over his shoulders + as in all the pride of his strength he flies full speed to the pastures where + the mares are feeding - even so Hektor, when he heard what the god said, urged + his horsemen on, and sped forward as fast as his limbs could take him. +As country peasants set their hounds on to a + horned stag or wild goat - he has taken shelter under rock or thicket, and they + cannot find him, but, lo, a bearded lion whom their shouts have roused stands + in their path, and they are in no further humor for the chase - even so the + Achaeans were still charging on in a body, using their swords and spears + pointed at both ends, but when they saw Hektor going about among his men they + were afraid, and their hearts fell down into their feet. +Then spoke Thoas son of Andraimon, leader of + the Aetolians, a man who could throw a good throw, and who was staunch also in + close fight, while few could surpass him in debate when opinions were divided. + He then with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus: "What, in heaven's + name, do I now see? Is it not Hektor come to life again? Every one made sure he + had been killed by Ajax son of Telamon, but it seems that one of the gods has + again rescued him. He has killed many of us Danaans already, and I take it will + yet do so, for the hand of Zeus must be with him or he would never dare show + himself so masterful in the forefront of the battle. Now, therefore, let us all + do as I say; let us order the main body of our forces to fall back upon the + ships, but let those of us who profess to be the flower of the army stand firm, + and see whether we cannot hold Hektor back at the point of our spears as soon + as he comes near us; I conceive that he will then think better of it before he + tries to charge into the press of the Danaans." +Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had + said. Those who were about Ajax and King Idomeneus, the followers moreover of + Teucer, Meriones, and Meges peer of Ares called all their best men about them + and sustained the fight against Hektor and the Trojans, but the main body fell + back upon the ships of the Achaeans. +The Trojans pressed forward in a dense body, + with Hektor striding on at their head. Before him went Phoebus Apollo shrouded + in cloud about his shoulders. He bore aloft the terrible aegis with its shaggy + fringe, which Hephaistos the smith had given Zeus to strike terror into the + hearts of men. With this in his hand he led on the Trojans. +The Argives held together and stood their + ground. The cry of battle rose high from either side, and the arrows flew from + the bowstrings. Many a spear sped from strong hands and fastened in the bodies + of many a valiant warrior, while others fell to earth midway, before they could + taste of man's fair flesh and glut themselves with blood. So long as Phoebus + Apollo held his aegis quietly and without shaking it, the weapons on either + side took effect and the people fell, but when he shook it straight in the face + of the Danaans and raised his mighty battle-cry their hearts fainted within + them and they forgot their former prowess. As when two wild beasts spring in + the dead of night on a herd of cattle or a large flock of sheep when the + herdsman is not there - even so were the Danaans struck helpless, for Apollo + filled them with panic and gave victory to Hektor and the Trojans. +The fight then became more scattered and they + killed one another where they best could. Hektor killed Stichios and + Arkesilaos, the one, leader of the Boeotians, and the other, friend and comrade + of Menestheus. Aeneas killed Medon and +Iasos +. The first was bastard son to Oileus, and brother to + Ajax, but he lived in Phylake away from his own country, for he had killed a + man, a kinsman of his stepmother Eriopis whom Oileus had married. +Iasos + had become a leader of the Athenians, + and was son of Sphelus the son of Boukolos. Polydamas killed Mekisteus, and + Polites Echios, in the front of the battle, while Agenor slew Klonios. + +Paris + struck Deiochus from behind + in the lower part of the shoulder, as he was fleeing among the foremost, and + the point of the spear went clean through him. +While they were spoiling these heroes of their + armor, the Achaeans were fleeing pellmell to the trench and the set stakes, and + were forced back within their wall. Hektor then cried out to the Trojans, + "Forward to the ships, and let the spoils be. If I see any man keeping back on + the other side the wall away from the ships I will have him killed: his kinsmen + and kinswomen shall not give him his dues of fire, but dogs shall tear him in + pieces in front of our city." +As he spoke he laid his whip about his horses' + shoulders and called to the Trojans throughout their ranks; the Trojans shouted + with a cry that rent the air, and kept their horses neck and neck with his own. + Phoebus Apollo went before, and kicked down the banks of the deep trench into + its middle so as to make a great broad bridge, as broad as the throw of a spear + when a man is trying his strength. The Trojan battalions poured over the + bridge, and Apollo with his redoubtable aegis led the way. He kicked down the + wall of the Achaeans as easily as a child who playing on the sea-shore has + built a house of sand and then kicks it down again and destroys it - even so + did you, O Apollo, shed toil and trouble upon the Argives, filling them with + panic and confusion. +Thus then were the Achaeans hemmed in at their + ships, calling out to one another and raising their hands with loud cries every + man to heaven. Nestor of Gerene, tower of strength to the Achaeans, lifted up + his hands to the starry firmament of heaven, and prayed more fervently than any + of them. "Father Zeus," said he, "if ever any one in wheat-growing +Argos + burned you fat thigh-bones of sheep or + heifer and prayed that he might return safely home, whereon you bowed your head + to him in assent, bear it in mind now, and suffer not the Trojans to triumph + thus over the Achaeans." +All counseling Zeus thundered loudly in answer + to die prayer of the aged son of Neleus. When the heard Zeus thunder they flung + themselves yet more fiercely on the Achaeans. As a wave breaking over the + bulwarks of a ship when the sea runs high before a gale- for it is the force of + the wind that makes the waves so great - even so did the Trojans spring over + the wall with a shout, and drive their chariots onwards. The two sides fought + with their double-pointed spears in hand-to-hand encounter-the Trojans from + their chariots, and the Achaeans climbing up into their ships and wielding the + long pikes that were lying on the decks ready for use in a sea-fight, jointed + and shod with bronze. +Now Patroklos, so long as the Achaeans and + Trojans were fighting about the wall, but were not yet within it and at the + ships, remained sitting in the tent of good Eurypylos, entertaining him with + his conversation and spreading herbs over his wound to ease his pain. When, + however, he saw the Trojans swarming through the breach in the wall, while the + Achaeans were clamoring and struck with panic, he cried aloud, and smote his + two thighs with the flat of his hands. "Eurypylos," said he in his dismay, "I + know you want me badly, but I cannot stay with you any longer, for there is + hard fighting going on; a squire [ +therapôn +] shall + take care of you now, for I must make all speed to Achilles, and induce him to + fight if I can; who knows but with the help of a +daimôn + I may persuade him. A man does well to listen to the advice + of a friend." +When he had thus spoken he went his way. The + Achaeans stood firm and resisted the attack of the Trojans, yet though these + were fewer in number, they could not drive them back from the ships, neither + could the Trojans break the Achaean ranks and make their way in among the tents + and ships. As a carpenter's line gives a true edge to a piece of ship's timber, + in the hand of some skilled workman whom Athena has instructed in all kinds of + useful arts - even so level was the issue of the fight between the two sides, + as they fought some round one and some round another. +Hektor made straight for Ajax, and the put up + fierce struggle [ +ponos +] over the same ship. Hektor + could not force Ajax back and fire the ship, nor yet could Ajax drive Hektor + from the spot to which a +daimôn + had brought him. +Then Ajax struck Kaletor son of Klytios in the + chest with a spear as he was bringing fire towards the ship. He fell heavily to + the ground and the torch dropped from his hand. When Hektor saw his cousin + fallen in front of the ship he shouted to the Trojans and Lycians saying, + "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians good in close fight, bate not a jot, but + rescue the son of Klytios lest the Achaeans strip him of his armor now that he + has fallen in the struggle [ +agôn +]." +He then aimed a spear at Ajax, and missed him, + but he hit Lykophron a follower [ +therapôn +] of Ajax, + who came from +Cythera +, but was living + with Ajax inasmuch as he had killed a man among the Cythereans. Hektor's spear + struck him on the head below the ear, and he fell headlong from the ship's prow + on to the ground with no life left in him. Ajax shook with rage and said to his + brother, "Teucer, my good man, our trusty comrade the son of Mastor has fallen, + he came to live with us from +Cythera + + and whom we honored as much as our own parents. Hektor has just killed him; + fetch your deadly arrows at once and the bow which Phoebus Apollo gave you." +Teucer heard him and hastened towards him with + his bow and quiver in his hands. Forthwith he showered his arrows on the + Trojans, and hit Kleitos the son of Pisenor, comrade of Polydamas the noble son + of Panthoos, with the reins in his hands as he was attending to his horses; he + was in the middle of the very thickest part of the fight, doing good service to + Hektor and the Trojans, but evil had now come upon him, and not one of those + who were fain to do so could avert it, for the arrow struck him on the back of + the neck. He fell from his chariot and his horses shook the empty car as they + swerved aside. King Polydamas saw what had happened, and was the first to come + up to the horses; he gave them in charge to Astynoos son of Protiaon, and + ordered him to look on, and to keep the horses near at hand. He then went back + and took his place in the front ranks. +Teucer then aimed another arrow at Hektor, and + there would have been no more fighting at the ships if he had hit him and + killed him then and there: but Teucer did not escape the notice [ +noos +] of Zeus, who kept watch over Hektor and deprived + him of his triumph, by breaking his bowstring for him just as he was drawing it + and about to take his aim; on this the arrow went astray and the bow fell from + his hands. Teucer shook with anger and said to his brother, "Alas, see how a + +daimôn + thwarts us in all we do; he has broken my + bowstring and snatched the bow from my hand, though I strung it this selfsame + morning that it might serve me for many an arrow." +Ajax son of Telamon answered, "My good man, let + your bow and your arrows be, for Zeus has made them useless in order to spite + the Danaans. Take your spear, lay your shield upon your shoulder, and both + fight the Trojans yourself and urge others to do so. They may be successful for + the moment but if we fight as we ought they will find it a hard matter to take + the ships." Teucer then took his bow and put it by in his tent. He hung a + shield four hides thick about his shoulders, and on his comely head he set his + helmet well wrought with a crest of horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it; + he grasped his redoubtable bronze-shod spear, and forthwith he was by the side + of Ajax. +When Hektor saw that Teucer's bow was of no + more use to him, he shouted out to the Trojans and Lycians, "Trojans, Lycians, + and Dardanians good in close fight, be men, my friends, and show your mettle + here at the ships, for I see the weapon of one of their chieftains made useless + by the hand of Zeus. It is easy to see when Zeus is helping people and means to + help them still further, or again when he is bringing them down and will do + nothing for them; he is now on our side, and is going against the Argives. + Therefore swarm round the ships and fight. If any of you is struck by spear or + sword and loses his life, let him die; he dies with honor who dies fighting for + his country; and he will leave his wife and children safe behind him, with his + house and allotment unplundered if only the Achaeans can be driven back to + their own land, they and their ships." +With these words he put heart and soul into + them all. Ajax on the other side exhorted his comrades saying, "Shame [ +aidôs +] on you Argives, we are now utterly undone, + unless we can save ourselves by driving the enemy from our ships. Do you think, + if Hektor takes them, that you will be able to get home by land? Can you not + hear him cheering on his whole host to fire our fleet, and bidding them + remember that they are not at a dance [ +khoros +] but + in battle? Our only thought [ +noos +] and plan [ +mêtis +] is to fight them with might and main; we had + better chance it, life or death, once for all, than fight long and without + issue hemmed in at our ships by worse men than ourselves." +With these words he put life [ +menos +] and spirit [ +thumos +] + into them all. Hektor then killed Schedios son of Perimedes, leader of the + Phoceans, and Ajax killed Laodamas leader of foot soldiers and son to Antenor. + Polydamas killed Otos of Cyllene a comrade of the son of Phyleus and chief of + the proud Epeans. When Meges saw this he sprang upon him, but Polydamas + crouched down, and he missed him, for Apollo would not suffer the son of + Panthoos to fall in battle; but the spear hit Croesmus in the middle of his + chest, whereon he fell heavily to the ground, and Meges stripped him of his + armor. At that moment the valiant warrior Dolops son of Lampos sprang upon + Lampos was son of Laomedon and for his valor, while his son Dolops was versed + in all the ways of war. He then struck the middle of the son of Phyleus' shield + with his spear, setting on him at close quarters, but his good corselet made + with plates of metal saved him; Phyleus had brought it from +Ephyra + and the river Selleis, where his + host, King Euphetes, had given it him to wear in battle and protect him. It now + served to save the life of his son. Then Meges struck the topmost crest of + Dolops' bronze helmet with his spear +and tore away its plume of horse-hair, so that + all newly dyed with scarlet as it was it tumbled down into the dust. While he + was still fighting and confident of victory, Menelaos came up to help Meges, + and got by the side of Dolops unperceived; he then speared him in the shoulder, + from behind, and the point, driven so furiously, went through into his chest, + whereon he fell headlong. The two then made towards him to strip him of his + armor, but Hektor called on all his brothers for help, and he especially + upbraided brave Melanippos son of Hiketaon, who erewhile used to pasture his + herds of cattle in Perkote before the war broke out; but when the ships of the + Danaans came, he went back to +Ilion +, + where he was eminent among the Trojans, and lived near Priam who treated him as + one of his own sons. Hektor now rebuked him and said, "Why, Melanippos, are we + thus remiss? do you take no note of the death of your kinsman, and do you not + see how they are trying to take Dolops' armor? Follow me; there must be no + fighting the Argives from a distance now, but we must do so in close combat + till either we kill them or they take the high wall of +Ilion + and slay her people." +He led on as he spoke, and the hero Melanippos + followed after. Meanwhile Ajax son of Telamon was cheering on the Argives. "My + friends," he cried, "be men, and fear the loss of respect [ +aidôs +]; quit yourselves in battle so as to win respect from one + another. Men who respect each other's good opinion are less likely to be killed + than those who do not, but in flight there is neither gain nor glory [ +kleos +]." +Thus did he exhort men who were already bent + upon driving back the Trojans. They laid his words to heart and hedged the + ships as with a wall of bronze, while Zeus urged on the Trojans. Menelaos of + the loud battle-cry urged Antilokhos on. "Antilokhos," said he, "you are young + and there is none of the Achaeans more fleet of foot or more valiant than you + are. See if you cannot spring upon some Trojan and kill him." +He hurried away when he had thus spurred + Antilokhos, who at once darted out from the front ranks and aimed a spear, + after looking carefully round him. The Trojans fell back as he threw, and the + dart did not speed from his hand without effect, for it struck Melanippos the + proud son of Hiketaon in the breast by the nipple as he was coming forward, and + his armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Antilokhos + sprang upon him as a dog springs on a fawn which a hunter has hit as it was + breaking away from its covert, and killed it. Even so, O Melanippos, did + stalwart Antilokhos spring upon you to strip you of your armor; but noble + Hektor marked him, and came running up to him through the thick of the battle. + Antilokhos, brave warrior though he was, would not stay to face him, but fled + like some savage creature which knows it has done wrong, and flies, when it has + killed a dog or a man who is herding his cattle, before a body of men can be + gathered to attack it. Even so did the son of Nestor flee, and the Trojans and + Hektor with a cry that rent the air showered their weapons after him; nor did + he turn round and stay his flight till he had reached his comrades. +The Trojans, fierce as lions, were still + rushing on towards the ships in fulfillment of the behests of Zeus who kept + spurring them on to new deeds of daring, while he deadened the courage of the + Argives and defeated them by encouraging the Trojans. For he meant giving glory + to Hektor son of Priam, and letting him throw fire upon the ships, till he had + fulfilled the unrighteous prayer that Thetis had made him; Zeus, therefore, + bided his time till he should see the glare of a blazing ship. From that hour + he was about so to order that the Trojans should be driven back from the ships + and to grant glory to the Achaeans. With this purpose he inspired Hektor son of + Priam, who was eager enough already, to assail the ships. His fury was as that + of Ares, or as when a fire is raging in the glades of some dense forest upon + the mountains; he foamed at the mouth, his eyes glared under his terrible + eye-brows, and his helmet quivered on his temples by reason of the fury with + which he fought. +Zeus from heaven was with him, and though he + was but one against many, granted him victory and glory; for he was doomed to + an early death, and already Pallas Athena was hurrying on the hour of his + destruction at the hands of the son of Peleus. Now, however, he kept trying to + break the ranks of the enemy wherever he could see them thickest, and in the + goodliest armor; but do what he might he could not break through them, for they + stood as a tower foursquare, or as some high cliff rising from the gray sea + that braves the anger of the gale, and of the waves that thunder up against it. + He fell upon them like flames of fire from every quarter. As when a wave, + raised mountain high by wind and storm, breaks over a ship and covers it deep + in foam, the fierce winds roar against the mast, the hearts of the sailors fail + them for fear, and they are saved but by a very little from destruction - even + so were the hearts of the Achaeans fainting within them. Or as a savage lion + attacking a herd of cows while they are feeding by thousands in the low-lying + meadows by some wide-watered shore - the herdsman is at his wit's end how to + protect his herd and keeps going about now in the van and now in the rear of + his cattle, while the lion springs into the thick of them and fastens on a cow + so that they all tremble for fear - even so were the Achaeans utterly + panic-stricken by Hektor and father Zeus. Nevertheless Hektor only killed + Periphetes of +Mycenae +; he was son + of Kopreus who was wont to take the orders of King Eurystheus to mighty + Herakles, but the son was far better in excellence [ +aretê +] than the father in every way; he was fleet of foot, a valiant + warrior, and in understanding [ +noos +] ranked among + the foremost men of +Mycenae +. He it + was who then afforded Hektor a triumph, for as he was turning back he stumbled + against the rim of his shield which reached his feet, and served to keep the + javelins off him. He tripped against this and fell face upward, his helmet + ringing loudly about his head as he did so. Hektor saw him fall and ran up to + him; he then thrust a spear into his chest, and killed him close to his own + comrades. These, for all their sorrow, could not help him for they were + themselves terribly afraid of Hektor. +They had now reached the ships and the prows of + those that had been drawn up first were on every side of them, but the Trojans + came pouring after them. The Argives were driven back from the first row of + ships, but they made a stand by their tents without being broken up and + scattered; shame [ +aidôs +] and fear restrained them. + They kept shouting incessantly to one another, and Nestor of Gerene, tower of + strength to the Achaeans, was loudest in imploring every man by his parents, + and beseeching him to stand firm. +"Be men, my friends," he cried, "and give + respect [ +aidôs +] to one another's good opinion. + Think, all of you, on your children, your wives, your property, and your + parents whether these be alive or dead. On their behalf though they are not + here, I implore you to stand firm, and not to turn in flight." +With these words he put heart and soul into + them all. Athena lifted the thick veil of darkness from their eyes, and much + light fell upon them, alike on the side of the ships and on that where the + fight was raging. They could see Hektor and all his men, both those in the rear + who were taking no part in the battle, and those who were fighting by the + ships. +Ajax could not bring himself to retreat along + with the rest, but strode from deck to deck with a great sea-pike in his hands + twelve cubits long and jointed with rings. As a man skilled in feats of + horsemanship couples four horses together and comes tearing full speed along + the public way from the country into some large town - many both men and women + marvel as they see him for he keeps all the time changing his horse, springing + from one to another without ever missing his feet while the horses are at a + gallop - even so did Ajax go striding from one ship's deck to another, and his + voice went up into the heavens. He kept on shouting his orders to the Danaans + and exhorting them to defend their ships and tents; +neither did Hektor remain within the main body + of the Trojan warriors, but as a dun eagle swoops down upon a flock of + wild-fowl feeding near a river-geese, it may be, or cranes, or long-necked + swans - even so did Hektor make straight for a dark-prowed ship, rushing right + towards it; for Zeus with his mighty hand impelled him forward, and roused his + people to follow him. +And now the battle again raged furiously at the + ships. You would have thought the men were coming on fresh and unwearied, so + fiercely did they fight; and this was the mind [noos] in which they were - the + Achaeans did not believe they should escape destruction but thought themselves + doomed, while there was not a Trojan but his heart beat high with the hope of + firing the ships and putting the Achaean heroes to the sword. +Thus were the two sides minded. Then Hektor + seized the stern of the good ship that had brought Protesilaos to +Troy +, but never bore him back to his native + land. Round this ship there raged a close hand-to-hand fight between Danaans + and Trojans. They did not fight at a distance with bows and javelins, but with + one mind hacked at one another in close combat with their mighty swords and + spears pointed at both ends; they fought moreover with keen battle-axes and + with hatchets. Many a good stout blade hilted and scabbarded with iron, fell + from hand or shoulder as they fought, and the earth ran red with blood. Hektor, + when he had seized the ship, would not loose his hold but held on to its curved + stern and shouted to the Trojans, "Bring fire, and raise the battle-cry all of + you with a single voice. Now has Zeus granted us a day that will pay us for all + the rest; this day we shall take the ships which came hither against heaven's + will, and which have caused us such infinite suffering through the cowardice of + our councilors, who when I would have done battle at the ships held me back and + forbade the host to follow me; if Zeus did then indeed warp our judgments, + himself now commands me and cheers me on." +As he spoke thus the Trojans sprang yet more + fiercely on the Achaeans, and Ajax no longer held his ground, for he was + overcome by the darts that were flung at him, and made sure that he was doomed. + Therefore he left the raised deck at the stern, and stepped back on to the + seven-foot bench of the oarsmen. Here he stood on the look-out, and with his + spear held back Trojan whom he saw bringing fire to the ships. All the time he + kept on shouting at the top of his voice and exhorting the Danaans. "My + friends," he cried, "Danaan heroes, squires [ +therapontes +] of Ares, be men my friends, and fight with might and + with main. Can we hope to find helpers hereafter, or a wall to shield us more + surely than the one we have? There is no strong city within reach, whence we + may draw fresh population [ +dêmos +] to turn the + scales in our favor. We are on the plain of the armed Trojans with the sea + [ +pontos +] behind us, and far from our own + country. Our salvation, therefore, is in the might of our hands and in hard + fighting." +As he spoke he wielded his spear with still + greater fury, and when any Trojan made towards the ships with fire to win favor + [ +kharis +] with Hektor, he would be on the + look-out for him, and drive at him with his long spear. Twelve men did he thus + kill in hand-to-hand fight before the ships. +Thus did they fight about the ship of + Protesilaos. Then Patroklos drew near to Achilles with tears welling from his + eyes, as from some spring whose crystal stream falls over the ledges of a high + precipice. When Achilles saw him thus weeping he was sorry for him and said, + "Why, Patroklos, do you stand there weeping like some silly child that comes + running to her mother, and begs to be taken up and carried- she catches hold of + her mother's dress to stay her though she is in a hurry, and looks tearfully up + until her mother carries her - even such tears, Patroklos, are you now + shedding. Have you anything to say to the Myrmidons or to myself? or have you + had news from +Phthia + which you + alone know? They tell me Menoitios son of Aktor is still alive, as also Peleus + son of Aiakos, among the Myrmidons - men whose loss we two should bitterly + deplore; or are you grieving about the Argives and the way in which they are + being killed at the ships, through their own high-handed doings? Do not hide in + your mind [ +noos +] anything from me but tell me that + both of us may know about it." +Then, O horseman Patroklos, with a deep sigh you + answered, "Achilles, son of Peleus, foremost champion of the Achaeans, do not + be angry, but I feel grief [ +akhos +] for the disaster + that has now befallen the Argives. All those who have been their champions so + far are lying at the ships, wounded by sword or spear. Brave Diomedes son of + Tydeus has been hit with a spear, while famed Odysseus and Agamemnon have + received sword-wounds; +Eurypylos again has been struck with an arrow in + the thigh; skilled apothecaries are attending to these heroes, and healing them + of their wounds; are you still, O Achilles, so inexorable? May it never be my + lot to nurse such a passion as you have done, to the baning of your own good + name. Who in future story will speak well of you unless you now save the + Argives from ruin? You know no pity; horseman Peleus was not your father nor + Thetis your mother, but the gray sea bore you and the sheer cliffs begot you, + so cruel and remorseless are you in your thinking [ +noos +]. If however you are kept back through knowledge of some + oracle, or if your mother Thetis has told you something from the mouth of Zeus, + at least send me and the Myrmidons with me, if I may bring deliverance to the + Danaans. Let me moreover wear your armor; the Trojans may thus mistake me for + you and quit the field, so that the hard-pressed sons of the Achaeans may have + breathing time- which while they are fighting may hardly be. We who are fresh + might soon drive tired men back from our ships and tents to their own city." +He knew not what he was asking, nor that he was + suing for his own destruction. Achilles was deeply moved and answered, "What, + noble Patroklos, are you saying? I know no prophesyings which I am heeding, nor + has my mother told me anything from the mouth of Zeus, but I am cut to the very + heart with grief [ +akhos +] that one of my own rank + should dare to rob me because he is more powerful than I am. This grief [ +akhos +], after all that I have gone through, is more + than I can endure. The girl whom the sons of the Achaeans chose for me, whom I + won as the fruit of my spear on having sacked a city - her has King Agamemnon + taken from me as though I were some common vagrant. Still, let bygones be + bygones: no man may keep his anger for ever; I said I would not relent till + battle and the cry of war had reached my own ships; nevertheless, now gird my + armor about your shoulders, and lead the Myrmidons to battle, for the dark + cloud of Trojans has burst furiously over our fleet; +the Argives are driven back on to the beach, + cooped within a narrow space, and the whole people of +Troy + has taken heart to sally out against + them, because they see not the visor of my helmet gleaming near them. Had they + seen this, there would not have been a creek nor grip that had not been filled + with their dead as they fled back again. And so it would have been, if only + King Agamemnon had dealt fairly by me. As it is the Trojans have beset our + host. Diomedes son of Tydeus no longer wields his spear to defend the Danaans, + neither have I heard the voice of the son of Atreus coming from his hated + [ +ekhthrê +] head, whereas that of murderous Hektor + rings in my cars as he gives orders to the Trojans, who triumph over the + Achaeans and fill the whole plain with their cry of battle. But even so, + Patroklos, fall upon them and save the fleet, lest the Trojans fire it and + deprive us of our safe homecoming [ +nostos +]. Bring + to fulfillment [ +telos +] what I now order you to do, + so that you may win me great honor [ +timê +] from all + the Danaans, and that they may restore the girl to me again and give me rich + gifts into the bargain. When you have driven the Trojans from the ships, come + back again. Though Hera's thundering husband should put triumph within your + reach, do not fight the Trojans further in my absence, or you will rob me of + glory that should be mine. And do not for lust of battle go on killing the + Trojans nor lead the Achaeans on to +Ilion +, lest one of the ever-living gods from +Olympus + attack you - for Phoebus Apollo loves + them well: return when you have freed the ships from peril, and let others wage + war upon the plain. Would, by father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo, that not a + single man of all the Trojans might be left alive, nor yet of the Argives, but + that we two might be alone left to tear aside the mantle that veils the brow of + +Troy +." +Thus did they converse. But Ajax could no + longer hold his ground for the shower of darts that rained upon him; the will + [ +noos +] of Zeus and the javelins of the Trojans + were too much for him; the helmet that gleamed about his temples rang with the + continuous clatter of the missiles that kept pouring on to it and on to the + cheek-pieces that protected his face. Moreover his left shoulder was tired with + having held his shield so long, yet for all this, let fly at him as they would, + they could not make him give ground. He could hardly draw his breath, the sweat + rained from every pore of his body, he had not a moment's respite, and on all + sides he was beset by danger upon danger. +And now, tell me, O Muses that hold your + mansions on +Olympus +, how fire was + thrown upon the ships of the Achaeans. Hektor came close up and let drive with + his great sword at the ashen spear of Ajax. He cut it clean in two just behind + where the point was fastened on to the shaft of the spear. Ajax, therefore, had + now nothing but a headless spear, while the bronze point flew some way off and + came ringing down on to the ground. Ajax knew the hand of heaven in this, and + was dismayed at seeing that Zeus had now left him utterly defenseless and was + willing victory for the Trojans. Therefore he drew back, and the Trojans flung + fire upon the ship which was at once wrapped in flame. +The fire was now flaring about the ship's + stern, whereon Achilles smote his two thighs and said to Patroklos, "Up, noble + horseman, for I see the glare of hostile fire at our fleet; up, lest they + destroy our ships, and there be no way by which we may retreat. Gird on your + armor at once while I call our people together." +As he spoke Patroklos put on his armor. First + he greaved his legs with greaves of good make, and fitted with ankle-clasps of + silver; after this he donned the cuirass of the son of Aiakos, richly inlaid + and studded. He hung his silver-studded sword of bronze about his shoulders, + and then his mighty shield. On his comely head he set his helmet, well wrought, + with a crest of horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it. He grasped two + redoubtable spears that suited his hands, but he did not take the spear of + noble Achilles, so stout and strong, +for none other of the Achaeans could wield it, + though Achilles could do so easily. This was the ashen spear from Mount Pelion, + which Chiron had cut upon a mountain top and had given to Peleus, wherewith to + deal out death among heroes. He bade Automedon yoke his horses with all speed, + for he was the man whom he held in honor next after Achilles, and on whose + support in battle he could rely most firmly. Automedon therefore yoked the + fleet horses +Xanthos + and Balios, + steeds that could fly like the wind: these were they whom the harpy Podarge + bore to the west wind, as she was grazing in a meadow by the waters of the + river Okeanos. In the side traces he set the noble horse Pedasos, whom Achilles + had brought away with him when he sacked the city of Eetion, and who, mortal + steed though he was, could take his place along with those that were immortal. +Meanwhile Achilles went about everywhere among + the tents, and bade his Myrmidons put on their armor. Even as fierce ravening + wolves that are feasting upon a horned stag which they have killed upon the + mountains, and their jaws are red with blood - they go in a pack to lap water + from the clear spring with their long thin tongues; and they reek of blood and + slaughter; they know not what fear is, for it is hunger drives them - even so + did the leaders and counselors of the Myrmidons gather round the good squire + [ +therapôn +] of the fleet descendant of Aiakos, + and among them stood Achilles himself cheering on both men and horses. +Fifty ships had noble Achilles brought to + +Troy +, and in each there was a crew + of fifty oarsmen. Over these he set five leaders whom he could trust, while he + was himself commander over them all. Menesthios of the gleaming corselet, son + to the river Spercheios that streams from heaven, was leader of the first + company. Fair Polydora daughter of Peleus bore him to ever-flowing Spercheios - + a woman mated with a god - but he was called son of Boros son of Perieres, with + whom his mother was living as his wedded wife, and who gave great wealth to + gain her. +The second company was led by noble Eudoros, + son to an unwedded woman. Polymele, daughter of Phylas, graceful in dancing + [ +khoros +], bore him; the mighty slayer of + +Argos + was enamored of her as he + saw her among the singing women at a dance [ +khoros +] + held in honor of Artemis the rushing huntress of the golden arrows; he + therefore - Hermes, giver of all good - went with her into an upper chamber, + and lay with her in secret, whereon she bore him a noble son Eudoros, + singularly fleet of foot and in fight valiant. When Eileithuia goddess of the + pains of child-birth brought him to the light of day, and he saw the face of + the sun, mighty Echekles son of Aktor took the mother to wife, and gave great + wealth to gain her, but her father Phylas brought the child up, and took care + of him, doting as fondly upon him as though he were his own son. The third + company was led by Peisandros son of Maimalos, the finest spearman among all + the Myrmidons next to Achilles' own comrade Patroklos. The old horseman Phoenix + was leader of the fourth company, and Alkimedon, noble son of Laerceus of the + fifth. +When Achilles had chosen [ +krinô +] his men and had stationed them all with their leaders, he + charged them straitly saying, "Myrmidons, remember your threats against the + Trojans while you were at the ships in the time of my anger, and you were all + complaining of me. ‘Cruel son of Peleus,’ you would say, ‘your mother must have + suckled you on gall, so ruthless are you. You keep us here at the ships against + our will; if you are so relentless it were better we went home over the sea.’ + Often have you gathered and thus chided with me. The hour is now come for those + high feats of arms that you have so long been pining for, therefore keep high + hearts each one of you to do battle with the Trojans." +With these words he put heart and soul into + them all, and they serried their companies yet more closely when they heard the + of their king. As the stones which a builder sets in the wall of some high + house which is to give shelter from the winds - even so closely were the + helmets and bossed shields set against one another. Shield pressed on shield, + helm on helm, and man on man; so close were they that the horse-hair plumes on + the gleaming ridges of their helmets touched each other as they bent their + heads. +In front of them all two men put on their armor + - Patroklos and Automedon - two men, with but one mind to lead the Myrmidons. + Then Achilles went inside his tent and opened the lid of the strong chest which + silver-footed Thetis had given him to take on board ship, and which she had + filled with shirts, cloaks to keep out the cold, and good thick rugs. In this + chest he had a cup of rare workmanship, from which no man but himself might + drink, nor would he make offering from it to any other god save only to father + Zeus. He took the cup from the chest and cleansed it with sulfur; this done he + rinsed it clean water, and after he had washed his hands he drew wine. Then he + stood in the middle of the court and prayed, looking towards heaven, and making + his drink-offering of wine; nor was he unseen of Zeus whose joy is in thunder. + "King Zeus," he cried, "lord of +Dodona +, god of the Pelasgi, you who dwell afar, you who hold + wintry +Dodona + in your sway, where + your seers the Selloi dwell around you with their feet unwashed and their + couches made upon the ground - if you heard me when I prayed to you aforetime, + and did me honor while you sent disaster on the Achaeans, grant me now the + fulfillment of yet this further prayer. I shall stay here where my assembly + [ +agôn +] of ships are lying, but I shall send my + comrade into battle at the head of many Myrmidons. Grant, O all-seeing Zeus, + that victory may go with him; put your courage into his heart that Hektor may + learn whether my squire [ +therapôn +] is man enough to + fight alone, or whether his might is only then so indomitable when I myself + enter the turmoil of war. Afterwards when he has chased the fight and the cry + of battle from the ships, grant that he may return unharmed, with his armor and + his comrades, fighters in close combat." +Thus did he pray, and all-counseling Zeus heard + his prayer. Part of it he did indeed grant him - but not the whole. He granted + that Patroklos should thrust back war and battle from the ships, but refused to + let him come safely out of the fight. +When he had made his drink-offering and had + thus prayed, Achilles went inside his tent and put back the cup into his chest. +Then he again came out, for he still loved to + look upon the fierce fight that raged between the Trojans and Achaeans. +Meanwhile the armed band that was about + Patroklos marched on till they sprang high in hope upon the Trojans. They came + swarming out like wasps whose nests are by the roadside, and whom silly + children love to tease, whereon any one who happens to be passing may get stung + - or again, if a wayfarer going along the road vexes them by accident, every + wasp will come flying out in a fury to defend his little ones- even with such + rage and courage did the Myrmidons swarm from their ships, and their cry of + battle rose heavenwards. Patroklos called out to his men at the top of his + voice, "Myrmidons, followers of Achilles son of Peleus, be men my friends, + fight with might and with main, that we may win glory for the son of Peleus, + who is far the foremost man at the ships of the Argives - he, and his close + fighting followers [therapontes]. The son of Atreus King Agamemnon will thus + recognize his derangement [ +atê +] in showing no + respect to the bravest of the Achaeans." +With these words he put heart and soul into + them all, and they fell in a body upon the Trojans. The ships rang again with + the cry which the Achaeans raised, and when the Trojans saw the brave son of + Menoitios and his squire [ +therapôn +] all gleaming in + their armor, they were daunted and their battalions were thrown into confusion, + for they thought the fleet son of Peleus must now have put aside his anger, and + have been reconciled to Agamemnon; every one, therefore, looked round about to + see whither he might flee for safety. +Patroklos first aimed a spear into the middle + of the press where men were packed most closely, by the stern of the ship of + Protesilaos. He hit Pyraikhmes who had led his Paeonian horsemen from the + +Amydon + and the broad waters of + the river +Axios +; the spear struck him + on the right shoulder, and with a groan he fell backwards in the dust; on this + his men were thrown into confusion, for by killing their leader, who was the + finest warrior among them, Patroklos struck panic into them all. He thus drove + them from the ship and quenched the fire that was then blazing - leaving the + half-burnt ship to lie where it was. The Trojans were now driven back with a + shout that rent the skies, while the Danaans poured after them from their + ships, shouting also without ceasing. As when Zeus, gatherer of the + thunder-cloud, spreads a dense canopy on the top of some lofty mountain, and + all the peaks, the jutting headlands, and forest glades show out in the great + light that flashes from the bursting heavens, even so when the Danaans had now + driven back the fire from their ships, they took breath for a little while; but + the fury of the fight was not yet over, for the Trojans were not driven back in + utter rout, but still gave battle, and were ousted from their ground only by + sheer fighting. +The fight then became more scattered, and the + chieftains killed one another when and how they could. The valiant son of + Menoitios first drove his spear into the thigh of Areilykos just as he was + turning round; the point went clean through, and broke the bone so that he fell + forward. Meanwhile Menelaos struck Thoas in the chest, where it was exposed + near the rim of his shield, and he fell dead. The son of Phyleus saw Amphiklos + about to attack him, and ere he could do so took aim at the upper part of his + thigh, where the muscles are thicker than in any other part; the spear tore + through all the sinews of the leg, and his eyes were closed in darkness. +Of the sons of Nestor one, Antilokhos, speared + Atymnios, driving the point of the spear through his throat, and down he fell. + Maris then sprang on Antilokhos in hand-to-hand fight to avenge his brother, + and bestrode the body spear in hand; but valiant Thrasymedes was too quick for + him, and in a moment had struck him in the shoulder ere he could deal his blow; + his aim was true, and the spear severed all the muscles at the root of his arm, + and tore them right down to the bone, so he fell heavily to the ground and his + eyes were closed in darkness. Thus did these two noble comrades of Sarpedon go + down to Erebos slain by the two sons of Nestor; they were the warrior sons of + Amisodoros, who had reared the invincible Chimaera, to the bane of many. Ajax + son of Oileus sprang on Kleoboulos and took him alive as he was entangled in + the crush; but he killed him then and there by a sword-blow on the neck. The + sword reeked with his blood, while dark death and the strong hand of fate + gripped him and closed his eyes. +Peneleos and Lykon now met in close fight, for + they had missed each other with their spears. They had both thrown without + effect, so now they drew their swords. Lykon struck the plumed crest of + Peneleos' helmet but his sword broke at the hilt, while Peneleos smote Lykon on + the neck under the ear. The blade sank so deep that the head was held on by + nothing but the skin, and there was no more life left in him. Meriones gave + chase to Akamas on foot and caught him up just as he was about to mount his + chariot; he drove a spear through his right shoulder so that he fell headlong + from the car, and his eyes were closed in darkness. Idomeneus speared Erymas in + the mouth; the bronze point of the spear went clean through it beneath the + brain, crashing in among the white bones and smashing them up. His teeth were + all of them knocked out and the blood came gushing in a stream from both his + eyes; it also came gurgling up from his mouth and nostrils, and the darkness of + death enfolded him round about. +Thus did these chieftains of the Danaans each + of them kill his man. As ravening wolves seize on kids or lambs, fastening on + them when they are alone on the hillsides and have strayed from the main flock + through the carelessness of the shepherd - and when the wolves see this they + pounce upon them at once because they cannot defend themselves- even so did the + Danaans now fall on the Trojans, who fled with ill-omened cries in their panic + and had no more fight left in them. +Meanwhile great Ajax kept on trying to drive a + spear into Hektor, but Hektor was so skillful that he held his broad shoulders + well under cover of his ox-hide shield, ever on the look-out for the whizzing + of the arrows and the heavy thud of the spears. He well knew that the fortunes + of the day had changed, but still stood his ground and tried to protect his + comrades. +As when a cloud goes up into heaven from + +Olympus +, rising out of a clear sky + when Zeus is brewing a gale - even with such panic stricken rout did the + Trojans now flee, and there was no order in their going. Hektor's fleet horses + bore him and his armor out of the fight, and he left the Trojan host penned in + by the deep trench against their will. Many a yoke of horses snapped the pole + of their chariots in the trench and left their master's car behind them. + Patroklos gave chase, calling impetuously on the Danaans and full of fury + against the Trojans, who, being now no longer in a body, filled all the ways + with their cries of panic and rout; the air was darkened with the clouds of + dust they raised, and the horses strained every nerve in their flight from the + tents and ships towards the city. +Patroklos kept on heading his horses wherever + he saw most men fleeing in confusion, cheering on his men the while. Chariots + were being smashed in all directions, and many a man came tumbling down from + his own car to fall beneath the wheels of that of Patroklos, whose immortal + steeds, given by the gods to Peleus, sprang over the trench at a bound as they + sped onward. He was intent on trying to get near Hektor, for he had set his + heart on spearing him, but Hektor's horses were now hurrying him away. As the + whole dark earth bows before some tempest on an autumn day when Zeus rains his + hardest to punish men for judging [ +krinô +] crookedly + in their courts, and arriving justice there from without heed to the decrees + [ +themistes +] of heaven - all the rivers run full + and the torrents tear many a new channel as they roar headlong from the + mountains to the dark sea, and it fares ill with the works of men - even such + was the stress and strain of the Trojan horses in their flight. +Patroklos now cut off the battalions that were + nearest to him and drove them back to the ships. They were doing their best to + reach the city, but he would not let them, and bore down on them between the + river and the ships and wall. Many a fallen comrade did he then avenge. First + he hit Pronoos with a spear on the chest where it was exposed near the rim of + his shield, and he fell heavily to the ground. Next he sprang on Thestor son of + Enops, who was sitting all huddled up in his chariot, for he had lost his head + and the reins had been torn out of his hands. Patroklos went up to him and + drove a spear into his right jaw; he thus hooked him by the teeth and the spear + pulled him over the rim of his car, as one who sits at the end of some jutting + rock and draws a strong fish out of the sea [ +pontos +] with a hook and a line - even so with his spear did he pull + Thestor all gaping from his chariot; he then threw him down on his face and he + died while falling. On this, as Erylaos was on to attack him, he struck him + full on the head with a stone, and his brains were all battered inside his + helmet, whereon he fell headlong to the ground and the pangs of death took hold + upon him. Then he laid low, one after the other, Erymas, Amphoteros, Epaltes, + Tlepolemos, Echios son of Damastor, Pyris, Ipheus, Euippos and Polymelos son of + Argeas. +Now when Sarpedon saw his comrades, men who + wore unbelted tunics, being overcome by Patroklos son of Menoitios, he rebuked + the Lycians saying. "Shame [ +aidôs +] on you, where + are you fleeing to? Show your mettle; I will myself meet this man in fight and + learn who it is that is so masterful; he has done us much hurt, and has + stretched many a brave man upon the ground." +He sprang from his chariot as he spoke, and + Patroklos, when he saw this, leaped on to the ground also. The two then rushed + at one another with loud cries like eagle-beaked crook-taloned vultures that + scream and tear at one another in some high mountain fastness. +The son of scheming Kronos looked down upon + them in pity and said to Hera who was his wife and sister, "Alas, that it + should be the lot of Sarpedon whom I love so dearly to perish by the hand of + Patroklos. I am in two minds whether to catch him up out of the fight and set + him down safe and sound in the fertile district [ +dêmos +] of +Lycia +, or to let + him now fall by the hand of the son of Menoitios." +And Hera answered, "Most dread son of Kronos, + what is this that you are saying? Would you snatch a mortal man, whose doom has + long been fated, out of the jaws of death? Do as you will, but we shall not all + of us be of your mind. I say further, and lay my saying to your heart, that if + you send Sarpedon safely to his own home, some other of the gods will be also + wanting to escort his son out of battle, for there are many sons of gods + fighting round the city of +Troy +, and + you will make every one jealous. If, however, you are fond of him and pity him, + let him indeed fall by the hand of Patroklos, but as soon as the life [ +psukhê +] is gone out of him, send Death and sweet Sleep + to bear him off the field and take him to the broad district [ +dêmos +] of +Lycia +, where his brothers and his kinsmen will bury him with + mound and pillar, in due honor to the dead." +The sire of gods and men assented, but he shed + a rain of blood upon the earth in honor [ +timê +] of + his son whom Patroklos was about to kill on the fertile plain of +Troy + far from his home. +When they were now come close to one another + Patroklos struck Thrasydemos, the brave squire [ +therapôn +] of Sarpedon, in the lower part of the belly, and killed + him. Sarpedon then aimed a spear at Patroklos and missed him, but he struck the + horse Pedasos in the right shoulder, and it screamed aloud as it lay, groaning + in the dust until the life went out of it. The other two horses began to + plunge; the pole of the chariot cracked and they got entangled in the reins + through the fall of the horse that was yoked along with them; but Automedon + knew what to do; without the loss of a moment he drew the keen blade that hung + by his sturdy thigh and cut the third horse adrift; whereon the other two + righted themselves, and pulling hard at the reins again went together into + battle. +Sarpedon now took a second aim at Patroklos, + and again missed him, the point of the spear passed over his left shoulder + without hitting him. Patroklos then aimed in his turn, and the spear sped not + from his hand in vain, for he hit Sarpedon just where the midriff surrounds the + ever-beating heart. He fell like some oak or silver poplar or tall pine to + which woodmen have laid their axes upon the mountains to make timber for + ship-building - even so did he lie stretched at full length in front of his + chariot and horses, moaning and clutching at the blood-stained dust. As when a + lion springs with a bound upon a herd of cattle and fastens on a great black + bull which dies bellowing in its clutches - even so did the leader of the + Lycian warriors struggle in death as he fell by the hand of Patroklos. He + called on his trusty comrade and said, "Glaukos, my brother, hero among heroes, + put forth all your strength, fight with might and main, now if ever quit + yourself like a valiant warrior. First go about among the Lycian leaders and + bid them fight for Sarpedon; then yourself also do battle to save my armor from + being taken. My name will haunt you henceforth and for ever if the Achaeans rob + me of my armor now that I have fallen near the assembly [ +agôn +] of their ships. Do your very utmost and call all my people + together." +The outcome [ +telos +] + of death closed his eyes as he spoke. Patroklos planted his heel on his breast + and drew the spear from his body, whereon his diaphragm came out along with it, + and he drew out both spear-point and Sarpedon's life-breath [ +psukhê +] at the same time. Hard by the Myrmidons held + his snorting steeds, who were wild with panic at finding themselves deserted by + their lords. Glaukos was overcome with grief [ +akhos +] when he heard what Sarpedon said, for he could not help him. He + had to support his arm with his other hand, being in great pain through the + wound which Teucer's arrow had given him when Teucer was defending the wall as + he, Glaukos, was assailing it. Therefore he prayed to far-darting Apollo + saying, "Hear me O king from your seat, may be in the fertile district [ +dêmos +] of +Lycia +, or may be in +Troy +, for in all places you can hear the prayer of one who is + in distress, as I now am. I have a grievous wound; my hand is aching with pain, + there is no staunching the blood, and my whole arm drags by reason of my hurt, + so that I cannot grasp my sword nor go among my foes and fight them, though our + prince, Zeus' son Sarpedon, is slain. Zeus defended not his son, do you, + therefore, O king, heal me of my wound, ease my pain and grant me strength both + to cheer on the Lycians and to fight along with them round the body of him who + has fallen." +Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. + He eased his pain, staunched the black blood from the wound, and gave him new + strength. Glaukos perceived this, and was thankful that the mighty god had + answered his prayer; forthwith, therefore, he went among the Lycian leaders, + and bade them come to fight about the body of Sarpedon. From these he strode on + among the Trojans to Polydamas son of Panthoos and Agenor; he then went in + search of Aeneas and Hektor, and when he had found them he said, "Hektor, you + have utterly forgotten your allies, who languish here for your sake far from + friends and home while you do nothing to support them. +Sarpedon leader of the Lycian warriors has + fallen - he who was at once the right and might of +Lycia +; Ares has laid him low by the spear of Patroklos. Stand + by him, my friends, and suffer not the Myrmidons to strip him of his armor, nor + to treat his body with contumely in revenge for all the Danaans whom we have + speared at the ships." +As he spoke the Trojans were plunged in extreme + and ungovernable grief [ +penthos +]; for Sarpedon, + alien though he was, had been one of the main stays of their city, both as + having many people with him, and himself the foremost among them all. Led by + Hektor, who was infuriated by the fall of Sarpedon, they made instantly for the + Danaans with all their might, while the undaunted spirit of Patroklos son of + Menoitios cheered on the Achaeans. First he spoke to the two Ajaxes, men who + needed no bidding. "Ajaxes," said he, "may it now please you to show yourselves + the men you have always been, or even better- Sarpedon is fallen - he who was + first to overleap the wall of the Achaeans; let us take the body and outrage + it; let us strip the armor from his shoulders, and kill his comrades if they + try to rescue his body." +He spoke to men who of themselves were full + eager; both sides, therefore, the Trojans and Lycians on the one hand, and the + Myrmidons and Achaeans on the other, strengthened their battalions, and fought + desperately about the body of Sarpedon, shouting fiercely the while. Mighty was + the din of their armor as they came together, and Zeus shed a thick darkness + over the fight, to increase the ordeal [ +ponos +] of + the battle over the body of his son. +At first the Trojans made some headway against + the Achaeans, for one of the best men among the Myrmidons was killed, Epeigeus, + son of noble Agakles who had erewhile been king in the good city of Boudeion; + but presently, having killed a valiant kinsman of his own, he took refuge with + Peleus and Thetis, who sent him to +Ilion + the land of noble steeds to fight the Trojans under + Achilles. Hektor now struck him on the head with a stone just as he had caught + hold of the body, +and his brains inside his helmet were all + battered in, so that he fell face foremost upon the body of Sarpedon, and there + died. Patroklos was enraged with grief [ +akhos +] over + by the death of his comrade, and sped through the front ranks as swiftly as a + hawk that swoops down on a flock of daws or starlings. Even so swiftly, O noble + horseman Patroklos, did you make straight for the Lycians and Trojans to avenge + your comrade. Forthwith he struck Sthenelaos the son of Ithaimenes on the neck + with a stone, and broke the tendons that join it to the head and spine. On this + Hektor and the front rank of his men gave ground. As far as a man can throw a + javelin in competition [ +athlos +] for some prize, or + even in battle - so far did the Trojans now retreat before the Achaeans. + Glaukos, leader of the Lycians, was the first to rally them, by killing + Bathykles son of Khalkon who lived in +Hellas + and was supreme in wealth [ +olbos +] among the Myrmidons. Glaukos turned round suddenly, just as + Bathykles who was pursuing him was about to lay hold of him, and drove his + spear right into the middle of his chest, whereon he fell heavily to the + ground, and the fall of so good a man filled the Achaeans with dismay [ +akhos +], while the Trojans were exultant, and came up + in a body round the corpse. Nevertheless the Achaeans, mindful of their + prowess, bore straight down upon them. +Meriones then killed a helmed warrior of the + Trojans, Laogonos son of Onetor, who was priest of Zeus of +Mount Ida +, and was honored in the district + [ +dêmos +] as though he were a god. Meriones struck + him under the jaw and ear, so that life went out of him and the darkness of + death laid hold upon him. Aeneas then aimed a spear at Meriones, hoping to hit + him under the shield as he was advancing, but Meriones saw it coming and + stooped forward to avoid it, whereon the spear flew past him and the point + stuck in the ground, while the butt-end went on quivering till Ares robbed it + of its force. The spear, therefore, sped from Aeneas' hand in vain and fell + quivering to the ground. Aeneas was angry and said, "Meriones, you are a good + dancer, but if I had hit you my spear would soon have made an end of you." +And Meriones answered, "Aeneas, for all your + bravery, you will not be able to make an end of every one who comes against + you. You are only a mortal like myself, and if I were to hit you in the middle + of your shield with my spear, however strong and self-confident you may be, I + should soon vanquish you, and you would yield your life-breath [ +psukhê +] to Hades of the noble steeds." +On this the son of Menoitios rebuked him and + said, "Meriones, hero though you be, you should not speak thus; taunting + speeches, my good friend, will not make the Trojans draw away from the dead + body; some of them must go under ground first; the outcome [ +telos +] of battle is in the force of hands, while the + outcome of deliberation is words; fight, therefore, and say nothing." +He led the way as he spoke and the hero went + forward with him. As the sound of woodcutters in some forest glade upon the + mountains- and the thud of their axes is heard afar - even such a din now rose + from earth-clash of bronze armor and of good ox-hide shields, as men smote each + other with their swords and spears pointed at both ends. A man had need of good + eyesight now to know Sarpedon, so covered was he from head to foot with spears + and blood and dust. Men swarmed about the body, as flies that buzz round the + full milk-pails in the season [ +hôra +] of spring when + they are brimming with milk - even so did they gather round Sarpedon; nor did + Zeus turn his keen eyes away for one moment from the fight, but kept looking at + it all the time, for he was settling how best to kill Patroklos, and + considering whether Hektor should be allowed to end him now in the fight round + the body of Sarpedon, and strip him of his armor, or whether he should let him + give yet further trouble [ +ponos +] to the Trojans. In + the end, he deemed it best that the brave squire [ +therapôn +] of Achilles son of Peleus should drive Hektor and the + Trojans back towards the city and take the lives of many. First, therefore, he + made Hektor turn fainthearted, whereon he mounted his chariot and fled, bidding + the other Trojans flee also, +for he saw that the scales of Zeus had turned + against him. Neither would the brave Lycians stand firm; they were dismayed + when they saw their king lying struck to the heart amid a heap of corpses - for + when the son of Kronos made the fight wax hot many had fallen above him. The + Achaeans, therefore stripped the gleaming armor from his shoulders and the + brave son of Menoitios gave it to his men to take to the ships. Then Zeus lord + of the storm-cloud said to Apollo, "Dear Phoebus, go, I pray you, and take + Sarpedon out of range of the weapons; cleanse the black blood from off him, and + then bear him a long way off where you may wash him in the river, anoint him + with ambrosia, and clothe him in immortal raiment; this done, commit him to the + arms of the two fleet messengers, Death, and Sleep, who will carry him + straightway to the fertile district [ +dêmos +] of + +Lycia +, where his brothers and + kinsmen will give him a funeral, and will raise both mound and pillar to his + memory, in due honor to the dead." +Thus he spoke. Apollo obeyed his father's + saying, and came down from the heights of Ida into the thick of the fight; + forthwith he took Sarpedon out of range of the weapons, and then bore him a + long way off, where he washed him in the river, anointed him with ambrosia and + clothed him in immortal raiment; this done, he committed him to the arms of the + two fleet messengers, Death and Sleep, who presently set him down in the + fertile district [ +dêmos +] of +Lycia +. +Meanwhile Patroklos, with many a shout to his + horses and to Automedon, pursued the Trojans and Lycians in the pride and + foolishness of his heart. Had he but obeyed the bidding of the son of Peleus, + he would have, escaped death and have been scatheless; but the counsels [ +noos +] of Zeus pass man's understanding; he will put + even a brave man to flight and snatch victory from his grasp, or again he will + set him on to fight, as he now did when he put a high spirit into the heart of + Patroklos. +Who then first, and who last, was slain by you, + O Patroklos, when the gods had now called you to meet your doom? First + Adrastos, Autonoos, Echeklos, Perimos the son of Megas, Epistor and Melanippos; + after these he killed Elasus, Moulios, and Pylartes. These he slew, but the + rest saved themselves by flight. +The sons of the Achaeans would now have taken + +Troy + by the hands of Patroklos, + for his spear flew in all directions, had not Phoebus Apollo taken his stand + upon the wall to defeat his purpose and to aid the Trojans. Thrice did + Patroklos charge at an angle of the high wall, and thrice did Apollo beat him + back, striking his shield with his own immortal hands. When Patroklos was + coming on like a +daimôn + for yet a fourth time, + Apollo shouted to him with an awful voice and said, "Draw back, noble + Patroklos, it is not your lot to sack the city of the Trojan chieftains, nor + yet will it be that of Achilles who is a far better man than you are." On + hearing this, Patroklos withdrew to some distance and avoided the anger [ +mênis +] of Apollo. +Meanwhile Hektor was waiting with his horses + inside the Scaean gates, in doubt whether to drive out again and go on + fighting, or to call the army inside the gates. As he was thus doubting Phoebus + Apollo drew near him in the likeness of a young and lusty warrior Asios, who + was Hektor's uncle, being own brother to Hecuba, and son of Dymas who lived in + +Phrygia + by the waters of the river + Sangarios; in his likeness Zeus' son Apollo now spoke to Hektor saying, + "Hektor, why have you left off fighting? It is ill done of you. If I were as + much better a man than you, as I am worse, you should soon rue your slackness. + Drive straight towards Patroklos, if so be that Apollo may grant you a triumph + over him, and you may kill him." +With this the god went back into the struggle + [ +ponos +], and Hektor bade Kebriones drive again + into the fight. Apollo passed in among them, and struck panic into the Argives, + while he gave triumph to Hektor and the Trojans. Hektor let the other Danaans + alone and killed no man, but drove straight at Patroklos. Patroklos then sprang + from his chariot to the ground, +with a spear in his left hand, and in his right + a jagged stone as large as his hand could hold. He stood still and threw it, + nor did it go far without hitting some one; the cast was not in vain, for the + stone struck Kebriones, Hektor's charioteer, a bastard son of Priam, as he held + the reins in his hands. The stone hit him on the forehead and drove his brows + into his head for the bone was smashed, and his eyes fell to the ground at his + feet. He dropped dead from his chariot as though he were diving, and there was + no more life left in him. Over him did you then vaunt, O horseman Patroklos, + saying, "Bless my heart, how active he is, and how well he dives. If we had + been at sea [ +pontos +] this man would have dived from + the ship's side and brought up as many oysters as the whole crew could stomach, + even in rough water, for he has dived beautifully off his chariot on to the + ground. It seems, then, that there are divers also among the Trojans." +As he spoke he flung himself on Kebriones with + the spring, as it were, of a lion that while attacking a stockyard is himself + struck in the chest, and his courage is his own bane - even so furiously, O + Patroklos, did you then spring upon Kebriones. Hektor sprang also from his + chariot to the ground. The pair then fought over the body of Kebriones. As two + lions fight fiercely on some high mountain over the body of a stag that they + have killed, even so did these two mighty warriors, Patroklos son of Menoitios + and brave Hektor, hack and hew at one another over the corpse of Kebriones. + Hektor would not let him go when he had once got him by the head, while + Patroklos kept fast hold of his feet, and a fierce fight raged between the + other Danaans and Trojans. As the east and south wind buffet one another when + they beat upon some dense forest on the mountains - there is beech and ash and + spreading cornel; the to of the trees roar as they beat on one another, and one + can hear the boughs cracking and breaking - +even so did the Trojans and Achaeans spring + upon one another and lay about each other, and neither side would give way. + Many a pointed spear fell to ground and many a winged arrow sped from its + bow-string about the body of Kebriones; many a great stone, moreover, beat on + many a shield as they fought around his body, but there he lay in the whirling + clouds of dust, all huge and hugely, heedless of his driving now. +So long as the sun was still high in mid-heaven + the weapons of either side were alike deadly, and the people fell; but when he + went down towards the time when men loose their oxen, the Achaeans proved to be + beyond all forecast stronger, so that they drew Kebriones out of range of the + darts and tumult of the Trojans, and stripped the armor from his shoulders. + Then Patroklos sprang like Ares with fierce intent and a terrific shout upon + the Trojans, and thrice did he kill nine men; but as he was coming on like a + +daimôn + for a time, at that moment, O Patroklos, + was your doom approaching, for Phoebus fought you in fell earnest. Patroklos + did not see him as he moved about in the crush, for he was enshrouded in thick + darkness, and the god struck him from behind on his back and his broad + shoulders with the flat of his hand, so that his eyes turned dizzy. Phoebus + Apollo beat the helmet from off his head, and it rolled rattling off under the + horses' feet, where its horse-hair plumes were all begrimed with dust and + blood. Before this, it would not have been right [ +themis +] for this to happen. For before, this helmet had served to + protect the head and comely forehead of the godlike hero Achilles. Now, + however, Zeus delivered it over to be worn by Hektor. Nevertheless the end of + Hektor also was near. The bronze-shod spear, so great and so strong, was broken + in the hand of Patroklos, while his shield that covered him from head to foot + fell to the ground as did also the band that held it, and Apollo undid the + fastenings of his corselet. +At this his mind became clouded in derangement + [ +atê +]; his limbs failed him, and he stood as one + dazed; whereon Euphorbos son of Panthoos, a Dardanian, the best spearman of his + time, as also the finest horseman and fleetest runner, came behind him and + struck him in the back with a spear, midway between the shoulders. This man as + soon as ever he had come up with his chariot had dismounted twenty men, so + proficient was he in all the arts of war - he it was, O horseman Patroklos, + that first drove a weapon into you, but he did not quite overpower you. + Euphorbos then ran back into the crowd, after drawing his ashen spear out of + the wound; he would not stand firm and wait for Patroklos, unarmed though he + now was, to attack him; but Patroklos unnerved, alike by the blow the god had + given him and by the spear-wound, drew back under cover of his men in fear for + his life. Hektor on this, seeing him to be wounded and giving ground, forced + his way through the ranks, and when close up with him struck him in the lower + part of the belly with a spear, driving the bronze point right through it, so + that he fell heavily to the ground to the great of the Achaeans. As when a lion + has fought some fierce wild-boar and worsted him - the two fight furiously upon + the mountains over some little fountain at which they would both drink, and the + lion has beaten the boar till he can hardly breathe - even so did Hektor son of + Priam take the life of the brave son of Menoitios who had killed so many, + striking him from close at hand, and vaunting over him the while. "Patroklos," + said he, "you deemed that you should sack our city, rob our Trojan women of + their freedom, and carry them off in your ships to your own country. Fool; + Hektor and his fleet horses were ever straining their utmost to defend them. I + am foremost of all the Trojan warriors to stave the day of bondage from off + them; as for you, vultures shall devour you here. Poor wretch, Achilles with + all his bravery availed you nothing; and yet I ween when you left him he + charged you straitly saying, ‘Come not back to the ships, horseman Patroklos, + till you have rent the bloodstained shirt of murderous Hektor about his body. + Thus I ween did he charge you, and your fool's heart answered him ‘yea’ within + you." +Then, as the life ebbed out of you, you + answered, O horseman Patroklos: "Hektor, vaunt as you will, for Zeus the son of + Kronos and Apollo have granted you victory; it is they who have vanquished me + so easily, and they who have stripped the armor from my shoulders; had twenty + such men as you attacked me, all of them would have fallen before my spear. + Fate and the son of Leto have overpowered me, and among mortal men Euphorbos; + you are yourself third only in the killing of me. I say further, and lay my + saying to your heart, you too shall live but for a little season; death and the + day of your doom are close upon you, and they will lay you low by the hand of + Achilles son of Aiakos." When he had thus spoken his eyes were closed in the + doom [ +telos +] of death, his life-breath [ +psukhê +] left his body and flitted down to the house of + Hades, mourning its sad fate and bidding farewell to the youth and vigor of its + manhood. Dead though he was, Hektor still spoke to him saying, "Patroklos, why + should you thus foretell my doom? Who knows but Achilles, son of lovely Thetis, + may be smitten by my spear and die before me?" +As he spoke he drew the bronze spear from the + wound, planting his foot upon the body, which he thrust off and let lie on its + back. He then went spear in hand after Automedon, squire [ +therapôn +] of the fleet descendant of Aiakos, for he longed to lay + him low, but the immortal steeds which the gods had given as a rich gift to + Peleus bore him swiftly from the field. +Brave Menelaos son of Atreus now came to know + that Patroklos had fallen, and made his way through the front ranks clad in + full armor to bestride him. As a cow stands lowing over her first calf, even so + did yellow-haired Menelaos bestride Patroklos. He held his round shield and his + spear in front of him, resolute to kill any who should dare face him. But the + son of Panthoos had also noted the body, and came up to Menelaos saying, + "Menelaos, son of Atreus, draw back, leave the body, and let the bloodstained + spoils be. I was first of the Trojans and their brave allies to drive my spear + into Patroklos, let me, therefore, have my full glory [ +kleos +] among the Trojans, or I will take aim and kill you." +To this Menelaos answered in great anger "By + father Zeus, boasting is an ill thing. The pard is not more bold, nor the lion + nor savage wild-boar, which is fiercest and most dauntless of all creatures, + than are the proud sons of Panthoos. Yet Hyperenor did not see out the days of + his youth when he made light of me and withstood me, deeming me the meanest + warrior among the Danaans. His own feet never bore him back to gladden his wife + and parents. Even so shall I make an end of you too, if you withstand me; get + you back into the crowd and do not face me, or it shall be worse for you. Even + a fool may be wise after the event." +Euphorbos would not listen, and said, "Now + indeed, Menelaos, shall you pay for the death of my brother over whom you + vaunted, and whose wife you widowed in her bridal chamber, while you brought + grief [penthos] unspeakable on his parents. I shall comfort these poor people + if I bring your head and armor and place them in the hands of Panthoos and + noble Phrontis. The time is come when this matter shall be fought out in a + struggle [ +ponos +] and settled, for me or against + me." +As he spoke he struck Menelaos full on the + shield, but the spear did not go through, for the shield turned its point. + Menelaos then took aim, praying to father Zeus as he did so; Euphorbos was + drawing back, and Menelaos struck him about the roots of his throat, leaning + his whole weight on the spear, so as to drive it home. The point went clean + through his neck, and his armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to + the ground. His locks of hair, so deftly bound in bands of silver and gold, + were all bedrabbled with flecks of blood, which looked like myrtle-blossoms + [ +kharites +]. As one who has grown a fine young + olive tree in a clear space where there is abundance of water - the plant is + full of promise, and though the winds beat upon it from every quarter it puts + forth its white blossoms till the blasts of some fierce wind sweep down upon it + and level it with the ground - even so did Menelaos strip the fair youth + Euphorbos of his armor after he had slain him. Or as some fierce lion upon the + mountains in the pride of his strength fastens on the finest heifer in a herd + as it is feeding - first he breaks her neck with his strong jaws, and then + gorges on her blood and entrails; dogs and shepherds raise a hue and cry + against him, but they stand aloof and will not come close to him, for they are + pale with fear - even so no one had the courage to face valiant Menelaos. The + son of Atreus would have then carried off the armor of the son of Panthoos with + ease, had not Phoebus Apollo been angry, and in the guise of Mentes chief of + the Kikones incited Hektor to attack him. "Hektor," said he, "you are now going + after the horses of the noble son of Aiakos, but you will not take them; they + cannot be kept in hand and driven by mortal man, save only by Achilles, who is + son to an immortal mother. Meanwhile Menelaos son of Atreus has bestridden the + body of Patroklos and killed the noblest of the Trojans, Euphorbos son of + Panthoos, so that he can fight no more." +The god then went back into the toil [ +ponos +] and turmoil, but the soul of Hektor was + darkened with a cloud of grief [ +akhos +]; he looked + along the ranks and saw Euphorbos lying on the ground with the blood still + flowing from his wound, and Menelaos stripping him of his armor. On this he + made his way to the front like a flame of fire, clad in his gleaming armor, and + crying with a loud voice. When the son of Atreus heard him, he said to himself + in his dismay, "Alas! what shall I do? I may not let the Trojans take the armor + of Patroklos who has fallen fighting on my behalf, lest some Danaan who sees me + should cry shame upon me. Still if for the sake of my honor [ +timê +] I fight Hektor and the Trojans single-handed, + they will prove too many for me, for Hektor is bringing them up in force. Why, + however, should I thus hesitate? When a man, opposing the will of a +daimôn +, fights with one whom a god befriends, he will + soon rue it. Let no Danaan think ill of me if I give place to Hektor, for the + hand of heaven gives him honor [ +timê +]. Yet, if I + could find Ajax, the two of us would fight Hektor and any +daimôn + too, if we might only save the body of Patroklos for Achilles + son of Peleus. This, of many evils, would be the least." +While he was thus in two minds, the Trojans + came up to him with Hektor at their head; he therefore drew back and left the + body, turning about like some bearded lion who is being chased by dogs and men + from a stockyard with spears and hue and cry, whereon he is daunted and slinks + sulkily off - even so did Menelaos son of Atreus turn and leave the body of + Patroklos. When among the body of his men, he looked around for mighty Ajax son + of Telamon, and presently saw him on the extreme left of the fight, cheering on + his men and exhorting them to keep on fighting, +for Phoebus Apollo had spread a great panic + among them. He ran up to him and said, "Ajax, my good friend, come with me at + once to dead Patroklos, if so be that we may take the body to Achilles - as for + his armor, Hektor already has it." +These words stirred the heart of Ajax, and he + made his way among the front ranks, Menelaos going with him. Hektor had + stripped Patroklos of his armor, and was dragging him away to cut off his head + and take the body to fling before the dogs of +Troy +. But Ajax came up with his shield like wall before him, on + which Hektor withdrew under shelter of his men, and sprang on to his chariot, + giving the armor over to the Trojans to take to the city, as a great glory + [ +kleos +] for himself; Ajax, therefore, covered + the body of Patroklos with his broad shield and bestrode him; as a lion stands + over his whelps if hunters have come upon him in a forest when he is with his + little ones - in the pride and fierceness of his strength he draws his knit + brows down till they cover his eyes - even so did Ajax bestride the body of + Patroklos, and by his side stood Menelaos son of Atreus, nursing great sorrow + [penthos] in his heart. +Then Glaukos son of Hippolokhos looked fiercely + at Hektor and rebuked him sternly. "Hektor," said he, "you make a brave show, + but in fight you are sadly wanting. A runaway like yourself has no claim to so + great a glory [ +kleos +]. Think how you may now save + your town and citadel by the hands of your own people born in +Ilion +; for you will get no Lycians to fight + for you, seeing what thanks they have had for their incessant hardships. Are + you likely, sir, to do anything to help a man of less note, after leaving + Sarpedon, who was at once your guest and comrade in arms, to be the spoil and + prey of the Danaans? So long as he lived he did good service [ +kharis +] both to your city and yourself; yet you had no + stomach to save his body from the dogs. If the Lycians will listen to me, they + will go home and leave +Troy + to its + fate. If the Trojans had any of that daring fearless spirit which lays hold of + men who are engaging in the struggle [ +ponos +] for + their land and harassing those who would attack it, +we should soon bear off Patroklos into + +Ilion +. Could we get this dead man + away and bring him into the city of Priam, the Argives would readily give up + the armor of Sarpedon, and we should get his body to boot. For he whose squire + [ +therapôn +] has been now killed is the foremost + man at the ships of the Achaeans - he and his close-fighting followers [ +therapontes +]. Nevertheless you dared not make a stand + against Ajax, nor face him, eye to eye, with battle all round you, for he is a + braver man than you are." +Hektor scowled at him and answered, "Glaukos, + you should know better. I have held you so far as a man of more understanding + than any in all +Lycia +, but now I + despise you for saying that I am afraid of Ajax. I fear neither battle nor the + din of chariots, but Zeus' will [ +noos +] is stronger + than ours; Zeus at one time makes even a strong man draw back and snatches + victory from his grasp, while at another he will set him on to fight. Come + hither then, my friend, stand by me and see indeed whether I shall play the + coward the whole day through as you say, or whether I shall not stay some even + of the boldest Danaans from fighting round the body of Patroklos." +As he spoke he called loudly on the Trojans + saying, "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians, fighters in close combat, be men, my + friends, and fight might and main, while I put on the goodly armor of Achilles, + which I took when I killed Patroklos." +With this Hektor left the fight, and ran full + speed after his men who were taking the armor of Achilles to +Troy +, but had not yet got far. Standing for a + while apart from the woeful fight, he changed his armor. His own he sent to the + strong city of +Ilion + and to the + Trojans, while he put on the immortal armor of the son of Peleus, which the + gods had given to Peleus, who in his age gave it to his son; but the son did + not grow old in his father's armor. +When Zeus, lord of the storm-cloud, saw Hektor + standing aloof and arming himself in the armor of the son of Peleus, he wagged + his head and muttered to himself saying, "A! poor wretch, you arm in the armor + of a hero, before whom many another trembles, and you reck nothing of the doom + that is already close upon you. You have killed his comrade so brave and + strong, but it was not according to the order [ +kosmos +] of things that you should strip the armor from his head and + shoulders. I do indeed endow you with great might now, but as against this you + shall not return from battle to lay the armor of the son of Peleus before + Andromache." +The son of Kronos bowed his portentous brows, + and Hektor fitted the armor to his body, while terrible Ares entered into him, + and filled his whole body with might and valor. With a shout he strode in among + the allies, and his armor flashed about him so that he seemed to all of them + like the great son of Peleus himself. He went about among them and cheered them + on - Mesthles, Glaukos, Medon, Thersilokhos, Asteropaios, Deisenor and + Hippothoos, Phorkys, Chromios, and Ennomos the augur. All these did he exhort + saying, "Hear me, allies from other cities who are here in your thousands, it + was not in order to have a crowd about me that I called you hither each from + his several city, but that with heart and soul you might defend the wives and + little ones of the Trojans from the fierce Achaeans. For this do I oppress my + people with your food and the presents that make you rich. Therefore turn, and + charge at the foe, to stand or fall as is the game of war; whoever shall bring + Patroklos, dead though he be, into the hands of the Trojans, and shall make + Ajax give way before him, I will give him one half of the spoils while I keep + the other. He will thus share like honor [ +kleos +] + with myself." +When he had thus spoken they charged full + weight upon the Danaans with their spears held out before them, and the hopes + of each ran high that he should force Ajax son of Telamon to yield up the body + - fools that they were, for he was about to take the lives of many. Then Ajax + said to Menelaos, "My good friend Menelaos, you and I shall hardly come out of + this fight alive. I am less concerned for the body of Patroklos, +who will shortly become meat for the dogs and + vultures of +Troy +, than for the safety + of my own head and yours. Hektor has wrapped us round in a storm of battle from + every quarter, and our destruction seems now certain. Call then upon the + princes of the Danaans if there is any who can hear us." +Menelaos did as he said, and shouted to the + Danaans for help at the top of his voice. "My friends," he cried, "princes and + counselors of the Argives, all you who with Agamemnon and Menelaos drink at the + public cost, and give orders each to his own people as Zeus grants him power + and honor [ +timê +], the fight is so thick about me + that I cannot distinguish you severally; come on, therefore, every man + unbidden, and think it shame that Patroklos should become meat and morsel for + Trojan hounds." +Fleet Ajax son of Oileus heard him and was + first to force his way through the fight and run to help him. Next came + Idomeneus and Meriones his esquire, peer of murderous Ares. As for the others + that came into the fight after these, who of his own self could name them? +The Trojans with Hektor at their head charged + in a body. As a great wave that comes thundering in at the mouth of some + heaven-born river, and the rocks that jut into the sea ring with the roar of + the breakers that beat and buffet them - even with such a roar did the Trojans + come on; but the Achaeans in singleness of heart stood firm about the son of + Menoitios, and fenced him with their bronze shields. Zeus, moreover, hid the + brightness of their helmets in a thick cloud, for he had borne no grudge + against the son of Menoitios while he was still alive and squire [ +therapôn +] to the descendant of Aiakos; therefore he + was loath to let him fall a prey to the dogs of his foes the Trojans, and urged + his comrades on to defend him. +At first the Trojans drove the Achaeans back, + and they withdrew from the dead man daunted. The Trojans did not succeed in + killing any one, nevertheless they drew the body away. But the Achaeans did not + lose it long, for Ajax, foremost of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus + alike in stature and prowess, +quickly rallied them and made towards the front + like a wild boar upon the mountains when he stands at bay in the forest glades + and routs the hounds and lusty youths that have attacked him - even so did Ajax + son of Telamon passing easily in among the phalanxes of the Trojans, disperse + those who had bestridden Patroklos and were most bent on winning glory by + dragging him off to their city. At this moment Hippothoos brave son of the + Pelasgian Lethus, in his zeal for Hektor and the Trojans, was dragging the body + off by the foot through the press of the fight, having bound a strap round the + sinews near the ankle; but a mischief soon befell him from which none of those + could save him who would have gladly done so, for the son of Telamon sprang + forward and smote him on his bronze-cheeked helmet. The plumed headpiece broke + about the point of the weapon, struck at once by the spear and by the strong + hand of Ajax, so that the bloody brain came oozing out through the + crest-socket. His strength then failed him and he let Patroklos' foot drop from + his hand, as he fell full length dead upon the body; thus he died far from the + fertile land of Larissa, and never repaid his parents the cost of bringing him + up, for his life was cut short early by the spear of mighty Ajax. Hektor then + took aim at Ajax with a spear, but he saw it coming and just managed to avoid + it; the spear passed on and struck Schedios son of noble Iphitos, leader of the + Phoceans, who dwelt in famed Panopeus and reigned over many people; it struck + him under the middle of the collar-bone the bronze point went right through + him, coming out at the bottom of his shoulder-blade, and his armor rang + rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Ajax in his turn struck + noble Phorkys son of Phainops in the middle of the belly as he was bestriding + Hippothoos, and broke the plate of his cuirass; whereon the spear tore out his + entrails and he clutched the ground in his palm as he fell to earth. Hektor and + those who were in the front rank then gave ground, while the Argives raised a + loud cry of triumph, and drew off the bodies of Phorkys and Hippothoos which + they stripped presently of their armor. +The Trojans would now have been worsted by the + brave Achaeans and driven back to +Ilion + through their own cowardice, while the Argives, so great + was their courage and endurance, would have achieved a triumph even against the + will of Zeus, if Apollo had not roused Aeneas, in the likeness of Periphas son + of Epytos, an attendant who had grown old in the service of Aeneas' aged + father, and was at all times devoted to him. In his likeness, then, Apollo + said, "Aeneas, can you not manage, even though heaven be against us, to save + high +Ilion +? I have known men, whose + numbers, courage, and self-reliance have saved their population [ +dêmos +] in spite of Zeus, whereas in this case he would + much rather give victory to us than to the Danaans, if you would only fight + instead of being so terribly afraid." +Aeneas knew Apollo when he looked straight at + him, and shouted to Hektor saying, "Hektor and all other Trojans and allies, + shame [ +aidôs +] on us if we are beaten by the + Achaeans and driven back to +Ilion + + through our own cowardice. A god has just come up to me and told me that Zeus + the supreme disposer will be with us. Therefore let us make for the Danaans, + that it may go hard with them ere they bear away dead Patroklos to the ships." + +As he spoke he sprang out far in front of the + others, who then rallied and again faced the Achaeans. Aeneas speared + Leiokritos son of Arisbas, a valiant follower of Lykomedes, and Lykomedes was + moved with pity as he saw him fall; he therefore went close up, and speared + Apisaon son of Hippasus shepherd of his people in the liver under the midriff, + so that he died; he had come from fertile Paeonia and was the best man of them + all after Asteropaios. Asteropaios flew forward to avenge him and attack the + Danaans, but this might no longer be, +inasmuch as those about Patroklos were well + covered by their shields, and held their spears in front of them, for Ajax had + given them strict orders that no man was either to give ground, or to stand out + before the others, but all were to hold well together about the body and fight + hand to hand. Thus did huge Ajax bid them, and the earth ran red with blood as + the corpses fell thick on one another alike on the side of the Trojans and + allies, and on that of the Danaans; for these last, too, fought no bloodless + fight though many fewer of them perished, through the care they took to defend + and stand by one another. +Thus did they fight as it were a flaming fire; + it seemed as though it had gone hard even with the sun and moon, for they were + hidden over all that part where the bravest heroes were fighting about the dead + son of Menoitios, whereas the other Danaans and Achaeans fought at their ease + in full daylight with brilliant sunshine all round them, and there was not a + cloud to be seen neither on plain nor mountain. These last moreover would rest + for a while and leave off fighting, for they were some distance apart and + beyond the range of one another's weapons, whereas those who were in the thick + of the fray suffered both from battle and darkness. All the best of them were + being worn out by the great weight of their armor, but the two valiant heroes, + Thrasymedes and Antilokhos, had not yet heard of the death of Patroklos, and + believed him to be still alive and leading the van against the Trojans; they + were keeping themselves in reserve against the death or rout of their own + comrades, for so Nestor had ordered when he sent them from the ships into + battle. +Thus through the livelong day did they wage + fierce war, and the sweat of their toil rained ever on their legs under them, + and on their hands and eyes, as they fought over the squire [ +therapôn +] of the fleet son of Peleus. It was as when a + man gives a great ox-hide all drenched in fat to his men, and bids them stretch + it; whereon they stand round it in a ring and tug till the moisture leaves it, + and the fat soaks in for the many that pull at it, and it is well stretched + - +even so did the two sides tug the dead body + hither and thither within the compass of but a little space - the Trojans + steadfastly set on dragging it into +Ilion +, while the Achaeans were no less so on taking it to their + ships; and fierce was the fight between them. Not Ares himself the lord of + hosts, nor yet Athena, even in their fullest fury could make light of such a + battle. +Such fearful turmoil [ +ponos +] of men and horses did Zeus on that day ordain round the body + of Patroklos. Meanwhile Achilles did not know that he had fallen, for the fight + was under the wall of +Troy + a long way + off the ships. He had no idea, therefore, that Patroklos was dead, and deemed + that he would return alive as soon as he had gone close up to the gates. He + knew that he was not to sack the city neither with nor without himself, for his + mother had often told him this when he had sat alone with her, and she had + informed him of the counsels of great Zeus. Now, however, she had not told him + how great a disaster had befallen him in the death of the one who was far + dearest to him of all his comrades. +The others still kept on charging one another + round the body with their pointed spears and killing each other. Then would one + say, "My friends, we can never again show our faces at the ships - better, and + greatly better, that earth should open and swallow us here in this place, than + that we should let the Trojans have the triumph of bearing off Patroklos to + their city." +The Trojans also on their part spoke to one + another saying, "Friends, though we fall to a man beside this body, let none + shrink from fighting." With such words did they exhort each other. They fought + and fought, and an iron clank rose through the void air to the brazen vault of + heaven. The horses of the descendant of Aiakos stood out of the fight and wept + when they heard that their driver had been laid low by the hand of murderous + Hektor. +Automedon, valiant son of Diores, lashed them + again and again; many a time did he speak kindly to them, and many a time did + he upbraid them, but they would neither go back to the ships by the waters of + the broad +Hellespont +, nor yet into + battle among the Achaeans; they stood with their chariot stock still, as a + pillar set over the tomb of some dead man or woman, and bowed their heads to + the ground. Hot tears fell from their eyes as they mourned the loss of their + charioteer, and their noble manes drooped all wet from under the yokestraps on + either side the yoke. +The son of Kronos saw them and took pity upon + their sorrow. He wagged his head, and muttered to himself, saying, "Poor + things, why did we give you to King Peleus who is a mortal, while you are + yourselves ageless and immortal? Was it that you might share the sorrows that + befall humankind? for of all creatures that live and move upon the earth there + is none so pitiable as he is - still, Hektor son of Priam shall drive neither + you nor your chariot. I will not have it. It is enough that he should have the + armor over which he vaunts so vainly. Furthermore I will give you strength of + heart and limb to bear Automedon safely to the ships from battle, for I shall + let the Trojans triumph still further, and go on killing till they reach the + ships; whereon night shall fall and darkness overshadow the land." +As he spoke he breathed heart and strength into + the horses so that they shook the dust from out of their manes, and bore their + chariot swiftly into the fight that raged between Trojans and Achaeans. Behind + them fought Automedon full of sorrow for his comrade, as a vulture amid a flock + of geese. In and out, and here and there, full speed he dashed amid the throng + of the Trojans, but for all the fury of his pursuit he killed no man, for he + could not wield his spear and keep his horses in hand when alone in the + chariot; at last, however, a comrade, Alkimedon, son of Laerkes son of Haimon + caught sight of him and came up behind his chariot. "Automedon," said he, "what + god has put this folly into your heart and robbed you of your right mind, that + you fight the Trojans in the front rank single-handed? He who was your comrade + is slain, and Hektor plumes himself on being armed in the armor of the + descendant of Aiakos." +Automedon son of Diores answered, "Alkimedon, + there is no one else who can control and guide the immortal steeds so well as + you can, save only Patroklos - while he was alive - peer of gods in counsel. + Take then the whip and reins, while I go down from the car and fight. +Alkimedon sprang on to the chariot, and caught + up the whip and reins, while Automedon leaped from off the car. When Hektor saw + him he said to Aeneas who was near him, "Aeneas, counselor of the mail-clad + Trojans, I see the steeds of the fleet son of Aiakos come into battle with weak + hands to drive them. I am sure, if you think well, that we might take them; + they will not dare face us if we both attack them." The valiant son of Anchises + was of the same mind, and the pair went right on, with their shoulders covered + under shields of tough dry ox-hide, overlaid with much bronze. Chromios and + Aretos went also with them, and their hearts beat high with hope that they + might kill the men and capture the horses - fools that they were, for they were + not to return scatheless from their meeting with Automedon, who prayed to + father Zeus and was forthwith filled with courage and strength abounding. He + turned to his trusty comrade Alkimedon and said, "Alkimedon, keep your horses + so close up that I may feel their breath upon my back; I doubt that we shall + not stay Hektor son of Priam till he has killed us and mounted behind the + horses; he will then either spread panic among the ranks of the Achaeans, or + himself be killed among the foremost." +On this he cried out to the two Ajaxes and + Menelaos, "Ajaxes leaders of the Argives, and Menelaos, give the dead body over + to them that are best able to defend it, and come to the rescue of us living; + for Hektor and Aeneas who are the two best men among the Trojans, are pressing + us hard in the full tide of war. Nevertheless the issue lies on the lap of + heaven, I will therefore hurl my spear and leave the rest to Zeus." +He poised and hurled as he spoke, whereon the + spear struck the round shield of Aretos, and went right through it for the + shield stayed it not, so that it was driven through his belt into the lower + part of his belly. As when some sturdy youth, axe in hand, deals his blow + behind the horns of an ox and severs the tendons at the back of its neck so + that it springs forward and then drops, even so did Aretos give one bound and + then fall on his back the spear quivering in his body till it made an end of + him. Hektor then aimed a spear at Automedon but he saw it coming and stooped + forward to avoid it, so that it flew past him and the point stuck in the + ground, while the butt-end went on quivering till Ares robbed it of its force. + They would then have fought hand to hand with swords had not the two Ajaxes + forced their way through the crowd when they heard their comrade calling, and + parted them for all their fury - for Hektor, Aeneas, and Chromios were afraid + and drew back, leaving Aretos to lie there struck to the heart. Automedon, peer + of fleet Ares, then stripped him of his armor and vaunted over him saying, "I + have done little to assuage my sorrow [ +akhos +] for + the son of Menoitios, for the man I have killed is not so good as he was." +As he spoke he took the blood-stained spoils + and laid them upon his chariot; then he mounted the car with his hands and feet + all steeped in gore as a lion that has been gorging upon a bull. +And now the fierce groanful fight again raged + about Patroklos, for Athena came down from heaven and roused its fury by the + command of far-seeing Zeus, who had changed his mind [ +noos +] and sent her to encourage the Danaans. As when Zeus bends his + bright bow in heaven in token to humankind either of war or of the chill storms + that stay men from their labor and plague the flocks - even so, +wrapped in such radiant raiment, did Athena go + in among the host and speak man by man to each. First she took the form and + voice of Phoenix and spoke to Menelaos son of Atreus, who was standing near + her. "Menelaos," said she, "it will be shame and dishonor to you, if dogs tear + the noble comrade of Achilles under the walls of +Troy +. Therefore be staunch, and urge your men to be so also." +Menelaos answered, "Phoenix, my good old + friend, may Athena grant me strength and keep the darts from off me, for so + shall I stand by Patroklos and defend him; his death has gone to my heart, but + Hektor is as a raging fire and deals his blows without ceasing, for Zeus is now + granting him a time of triumph." +Athena was pleased at his having named herself + before any of the other gods. Therefore she put strength into his knees and + shoulders, and made him as bold as a fly, which, though driven off will yet + come again and bite if it can, so dearly does it love man's blood- even so bold + as this did she make him as he stood over Patroklos and threw his spear. Now + there was among the Trojans a man named Podes, son of Eetion, who was both rich + and valiant. Hektor held him in the highest honor in the district [ +dêmos +], for he was his comrade and boon companion; the + spear of Menelaos struck this man in the belt just as he had turned in flight, + and went right through him. Whereon he fell heavily forward, and Menelaos son + of Atreus drew off his body from the Trojans into the ranks of his own people. +Apollo then went up to Hektor and spurred him + on to fight, in the likeness of Phainops son of Asios who lived in +Abydos + and was the most favored of all + Hektor's guests. In his likeness Apollo said, "Hektor, who of the Achaeans will + fear you henceforward now that you have quailed before Menelaos who has ever + been rated poorly as a warrior? Yet he has now got a corpse away from the + Trojans single-handed, and has slain your own true comrade, a man brave among + the foremost, Podes son of Eetion. +A dark cloud of grief [ +akhos +] fell upon Hektor as he heard, and he made his way to the + front clad in full armor. Thereon the son of Kronos seized his bright tasseled + aegis, and veiled Ida in cloud: he sent forth his lightnings and his thunders, + and as he shook his aegis he gave victory to the Trojans and routed the + Achaeans. +The panic was begun by Peneleos the Boeotian, + for while keeping his face turned ever towards the foe he had been hit with a + spear on the upper part of the shoulder; a spear thrown by Polydamas had grazed + the top of the bone, for Polydamas had come up to him and struck him from close + at hand. Then Hektor in close combat struck Leitos son of noble Alektryon in + the hand by the wrist, and disabled him from fighting further. He looked about + him in dismay, knowing that never again should he wield spear in battle with + the Trojans. While Hektor was in pursuit of Leitos, Idomeneus struck him on the + breastplate over his chest near the nipple; but the spear broke in the shaft, + and the Trojans cheered aloud. Hektor then aimed at Idomeneus son of Deukalion + as he was standing on his chariot, and very narrowly missed him, but the spear + hit Koiranos, a follower and charioteer of Meriones who had come with him from + Lyktos. Idomeneus had left the ships on foot and would have afforded a great + triumph to the Trojans if Koiranos had not driven quickly up to him, he + therefore brought life and rescue to Idomeneus, but himself fell by the hand of + murderous Hektor. For Hektor hit him on the jaw under the ear; the end of the + spear drove out his teeth and cut his tongue in two pieces, so that he fell + from his chariot and let the reins fall to the ground. Meriones gathered them + up from the ground and took them into his own hands, then he said to Idomeneus, + "Lay on, till you get back to the ships, for you must see that the day is no + longer ours." +On this Idomeneus lashed the horses to the + ships, for fear had taken hold upon him. +Ajax and Menelaos noted how Zeus had turned the + scale in favor of the Trojans, and Ajax was first to speak. "Alas," said he, + "even a fool may see that father Zeus is helping the Trojans. All their weapons + strike home; no matter whether it be a brave man or a coward that hurls them, + Zeus speeds all alike, whereas ours fall each one of them without effect. What, + then, will be best both as regards rescuing the body, and our return to the joy + of our friends who will be grieving as they look hitherwards; for they will + make sure that nothing can now check the terrible hands of Hektor, and that he + will fling himself upon our ships. I wish that some one would go and tell the + son of Peleus at once, for I do not think he can have yet heard the sad news + that the dearest of his friends has fallen. But I can see not a man among the + Achaeans to send, for they and their chariots are alike hidden in darkness. O + father Zeus, lift this cloud from over the sons of the Achaeans; make heaven + serene, and let us see; if you will that we perish, let us fall at any rate by + daylight." +Father Zeus heard him and had compassion upon + his tears. Forthwith he chased away the cloud of darkness, so that the sun + shone out and all the fighting was revealed. Ajax then said to Menelaos, "Look, + Menelaos, and if Antilokhos son of Nestor be still living, send him at once to + tell Achilles that by far the dearest to him of all his comrades has fallen." +Menelaos heeded his words and went his way as a + lion from a stockyard - the lion is tired of attacking the men and hounds, who + keep watch the whole night through and will not let him feast on the fat of + their herd. In his lust of meat he makes straight at them but in vain, for + darts from strong hands assail him, and burning brands which daunt him for all + his hunger, so in the morning he slinks sulkily away - even so did Menelaos + sorely against his will leave Patroklos, in great fear lest the Achaeans should + be driven back in rout and let him fall into the hands of the foe. He charged + Meriones and the two Ajaxes straitly saying, "Ajaxes and Meriones, leaders of + the Argives, now indeed remember how good Patroklos was; he was ever courteous + while alive, bear it in mind now that he is dead." +With this Menelaos left them, looking round him + as keenly as an eagle, whose sight they say is keener than that of any other + bird - however high he may be in the heavens, not a hare that runs can escape + him by crouching under bush or thicket, for he will swoop down upon it and make + an end of it - even so, O Menelaos, did your keen eyes range round the mighty + host of your followers to see if you could find the son of Nestor still alive. + Presently Menelaos saw him on the extreme left of the battle cheering on his + men and exhorting them to fight boldly. Menelaos went up to him and said, + "Antilokhos, come here and listen to sad news, which I would indeed were + untrue. You must see with your own eyes that heaven is heaping calamity upon + the Danaans, and giving victory to the Trojans. Patroklos has fallen, who was + the bravest of the Achaeans, and sorely will the Danaans miss him. Run + instantly to the ships and tell Achilles, that he may come to rescue the body + and bear it to the ships. As for the armor, Hektor already has it." +Antilokhos was struck with horror. For a long + time he was speechless; his eyes filled with tears and he could find no + utterance, but he did as Menelaos had said, and set off running as soon as he + had given his armor to a comrade, Laodokos, who was wheeling his horses round, + close beside him. +Thus, then, did he run weeping from the field, + to carry the bad news to Achilles son of Peleus. Nor were you, O Menelaos, + minded to succor his harassed comrades, when Antilokhos had left the Pylians - + and greatly did they miss him - but he sent them noble Thrasymedes, and himself + went back to Patroklos. He came running up to the two Ajaxes and said, "I have + sent Antilokhos to the ships to tell Achilles, but rage against Hektor as he + may, he cannot come, for he cannot fight without armor. What then will be our + best plan both as regards rescuing the dead, and our own escape from death amid + the battle-cries of the Trojans?" +Ajax answered, "Menelaos, you have said well: + do you, then, and Meriones stoop down, raise the body, and bear it out of the + fray [ +ponos +], while we two behind you keep off + Hektor and the Trojans, one in heart as in name, and long used to fighting side + by side with one another." +On this Menelaos and Meriones took the dead man + in their arms and lifted him high aloft with a great effort. The Trojan host + raised a hue and cry behind them when they saw the Achaeans bearing the body + away, and flew after them like hounds attacking a wounded boar at the loo of a + band of young huntsmen. For a while the hounds fly at him as though they would + tear him in pieces, but now and again he turns on them in a fury, scaring and + scattering them in all directions - even so did the Trojans for a while charge + in a body, striking with sword and with spears pointed at both the ends, but + when the two Ajaxes faced them and stood at bay, they would turn pale and no + man dared press on to fight further about the dead. +In this wise did the two heroes strain every + nerve to bear the body to the ships out of the fight. The battle raged round + them like fierce flames that when once kindled spread like wildfire over a + city, and the houses fall in the glare of its burning - even such was the roar + and tramp of men and horses that pursued them as they bore Patroklos from the + field. Or as mules that put forth all their strength to draw some beam or great + piece of ship's timber down a rough mountain-track, and they pant and sweat as + they, go even so did Menelaos and pant and sweat as they bore the body of + Patroklos. Behind them the two Ajaxes held stoutly out. As some wooded + mountain-spur that stretches across a plain will turn water and check the flow + even of a great river, +nor is there any stream strong enough to break + through it - even so did the two Ajaxes face the Trojans and stern the tide of + their fighting though they kept pouring on towards them and foremost among them + all was Aeneas son of Anchises with valiant Hektor. As a flock of daws or + starlings fall to screaming and chattering when they see a falcon, foe to small + birds, come soaring near them, even so did the Achaean youth raise a babel of + cries as they fled before Aeneas and Hektor, unmindful of their former prowess. + In the rout of the Danaans much goodly armor fell round about the trench, and + of fighting there was no end. +Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming + fire. Meanwhile the fleet runner Antilokhos, who had been sent as messenger, + reached Achilles, and found him sitting by his tall ships and boding that which + was indeed too surely true. "Alas," said he to himself in the heaviness of his + heart, "why are the Achaeans again scouring the plain and flocking towards the + ships? Heaven grant the gods be not now bringing that sorrow upon me of which + my mother Thetis spoke, saying that while I was yet alive the bravest of the + Myrmidons should fall before the Trojans, and see the light of the sun no + longer. I fear the brave son of Menoitios has fallen through his own daring and + yet I bade him return to the ships as soon as he had driven back those that + were bringing fire against them, and not join battle with Hektor." +As he was thus pondering, the son of Nestor came + up to him and told his sad tale, weeping bitterly the while. "Alas," he cried, + "son of noble Peleus, I bring you bad tidings, would indeed that they were + untrue. Patroklos has fallen, and a fight is raging about his naked body - for + Hektor holds his armor." +A dark cloud of grief [ +akhos +] fell upon Achilles as he listened. He filled both hands with + dust from off the ground, and poured it over his head, disfiguring his comely + face, and letting the refuse settle over his shirt so fair and new. He flung + himself down all huge and hugely at full length, and tore his hair with his + hands. +The bondswomen whom Achilles and Patroklos had + taken captive screamed aloud for grief, beating their breasts, and with their + limbs failing them for sorrow. Antilokhos bent over him the while, weeping and + holding both his hands as he lay groaning for he feared that he might plunge a + knife into his own throat. Then Achilles gave a loud cry and his mother heard + him as she was sitting in the depths of the sea by the old man her father, + whereon she screamed, and all the goddesses daughters of Nereus that dwelt at + the bottom of the sea, came gathering round her. There were Glauke, Thalia and + Kymodoke, Nesaia, Speo, Thoe, and dark-eyed Halie, Kymothoe, Aktaia and + Limnorea, Melite, Iaira, Amphithoe and Agaue, Doto and Proto, Pherousa and + Dynamene, Dexamene, Amphinome and Kallianeira, Doris, Panope, and the famous + sea-nymph Galatea, Nemertes, Apseudes and Kallianassa. There were also Klymene, + Ianeira and Ianassa, +Maira +, Oreithuia + and Amatheia of the lovely locks, with other Nereids who dwell in the depths of + the sea. The crystal cave was filled with their multitude and they all beat + their breasts while Thetis led them in their lament. +"Listen," she cried, "sisters, daughters of + Nereus, that you may hear the burden of my sorrows. Alas, woe is me, woe in + that I have borne the most glorious of offspring. I bore him fair and strong, + hero among heroes, and he shot up as a sapling; I tended him as a plant in a + goodly garden, and sent him with his ships to +Ilion + to fight the Trojans, but never shall I welcome him back + to the house of Peleus. So long as he lives to look upon the light of the sun + he is in heaviness, and though I go to him I cannot help him. Nevertheless I + will go, that I may see my dear son and learn what sorrow [ +penthos +] has befallen him though he is still holding aloof from + battle." +She left the cave as she spoke, while the others + followed weeping after, and the waves opened a path before them. When they + reached the fertile plain of +Troy +, + they came up out of the sea in a long line on to the sands, at the place where + the ships of the Myrmidons were drawn up in close order round the tents of + Achilles. His mother went up to him as he lay groaning; she laid her hand upon + his head and spoke piteously, saying, "My son, why are you thus weeping? What + sorrow [penthos] has now befallen you? Tell me; hide it not from me. Surely + Zeus has granted you the prayer you made him, when you lifted up your hands and + besought him that the Achaeans might all of them be pent up at their ships, and + rue it bitterly in that you were no longer with them." +Achilles groaned and answered, "Mother, Olympian + Zeus has indeed granted me the fulfillment of my prayer, but what boots it to + me, seeing that my dear comrade Patroklos has fallen - he whom I valued more + than all others, and loved as dearly as my own life? I have lost him; aye, and + Hektor when he had killed him stripped the wondrous armor, so glorious to + behold, which the gods gave to Peleus when they laid you in the couch of a + mortal man. Would that you were still dwelling among the immortal sea-nymphs, + and that Peleus had taken to himself some mortal bride. For now you shall have + grief [ +penthos +] infinite by reason of the death of + that son whom you can never welcome home- nay, I will not live nor go about + among humankind unless Hektor fall by my spear, and thus pay me for having + slain Patroklos son of Menoitios." +Thetis wept and answered, "Then, my son, is your + end near at hand- for your own death awaits you full soon after that of + Hektor." +Then said Achilles in his great grief, "I would + die here and now, in that I could not save my comrade. He has fallen far from + home, and in his hour of need my hand was not there to help him. What is there + for me? Return to my own land I shall not, and I have brought no saving neither + to Patroklos nor to my other comrades of whom so many have been slain by mighty + Hektor; I stay here by my ships a bootless burden upon the earth, I, who in + fight have no peer among the Achaeans, though in council there are better than + I. +Therefore, perish strife both from among gods + and men, and anger, wherein even a righteous man will harden his heart - which + rises up in the soul of a man like smoke, and the taste thereof is sweeter than + drops of honey. Even so has Agamemnon angered me. And yet - so be it, for it is + over; I will force my soul into subjection as I needs must; I will go; I will + pursue Hektor who has slain him whom I loved so dearly, and will then abide my + doom when it may please Zeus and the other gods to send it. Even Herakles, the + best beloved of Zeus - even he could not escape the hand of death, but fate and + Hera's fierce anger laid him low, as I too shall lie when I am dead if a like + doom awaits me. Till then I will win fame [ +kleos +], + and will bid Trojan and Dardanian women wring tears from their tender cheeks + with both their hands in the grievousness of their great sorrow; thus shall + they know that he who has held aloof so long will hold aloof no longer. Hold me + not back, therefore, in the love you bear me, for you shall not move me." +Then silver-footed Thetis answered, "My son, + what you have said is true. It is well to save your comrades from destruction, + but your armor is in the hands of the Trojans; Hektor bears it in triumph upon + his own shoulders. Full well I know that his vaunt shall not be lasting, for + his end is close at hand; go not, however, into the press of battle till you + see me return hither; tomorrow at break of day I shall be here, and will bring + you goodly armor from King Hephaistos." +On this she left her brave son, and as she + turned away she said to the sea-nymphs her sisters, "Dive into the bosom of the + sea and go to the house of the old sea-god my father. Tell him everything; as + for me, I will go to the cunning workman Hephaistos on high +Olympus +, and ask him to provide my son with a + suit of splendid armor." +When she had so said, they dived forthwith + beneath the waves, while silver-footed Thetis went her way that she might bring + the armor for her son. +Thus, then, did her feet bear the goddess to + +Olympus +, and meanwhile the Achaeans + were fleeing with loud cries before murderous Hektor till they reached the + ships and the +Hellespont +, and they + could not draw the body of Ares' squire [ +therapôn +] + Patroklos out of reach of the weapons that were showered upon him, for Hektor + son of Priam with his host and horsemen had again caught up to him like the + flame of a fiery furnace; thrice did brave Hektor seize him by the feet, + striving with might and main to draw him away and calling loudly on the + Trojans, and thrice did the two Ajaxes, clothed in valor as with a garment, + beat him from off the body; but all undaunted he would now charge into the + thick of the fight, and now again he would stand still and cry aloud, but he + would give no ground. As upland shepherds that cannot chase some famished lion + from a carcass, even so could not the two Ajaxes scare Hektor son of Priam from + the body of Patroklos. +And now he would even have dragged it off and + have won imperishable glory, had not Iris fleet as the wind, winged her way as + messenger from +Olympus + to the son of + Peleus and bidden him arm. She came secretly without the knowledge of Zeus and + of the other gods, for Hera sent her, and when she had got close to him she + said, "Up, son of Peleus, mightiest of all humankind; rescue Patroklos about + whom this fearful fight is now raging by the ships. Men are killing one + another, the Danaans in defense of the dead body, while the Trojans are trying + to hale it away, and take it to windy +Ilion +: Hektor is the most furious of them all; he is for + cutting the head from the body and fixing it on the stakes of the wall. Up, + then, and bide here no longer; shrink from the thought that Patroklos may + become meat for the dogs of +Troy +. + Shame on you, should his body suffer any kind of outrage." +And Achilles said, "Iris, which of the gods was + it that sent you to me?" +Iris answered, "It was Hera the royal spouse of + Zeus, but the son of Kronos does not know of my coming, nor yet does any other + of the immortals who dwell on the snowy summits of +Olympus +." +Then fleet Achilles answered her saying, "How + can I go up into the battle? They have my armor. My mother forbade me to arm + till I should see her come, for she promised to bring me goodly armor from + Hephaistos; I know no man whose arms I can put on, save only the shield of Ajax + son of Telamon, and he surely must be fighting in the front rank and wielding + his spear about the body of dead Patroklos." +Iris said, ‘We know that your armor has been + taken, but go as you are; go to the deep trench and show yourself before the + Trojans, that they may fear you and cease fighting. Thus will the fainting sons + of the Achaeans gain some brief breathing-time, which in battle may hardly be." +Iris left him when she had so spoken. But + Achilles dear to Zeus arose, and Athena flung her tasseled aegis round his + strong shoulders; she crowned his head with a halo of golden cloud from which + she kindled a glow of gleaming fire. As the smoke that goes up into heaven from + some city that is being beleaguered on an island far out at sea - all day long + do men sally from the city and fight their hardest, and at the going down of + the sun the line of beacon-fires blazes forth, flaring high for those that + dwell near them to behold, if so be that they may come with their ships and + succor them - even so did the light flare from the head of Achilles, as he + stood by the trench, going beyond the wall - but he aid not join the Achaeans + for he heeded the charge which his mother laid upon him. +There did he stand and shout aloud. Athena also + raised her voice from afar, and spread terror unspeakable among the Trojans. + Ringing as the note of a trumpet that sounds alarm then the foe is at the gates + of a city, even so brazen was the voice of the son of Aiakos, and when the + Trojans heard its clarion tones they were dismayed; the horses turned back with + their chariots for they boded mischief, and their drivers were awe-struck by + the steady flame which the gray-eyed goddess had kindled above the head of the + great son of Peleus. +Thrice did Achilles raise his loud cry as he + stood by the trench, and thrice were the Trojans and their brave allies thrown + into confusion; whereon twelve of their noblest champions fell beneath the + wheels of their chariots and perished by their own spears. The Achaeans to + their great joy then drew Patroklos out of reach of the weapons, and laid him + on a litter: his comrades stood mourning round him, and among them fleet + Achilles who wept bitterly as he saw his true comrade lying dead upon his bier. + He had sent him out with horses and chariots into battle, but his return he was + not to welcome. +Then Hera sent the busy sun, loath though he + was, into the waters of Okeanos; so he set, and the Achaeans had rest from the + tug and turmoil of war. +Now the Trojans when they had come out of the + fight, unyoked their horses and gathered in assembly before preparing their + supper. They kept their feet, nor would any dare to sit down, for fear had + fallen upon them all because Achilles had shown himself after having held aloof + so long from battle. Polydamas son of Panthoos was first to speak, a man of + judgment, who alone among them could look both before and after. He was comrade + to Hektor, and they had been born upon the same night; with all sincerity and + goodwill, therefore, he addressed them thus:- +"Look to it well, my friends; I would urge you + to go back now to your city and not wait here by the ships till morning, for we + are far from our walls. So long as this man has anger [ +mênis +] against Agamemnon, the Achaeans were easier to deal with, and + I would have gladly camped by the ships in the hope of taking them; but now I + go in great fear of the fleet son of Peleus; he is so daring that he will never + bide here on the plain whereon the Trojans and Achaeans fight with equal valor, + but he will try to storm our city and carry off our women. +Do then as I say, and let us retreat. For this + is what will happen. The darkness of night will for a time stay the son of + Peleus, but if he find us here in the morning when he sallies forth in full + armor, we shall have knowledge of him in good earnest. Glad indeed will he be + who can escape and get back to +Ilion +, + and many a Trojan will become meat for dogs and vultures may I never live to + hear it. If we do as I say, little though we may like it, we shall have + strength in counsel during the night, and the great gates with the doors that + close them will protect the city. At dawn we can arm and take our stand on the + walls; he will then rue it if he sallies from the ships to fight us. He will go + back when he has given his horses their fill of being driven in every which + direction under our walls, and will be in no mind to try and force his way into + the city. Neither will he ever sack it, dogs shall devour him ere he do so." +Hektor looked fiercely at him and answered, + "Polydamas, your words are not to my liking in that you bid us go back and be + pent within the city. Have you not had enough of being cooped up behind walls? + In the old-days the city of Priam was famous the whole world over for its + wealth of gold and bronze, but our treasures are wasted out of our houses, and + much goods have been sold away to +Phrygia + and fair Meonia, for the hand of Zeus has been laid + heavily upon us. Now, therefore, that the son of scheming Kronos has granted me + to win glory here and to hem the Achaeans in at their ships, prate no more in + this fool's wise among the population [ +dêmos +]. You + will have no man with you; it shall not be; do all of you as I now say; - take + your suppers in your companies throughout the host, and keep your watches and + be wakeful every man of you. If any Trojan is uneasy about his possessions, let + him gather them and give them out among the people. Better let these, rather + than the Achaeans, have them. At daybreak we will arm and fight about the + ships; granted that Achilles has again come forward to defend them, let it be + as he will, but it shall go hard with him. I shall not shun him, but will fight + him, to fall or conquer. The god of war deals out like measure to all, and the + slayer may yet be slain." +Thus spoke Hektor; and the Trojans, fools that + they were, shouted in approval, for Pallas Athena had robbed them of their + understanding. They gave ear to Hektor with his evil counsel, but the wise + words of Polydamas no man would heed. They took their supper throughout the + host, and meanwhile through the whole night the Achaeans mourned Patroklos, and + the son of Peleus led them in their lament. He laid his murderous hands upon + the breast of his comrade, groaning again and again as a bearded lion when a + man who was chasing deer has robbed him of his young in some dense forest; when + the lion comes back he is furious, and searches dingle and dell to track the + hunter if he can find him, for he is mad with rage - even so with many a sigh + did Achilles speak among the Myrmidons saying, "Alas! vain were the words with + which I cheered the hero Menoitios in his own house; I said that I would bring + his brave son back again to Opoeis after he had sacked +Ilion + and taken his share of the spoils - but + Zeus does not give all men their heart's desire. The same soil shall be + reddened here at +Troy + by the blood of + us both, for I too shall never be welcomed home by the old horseman Peleus, nor + by my mother Thetis, but even in this place shall the earth cover me. + Nevertheless, O Patroklos, now that I am left behind you, I will not bury you, + till I have brought hither the head and armor of mighty Hektor who has slain + you. Twelve noble sons of Trojans will I behead before your bier to avenge you; + till I have done so you shall lie as you are by the ships, and fair women of + +Troy + and Dardanos, whom we have + taken with spear and strength of arm when we sacked men's goodly cities, shall + weep over you both night and day." +Then Achilles told his men to set a large + tripod upon the fire that they might wash the clotted gore from off Patroklos. + Thereon they set a tripod full of bath water on to a clear fire: they threw + sticks on to it to make it blaze, and the water became hot as the flame played + about the belly of the tripod. When the water in the cauldron was boiling they + washed the body, anointed it with oil, and closed its wounds with ointment that + had been kept nine years. Then they laid it on a bier and covered it with a + linen cloth from head to foot, and over this they laid a fair white robe. Thus + all night long did the Myrmidons gather round Achilles to mourn Patroklos. +Then Zeus said to Hera his sister-wife, "So, + Queen Hera, you have gained your end, and have roused fleet Achilles. One would + think that the Achaeans were of your own flesh and blood." +And Hera answered, "Dread son of Kronos, why + should you say this thing? May not a man though he be only mortal and knows + less than we do, do what he can for another person? And shall not I - foremost + of all goddesses both by descent and as wife to you who reign in heaven - + devise evil for the Trojans if I am angry with them?" +Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Thetis came + to the house of Hephaistos, imperishable [ +aphthitos +], star-bespangled, fairest of the abodes in heaven, a house + of bronze wrought by the lame god's own hands. She found him busy with his + bellows, sweating and hard at work, for he was making twenty tripods that were + to stand by the wall of his house, and he set wheels of gold under them all + that they might go of their own selves to the assemblies [ +agôn +] of the gods, and come back again - marvels indeed to see. They + were finished all but the ears of cunning workmanship which yet remained to be + fixed to them: these he was now fixing, and he was hammering at the rivets. + While he was thus at work silver-footed Thetis came to the house. Kharis, of + graceful head-dress, wife to the far-famed lame god, came towards her as soon + as she saw her, and took her hand in her own, saying, "Why have you come to our + house, Thetis, honored and ever welcome - for you do not visit us often? Come + inside and let me set refreshment before you." +The goddess led the way as she spoke, and bade + Thetis sit on a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver; there was a footstool + also under her feet. Then she called Hephaistos and said, "Hephaistos, come + here, Thetis wants you"; and the far-famed lame god answered, "Then it is + indeed an august and honored goddess who has come here; she it was that took + care of me when I was suffering from the heavy fall which I had through my + cruel mother's anger - for she would have got rid of me because I was lame. It + would have gone hardly with me had not Eurynome, daughter of the + ever-encircling waters of Okeanos, and Thetis, taken me to their bosom. Nine + years did I stay with them, and many beautiful works in bronze, brooches, + spiral armlets, cups, and chains, did I make for them in their cave, with the + roaring waters of Okeanos foaming as they rushed ever past it; and no one knew, + neither of gods nor men, save only Thetis and Eurynome who took care of me. If, + then, Thetis has come to my house I must make her due requital for having saved + me; entertain her, therefore, with all hospitality, while I put by my bellows + and all my tools." +On this the mighty monster hobbled off from his + anvil, his thin legs plying lustily under him. He set the bellows away from the + fire, and gathered his tools into a silver chest. Then he took a sponge and + washed his face and hands, his shaggy chest and brawny neck; he donned his + shirt, grasped his strong staff, and limped towards the door. There were golden + handmaids also who worked for him, and were like real young women, with sense + and reason [ +noos +], voice also and strength, and all + the learning of the immortals; these busied themselves as the king bade them, + while he drew near to Thetis, seated her upon a goodly seat, and took her hand + in his own, saying, "Why have you come to our house, Thetis honored and ever + welcome - for you do not visit us often? Say what you want, and I will do it + for you at once if I can, and if it can be done at all." +Thetis wept and answered, "Hephaistos, is there + another goddess in +Olympus + whom the + son of Kronos has been pleased to try with so much affliction as he has me? Me + alone of the marine goddesses did he make subject to a mortal husband, Peleus + son of Aiakos, and sorely against my will did I submit to the embraces of one + who was but mortal, and who now stays at home worn out with age. Neither is + this all. Heaven granted me a son, hero among heroes, and he shot up as a + sapling. I tended him as a plant in a goodly garden and sent him with his ships + to +Ilion + to fight the Trojans, but + never shall I welcome him back to the house of Peleus. So long as he lives to + look upon the light of the sun, he is in heaviness, and though I go to him I + cannot help him; King Agamemnon has made him give up the maiden whom the sons + of the Achaeans had awarded him, and he wastes with sorrow [ +akhos +] for her sake. Then the Trojans hemmed the + Achaeans in at their ships' sterns and would not let them come forth; the + elders, therefore, of the Argives besought Achilles and offered him great + treasure, whereon he refused to bring deliverance to them himself, but put his + own armor on Patroklos and sent him into the fight with many people after him. + All day long they fought by the Scaean gates and would have taken the city + there and then, had not Apollo granted glory to Hektor and slain the valiant + son of Menoitios after he had done the Trojans much evil. Therefore I am + suppliant at your knees if haply you may be pleased to provide my son, whose + end is near at hand, with helmet and shield, with goodly greaves fitted with + ankle-clasps, and with a breastplate, for he lost his own when his true comrade + fell at the hands of the Trojans, and he now lies stretched on earth in the + bitterness of his soul." +And Hephaistos answered, "Take heart, and be no + more disquieted about this matter; would that I could hide him from death's + sight when his hour is come, so surely as I can find him armor that shall amaze + the eyes of all who behold it." +When he had so said he left her and went to his + bellows, turning them towards the fire and bidding them do their office. Twenty + bellows blew upon the melting-pots, and they blew blasts of every kind, some + fierce to help him when he had need of them, and others less strong as + Hephaistos willed it in the course of his work. He threw tough copper into the + fire, and tin, with silver and gold; he set his great anvil on its block, and + with one hand grasped his mighty hammer while he took the tongs in the other. +First he shaped the shield so great and strong, + adorning it all over and binding it round with a gleaming circuit in three + layers; and the baldric was made of silver. He made the shield in five + thicknesses, and with many a wonder did his cunning hand enrich it. +He wrought the earth, the heavens, and the sea; + the moon also at her full and the untiring sun, with all the signs that glorify + the face of heaven - the Pleiads, the Hyads, huge Orion, and the Bear, which + men also call the Wain and which turns round ever in one place, facing. Orion, + and alone never dips into the stream of Okeanos. +He wrought also two cities, fair to see and + busy with the hum of men. In the one were weddings and wedding-feasts, and they + were going about the city with brides whom they were escorting by torchlight + from their chambers. Loud rose the cry of Hymen, and the youths danced to the + music of flute and lyre, while the women stood each at her house door to see + them. +Meanwhile the people were gathered in assembly, + for there was a quarrel [ +neikos +], and two men were + wrangling about the blood-price for a man who had died, the one claiming to the + +dêmos + that he had the right to pay off the + damages in full, and the other refusing to accept anything. Each was seeking a + limit [ +peirar +], in the presence of an arbitrator + [ +histôr +], and the people took sides, each man + backing the side that he had taken; +but the heralds kept them back, and the elders + sat on their seats of stone in a solemn circle, holding the staves which the + heralds had put into their hands. Then they rose and each in his turn gave + judgment [ +dikê +], and there were two measures of + gold laid down, to be given to him whose judgment [ +dikê +] should be deemed the fairest. +About the other city there lay encamped two + hosts in gleaming armor, and they were divided whether to sack it, or to spare + it and accept the half of what it contained. But the men of the city would not + yet consent, and armed themselves for a surprise; their wives and little + children kept guard upon the walls, and with them were the men who were past + fighting through age; but the others sallied forth with Ares and Pallas Athena + at their head - both of them wrought in gold and clad in golden raiment, great + and fair with their armor as befitting gods, while they that followed were + smaller. When they reached the place where they would lay their ambush, it was + on a riverbed to which live stock of all kinds would come from far and near to + water; here, then, they lay concealed, clad in full armor. Some way off them + there were two scouts who were on the look-out for the coming of sheep or + cattle, which presently came, followed by two shepherds who were playing on + their pipes, and had not so much as a thought of danger. When those who were in + ambush saw this, they cut off the flocks and herds and killed the shepherds. + Meanwhile the besiegers, when they heard much noise among the cattle as they + sat in council, sprang to their horses, and made with all speed towards them; + when they reached them they set battle in array by the banks of the river, and + the hosts aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another. With them were Strife + and Riot, and fell Fate who was dragging three men after her, one with a fresh + wound, and the other unwounded, while the third was dead, and she was dragging + him along by his heel: and her robe was bedrabbled in men's blood. They went in + and out with one another and fought as though they were living people haling + away one another's dead. +He wrought also a fair fallow field, large and + thrice ploughed already. Many men were working at the plough within it, turning + their oxen to and fro, furrow after furrow. Each time that they turned on + reaching the headland a man would come up to them and give them a cup of wine, + and they would go back to their furrows looking forward to the time when they + should again reach the headland. The part that they had ploughed was dark + behind them, so that the field, though it was of gold, still looked as if it + were being ploughed - very curious to behold. +He wrought also a field of harvest grain, and + the reapers were reaping with sharp sickles in their hands. Swathe after swathe + fell to the ground in a straight line behind them, and the binders bound them + in bands of twisted straw. There were three binders, and behind them there were + boys who gathered the cut grain in armfuls and kept on bringing them to be + bound: among them all the owner of the land stood by in silence and was glad. + The servants were getting a meal ready under an oak, for they had sacrificed a + great ox, and were busy cutting him up, while the women were making a porridge + of much white barley for the laborers' dinner. +He wrought also a vineyard, golden and fair to + see, and the vines were loaded with grapes. The bunches overhead were black, + but the vines were trained on poles of silver. He ran a ditch of dark metal all + round it, and fenced it with a fence of tin; there was only one path to it, and + by this the vintagers went when they would gather the vintage. Youths and + maidens all blithe and full of glee, carried the luscious fruit in plaited + baskets; and with them there went a boy who made sweet music with his lyre, and + sang the Linus-song with his clear boyish voice. +He wrought also a herd of horned cattle. He + made the cows of gold and tin, and they lowed as they came full speed out of + the yards to go and feed among the waving reeds that grow by the banks of the + river. Along with the cattle there went four shepherds, all of them in gold, + and their nine fleet dogs went with them. Two terrible lions had fastened on a + bellowing bull that was with the foremost cows, and bellow as he might they + haled him, while the dogs and men gave chase: the lions tore through the bull's + thick hide and were gorging on his blood and bowels, but the herdsmen were + afraid to do anything, and only hounded on their dogs; the dogs dared not + fasten on the lions but stood by barking and keeping out of harm's way. +The god wrought also a pasture in a fair + mountain dell, and large flock of sheep, with a homestead and huts, and + sheltered sheepfolds. +Furthermore he wrought a green, like that which + Daedalus once made in +Knossos + for + lovely Ariadne. Here was a dance [khoros] of youths and maidens, whom all would + woo, all with their hands on one another's wrists. The maidens wore robes of + light linen, and the youths well woven shirts that were slightly oiled. The + girls were crowned with garlands, while the young men had daggers of gold that + hung by silver baldrics; sometimes they would dance deftly in a ring with merry + twinkling feet, as it were a potter sitting at his work and making trial of his + wheel to see whether it will run, and sometimes they would go all in line with + one another, and many people was gathered joyously about the place of dancing + [ +khoros +]. There was a bard also to sing to them + and play his lyre, while two tumblers went about performing in the midst of + them when the man struck up with his tune. +All round the outermost rim of the shield he + set the mighty stream of the river Okeanos. +Then when he had fashioned the shield so great + and strong, he made a breastplate also that shone brighter than fire. He made + helmet, close fitting to the brow, and richly worked, with a golden plume + overhanging it; and he made greaves also of beaten tin. +Lastly, when the famed lame god had made all + the armor, he took it and set it before the mother of Achilles; whereon she + darted like a falcon from the snowy summits of +Olympus + and bore away the gleaming armor from the house of + Hephaistos. +Now when Dawn in robe of saffron was hastening + from the streams of Okeanos, to bring light to mortals and immortals, Thetis + reached the ships with the armor that the god had given her. She found her son + fallen about the body of Patroklos and weeping bitterly. Many also of his + followers were weeping round him, but when the goddess came among them she + clasped his hand in her own, saying, "My son, grieve as we may we must let this + man lie, for it is by heaven's will that he has fallen; now, therefore, accept + from Hephaistos this rich and goodly armor, which no man has ever yet borne + upon his shoulders." +As she spoke she set the armor before Achilles, + and it rang out bravely as she did so. The Myrmidons were struck with awe, and + none dared look full at it, for they were afraid; but Achilles was roused to + still greater fury, and his eyes gleamed with a fierce light, for he was glad + when he handled the splendid present which the god had made him. Then, as soon + as he had satisfied himself with looking at it, he said to his mother, "Mother, + the god has given me armor, meet handiwork for an immortal and such as no + living could have fashioned; I will now arm, but I much fear that flies will + settle upon the son of Menoitios and breed worms about his wounds, so that his + body, now he is dead, will be disfigured and the flesh will rot." +Silver-footed Thetis answered, "My son, be not + disquieted about this matter. I will find means to protect him from the swarms + of noisome flies that prey on the bodies of men who have been killed in battle. + He may lie for a whole year, and his flesh shall still be as sound as ever, or + even sounder. Call, therefore, the Achaean heroes in assembly; unsay your anger + [ +mênis +] against Agamemnon; arm at once, and + fight with might and main." As she spoke she put strength and courage into his + heart, and she then dropped ambrosia and red nectar into the wounds of + Patroklos, that his body might suffer no change. +Then Achilles went out upon the seashore, and + with a loud cry called on the Achaean heroes. On this even those who as yet had + stayed always at the assembly of [ +agôn +] of ships, + the pilots and helmsmen, and even the stewards who were about the ships and + served out rations, all came to the place of assembly because Achilles had + shown himself after having held aloof so long from fighting. Two squires [ +therapontes +] of Ares, Odysseus and the son of Tydeus, + came limping, for their wounds still pained them; nevertheless they came, and + took their seats in the front row of the assembly. Last of all came Agamemnon, + king of men, he too wounded, for Koön son of Antenor had struck him with a + spear in battle. +When the Achaeans were got together Achilles + rose and said, "Son of Atreus, surely it would have been better alike for both + you and me, when we two were in such high anger about Briseis, surely it would + have been better, had Artemis' arrow slain her at the ships on the day when I + took her after having sacked Lyrnessos. For so, many an Achaean the less would + have bitten dust before the foe in the days of my anger. It has been well for + Hektor and the Trojans, but the Achaeans will long indeed remember our quarrel. + Now, however, let it be, for it is over. If we have been angry, necessity has + schooled our anger. I put it from me: I dare not nurse it for ever; therefore, + bid the Achaeans arm forthwith that I may go out against the Trojans, and learn + whether they will be in a mind to sleep by the ships or no. Glad, I ween, will + he be to rest his knees who may flee my spear when I wield it." +Thus did he speak, and the Achaeans rejoiced in + that he had put away his anger [ +mênis +]. Then + Agamemnon spoke, rising in his place, and not going into the middle of the + assembly. "Danaan heroes," said he, "squires [ +therapontes +] of Ares, it is well to listen when a man stands up to + speak, and it is not seemly to interrupt him, or it will go hard even with a + practiced speaker. Who can either hear or speak in an uproar? Even the finest + orator will be disconcerted by it. I will expound to the son of Peleus, and do + you other Achaeans heed me and mark me well. Often have the Achaeans spoken to + me of this matter and upbraided me, but it was not I who was responsible [ +aitios +]: Zeus, and Fate [ +Moira +], and Erinys that walks in darkness struck me with derangement + [ +atê +] when we were assembled on the day that I + took from Achilles the prize that had been awarded to him. What could I do? All + things are in the hand of heaven, and +Atê +, eldest + of Zeus' daughters, shuts men's eyes to their destruction. She walks + delicately, not on the solid earth, but hovers over the heads of men to make + them stumble or to ensnare them. +"Time was when she fooled Zeus himself, who they + say is greatest whether of gods or men; for Hera, woman though she was, + beguiled him on the day when Alkmene was to bring forth mighty Herakles in the + fair city of +Thebes +. He told it out + among the gods saying, ‘Hear me all gods and goddesses, that I may speak even + as I am minded; this day shall an Eileithuia, helper of women who are in labor, + bring a man child into the world who shall be lord over all that dwell about + him who are of my blood and lineage.’ Then said Hera all crafty and full of + guile, ‘You will play false, and will not hold to the finality [ +telos +] of your word. Swear me, O Olympian, swear me a + great oath, that he who shall this day fall between the feet of a woman, shall + be lord over all that dwell about him who are of your blood and lineage.’ +"Thus she spoke, and Zeus suspected her not, + but swore the great oath, to his much ruing thereafter. For Hera darted down + from the high summit of +Olympus +, and + went in haste to Achaean Argos where she knew that the noble wife of Sthenelos + son of Perseus then was. She being with child and in her seventh month, Hera + brought the child to birth though there was a month still wanting, but she + stayed the offspring of Alkmene, and kept back the Eileithuiai. Then she went + to tell Zeus the son of Kronos, and said, ‘Father Zeus, lord of the lightning - + I have a word for your ear. There is a fine child born this day, Eurystheus, + son to Sthenelos the son of Perseus; he is of your lineage; it is well, + therefore, that he should reign over the Argives.’ +"On this Zeus was stung to the very quick with + grief [ +akhos +], and in his rage he caught +Atê + by the hair, and swore a great oath that never + should she again invade starry heaven and +Olympus +, for she was the bane of all. Then he whirled her round + with a twist of his hand, and flung her down from heaven so that she fell on to + the fields of mortal men; and he was ever angry with her when he saw his son + groaning under the cruel labors [ +athloi +] that + Eurystheus laid upon him. Even so did I grieve when mighty Hektor was killing + the Argives at their ships, and all the time I kept thinking of +Atê + who had so baned me. I was blind, and Zeus robbed + me of my reason; I will now make atonement, and will add much treasure by way + of amends. Go, therefore, into battle, you and your people with you. I will + give you all that Odysseus offered you yesterday in your tents: or if it so + please you, wait, though you would fain fight at once, and my squires [ +therapontes +] shall bring the gifts from my ship, that + you may see whether what I give you is enough." +And Achilles answered, "Son of Atreus, king of + men Agamemnon, you can give such gifts as you think proper, or you can withhold + them: it is in your own hands. Let us now set battle in array; +it is not well to tarry talking about trifles, + for there is a deed which is as yet to do. Achilles shall again be seen + fighting among the foremost, and laying low the ranks of the Trojans: bear this + in mind each one of you when he is fighting." +Then Odysseus said, "Achilles, godlike and + brave, send not the Achaeans thus against +Ilion + to fight the Trojans fasting, for the battle will be no + brief one, when it is once begun, and heaven has filled both sides with fury; + bid them first take food both bread and wine by the ships, for in this there is + strength and stay. No man can do battle the livelong day to the going down of + the sun if he is without food; however much he may want to fight his strength + will fail him before he knows it; hunger and thirst will find him out, and his + limbs will grow weary under him. But a man can fight all day if he is full fed + with meat and wine; his heart beats high, and his strength will stay till he + has routed all his foes; therefore, send the people away and bid them prepare + their meal; King Agamemnon will bring out the gifts in presence of the + assembly, that all may see them and you may be satisfied. Moreover let him + swear an oath before the Argives that he has never gone up into the couch of + Briseis, nor has lain down with her, even though it is right [ +themis +] for humans, both men and women, to do this; + and do you, too, show yourself of a gracious mind; let Agamemnon entertain you + in his tents with a feast of reconciliation, that so you may have had your dues + in full. As for you, son of Atreus, treat people more righteously in future; it + is no disgrace even to a king that he should make amends if he was wrong in the + first instance." +And King Agamemnon answered, "Son of +Laertes +, your words please me well, for + throughout you have spoken wisely. I will swear as you would have me do; I do + so of my own free will, neither shall I take the name of a +daimôn + in vain. Let, then, Achilles wait, though he would fain fight + at once, and do you others wait also, till the gifts come from my tent and we + ratify the oath with sacrifice. Thus, then, do I charge you: choose [ +krinô +] some noble young Achaeans to go with you, and + bring from my tents the gifts that I promised yesterday to Achilles, and bring + the women also; furthermore let Talthybios find me a boar from those that are + with the host, and make it ready for sacrifice to Zeus and to the sun." +Then said Achilles, "Son of Atreus, king of men + Agamemnon, see to these matters at some other season, when there is breathing + time and when I am calmer. Would you have men eat while the bodies of those + whom Hektor son of Priam slew are still lying mangled upon the plain? Let the + sons of the Achaeans, say I, fight fasting and without food, till we have + avenged them; afterwards at the going down of the sun let them eat their fill. + As for me, Patroklos is lying dead in my tent, all hacked and hewn, with his + feet to the door, and his comrades are mourning round him. Therefore I can take + thought of nothing save only slaughter and blood and the rattle in the throat + of the dying." +Odysseus answered, "Achilles, son of Peleus, + mightiest of all the Achaeans, in battle you are better than I, and that more + than a little, but in counsel I am much before you, for I am older and of + greater knowledge. Therefore be patient under my words. Fighting is a thing of + which men soon surfeit, and when Zeus, who is wars steward, weighs the upshot, + it may well prove that the straw which our sickles have reaped is far heavier + than the grain. It may not be that the Achaeans should mourn the dead with + their bellies; day by day men fall thick and threefold continually; when should + we have respite from our sorrow [ +ponos +]? Let us + mourn our dead for a day and bury them out of sight and mind, but let those of + us who are left eat and drink that we may arm and fight our foes more fiercely. + In that hour let no man hold back, waiting for a second summons; such summons + shall bode ill for him who is found lagging behind at our ships; let us rather + sally as one man and loose the fury of war upon the Trojans." +When he had thus spoken he took with him the + sons of Nestor, with Meges son of Phyleus, Thoas, Meriones, Lykomedes son of + Kreontes, and Melanippos, and went to the tent of Agamemnon son of Atreus. The + word was not sooner said than the deed was done: they brought out the seven + tripods which Agamemnon had promised, with the twenty metal cauldrons and the + twelve horses; they also brought the women skilled in useful arts, seven in + number, with Briseis, which made eight. Odysseus weighed out the ten talents of + gold and then led the way back, while the young Achaeans brought the rest of + the gifts, and laid them in the middle of the assembly. +Agamemnon then rose, and Talthybios whose voice + was like that of a god came to him with the boar. The son of Atreus drew the + knife which he wore by the scabbard of his mighty sword, and began by cutting + off some bristles from the boar, lifting up his hands in prayer as he did so. + The other Achaeans sat where they were all silent and orderly to hear the king, + and Agamemnon looked into the vault of heaven and prayed saying, "I call Zeus + the first and mightiest of all gods to witness, I call also Earth and Sun and + the Erinyes who dwell below and take vengeance on him who shall swear falsely, + that I have laid no hand upon the girl Briseis, neither to take her to my bed + nor otherwise, but that she has remained in my tents inviolate. If I swear + falsely may heaven visit me with all the penalties which it metes out to those + who perjure themselves." +He cut the boar's throat as he spoke, whereon + Talthybios whirled it round his head, and flung it into the wide sea to feed + the fishes. Then Achilles also rose and said to the Argives, "Father Zeus, + truly you give +atê + to men and bane them. The son of + Atreus had not else stirred me to so fierce an anger, nor so stubbornly taken + Briseis from me against my will. Surely Zeus must have counseled the + destruction of many an +Argive +. Go, + now, and take your food that we may begin fighting." +On this he broke up the assembly, and every man + went back to his own ship. The Myrmidons attended to the presents and took them + away to the ship of Achilles. They placed them in his tents, while the + stable-men [therapontes] drove the horses in among the others. +Briseis, fair as Aphrodite, when she saw the + mangled body of Patroklos, flung herself upon it and cried aloud, tearing her + breast, her neck, and her lovely face with both her hands. Beautiful as a + goddess she wept and said, "Patroklos, dearest friend, when I went hence I left + you living; I return, O prince, to find you dead; thus do fresh sorrows + multiply upon me one after the other. I saw him to whom my father and mother + married me, cut down before our city, and my three own dear brothers perished + with him on the self-same day; but you, Patroklos, even when Achilles slew my + husband and sacked the city of noble Mynes, told me that I was not to weep, for + you said you would make Achilles marry me, and take me back with him to + +Phthia +, we should have a wedding + feast among the Myrmidons. You were always kind to me and I shall never cease + to grieve for you." +She wept as she spoke, and the women joined in + her lament-making as though their tears were for Patroklos, but in truth each + was weeping for her own sorrows. The elders of the Achaeans gathered round + Achilles and prayed him to take food, but he groaned and would not do so. "I + pray you," said he, "if any comrade will hear me, bid me neither eat nor drink, + for I am in great heaviness, and will stay fasting even to the going down of + the sun." +On this he sent the other princes away, save + only the two sons of Atreus and Odysseus, Nestor, Idomeneus, and the horseman + Phoenix, who stayed behind and tried to comfort him in the bitterness of his + sorrow [ +akhos +]: but he would not be comforted till + he should have flung himself into the jaws of battle, and he fetched sigh on + sigh, thinking ever of Patroklos. Then he said- +"Hapless and dearest comrade, you it was who + would get a good dinner ready for me at once and without delay when the + Achaeans were hastening to fight the Trojans; now, therefore, though I have + meat and drink in my tents, yet will I fast for sorrow. Grief greater than this + I could not know, not even though I were to hear of the death of my father, who + is now in +Phthia + weeping for the + loss of me his son, who am here fighting the Trojans in a strange land [ +dêmos +] for the accursed sake of Helen, nor yet though + I should hear that my son is no more - he who is being brought up in +Skyros + - if indeed Neoptolemos is still + living. Till now I made sure that I alone was to fall here at +Troy + away from +Argos +, while you were to return to +Phthia +, bring back my son with you in your + own ship, and show him all my property, my bondsmen, and the greatness of my + house - for Peleus must surely be either dead, or what little life remains to + him is oppressed alike with the infirmities of age and ever present fear lest + he should hear the sad tidings of my death." +He wept as he spoke, and the elders sighed in + concert as each thought on what he had left at home behind him. The son of + Kronos looked down with pity upon them, and said presently to Athena, "My + child, you have quite deserted your hero; is he then gone so clean out of your + recollection? There he sits by the ships all desolate for the loss of his dear + comrade, and though the others are gone to their dinner he will neither eat nor + drink. Go then and drop nectar and ambrosia into his breast, that he may know + no hunger." +With these words he urged Athena, who was + already of the same mind. She darted down from heaven into the air like some + falcon sailing on his broad wings and screaming. Meanwhile the Achaeans were + arming throughout the host, and when Athena had dropped nectar and ambrosia + into Achilles so that no cruel hunger should cause his limbs to fail him, she + went back to the house of her mighty father. Thick as the chill snow-flakes + shed from the hand of Zeus and borne on the keen blasts of the north wind, even + so thick did the gleaming helmets, the bossed shields, the strongly plated + breastplates, and the ashen spears stream from the ships. The sheen pierced the + sky, the whole land was radiant with their flashing armor, and the sound of the + tramp of their treading rose from under their feet. In the midst of them all + Achilles put on his armor; he gnashed his teeth, his eyes gleamed like fire, + for his grief [ +akhos +] was greater than he could + bear. Thus, then, full of fury against the Trojans, did he don the gift of the + god, the armor that Hephaistos had made him. +First he put on the goodly greaves fitted with + ankle-clasps, and next he did on the breastplate about his chest. He slung the + silver-studded sword of bronze about his shoulders, and then took up the shield + so great and strong that shone afar with a splendor as of the moon. As the + light seen by sailors from out at sea [ +pontos +], + when men have lit a fire in their homestead high up among the mountains, but + the sailors are carried out to sea [ +pontos +] by wind + and storm far from the haven where they would be - even so did the gleam of + Achilles' wondrous shield strike up into the heavens. He lifted the redoubtable + helmet, and set it upon his head, from whence it shone like a star, and the + golden plumes which Hephaistos had set thick about the ridge of the helmet, + waved all around it. Then Achilles made trial of himself in his armor to see + whether it fitted him, so that his limbs could play freely under it, and it + seemed to buoy him up as though it had been wings. +He also drew his father's spear out of the + spear-stand, a spear so great and heavy and strong that none of the Achaeans + save only Achilles had strength to wield it; this was the spear of Pelian ash + from the topmost ridges of Mount Pelion, which Chiron had once given to Peleus, + fraught with the death of heroes. Automedon and Alkimos busied themselves with + the harnessing of his horses; they made the bands fast about them, and put the + bit in their mouths, drawing the reins back towards the chariot. Automedon, + whip in hand, sprang up behind the horses, and after him Achilles mounted in + full armor, resplendent as the sun-god Hyperion. Then with a loud voice he + chided with his father's horses saying, " +Xanthos + and Balios, famed offspring of Podarge - this time when + we have done fighting be sure and bring your driver safely back to the host of + the Achaeans, and do not leave him dead on the plain as you did Patroklos." +Then fleet +Xanthos + answered under the yoke - for white-armed Hera had + endowed him with human speech - and he bowed his head till his mane touched the + ground as it hung down from under the yoke-band. "Dread Achilles," said he, "we + will indeed save you now, but the day of your death is near, and we will not be + responsible [ +aitioi +], for it will be heaven and + stern fate that will destroy you. Neither was it through any sloth or slackness + on our part that the Trojans stripped Patroklos of his armor; it was the mighty + god whom lovely Leto bore that slew him as he fought among the foremost, and + granted a triumph to Hektor. We two can fly as swiftly as Zephyros who they say + is fleetest of all winds; nevertheless it is your doom to fall by the hand of a + man and of a god." +When he had thus spoken, the Erinyes stayed his + speech, and Achilles answered him in great sadness, saying, "Why, O +Xanthos +, do you thus foretell my death? + You need not do so, for I well know that I am to fall here, far from my dear + father and mother; none the more, however, shall I stay my hand till I have + given the Trojans their fill of fighting." +So saying, with a loud cry he drove his horses + to the front. +Thus, then, did the Achaeans arm by their ships + round you, O son of Peleus, who were hungering for battle; while the Trojans + over against them armed upon the rise of the plain. +Meanwhile Zeus from the top of many-delled + +Olympus +, bade Themis gather the + gods in council, whereon she went about and called them to the house of Zeus. + There was not a river absent except Okeanos, nor a single one of the nymphs + that haunt fair groves, or springs of rivers and meadows of green grass. When + they reached the house of cloud-compelling Zeus, they took their seats in the + arcades of polished marble which Hephaistos with his consummate skill had made + for father Zeus. +In such wise, therefore, did they gather in the + house of Zeus. Poseidon also, lord of the earthquake, obeyed the call of the + goddess, and came up out of the sea to join them. There, sitting in the midst + of them, he asked what Zeus' purpose might be. "Why," said he, "wielder of the + lightning, have you called the gods in council? Are you considering some matter + that concerns the Trojans and Achaeans - for the blaze of battle is on the + point of being kindled between them?" +And Zeus answered, "You know my purpose, shaker + of earth, and wherefore I have called you hither. I take thought for them even + in their destruction. For my own part I shall stay here seated on +Mount Olympus + and look on in peace, but do you + others go about among Trojans and Achaeans, and help either side as you may be + severally disposed in your thinking [ +noos +]. If + Achilles fights the Trojans without hindrance they will make no stand against + him; they have ever trembled at the sight of him, and now that he is roused to + such fury about his comrade, he will override fate itself and storm their + city." +Thus spoke Zeus and gave the word for war, + whereon the gods took their several sides and went into battle. Hera, Pallas + Athena, earth-encircling Poseidon, Hermes bringer of good luck and excellent in + all cunning - all these joined the host that came from the assembly [ +agôn +] of ships; with them also came Hephaistos in all + his glory, limping, but yet with his thin legs plying lustily under him. Ares + of gleaming helmet joined the Trojans, and with him Apollo of locks unshorn, + and the archer goddess Artemis, Leto, +Xanthos +, and laughter-loving Aphrodite. +So long as the gods held themselves aloof from + mortal warriors the Achaeans were triumphant, for Achilles who had long refused + to fight was now with them. There was not a Trojan but his limbs failed him for + fear as he beheld the fleet son of Peleus all glorious in his armor, and + looking like Ares himself. When, however, the Olympians came to take their part + among men, forthwith uprose strong Strife, rouser of hosts, and Athena raised + her loud voice, now standing by the deep trench that ran outside the wall, and + now shouting with all her might upon the shore of the sounding sea. Ares also + bellowed out upon the other side, dark as some black thunder-cloud, and called + on the Trojans at the top of his voice, now from the acropolis, and now + speeding up the side of the river Simoeis till he came to the hill Kallikolone. +Thus did the gods spur on both hosts to fight, + and rouse fierce contention also among themselves. The sire of gods and men + thundered from heaven above, while from beneath Poseidon shook the vast earth, + and bade the high hills tremble. The spurs and crests of many-fountained Ida + quaked, as also the city of the Trojans and the ships of the Achaeans. Hades, + king of the realms below, was struck with fear; he sprang panic-stricken from + his throne and cried aloud in terror lest Poseidon, lord of the earthquake, + should crack the ground over his head, and lay bare his moldy mansions to the + sight of mortals and immortals - mansions so ghastly grim that even the gods + shudder to think of them. Such was the uproar as the gods came together in + battle. Apollo with his arrows took his stand to face King Poseidon, while + Athena took hers against the god of war; the archer-goddess Artemis with her + golden arrows, sister of far-darting Apollo, stood to face Hera; Hermes the + lusty bringer of good luck faced Leto, while the mighty eddying river whom men + can Skamandros, but gods +Xanthos +, + matched himself against Hephaistos. +The gods, then, were thus ranged against one + another. But the heart of Achilles was set on meeting Hektor son of Priam, for + it was with his blood that he longed above all things else to glut the stubborn + lord of battle. Meanwhile Apollo set Aeneas on to attack the son of Peleus, and + put courage into his heart, speaking with the voice of Lykaon son of Priam. In + his likeness therefore, he said to Aeneas, "Aeneas, counselor of the Trojans, + where are now the brave words with which you vaunted over your wine before the + Trojan princes, saying that you would fight Achilles son of Peleus in single + combat?" +And Aeneas answered, "Why do you thus bid me + fight the proud son of Peleus, when I am in no mind to do so? Were I to face + him now, it would not be for the first time. His spear has already put me to + Right from Ida, when he attacked our cattle and sacked Lyrnessos and Pedasos; + Zeus indeed saved me in that he granted me strength to flee, else had the + fallen by the hands of Achilles and Athena, who went before him to protect him + and urged him to fall upon the Leleges and Trojans. No man may fight Achilles, + for one of the gods is always with him as his guardian, and even were it not + so, his weapon flies ever straight, and fails not to pierce the flesh of him + who is against him; if heaven would let me fight him to the finish [ +telos +] on even terms, he should not soon overcome me, + though he boasts that he is made of bronze." +Then said King Apollo, son to Zeus, "Nay, hero, + pray to the ever-living gods, for men say that you were born of Zeus' daughter + Aphrodite, whereas Achilles is son to a goddess of inferior rank. Aphrodite is + child to Zeus, while Thetis is but daughter to the old man of the sea. Bring, + therefore, your spear to bear upon him, and let him not scare you with his + taunts and menaces." +As he spoke he put courage into the heart of + the shepherd of his people, and he strode in full armor among the ranks of the + foremost fighters. Nor did the son of Anchises escape the notice of white-armed + Hera, as he went forth into the throng to meet Achilles. She called the gods + about her, and said, "Look to it, you two, Poseidon and Athena, and consider + how this shall be; Phoebus Apollo has been sending Aeneas clad in full armor to + fight Achilles. Shall we turn him back at once, or shall one of us stand by + Achilles and endow him with strength so that his heart fail not, and he may + learn that the chiefs of the immortals are on his side, while the others who + have all along been defending the Trojans are but vain helpers? Let us all come + down from +Olympus + and join in the + fight, that this day he may take no hurt at the hands of the Trojans. Hereafter + let him suffer whatever fate may have spun out for him when he was begotten and + his mother bore him. If Achilles be not thus assured by the voice of a god, he + may come to fear presently when one of us meets him in battle, for the gods are + terrible if they are seen face to face." +Poseidon lord of the earthquake answered her + saying, "Hera, restrain your fury, which has made you veer in your thinking + [ +noos +]; it is not well; I am not in favor of + forcing the other gods to fight us, for the advantage is too greatly on our own + side; let us take our places on some hill out of the beaten track, and let + mortals fight it out among themselves. If Ares or Phoebus Apollo begin + fighting, or keep Achilles in check so that he cannot fight, we too, will at + once raise the cry of battle, and in that case they will soon leave the field + and go back vanquished to +Olympus + + among the other gods." +With these words the dark-haired god led the + way to the high earth-barrow of Herakles, built round solid masonry, and made + by the Trojans and Pallas Athena for him flee to when the sea-monster was + chasing him from the shore on to the plain. Here Poseidon and those that were + with him took their seats, wrapped in a thick cloud of darkness; but the other + gods seated themselves on the brow of Kallikolone round you, O Phoebus, and + Ares the waster of cities. +Thus did the gods sit apart and form their + plans, but neither side was willing to begin battle with the other, and Zeus + from his seat on high was in command over them all. Meanwhile the whole plain + was alive with men and horses, and blazing with the gleam of armor. The earth + rang again under the tramp of their feet as they rushed towards each other, and + two champions, by far the foremost of them all, met between the hosts to fight + - to wit, Aeneas son of Anchises, and noble Achilles. +Aeneas was first to stride forward in attack, + his doughty helmet tossing defiance as he came on. He held his strong shield + before his breast, and brandished his bronze spear. The son of Peleus from the + other side sprang forth to meet him, like some fierce lion that the whole + population [ +dêmos +] has met to hunt and kill - at + first he bodes no ill, but when some daring youth has struck him with a spear, + he crouches openmouthed, his jaws foam, he roars with fury, he lashes his tail + from side to side about his ribs and loins, and glares as he springs straight + before him, to find out whether he is to slay, or be slain among the foremost + of his foes - even with such fury did Achilles burn to spring upon Aeneas. +When they were now close up with one another + Achilles was first to speak. "Aeneas," said he, "why do you stand thus out + before the host to fight me? Is it that you hope to reign over the Trojans, + partaking of the honor [ +timê +] of Priam? Nay, though + you kill me Priam will not hand his kingdom over to you. He is a man of sound + judgment, and he has sons of his own. Or have the Trojans been allotting you a + demesne of passing richness, fair with orchard lawns and wheat lands, if you + should slay me? This you shall hardly do. I have discomfited you once already. + Have you forgotten how when you were alone I chased you from your herds + helter-skelter down the slopes of Ida? You did not turn round to look behind + you; you took refuge in Lyrnessos, but I attacked the city, and with the help + of Athena and father Zeus I sacked it and carried its women into captivity, + though Zeus and the other gods rescued you. You think they will protect you + now, but they will not do so; therefore I say go back into the host, and do not + face me, or you will rue it. Even a fool may be wise after the event." +Then Aeneas answered, "Son of Peleus, think not + that your words can scare me as though I were a child. I too, if I will, can + brag and talk unseemly. We know one another's race and parentage as matters of + common fame, though neither have you ever seen my parents nor I yours. Men say + that you are son to noble Peleus, and that your mother is Thetis, fair-haired + daughter of the sea. I have noble Anchises for my father, and Aphrodite for my + mother; the parents of one or other of us shall this day mourn a son, for it + will be more than silly talk that shall part us when the fight is over. Learn, + then, my lineage if you will - and it is known to many. +"In the beginning +Dardanos + was the son of Zeus, and founded + Dardania, for +Ilion + was not yet + established on the plain for men to dwell in, and her people still abode on the + spurs of many-fountained Ida. Dardanos had a son, king Erichthonios, who was + wealthiest of all men living; he had three thousand mares that fed by the + water-meadows, they and their foals with them. Boreas was enamored of them as + they were feeding, and covered them in the semblance of a dark-maned stallion. + Twelve filly foals did they conceive and bear him, and these, as they sped over + the fertile plain, would go bounding on over the ripe ears of wheat and not + break them; or again when they would disport themselves on the broad back of + Ocean they could gallop on the crest of a breaker. Erichthonios begat Tros, + king of the Trojans, and Tros had three noble sons, Ilos, Assarakos, and + Ganymede who was comeliest of mortal men; wherefore the gods carried him off to + be Zeus' cupbearer, for his beauty's sake, that he might dwell among the + immortals. Ilos begat Laomedon, and Laomedon begat Tithonos, Priam, Lampos, + Klytios, and Hiketaon of the stock of Ares. But Assarakos was father to Kapys, + and Kapys to Anchises, who was my father, while Hektor is son to Priam. +"Such do I declare my blood and lineage, but as + for valor [ +aretê +], Zeus gives it or takes it as he + will, for he is lord of all. And now let there be no more of this prating in + mid-battle as though we were children. We could fling taunts without end at one + another; a hundred-oared galley would not hold them. The tongue can run in + every which direction and talk all wise; it can go here and there, and as a man + says, so shall he be gainsaid. What is the use of our bandying hard like women + who when they fall foul of one another go out and wrangle in the streets, one + half true and the other lies, as rage inspires them? No words of yours shall + turn me now that I am fain to fight- therefore let us make trial of one another + with our spears." +As he spoke he drove his spear at the great and + terrible shield of Achilles, which rang out as the point struck it. The son of + Peleus held the shield before him with his strong hand, and he was afraid, for + he deemed that Aeneas' spear would go through it quite easily, not reflecting + that the god's glorious gifts were little likely to yield before the blows of + mortal men; and indeed Aeneas' spear did not pierce the shield, for the layer + of gold, gift of the god, stayed the point. It went through two layers, but the + god had made the shield in five, two of bronze, the two innermost ones of tin, + and one of gold; it was in this that the spear was stayed. +Achilles in his turn threw, and struck the + round shield of Aeneas at the very edge, where the bronze was thinnest; the + spear of Pelian ash went clean through, and the shield rang under the blow; + Aeneas was afraid, and crouched backwards, holding the shield away from him; + the spear, however, flew over his back, and stuck quivering in the ground, + after having gone through both circles of the sheltering shield. Aeneas though + he had avoided the spear, stood still, blinded with fear and grief [ +akhos +] because the weapon had gone so near him; then + Achilles sprang furiously upon him, with a cry as of death and with his keen + blade drawn, and Aeneas seized a great stone, so huge that two men, as men now + are, would be unable to lift it, but Aeneas wielded it quite easily. +Aeneas would then have struck Achilles as he + was springing towards him, either on the helmet, or on the shield that covered + him, and Achilles would have closed with him and dispatched him with his sword, + had not Poseidon lord of the earthquake been quick to mark, and said forthwith + to the immortals, "Alas, I feel grief [ +akhos +] for + great Aeneas, who will now go down to the house of Hades, vanquished by the son + of Peleus. Fool that he was to give ear to the counsel of Apollo. Apollo will + never save him from destruction. Why should this man suffer grief [ +akhos +] when he is guiltless, to no purpose, and in + another's quarrel? Has he not at all times offered acceptable sacrifice to the + gods that dwell in heaven? Let us then snatch him from death's jaws, lest the + son of Kronos be angry should Achilles slay him. It is fated, moreover, that he + should escape, and that the race of Dardanos, whom Zeus loved above all the + sons born to him of mortal women, shall not perish utterly without seed or + sign. For now indeed has Zeus hated the blood of Priam, while Aeneas shall + reign over the Trojans, he and his children's children that shall be born + hereafter." +Then answered Hera, "Earth-shaker, look to this + matter yourself, and consider concerning Aeneas, whether you will save him, or + suffer him, brave though he be, to fall by the hand of Achilles son of Peleus. + For of a truth we two, I and Pallas Athena, have sworn full many a time before + all the immortals, that never would we shield Trojans from destruction, not + even when all +Troy + is burning in the + flames that the Achaeans shall kindle." +When earth-encircling Poseidon heard this he + went into the battle amid the clash of spears, and came to the place where + Achilles and Aeneas were. Forthwith he shed a darkness before the eyes of the + son of Peleus, drew the bronze-headed ashen spear from the shield of Aeneas, + and laid it at the feet of Achilles. Then he lifted Aeneas on high from off the + earth and hurried him away. Over the heads of many a band of warriors both + horse and foot did he soar as the god's hand sped him, till he came to the very + fringe of the battle where the Cauconians were arming themselves for fight. + Poseidon, shaker of the earth, then came near to him and said, Aeneas, what god + has egged you on to this folly in fighting the son of Peleus, who is both a + mightier man of valor and more beloved of heaven than you are? Give way before + him whensoever you meet him, lest you go down to the house of Hades even though + fate would have it otherwise. When Achilles is dead you may then fight among + the foremost undaunted, for none other of the Achaeans shall slay you." +The god left him when he had given him these + instructions, and at once removed the darkness from before the eyes of + Achilles, who opened them wide indeed and said in great anger, "Alas! what + marvel am I now beholding? Here is my spear upon the ground, but I see not him + whom I meant to kill when I hurled it. Of a truth Aeneas also must be under + heaven's protection, although I had thought his boasting was idle. Let him go + hang; he will be in no mood to fight me further, seeing how narrowly he has + missed being killed. I will now give my orders to the Danaans and attack some + other of the Trojans." +He sprang forward along the line and cheered + his men on as he did so. "Let not the Trojans," he cried, "keep you at arm's + length, Achaeans, but go for them and fight them man for man. However valiant I + may be, I cannot give chase to so many and fight all of them. Even Ares, who is + an immortal, or Athena, would shrink from flinging himself into the jaws of + such a fight and laying about him; nevertheless, so far as in me lies I will + show no slackness of hand or foot nor want of endurance, not even for a moment; + I will utterly break their ranks, and woe to the Trojan who shall venture + within reach of my spear." +Thus did he exhort them. Meanwhile Hektor + called upon the Trojans and declared that he would fight Achilles. "Be not + afraid, proud Trojans," said he, "to face the son of Peleus; I could fight gods + myself if the battle were one of words only, but they would be more than a + match for me, if we had to use our spears. Even so the deed of Achilles will + fall somewhat short of the outcome [ +telos +] of his + word; he will do in part, and the other part he will clip short. I will go up + against him though his hands be as fire - though his hands be fire and his + strength iron." +Thus urged the Trojans lifted up their spears + against the Achaeans, and raised the cry of battle as they flung themselves + into the midst of their ranks. But Phoebus Apollo came up to Hektor and said, + "Hektor, on no account must you challenge Achilles to single combat; keep a + lookout for him while you are under cover of the others and away from the thick + of the fight, otherwise he will either hit you with a spear or cut you down at + close quarters." +Thus he spoke, and Hektor drew back within the + crowd, for he was afraid when he heard what the god had said to him. Achilles + then sprang upon the Trojans with a terrible cry, clothed in valor as with a + garment. First he killed Iphition son of Otrynteus, a leader of many people + whom a naiad nymph had borne to Otrynteus waster of cities, in the district + [ +dêmos +] of +Hyde + under the snowy heights of Mount Tmolos. Achilles struck + him full on the head as he was coming on towards him, and split it clean in + two; whereon he fell heavily to the ground and Achilles vaunted over him + saying, "You be low, son of Otrynteus, mighty hero; your death is here, but + your lineage is on the Gygaean lake where your father's estate lies, by Hyllos, + rich in fish, and the eddying waters of Hermos." +Thus did he vaunt, but darkness closed the eyes + of the other. The chariots of the Achaeans cut him up as their wheels passed + over him in the front of the battle, and after him Achilles killed Demoleon, a + valiant man of war and son to Antenor. He struck him on the temple through his + bronze-cheeked helmet. The helmet did not stay the spear, but it went right on, + crushing the bone so that the brain inside was shed in all directions, and his + lust of fighting was ended. Then he struck Hippodamas in the midriff as he was + springing down from his chariot in front of him, and trying to escape. He + breathed his last, bellowing like a bull bellows when young men are dragging + him to offer him in sacrifice to the King of +Helike +, and the heart of the earth-shaker is glad; even so did + he bellow as he lay dying. Achilles then went in pursuit of Polydoros son of + Priam, whom his father had always forbidden to fight because he was the + youngest of his sons, the one he loved best, and the fastest runner. He, in his + folly and showing off the excellence [ +aretê +] of his + speed, was rushing about among front ranks until he lost his life, for Achilles + struck him in the middle of the back as he was darting past him: he struck him + just at the golden fastenings of his belt and where the two pieces of the + double breastplate overlapped. The point of the spear pierced him through and + came out by the navel, whereon he fell groaning on to his knees and a cloud of + darkness overshadowed him as he sank holding his entrails in his hands. +When Hektor saw his brother Polydoros with his + entrails in his hands and sinking down upon the ground, a mist came over his + eyes, and he could not bear to keep longer at a distance; he therefore poised + his spear and darted towards Achilles like a flame of fire. When Achilles saw + him he bounded forward and vaunted saying, "This is he that has wounded my + heart most deeply and has slain my beloved comrade. Not for long shall we two + quail before one another on the highways of war." +He looked fiercely on Hektor and said, "Draw + near, that you may meet your doom the sooner." Hektor feared him not and + answered, "Son of Peleus, think not that your words can scare me as though I + were a child; I too if I will can brag and talk unseemly; I know that you are a + mighty warrior, mightier by far than I, nevertheless the issue lies in the lap + of heaven whether I, worse man though I be, may not slay you with my spear, for + this too has been found keen ere now." +He hurled his spear as he spoke, but Athena + breathed upon it, and though she breathed but very lightly she turned it back + from going towards Achilles, so that it returned to Hektor and lay at his feet + in front of him. Achilles then sprang furiously on him with a loud cry, bent on + killing him, but Apollo caught him up easily as a god can, and hid him in a + thick darkness. Thrice did Achilles spring towards him spear in hand, and + thrice did he waste his blow upon the air. When he rushed forward for the + fourth time as though he were a +daimôn + he shouted + aloud saying, "Hound, this time too you have escaped death - but of a truth it + came exceedingly near you. Phoebus Apollo, to whom it seems you pray before you + go into battle, has again saved you; but if I too have any friend among the + gods I will surely make an end of you when I come across you at some other + time. Now, however, I will pursue and overtake other Trojans." +On this he struck Dryops with his spear, about + the middle of his neck, and he fell headlong at his feet. There he let him lie + and stayed Demoukhos son of Philetor, a man both brave and of great stature, by + hitting him on the knee with a spear; then he smote him with his sword and + killed him. After this he sprang on Laogonos and +Dardanos +, sons of Bias, and threw them + from their chariot, the one with a blow from a thrown spear, while the other he + cut down in hand-to-hand fight. There was also Tros the son of Alastor - he + came up to Achilles and clasped his knees in the hope that he would spare him + and not kill him but let him go, because they were both of the same age. Fool, + he might have known that he should not prevail with him, for the man was in no + mood for pity or forbearance but was in grim earnest. Therefore when Tros laid + hold of his knees and sought a hearing for his prayers, Achilles drove his + sword into his liver, and the liver came rolling out, while his bosom was all + covered with the black blood that welled from the wound. Thus did death close + his eyes as he lay lifeless. +Achilles then went up to Moulios and struck him + on the ear with a spear, and the bronze spear-head came right out at the other + ear. He also struck Echeklos son of Agenor on the head with his sword, which + became warm with the blood, while death and stern fate closed the eyes of + Echeklos. Next in order the bronze point of his spear wounded Deukalion in the + fore-arm where the sinews of the elbow are united, whereon he waited Achilles' + onset with his arm hanging down and death staring him in the face. Achilles cut + his head off with a blow from his sword and flung it helmet and all away from + him, and the marrow came oozing out of his backbone as he lay. He then went in + pursuit of Rhigmos, noble son of Peires, who had come from fertile +Thrace +, and struck him through the middle with + a spear which fixed itself in his belly, so that he fell headlong from his + chariot. He also speared Areithoos squire [ +therapôn +] to Rhigmos in the back as he was turning his horses in + flight, and thrust him from his chariot, while the horses were struck with + panic. +As a fire raging in some mountain glen after + long drought - and the dense forest is in a blaze, while the wind carries great + tongues of fire in every direction - even so furiously did Achilles rage, + wielding his spear as though he were a +daimôn +, and + giving chase to those whom he would slay, till the dark earth ran with blood. + Or as one who yokes broad-browed oxen that they may tread barley in a + threshing-floor - and it is soon bruised small under the feet of the lowing + cattle - even so did the horses of Achilles trample on the shields and bodies + of the slain. The axle underneath and the railing that ran round the car were + bespattered with clots of blood thrown up by the horses' hoofs, and from the + tires of the wheels; but the son of Peleus pressed on to win still further + glory, and his hands were bedrabbled with gore. +Now when they came to the ford of the + full-flowing river +Xanthos +, + begotten of immortal Zeus, Achilles cut their forces in two: one half he chased + over the plain towards the city by the same way that the Achaeans had taken + when fleeing panic-stricken on the preceding day with Hektor in full triumph; + this way did they flee pell-mell, and Hera sent down a thick mist in front of + them to stay them. The other half were hemmed in by the deep silver-eddying + stream, and fell into it with a great uproar. The waters resounded, and the + banks rang again, as they swam hither and thither with loud cries amid the + whirling eddies. As locusts flying to a river before the blast of a grass fire- + the flame comes on and on till at last it overtakes them and they huddle into + the water - even so was the eddying stream of +Xanthos + filled with the uproar of men and horses, all + struggling in confusion before Achilles. +Forthwith the hero left his spear upon the bank, + leaning it against a tamarisk bush, and plunged into the river like a +daimôn +, armed with his sword only. Fell was his + purpose as he hewed the Trojans down on every side. Their dying groans rose + hideous as the sword smote them, and the river ran red with blood. As when fish + flee scared before a huge dolphin, and fill every nook and corner of some fair + haven - for he is sure to eat all he can catch - even so did the Trojans cower + under the banks of the mighty river, and when Achilles' arms grew weary with + killing them, +he drew twelve youths alive out of the water, to + sacrifice in revenge for Patroklos son of Menoitios. He drew them out like + dazed fawns, bound their hands behind them with the belts of their own shirts, + and gave them over to his men to take back to the ships. Then he sprang into + the river, thirsting for still further blood. +There he found Lykaon, son of Priam seed of + +Dardanos +, as he was escaping + out of the water; he it was whom he had once taken prisoner when he was in his + father's vineyard, having set upon him by night, as he was cutting young shoots + from a wild fig-tree to make the wicker sides of a chariot. Achilles then + caught him to his sorrow unawares, and sent him by sea to +Lemnos +, where the son of Jason bought him. But + a guest-friend, Eetion of Imbros, freed him with a great sum, and sent him to + Arisbe, whence he had escaped and returned to his father's house. He had spent + eleven days happily with his friends after he had come from +Lemnos +, but on the twelfth heaven again + delivered him into the hands of Achilles, who was to send him to the house of + Hades sorely against his will. He was unarmed when Achilles caught sight of + him, and had neither helmet nor shield; nor yet had he any spear, for he had + thrown all his armor from him on to the bank, and was sweating with his + struggles to get out of the river, so that his strength was now failing him. +Then Achilles said to himself in his surprise, + "What marvel do I see here? If this man can come back alive after having been + sold over into +Lemnos +, I shall have + the Trojans also whom I have slain rising from the world below. Could not even + the waters of the gray sea [pontos] imprison him, as they do many another + whether he will or no? This time let him taste my spear, that I may know for + certain whether mother earth who can keep even a strong man down, will be able + to hold him, or whether thence too he will return." +Thus did he pause and ponder. But Lykaon came up + to him dazed and trying hard to embrace his knees, for he would fain live, not + die. Achilles thrust at him with his spear, meaning to kill him, but Lykaon ran + crouching up to him and caught his knees, whereby the spear passed over his + back, and stuck in the ground, hungering though it was for blood. With one hand + he caught Achilles' knees as he besought him, and with the other he clutched + the spear and would not let it go. Then he said, "Achilles, have mercy upon me + and spare me, for I am your suppliant. It was in your tents that I first broke + bread on the day when you took me prisoner in the vineyard; after which you + sold away to +Lemnos + far from my father + and my friends, and I brought you the price of a hundred oxen. I have paid + three times as much to gain my freedom; it is but twelve days that I have come + to +Ilion + after much suffering, and now + cruel fate has again thrown me into your hands. Surely father Zeus must hate + me, that he has given me over to you a second time. Short of life indeed did my + mother Laothoe bear me, daughter of aged Altes - of Altes who reigns over the + warlike Leleges and holds steep Pedasos on the river Satnioeis. Priam married + his daughter along with many other women and two sons were born of her, both of + whom you will have slain. Your spear slew noble Polydoros as he was fighting in + the front ranks, and now evil will here befall me, for I fear that I shall not + escape you since a +daimôn + has delivered me over to + you. Furthermore I say, and lay my saying to your heart, spare me, for I am not + of the same womb as Hektor who slew your brave and noble comrade." +With such words did the princely son of Priam + beseech Achilles; but Achilles answered him sternly. "Idiot," said he, "talk + not to me of ransom. Until Patroklos fell I preferred to give the Trojans + quarter, and sold beyond the sea many of those whom I had taken alive; but now + not a man shall live of those whom heaven delivers into my hands before the + city of +Ilion + - +and of all Trojans it shall fare hardest with + the sons of Priam. Therefore, my friend, you too shall die. Why should you + whine in this way? Patroklos fell, and he was a better man than you are. I too + - see you not how I am great and goodly? I am son to a noble father, and have a + goddess for my mother, but the hands of doom and death overshadow me all as + surely. The day will come, either at dawn or dark, or at the noontide, when one + shall take my life also in battle, either with his spear, or with an arrow sped + from his bow." +Thus did he speak, and Lykaon's heart sank + within him. He loosed his hold of the spear, and held out both hands before + him; but Achilles drew his keen blade, and struck him by the collar-bone on his + neck; he plunged his two-edged sword into him to the very hilt, whereon he lay + at full length on the ground, with the dark blood welling from him till the + earth was soaked. Then Achilles caught him by the foot and flung him into the + river to go down stream, vaunting over him the while, and saying, "Lie there + among the fishes, who will lick the blood from your wound and gloat over it; + your mother shall not lay you on any bier to mourn you, but the eddies of + Skamandros shall bear you into the broad bosom of the sea. There shall the + fishes feed on the fat of Lykaon as they dart under the dark ripple of the + waters - so perish all of you till we reach the citadel of strong +Ilion + - you in flight, and I following after + to destroy you. The river with its broad silver stream shall serve you in no + stead, for all the bulls you offered him and all the horses that you flung + living into his waters. None the less miserably shall you perish till there is + not a man of you but has paid in full for the death of Patroklos and the havoc + you wrought among the Achaeans whom you have slain while I held aloof from + battle." +So spoke Achilles, but the river grew more and + more angry, and pondered within himself how he should keep Achilles out of the + struggle [ +ponos +] and save the Trojans from + disaster. Meanwhile the son of Peleus, spear in hand, sprang upon Asteropaios + son of Pelegon to kill him. He was son to the broad river +Axios + and Periboia eldest daughter of + Akessamenos; for the river had lain with her. Asteropaios stood up out of the + water to face him with a spear in either hand, and +Xanthos + filled him with courage, being + angry for the death of the youths whom Achilles was slaying ruthlessly within + his waters. When they were close up with one another Achilles was first to + speak. "Who and whence are you," said he, "who dare to face me? Woe to the + parents whose son stands up against me." And the son of Pelegon answered, + "Great son of Peleus, why should you ask my lineage. I am from the fertile land + of far Paeonia, leader of the Paeonians, and it is now eleven days that I am at + +Ilion +. I am of the blood of the + river +Axios + - of +Axios + that is the fairest of all rivers that + run. He begot the famed warrior Pelegon, whose son men call me. Let us now + fight, Achilles." +Thus did he defy him, and Achilles raised his + spear of Pelian ash. Asteropaios failed with both his spears, for he could use + both hands alike; with the one spear he struck Achilles' shield, but did not + pierce it, for the layer of gold, gift of the god, stayed the point; with the + other spear he grazed the elbow of Achilles! right arm drawing dark blood, but + the spear itself went by him and fixed itself in the ground, foiled of its + bloody banquet. Then Achilles, fain to kill him, hurled his spear at + Asteropaios, but failed to hit him and struck the steep bank of the river, + driving the spear half its length into the earth. The son of Peleus then drew + his sword and sprang furiously upon him. Asteropaios vainly tried to draw + Achilles' spear out of the bank by main force; thrice did he tug at it, trying + with all his might to draw it out, and thrice he had to leave off trying; the + fourth time he tried to bend and break it, but ere he could do so Achilles + smote him with his sword and killed him. He struck him in the belly near the + navel, +so that all his bowels came gushing out on to + the ground, and the darkness of death came over him as he lay gasping. Then + Achilles set his foot on his chest and spoiled him of his armor, vaunting over + him and saying, "Lie there - begotten of a river though you be, it is hard for + you to strive with the offspring of Kronos' son. You declare yourself sprung + from the blood of a broad river, but I am of the seed of mighty Zeus. My father + is Peleus, son of Aiakos ruler over the many Myrmidons, and Aiakos was the son + of Zeus. Therefore as Zeus is mightier than any river that flows into the sea, + so are his children stronger than those of any river whatsoever. Moreover you + have a great river hard by if he can be of any use to you, but there is no + fighting against Zeus the son of Kronos, with whom not even King Akheloos can + compare, nor the mighty stream of deep-flowing Okeanos, from whom all rivers + and seas with all springs and deep wells proceed; even Okeanos fears the + lightnings of great Zeus, and his thunder that comes crashing out of heaven." +With this he drew his bronze spear out of the + bank, and now that he had killed Asteropaios, he let him lie where he was on + the sand, with the dark water flowing over him and the eels and fishes busy + nibbling and gnawing the fat that was about his kidneys. Then he went in chase + of the Paeonians, who were fleeing along the bank of the river in panic when + they saw their leader slain by the hands of the son of Peleus. Therein he slew + Thersilokhos, Mydon, Astypylos, Mnesos, Thrasios, Oeneus, and Ophelestes, and + he would have slain yet others, had not the river in anger taken human form, + and spoken to him from out the deep waters saying, "Achilles, if you excel all + in strength, so do you also in wickedness, for the gods are ever with you to + protect you: if, then, the son of Kronos has granted it to you to destroy all + the Trojans, at any rate drive them out of my stream, and do your grim work on + land. My fair waters are now filled with corpses, nor can I find any channel by + which I may pour myself into the sea for I am choked with dead, and yet you go + on mercilessly slaying. I am in despair, therefore, O leader of your host, + trouble me no further." +Achilles answered, "So be it, Skamandros, + Zeus-descended; but I will never cease dealing out death among the Trojans, + till I have pent them up in their city, and made trial of Hektor face to face, + that I may learn whether he is to vanquish me, or I him." +As he spoke he set upon the Trojans with a fury + like that of a +daimôn. + But the river said to + Apollo, "Surely, son of Zeus, lord of the silver bow, you are not obeying the + commands of Zeus who charged you straitly that you should stand by the Trojans + and defend them, till twilight fades, and darkness is over an the earth." +Meanwhile Achilles sprang from the bank into + mid-stream, whereon the river raised a high wave and attacked him. He swelled + his stream into a torrent, and swept away the many dead whom Achilles had slain + and left within his waters. These he cast out on to the land, bellowing like a + bull the while, but the living he saved alive, hiding them in his mighty + eddies. The great and terrible wave gathered about Achilles, falling upon him + and beating on his shield, so that he could not keep his feet; he caught hold + of a great elm-tree, but it came up by the roots, and tore away the bank, + damming the stream with its thick branches and bridging it all across; whereby + Achilles struggled out of the stream, and fled full speed over the plain, for + he was afraid. +But the mighty god ceased not in his pursuit, + and sprang upon him with a dark-crested wave, to keep him out of the struggle + [ +ponos +] and save the Trojans from destruction. + The son of Peleus darted away a spear's throw from him; swift as the swoop of a + black hunter-eagle which is the strongest and fleetest of all birds, even so + did he spring forward, and the armor rang loudly about his breast. He fled on + in front, but the river with a loud roar came tearing after. As one who would + water his garden leads a stream from some fountain over his plants, and all his + ground - +spade in hand he clears away the dams to free + the channels, and the little stones run rolling round and round with the water + as it goes merrily down the bank faster than the man can follow- even so did + the river keep catching up with Achilles albeit he was a fleet runner, for the + gods are stronger than men. As often as he would strive to stand his ground, + and see whether or no all the gods in heaven were in league against him, so + often would the mighty wave come beating down upon his shoulders, and he would + have to keep fleeing on and on in great dismay; for the angry flood was tiring + him out as it flowed past him and ate the ground from under his feet. +Then the son of Peleus lifted up his voice to + heaven saying, "Father Zeus, is there none of the gods who will take pity upon + me, and save me from the river? I do not care what may happen to me afterwards. + I blame [aitios] none of the other dwellers on +Olympus + so severely as I do my dear mother, who has beguiled + and tricked me. She told me I was to fall under the walls of +Troy + by the flying arrows of Apollo; would + that Hektor, the best man among the Trojans, might there slay me; then should I + fall a hero by the hand of a hero; whereas now it seems that I shall come to a + most pitiable end, trapped in this river as though I were some swineherd's boy, + who gets carried down a torrent while trying to cross it during a storm." +As soon as he had spoken thus, Poseidon and + Athena came up to him in the likeness of two men, and took him by the hand to + reassure him. Poseidon spoke first. "Son of Peleus," said he, "be not so + exceeding fearful; we are two gods, come with Zeus' sanction to assist you, I, + and Pallas Athena. It is not your fate to perish in this river; he will abate + presently as you will see; moreover we strongly advise you, if you will be + guided by us, not to stay your hand from fighting till you have pent the Trojan + host within the famed walls of +Ilion + - + as many of them as may escape. Then kill Hektor and go back to the ships, for + we will grant you a triumph over him." +When they had so said they went back to the + other immortals, but Achilles strove onward over the plain, encouraged by the + charge the gods had laid upon him. All was now covered with the flood of + waters, and much goodly armor of the youths that had been slain was rifting + about, as also many corpses, but he forced his way against the stream, speeding + right onwards, nor could the broad waters stay him, for Athena had endowed him + with great strength. Nevertheless Skamandros did not slacken in his pursuit, + but was still more furious with the son of Peleus. He lifted his waters into a + high crest and cried aloud to Simoeis saying, "Dear brother, let the two of us + unite to save this man, or he will sack the mighty city of King Priam, and the + Trojans will not hold out against him. Help me at once; fill your streams with + water from their sources, rouse all your torrents to a fury; raise your wave on + high, and let snags and stones come thundering down you that we may make an end + of this savage creature who is now lording it as though he were a god. Nothing + shall serve him longer, not strength nor comeliness, nor his fine armor, which + indeed shall soon be lying low in the deep waters covered over with mud. I will + wrap him in sand, and pour tons of shingle round him, so that the Achaeans + shall not know how to gather his bones for the silt in which I shall have + hidden him, and when they celebrate his funeral they need build no tomb [ +sêma +]." +On this he upraised his tumultuous flood high + against Achilles, seething as it was with foam and blood and the bodies of the + dead. The dark waters of the river stood upright and would have overwhelmed the + son of Peleus, but Hera, trembling lest Achilles should be swept away in the + mighty torrent, lifted her voice on high and called out to Hephaistos her son. + "Crook-foot," she cried, "my child, be up and doing, for I deem it is with you + that +Xanthos + is fain to fight; + help us at once, kindle a fierce fire; I will then bring up the west and the + white south wind in a mighty gale from the sea, +that shall bear the flames against the heads + and armor of the Trojans and consume them, while you go along the banks of + +Xanthos + burning his trees and + wrapping him round with fire. Let him not turn you back neither by fair words + nor foul, and slacken not till I shout and tell you. Then you may stay your + flames." +On this Hephaistos kindled a fierce fire, which + broke out first upon the plain and burned the many dead whom Achilles had + killed and whose bodies were lying about in great numbers; by this means the + plain was dried and the flood stayed. As the north wind, blowing on an orchard + that has been sodden with autumn rain, soon dries it, and the heart of the + owner is glad - even so the whole plan was dried and the dead bodies were + consumed. Then he turned tongues of fire on to the river. He burned the elms + the willows and the tamarisks, the lotus also, with the rushes and marshy + herbage that grew abundantly by the banks of the river. The eels and fishes + that go darting about everywhere in the water, these, too, were sorely harassed + by the flames that cunning Hephaistos had kindled, and the river himself was + scalded, so that he spoke saying, "Hephaistos, there is no god can hold his own + against you. I cannot fight you when you flare out your flames in this way; + strive with me no longer. Let Achilles drive the Trojans out of city + immediately. What have I to do with quarreling and helping people?" +He was boiling as he spoke, and all his waters + were seething. As a cauldron upon ‘a large fire boils when it is melting the + lard of some fatted hog, and the lard keeps bubbling up all over when the dry + faggots blaze under it - even so were the goodly waters of +Xanthos + heated with the fire till they + were boiling. He could flow no longer but stayed his stream, so afflicted was + he by the blasts of fire which cunning Hephaistos had raised. Then he prayed to + Hera and besought her saying, "Hera, why should your son vex my stream with + such especial fury? I am not so much responsible [ +aitios +] as all the others are who have been helping the Trojans. +I will leave off, since you so desire it, and + let son leave off also. Furthermore I swear never again will I do anything to + save the Trojans from destruction, not even when all +Troy + is burning in the flames which the + Achaeans will kindle." +As soon as Hera heard this she said to her son + Hephaistos, "Son Hephaistos, hold now your flames; we ought not to use such + violence against a god for the sake of mortals." +When she had thus spoken Hephaistos quenched + his flames, and the river went back once more into his own fair bed. +Xanthos + was now beaten, so these + two left off fighting, for Hera stayed them though she was still angry; but a + furious quarrel broke out among the other gods, for they were of divided + counsels. They fell on one another with a mighty uproar - earth groaned, and + the spacious firmament rang out as with a blare of trumpets. Zeus heard as he + was sitting on +Olympus +, and laughed + for joy when he saw the gods coming to blows among themselves. They were not + long about beginning, and Ares piercer of shields opened the battle. Sword in + hand he sprang at once upon Athena and reviled her. "Why, vixen," said he, + "have you again set the gods by the ears in the pride and haughtiness of your + heart? Have you forgotten how you set Diomedes son of Tydeus on to wound me, + and yourself took visible spear and drove it into me to the hurt of my fair + body? You shall now suffer for what you then did to me." +As he spoke he struck her on the terrible + tasseled aegis - so terrible that not even can Zeus' lightning pierce it. Here + did murderous Ares strike her with his great spear. She drew back and with her + strong hand seized a stone that was lying on the plain - great and rugged and + black - which men of old had set for the boundary of a field. With this she + struck Ares on the neck, and brought him down. Nine roods did he cover in his + fall, and his hair was all soiled in the dust, while his armor rang rattling + round him. +But Athena laughed and vaunted over him saying, + "Idiot, have you not learned how far stronger I am than you, but you must still + match yourself against me? Thus do your mother's curses now roost upon you, for + she is angry and would do you mischief because you have deserted the Achaeans + and are helping the Trojans." +She then turned her two piercing eyes + elsewhere, whereon Zeus' daughter Aphrodite took Ares by the hand and led him + away groaning all the time, for it was only with great difficulty that he had + come to himself again. When Queen Hera saw her, she said to Athena, "Look, + daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, unweariable, that vixen Aphrodite is again + taking Ares through the crowd out of the battle; go after her at once." +Thus she spoke. Athena sped after Aphrodite + with a will, and made at her, striking her on the bosom with her strong hand so + that she fell fainting to the ground, and there they both lay stretched at full + length. Then Athena vaunted over her saying, "May all who help the Trojans + against the Argives prove just as redoubtable and stalwart as Aphrodite did + when she came across me while she was helping Ares. Had this been so, we should + long since have ended the war by sacking the strong city of +Ilion +." +Hera smiled as she listened. Meanwhile King + Poseidon turned to Apollo saying, "Phoebus, why should we keep each other at + arm's length? it is not well, now that the others have begun fighting; it will + be disgraceful to us if we return to Zeus' bronze-floored mansion on +Olympus + without having fought each other; + therefore come on, you are the younger of the two, and I ought not to attack + you, for I am older and have had more experience. Idiot, you have no sense, and + forget how we two alone of all the gods fared hardly round about +Ilion + when we came from Zeus' house and worked + for Laomedon a whole year at a stated wage and he gave us his orders. I built + the Trojans the wall about their city, so wide and fair that it might be + impregnable, while you, Phoebus, herded cattle for him in the dales of many + valleyed Ida. +When, however, the glad hours [ +hôrai +] brought round the time-limit [ +telos +] for payment, mighty Laomedon robbed us of all + our hire and sent us off with nothing but abuse. He threatened to bind us hand + and foot and sell us over into some distant island. He tried, moreover, to cut + off the ears of both of us, so we went away in a rage, furious about the + payment he had promised us, and yet withheld; in spite of all this, you are now + showing favor [ +kharis +] to his people, and will not + join us in compassing the utter ruin of the proud Trojans with their wives and + children." +And King Apollo answered, "Lord of the + earthquake, you would not think me moderate [ +sôphrôn +] if I were to fight you about a pack of miserable mortals, + who come out like leaves in summer and eat the fruit of the field, and + presently fall lifeless to the ground. Let us stay this fighting at once and + let them settle it among themselves." +He turned away as he spoke, for he would lay no + hand on the brother of his own father. But his sister the huntress Artemis, + patroness of wild beasts, was very angry with him and said, "So you would flee, + Far-Darter, and hand victory over to Poseidon with a cheap vaunt to boot. Baby, + why keep your bow thus idle? Never let me again hear you bragging in my + father's house, as you have often done in the presence of the immortals, that + you would stand up and fight with Poseidon." +Apollo made her no answer, but Zeus' august + queen was angry and upbraided her bitterly. "Bold vixen," she cried, "how dare + you cross me thus? For all your bow you will find it hard to hold your own + against me. Zeus made you as a lion among women, and lets you kill them + whenever you choose. You will And it better to chase wild beasts and deer upon + the mountains than to fight those who are stronger than you are. If you would + try war, do so, and find out by pitting yourself against me, how far stronger I + am than you are." +She caught both Artemis' wrists with her left + hand as she spoke, and with her right she took the bow from her shoulders, and + laughed as she beat her with it about the ears while Artemis wriggled and + writhed under her blows. Her swift arrows were shed upon the ground, and she + fled weeping from under Hera's hand as a dove that flies before a falcon to the + cleft of some hollow rock, when it is her good fortune to escape. Even so did + she flee weeping away, leaving her bow and arrows behind her. +Then the slayer of +Argos +, guide and guardian, said to Leto, + "Leto, I shall not fight you; it is ill to come to blows with any of Zeus' + wives. Therefore boast as you will among the immortals that you worsted me in + fair fight." +Leto then gathered up Artemis' bow and arrows + that had fallen about amid the whirling dust, and when she had got them she + made all haste after her daughter. Artemis had now reached Zeus' bronze-floored + mansion on +Olympus +, and sat herself + down with many tears on the knees of her father, while her ambrosial raiment + was quivering all about her. The son of Kronos drew her towards him, and + laughing pleasantly the while began to question her saying, "Which of the + heavenly beings, my dear child, has been treating you in this cruel manner, as + though you had been misconducting yourself in the face of everybody?" and the + fair-crowned goddess of the chase answered, "It was your wife Hera, father, who + has been beating me; it is always her doing when there is any quarreling among + the immortals." +Thus did they converse, and meanwhile Phoebus + Apollo entered the strong city of +Ilion +, for he was uneasy lest the wall should not hold out and + the Danaans should take the city then and there, before its hour had come; but + the rest of the ever-living gods went back, some angry and some triumphant to + +Olympus +, where they took their + seats beside Zeus lord of the storm cloud, while Achilles still kept on dealing + out death alike on the Trojans and on their As when the smoke from some burning + city ascends to heaven when the anger [ +mênis +] of + the gods has kindled it - there is then toil [ +ponos +] for all, and sorrow for not a few - even so did Achilles bring + toil [ +ponos +] and sorrow on the Trojans. +Old King Priam stood on a high tower of the + wall looking down on huge Achilles as the Trojans fled panic-stricken before + him, and there was none to help them. Presently he came down from off the tower + and with many a groan went along the wall to give orders to the brave warders + of the gate. "Keep the gates," said he, "wide open till the people come fleeing + into the city, for Achilles is hard by and is driving them in rout before him. + I see we are in great peril. As soon as our people are inside and in safety, + close the strong gates for I fear lest that terrible man should come bounding + inside along with the others." +As he spoke they drew back the bolts and opened + the gates, and when these were opened there was a haven of refuge for the + Trojans. Apollo then came full speed out of the city to meet them and protect + them. Right for the city and the high wall, parched with thirst and grimy with + dust, still they hurried on, with Achilles wielding his spear furiously behind + them. For he was as one possessed, and was thirsting after glory. +Then had the sons of the Achaeans taken the + lofty gates of +Troy + if Apollo had not + spurred on Agenor, valiant and noble son to Antenor. He put courage into his + heart, and stood by his side to guard him, leaning against a beech tree and + shrouded in thick darkness. When Agenor saw Achilles he stood still and his + heart was clouded with care. "Alas," said he to himself in his dismay, "if I + flee before mighty Achilles, and go where all the others are being driven in + rout, he will none the less catch me and kill me for a coward. How would it be + were I to let Achilles drive the others before him, and then flee from the wall + to the plain that is behind +Ilion +till I reach the spurs of Ida and can hide in + the underwood that is thereon? I could then wash the sweat from off me in the + river and in the evening return to +Ilion +. But why commune with myself in this way? Like enough he + would see me as I am hurrying from the city over the plain, and would speed + after me till he had caught me - I should stand no chance against him, for he + is mightiest of all humankind. What, then, if I go out and meet him in front of + the city? His flesh too, I take it, can be pierced by pointed bronze. Life + [ +psukhê +] is the same in one and all, and men say + that he is but mortal despite the triumph that Zeus son of Kronos grants him." +So saying he stood on his guard and awaited + Achilles, for he was now fain to fight him. As a leopardess that bounds from + out a thick covert to attack a hunter - she knows no fear and is not dismayed + by the baying of the hounds; even though the man be too quick for her and wound + her either with thrust or spear, still, though the spear has pierced her she + will not give in till she has either caught him in her grip or been killed + outright - even so did noble Agenor son of Antenor refuse to flee till he had + made trial of Achilles, and took aim at him with his spear, holding his round + shield before him and crying with a loud voice. "Of a truth," said he, "noble + Achilles, you deem that you shall this day sack the city of the proud Trojans. + Fool, there will be trouble enough yet before it, for there is many a brave man + of us still inside who will stand in front of our dear parents with our wives + and children, to defend +Ilion +. Here + therefore, huge and mighty warrior though you be, here shall you cue. +As he spoke his strong hand hurled his javelin + from him, and the spear struck Achilles on the leg beneath the knee; the greave + of newly wrought tin rang loudly, but the spear recoiled from the body of him + whom it had struck, and did not pierce it, for the gods gift stayed it. + Achilles in his turn attacked noble Agenor, but Apollo would not grant him + glory, +for he snatched Agenor away and hid him in a + thick mist, sending him out of the battle unmolested Then he craftily drew the + son of Peleus away from going after the host, for he put on the semblance of + Agenor and stood in front of Achilles, who ran towards him to give him chase + and pursued him over the wheat lands of the plain, turning him towards the deep + waters of the river Skamandros. Apollo ran but a little way before him and + beguiled Achilles by making him think all the time that he was on the point of + overtaking him. Meanwhile the rabble of routed Trojans was thankful to crowd + within the city till their numbers thronged it; no longer did they dare wait + for one another outside the city walls, to learn who had escaped and who were + fallen in fight, but all whose feet and knees could still carry them poured + pell-mell into the town. +Thus the Trojans in the city, scared like fawns, + wiped the sweat from off them and drank to quench their thirst, leaning against + the goodly battlements, while the Achaeans with their shields laid upon their + shoulders drew close up to the walls. But stern fate bade Hektor stay where he + was before +Ilion + and the Scaean gates. + Then Phoebus Apollo spoke to the son of Peleus saying, "Why, son of Peleus, do + you, who are but man, give chase to me who am immortal? Have you not yet found + out that it is a god whom you pursue so furiously? You did not inflict + struggles [ +ponos +] on the Trojans whom you had + routed, and now they are within their walls, while you have been decoyed hither + away from them. Me you cannot kill, for death can take no hold upon me." +Achilles was greatly angered and said, "You have + baulked me, Far-Darter, most malicious of all gods, and have drawn me away from + the wall, where many another man would have bitten the dust ere he got within + +Ilion +; you have robbed me of great + glory and have saved the Trojans at no risk to yourself, for you have nothing + to fear, but I would indeed have my revenge if it were in my power to do so." +On this, with fell intent he made towards the + city, and as the winning horse in a chariot race strains every nerve when he is + flying over the plain, even so fast and furiously did the limbs of Achilles + bear him onwards. King Priam was first to note him as he scoured the plain, all + radiant as the star which men call Orion's Hound, and whose +beams blaze forth in time of harvest more + brilliantly than those of any other that shines by night; brightest of them all + though he be, he yet sends an ill sign [ +sêma +] for + mortals, for he brings fire and fever in his train - even so did Achilles' + armor gleam on his breast as he sped onwards. Priam raised a cry and beat his + head with his hands as he lifted them up and shouted out to his dear son, + imploring him to return; but Hektor still stayed before the gates, for his + heart was set upon doing battle with Achilles. The old man reached out his arms + towards him and bade him for pity's sake come within the walls. "Hektor," he + cried, "my son, stay not to face this man alone and unsupported, or you will + meet death at the hands of the son of Peleus, for he is mightier than you. + Monster that he is; would indeed that the gods loved him no better than I do, + for so, dogs and vultures would soon devour him as he lay stretched on earth, + and a load of grief [ +akhos +] would be lifted from my + heart, for many a brave son has he reft from me, either by killing them or + selling them away in the islands that are beyond the sea: even now I miss two + sons from among the Trojans who have thronged within the city, Lykaon and + Polydoros, whom Laothoe peeress among women bore me. Should they be still alive + and in the hands of the Achaeans, we will ransom them with gold and bronze, of + which we have store, for the old man Altes endowed his daughter richly; but if + they are already dead and in the house of Hades, sorrow will it be to us two + who were their parents; albeit the grief of others will be more short-lived + unless you too perish at the hands of Achilles. Come, then, my son, within the + city, to be the guardian of Trojan men and Trojan women, or you will both lose + your own life and afford a mighty triumph to the son of Peleus. Have pity also + on your unhappy father while life yet remains to him - on me, whom the son of + Kronos will destroy by a terrible doom on the threshold of old age, after I + have seen my sons slain and my daughters haled away as captives, my bridal + chambers pillaged, +little children dashed to earth amid the rage of + battle, and my sons' wives dragged away by the cruel hands of the Achaeans; in + the end fierce hounds will tear me in pieces at my own gates after some one has + beaten the life out of my body with sword or spear-hounds that I myself reared + and fed at my own table to guard my gates, but who will yet lap my blood and + then lie all distraught at my doors. When a young man falls by the sword in + battle, he may lie where he is and there is nothing unseemly; let what will be + seen, all is honorable in death, but when an old man is slain there is nothing + in this world more pitiable than that dogs should defile his gray hair and + beard and all that men hide for shame [ +aidôs +]." +The old man tore his gray hair as he spoke, but + he moved not the heart of Hektor. His mother hard by wept and moaned aloud as + she bared her bosom and pointed to the breast which had suckled him. "Hektor," + she cried, weeping bitterly the while, "Hektor, my son, spurn not this breast, + but have pity upon me too: if I have ever given you comfort from my own bosom, + think on it now, dear son, and come within the wall to protect us from this + man; stand not without to meet him. Should the wretch kill you, neither I nor + your richly dowered wife shall ever weep, dear offshoot of myself, over the bed + on which you lie, for dogs will devour you at the ships of the Achaeans." Thus + did the two with many tears implore their son, but they moved not the heart of + Hektor, and he stood his ground awaiting huge Achilles as he drew nearer + towards him. As serpent in its den upon the mountains, full fed with deadly + poisons, waits for the approach of man - he is filled with fury and his eyes + glare terribly as he goes writhing round his den - even so Hektor leaned his + shield against a tower that jutted out from the wall and stood where he was, + undaunted. +"Alas," said he to himself in the heaviness of + his heart, "if I go within the gates, Polydamas will be the first to heap + reproach upon me, for it was he that urged me to lead the Trojans back to the + city on that awful night when Achilles again came forth against us. I would not + listen, but it would have been indeed better if I had done so. Now that my + folly has destroyed the host, I dare not look Trojan men and Trojan women in + the face, lest a worse man should say, ‘Hektor has ruined us by his + self-confidence.’ Surely it would be better for me to return after having + fought Achilles and slain him, or to die gloriously here before the city. What, + again, if were to lay down my shield and helmet, lean my spear against the wall + and go straight up to noble Achilles? What if I were to promise to give up + Helen, who was the fountainhead of all this war, and all the treasure that + Alexander brought with him in his ships to +Troy +, aye, and to let the Achaeans divide the half of + everything that the city contains among themselves? I might make the Trojans, + by the mouths of their princes, take a solemn oath that they would hide + nothing, but would divide into two shares all that is within the city - but why + argue with myself in this way? Were I to go up to him he would show me no kind + of mercy; he would kill me then and there as easily as though I were a woman, + when I had off my armor. There is no parleying with him from some rock or oak + tree as young men and maidens prattle with one another. Better fight him at + once, and learn to which of us Zeus will grant victory." +Thus did he stand and ponder, but Achilles came + up to him as it were Ares himself, plumed lord of battle. From his right + shoulder he brandished his terrible spear of Pelian ash, and the bronze gleamed + around him like flashing fire or the rays of the rising sun. Fear fell upon + Hektor as he beheld him, and he dared not stay longer where he was but fled in + dismay from before the gates, while Achilles darted after him at his utmost + speed. As a mountain falcon, swiftest of all birds, swoops down upon some + cowering dove - the dove flies before him but the +falcon with a shrill scream follows close + after, resolved to have her - even so did Achilles make straight for Hektor + with all his might, while Hektor fled under the Trojan wall as fast as his + limbs could take him. +On they flew along the wagon-road that ran hard + by under the wall, past the lookout station, and past the weather-beaten wild + fig-tree, till they came to two fair springs which feed the river Skamandros. + One of these two springs is warm, and steam rises from it as smoke from a + burning fire, but the other even in summer is as cold as hail or snow, or the + ice that forms on water. Here, hard by the springs, are the goodly + washing-troughs of stone, where in the time of peace before the coming of the + Achaeans the wives and fair daughters of the Trojans used to wash their + clothes. Past these did they flee, the one in front and the other giving chase + behind him: good was the man that fled, +but better far was he that followed after, and + swiftly indeed did they run, for the prize was no mere beast for sacrifice or + bullock's hide, as it might be for a common foot-race, but they ran for the + life [ +psukhê +] of Hektor. As horses in a chariot + race speed round the turning-posts when they are running for some great prize + [ +athlon +] - a tripod or woman - at the games in + honor of some dead hero, so did these two run full speed three times round the + city of Priam. All the gods watched them, and the sire of gods and men was the + first to speak. +"Alas," said he, "my eyes behold a man who is + dear to me being pursued round the walls of +Troy +; my heart is full of pity for Hektor, who has burned the + thigh-bones of many a heifer in my honor, at one while on the of many-valleyed + Ida, and again on the citadel of +Troy +; and now I see noble Achilles in full pursuit of him round + the city of Priam. What say you? Consider among yourselves and decide whether + we shall now save him or let him fall, valiant though he be, before Achilles, + son of Peleus." +Then Athena said, "Father, wielder of the + lightning, lord of cloud and storm, what mean you? Would you pluck this mortal + whose doom has long been decreed out of the jaws of death? Do as you will, but + we others shall not be of a mind with you." And Zeus answered, "My child, + Trito-born, take heart. I did not speak in full earnest, and I will let you + have your way. Do as your thinking [ +noos +] tells + you, without letting up, without hindrance." +Thus did he urge Athena who was already eager, + and down she darted from the topmost summits of +Olympus +. +Achilles was still in full pursuit of Hektor, + as a hound chasing a fawn which he has started from its covert on the + mountains, and hunts through glade and thicket. The fawn may try to elude him + by crouching under cover of a bush, but he will scent her out and follow her up + until he gets her - even so there was no escape for Hektor from the fleet son + of Peleus. Whenever he made a set to get near the Dardanian gates and under the + walls, that his people might help him by showering down weapons from above, + Achilles would gain on him and head him back towards the plain, keeping himself + always on the city side. As a man in a dream who fails to lay hands upon + another whom he is pursuing - the one cannot escape nor the other overtake - + even so neither could Achilles come up with Hektor, nor Hektor break away from + Achilles; nevertheless he might even yet have escaped death had not the time + come when Apollo, who thus far had sustained his strength and nerved his + running, was now no longer to stay by him. Achilles made signs to the Achaean + host, and shook his head to show that no man was to aim a dart at Hektor, lest + another might win the glory of having hit him and he might himself come in + second. Then, at last, as they were nearing the fountains for the fourth time, + the father of all balanced his golden scales and placed a doom in each of them, + one for Achilles and the other for Hektor. As he held the scales by the middle, + the doom of Hektor fell down deep into the house of Hades - and then Phoebus + Apollo left him. Thereon Athena went close up to the son of Peleus and said, + "Noble Achilles, favored of heaven, I think in my mind [ +noos +] we two shall surely take back to the ships a triumph for the + Achaeans by slaying Hektor, for all his lust of battle. Do what Apollo may as + he lies groveling before his father, aegis-bearing Zeus, Hektor cannot escape + us longer. Stay here and take breath, while I go up to him and persuade him to + make a stand and fight you." +Thus spoke Athena. Achilles obeyed her gladly, + and stood still, leaning on his bronze-pointed ashen spear, while Athena left + him and went after Hektor in the form and with the voice of Deiphobos. She came + close up to him and said, "Dear brother, I see you are hard pressed by Achilles + who is chasing you at full speed round the city of Priam, let us await his + onset and stand on our defense." +And Hektor answered, "Deiphobos, you have + always been dearest to me of all my brothers, children of Hecuba and Priam, but + henceforth I shall rate you yet more highly, inasmuch as you have ventured + outside the wall for my sake when all the others remain inside." +Then Athena said, "Dear brother, my father and + mother went down on their knees and implored me, as did all my comrades, to + remain inside, so great a fear has fallen upon them all; but I was in an agony + of grief when I beheld you; now, therefore, let us two make a stand and fight, + and let there be no keeping our spears in reserve, that we may learn whether + Achilles shall kill us and bear off our spoils to the ships, or whether he + shall fall before you." +Thus did Athena inveigle him by her cunning, + and when the two were now close to one another great Hektor was first to speak. + "I will no longer flee you, son of Peleus," said he, "as I have been doing + hitherto. Three times have I fled round the mighty city of Priam, without + daring to withstand you, but now, let me either slay or be slain, for I am in + the mind to face you. Let us, then, give pledges to one another by our gods, + who are the fittest witnesses and guardians of all covenants; let it be agreed + between us that if Zeus grants me the longer stay and I take your life [ +psukhê +], I am not to treat your dead body in any + unseemly fashion, but when I have stripped you of your armor, I am to give up + your body to the Achaeans. And do you likewise." +Achilles glared at him and answered, "Fool, + prate not to me about covenants. There can be no covenants between men and + lions, wolves and lambs can never be of one mind, but hate each other out and + out an through. Therefore there can be no understanding between you and me, nor + may there be any covenants between us, till one or other shall fall and glut + grim Ares with his life's blood. Be mindful of all your excellence [ +aretê +]; you have need now to prove yourself indeed a + bold warrior and fighter. You have no more chance, and Pallas Athena will + forthwith vanquish you by my spear: you shall now pay me in full for the grief + you have caused me on account of my comrades whom you have killed in battle." +He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it. + Hektor saw it coming and avoided it; he watched it and crouched down so that it + flew over his head and stuck in the ground beyond; Athena then snatched it up + and gave it back to Achilles without Hektor's seeing her; Hektor thereon said + to the son of Peleus, "You have missed your aim, Achilles, peer of the gods, + and Zeus has not yet revealed to you the hour of my doom, though you made sure + that he had done so. You were a false-tongued liar when you deemed that I + should forget my valor and quail before you. You shall not drive spear into the + back of a runaway - drive it, should heaven so grant you power, drive it into + me as I make straight towards you; and now for your own part avoid my spear if + you can - would that you might receive the whole of it into your body; if you + were once dead the Trojans would find the war an easier matter, for it is you + who have harmed them most." +He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it. + His aim was true for he hit the middle of Achilles' shield, but the spear + rebounded from it, and did not pierce it. Hektor was angry when he saw that the + weapon had sped from his hand in vain, and stood there in dismay for he had no + second spear. With a loud cry he called Deiphobos and asked him for one, but + there was no man; then he saw the truth and said to himself, "Alas! the gods + have lured me on to my destruction. I deemed that the hero Deiphobos was by my + side, but he is within the wall, and Athena has inveigled me; death is now + indeed exceedingly near at hand and there is no way out of it - for so Zeus and + his son Apollo the far-darter have willed it, though heretofore they have been + ever ready to protect me. My doom has come upon me; let me not then die + ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that + shall be told among men hereafter." +As he spoke he drew the keen blade that hung so + great and strong by his side, and gathering himself together be sprang on + Achilles like a soaring eagle which swoops down from the clouds on to some lamb + or timid hare - even so did Hektor brandish his sword and spring upon Achilles. + Achilles mad with rage darted towards him, with his wondrous shield before his + breast, and his gleaming helmet, made with four layers of metal, nodding + fiercely forward. The thick tresses of gold with which Hephaistos had crested + the helmet floated round it, and as the evening star that shines brighter than + all others through the stillness of night, even such was the gleam of the spear + which Achilles poised in his right hand, fraught with the death of noble + Hektor. He eyed his fair flesh over and over to see where he could best wound + it, but all was protected by the goodly armor of which Hektor had spoiled + Patroklos after he had slain him, save only the throat where the collar-bones + divide the neck from the shoulders, and this is the quickest place for the + life-breath [ +psukhê +] to escape: here then did + Achilles strike him as he was coming on towards him, and the point of his spear + went right through the fleshy part of the neck, but it did not sever his + windpipe so that he could still speak. Hektor fell headlong, and Achilles + vaunted over him saying, "Hektor, you deemed that you should come off + scatheless when you were spoiling Patroklos, and recked not of myself who was + not with him. Fool that you were: for I, his comrade, mightier far than he, was + still left behind him at the ships, and now I have laid you low. The Achaeans + shall give him all due funeral rites, while dogs and vultures shall work their + will upon yourself." +Then Hektor said, as the life-breath [ +psukhê +] ebbed out of him, "I pray you by your life and + knees, and by your parents, let not dogs devour me at the ships of the + Achaeans, but accept the rich treasure of gold and bronze which my father and + mother will offer you, and send my body home, that the Trojans and their wives + may give me my dues of fire when I am dead." +Achilles glared at him and answered, "Dog, talk + not to me neither of knees nor parents; would that I could be as sure of being + able to cut your flesh into pieces and eat it raw, for the ill have done me, as + I am that nothing shall save you from the dogs - it shall not be, though they + bring ten or twenty-fold ransom and weigh it out for me on the spot, with + promise of yet more hereafter. Though Priam son of +Dardanos + should bid them offer me your + weight in gold, even so your mother shall never lay you out and make lament + over the son she bore, but dogs and vultures shall eat you utterly up." +Hektor with his dying breath then said, "I know + you what you are, and was sure that I should not move you, for your heart is + hard as iron; look to it that I bring not heaven's anger upon you on the day + when +Paris + and Phoebus Apollo, valiant + though you be, shall slay you at the Scaean gates." +When he had thus said the shrouds of death's + final outcome [ +telos +] enfolded him, whereon his + life-breath [ +psukhê +] went out of him and flew down + to the house of Hades, lamenting its sad fate that it should enjoy youth and + strength no longer. But Achilles said, speaking to the dead body, "Die; for my + part I will accept my fate whensoever Zeus and the other gods see fit to send + it." +As he spoke he drew his spear from the body and + set it on one side; then he stripped the blood-stained armor from Hektor's + shoulders while the other Achaeans came running up to view his wondrous + strength and beauty; and no one came near him without giving him a fresh wound. + Then would one turn to his neighbor and say, "It is easier to handle Hektor now + than when he was flinging fire on to our ships" and as he spoke he would thrust + his spear into him anew. +When Achilles had done spoiling Hektor of his + armor, he stood among the Argives and said, "My friends, princes and counselors + of the Argives, now that heaven has granted us to overcome this man, who has + done us more hurt than all the others together, consider whether we should not + attack the city in force, +and discover in what mind [ +noos +] the Trojans may be. We should thus learn whether they will + desert their city now that Hektor has fallen, or will still hold out even + though he is no longer living. But why argue with myself in this way, while + Patroklos is still lying at the ships unburied, and unmourned - he Whom I can + never forget so long as I am alive and my strength fails not? Though men forget + their dead when once they are within the house of Hades, yet not even there + will I forget the comrade whom I have lost. Now, therefore, Achaean youths, let + us raise the song of victory and go back to the ships taking this man along + with us; for we have achieved a mighty triumph and have slain noble Hektor to + whom the Trojans prayed throughout their city as though he were a god." +On this he treated the body of Hektor with + contumely: he pierced the sinews at the back of both his feet from heel to + ankle and passed thongs of ox-hide through the slits he had made: thus he made + the body fast to his chariot, letting the head trail upon the ground. Then when + he had put the goodly armor on the chariot and had himself mounted, he lashed + his horses on and they flew forward nothing loath. The dust rose from Hektor as + he was being dragged along, his dark hair flew all abroad, and his head once so + comely was laid low on earth, for Zeus had now delivered him into the hands of + his foes to do him outrage in his own land. +Thus was the head of Hektor being dishonored in + the dust. His mother tore her hair, and flung her veil from her with a loud cry + as she looked upon her son. His father made piteous moan, and throughout the + city the people fell to weeping and wailing. It was as though the whole of + frowning +Ilion + was being smirched with + fire. Hardly could the people hold Priam back in his hot haste to rush without + the gates of the city. He groveled in the mire and besought them, calling each + one of them by his name. +"Let be, my friends," he cried, "and for all + your sorrow, suffer me to go single-handed to the ships of the Achaeans. Let me + beseech this cruel and terrible man, if maybe he will respect the feeling of + his fellow-men, and have compassion on my old age. His own father is even such + another as myself - Peleus, who bred him and reared him to - be the bane of us + Trojans, and of myself more than of all others. Many a son of mine has he slain + in the flower of his youth, and yet, grieve for these as I may, I do so for one + - Hektor - more than for them all, and the bitterness of my sorrow [ +akhos +] will bring me down to the house of Hades. Would + that he had died in my arms, for so both his ill-starred mother who bore him, + and myself, should have had the comfort of weeping and mourning over him." +Thus did he speak with many tears, and all the + people of the city joined in his lament. Hecuba then raised the cry of wailing + among the Trojans. "Alas, my son," she cried, "what have I left to live for now + that you are no more? Night and day did I glory in. you throughout the city, + for you were a tower of strength to all in +Troy +, and both men and women alike hailed you as a god. So long + as you lived you were their pride, but now death and destruction have fallen + upon you." +Hektor's wife had as yet heard nothing, for no + one had come to tell her that her husband had remained without the gates. She + was at her loom in an inner part of the house, weaving a double purple web, and + embroidering it with many flowers. She told her maids to set a large tripod on + the fire, so as to have a warm bath ready for Hektor when he came out of + battle; poor woman, she knew not that he was now beyond the reach of baths, and + that Athena had laid him low by the hands of Achilles. She heard the cry coming + as from the wall, and trembled in every limb; the shuttle fell from her hands, + and again she spoke to her waiting-women. "Two of you," she said, "come with me + that I may learn what it is that has befallen; I heard the voice of my + husband's honored mother; +my own heart beats as though it would come into + my mouth and my limbs refuse to carry me; some great misfortune for Priam's + children must be at hand. May I never live to hear it, but I greatly fear that + Achilles has cut off the retreat of brave Hektor and has chased him on to the + plain where he was singlehanded; I fear he may have put an end to the reckless + daring which possessed my husband, who would never remain with the body of his + men, but would dash on far in front, foremost of them all in valor." +Her heart beat fast, and as she spoke she flew + from the house like a maniac, with her waiting-women following after. When she + reached the battlements and the crowd of people, she stood looking out upon the + wall, and saw Hektor being borne away in front of the city - the horses + dragging him without heed or care over the ground towards the ships of the + Achaeans. Her eyes were then shrouded as with the darkness of night and she + fell fainting backwards, losing her life-breath [ +psukhê +]. She tore the tiring from her head and flung it from her, + the frontlet and net with its plaited band, and the veil which golden Aphrodite + had given her on the day when Hektor took her with him from the house of + Eetion, after having given countless gifts of wooing for her sake. Her + husband's sisters and the wives of his brothers crowded round her and supported + her, for she was fain to die in her distraction; when she again presently + breathed and came to herself, she sobbed and made lament among the Trojans + saying, ‘Woe is me, O Hektor; woe, indeed, that to share a common lot we were + born, you at +Troy + in the house of + Priam, and I at +Thebes + under the + wooded mountain of Plakos in the house of Eetion who brought me up when I was a + child - ill-starred sire of an ill-starred daughter - would that he had never + begotten me. You are now going into the house of Hades under the secret places + of the earth, and you leave me a sorrowing widow in your house. The child, of + whom you and I are the unhappy parents, is as yet a mere infant. Now that you + are gone, O Hektor, you can do nothing for him nor he for you. +Even though he escape the horrors of this + woeful war with the Achaeans, yet shall his life henceforth be one of labor + [ +ponos +] and sorrow, for others will seize his + lands. The day that robs a child of his parents severs him from his own kind; + his head is bowed, his cheeks are wet with tears, and he will go about + destitute among the friends of his father, plucking one by the cloak and + another by the shirt. Some one or other of these may so far pity him as to hold + the cup for a moment towards him and let him moisten his lips, but he must not + drink enough to wet the roof of his mouth; then one whose parents are alive + will drive him from the table with blows and angry words. ‘Out with you,’ he + will say, ‘you have no father here,’ and the child will go crying back to his + widowed mother - he, Astyanax, who erewhile would sit upon his father's knees, + and have none but the daintiest and choicest morsels set before him. When he + had played till he was tired and went to sleep, he would lie in a bed, in the + arms of his nurse, on a soft couch, knowing neither want nor care, whereas now + that he has lost his father his lot will be full of hardship - he, whom the + Trojans name Astyanax, because you, O Hektor, were the only defense of their + gates and battlements. The wriggling writhing worms will now eat you at the + ships, far from your parents, when the dogs have glutted themselves upon you. + You will lie naked, although in your house you have fine and goodly raiment + made by hands of women. This will I now burn; it is of no use to you, for you + can never again wear it, and thus you will have glory [ +kleos +] among the Trojans both men and women." In such wise did she + cry aloud amid her tears, and the women joined in her lament. +Thus did they make their moan throughout the + city, while the Achaeans when they reached the +Hellespont + went back every man to his own ship. But Achilles + would not let the Myrmidons go, and spoke to his brave comrades saying, + "Myrmidons, famed horsemen and my own trusted friends, not yet, I say, let us + unyoke, but with horse and chariot draw near to the body and mourn Patroklos, + in due honor to the dead. When we have had full comfort of lamentation we will + unyoke our horses and take supper all of us here." +On this they all joined in a cry of wailing and + Achilles led them in their lament. Thrice did they drive their chariots all + sorrowing round the body, and Thetis stirred within them a still deeper + yearning. The sands of the seashore and the men's armor were wet with their + weeping, so great a minister of fear was he whom they had lost. Chief in all + their mourning was the son of Peleus: he laid his bloodstained hand on the + breast of his friend. "Fare well," he cried, "Patroklos, even in the house of + Hades. I will now do all that I erewhile promised you; I will drag Hektor + hither and let dogs devour him raw; twelve noble sons of Trojans will I also + slay before your pyre to avenge you." +As he spoke he treated the body of noble Hektor + with contumely, laying it at full length in the dust beside the bier of + Patroklos. The others then put off every man his armor, took the horses from + their chariots, and seated themselves in great multitude by the ship of the + fleet descendant of Aiakos, +who thereon feasted them with an abundant + funeral banquet. Many a goodly ox, with many a sheep and bleating goat did they + butcher and cut up; many a tusked boar moreover, fat and well-fed, did they + singe and set to roast in the flames of Hephaistos; and rivulets of blood + flowed all round the place where the body was lying. +Then the princes of the Achaeans took the son of + Peleus to Agamemnon, but hardly could they persuade him to come with them, so + wroth was he for the death of his comrade. As soon as they reached Agamemnon's + tent they told the serving-men to set a large tripod over the fire in case they + might persuade the son of Peleus ‘to wash the clotted gore from this body, but + he denied them sternly, and swore it with a solemn oath, saying, "Nay, by King + Zeus, first and mightiest of all gods, it is not right [ +themis +] that water should touch my body, till I have laid Patroklos + on the flames, have built him a tomb [ +sêma +], and + shaved my head - for so long as I live no such second sorrow [ +akhos +] shall ever draw nigh me. Now, therefore, let us + do all that this sad festival demands, but at break of day, King Agamemnon, bid + your men bring wood, and provide all else that the dead may duly take into the + realm of darkness; the fire shall thus burn him out of our sight the sooner, + and the people shall turn again to their own labors." +Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had + said. They made haste to prepare the meal, they ate, and every man had his full + share so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and + drink, the others went to their rest each in his own tent, but the son of + Peleus lay grieving among his Myrmidons by the shore of the sounding sea, in an + open place where the waves came surging in one after another. Here a very deep + slumber took hold upon him and eased the burden of his sorrows, for his limbs + were weary with chasing Hektor round windy +Ilion +. Presently the sad spirit [ +psukhê +] of Patroklos drew near him, like what he had been in + stature, voice, and the light of his beaming eyes, clad, too, as he had been + clad in life. The spirit hovered over his head and said- +"You sleep, Achilles, and have forgotten me; you + loved me living, but now that I am dead you think for me no further. Bury me + with all speed that I may pass the gates of Hades; the ghosts [ +psukhai +], vain shadows of men that can labor no more, + drive me away from them; they will not yet suffer me to join those that are + beyond the river, and I wander all desolate by the wide gates of the house of + Hades. Give me now your hand I pray you, for when you have once given me my + dues of fire, never shall I again come forth out of the house of Hades. + Nevermore shall we sit apart and take sweet counsel among the living; the cruel + fate which was my birth-right has yawned its wide jaws around me - nay, you too + Achilles, peer of gods, are doomed to die beneath the wall of the noble + Trojans. +"One prayer more will I make you, if you will + grant it; let not my bones be laid apart from yours, Achilles, but with them; + even as we were brought up together in your own home, what time Menoitios + brought me to you as a child from Opoeis because by a sad spite I had killed + the son of Amphidamas - not of set purpose, but in childish quarrel over the + dice. The horseman Peleus took me into his house, entreated me kindly, and + named me to be your squire [ +therapôn +]; therefore + let our bones lie in but a single urn, the two-handled golden vase given to you + by your mother." +And Achilles answered, "Why, true heart, are you + come hither to lay these charges upon me? will of my own self do all as you + have bidden me. Draw closer to me, let us once more throw our arms around one + another, and find sad comfort in the sharing of our sorrows." +He opened his arms towards him as he spoke and + would have clasped him in them, but there was nothing, and the spirit [ +psukhê +] vanished as a vapor, gibbering and whining + into the earth. Achilles sprang to his feet, smote his two hands, and made + lamentation saying, "Of a truth even in the house of Hades there are ghosts + [ +psukhai +] and phantoms that have no life in + them; +all night long the sad spirit [ +psukhê +] of Patroklos has hovered over head making + piteous moan, telling me what I am to do for him, and looking wondrously like + himself." +Thus did he speak and his words set them all + weeping and mourning about the poor dumb dead, till rosy-fingered morn + appeared. Then King Agamemnon sent men and mules from all parts of the camp, to + bring wood, and Meriones, squire [ +therapôn +] to + Idomeneus, was in charge over them. They went out with woodmen's axes and + strong ropes in their hands, and before them went the mules. Up hill and down + dale did they go, by straight ways and crooked, and when they reached the + heights of many-fountained Ida, they laid their axes to the roots of many a + tall branching oak that came thundering down as they felled it. They split the + trees and bound them behind the mules, which then wended their way as they best + could through the thick brushwood on to the plain. All who had been cutting + wood bore logs, for so Meriones squire [ +therapôn +] + to Idomeneus had bidden them, and they threw them down in a line upon the + seashore at the place where Achilles would make a mighty monument for Patroklos + and for himself. +When they had thrown down their great logs of + wood over the whole ground, they stayed all of them where they were, but + Achilles ordered his brave Myrmidons to gird on their armor, and to yoke each + man his horses; they therefore rose, girded on their armor and mounted each his + chariot - they and their charioteers with them. The chariots went before, and + they that were on foot followed as a cloud in their tens of thousands after. In + the midst of them his comrades bore Patroklos and covered him with the locks of + their hair which they cut off and threw upon his body. Last came Achilles with + his head bowed for sorrow, so noble a comrade was he taking to the house of + Hades. +When they came to the place of which Achilles + had told them they laid the body down and built up the wood. Achilles then + bethought him of another matter. He went a space away from the pyre, and cut + off the yellow lock which he had let grow for the river Spercheios. He looked + all sorrowfully out upon the dark sea [ +pontos +], and + said, "Spercheios, in vain did my father Peleus vow to you that when I returned + home to my loved native land I should cut off this lock and offer you a holy + hecatomb; fifty she-goats was I to sacrifice to you there at your springs, + where is your grove and your altar fragrant with burnt-offerings. Thus did my + father vow, but you have not fulfilled the thinking [ +noos +] of his prayer; now, therefore, that I shall see my home no + more, I give this lock as a keepsake to the hero Patroklos." +As he spoke he placed the lock in the hands of + his dear comrade, and all who stood by were filled with yearning and + lamentation. The sun would have gone down upon their mourning had not Achilles + presently said to Agamemnon, "Son of Atreus, for it is to you that the people + will give ear, there is a time to mourn and a time to cease from mourning; bid + the people now leave the pyre and set about getting their dinners: we, to whom + the dead is dearest, will see to what is wanted here, and let the other princes + also stay by me." +When King Agamemnon heard this he dismissed the + people to their ships, but those who were about the dead heaped up wood and + built a pyre a hundred feet this way and that; then they laid the dead all + sorrowfully upon the top of it. They flayed and dressed many fat sheep and oxen + before the pyre, and Achilles took fat from all of them and wrapped the body + therein from head to foot, heaping the flayed carcasses all round it. Against + the bier he leaned two-handled jars of honey and unguents; four proud horses + did he then cast upon the pyre, groaning the while he did so. The dead hero had + had house-dogs; two of them did Achilles slay and threw upon the pyre; he also + put twelve brave sons of noble Trojans to the sword and laid them with the + rest, for he was full of bitterness and fury. +Then he committed all to the resistless and + devouring might of the fire; he groaned aloud and called on his dead comrade by + name. "Fare well," he cried, "Patroklos, even in the house of Hades; I am now + doing all that I have promised you. Twelve brave sons of noble Trojans shall + the flames consume along with yourself, but dogs, not fire, shall devour the + flesh of Hektor son of Priam." +Thus did he vaunt, but the dogs came not about + the body of Hektor, for Zeus' daughter Aphrodite kept them off him night and + day, and anointed him with ambrosial oil of roses that his flesh might not be + torn when Achilles was dragging him about. Phoebus Apollo moreover sent a dark + cloud from heaven to earth, which gave shade to the whole place where Hektor + lay, that the heat of the sun might not parch his body. +Now the pyre about dead Patroklos would not + kindle. Achilles therefore bethought him of another matter; he went apart and + prayed to the two winds Boreas and Zephyros vowing them goodly offerings. He + made them many drink-offerings from the golden cup and besought them to come + and help him that the wood might make haste to kindle and the dead bodies be + consumed. Fleet Iris heard him praying and started off to fetch the winds. They + were holding high feast in the house of boisterous Zephyros when Iris came + running up to the stone threshold of the house and stood there, but as soon as + they set eyes on her they all came towards her and each of them called her to + him, but Iris would not sit down. "I cannot stay," she said, "I must go back to + the streams of Okeanos and the land of the Ethiopians who are offering + hecatombs to the immortals, and I would have my share; but Achilles prays that + Boreas and shrill Zephyros will come to him, and he vows them goodly offerings; + he would have you blow upon the pyre of Patroklos for whom all the Achaeans are + lamenting." +With this she left them, and the two winds rose + with a cry that rent the air and swept the clouds before them. They blew on and + on until they came to the sea [ +pontos +], and the + waves rose high beneath them, but when they reached +Troy + they fell upon the pyre till the mighty + flames roared under the blast that they blew. All night long did they blow hard + and beat upon the fire, and all night long did Achilles grasp his double cup, + drawing wine from a mixing-bowl of gold, and calling upon the spirit [ +psukhê +] of dead Patroklos as he poured it upon the + ground until the earth was drenched. As a father mourns when he is burning the + bones of his bridegroom son whose death has wrung the hearts of his parents, + even so did Achilles mourn while burning the body of his comrade, pacing round + the bier with piteous groaning and lamentation. +At length as the Morning Star was beginning to + herald the light which saffron-mantled Dawn was soon to suffuse over the sea, + the flames fell and the fire began to die. The winds then went home beyond the + Thracian sea [ +pontos +], which roared and boiled as + they swept over it. The son of Peleus now turned away from the pyre and lay + down, overcome with toil, till he fell into a sweet slumber. Presently they who + were about the son of Atreus drew near in a body, and roused him with the noise + and tramp of their coming. He sat upright and said, "Son of Atreus, and all + other princes of the Achaeans, first pour red wine everywhere upon the fire and + quench it; let us then gather the bones of Patroklos son of Menoitios, singling + them out with care; they are easily found, for they lie in the middle of the + pyre, while all else, both men and horses, has been thrown in a heap and burned + at the outer edge. We will lay the bones in a golden urn, in two layers of fat, + against the time when I shall myself go down into the house of Hades. As for + the barrow, labor not to raise a great one now, but such as is reasonable. + Afterwards, let those Achaeans who may be left at the ships when I am gone, + build it both broad and high." +Thus he spoke and they obeyed the word of the + son of Peleus. First they poured red wine upon the thick layer of ashes and + quenched the fire. With many tears they singled out the whitened bones of their + loved comrade and laid them within a golden urn in two layers of fat: they then + covered the urn with a linen cloth and took it inside the tent. They marked off + the circle where the tomb [ +sêma +] should be, made a + foundation for it about the pyre, and forthwith heaped up the earth. When they + had thus raised a mound [ +sêma +] they were going + away, but Achilles stayed the people and made them sit in assembly [ +agôn +]. He brought prizes from the ships - cauldrons, + tripods, horses and mules, noble oxen, women with fair girdles, and swart iron. +The first prize he offered was for the chariot + races - a woman skilled in all useful arts, and a three-legged cauldron that + had ears for handles, and would hold twenty-two measures. This was for the man + who came in first. For the second there was a six-year old mare, unbroken, and + in foal to a he-ass; the third was to have a goodly cauldron that had never yet + been on the fire; it was still bright as when it left the maker, and would hold + four measures. The fourth prize was two talents of gold, and the fifth a + two-handled urn as yet unsoiled by smoke. Then he stood up and spoke among the + Argives saying- +"Son of Atreus, and all other Achaeans, these + are the prizes that lie waiting the winners in the contest [ +agôn +] of the chariot races. At any other time I should + carry off the first prize and take it to my own tent; you know how much my + steeds are better in excellence [ +aretê +] than all + others - for they are immortal; Poseidon gave them to my father Peleus, who in + his turn gave them to myself; but I shall hold aloof, I and my steeds that have + lost the glory [ +kleos +] of their brave and kind + driver, who many a time has washed them in clear water and anointed their manes + with oil. See how they stand weeping here, with their manes trailing on the + ground in the extremity of their sorrow. But do you others set yourselves in + order throughout the host, whosoever has confidence in his horses and in the + strength of his chariot." +Thus spoke the son of Peleus and the drivers of + chariots bestirred themselves. First among them all uprose Eumelos, king of + men, son of Admetos, a man excellent in horsemanship. Next to him rose mighty + Diomedes son of Tydeus; he yoked the Trojan horses which he had taken from + Aeneas, when Apollo bore him out of the fight. Next to him, yellow-haired + Menelaos son of Atreus rose and yoked his fleet horses, Agamemnon's mare Aithe, + and his own horse Podagros. The mare had been given to Agamemnon by Echepolos + son of Anchises, that he might not have to follow him to +Ilion +, but might stay at home and take his + ease; for Zeus had endowed him with great wealth and he lived in spacious + +Sicyon +. This mare, all eager for + the race, did Menelaos put under the yoke. +Fourth in order Antilokhos, son to noble Nestor + son of Neleus, made ready his horses. These were bred in +Pylos +, and his father came up to him to give + him good advice of which, however, he stood in but little need. "Antilokhos," + said Nestor, "you are young, but Zeus and Poseidon have loved you well, and + have made you an excellent horseman. I need not therefore say much by way of + instruction. You are skillful at wheeling your horses round the post, but the + horses themselves are very slow, and it is this that will, I fear, mar your + chances. The other drivers know less than you do, but their horses are fleeter; + therefore, my dear son, see if you cannot hit upon some artifice [ +mêtis +] whereby you may insure that the prize shall not + slip through your fingers. The woodsman does more by skill [ +mêtis +] than by brute force [ +biê +]; by skill [ +mêtis +] the pilot guides + his storm-tossed ship over the sea [ +pontos +], and so + by skill [ +mêtis +] one driver can beat another. If a + man go wide in rounding this way and that, whereas a man of craft [ +kerdos +] may have worse horses, but he will keep them + well in hand when he sees the turning-post [ +terma +]; +he knows the precise moment at which to pull + the rein, and keeps his eye well on the man in front of him. I will give you + this certain sign [ +sêma +] which cannot escape your + notice. There is a stump of a dead tree-oak or pine as it may be - some six + feet above the ground, and not yet rotted away by rain; it stands at the fork + of the road; it has two white stones set one on each side, and there is a clear + course all round it. It may have been a tomb [ +sêma +] + of someone who died long ago, or it may have been used as a turning-post in + days gone by; now, however, it has been fixed on by Achilles as the mark [ +terma +] round which the chariots shall turn; hug it as + close as you can, but as you stand in your chariot lean over a little to the + left; urge on your right-hand horse with voice and lash, and give him a loose + rein, but let the left-hand horse keep so close in, that the nave of your wheel + shall almost graze the post; but mind the stone, or you will wound your horses + and break your chariot in pieces, which would be sport for others but confusion + for yourself. Therefore, my dear son, mind well what you are about, for if you + can be first to round the post there is no chance of any one giving you the + go-by later, not even though you had Adrastos' horse Arion behind you horse + which is of divine race - or those of Laomedon, which are the noblest in this + country." +When Nestor had made an end of counseling his + son he sat down in his place, and fifth in order Meriones got ready his horses. + They then all mounted their chariots and cast lots. - Achilles shook the + helmet, and the lot of Antilokhos son of Nestor fell out first; next came that + of King Eumelos, and after his, those of Menelaos son of Atreus and of + Meriones. The last place fell to the lot of Diomedes son of Tydeus, who was the + best man of them all. They took their places in line; Achilles showed them the + turning-post round which they were to turn, some way off upon the plain; here + he stationed his father's follower Phoenix as umpire, to note the running, and + report truly. +At the same instant they all of them lashed + their horses, struck them with the reins, and shouted at them with all their + might. They flew full speed over the plain away from the ships, the dust rose + from under them as it were a cloud or whirlwind, and their manes were all + flying in the wind. At one moment the chariots seemed to touch the ground, and + then again they bounded into the air; the drivers stood erect, and their hearts + beat fast and furious in their lust of victory. Each kept calling on his + horses, and the horses scoured the plain amid the clouds of dust that they + raised. +It was when they were doing the last part of + the course on their way back towards the sea that their pace was strained to + the utmost and it was seen what each could do in striving [ +aretê +] toward the prize. The horses of the descendant of Pheres now + took the lead, and close behind them came the Trojan stallions of Diomedes. + They seemed as if about to mount Eumelos' chariot, and he could feel their warm + breath on his back and on his broad shoulders, for their heads were close to + him as they flew over the course. Diomedes would have now passed him, or there + would have been a dead heat, but Phoebus Apollo to spite him made him drop his + whip. Tears of anger fell from his eyes as he saw the mares going on faster + than ever, while his own horses lost ground through his having no whip. Athena + saw the trick which Apollo had played the son of Tydeus, so she brought him his + whip and put spirit into his horses; moreover she went after the son of Admetos + in a rage and broke his yoke for him; the mares went one to one side the + course, and the other to the other, and the pole was broken against the ground. + Eumelos was thrown from his chariot close to the wheel; his elbows, mouth, and + nostrils were all torn, and his forehead was bruised above his eyebrows; his + eyes filled with tears and he could find no utterance. But the son of Tydeus + turned his horses aside and shot far ahead, for Athena put fresh strength into + them and covered Diomedes himself with glory. +Menelaos son of Atreus came next behind him, + but Antilokhos called to his father's horses. "On with you both," he cried, + "and do your very utmost. I do not bid you try to beat the steeds of the son of + Tydeus, for Athena has put running into them, and has covered Diomedes with + glory; but you must overtake the horses of the son of Atreus and not be left + behind, or Aethe who is so fleet will taunt you. Why, my good men, are you + lagging? I tell you, and it shall surely be - Nestor will keep neither of you, + but will put both of you to the sword, if we win any the worse a prize [ +athlon +] through your carelessness, fly after them at + your utmost speed; I will hit on a plan for passing them in a narrow part of + the way, and it shall not fail me." +They feared the rebuke of their master, and for + a short space went quicker. Presently Antilokhos saw a narrow place where the + road had sunk. The ground was broken, for the winter's rain had gathered and + had worn the road so that the whole place was deepened. Menelaos was making + towards it so as to get there first, for fear of a foul, but Antilokhos turned + his horses out of the way, and followed him a little on one side. The son of + Atreus was afraid and shouted out, "Antilokhos, you are driving recklessly; + rein in your horses; the road is too narrow here, it will be wider soon, and + you can pass me then; if you foul my chariot you may bring both of us to a + mischief." +But Antilokhos plied his whip, and drove + faster, as though he had not heard him. They went side by side for about as far + as a young man can hurl a disc from his shoulder when he is trying his + strength, and then Menelaos' mares drew behind, for he left off driving for + fear the horses should foul one another and upset the chariots; thus, while + pressing on in quest of victory, they might both come headlong to the ground. + Menelaos then upbraided Antilokhos and said, "There is no greater trickster + living than you are; go, and bad luck go with you; the Achaeans say not well + that you have understanding, and come what may you shall not bear away the + prize [ +athlon +] without sworn protest on my part." +Then he called on his horses and said to them, + "Keep your pace, and slacken not; the limbs of the other horses will weary + sooner than yours, for they are neither of them young." +The horses feared the rebuke of their master, + and went faster, so that they were soon nearly up with the others. +Meanwhile the Achaeans from their seats were + watching how the horses went, as they scoured the plain amid clouds of their + own dust. Idomeneus leader of the Cretans was first to make out the running, + for he was not in the thick of the crowd, but stood on the most commanding part + of the ground. The driver was a long way off from the assembly [ +agôn +], but Idomeneus could hear him shouting, and + could see the foremost horse quite plainly - a chestnut with a round white mark + [ +sêma +], like the moon, on its forehead. He stood + up and said among the Argives, "My friends, princes and counselors of the + Argives, can you see the running as well as I can? There seems to be another + pair in front now, and another driver; those that led off at the start must + have been disabled out on the plain. I saw them at first making their way round + the turning-post, but now, though I search the plain of +Troy +, I cannot find them. Perhaps the reins + fell from the driver's hand so that he lost command of his horses at the + turning-post, and could not turn it. I suppose he must have been thrown out + there, and broken his chariot, while his mares have left the course and gone + off wildly in a panic. Come up and see for yourselves, I cannot make out for + certain, but the driver seems an Aetolian by descent, ruler over the Argives, + brave Diomedes the son of Tydeus." +Ajax the son of Oileus took him up rudely and + said, "Idomeneus, why should you be in such a hurry to tell us all about it, + when the mares are still so far out upon the plain? You are none of the + youngest, nor your eyes none of the sharpest, but you are always laying down + the law. +You have no right to do so, for there are + better men here than you are. Eumelos' horses are in front now, as they always + have been, and he is on the chariot holding the reins." +The leader of the Cretans was angry, and + answered, "Ajax, you are an excellent railer, but you have no judgment [ +noos +], and are wanting in much else as well, for you + have a vile temper. I will wager you a tripod or cauldron, and Agamemnon son of + Atreus shall decide whose horses are first. You will then know to your cost." +Ajax son of Oileus was for making him an angry + answer, and there would have been yet further brawling between them, had not + Achilles risen in his place and said, "Cease your railing Ajax and Idomeneus; + it is not you would be scandalized if you saw any one else do the like: sit + down in the assembly [ +agôn +] and keep your eyes on + the horses; they are speeding towards the winning-post and will be here + directly. You will then both of you know whose horses are first, and whose come + after." +As he was speaking, the son of Tydeus came + driving in, plying his whip lustily from his shoulder, and his horses stepping + high as they flew over the course. The sand and grit rained thick on the + driver, and the chariot inlaid with gold and tin ran close behind his fleet + horses. There was little trace of wheel-marks in the fine dust, and the horses + came flying in at their utmost speed. Diomedes stayed them in the middle of the + assembly [ +agôn +], and the sweat from their manes and + chests fell in streams on to the ground. Forthwith he sprang from his goodly + chariot, and leaned his whip against his horses' yoke; brave Sthenelos now lost + no time, but at once brought on the prize [ +athlon +], + and gave the woman and the ear-handled cauldron to his comrades to take away. + Then he unyoked the horses. +Next after him came in Antilokhos of the race + of Neleus, who had passed Menelaos by craft [ +kerdos +] and not by the fleetness of his horses; but even so Menelaos + came in as close behind him as the wheel is to the horse that draws both the + chariot and its master. The end hairs of a horse's tail touch the tire of the + wheel, and there is never much space between wheel and horse when the chariot + is going; Menelaos was no further than this behind Antilokhos, though at first + he had been a full disc's throw behind him. He had soon caught him up again, + for Agamemnon's mare Aethe kept pulling stronger and stronger, so that if the + course had been longer he would have passed him, and there would not even have + been a dead heat. Idomeneus' brave squire [ +therapôn +] Meriones was about a spear's cast behind Menelaos. His horses + were slowest of all in the contest [ +agôn +], and he + was the worst driver. Last of them all came the son of Admetos, dragging his + chariot and driving his horses on in front. When Achilles saw him he was sorry, + and stood up among the Argives saying, "The best man is coming in last. Let us + give him a prize for it is reasonable. He shall have the second, but the first + must go to the son of Tydeus." +Thus did he speak and the others all of them + applauded his saying, and were for doing as he had said, but Nestor's son + Antilokhos stood up and claimed his rights from the son of Peleus. "Achilles," + said he, "I shall take it much amiss if you do this thing; you would rob me of + my prize [ +athlon +], because you think Eumelos' + chariot and horses were thrown out, and himself too, good man that he is. He + should have prayed duly to the immortals; he would not have come in fast if he + had done so. If you are sorry for him and so choose, you have much gold in your + tents, with bronze, sheep, cattle, and horses. Take something from this store + if you would have the Achaeans speak well of you, and give him a better prize + [ +athlon +] even than that which you have now + offered; but I will not give up the mare, and he that will fight me for her, + let him come on." +Achilles smiled as he heard this, and was + pleased with Antilokhos, who was one of his dearest comrades. So he said - +"Antilokhos, if you would have me find Eumelos + another prize, I will give him the bronze breastplate with a rim of tin running + all round it which I took from Asteropaios. It will be worth much money to + him." +He bade his comrade Automedon bring the + breastplate from his tent, and he did so. Achilles then gave it over to + Eumelos, who received it gladly. +But Menelaos got up in a rage, furiously angry + with Antilokhos. An attendant placed his staff in his hands and bade the + Argives keep silence: the hero then addressed them. "Antilokhos," said he, + "what is this from you who have been so far blameless? You have shamed my + excellence [ +aretê +] and baulked my horses by + flinging your own in front of them, though yours are much worse than mine are; + therefore, O princes and counselors of the Argives, judge between us and show + no favor, lest one of the Achaeans say, ‘Menelaos has got the mare through + lying and corruption; his horses were far inferior to Antilokhos', but he is + superior in excellence [ +aretê +] and force [ +biê +].’ Nay, I will determine the matter myself, and no + man will blame me, for I shall do what is just. Come here, Antilokhos, and + stand, as our custom [ +themis +] is, whip in hand + before your chariot and horses; lay your hand on your steeds, and swear by + earth-encircling Poseidon that you did not purposely and guilefully get in the + way of my horses." +And Antilokhos answered, "Forgive me; I am much + younger, King Menelaos, than you are; you stand higher than I do and are the + better man of the two; you know how easily young men are betrayed into + indiscretion; their tempers are more hasty and they have less judgment [ +noos +]; make due allowances therefore, and bear with + me; I will of my own accord give up the mare that I have won, and if you claim + any further chattel from my own possessions, I would rather yield it to you, at + once, than fall from your good graces henceforth, and do wrong in the eyes of + +daimones +." +The son of Nestor then took the mare and gave + her over to Menelaos, whose anger was thus appeased; as when dew falls upon a + field of ripening wheat, and the lands are bristling with the harvest - even + so, O Menelaos, was your heart made glad within you. He turned to Antilokhos + and said, "Now, Antilokhos, angry though I have been, I can give way to you of + my own free will; you have never been headstrong nor ill-disposed hitherto, but + this time your youth has got the better of your judgment [ +noos +]; be careful how you outwit your betters in future; no one else + could have brought me round so easily, but your good father, your brother, and + yourself have all of you had infinite trouble on my behalf; I therefore yield + to your entreaty, and will give up the mare to you, mine though it indeed be; + the people will thus see that I am neither harsh nor vindictive." +With this he gave the mare over to Antilokhos' + comrade Noemon, and then took the cauldron. Meriones, who had come in fourth, + carried off the two talents of gold, and the fifth prize [ +athlon +], the two-handled urn, being unawarded, Achilles gave it to + Nestor, going up to him in the assembly [ +agôn +] of + Argives and saying, "Take this, my good old friend, as an heirloom and memorial + of the funeral of Patroklos - for you shall see him no more among the Argives. + I give you this prize [ +athlon +] 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 burying King Amarynkeus in Bouprasion, and his sons offered prizes in his + honor. There was then none that could vie with me neither of the Epeans nor the + Pylians themselves nor the Aetolians. In boxing I overcame Klytomedes son of + Enops, and in wrestling, Ankaios of Pleuron who had come forward against me. + Iphiklos was a good runner, +but I beat him, and threw farther with my spear + than either Phyleus or Polydoros. In chariot-racing alone did the two sons of + Aktor 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 + now, sir, go on with the funeral contests [ +athloi +] + in honor of your comrade: gladly do I accept this urn, and my heart rejoices + that you do not forget me but are ever mindful of my goodwill towards you, and + of the respect [ +timê +] due to me from the Achaeans. + For all which may the grace [ +kharis +] of heaven be + granted you in great abundance." +Thereon the son of Peleus, when he had listened + to all the praise [ +ainos +] of Nestor, went about + among the concourse of the Achaeans, and presently offered prizes for skill in + the painful art of boxing. He brought out a strong mule, and made it fast in + the middle of the crowd [ +agôn +] - a she-mule never + yet broken, but six years old - when it is hardest of all to break them: this + was for the victor, and for the vanquished he offered a double cup. Then he + stood up and said among the Argives, "Son of Atreus, and all other Achaeans, I + invite our two champion boxers to lay about them lustily and compete for these + prizes. He to whom Apollo grants the greater endurance, and whom the Achaeans + acknowledge as victor, shall take the mule back with him to his own tent, while + he that is vanquished shall have the double cup." +As he spoke there stood up a champion both + brave and great stature, a skillful boxer, Epeios, son of Panopeus. He laid his + hand on the mule and said, "Let the man who is to have the cup come hither, for + none but myself will take the mule. I am the best boxer of all here present, + and none can beat me. Is it not enough that I should fall short of you in + actual fighting? Still, no man can be good at everything. I tell you plainly, + and it shall come true; if any man will box with me I will bruise his body and + break his bones; therefore let his friends stay here in a body and be at hand + to take him away when I have done with him." +They all held their peace, and no man rose save + Euryalos son of Mekisteus, who was son of Talaos. Mekisteus went once to + +Thebes + after the fall of + Oedipus, to attend his funeral, and he beat all the people of Cadmus. The son + of Tydeus was Euryalos' second, cheering him on and hoping heartily that he + would win. First he put a waistband round him and then he gave him some + well-cut thongs of ox-hide; the two men being now girt went into the middle of + the ring [ +agôn +], and immediately fell to; heavily + indeed did they punish one another and lay about them with their brawny fists. + One could hear the horrid crashing of their jaws, and they sweated from every + pore of their skin. Presently Epeios came on and gave Euryalos a blow on the + jaw as he was looking round; Euryalos could not keep his legs; they gave way + under him in a moment and he sprang up with a bound, as a fish leaps into the + air near some shore that is all bestrewn with sea-wrack, when Boreas furs the + top of the waves, and then falls back into deep water. But noble Epeios caught + hold of him and raised him up; his comrades also came round him and led him + from the ring [ +agôn +], unsteady in his gait, his + head hanging on one side, and spitting great clots of gore. They set him down + in a swoon and then went to fetch the double cup. +The son of Peleus now brought out the prizes + for the third contest and showed them to the Argives. These were for the + painful art of wrestling. For the winner there was a great tripod ready for + setting upon the fire, +and the Achaeans valued it among themselves at + twelve oxen. For the loser he brought out a woman skilled in all manner of + arts, and they valued her at four oxen. He rose and said among the Argives, + "Stand forward, you who will essay this contest [ +athlon +]." +Forthwith uprose great Ajax the son of Telamon, + and crafty Odysseus, full of craft [ +kerdos +] rose + also. The two girded themselves and went into the middle of the ring [ +agôn +]. They gripped each other in their strong hands + like the rafters which some master-builder frames for the roof of a high house + to keep the wind out. Their backbones cracked as they tugged at one another + with their mighty arms - and sweat rained from them in torrents. Many a bloody + weal sprang up on their sides and shoulders, but they kept on striving with + might and main for victory and to win the tripod. Odysseus could not throw + Ajax, nor Ajax him; Odysseus was too strong for him; but when the Achaeans + began to tire of watching them, Ajax said to Odysseus, "Odysseus, noble son of + +Laertes +, you shall either lift + me, or I you, and let Zeus settle it between us." +He lifted him from the ground as he spoke, but + Odysseus did not forget his cunning. He hit Ajax in the hollow at back of his + knee, so that he could not keep his feet, but fell on his back with Odysseus + lying upon his chest, and all who saw it marveled. Then Odysseus in turn lifted + Ajax and stirred him a little from the ground but could not lift him right off + it, his knee sank under him, and the two fell side by side on the ground and + were all begrimed with dust. They now sprang towards one another and were for + wrestling yet a third time, but Achilles rose and stayed them. "Put not each + other further," said he, "to such cruel suffering; the victory is with both + alike, take each of you an equal prize, and let the other Achaeans now + compete." +Thus did he speak and they did even as he had + said, and put on their shirts again after wiping the dust from off their + bodies. +The son of Peleus then offered prizes for speed + in running - a mixing-bowl beautifully wrought, of pure silver. It would hold + six measures, and far exceeded all others in the whole world for beauty; it was + the work of cunning artificers in +Sidon +, and had been brought into port by Phoenicians from + beyond the sea [ +pontos +], who had made a present of + it to Thoas. Eueneus son of Jason had given it to Patroklos in ransom of + Priam's son Lykaon, and Achilles now offered it as a prize [ +athlon +] in honor of his comrade to him who should be + the swiftest runner. For the second prize he offered a large ox, well fattened, + while for the last there was to be half a talent of gold. He then rose and said + among the Argives, "Stand forward, you who will essay this contest [ +athlon +]." +Forthwith uprose fleet Ajax son of Oileus, with + cunning Odysseus, and Nestor's son Antilokhos, the fastest runner among all the + youth of his time. They stood side by side and Achilles showed them the goal. + The course was set out for them from the starting-post, and the son of Oileus + took the lead at once, with Odysseus as close behind him as the shuttle is to a + woman's bosom when she throws the woof across the warp and holds it close up to + her; even so close behind him was Odysseus - treading in his footprints before + the dust could settle there, and Ajax could feel his breath on the back of his + head as he ran swiftly on. The Achaeans all shouted approval as they saw him + straining his utmost, and cheered him as he shot past them; but when they were + now nearing the end of the course Odysseus prayed inwardly to Athena. "Hear + me," he cried, "and help my feet, O goddess." Thus did he pray, and Pallas + Athena heard his prayer; she made his hands and his feet feel light, and when + the runners were at the point of pouncing upon the prize [ +athlon +], Ajax, through Athena's spite slipped upon some offal that + was lying there from the cattle which Achilles had slaughtered in honor of + Patroklos, and his mouth and nostrils were all filled with cow dung. +Odysseus therefore carried off the mixing-bowl, + for he got before Ajax and came in first. But Ajax took the ox and stood with + his hand on one of its horns, spitting the dung out of his mouth. Then he said + to the Argives, "Alas, the goddess has spoiled my running; she watches over + Odysseus and stands by him as though she were his own mother." Thus did he + speak and they all of them laughed heartily. +Antilokhos carried off the last prize [ +athlon +] and smiled as he said to the bystanders, "You + all see, my friends, that now too the gods have shown their respect for + seniority. Ajax is somewhat older than I am, and as for Odysseus, he belongs to + an earlier generation, but he is hale in spite of his years, and no man of the + Achaeans can run against him save only Achilles." +He said this to pay a compliment to the son of + Peleus, and Achilles answered, "Antilokhos, you shall not have given me praise + [ +ainos +] to no purpose; I shall give you an + additional half talent of gold." He then gave the half talent to Antilokhos, + who received it gladly. +Then the son of Peleus brought out to the + assembly [ +agôn +] the spear, helmet, and shield that + had been borne by Sarpedon, and were taken from him by Patroklos. He stood up + and said among the Argives, "We bid two champions put on their armor, take + their keen blades, and make trial of one another in the presence of the + multitude; whichever of them can first wound the flesh of the other, cut + through his armor, and draw blood, to him will I give this goodly Thracian + sword inlaid with silver, which I took from Asteropaios, but the armor let both + hold in partnership, and I will give each of them a hearty meal in my own + tent." +Forthwith uprose great Ajax the son of Telamon, + as also mighty Diomedes son of Tydeus. When they had put on their armor each on + his own side of the ring, they both went into the middle eager to engage, and + with fire flashing from their eyes. The Achaeans marveled as they beheld them, + and when the two were now close up with one another, thrice did they spring + forward and thrice try to strike each other in close combat. +Ajax pierced Diomedes' round shield, but did not draw blood, + for the cuirass beneath the shield protected him; thereon the son of Tydeus + from over his huge shield kept aiming continually at Ajax's neck with the point + of his spear, and the Achaeans alarmed for his safety bade them leave off + fighting and divide the prize between them. Achilles then gave the great sword + to the son of Tydeus, with its scabbard, and the leathern belt with which to + hang it. +Achilles next offered the massive iron quoit + which mighty Eetion had erewhile been used to hurl, until Achilles had slain + him and carried it off in his ships along with other spoils. He stood up and + said among the Argives, "Stand forward, you who would essay this contest [ +athlon +]. He who wins it will have a store of iron that + will last him five years as they go rolling round, and if his fair fields lie + far from a town his shepherd or ploughman will not have to make a journey to + buy iron, for he will have a stock of it on his own premises." +Then uprose the two mighty men Polypoites and + Leonteus, with Ajax son of Telamon and noble Epeios. They stood up one after + the other and Epeios took the quoit, whirled it, and flung it from him, which + set all the Achaeans laughing. After him threw Leonteus of the race of Ares. + Ajax son of Telamon threw third, and sent the quoit beyond any mark [ +sêma +] that had been made yet, but when mighty + Polypoites took the quoit he hurled it as though it had been a stockman's stick + which he sends flying about among his cattle when he is driving them, so far + did his throw out-distance those of the others in the contest [ +agôn +]. All who saw it roared approval, and his + comrades carried the prize [ +athlon +] for him and set + it on board his ship. +Achilles next offered a prize of iron for + archery - ten double-edged axes and ten with single eddies: he set up a ship's + mast, some way off upon the sands, and with a fine string tied a pigeon to it + by the foot; this was what they were to aim at. +"Whoever," he said, "can hit the pigeon shall + have all the axes and take them away with him; he who hits the string without + hitting the bird will have taken a worse aim and shall have the single-edged + axes." +Then uprose King Teucer, and Meriones the + stalwart squire [ +therapôn +] of Idomeneus rose also, + They cast lots in a bronze helmet and the lot of Teucer fell first. He let fly + with his arrow forthwith, but he did not promise hecatombs of firstling lambs + to King Apollo, and missed his bird, for Apollo foiled his aim; but he hit the + string with which the bird was tied, near its foot; the arrow cut the string + clean through so that it hung down towards the ground, while the bird flew up + into the sky, and the Achaeans shouted approval. Meriones, who had his arrow + ready while Teucer was aiming, snatched the bow out of his hand, and at once + promised that he would sacrifice a hecatomb of firstling lambs to Apollo lord + of the bow; then espying the pigeon high up under the clouds, he hit her in the + middle of the wing as she was circling upwards; the arrow went clean through + the wing and fixed itself in the ground at Meriones' feet, but the bird perched + on the ship's mast hanging her head and with all her feathers drooping; the + life went out of her, and she fell heavily from the mast. Meriones, therefore, + took all ten double-edged axes, while Teucer bore off the single-edged ones to + his ships. +Then the son of Peleus brought in to the + contest [ +agôn +] a spear and a cauldron that had + never been on the fire; it was worth an ox, and was chased with a pattern of + flowers; and those that throw the javelin stood up - to wit the son of Atreus, + king of men Agamemnon, and Meriones, stalwart squire of Idomeneus. But Achilles + spoke saying, "Son of Atreus, we know how far you excel all others both in + power and in throwing the javelin; take the cauldron as prize [ +athlon +] back with you to your ships, but if it so + please you, let us give the spear to Meriones; this at least is what I should + myself wish." +King Agamemnon assented. So he gave the bronze + spear to Meriones, +and handed the goodly cauldron as prize [ +athlon +] to + Talthybios his esquire. +The assembly [ +agôn +] + now broke up and the people went their ways each to his own ship. There they + made ready their supper, and then bethought them of the blessed boon of sleep; + but Achilles still wept for thinking of his dear comrade, and sleep, before + whom all things bow, could take no hold upon him. This way and that did he turn + as he yearned after the might and manfulness of Patroklos; he thought of all + they had done together, and all they had gone through both on the field of + battle and on the waves of the weary sea. As he dwelt on these things he wept + bitterly and lay now on his side, now on his back, and now face downwards, till + at last he rose and went out as one distraught to wander upon the seashore. + Then, when he saw dawn breaking over beach and sea, he yoked his horses to his + chariot, and bound the body of Hektor behind it that he might drag it about. + Thrice did he drag it round the tomb [ +sêma +] of the + son of Menoitios, and then went back into his tent, leaving the body on the + ground full length and with its face downwards. But Apollo would not suffer it + to be disfigured, for he pitied the man, dead though he now was; therefore he + shielded him with his golden aegis continually, that he might take no hurt + while Achilles was dragging him. +Thus shamefully did Achilles in his fury + dishonor Hektor; but the blessed gods looked down in pity from heaven, and + urged Hermes, slayer of +Argos +, to + steal the body. All were of this mind save only Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus' + gray-eyed daughter, +who persisted in the hate which they had ever + borne towards +Ilion + with Priam and his + people; for they forgave not the wrong [ +atê +] done + them by Alexander in disdaining the goddesses who came to him when he was in + his sheepyards, and preferring her who had offered him a wanton to his ruin. +When, therefore, the morning of the twelfth day + had now come, Phoebus Apollo spoke among the immortals saying, "You gods ought + to be ashamed of yourselves; you are cruel and hard-hearted. Did not Hektor + burn you thigh-bones of heifers and of unblemished goats? And now dare you not + rescue even his dead body, for his wife to look upon, with his mother and + child, his father Priam, and his people, who would forthwith commit him to the + flames, and give him his due funeral rites? So, then, you would all be on the + side of mad Achilles, who knows neither right nor ruth? He is like some savage + lion that in the pride of his great strength [ +biê +] + and spirit [ +thumos +] springs upon men's flocks and + gorges on them. Even so has Achilles flung aside all pity, and all that decency + [ +aidôs +] which at once so greatly banes yet + greatly boons him that will heed it. man may lose one far dearer than Achilles + has lost- a son, it may be, or a brother born from his own mother's womb; yet + when he has mourned him and wept over him he will let him bide, for it takes + much sorrow to kill a man; whereas Achilles, now that he has slain noble + Hektor, drags him behind his chariot round the tomb [ +sêma +] of his comrade. It were better of him, and for him, that he + should not do so, for brave though he be we gods may take it ill that he should + vent his fury upon dead clay." +Hera spoke up in a rage. "This were well," she + cried, "O lord of the silver bow, if you would give like honor [ +timê +] to Hektor and to Achilles; but Hektor was mortal + and suckled at a woman's breast, whereas Achilles is the offspring of a goddess + whom I myself reared and brought up. I married her to Peleus, who is above + measure dear to the immortals; you gods came all of you to her wedding; you + feasted along with them yourself and brought your lyre - false, and fond of low + company, that you have ever been." +Then said Zeus, "Hera, be not so bitter. Their + honor [ +timê +] shall not be equal, but of all that + dwell in +Ilion +, Hektor was dearest to + the gods, as also to myself, for his offerings never failed me. Never was my + altar stinted of its dues, nor of the drink-offerings and savor of sacrifice + which we claim of right. I shall therefore permit the body of mighty Hektor to + be stolen; and yet this may hardly be without Achilles coming to know it, for + his mother keeps night and day beside him. Let some one of you, therefore, send + Thetis to me, and I will impart my counsel to her, namely that Achilles is to + accept a ransom from Priam, and give up the body." +On this Iris fleet as the wind went forth to + carry his message. Down she plunged into the dark sea [ +pontos +] midway between +Samos + and rocky Imbros; the waters hissed as they closed over + her, and she sank into the bottom as the lead at the end of an ox-horn, that is + sped to carry death to fishes. She found Thetis sitting in a great cave with + the other sea-goddesses gathered round her; there she sat in the midst of them + weeping for her noble son who was to fall far from his own land, on the fertile + plains of +Troy +. Iris went up to her + and said, "Rise Thetis; Zeus, whose counsels fail not, bids you come to him." + And Thetis answered, "Why does the mighty god so bid me? I am in great grief + [ +akhos +], and shrink from going in and out among + the immortals. Still, I will go, and the word that he may speak shall not be + spoken in vain." +The goddess took her dark veil, than which there + can be no robe more somber, and went forth with fleet Iris leading the way + before her. The waves of the sea opened them a path, and when they reached the + shore they flew up into the heavens, where they found the all-seeing son of + Kronos with the blessed gods that live for ever assembled near him. Athena gave + up her seat to her, and she sat down by the side of father Zeus. Hera then + placed a fair golden cup in her hand, and spoke to her in words of comfort, + whereon Thetis drank and gave her back the cup; and the sire of gods and men + was the first to speak. +"So, goddess Thetis," said he, "for all your + sorrow, and the grief [ +penthos +] that I well know + reigns ever in your heart, you have come hither to +Olympus +, and I will tell you why I have sent for you. This nine + days past the immortals have been quarreling about Achilles waster of cities + and the body of Hektor. The gods would have Hermes slayer of +Argos + steal the body, but in furtherance of + our decency [ +aidôs +] and sense of being + near-and-dear [ +philotês +] henceforward, I will + concede such honor to your son as I will now tell you. Go, then, to the host + and lay these commands upon him; say that the gods are angry with him, and that + I am myself more angry than them all, in that he keeps Hektor at the ships and + will not give him up. He may thus fear me and let the body go. At the same time + I will send Iris to great Priam to bid him go to the ships of the Achaeans, and + ransom his son, taking with him such gifts for Achilles as may give him + satisfaction. +Silver-footed Thetis did as the god had told + her, and forthwith down she darted from the topmost summits of +Olympus +. She went to her son's tents where she + found him grieving bitterly, while his trusty comrades round him were busy + preparing their morning meal, for which they had killed a great woolly sheep. + His mother sat down beside him and caressed him with her hand saying, "My son, + how long will you keep on thus grieving and making moan? You are gnawing at + your own heart, and think neither of food nor of woman's embraces; and yet + these too were well, for you have no long time to live, and death with the + strong hand of fate are already close beside you. Now, therefore, heed what I + say, for I come as a messenger from Zeus; he says that the gods are angry with + you, and himself more angry than them all, in that you keep Hektor at the ships + and will not give him up. Therefore let him go, and accept a ransom for his + body." +And Achilles answered, "So be it. If Olympian + Zeus of his own motion thus commands me, let him that brings the ransom bear + the body away." +Thus did mother and son talk together at the + ships in long discourse with one another. Meanwhile the son of Kronos sent Iris + to the strong city of +Ilion +. "Go," + said he, "fleet Iris, from the mansions of +Olympus +, and tell King Priam in +Ilion +, that he is to go to the ships of the Achaeans and free + the body of his dear son. He is to take such gifts with him as shall give + satisfaction to Achilles, and he is to go alone, with no other Trojan, save + only some honored servant who may drive his mules and wagon, and bring back the + body of him whom noble Achilles has slain. Let him have no thought nor fear of + death in his heart, for we will send the slayer of +Argos + to escort him, and bring him within + the tent of Achilles. Achilles will not kill him nor let another do so, for he + will take heed to his ways and err not, and he will entreat a suppliant with + all honorable courtesy." +On this Iris, fleet as the wind, sped forth to + deliver her message. She went to Priam's house, and found weeping and + lamentation therein. His sons were seated round their father in the outer + courtyard, and their raiment was wet with tears: the old man sat in the midst + of them with his mantle wrapped close about his body, and his head and neck all + covered with the filth which he had clutched as he lay groveling in the mire. + His daughters and his sons' wives went wailing about the house, as they thought + of the many and brave men who lost their life-breath [ +psukhê +], slain by the Argives. The messenger of Zeus stood by Priam + and spoke softly to him, but fear fell upon him as she did so. "Take heart," + she said, "Priam offspring of +Dardanos +, take heart and fear not. I bring no evil tidings, but + am minded well towards you. I come as a messenger from Zeus, who though he be + not near, takes thought for you and pities you. The lord of +Olympus + bids you go and ransom noble Hektor, + and take with you such gifts as shall give satisfaction to Achilles. +You are to go alone, with no Trojan, save only + some honored servant who may drive your mules and wagon, and bring back to the + city the body of him whom noble Achilles has slain. You are to have no thought, + nor fear of death, for Zeus will send the slayer of +Argos + to escort you. When he has brought you + within Achilles' tent, Achilles will not kill you nor let another do so, for he + will take heed to his ways and err not, and he will entreat a suppliant with + all honorable courtesy." +Iris went her way when she had thus spoken, and + Priam told his sons to get a mule-wagon ready, and to make the body of the + wagon fast upon the top of its bed. Then he went down into his fragrant + store-room, high-vaulted, and made of cedar-wood, where his many treasures were + kept, and he called Hecuba his wife. "Wife," said he, "a messenger has come to + me from +Olympus +, and has told me to go + to the ships of the Achaeans to ransom my dear son, taking with me such gifts + as shall give satisfaction to Achilles. What think you of this matter? for my + own part I am greatly moved to pass through the of the Achaeans and go to their + ships." +His wife cried aloud as she heard him, and + said, "Alas, what has become of that judgment for which you have been ever + famous both among strangers and your own people? How can you venture alone to + the ships of the Achaeans, and look into the face of him who has slain so many + of your brave sons? You must have iron courage, for if the cruel savage sees + you and lays hold on you, he will know neither respect nor pity. Let us then + weep Hektor from afar here in our own house, for when I gave him birth the + threads of overruling fate were spun for him that dogs should eat his flesh far + from his parents, in the house of that terrible man on whose liver I would fain + fasten and devour it. Thus would I avenge my son, who showed no cowardice when + Achilles slew him, and thought neither of Right nor of avoiding battle as he + stood in defense of Trojan men and Trojan women." +Then Priam said, "I would go, do not therefore + stay me nor be as a bird of ill omen in my house, for you will not move me. Had + it been some mortal man who had sent me some seer [ +mantis +] or priest who divines from sacrifice - I should have deemed + him false and have given him no heed; but now I have heard the goddess and seen + her face to face, therefore I will go and her saying shall not be in vain. If + it be my fate to die at the ships of the Achaeans even so would I have it; let + Achilles slay me, if I may but first have taken my son in my arms and mourned + him to my heart's comforting." +So saying he lifted the lids of his chests, and + took out twelve goodly vestments. He took also twelve cloaks of single fold, + twelve rugs, twelve fair mantles, and an equal number of shirts. He weighed out + ten talents of gold, and brought moreover two burnished tripods, four + cauldrons, and a very beautiful cup which the Thracians had given him when he + had gone to them on an embassy; it was very precious, but he grudged not even + this, so eager was he to ransom the body of his son. Then he chased all the + Trojans from the court and rebuked them with words of anger. "Out," he cried, + "shame and disgrace to me that you are. Have you no grief in your own homes + that you are come to plague me here? Is it a small thing, think you, that the + son of Kronos has sent this sorrow upon me, to lose the bravest of my sons? + Nay, you shall prove it in person, for now he is gone the Achaeans will have + easier work in killing you. As for me, let me go down within the house of + Hades, ere mine eyes behold the sacking and wasting of the city." +He drove the men away with his staff, and they + went forth as the old man sped them. Then he called to his sons, upbraiding + Helenos, +Paris +, noble Agathon, Pammon, + Antiphonos, Polites of the loud battle-cry, Deiphobos, Hippothoos, and Dios. + These nine did the old man call near him. "Come to me at once," he cried, + "worthless sons who do me shame; +would that you had all been killed at the ships + rather than Hektor. Miserable man that I am, I have had the bravest sons in all + +Troy + - noble Nestor, Troilus the + dauntless charioteer, and Hektor who was a god among men, so that one would + have thought he was son to an immortal - yet there is not one of them left. + Ares has slain them and those of whom I am ashamed are alone left me. Liars, + and light of foot, heroes of the dance, robbers of lambs and kids from your own + people, why do you not get a wagon ready for me at once, and put all these + things upon it that I may set out on my way?" +Thus did he speak, and they feared the rebuke + of their father. They brought out a strong mule-wagon, newly made, and set the + body of the wagon fast on its bed. They took the mule-yoke from the peg on + which it hung, a yoke of boxwood with a knob on the top of it and rings for the + reins to go through. Then they brought a yoke-band eleven cubits long, to bind + the yoke to the pole; they bound it on at the far end of the pole, and put the + ring over the upright pin making it fast with three turns of the band on either + side the knob, and bending the thong of the yoke beneath it. This done, they + brought from the store-chamber the rich ransom that was to purchase the body of + Hektor, and they set it all orderly on the wagon; then they yoked the strong + harness-mules which the Mysians had on a time given as a goodly present to + Priam; but for Priam himself they yoked horses which the old king had bred, and + kept for own use. +Thus heedfully did Priam and his servant see to + the yoking of their cars at the palace. Then Hecuba came to them all sorrowful, + with a golden goblet of wine in her right hand, that they might make a + drink-offering before they set out. She stood in front of the horses and said, + "Take this, make a drink-offering to father Zeus, and since you are minded to + go to the ships in spite of me, pray that you may come safely back from the + hands of your enemies. Pray to the son of Kronos lord of the whirlwind, who + sits on Ida and looks down over all +Troy +, +pray him to send his swift messenger on your + right hand, the bird of omen which is strongest and most dear to him of all + birds, that you may see it with your own eyes and trust it as you go forth to + the ships of the Danaans. If all-seeing Zeus will not send you this messenger, + however set upon it you may be, I would not have you go to the ships of the + Argives." +And Priam answered, "Wife, I will do as you + desire me; it is well to lift hands in prayer to Zeus, if so be he may have + mercy upon me." With this the old man bade the serving-woman pour pure water + over his hands, and the woman came, bearing the water in a bowl. He washed his + hands and took the cup from his wife; then he made the drink-offering and + prayed, standing in the middle of the courtyard and turning his eyes to heaven. + "Father Zeus," he said, "you who rule from Ida, most glorious and most great, + grant that I may be received kindly and compassionately in the tents of + Achilles; and send your swift messenger upon my right hand, the bird of omen + which is strongest and most dear to you of all birds, that I may see it with my + own eyes and trust it as I go forth to the ships of the Danaans." +So did he pray, and Zeus the lord of counsel + heard his prayer. Forthwith he sent an eagle, the most unerring portent of all + birds that fly, the dusky hunter that men also call the Black Eagle. His wings + were spread abroad on either side as wide as the well-made and well-bolted door + of a rich man's chamber. He came to them flying over the city upon their right + hands, and when they saw him they were glad and their hearts took comfort + within them. The old man made haste to mount his chariot, and drove out through + the inner gateway and under the echoing gatehouse of the outer court. Before + him went the mules drawing the four-wheeled wagon, and driven by wise Idaios; + behind these were the horses, which the old man lashed with his whip and drove + swiftly through the city, +while his friends followed after, wailing and + lamenting for him as though he were on his road to death. As soon as they had + come down from the city and had reached the plain, his sons and sons-in-law who + had followed him went back to +Ilion +. +But Priam and Idaios as they showed out upon + the plain did not escape the ken of all-seeing Zeus, who looked down upon the + old man and pitied him; then he spoke to his son Hermes and said, "Hermes, for + it is you who are the most disposed to escort men on their way, and to hear + those whom you will hear, go, and so conduct Priam to the ships of the Achaeans + that no other of the Danaans shall see him nor take note of him until he reach + the son of Peleus." +Thus he spoke and Hermes, guide and guardian, + slayer of +Argos +, did as he was told. + Forthwith he bound on his glittering golden sandals with which he could fly + like the wind over land and sea; he took the wand with which he seals men's + eyes in sleep, or wakes them just as he pleases, and flew holding it in his + hand till he came to +Troy + and to the + +Hellespont +. To look at, he was like + a young man of noble birth in the hey-day of his youth and beauty with the down + just coming upon his face. +Now when Priam and Idaios had driven past the + great tomb [ +sêma +] of +Ilion +, they stayed their mules and horses that they might drink + in the river, for the shades of night were falling, when, therefore, Idaios saw + Hermes standing near them he said to Priam, "Take heed, descendant of + +Dardanos +; here is matter which + demands consideration [ +noos +]. I see a man who I + think will presently fall upon us; let us flee with our horses, or at least + embrace his knees and implore him to take compassion upon us? +When he heard this the old man's heart [ +noos +] failed him, and he was in great fear; he stayed + where he was as one dazed, and the hair stood on end over his whole body; but + the bringer of good luck came up to him and took him by the hand, saying, + "Whither, father, are you thus driving your mules and horses in the dead of + night when other men are asleep? +Are you not afraid of the fierce Achaeans who + are hard by you, so cruel and relentless? Should some one of them see you + bearing so much treasure through the darkness of the fleeing night, what would + not your state of mind [ +noos +] then be? You are no + longer young, and he who is with you is too old to protect you from those who + would attack you. For myself, I will do you no harm, and I will defend you from + any one else, for you remind me of my own father." +And Priam answered, "It is indeed as you say, + my dear son; nevertheless some god has held his hand over me, in that he has + sent such a wayfarer as yourself to meet me so Opportunely; you are so comely + in mien and figure, and your judgment [ +noos +] is so + excellent that you must come of blessed parents." +Then said the slayer of +Argos +, guide and guardian, "Sir, all that + you have said is right; but tell me and tell me true, are you taking this rich + treasure to send it to a foreign people where it may be safe, or are you all + leaving strong +Ilion + in dismay now + that your son has fallen who was the bravest man among you and was never + lacking in battle with the Achaeans?" +And Priam said, "Who are you, my friend, and + who are your parents, that you speak so truly about the fate of my unhappy + son?" +The slayer of +Argos +, guide and guardian, answered him, "Sir, you would prove + me, that you question me about noble Hektor. Many a time have I set eyes upon + him in battle when he was driving the Argives to their ships and putting them + to the sword. We stood still and marveled, for Achilles in his anger with the + son of Atreus suffered us not to fight. I am his squire [ +therapôn +], and came with him in the same ship. I am a Myrmidon, and + my father's name is Polyktor: he is a rich man and about as old as you are; he + has six sons besides myself, and I am the seventh. We cast lots, and it fell + upon me to sail hither with Achilles. I am now come from the ships on to the + plain, for with daybreak the Achaeans will set battle in array about the city. + They chafe at doing nothing, and are so eager that their princes cannot hold + them back." +Then answered Priam, "If you are indeed the + squire [ +therapôn +] of Achilles son of Peleus, tell + me now the Whole truth. Is my son still at the ships, or has Achilles hewn him + limb from limb, and given him to his hounds?" +"Sir," replied the slayer of +Argos +, guide and guardian, "neither hounds + nor vultures have yet devoured him; he is still just lying at the tents by the + ship of Achilles, and though it is now twelve days that he has lain there, his + flesh is not wasted nor have the worms eaten him although they feed on + warriors. At daybreak Achilles drags him cruelly round the sepulcher [ +sêma +] of his dear comrade, but it does him no hurt. + You should come yourself and see how he lies fresh as dew, with the blood all + washed away, and his wounds every one of them closed though many pierced him + with their spears. Such care have the blessed gods taken of your brave son, for + he was dear to them beyond all measure." +The old man was comforted as he heard him and + said, "My son, see what a good thing it is to have made due offerings to the + immortals; for as sure as that he was born my son never forgot the gods that + hold +Olympus +, and now they requite it + to him even in death. Accept therefore at my hands this goodly chalice; guard + me and with heaven's help guide me till I come to the tent of the son of + Peleus." +Then answered the slayer of +Argos +, guide and guardian, "Sir, you are + tempting me and playing upon my youth, but you shall not move me, for you are + offering me presents without the knowledge of Achilles whom I fear and hold it + great guiltless to defraud, lest some evil presently befall me; but as your + guide I would go with you even to +Argos + itself, and would guard you so carefully whether by sea + or land, that no one should attack you through making light of him who was with + you." +The bringer of good luck then sprang on to the + chariot, and seizing the whip and reins he breathed fresh spirit into the mules + and horses. When they reached the trench and the wall that was before the + ships, those who were on guard had just been getting their suppers, and the + slayer of +Argos + threw them all into + a deep sleep. Then he drew back the bolts to open the gates, and took Priam + inside with the treasure he had upon his wagon. Ere long they came to the lofty + dwelling of the son of Peleus for which the Myrmidons had cut pine and which + they had built for their king; when they had built it they thatched it with + coarse tussock-grass which they had mown out on the plain, and all round it + they made a large courtyard, which was fenced with stakes set close together. + The gate was barred with a single bolt of pine which it took three men to force + into its place, and three to draw back so as to open the gate, but Achilles + could draw it by himself. Hermes opened the gate for the old man, and brought + in the treasure that he was taking with him for the son of Peleus. Then he + sprang from the chariot on to the ground and said, "Sir, it is I, immortal + Hermes, that am come with you, for my father sent me to escort you. I will now + leave you, and will not enter into the presence of Achilles, for it might anger + him that a god should befriend mortal men thus openly. Go you within, and + embrace the knees of the son of Peleus: beseech him by his father, his lovely + mother, and his son; thus you may move him." +With these words Hermes went back to high + +Olympus +. Priam sprang from his + chariot to the ground, leaving Idaios where he was, in charge of the mules and + horses. The old man went straight into the house where Achilles, loved of the + gods, was sitting. There he found him with his men seated at a distance from + him: only two, the hero Automedon, and Alkimos of the race of Ares, were busy + in attendance about his person, for he had but just done eating and drinking, +and the table was still there. King Priam + entered without their seeing him, and going right up to Achilles he clasped his + knees and kissed the dread murderous hands that had slain so many of his sons. +As when some cruel spite [ +atê +] has befallen a man that he should have killed some one in his + own country, and must flee to a great man's protection in a land [ +dêmos +] of strangers, and all marvel who see him, even + so did Achilles marvel as he beheld Priam. The others looked one to another and + marveled also, but Priam besought Achilles saying, "Think of your father, O + Achilles like unto the gods, who is such even as I am, on the sad threshold of + old age. It may be that those who dwell near him harass him, and there is none + to keep war and ruin from him. Yet when he hears of you being still alive, he + is glad, and his days are full of hope that he shall see his dear son come home + to him from +Troy +; but I, wretched man + that I am, had the bravest in all +Troy + for my sons, and there is not one of them left. I had + fifty sons when the Achaeans came here; nineteen of them were from a single + womb, and the others were borne to me by the women of my household. The greater + part of them has fierce Ares laid low, and Hektor, him who was alone left, him + who was the guardian of the city and ourselves, him have you lately slain; + therefore I am now come to the ships of the Achaeans to ransom his body from + you with a great ransom. Fear, O Achilles, the wrath of heaven; think on your + own father and have compassion upon me, who am the more pitiable, for I have + steeled myself as no man yet has ever steeled himself before me, and have + raised to my lips the hand of him who slew my son." +Thus spoke Priam, and the heart of Achilles + yearned as he bethought him of his father. He took the old man's hand and moved + him gently away. The two wept bitterly - Priam, as he lay at Achilles' feet, + weeping for Hektor, and Achilles now for his father and now for Patroklos, till + the house was filled with their lamentation. But when Achilles was now sated + with grief +and had unburdened the bitterness of his + sorrow, he left his seat and raised the old man by the hand, in pity for his + white hair and beard; then he said, "Unhappy man, you have indeed been greatly + daring; how could you venture to come alone to the ships of the Achaeans, and + enter the presence of him who has slain so many of your brave sons? You must + have iron courage: sit now upon this seat, and for all our grief we will hide + our sorrows in our hearts, for weeping will not avail us. The immortals know no + care, yet the lot they spin for man is full of sorrow; on the floor of Zeus' + palace there stand two urns, the one filled with evil gifts, and the other with + good ones. He for whom Zeus the lord of thunder mixes the gifts he sends, will + meet now with good and now with evil fortune; but he to whom Zeus sends none + but evil gifts will be pointed at by the finger of scorn, the hand of famine + will pursue him to the ends of the world, and he will go up and down the face + of the earth, respected neither by gods nor men. Even so did it befall Peleus; + the gods endowed him with all good things from his birth upwards, for he + reigned over the Myrmidons excelling all men in prosperity [olbos] and wealth, + and mortal though he was they gave him a goddess for his bride. But even on him + too did heaven send misfortune, for there is no race of royal children born to + him in his house, save one son who is doomed to die all untimely; nor may I + take care of him now that he is growing old, for I must stay here at +Troy + to be the bane of you and your children. + And you too, O Priam, I have heard that you were aforetime happy [ +olbios +]. They say that in wealth and plenitude of + offspring you surpassed all that is in +Lesbos +, the realm of Makar to the northward, +Phrygia + that is more inland, and those that + dwell upon the great +Hellespont +; but + from the day when the dwellers in heaven sent this evil upon you, war and + slaughter have been about your city continually. +Bear up against it, and let there be some + intervals in your sorrow. Mourn as you may for your brave son, you will take + nothing by it. You cannot raise him from the dead, ere you do so yet another + sorrow shall befall you." +And Priam answered, "O king, bid me not be + seated, while Hektor is still lying uncared for in your tents, but accept the + great ransom which I have brought you, and give him to me at once that I may + look upon him. May you prosper with the ransom and reach your own land in + safety, seeing that you have suffered me to live and to look upon the light of + the sun." +Achilles looked at him sternly and said, "Vex + me, sir, no longer; I am of myself minded to give up the body of Hektor. My + mother, daughter of the old man of the sea, came to me from Zeus to bid me + deliver it to you. Moreover I know well, O Priam, and you cannot hide it, that + some god has brought you to the ships of the Achaeans, for else, no man however + strong and in his prime would dare to come to our host; he could neither pass + our guard unseen, nor draw the bolt of my gates thus easily; therefore, provoke + me no further, lest I err against the word of Zeus, and suffer you not, + suppliant though you are, within my tents." +The old man feared him and obeyed. Then the son + of Peleus sprang like a lion through the door of his house, not alone, but with + him went his two squires [ +therapontes +] Automedon + and Alkimos who were closer to him than any others of his comrades now that + Patroklos was no more. These unyoked the horses and mules, and bade Priam's + herald and attendant be seated within the house. They lifted the ransom for + Hektor's body from the wagon. but they left two mantles and a goodly shirt, + that Achilles might wrap the body in them when he gave it to be taken home. + Then he called to his servants and ordered them to wash the body and anoint it, + but he first took it to a place where Priam should not see it, lest if he did + so, he should break out in the bitterness of his grief, and enrage Achilles, + who might then kill him and err against the word of Zeus. When the servants had + washed the body and anointed it, and had wrapped it in a fair shirt and mantle, + Achilles himself lifted it on to a bier, and he and his men then laid it on the + wagon. He cried aloud as he did so and called on the name of his dear comrade, + "Be not angry with me, Patroklos," he said, "if you hear even in the house of + Hades that I have given Hektor to his father for a ransom. It has been no + unworthy one, and I will share it equitably with you." +Achilles then went back into the tent and took + his place on the richly inlaid seat from which he had risen, by the wall that + was at right angles to the one against which Priam was sitting. "Sir," he said, + "your son is now laid upon his bier and is ransomed according to desire; you + shall look upon him when you him away at daybreak; for the present let us + prepare our supper. Even lovely Niobe had to think about eating, though her + twelve children - six daughters and six lusty sons - had been all slain in her + house. Apollo killed the sons with arrows from his silver bow, to punish Niobe, + and Artemis slew the daughters, because Niobe had vaunted herself against Leto; + she said Leto had borne two children only, whereas she had herself borne many - + whereon the two killed the many. Nine days did they lie weltering, and there + was none to bury them, for the son of Kronos turned the people into stone; but + on the tenth day the gods in heaven themselves buried them, and Niobe then took + food, being worn out with weeping. They say that somewhere among the rocks on + the mountain pastures of Sipylos, where the nymphs live that haunt the river + Akheloos, there, they say, she lives in stone and still nurses the sorrows sent + upon her by the hand of heaven. Therefore, noble sir, let us two now take food; + you can weep for your dear son hereafter as you are bearing him back to + +Ilion + - and many a tear will he + cost you." +With this Achilles sprang from his seat and + killed a sheep of silvery whiteness, which his followers skinned and made ready + all in due order [ +kosmos +]. They cut the meat + carefully up into smaller pieces, spitted them, and drew them off again when + they were well roasted. Automedon brought bread in fair baskets and served it + round the table, while Achilles dealt out the meat, and they laid their hands + on the good things that were before them. As soon as they had had enough to eat + and drink, Priam, descendant of +Dardanos +, marveled at the strength and beauty of Achilles for + he was as a god to see, and Achilles marveled at Priam as he listened to him + and looked upon his noble presence. When they had gazed their fill Priam spoke + first. "And now, O king," he said, "take me to my couch that we may lie down + and enjoy the blessed boon of sleep. Never once have my eyes been closed from + the day your hands took the life of my son; I have groveled without ceasing in + the mire of my stable-yard, making moan and brooding over my countless sorrows. + Now, moreover, I have eaten bread and drunk wine; hitherto I have tasted + nothing." +As he spoke Achilles told his men and the + women-servants to set beds in the room that was in the gatehouse, and make them + with good red rugs, and spread coverlets on the top of them with woolen cloaks + for Priam and Idaios to wear. So the maids went out carrying a torch and got + the two beds ready in all haste. Then Achilles said laughingly to Priam, "Dear + sir, you shall lie outside, lest some counselor of those who, as is right + [ +themis +], keep coming to advise with me should + see you here in the darkness of the fleeing night, and tell it to Agamemnon. + This might cause delay in the delivery of the body. And now tell me and tell me + true, for how many days would you celebrate the funeral rites of noble Hektor? + Tell me, that I may hold aloof from war and restrain the host." +And Priam answered, "Since, then, you suffer me + to bury my noble son with all due rites, do thus, Achilles, and I shall be + grateful. You know how we are pent up within our city; +it is far for us to fetch wood from the + mountain, and the people live in fear. Nine days, therefore, will we mourn + Hektor in my house; on the tenth day we will bury him and there shall be a + public feast in his honor; on the eleventh we will build a mound over his + ashes, and on the twelfth, if there be need, we will fight." And Achilles + answered, "All, King Priam, shall be as you have said. I will stay our fighting + for as long a time as you have named." +As he spoke he laid his hand on the old man's + right wrist, in token that he should have no fear; thus then did Priam and his + attendant sleep there in the forecourt, full of thought, while Achilles lay in + an inner room of the house, with fair Briseis by his side. +And now both gods and mortals were fast asleep + through the livelong night, but upon Hermes alone, the bringer of good luck, + sleep could take no hold for he was thinking all the time how to get King Priam + away from the ships without his being seen by the strong force of sentinels. He + hovered therefore over Priam's head and said, "Sir, now that Achilles has + spared your life, you seem to have no fear about sleeping in the thick of your + foes. You have paid a great ransom, and have received the body of your son; + were you still alive and a prisoner the sons whom you have left at home would + have to give three times as much to free you; and so it would be if Agamemnon + and the other Achaeans were to know of your being here." +When he heard this the old man was afraid and + roused his servant. Hermes then yoked their horses and mules, and drove them + quickly through the host so that no man perceived them. When they came to the + ford of eddying +Xanthos +, begotten + of immortal Zeus, Hermes went back to high +Olympus +, and dawn in robe of saffron began to break over all + the land. Priam and Idaios then drove on toward the city lamenting and making + moan, and the mules drew the body of Hektor. No one neither man nor woman saw + them, +till Cassandra, fair as golden Aphrodite + standing on +Pergamos +, caught sight of + her dear father in his chariot, and his servant that was the city's herald with + him. Then she saw him that was lying upon the bier, drawn by the mules, and + with a loud cry she went about the city saying, "Come hither Trojans, men and + women, and look on Hektor; if ever you rejoiced to see him coming from battle + when he was alive, look now on him that was the glory of our city and all our + ." +At this there was not man nor woman left in the + city, so great a sorrow [ +penthos +] had possessed + them. Hard by the gates they met Priam as he was bringing in the body. Hektor's + wife and his mother were the first to mourn him: they flew towards the wagon + and laid their hands upon his head, while the crowd stood weeping round them. + They would have stayed before the gates, weeping and lamenting the livelong day + to the going down of the sun, had not Priam spoken to them from the chariot and + said, "Make way for the mules to pass you. Afterwards when I have taken the + body home you shall have your fill of weeping." +On this the people stood asunder, and made a + way for the wagon. When they had borne the body within the house they laid it + upon a bed and seated minstrels round it to lead the dirge, whereon the women + joined in the sad music of their lament. Foremost among them all Andromache led + their wailing as she clasped the head of mighty Hektor in her embrace. + "Husband," she cried, "you have died young, and leave me in your house a widow; + he of whom we are the ill-starred parents is still a mere child, and I fear he + may not reach manhood. Ere he can do so our city will be razed and overthrown, + for you who watched over it are no more - you who were its savior, the guardian + of our wives and children. Our women will be carried away captives to the + ships, and I among them; while you, my child, who will be with me will be put + to some unseemly tasks, working for a cruel master. Or, may be, +some Achaean will hurl you (O miserable death) + from our walls, to avenge some brother, son, or father whom Hektor slew; many + of them have indeed bitten the dust at his hands, for your father's hand in + battle was no light one. Therefore do the people mourn him. You have left, O + Hektor, sorrow unutterable to your parents, and my own grief [penthos] is + greatest of all, for you did not stretch forth your arms and embrace me as you + lay dying, nor say to me any words that might have lived with me in my tears + night and day for evermore." +Bitterly did she weep the while, and the women + joined in her lament. Hecuba in her turn took up the strains of woe. "Hektor," + she cried, "dearest to me of all my children. So long as you were alive the + gods loved you well, and even in death they have not been utterly unmindful of + you; for when Achilles took any other of my sons, he would sell him beyond the + seas, to Samos Imbros or rugged +Lemnos +; and when he had taken away with his sword your life-breath + [ +psukhê +] as well, many a time did he drag you + round the sepulcher [ +sêma +] of his comrade - though + this could not give him life - yet here you lie all fresh as dew, and comely as + one whom Apollo has slain with his painless shafts." +Thus did she too speak through her tears with + bitter moan, and then Helen for a third time took up the strain of lamentation. + "Hektor," said she, "dearest of all my brothers-in-law-for I am wife to + Alexander who brought me hither to +Troy + - would that I had died ere he did so - twenty years are + come and gone since I left my home and came from over the sea, but I have never + heard one word of insult or unkindness from you. When another would chide with + me, as it might be one of your brothers or sisters or of your brothers' wives, + or my mother-in-law - for Priam was as kind to me as though he were my own + father - you would rebuke and check them with words of gentleness and goodwill. + Therefore my tears flow both for you and for my unhappy self, for there is no + one else in Troy who is kind to me, but all shrink and shudder as they go by + me." +She wept as she spoke and the vast population + [ +dêmos +] that was gathered round her joined in + her lament. Then King Priam spoke to them saying, "Bring wood, O Trojans, to + the city, and fear no cunning ambush of the Argives, for Achilles when he + dismissed me from the ships gave me his word that they should not attack us + until the morning of the twelfth day." +Forthwith they yoked their oxen and mules and + gathered together before the city. Nine days long did they bring in great heaps + wood, and on the morning of the tenth day with many tears they took brave + Hektor forth, laid his dead body upon the summit of the pile, and set the fire + thereto. Then when the child of morning rosy-fingered dawn appeared on the + eleventh day, the people again assembled, round the pyre of mighty Hektor. When + they were got together, they first quenched the fire with wine wherever it was + burning, and then his brothers and comrades with many a bitter tear gathered + his white bones, wrapped them in soft robes of purple, and laid them in a + golden urn, which they placed in a grave [ +sêma +] and + covered over with large stones set close together. Then they built a tomb + [ +sêma +] hurriedly over it keeping guard on every + side lest the Achaeans should attack them before they had finished. When they + had heaped up the barrow they went back again into the city, and being well + assembled they held high feast in the house of Priam their king. +Thus, then, did they celebrate the funeral of + Hektor tamer of horses. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt b/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt index e69de29..5e3fa8a 100644 --- a/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt +++ b/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4975 @@ +Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of +Troy +. Many were the men whose cities he saw and whose mind he learned, aye, and many the woes he suffered in his heart upon the sea, +seeking to win his own life and the return of his comrades. Yet even so he saved not his comrades, though he desired it sore, for through their own blind folly they perished—fools, who devoured the kine of Helios Hyperion; but he took from them the day of their returning. +Of these things, goddess, daughter of Zeus, beginning where thou wilt, tell thou even unto us. + Now all the rest, as many as had escaped sheer destruction, were at home, safe from both war and sea, but Odysseus alone, filled with longing for his return and for his wife, did the queenly nymph Calypso, that bright goddess, +keep back in her hollow caves, yearning that he should be her husband. But when, as the seasons revolved, the year came in which the gods had ordained that he should return home to +Ithaca +, not even there was he free from toils, even among his own folk. And all the gods pitied him +save Poseidon; but he continued to rage unceasingly against godlike Odysseus until at length he reached his own land. + Howbeit Poseidon had gone among the far-off Ethiopians—the Ethiopians who dwell sundered in twain, the farthermost of men, some where Hyperion sets and some where he rises, +there to receive a hecatomb of bulls and rams, and there he was taking his joy, sitting at the feast; but the other gods were gathered together in the halls of Olympian Zeus. Among them the father of gods and men was first to speak, for in his heart he thought of noble Aegisthus, +whom far-famed Orestes, Agamemnon's son, had slain. Thinking on him he spoke among the immortals, and said: + “Look you now, how ready mortals are to blame the gods. It is from us, they say, that evils come, but they even of themselves, through their own blind folly, have sorrows beyond that which is ordained. +Even as now Aegisthus, beyond that which was ordained, took to himself the wedded wife of the son of Atreus, and slew him on his return, though well he knew of sheer destruction, seeing that we spake to him before, sending Hermes, the keen-sighted Argeiphontes, +1 + that he should neither slay the man nor woo his wife; +for from Orestes shall come vengeance for the son of Atreus when once he has come to manhood and longs for his own land. So Hermes spoke, but for all his good intent he prevailed not upon the heart of Aegisthus; and now he has paid the full price of all.” + + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed +1 + Athena, answered him: +“Father of us all, thou son of Cronos, high above all lords, aye, verily that man lies low in a destruction that is his due; so, too, may any other also be destroyed who does such deeds. But my heart is torn for wise Odysseus, hapless man, who far from his friends has long been suffering woes +in a sea-girt isle, where is the navel of the sea. 'Tis a wooded isle, and therein dwells a goddess, daughter of Atlas of baneful mind, who knows the depths of every sea, and himself holds the tall pillars which keep earth and heaven apart. +His daughter it is that keeps back that wretched, sorrowing man; and ever with soft and wheedling words she beguiles him that he may forget +Ithaca +. But Odysseus, in his longing to see were it but the smoke leaping up from his own land, yearns to die. Yet thy +heart doth not regard it, Olympian. Did not Odysseus beside the ships of the Argives offer thee sacrifice without stint in the broad land of +Troy +? Wherefore then didst thou conceive such wrath +2 + against him, O Zeus?” + Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered her and said: “My child, what a word has escaped the barrier of thy teeth? +How should I, then, forget godlike Odysseus, who is beyond all mortals in wisdom, and beyond all has paid sacrifice to the immortal gods, who hold broad heaven? Nay, it is Poseidon, the earth-enfolder, who is ever filled with stubborn wrath because of the Cyclops, whom Odysseus blinded of his eye— +even the godlike Polyphemus, whose might is greatest among all the Cyclopes; and the nymph Thoosa bore him, daughter of Phorcys who rules over the unresting +1 + sea; for in the hollow caves she lay with Poseidon. From that time forth Poseidon, the earth-shaker, +does not indeed slay Odysseus, but makes him a wanderer from his native land. But come, let us who are here all take thought of his return, that he may come home; and Poseidon will let go his anger, for he will in no wise be able, against all the immortal gods and in their despite, to contend alone.” +Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Father of us all, thou son of Cronos, high above all lords, if indeed this is now well pleasing to the blessed gods, that the wise Odysseus should return to his own home, let us send forth Hermes, the messenger, Argeiphontes, +to the isle Ogygia, that with all speed he may declare to the fair-tressed nymph our fixed resolve, even the return of Odysseus of the steadfast heart, that he may come home. But, as for me, I will go to +Ithaca +, that I may the more arouse his son, and set courage in his heart +to call to an assembly the long-haired Achaeans, and speak out his word to all the wooers, who are ever slaying his thronging sheep and his sleek +2 + kine of shambling gait. And I will guide him to +Sparta + and to sandy +Pylos +, to seek tidings of the return of his dear father, if haply he may hear of it, +that good report may be his among men.” + So she spoke, and bound beneath her feet her beautiful sandals, immortal, +1 + golden, which were wont to bear her both over the waters of the sea and over the boundless land swift as the blasts of the wind. And she took her mighty spear, tipped with sharp bronze, +heavy and huge and strong, wherewith she vanquishes the ranks of men—of warriors, with whom she is wroth, she, the daughter of the mighty sire. Then she went darting down from the heights of +Olympus +, and took her stand in the land of +Ithaca + at the outer gate of Odysseus, on the threshold of the court. In her hand she held the spear of bronze, +and she was in the likeness of a stranger, Mentes, the leader of the Taphians. There she found the proud wooers. They were taking their pleasure at draughts in front of the doors, sitting on the hides of oxen which they themselves had slain; and of the heralds +2 + and busy squires, +some were mixing wine and water for them in bowls, others again were washing the tables with porous sponges and setting them forth, while still others were portioning out meats in abundance. + Her the godlike Telemachus was far the first to see, for he was sitting among the wooers, sad at heart, +seeing in thought his noble father, should he perchance come from somewhere and make a scattering of the wooers in the palace, and himself win honor and rule over his own house. As he thought of these things, sitting among the wooers, he beheld Athena, and he went straight to the outer door; for in his heart he counted it shame +that a stranger should stand long at the gates. So, drawing near, he clasped her right hand, and took from her the spear of bronze; and he spoke, and addressed her with winged words: +1 + + “Hail, stranger; in our house thou shalt find entertainment and then, when thou hast tasted food, thou shalt tell of what thou hast need.” +So saying, he led the way, and Pallas Athena followed. And when they were within the lofty house, he bore the spear and set it against a tall pillar in a polished spear-rack, where were set many spears besides, even those of Odysseus of the steadfast heart. +Athena herself he led and seated on a chair, spreading a linen cloth beneath—a beautiful chair, richly-wrought, +2 + and below was a footstool for the feet. Beside it he placed for himself an inlaid seat, apart from the others, the wooers, lest the stranger, vexed by their din, should loathe the meal, seeing that he was in the company of overweening men; +and also that he might ask him about his father that was gone. Then a handmaid brought water for the hands in a fair pitcher of gold, and poured it over a silver basin for them to wash, and beside them drew up a polished table. And the grave housewife brought and set before them bread, +and therewith dainties in abundance, giving freely of her store. And a carver lifted up and placed before them platters of all manner of meats, and set by them golden goblets, while a herald ever walked to and fro pouring them wine. + Then in came the proud wooers, and thereafter +sat them down in rows on chairs and high seats. Heralds poured water over their hands, and maid-servants heaped by them bread in baskets, and youths filled the bowls brim full of drink; and they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. +Now after the wooers had put from them the desire of food and drink, their hearts turned to other things, to song and to dance; for these things are the crown of a feast. And a herald put the beautiful lyre in the hands of Phemius, who sang perforce among the wooers; +and he struck the chords in prelude +1 + to his sweet lay. + But Telemachus spoke to flashing-eyed Athena, holding his head close, that the others might not hear: “Dear stranger, wilt thou be wroth with me for the word that I shall say? These men care for things like these, the lyre and song, +full easily, seeing that without atonement they devour the livelihood of another, of a man whose white bones, it may be, rot in the rain as they lie upon the mainland, or the wave rolls them in the sea. Were they to see him returned to +Ithaca +, they would all pray to be swifter of foot, +rather than richer in gold and in raiment. But now he has thus perished by an evil doom, nor for us is there any comfort, no, not though any one of men upon the earth should say that he will come; gone is the day of his returning. But come, tell me this, and declare it truly. +Who art thou among men, and from whence? Where is thy city and where thy parents? On what manner of ship didst thou come, and how did sailors bring thee to +Ithaca +? Who did they declare themselves to be? For nowise, methinks, didst thou come hither on foot. And tell me this also truly, that I may know full well, +whether this is thy first coming hither, or whether thou art indeed a friend of my father's house. For many were the men who came to our house as strangers, since he, too, had gone to and fro +1 + among men.” + + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Therefore of a truth will I frankly tell thee all. +I declare that I am Mentes, the son of wise Anchialus, and I am lord over the oar-loving Taphians. And now have I put in here, as thou seest, with ship and crew, while sailing over the wine-dark sea to men of strange speech, on my way to Temese for copper; and I bear with me shining iron. +My ship lies yonder beside the fields away from the city, in the harbor of Rheithron, under woody Neion. Friends of one another do we declare ourselves to be, even as our fathers were, friends from of old. Nay, if thou wilt, go and ask the old warrior Laertes, who, they say, +comes no more to the city, but afar in the fields suffers woes attended by an aged woman as his handmaid, who sets before him food and drink, after weariness has laid hold of his limbs, as he creeps along the slope of his vineyard plot. And now am I come, for of a truth men said that he, +thy father, was among his people; but lo, the gods are thwarting him of his return. For not yet has goodly Odysseus perished on the earth, but still, I ween, he lives and is held back on the broad sea in a sea-girt isle, and cruel men keep him, a savage folk, that constrain him, haply sore against his will. +Nay, I will now prophesy to thee, as the immortals put it in my heart, and as I think it shall be brought to pass, though I am in no wise a soothsayer, nor one versed in the signs of birds. Not much longer shall he be absent from his dear native land, no, not though bonds of iron hold him. +He will contrive a way to return, for he is a man of many devices. But come, tell me this and declare it truly, whether indeed, tall as thou art, thou art the son of Odysseus himself. Wondrously like his are thy head and beautiful eyes; for full often did we consort with one another +before he embarked for the land of +Troy +, whither others, too, the bravest of the Argives, went in their hollow ships. But since that day neither have I seen Odysseus, nor he me.” + Then wise Telemachus answered her: “Therefore of a truth, stranger, will I frankly tell thee all. +My mother says that I am his child; but I know not, for never yet did any man of himself know his own parentage. Ah, would that I had been the son of some blest man, whom old age overtook among his own possessions. But now of him who was the most ill-fated of mortal men +they say that I am sprung, since thou askest me of this.” + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Surely, then, no nameless lineage have the gods appointed for thee in time to come, seeing that Penelope bore thee such as thou art. But come, tell me this and declare it truly. +What feast, what throng is this? What need hast thou of it? Is it a drinking bout, or a wedding feast? For this plainly is no meal to which each brings his portion, with such outrage and overweening do they seem to me to be feasting in thy halls. Angered would a man be at seeing all these shameful acts, any man of sense who should come among them.” +Then wise Telemachus answered her: “Stranger, since indeed thou dost ask and question me of this, our house once bade fair to be rich and honorable, so long as that man was still among his people. But now the gods have willed otherwise in their evil devising, +seeing that they have caused him to pass from sight as they have no other man. For I should not so grieve for his death, if he had been slain among his comrades in the land of the Trojans, or had died in the arms of his friends, when he had wound up the skein of war. Then would the whole host of the Achaeans have made him a tomb, +and for his son, too, he would have won great glory in days to come. But as it is, the spirits of the storm +1 + have swept him away and left no tidings: he is gone out of sight, out of hearing, and for me he has left anguish and weeping; nor do I in any wise mourn and wail for him alone, seeing that the gods have brought upon me other sore troubles. +For all the princes who hold sway over the islands—Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus—and those who lord it over rocky +Ithaca +, all these woo my mother and lay waste my house. And she neither refuses the hateful marriage, +nor is she able to make an end; but they with feasting consume my substance: ere long they will bring me, too, to ruin.” + Then, stirred to anger, Pallas Athena spoke to him:“Out on it! Thou hast of a truth sore need of Odysseus that is gone, that he might put forth his hands upon the shameless wooers. +Would that he might come now and take his stand at the outer gate of the house, with helmet and shield and two spears, such a man as he was when I first saw him in our house drinking and making merry, on his way back from Ephyre, from the house of Ilus, son of Mermerus. +For thither, too, went Odysseus in his swift ship in search of a deadly drug, that he might have wherewith to smear his bronze-tipped arrows; yet Ilus gave it not to him, for he stood in awe of the gods that are forever; but my father gave it, for he held him strangely dear. +Would, I say, that in such strength Odysseus might come amongst the wooers; then should they all find swift destruction and bitterness in their wooing. Yet these things verily lie on the knees of the gods, whether he shall return and wreak vengeance in his halls, or whether he shall not; but for thyself, I bid thee take thought +how thou mayest thrust forth the wooers from the hall. Come now, give ear, and hearken to my words. On the morrow call to an assembly the Achaean lords, and speak out thy word to all, and let the gods be thy witnesses. As for the wooers, bid them scatter, each to his own; +and for thy mother, if her heart bids her marry, let her go back to the hall of her mighty father, and there they will prepare a wedding feast, and make ready the gifts +1 + full many—aye, all that should follow after a well-loved daughter. And to thyself will I give wise counsel, if thou wilt hearken. +Man with twenty rowers the best ship thou hast, and go to seek tidings of thy father, that has long been gone, if haply any mortal may tell thee, or thou mayest hear a voice from Zeus, which oftenest brings tidings to men. First go to +Pylos + and question goodly Nestor, +and from thence to +Sparta + to fair-haired Menelaus; for he was the last to reach home of the brazen-coated Achaeans. If so be thou shalt hear that thy father is alive and coming home, then verily, though thou art sore afflicted, thou couldst endure for yet a year. But if thou shalt hear that he is dead and gone, +then return to thy dear native land and heap up a mound for him, and over it pay funeral rites, full many as is due, and give thy mother to a husband. Then when thou hast done all this and brought it to an end, thereafter take thought in mind and heart +how thou mayest slay the wooers in thy halls whether by guile or openly; for it beseems thee not to practise childish ways, since thou art no longer of such an age. Or hast thou not heard what fame the goodly Orestes won among all mankind when he slew his father's murderer, +the guileful Aegisthus, for that he slew his glorious father? Thou too, my friend, for I see that thou art comely and tall, be thou valiant, that many an one of men yet to be born may praise thee. But now I will go down to my swift ship and my comrades, who, methinks, are chafing much at waiting for me. +For thyself, give heed and have regard to my words.” + Then wise Telemachus answered her: “Stranger, in truth thou speakest these things with kindly thought, as a father to his son, and never will I forget them. But come now, tarry, eager though thou art to be gone, +in order that when thou hast bathed and satisfied thy heart to the full, thou mayest go to thy ship glad in spirit, and bearing a gift costly and very beautiful, which shall be to thee an heirloom from me, even such a gift as dear friends give to friends.” + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: +“Stay me now no longer, when I am eager to be gone, and whatsoever gift thy heart bids thee give me, give it when I come back, to bear to my home, choosing a right beautiful one; it shall bring thee its worth in return.” + So spoke the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, and departed, +flying upward +1 + as a bird; and in his heart she put strength and courage, and made him think of his father even more than aforetime. And in his mind he marked her and marvelled, for he deemed that she was a god; and straightway he went among the wooers, a godlike man. +For them the famous minstrel was singing, and they sat in silence listening; and he sang of the return of the Achaeans—the woeful return from +Troy + which Pallas Athena laid upon them. And from her upper chamber the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, heard his wondrous song, +and she went down the high stairway from her chamber, not alone, for two handmaids attended her. Now when the fair lady had come to the wooers, she stood by the door-post of the well-built hall, holding before her face her shining veil; +and a faithful handmaid stood on either side of her. Then she burst into tears, and spoke to the divine minstrel: + “Phemius, many other things thou knowest to charm mortals, deeds of men and gods which minstrels make famous. Sing them one of these, as thou sittest here, +and let them drink their wine in silence. But cease from this woeful song which ever harrows the heart in my breast, for upon me above all women has come a sorrow not to be forgotten. So dear a head do I ever remember with longing, even my husband, whose fame is wide through +Hellas + and mid- +Argos +.” +1 +Then wise Telemachus answered her: “My mother, why dost thou begrudge the good minstrel to give pleasure in whatever way his heart is moved? It is not minstrels that are to blame, but Zeus, I ween, is to blame, who gives to men that live by toil, +2 + to each one as he will. +With this man no one can be wroth if he sings of the evil doom of the Danaans; for men praise that song the most which comes the newest to their ears. For thyself, let thy heart and soul endure to listen; for not Odysseus alone lost +in +Troy + the day of his return, but many others likewise perished. Nay, go to thy chamber, and busy thyself with thine own tasks, the loom and the distaff, and bid thy handmaids ply their tasks; but speech shall be for men, for all, but most of all for me; since mine is the authority in the house.” + +She then, seized with wonder, went back to her chamber, for she laid to heart the wise saying of her son. Up to her upper chamber she went with her handmaids, and then bewailed Odysseus, her dear husband until flashing-eyed Athena cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids. +But the wooers broke into uproar throughout the shadowy halls, and all prayed, each that he might lie by her side. And among them wise Telemachus was the first to speak: + “Wooers of my mother, overweening in your insolence, for the present let us make merry with feasting, +but let there be no brawling; for this is a goodly thing, to listen to a minstrel such as this man is, like to the gods in voice. But in the morning let us go to the assembly and take our seats, one and all, that I may declare my word to you outright that you depart from these halls. Prepare you other feasts, +eating your own substance and changing from house to house. But if this seems in your eyes to be a better and more profitable thing, that one man's livelihood should be ruined without atonement, waste ye it. But I will call upon the gods that are forever, if haply Zeus may grant that deeds of requital may be wrought. +Without atonement, then, should ye perish within my halls.” + So he spoke, and they all bit their lips and marvelled at Telemachus, for that he spoke boldly. + Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him:“Telemachus, verily the gods themselves are teaching thee +to be a man of vaunting tongue, and to speak with boldness. May the son of Cronos never make thee king in sea-girt +Ithaca +, which thing is by birth thy heritage.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Antinous, wilt thou be wroth with me for the word that I shall say? +Even this should I be glad to accept from the hand of Zeus. Thinkest thou indeed that this is the worst fate among men? Nay, it is no bad thing to be a king. Straightway one's house grows rich and oneself is held in greater honor. However, there are other kings of the Achaeans +full many in seagirt +Ithaca +, both young and old. One of these haply may have this place, since goodly Odysseus is dead. But I will be lord of our own house and of the slaves that goodly Odysseus won for me.” + Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered him: +“Telemachus, this matter verily lies on the knees of the gods, who of the Achaeans shall be king in sea-girt +Ithaca +; but as for thy possessions, thou mayest keep them thyself, and be lord in thine own house. Never may that man come who by violence and against thy will shall wrest thy possessions from thee, while men yet live in +Ithaca +. +But I am fain, good sir, to ask thee of the stranger, whence this man comes. Of what land does he declare himself to be? Where are his kinsmen and his native fields? Does he bring some tidings of thy father's coming, or came he hither in furtherance of some matter of his own? +How he started up, and was straightway gone! Nor did he wait to be known; and yet he seemed no base man to look upon.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Eurymachus, surely my father's home-coming is lost and gone. No longer do I put trust in tidings, whencesoever they may come, +nor reck I of any prophecy which my mother haply may learn of a seer, when she has called him to the hall. But this stranger is a friend of my father's house from Taphos. He declares that he is Mentes, son of wise Anchialus, and he is lord over the oar-loving Taphians.” + +So spoke Telemachus, but in his heart he knew the immortal goddess. + + Now the wooers turned to the dance and to gladsome song, and made them merry, and waited till evening should come; and as they made merry dark evening came upon them. Then they went, each man to his house, to take their rest. +But Telemachus, where his chamber was built in the beautiful court, high, in a place of wide outlook, thither went to his bed, pondering many things in mind; and with him, bearing blazing torches, went true-hearted Eurycleia, daughter of Ops, son of Peisenor. +Her long ago +Laertes + had bought with his wealth, when she was in her first youth, and gave for her the price of twenty oxen; and he honored her even as he honored his faithful wife in his halls, but he never lay with her in love, for he shunned the wrath of his wife. She it was who bore for Telemachus the blazing torches; +for she of all the handmaids loved him most, and had nursed him when he was a child. He opened the doors of the well-built chamber, sat down on the bed, and took off his soft tunic and laid it in the wise old woman's hands. And she folded and smoothed the tunic +and hung it on a peg beside the corded +1 + bedstead, and then went forth from the chamber, drawing the door to by its silver handle, and driving the bolt home with the thong. So there, the night through, wrapped in a fleece of wool, he pondered in his mind upon the journey which Athena had shewn him. +Soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, up from his bed arose the dear son of Odysseus and put on his clothing. About his shoulder he slung his sharp sword, and beneath his shining feet bound his fair sandals, +and went forth from his chamber like a god to look upon. Straightway he bade the clear-voiced heralds to summon to the assembly the long-haired Achaeans. And the heralds made the summons, and the Achaeans assembled full quickly. Now when they were assembled and met together, +Telemachus went his way to the place of assembly, holding in his hand a spear of bronze—not alone, for along with him two swift hounds followed; and wondrous was the grace that Athena shed upon him, and all the people marvelled at him as he came. But he sat down in his father's seat, and the elders gave place. + +Then among them the lord Aegyptius was the first to speak, a man bowed with age and wise with wisdom untold. Now he spoke, because his dear son had gone in the hollow ships to Ilius, famed for its horses, in the company of godlike Odysseus, even the warrior Antiphus. But him the savage +Cyclops + had slain +in his hollow cave, and made of him his latest meal. Three others there were; one, Eurynomus, consorted with the wooers, and two ever kept their father's farm. Yet, even so, he could not forget that other, mourning and sorrowing; and weeping for him he addressed the assembly, and spoke among them: + +“Hearken now to me, men of +Ithaca +, to the word that I shall say. Never have we held assembly or session since the day when goodly Odysseus departed in the hollow ships. And now who has called us together? On whom has such need come either of the young men or of those who are older? +Has he heard some tidings of the army's return, +1 + which he might tell us plainly, seeing that he has first learned of it himself? Or is there some other public matter on which he is to speak and address us? A good man he seems in my eyes, a blessed man. May Zeus fulfil unto him himself some good, even whatsoever he desires in his heart.” + +So he spoke, and the dear son of Odysseus rejoiced at the word of omen; nor did he thereafter remain seated, but was fain to speak. So he took his stand in the midst of the assembly, and the staff was placed in his hands by the herald Peisenor, wise in counsel. +Then he spoke, addressing first the old man: + +“Old man, not far off, as thou shalt soon learn thyself, is that man who has called the host together—even I; for on me above all others has sorrow come. I have neither heard any tidings of the army's return, which I might tell you plainly, seeing that I had first learned of it myself, nor is there any other public matter on which I am to speak and address you. +Nay, it is mine own need, for that evil has fallen upon my house in two-fold wise. First, I have lost my noble sire who was once king among you here, and was gentle as a father; and now there is come an evil yet greater far, which will presently altogether destroy my house and ruin all my livelihood. +My mother have wooers beset against her will, the sons of those men who are here the noblest. They shrink from going to the house of her father, Icarius, that he may himself exact the bride-gifts for his daughter, and give her to whom he will, even to him who meets his favour, +but thronging our house day after day they slay our oxen and sheep and fat goats, and keep revel, and drink the sparkling wine recklessly; and havoc is made of all this wealth. For there is no man here, such as Odysseus was, to ward off ruin from the house. +As for me, I am no-wise such as he to ward it off. Nay verily, even if I try I shall be found a weakling and one knowing naught of valor. Yet truly I would defend myself, if I had but the power; for now deeds past all enduring have been wrought, and past all that is seemly has my house been destroyed. Take shame upon yourselves, +and have regard to your neighbors who dwell roundabout, and fear the wrath of the gods, lest haply they turn against you in anger at your evil deeds. +1 + I pray you by Olympian Zeus, and by Themis who looses and gathers the assemblies of men, +forbear, my friends, +2 + and leave me alone to pine in bitter grief—unless indeed my father, goodly Odysseus, despitefully wrought the well-greaved Achaeans woe, in requital whereof ye work me woe despitefully by urging these men on. For me it were better +that ye should yourselves eat up my treasures and my flocks. If ye were to devour them, recompense would haply be made some day; for just so long should we go up and down the city, pressing our suit and asking back our goods, until all was given back. But now past cure are the woes ye put upon my heart.” + +Thus he spoke in wrath, and dashed the staff down upon the ground, bursting into tears; and pity fell upon all the people. Then all the others kept silent, and no man had the heart to answer Telemachus with angry words. +Antinous alone answered him, and said: + +“Telemachus, thou braggart, unrestrained in daring, what a thing hast thou said, putting us to shame, and wouldest fain fasten reproach upon us! Nay, I tell thee, it is not the Achaean wooers who are anywise at fault, but thine own mother, for she is crafty above all women. For it is now the third year and the fourth will soon pass, +1 +since she has been deceiving the hearts of the Achaeans in their breasts. To all she offers hopes, and has promises for each man, sending them messages, but her mind is set on other things. And she devised in her heart this guileful thing also: she set up in her halls a great web, and fell to weaving— +fine of thread was the web and very wide; and straightway she spoke among us: + “‘Young men, my wooers, since goodly Odysseus is dead, be patient, though eager for my marriage, until I finish this robe—I would not that my spinning should come to naught—a shroud for the lord Laertes, against the time when +the fell fate of grievous +2 + death shall strike him down; lest any of the Achaean women in the land should be wroth with me, if he, who had won great possessions, were to lie without a shroud.’ + “So she spoke, and our proud hearts consented. Then day by day she would weave at the great web, +but by night would unravel it, when she had let place torches by her. Thus for three years she by her craft kept the Achaeans from knowing, and beguiled them; but when the fourth year came as the seasons rolled on, even then one of her women who knew all told us, and we caught her unravelling the splendid web. +So she finished it against her will, perforce. Therefore to thee the wooers make answer thus, that thou mayest thyself know it in thine heart, and that all the Achaeans may know. Send away thy mother, and command her to wed whomsoever her father bids, and whoso is pleasing to her. +But if she shall continue long time to vex the sons of the Achaeans, mindful in her heart of this, that Athena has endowed her above other women with knowledge of fair handiwork and an understanding heart, and wiles, such as we have never yet heard that any even of the women of old knew, of those who long ago were fair-tressed Achaean women— +Tyro and Alcmene and Mycene of the fair crown—of whom not one was like Penelope in shrewd device; yet this at least she devised not aright. For so long shall men devour thy livelihood and thy possessions, even as long as she shall keep the counsel which +the gods now put in her heart. Great fame she brings on herself, but on thee regret for thy much substance. For us, we will go neither to our lands nor else whither, until she marries that one of the Achaeans whom she will.” + + Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: +“Antinous, in no wise may I thrust forth from the house against her will her that bore me and reared me; and, as for my father, he is in some other land, whether he be alive or dead. An evil thing it were for me to pay back a great price to Icarius, as I must, if of my own will I send my mother away. For from her father's hand shall I suffer evil, and heaven +will send other ills besides, for my mother as she leaves the house will invoke the dread Avengers; and I shall have blame, too, from men. Therefore will I never speak this word. And for you, if your own heart is wroth here at, get you forth from my halls and prepare you other feasts, +eating your own substance and changing from house to house. But if this seems in your eyes to be a better and more profitable thing, that one man's livelihood should be ruined without atonement, waste ye it. But I will call upon the gods that are forever, if haply Zeus may grant that deeds of requital may be wrought. +Without atonement then should ye perish within my halls.” + So spoke Telemachus, and in answer Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, +1 + sent forth two eagles, flying from on high, from a mountain peak. For a time they flew swift as the blasts of the wind side by side with wings outspread; +but when they reached the middle of the many-voiced assembly, then they wheeled about, flapping their wings rapidly, and down on the heads of all they looked, and death was in their glare. Then they tore with their talons one another's cheeks and necks on either side, and darted away to the right across the houses and the city of the men. +But they were seized with wonder at the birds when their eyes beheld them, and pondered in their hearts on what was to come to pass. Then among them spoke the old lord Halitherses, son of Mastor, for he surpassed all men of his day in knowledge of birds and in uttering words of fate. +He with good intent addressed their assembly, and spoke among them: + “Hearken now to me, men of +Ithaca +, to the word that I shall say; and to the wooers especially do I declare and announce these things, since on them a great woe is rolling. For Odysseus shall not long be away from his friends, but even now, methinks, +he is near, and is sowing death and fate for these men, one and all. Aye, and to many others of us also who dwell in clear-seen +Ithaca + will he be a bane. But long ere that let us take thought how we may make an end of this—or rather let them of themselves make an end, for this is straightway the better course for them. +Not as one untried do I prophesy, but with sure knowledge. For unto Odysseus I declare that all things are fulfilled even as I told him, when the Argives embarked for +Ilios + and with them went Odysseus of many wiles. I declared that after suffering many ills and losing all his comrades he would come home in the twentieth year +unknown to all; and lo, all this is now being brought to pass.” + + Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered him, and said: “Old man, up now, get thee home and prophesy to thy children, lest haply in days to come they suffer ill. +In this matter I am better far than thou to prophesy. Many birds there are that fare to and fro under the rays of the sun, and not all are fateful. As for Odysseus, he has perished far away, as I would that thou hadst likewise perished with him. Then wouldst thou not prate so much in thy reading of signs, +or be urging Telemachus on in his wrath, hoping for some gift for thy house, if haply he shall give it. But I will speak out to thee, and this word shall verily be brought to pass. If thou, wise in the wisdom of old, shalt beguile with thy talk a younger man, and set him on to be wroth, +for him in the first place it shall be the more grievous, and he will in no case be able to do aught because of these men here, and on thee, old man, will we lay a fine which it will grieve thy soul to pay, and bitter shall be thy sorrow. And to Telemachus I myself, here among all, will offer this counsel. +His mother let him bid to go back to the house of her father, and they will prepare a wedding feast and make ready the gifts full many,—aye, all that should follow after a well-loved daughter. For ere that, methinks, the sons of the Achaeans will not cease from their grievous wooing, since in any case we fear no man,— +no, not Telemachus for all his many words,—nor do we reck of any soothsaying which thou, old man, mayest declare; it will fail of fulfillment, and thou shalt be hated the more. Aye, and his possessions shall be devoured in evil wise, nor shall requital ever be made, so long as she shall put off the Achaeans +in the matter of her marriage. And we on our part waiting here day after day are rivals by reason of her excellence, and go not after other women, whom each one might fitly wed.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Eurymachus and all ye other lordly wooers, +in this matter I entreat you no longer nor speak thereof, for now the gods know it, and all the Achaeans. But come, give me a swift ship and twenty comrades who will accomplish my journey for me to and fro. For I shall go to +Sparta + and to sandy +Pylos +to seek tidings of the return of my father that has long been gone, if haply any mortal man may tell me, or I may hear a voice from Zeus, which oftenest brings tidings to men. +If so be I shall hear that my father is alive and coming home, then verily, though I am sore afflicted, I could endure for yet a year. But if I shall hear that he is dead and gone, then I will return to my dear native land and heap up a mound for him, and over it pay funeral rites, full many, as is due, and give my mother to a husband.” + + So saying he sat down, and among them rose +Mentor, who was a comrade of noble Odysseus. To him, on departing with his ships, Odysseus had given all his house in charge, that it should obey the old man and that he should keep all things safe. He with good intent addressed their assembly, and spoke among them: + “Hearken now to me, men of +Ithaca +, to the word that I shall say. +Never henceforth let sceptred king with a ready heart be kind and gentle, nor let him heed righteousness in his heart, but let him ever be harsh and work unrighteousness, seeing that no one remembers divine Odysseus of the people whose lord he was; yet gentle was he as a father. +But of a truth I begrudge not the proud wooers that they work deeds of violence in the evil contrivings of their minds, for it is at the hazard of their own lives that they violently devour the house of Odysseus, who, they say, will no more return. Nay, rather it is with the rest of the folk that I am wroth, that ye all +sit thus in silence, and utter no word of rebuke to make the wooers cease, though ye are many and they but few.” + Then Leocritus, son of Euenor, answered him:“Mentor, thou mischief-maker, +1 + thou wanderer in thy wits, what hast thou said, bidding men make us cease? Nay, it were a hard thing +to fight about a feast with men that moreover outnumber you. For if Ithacan Odysseus himself were to come and be eager at heart to drive out from his hall the lordly wooers who are feasting in his house, then should his wife have no joy +at his coming, though sorely she longed for him, but right here would he meet a shameful death, if he fought with men that outnumbered him. +2 + Thou hast not spoken aright. But come now, ye people, scatter, each one of you to his own lands. As for this fellow, Mentor and Halitherses will speed his journey, for they are friends of his father's house from of old. +But methinks he will long abide here and get his tidings in +Ithaca +, and never accomplish this journey.” + So he spoke, and hastily broke up the assembly. They then scattered, each one to his own house; and the wooers went to the house of divine Odysseus. + +But Telemachus went apart to the shore of the sea, and having washed his hands in the grey seawater, prayed to Athena: “Hear me, thou who didst come yesterday as a god to our house, and didst bid me go in a ship over the misty deep to seek tidings of the return of my father, that has long been gone. +Lo, all this the Achaeans hinder, but the wooers most of all in their evil insolence.” + + So he spoke in prayer, and Athena drew near to him in the likeness of Mentor, both in form and invoice; and she spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + +“Telemachus, neither hereafter shalt thou be a base man or a witless, if aught of thy father's goodly spirit has been instilled into thee, such a man was he to fulfil both deed and word. So then shall this journey of thine be neither vain nor unfulfilled. But if thou art not the son of him and of Penelope, +then I have no hope that thou wilt accomplish thy desire. Few sons indeed are like their fathers; most are worse, few better than their fathers. But since neither hereafter shalt thou be a base man or a witless, nor has the wisdom of Odysseus wholly failed thee, +there is therefore hope that thou wilt accomplish this work. Now then let be the will and counsel of the wooers—fools, for they are in no wise either prudent or just, nor do they know aught of death or black fate, which verily is near at hand for them, that they shall all perish in a day. +But for thyself, the journey on which thy heart is set shall not be long delayed, so true a friend of thy father's house am I, who will equip for thee a swift ship, and myself go with thee. But go thou now to the house and join the company of the wooers; make ready stores, and bestow all in vessels— +wine in jars, and barley meal, the marrow of men, in stout skins;—but I, going through the town, will quickly gather comrades that go willingly. And ships there are full many in sea-girt +Ithaca +, both new and old; of these will I choose out for thee the one that is best, +and quickly will we make her ready and launch her on the broad deep.” + So spoke Athena, daughter of Zeus, nor did Telemachus tarry long after he had heard the voice of the goddess, but went his way to the house, his heart heavy within him. He found there the proud wooers in the halls, +flaying goats and singeing swine in the court. And Antinous with a laugh came straight to Telemachus, and clasped his hand, and spoke, and addressed +1 + him: + “Telemachus, thou braggart, unrestrained in daring, let no more any evil deed or word be in thy heart. +Nay, I bid thee, eat and drink even as before. All these things the Achaeans will surely provide for thee—the ship and chosen oarsmen—that with speed thou mayest go to sacred +Pylos + to seek for tidings of thy noble father.” + + Then wise Telemachus answered him: +“Antinous, in no wise is it possible for me in your overweening company to sit at meat quietly and to make merry with an easy mind. Is it not enough, ye wooers, that in time past ye wasted many goodly possessions of mine, while I was still a child? But now that I am grown, +and gain knowledge by hearing the words of others, yea and my spirit waxes within me, I will try how I may hurl forth upon your evil fates, either going to +Pylos + or here in this land. For go I will, nor shall the journey be in vain whereof I speak, though I voyage in another's ship, since I may not be master of ship or oarsmen. +So, I ween, it seemed to you to be more to your profit.” + He spoke, and snatched his hand from the hand of Antinous without more ado, and the wooers were busy with the feast throughout the hall. They mocked and jeered at him in their talk; and thus would one of the proud youths speak: + +“Aye, verily Telemachus is planning our murder. He will bring men to aid him from sandy +Pylos + or even from +Sparta +, so terribly is he set upon it. Or he means to go to Ephyre, that rich land, to bring from thence deadly drugs, +that he may cast them in the wine-bowl, and destroy us all.” + And again another of the proud youths would say: “Who knows but he himself as he goes on the hollow ship may perish wandering far from his friends, even as Odysseus did? So would he cause us yet more labour; +for we should have to divide all his possessions, and his house we should give to his mother to possess, and to him who should wed her.” + So they spoke, but Telemachus went down to the high-roofed treasure-chamber of his father, a wide room where gold and bronze lay piled, and raiment in chests, and stores of fragrant oil. +There, too, stood great jars of wine, old and sweet, holding within them an unmixed divine drink, and ranged in order along the wall, if ever Odysseus should return home even after many grievous toils. Shut were +the double doors, close-fitted; and there both night and day a stewardess abode, who guarded all in wisdom of mind, Eurycleia, daughter of Ops, son of Peisenor. To her now Telemachus, when he had called her to the treasure-chamber, spoke, and said: + “Nurse, draw me off wine in jars, +sweet wine that is the choicest next to that which thou guardest ever thinking upon that ill-fated one, if haply Zeus-born Odysseus may come I know not whence, having escaped from death and the fates. Fill twelve jars and fit them all with covers, and pour me barley meal into well-sewn skins, +and let there be twenty measures of ground barley meal. But keep knowledge hereof to thyself, and have all these things brought together; for at evening I will fetch them, when my mother goes to her upper chamber and bethinks her of her rest. For I am going to +Sparta + and to sandy +Pylos +to seek tidings of the return of my dear father, if haply I may hear any.” + + So he spoke, and the dear nurse, Eurycleia, uttered a shrill cry, and weeping spoke to him winged words:“Ah, dear child, how has this thought come into thy mind? Whither art thou minded to go over the wide earth, +thou who art an only son and well-beloved? But he hath perished far from his country, the Zeus-born Odysseus, in a strange land; and these men, so soon as thou art gone, will devise evil for thee hereafter, that thou mayest perish by guile, and themselves divide all these possessions. Nay, abide here in charge of what is thine; thou hast no need +to suffer ills and go a wanderer over the unresting sea.” + Then wise Telemachus answered her: “Take heart, nurse, for not without a god's warrant is this my plan. But swear to tell naught of this to my dear mother until the eleventh or twelfth day shall come, +or until she shall herself miss me and hear that I am gone, that she may not mar her fair flesh with weeping.” + So he spoke, and the old woman swore a great oath by the gods to say naught. But when she had sworn and made an end of the oath, straightway she drew for him wine in jars, +and poured barley meal into well-sewn skins; and Telemachus went to the hall and joined the company of the wooers. + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, took other counsel. In the likeness of Telemachus she went everywhere throughout the city, and to each of the men she drew near and spoke her word, +bidding them gather at even beside the swift ship. Furthermore, of Noemon, the glorious son of Phronius, she asked a swift ship, and he promised it to her with a ready heart. + + Now the sun set and all the ways grew dark. Then she drew the swift ship to the sea and +put in it all the gear that well-benched ships carry. And she moored it at the mouth of the harbor, and round about it the goodly company was gathered together, and the goddess heartened each man. + Then again the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, took other counsel. She went her way to the house of divine Odysseus, +and there began to shed sweet sleep upon the wooers and made them to wander in their drinking, and from their hands she cast the cups. But they rose to go to their rest throughout the city, and remained no long time seated, for sleep was falling upon their eyelids. But to Telemachus spoke flashing-eyed Athena, +calling him forth before the stately hall, having likened herself to Mentor both in form and in voice: + “Telemachus, already thy well-greaved comrades sit at the oar and await thy setting out. Come, let us go, that we may not long delay their journey.” + +So saying, Pallas Athena led the way quickly, and he followed in the footsteps of the goddess. Now when they had come down to the ship and to the sea, they found on the shore their long-haired comrades, and the strong and mighty +1 + Telemachus spoke among them: + +“Come, friends, let us fetch the stores, for all are now gathered together in the hall. My mother knows naught hereof, nor the handmaids either: one only heard my word.” + Thus saying, he led the way, and they went along with him. So they brought and +stowed everything in the well-benched ship, as the dear son of Odysseus bade. Then on board the ship stepped Telemachus, and Athena went before him and sat down in the stern of the ship, and near her sat Telemachus, while the men loosed the stern cables and themselves stepped on board, and sat down upon the benches. +And flashing-eyed Athena sent them a favorable wind, a strong-blowing West wind that sang over the wine-dark sea. And Telemachus called to his men, and bade them lay hold of the tackling, and they hearkened to his call. The mast of fir +they raised and set in the hollow socket, and made it fast with fore-stays, and hauled up the white sail with twisted thongs of ox-hide. So the wind filled the belly of the sail, and the dark wave sang loudly about the stem of the ship as she went, and she sped over the wave accomplishing her way. +Then, when they had made the tackling fast in the swift black ship, they set forth bowls brim full of wine, and poured libations to the immortal gods that are forever, and chiefest of all to the flashing-eyed daughter of Zeus. So all night long and through the dawn the ship cleft her way. +And now the sun, leaving the beauteous mere, sprang up into the brazen heaven to give light to the immortals and to mortal men on the earth, the giver of grain; and they came to +Pylos +, the well-built citadel of Neleus. +Here the townsfolk on the shore of the sea were offering sacrifice of black bulls to the dark-haired Earth-shaker. Nine companies there were, and five hundred men sat in each, and in each they held nine bulls ready for sacrifice. Now when they had tasted the inner parts and were burning the thigh-pieces to the god, +the others put straight in to the shore, and hauled up and furled the sail of the shapely ship, and moored her, and themselves stepped forth. Forth too from the ship stepped Telemachus, and Athena led the way. And the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, spake first to him, and said: + “Telemachus, no longer hast thou need to feel shame, no, not a whit. +For to this end hast thou sailed over the sea, that thou mightest seek tidings of thy father,—where the earth covered him, and what fate he met. But come now, go straightway to Nestor, tamer of horses; let us learn what counsel he keepeth hid in his breast. And do thou beseech him thyself that he may tell thee the very truth. +A lie will he not utter, for he is wise indeed.” + Then wise Telemachus answered her: “Mentor, how shall I go, and how shall I greet him? I am as yet all unversed in subtle speech, and moreover a young man has shame to question an elder.” + +Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Telemachus, somewhat thou wilt of thyself devise in thy breast, and somewhat heaven too will prompt thee. For, methinks, not without the favour of the gods hast thou been born and reared.” + So spake Pallas Athena, and led the way +quickly; but he followed in the footsteps of the goddess; and they came to the gathering and the companies of the men of +Pylos +. There Nestor sat with his sons, and round about his people, making ready the feast, were roasting some of the meat and putting other pieces on spits. But when they saw the strangers they all came thronging about them, +and clasped their hands in welcome, and bade them sit down. First Nestor's son Peisistratus came near and took both by the hand, and made them to sit down at the feast on soft fleeces upon the sand of the sea, beside his brother Thrasymedes and his father. +Thereupon he gave them portions of the inner meat and poured wine in a golden cup, and, pledging her, he spoke to Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus who bears the aegis: + “Pray now, stranger, to the lord Poseidon, for his is the feast whereon you have chanced in coming hither. +And when thou hast poured libations and hast prayed, as is fitting, then give thy friend also the cup of honey-sweet wine that he may pour, since he too, I ween, prays to the immortals; for all men have need of the gods. Howbeit he is the younger, of like age with myself, +wherefore to thee first will I give the golden cup.” + + So he spake, and placed in her hand the cup of sweet wine. But Pallas Athena rejoiced at the man's wisdom and judgment, in that to her first he gave the golden cup; and straightway she prayed earnestly to the lord Poseidon: + +“Hear me, Poseidon, thou Earth-enfolder, and grudge not in answer to our prayer to bring these deeds to fulfillment. To Nestor, first of all, and to his sons vouchsafe renown, and then do thou grant to the rest gracious requital for this glorious hecatomb, even to all the men of +Pylos +; +and grant furthermore that Telemachus and I may return when we have accomplished all that for which we came hither with our swift black ship.” + Thus she prayed, and was herself fulfilling all. Then she gave Telemachus the fair two-handled +1 + cup, and in like manner the dear son of Odysseus prayed. +Then when they had roasted the outer flesh and drawn it off the spits, they divided the portions and feasted a glorious feast. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, the horseman, Nestor of +Gerenia +, +2 + spoke first among them: + “Now verily is it seemlier to ask and enquire +of the strangers who they are, since now they have had their joy of food. Strangers, who are ye? Whence do ye sail over the watery ways? Is it on some business, or do ye wander at random over the sea, even as pirates, who wander hazarding their lives and bringing evil to men of other lands?” + +Then wise Telemachus took courage, and made answer, for Athena herself put courage in his heart, that he might ask about his father that was gone, and that good report might be his among men: + “Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, +thou askest whence we are, and I will surely tell thee. We have come from +Ithaca + that is below Neion; but this business whereof I speak is mine own, and concerns not the people. I come after the wide-spread rumor of my father, if haply I may hear of it, even of goodly Odysseus of the steadfast heart, who once, men say, +fought by thy side and sacked the city of the Trojans. For of all men else, as many as warred with the Trojans, we learn where each man died a woeful death, but of him the son of Cronos has made even the death to be past learning; for no man can tell surely where he hath died,— +whether he was overcome by foes on the mainland, or on the deep among the waves of Amphitrite. Therefore am I now come to thy knees, if perchance thou wilt be willing to tell me of his woeful death, whether thou sawest it haply with thine own eyes, or didst hear from some other the story +of his wanderings; +1 + for beyond all men did his mother bear him to sorrow. And do thou nowise out of ruth or pity for me speak soothing words, but tell me truly how thou didst come to behold him. I beseech thee, if ever my father, noble Odysseus, promised aught to thee of word or deed and fulfilled it +in the land of the Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered woes, be mindful of it now, I pray thee, and tell me the very truth.” + + Then the horseman, Nestor of +Gerenia +, answered him: “My friend, since thou hast recalled to my mind the sorrow which we endured in that land, we sons of the Achaeans, unrestrained in daring,— +all that we endured on shipboard, as we roamed after booty over the misty deep whithersoever Achilles led; and all our fightings around the great city of king Priam;—lo, there all our best were slain. There lies warlike Aias, there Achilles, +there Patroclus, the peer of the gods in counsel; and there my own dear son, strong alike and peerless, Antilochus, pre-eminent in speed of foot and as a warrior. Aye, and many other ills we suffered besides these; who of mortal men could tell them all? +Nay, if for five years' space or six years' space thou wert to abide here, and ask of all the woes which the goodly Achaeans endured there, thou wouldest grow weary ere the end and get thee back to thy native land. For nine years' space were we busied plotting their ruin with all manner of wiles; and hardly did the son of Cronos bring it to pass. +There no man ventured to vie with him in counsel, since goodly Odysseus far excelled in all manner of wiles,—thy father, if indeed thou art his son. Amazement holds me as I look on thee, for verily thy speech is like his; nor would one think +that a younger man would speak so like him. Now all the time that we were there goodly Odysseus and I never spoke at variance either in the assembly or in the council, but being of one mind advised the Argives with wisdom and shrewd counsel how all might be for the best. +But when we had sacked the lofty city of Priam, and had gone away in our ships, and a god had scattered the Achaeans, then, even then, Zeus planned in his heart a woeful return for the Argives, for in no wise prudent or just were all. Wherefore many of them met an evil fate +through the fell wrath of the flashing-eyed goddess, the daughter of the mighty sire, for she caused strife between the two sons of Atreus. Now these two called to an assembly all the Achaeans, recklessly and in no due order, at set of sun—and they came heavy with wine, the sons of the Achaeans,— +and they spoke their word, and told wherefore they had gathered the host together. + + Then in truth Menelaus bade all the Achaeans think of their return over the broad back of the sea, but in no wise did he please Agamemnon, for he was fain to hold back the host and to offer holy hecatombs, +that he might appease the dread wrath of Athena,—fool! nor knew he this, that with her was to be no hearkening; for the mind of the gods that are forever is not quickly turned. So these two stood bandying harsh words; but the well-greaved Achaeans sprang up +with a wondrous din, and two-fold plans found favour with them. That night we rested, each side pondering hard thoughts against the other, for Zeus was bringing upon us an evil doom, but in the morning some of us launched our ships upon the bright sea, and put on board our goods and the low-girdled women. +Half, indeed, of the host held back and remained there with Agamemnon, son of Atreus, shepherd of the host, but half of us embarked and rowed away; and swiftly the ships sailed, for a god made smooth the cavernous sea. But when we came to +Tenedos +, we offered sacrifice to the gods, +being eager to reach our homes, howbeit Zeus did not yet purpose our return, stubborn god, who roused evil strife again a second time. Then some turned back their curved ships and departed, even the lord Odysseus, the wise and crafty-minded, with his company, once more showing favour to Agamemnon, son of Atreus; +but I with the full company of ships that followed me fled on, for I knew that the god was devising evil. And the warlike son of Tydeus fled and urged on his men; and late upon our track came fair-haired Menelaus, and overtook us in +Lesbos +, as we were debating the long voyage, +whether we should sail to sea-ward of rugged +Chios +, toward the isle Psyria, keeping +Chios + itself +1 + on our left, or to land-ward of +Chios + past windy Mimas. So we asked the god to shew us a sign, and he shewed it us, and bade us cleave through the midst of the sea to +Euboea +, +that we might the soonest escape from misery. And a shrill wind sprang up to blow, and the ships ran swiftly over the teeming ways, and at night put in to Geraestus. There on the altar of Poseidon we laid many thighs of bulls, thankful to have traversed the great sea. +It was the fourth day when in +Argos + the company of Diomedes, son of Tydeus, tamer of horses, stayed their shapely ships; but I held on toward +Pylos +, and the wind was not once quenched from the time when the god first sent it forth to blow. + + “Thus I came, dear child, without tidings, nor know I aught +of those others, who of the Achaeans were saved, and who were lost. But what tidings I have heard as I abide in our halls thou shalt hear, as is right, nor will I hide it from thee. Safely, they say, came the Myrmidons that rage with the spear, whom the famous son of great-hearted Achilles led; +and safely Philoctetes, the glorious son of Poias. All his company, too, did Idomeneus bring to +Crete +, all who escaped the war, and the sea robbed him of none. But of the son of Atreus you have yourselves heard, far off though you are, how he came, and how Aegisthus devised for him a woeful doom. +Yet verily he paid the reckoning therefor in terrible wise, so good a thing is it that a son be left behind a man at his death, since that son took vengeance on his father's slayer, the guileful Aegisthus, for that he slew his glorious father. Thou, too, friend, for I see thou art a comely man and tall, +be thou valiant, that many an one among men yet to be born may praise thee.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, yea verily that son took vengeance, and the Achaeans shall spread his fame abroad, that men who are yet to be may hear thereof. +O that the gods would clothe me with such strength, that I might take vengeance on the wooers for their grievous sin, who in wantonness devise mischief against me. But lo, the gods have spun for me no such happiness, for me or for my father; and now I must in any case endure.” + +Then the horseman, Nestor of +Gerenia +, answered him: “Friend, since thou calledst this to my mind and didst speak of it, they say that many wooers for the hand of thy mother devise evils in thy halls in thy despite. Tell me, art thou willingly thus oppressed, or do the people +throughout the land hate thee, following the voice of a god? Who knows but Odysseus may some day come and take vengeance on them for their violent deeds,—he alone, it may be, or even all the host of the Achaeans? Ah, would that flashing-eyed Athena might choose to love thee even as then she cared exceedingly for glorious Odysseus +in the land of the Trojans, where we Achaeans suffered woes. For never yet have I seen the gods so manifestly shewing love, as Pallas Athena did to him, standing manifest by his side. If she would be pleased to love thee in such wise and would care for thee at heart, then would many a one of them utterly forget marriage.” + +Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Old man, in no wise do I deem that this word will be brought to pass. Too great is what thou sayest; amazement holds me. No hope have I that this will come to pass, no, not though the gods should so will it.” + + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, spoke to him, and said: +“Telemachus, what a word has escaped the barrier of thy teeth! Easily might a god who willed it bring a man safe home, even from afar. But for myself, I had rather endure many grievous toils ere I reached home and saw the day of my returning, than after my return be slain at my hearth, as Agamemnon +was slain by the guile of Aegisthus and of his own wife. But of a truth death that is common to all +1 + the gods themselves cannot ward from a man they love, when the fell fate of grievous death shall strike him down.” + Then wise Telemachus answered her: +“Mentor, no longer let us tell of these things despite our grief. For him no return can ever more be brought to pass; nay, ere this the immortals have devised for him death and black fate. But now I would make enquiry and ask Nestor regarding another matter, since beyond all others he knows judgments and wisdom; +for thrice, men say, has he been king for a generation of men, and like unto an immortal he seems to me to look upon. Nestor, son of Neleus, do thou tell me truly: how was the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon, slain? Where was Menelaus? What death did +guileful Aegisthus plan for the king, since he slew a man mightier far than himself? Was Menelaus not in Achaean Argos, but wandering elsewhere among men, so that Aegisthus took heart and did the murderous deed?” + Then the horseman, Nestor of +Gerenia +, answered him: “Then verily, my child, will I tell thee all the truth. +Lo, of thine own self thou dost guess how this matter would have fallen out, if the son of Atreus, fair-haired Menelaus, on his return from +Troy + had found Aegisthus in his halls alive. Then for him not even in death would they have piled the up-piled earth, but the dogs and birds would have torn him +as he lay on the plain far from the city, nor would any of the Achaean women have bewailed him; for monstrous was the deed he devised. We on our part abode there in +Troy + fulfilling our many toils; but he, at ease in a nook of horse-pasturing +Argos +, ever sought to beguile with words the wife of Agamemnon. +Now at the first she put from her the unseemly deed, the beautiful Clytemnestra, for she had an understanding heart; and with her was furthermore a minstrel whom the son of Atreus straitly charged, when he set forth for the land of +Troy +, to guard his wife. But when at length the doom of the gods bound her that she should be overcome, +then verily Aegisthus took the minstrel to a desert isle and left him to be the prey and spoil of birds; and her, willing as he was willing, he led to his own house. And many thigh-pieces he burned upon the holy altars of the gods, and many offerings he hung up, woven stuffs and gold, +since he had accomplished a mighty deed beyond all his heart had hoped. + + “Now we were sailing together on our way from +Troy +, the son of Atreus and I, in all friendship; but when we came to holy Sunium, the cape of +Athens +, there Phoebus Apollo +assailed with his gentle +1 + shafts and slew the helmsman of Menelaus, as he held in his hands the steering-oar of the speeding ship, even Phrontis, son of Onetor, who excelled the tribes of men in piloting a ship when the storm winds blow strong. So Menelaus tarried there, though eager for his journey, +that he might bury his comrade and over him pay funeral rites. But when he in his turn, as he passed over the wine-dark sea in the hollow ships, reached in swift course the steep height of Malea, then verily Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, planned for him a hateful path and poured upon him the blasts of shrill winds, +and the waves were swollen to huge size, like unto mountains. Then, parting his ships in twain, he brought some to +Crete +, where the Cydonians dwelt about the streams of Iardanus. Now there is a smooth cliff, sheer towards the sea, on the border of +Gortyn + in the misty deep, +where the Southwest Wind drives the great wave against the headland on the left toward +Phaestus +, and a little rock holds back a great wave. Thither came some of his ships, and the men with much ado escaped destruction, howbeit the ships the waves dashed to pieces against the reef. But the five other dark-prowed ships +the wind, as it bore them, and the wave brought to +Egypt +. So he was wandering there with his ships among men of strange speech, gathering much livelihood and gold; but meanwhile Aegisthus devised this woeful work at home. +Seven years he reigned over +Mycenae +, rich in gold, after slaying the son of Atreus, and the people were subdued under him; but in the eighth came as his bane the goodly Orestes back from +Athens +, and slew his father's murderer, +the guileful Aegisthus, for that he had slain his glorious father. Now when he had slain him, he made a funeral feast for the Argives over his hateful mother and the craven Aegisthus; and on the self-same day there came to him Menelaus, good at the war-cry, bringing much treasure, even all the burden that his ships could bear. + “So do not thou, my friend, wander long far from home, leaving thy wealth behind thee and men in thy house +so insolent, lest they divide and devour all thy wealth, and thou shalt have gone on a fruitless journey. But to Menelaus I bid and command thee to go, for he has but lately come from a strange land, from a folk whence no one would hope in his heart +to return, whom the storms had once driven astray into a sea so great, whence the very birds do not fare in the space of a year, so great is it and terrible. But now go thy way with thy ship and thy comrades, or, if thou wilt go by land, here are chariot and horses at hand for thee, +and here at thy service are my sons, who will be thy guides to goodly +Lacedaemon +, where lives fair-haired Menelaus. And do thou beseech him thyself that he may tell thee the very truth. A lie will be not utter, for he is wise indeed.” + + So he spoke, and the sun set, and darkness came on. +Then among them spoke the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena: “Old man, of a truth thou hast told this tale aright. But come, cut out the tongues of the victims and mix the wine, that when we have poured libations to Poseidon and the other immortals, we may bethink us of sleep; for it is the time thereto. +Even now has the light gone down beneath the darkness, and it is not fitting to sit long at the feast of the gods, but to go our way.” + So spoke the daughter of Zeus, and they hearkenened to her voice. Heralds poured water over their hands, and youths filled the bowls brim full of drink, +and served out to all, pouring first drops for libation into the cups. Then they cast the tongues upon the fire, and, rising up, poured libations upon them. But when they had poured libations and had drunk to their heart's content, then verily Athena and godlike Telemachus were both fain to return to the hollow ship; +but Nestor on his part sought to stay them, and he spoke to them, saying: + “This may Zeus forbid, and the other immortal gods, that ye should go from my house to your swift ship as from one utterly without raiment and poor, who has not cloaks and blankets in plenty in his house, +whereon both he and his guests may sleep softly. Nay, in my house there are cloaks and fair blankets. Never surely shall the dear son of this man Odysseus lie down upon the deck of a ship, while I yet live and children after me are left in my halls +to entertain strangers, even whosoever shall come to my house.” + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Well indeed hast thou spoken in this, old friend, and it were fitting for Telemachus to hearken to thee, since it is far better thus. But while he shall now follow with thee, that he may sleep +in thy halls, I for my part will go to the black ship, that I may hearten my comrades and tell them all. For alone among them I declare that I am an older man; the others are younger who follow in friendship, all of them of like age with great-hearted Telemachus. +There will I lay me down by the hollow black ship this night, but in the morning I will go to the great-hearted Cauconians, where a debt is owing to me, in no wise new or small. But do thou send this man on his way with a chariot and with thy son, since he has come to thy house, and give him horses, +the fleetest thou host in running and the best in strength.” + + So spoke the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, and she departed in the likeness of a sea-eagle; and amazement fell upon all at the sight, and the old man marvelled, when his eyes beheld it. And he grasped the hand of Telemachus, and spoke, and addressed him: + +“Friend, in no wise do I think that thou wilt prove a base man or a craven, if verily when thou art so young the gods follow thee to be thy guides. For truly this is none other of those that have their dwellings on +Olympus + but the daughter of Zeus, Tritogeneia, +1 + the maid most glorious, she that honored also thy noble father among the Argives. +Nay, O Queen, be gracious, and grant to me fair renown, to me and to my sons and to my revered wife; and to thee in return will I sacrifice a sleek +1 + heifer, broad of brow, unbroken, which no man hath yet led beneath the yoke. Her will I sacrifice, and I will overlay her horns with gold.” + +So he spoke in prayer, and Pallas Athena heard him. Then the horseman, Nestor of +Gerenia +, led them, his sons and the husbands of his daughters, to his beautiful palace. And when they reached the glorious palace of the king, they sat down in rows on the chairs and high seats; +and on their coming the old man mixed for them a bowl of sweet wine, which now in the eleventh year the housewife opened, when she had loosed the string that held the lid. Thereof the old man bade mix a bowl, and earnestly he prayed, as he poured libations, to Athena, the daughter of Zeus who bears the aegis. + +But when they had poured libations, and had drunk to their heart's content, they went, each to his home, to take their rest. But the horseman, Nestor of +Gerenia +, bade Telemachus, the dear son of divine Odysseus, to sleep there on a corded bedstead under the echoing portico, +and by him Peisistratus, of the good ashen spear, a leader of men, who among his sons was still unwed in the palace. But he himself slept in the inmost chamber of the lofty house, and beside him lay the lady his wife, who had strewn the couch. + + Soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, +up from his bed rose the horseman, Nestor of +Gerenia +, and went forth and sat down on the polished stones which were before his lofty doors, white and glistening as with oil. +1 + On these of old was wont to sit Neleus, the peer of the gods in counsel; +but he ere this had been stricken by fate and had gone to the house of Hades, and now there sat upon them in his turn Nestor of +Gerenia +, the warder of the Achaeans, holding a sceptre in his hands. About him his sons gathered in a throng as they came forth from their chambers, Echephron and Stratius and Perseus and Aretus and godlike Thrasymedes; +and to these thereafter came as the sixth the lord Peisistratus. And they led godlike Telemachus and made him sit beside them; and the horseman, Nestor of +Gerenia +, was first to speak among them: + “Quickly, my dear children, fulfil my desire, that first of all the gods I may propitiate Athena, +who came to me in manifest presence to the rich feast of the god. Come now, let one go to the plain for a heifer, that she may come speedily, and that the neatherd may drive her; and let one go to the black ship of great-hearted Telemachus and bring all his comrades, and let him leave two men only; +and let one again bid the goldsmith Laerces come hither, that he may overlay the heifer's horns with gold. And do ye others abide here together; and bid the handmaids within to make ready a feast throughout our glorious halls, to fetch seats, and logs to set on either side of the altar, and to bring clear water.” + +So he spoke, and they all set busily to work. The heifer came from the plain and from the swift, shapely ship came the comrades of great-hearted Telemachus; the smith came, bearing in his hands his tools of bronze, the implements of his craft, anvil and hammer and well-made tongs, +wherewith he wrought the gold; and Athena came to accept the sacrifice. Then the old man, Nestor, the driver of chariots, gave gold, and the smith prepared it, and overlaid therewith the horns of the heifer, that the goddess might rejoice when she beheld the offering. And Stratius and goodly Echephron led the heifer by the horns, +and Aretus came from the chamber, bringing them water for the hands in a basin embossed with flowers, and in the other hand he held barley grains in a basket; and Thrasymedes, steadfast in fight, stood by, holding in his hands a sharp axe, to fell the heifer; and Perseus held the bowl for the blood. Then the old man, Nestor, driver of chariots, +began the opening rite of hand-washing and sprinkling with barley grains, and earnestly he prayed to Athena, cutting off as first offering the hair from the head, and casting it into the fire. + + Now when they had prayed, and had strewn the barley grains, straightway the son of Nestor, Thrasymedes, high of heart, came near and dealt the blow; and the axe cut through the sinews +of the neck, and loosened the strength of the heifer. Then the women raised the sacred cry, the daughters and the sons' wives and the revered wife of Nestor, Eurydice, the eldest of the daughters of Clymenus, and the men raised the heifer's head from the broad-wayed earth and held it, and Peisistratus, leader of men, cut the throat. +And when the black blood had flowed from her and the life had left the bones, at once they cut up the body and straightway cut out the thigh-pieces all in due order, and covered them with a double layer of fat, and laid raw flesh upon them. Then the old man burned them on billets of wood, and poured over them sparkling wine, +and beside him the young men held in their hands the five-pronged forks. But when the thigh-pieces were wholly burned, and they had tasted the inner parts, they cut up the rest and spitted and roasted it, holding the pointed spits in their hands. + Meanwhile the fair Polycaste, +the youngest daughter of Nestor, son of Neleus, bathed Telemachus. And when she had bathed him and anointed him richly +1 + with oil, and had cast about him a fair cloak and a tunic, forth from the bath he came in form like unto the immortals; and he went and sat down by Nestor, the shepherd of the people. + +Now when they had roasted the outer flesh and had drawn it off the spits, they sat down and feasted, and worthy men waited on them, pouring wine +2 + into golden cups. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, the horseman, Nestor of +Gerenia +, was first to speak, saying: + +“My sons, up, yoke for Telemachus horses with beautiful mane beneath the car, that he may get forward on his journey.” + So he spoke, and they readily hearkened and obeyed; and quickly they yoked beneath the car the swift horses. And the housewife placed in the car bread and wine +and dainties, such as kings, fostered of Zeus, are wont to eat. Then Telemachus mounted the beautiful car, and Peisistratus, son of Nestor, a leader of men, mounted beside him, and took the reins in his hands. He touched the horses with the whip to start them, and nothing loath the pair sped on +to the plain, and left the steep citadel of +Pylos +. So all day long they shook the yoke which they bore about their necks. + Now the sun set and all the ways grew dark. And they came to Pherae, to the house of Diocles, son of Ortilochus, whom Alpheus begot. + There they spent the night, and before them he set the entertainment due to strangers. + So soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, they yoked the horses and mounted the inlaid car, and drove forth from the gateway and the echoing portico. Then Peisistratus touched the horses with the whip to start them, and nothing loath the pair sped onward. +So they came to the wheat-bearing plain, and thereafter pressed on toward their journey's end, so well did their swift horses bear them on. And the sun set and all the ways grew dark. +And they came to the hollow land of +Lacedaemon + with its many ravines, and drove to the palace of glorious Menelaus. Him they found giving a marriage feast to his many kinsfolk for his noble son and daughter within his house. +His daughter he was sending to the son of Achilles, breaker of the ranks of men, for in the land of +Troy + he first had promised and pledged that he would give her, and now the gods were bringing their marriage to pass. Her then he was sending forth with horses and chariots to go her way to the glorious city of the Myrmidons, over whom her lord was king; +but for his son he was bringing to his home from +Sparta + the daughter of Alector, even for the stalwart Megapenthes, who was his son well-beloved, +1 + born of a slave woman; for to Helen the gods vouchsafed issue no more after that she had at the first borne her lovely child, Hermione, who had the beauty of golden Aphrodite. +So they were feasting in the great high-roofed hall, the neighbors and kinsfolk of glorious Menelaus, and making merry; and among them a divine minstrel was singing to the lyre, and two tumblers whirled up and down through the midst of them, as he began his song. + +Then the two, the prince Telemachus and the glorious son of Nestor, halted at the gateway of the palace, they and their two horses. And the lord Eteoneus came forth and saw them, the busy squire of glorious Menelaus; and he went through the hall to bear the tidings to the shepherd of the people. +So he came near and spoke to him winged words: + “Here are two strangers, Menelaus, fostered of Zeus, two men that are like the seed of great Zeus. But tell me, shall we unyoke for them their swift horses, or send them on their way to some other host, who will give them entertainment?” + +Then, stirred to sore displeasure, fair-haired Menelaus spoke to him: “Aforetime thou was not wont to be a fool, Eteoneus, son of Boethous, but now like a child thou talkest folly. Surely we two ate full often hospitable cheer of other men, ere we came hither in the hope that Zeus +would hereafter grant us respite from sorrow. Nay, unyoke the strangers' horses, and lead the men forward into the house, that they may feast.” + So he spoke, and the other hastened through the hall, and called to the other busy squires to follow along with him. They loosed the sweating horses from beneath the yoke +and tied them at the stalls of the horses, and flung before them spelt, and mixed therewith white barley. Then they tilted the chariot against the bright entrance walls, and led the men into the divine palace. But at the sight they marvelled as they passed through the palace of the king, fostered of Zeus; +for there was a gleam as of sun or moon over the high-roofed house of glorious Menelaus. But when they had satisfied their eyes with gazing they went into the polished baths and bathed. +And when the maids had bathed them and anointed them with oil, +and had cast about them fleecy cloaks and tunics, they sat down on chairs beside Menelaus, son of Atreus. Then a handmaid brought water for the hands in a fair pitcher of gold, and poured it over a silver basin for them to wash, and beside them drew up a polished table. +And the grave housewife brought and set before them bread, and therewith dainties in abundance, giving freely of her store. And a carver lifted up and placed before them platters of all manner of meats, and set by them golden goblets. Then fair-haired Menelaus greeted the two and said: + +“Take of the food, and be glad, and then when you have supped, we will ask you who among men you are; for in you two the breed of your sires is not lost, but ye are of the breed of men that are sceptred kings, fostered of Zeus; for base churls could not beget such sons as you.” + +So saying he took in his hands roast meat and set it before them, even the fat ox-chine which they had set before himself as a mess of honor. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, lo, then Telemachus spoke to the son of Nestor, +holding his head close to him, that the others might not hear: + “Son of Nestor, dear to this heart of mine, mark the flashing of bronze throughout the echoing halls, and the flashing of gold, of electrum, +1 + of silver, and of ivory. Of such sort, methinks, is the court of Olympian Zeus within, +such untold wealth is here; amazement holds me as I look.” + Now as he spoke fair-haired Menelaus heard him, and he spoke and addressed them with winged words: + “Dear children, with Zeus verily no mortal man could vie, for everlasting are his halls and his possessions; +but of men another might vie with me in wealth or haply might not. For of a truth after many woes and wide wanderings I brought my wealth home in my ships and came in the eighth year. Over +Cyprus + and +Phoenicia + I wandered, and +Egypt +, and I came to the Ethiopians and the Sidonians and the Erembi, +and to +Libya +, where the lambs are horned from their birth. +1 + For there the ewes bear their young thrice within the full course of the year; there neither master nor shepherd has any lack of cheese or of meat or of sweet milk, but the flocks ever yield milk to the milking the year through. +While I wandered in those lands gathering much livelihood, meanwhile another slew my brother by stealth and at unawares, by the guile of his accursed wife. Thus, thou mayest see, I have no joy in being lord of this wealth; and you may well have heard of this from your fathers, whosoever they +may be, for full much did I suffer, and let fall into ruin a stately house and one stored with much goodly treasure. Would that I dwelt in my halls with but a third part of this wealth, and that those men were safe who then perished in the broad land of +Troy + far from horse-pasturing +Argos +. +And yet, though I often sit in my halls weeping and sorrowing for them all—one moment indeed I ease my heart with weeping, and then again I cease, for men soon have surfeit of chill lament—yet for them all I mourn not so much, despite my grief, +as for one only, who makes me to loathe both sleep and food, when I think of him; for no one of the Achaeans toiled so much as Odysseus toiled and endured. But to himself, as it seems, his portion was to be but woe, and for me there is sorrow never to be forgotten for him, in that he is gone so long, nor do we know aught +whether he be alive or dead. Mourned is he, I ween, by the old man Laertes, and by constant Penelope, and by Telemachus, whom he left a new-born child in his house.” + So he spoke, and in Telemachus he roused the desire to weep for his father. Tears from his eyelids he let fall upon the ground, when he heard his father's name, +and with both hands held up his purple cloak before his eyes. And Menelaus noted him, and debated in mind and heart whether he should leave him to speak of his father himself, or whether he should first question him and prove him in each thing. + +While he pondered thus in mind and heart, forth then from her fragrant high-roofed chamber came Helen, like Artemis of the golden arrows; +1 + and with her came Adraste, and placed for her a chair, beautifully wrought, and Alcippe brought a rug of soft wool +and Phylo a silver basket, which Alcandre had given her, the wife of Polybus, who dwelt in +Thebes + of +Egypt +, where greatest store of wealth is laid up in men's houses. He gave to Menelaus two silver baths and two tripods and ten talents of gold. +And besides these, his wife gave to Helen also beautiful gifts,—a golden distaff and a basket with wheels beneath did she give, a basket of silver, and with gold were the rims thereof gilded. +1 + This then the handmaid, Phylo, brought and placed beside her, filled with finely-spun yarn, and across it +was laid the distaff laden with violet-dark wool. So Helen sat down upon the chair, and below was a footstool for the feet; and at once she questioned her husband on each matter, and said: + “Do we know, Menelaus, fostered of Zeus, who these men declare themselves to be who have come to our house? +Shall I disguise my thought, or speak the truth? Nay, my heart bids me speak. For never yet, I declare, saw I one so like another, whether man or woman—amazement holds me, as I look—as this man is like the son of great-hearted Odysseus, even Telemachus, whom that warrior left a new-born child in his house, when for the sake of shameless me ye Achaeans came up under the walls of +Troy +, pondering in your hearts fierce war.” + + Then fair-haired Menelaus answered her: “Even so do I myself now note it, wife, as thou markest the likeness. Such were his feet, such his hands, +and the glances of his eyes, and his head and hair above. And verily but now, as I made mention of Odysseus and was telling of all the woe and toil he endured for my sake, this youth let fall a bitter tear from beneath his brows, holding up his purple cloak before his eyes.” + +Then Peisistratus, son of Nestor, answered him:“Menelaus, son of Atreus, fostered of Zeus, leader of hosts, his son indeed this youth is, as thou sayest. But he is of prudent mind and feels shame at heart thus on his first coming to make a show of forward words +in the presence of thee, in whose voice we both take delight as in a god's. But the horseman, Nestor of +Gerenia +, sent me forth to go with him as his guide, for he was eager to see thee, that thou mightest put in his heart some word or some deed. For many sorrows has a son +in his halls when his father is gone, when there are none other to be his helpers, even as it is now with Telemachus; his father is gone, and there are no others among the people who might ward off ruin.” + Then fair-haired Menelaus answered him and said: “Lo now, verily is there come to my house the son of a man well-beloved, +who for my sake endured many toils. And I thought that if he came back I should give him welcome beyond all the other Argives, if Olympian Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, had granted to us two a return in our swift ships over the sea. And in +Argos + I would have given him a city to dwell in, and would have built him a house, +when I had brought him from +Ithaca + with his goods and his son and all his people, driving out the dwellers of some one city among those that lie round about and obey me myself as their lord. Then, living here, should we ofttimes have met together, nor would aught have parted us, loving and joying in one another, +until the black cloud of death enfolded us. Howbeit of this, methinks, the god himself must have been jealous, who to that hapless man alone vouchsafed no return.” + + So he spoke, and in them all aroused the desire of lament. Argive Helen wept, the daughter of Zeus, +Telemachus wept, and Menelaus, son of Atreus, nor could the son of Nestor keep his eyes tearless. For he thought in his heart of peerless Antilochus, whom the glorious son of the bright Dawn +1 + had slain. Thinking of him, he spoke winged words: + +“Son of Atreus, old Nestor used ever to say that thou wast wise above all men, whenever we made mention of thee in his halls and questioned one another. And now, if it may in any wise be, hearken to me, for I take no joy in weeping at supper time, +2 +—and moreover +early dawn will soon be here. +3 + I count it indeed no blame to weep for any mortal who has died and met his fate. Yea, this is the only due we pay to miserable mortals, to cut the hair and let a tear fall from the cheeks. For a brother of mine, too, is dead, nowise the meanest +of the Argives, and thou mayest well have known him. As for me, I never met him nor saw him; but men say that Antilochus was above all others pre-eminent in speed of foot and as a warrior.” + Then fair-haired Menelaus answered him and said: “My friend, truly thou hast said all that a wise man +might say or do, even one that was older than thou; for from such a father art thou sprung, wherefore thou dost even speak wisely. Easily known is the seed of that man for whom the son of Cronos spins the thread of good fortune at marriage and at birth, even as now he has granted to Nestor throughout all his days continually that +he should himself reach a sleek old age in his halls, and that his sons in their turn should be wise and most valiant with the spear. But we will cease the weeping which but now was made, and let us once more think of our supper, and let them pour water over our hands. Tales there will be in the morning also +for Telemachus and me to tell to one another to the full.” + So he spoke, and Asphalion poured water over their hands, the busy squire of glorious Menelaus. And they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. + + Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, took other counsel. +Straightway she cast into the wine of which they were drinking a drug to quiet all pain and strife, and bring forgetfulness of every ill. Whoso should drink this down, when it is mingled in the bowl, would not in the course of that day let a tear fall down over his cheeks, +no, not though his mother and father should lie there dead, or though before his face men should slay with the sword his brother or dear son, and his own eyes beheld it. Such cunning drugs had the daughter of Zeus, drugs of healing, which Polydamna, the wife of +Thon +, had given her, a woman of +Egypt +, for there the earth, the giver of grain, bears greatest store +of drugs, many that are healing when mixed, and many that are baneful; there every man is a physician, wise above human kind; for they are of the race of Paeeon. Now when she had cast in the drug, and had bidden pour forth the wine, again she made answer, and said: + +“Menelaus, son of Atreus, fostered of Zeus, and ye that are here, sons of noble men—though now to one and now to another Zeus gives good and ill, for he can do all things,—now verily sit ye in the halls and feast, and take ye joy in telling tales, for I will tell what fitteth the time. +All things I cannot tell or recount, even all the labours of Odysseus of the steadfast heart; but what a thing was this which that mighty man wrought and endured in the land of the Trojans, where you Achaens suffered woes! Marring his own body with cruel blows, +and flinging a wretched garment about his shoulders, in the fashion of a slave he entered the broad-wayed city of the foe, and he hid himself under the likeness of another, a beggar, he who was in no wise such an one at the ships of the Achaeans. In this likeness he entered the city of the Trojans, and all of them were but as babes. +1 +I alone recognized him in this disguise, and questioned him, but he in his cunning sought to avoid me. Howbeit when I was bathing him and anointing him with oil, and had put on him raiment, and sworn a mighty oath not to make him known among the Trojans as Odysseus +before that he reached the swift ships and the huts, then at length he told me all the purpose of the Achaeans. And when he had slain many of the Trojans with the long sword, he returned to the company of the Argives and brought back plentiful tidings. Then the other Trojan women wailed aloud, but my soul +was glad, for already my heart was turned to go back to my home, and I groaned for the blindness that Aphrodite gave me, when she led me thither from my dear native land, forsaking my child and my bridal chamber, and my husband, a man who lacked nothing, whether in wisdom or in comeliness.” +Then fair-haired Menelaus answered her and said:“Aye verily, all this, wife, hast thou spoken aright. Ere now have I come to know the counsel and the mind of many warriors, and have travelled over the wide earth, but never yet have mine eyes beheld such an one +as was Odysseus of the steadfast heart. What a thing was this, too, which that mighty man wrought and endured in the carven horse, wherein all we chiefs of the Argives were sitting, bearing to the Trojans death and fate! Then thou camest thither, and it must be that thou wast bidden +by some god, who wished to grant glory to the Trojans, and godlike Deiphobus followed thee on thy way. Thrice didst thou go about the hollow ambush, trying it with thy touch, and thou didst name aloud the chieftains of the Danaans by their names, likening thy voice to the voices of the wives of all the Argives. +Now I and the son of Tydeus and goodly Odysseus sat there in the midst and heard how thou didst call, and we two were eager to rise up and come forth, or else to answer straightway from within, but Odysseus held us back and stayed us, despite our eagerness. +Then all the other sons of the Achaeans held their peace, but Anticlus alone was fain to speak and answer thee; but Odysseus firmly closed his mouth with strong hands, and saved all the Achaeans, and held him thus until Pallas Athena led thee away.” + +Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Menelaus, son of Atreus, fostered of Zeus, leader of hosts, all the more grievous is it; for in no wise did this ward off from him woeful destruction, nay, not though the heart within him had been of iron. But come, send us to bed, that lulled now +by sweet sleep we may rest and take our joy.” + Thus he spoke, and Argive Helen bade her handmaids place bedsteads beneath the portico, and to lay on them fair purple blankets, and to spread there over coverlets, and on these to put fleecy cloaks for clothing. +But the maids went forth from the hall with torches in their hands and strewed the couch, and a herald led forth the guests. So they slept there in the fore-hall of the palace, the prince Telemachus and the glorious son of Nestor; but the son of Atreus slept in the inmost chamber of the lofty house, +and beside him lay long-robed Helen, peerless among women. + So soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, up from his bed arose Menelaus, good at the war-cry, and put on his clothing. About his shoulders he slung his sharp sword, and beneath his shining feet bound his fair sandals, +and went forth from his chamber like unto a god to look upon. Then he sat down beside Telemachus, and spoke, and addressed him: + “What need has brought thee hither, prince Telemachus, to goodly +Lacedaemon + over the broad back of the sea? Is it a public matter, or thine own? Tell me the truth of this.” +Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Menelaus, son of Atreus, fostered of Zeus, leader of hosts, I came if haply thou mightest tell me some tidings of my father. My home is being devoured and my rich lands are ruined; with men that are foes my house is filled, who are ever +slaying my thronging sheep and my sleek kine of shambling gait, even the wooers of my mother, overweening in their insolence. Therefore am I now come to thy knees, if perchance thou wilt be willing to tell me of his woeful death, whether thou sawest it haply with thine own eyes, or didst hear from some other the story +of his wanderings; for beyond all men did his mother bear him to sorrow. And do thou no wise out of ruth or pity for me speak soothing words, but tell me truly how thou didst come to behold him. I beseech thee, if ever my father, noble Odysseus, promised aught to thee of word or deed and fulfilled it +in the land of the Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered woes, be mindful of it now, I pray thee, and tell me the truth.” + Then, stirred to sore displeasure, fair-haired Menelaus spoke to him: “Out upon them, for verily in the bed of a man of valiant heart were they fain to lie, who are themselves cravens. +Even as when in the thicket-lair of a mighty lion a hind has laid to sleep her new-born suckling fawns, and roams over the mountain slopes and grassy vales seeking pasture, and then the lion comes to his lair and upon the two +1 + lets loose a cruel doom, +so will Odysseus let loose a cruel doom upon these men. I would, O father Zeus and Athena and Apollo, that in such strength as when once in fair-stablished +Lesbos + he rose up and wrestled a match with Philomeleides and threw him mightily, and all the Achaeans rejoiced, +even in such strength Odysseus might come among the wooers; then should they all find swift destruction and bitterness in their wooing. But in this matter of which thou dost ask and beseech me, verily I will not swerve aside to speak of other things, nor will I deceive thee; but of all that the unerring old man of the sea told me + not one thing will I hide from thee or conceal. + + “In +Egypt +, +1 + eager though I was to journey hither, the gods still held me back, because I offered not to them hecatombs that bring fulfillment, and the gods ever wished that men should be mindful of their commands. Now there is an island in the surging sea +in front of +Egypt +, and men call it Pharos, distant as far as a hollow ship runs in a whole day when the shrill wind blows fair behind her. Therein is a harbor with good anchorage, whence men launch the shapely ships into the sea, when they have drawn supplies of black +2 + water. +There for twenty days the gods kept me, nor ever did the winds that blow over the deep spring up, which speed men's ships over the broad back of the sea. And now would all my stores have been spent and the strength of my men, had not one of the gods taken pity on me and saved me, even Eidothea, +daughter of mighty Proteus, the old man of the sea; for her heart above all others had I moved. She met me as I wandered alone apart from my comrades, who were ever roaming about the island, fishing with bent hooks, for hunger pinched their bellies; +and she came close to me, and spoke, and said: + “‘Art thou so very foolish, stranger, and slack of wit, or art thou of thine own will remiss, and hast pleasure in suffering woes? So long art thou pent in the isle and canst find no sign of deliverance +1 + and the heart of thy comrades grows faint.’ + +“So she spoke, and I made answer and said: ‘I will speak out and tell thee, whosoever among goddesses thou art, that in no wise am I pent here of mine own will, but it must be that I have sinned against the immortals, who hold broad heaven. But do thou tell me—for the gods know all things— +who of the immortals fetters me here, and has hindered me from my path, and tell me of my return, how I may go over the teeming deep.’ + “So I spoke, and the beautiful goddess straightway made answer: ‘Then verily, stranger, will I frankly tell thee all. There is wont to come hither the unerring old man of the sea, +immortal Proteus of Egypt, who knows the depths of every sea, and is the servant of Poseidon. He, they say, is my father that begat me. If thou couldst in any wise lie in wait and catch him, he will tell thee thy way and the measure of thy path, +and of thy return, how thou mayest go over the teeming deep. Aye, and he will tell thee, thou fostered of Zeus, if so thou wilt, what evil and what good has been wrought in thy halls, while thou hast been gone on thy long and grievous way.’ + “So she spoke, and I made answer and said: +‘Do thou thyself now devise a means of lying in wait for the divine old man, lest haply he see me beforehand and being ware of my purpose avoid me. For hard is a god for a mortal man to master.’ + + “So I spoke, and the beautiful goddess straightway made answer: ‘Then verily, stranger, will I frankly tell thee all. +When the sun hath reached mid-heaven, the unerring old man of the sea is wont to come forth from the brine at the breath of the West Wind, hidden by the dark ripple. And when he is come forth, he lies down to sleep in the hollow caves; and around him the seals, the brood of the fair daughter of the sea, +sleep in a herd, coming forth from the gray water, and bitter is the smell they breathe of the depths of the sea. Thither will I lead thee at break of day and lay you all in a row; for do thou choose carefully three of thy companions, who are the best thou hast in thy well-benched ships. +And I will tell thee all the wizard wiles of that old man. First he will count the seals, and go over them; but when he has told them all off by fives, and beheld them, he will lay himself down in their midst, as a shepherd among his flocks of sheep. Now so soon as you see him laid to rest, +thereafter let your hearts be filled with strength and courage, and do you hold him there despite his striving and struggling to escape. For try he will, and will assume all manner of shapes of all things that move upon the earth, and of water, and of wondrous blazing fire. Yet do ye hold him unflinchingly and grip him yet the more. +But when at length of his own will he speaks and questions thee in that shape in which you saw him laid to rest, then, hero, stay thy might, and set the old man free, and ask him who of the gods is wroth with thee, and of thy return, how thou mayest go over the teeming deep.’ + +“So saying she plunged beneath the surging sea, but I went to my ships, where they stood on the sand, and many things did my heart darkly ponder as I went. But when I had come down to the ship and to the sea, and we had made ready our supper, and immortal night had come on, +then we lay down to rest on the shore of the sea. And as soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, I went along the shore of the broad-wayed sea, praying earnestly to the gods; and I took with me three of my comrades, in whom I trusted most for every adventure. +“She meanwhile had plunged beneath the broad bosom of the sea, and had brought forth from the deep the skins of four seals, and all were newly flayed; and she devised a plot against her father. She had scooped out lairs in the sand of the sea, and sat waiting; and we came very near to her, +and she made us to lie down in a row, and cast a skin over each. Then would our ambush have proved most terrible, for terribly did the deadly stench of the brine-bred seals distress us—who would lay him down by a beast of the sea?—but she of herself delivered us, and devised a great boon; +she brought and placed ambrosia of a very sweet fragrance beneath each man's nose, and destroyed the stench of the beast. So all the morning we waited with steadfast heart, and the seals came forth from the sea in throngs. These then laid them down in rows along the shore of the sea, +and at noon the old man came forth from the sea and found the fatted seals; and he went over all, and counted their number. Among the creatures he counted us first, nor did his heart guess that there was guile; and then he too laid him down. Thereat we rushed upon him with a shout, and +threw our arms about him, nor did that old man forget his crafty wiles. Nay, at the first he turned into a bearded lion, and then into a serpent, and a leopard, and a huge boar; then he turned into flowing water, and into a tree, high and leafy; but we held on unflinchingly with steadfast heart. +But when at last that old man, skilled in wizard arts, grew weary, then he questioned me, and spoke, and said: + “‘Who of the gods, son of Atreus, took counsel with thee that thou mightest lie in wait for me, and take me against my will? Of what hast thou need?’ + “So he spoke, and I made answer, and said: +‘Thou knowest, old man—why dost thou seek to put me off with this question?—how long a time I am pent in this isle, and can find no sign of deliverance, and my heart grows faint within me. But do thou tell me—for the gods know all things—who of the immortals fetters me here, and has hindered me from my path, and tell me +of my return, how I may go over the teeming deep.’ + “So I spoke, and he straightway made answer, and said: ‘Nay, surely thou oughtest to have made fair offerings to Zeus and the other gods before embarking, that with greatest speed thou mightest have come to thy country, sailing over the wine-dark sea. +For it is not thy fate to see thy friends, and reach thy well-built house and thy native land, before that thou hast once more gone to the waters of +Aegyptus +, the heaven-fed river, and hast offered holy hecatombs to the immortal gods who hold broad heaven. +Then at length shall the gods grant thee the journey thou desirest.’ + + “So he spoke, and my spirit was broken within me, for that he bade me go again over the misty deep to +Aegyptus +, a long and weary way. Yet even so I made answer, and said: + +“‘All this will I perform, old man, even as thou dost bid. But come now, tell me this, and declare it truly. Did all the Achaeans return unscathed in their ships, all those whom Nestor and I left, as we set out from +Troy +? Or did any perish by a cruel death on board his ship, +or in the arms of his friends, when he had wound up the skein of war?’ + “So I spoke, and he straightway made answer, and said: ‘Son of Atreus, why dost thou question me of this? In no wise does it behove thee to know, or to learn my mind; nor, methinks, wilt thou long be free from tears, when thou hast heard all aright. +For many of them were slain, and many were left; but two chieftains alone of the brazen-coated Achaeans perished on their homeward way ( as for the fighting, thou thyself wast there), and one, I ween, still lives, and is held back on the broad deep. + “‘Aias truly was lost amid his long-oared ships. +Upon the great rocks of Gyrae Poseidon at first drove him, but saved him from the sea; and he would have escaped his doom, hated of Athena though he was, had he not uttered a boastful word in great blindness of heart. He declared that it was in spite of the gods that he had escaped the great gulf of the sea; +and Poseidon heard his boastful speech, and straightway took his trident in his mighty hands, and smote the rock of Gyrae and clove it in sunder. And one part abode in its place, but the sundered part fell into the sea, even that on which Aias sat at the first when his heart was greatly blinded, +and it bore him down into the boundless surging deep. So there he perished, when he had drunk the salt water. + + “‘But thy brother escaped, indeed, the fates and shunned them with his hollow ships, for queenly Hera saved him. But when he was now about +to reach the steep height of Malea, then the storm-wind caught him up and bore him over the teeming deep, groaning heavily, to the border of the land, +1 + where aforetime Thyestes dwelt, but where now dwelt Thyestes' son Aegisthus. But when from hence too a safe return was shewed him, +and the gods changed the course of the wind that it blew fair, and they reached home, then verily with rejoicing did Agamemnon set foot on his native land, and he clasped his land and kissed it, and many were the hot tears that streamed from his eyes, for welcome to him was the sight of his land. Now from his place of watch a watchman saw him, whom +guileful Aegisthus took and set there, promising him as a reward two talents of gold; and he had been keeping guard for a year, lest Agamemnon should pass by him unseen, and be mindful of his furious might. So he went to the palace to bear the tidings to the shepherd of the people, and Aegisthus straightway planned a treacherous device. +He chose out twenty men, the best in the land, and set them to lie in wait, but on the further side of the hall he bade prepare a feast. Then he went with chariot and horses to summon Agamemnon, shepherd of the people, his mind pondering a dastardly deed. So he brought him up all unaware of his doom, +and when he had feasted him he slew him, as one slays an ox at the stall. And not one of the comrades of the son of Atreus was left, of all that followed him, nor one of the men of Aegisthus, but they were all slain in the halls.’ + “So he spoke, and my spirit was broken within me, and I wept, as I sat on the sands, nor had my heart +any longer desire to live and to behold the light of the sun. But when I had had my fill of weeping and writhing, then the unerring old man of the sea said to me: + “‘No more, son of Atreus, do thou weep long time thus without ceasing, for in it we shall find no help. Nay, rather, with all the speed thou canst, +strive that thou mayest come to thy native land, for either thou wilt find Aegisthus alive, or haply Orestes may have forestalled thee and slain him, and thou mayest chance upon his funeral feast.’ + “So he spoke, and my heart and spirit were again warmed with comfort in my breast despite my grief, +and I spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + “‘Of these men now I know, but do thou name the third, who he is that still lives, and is held back upon the broad sea, or is haply dead. Fain would I hear, despite my grief.’ + + “So I spoke, and he straightway made answer, and said: +‘It is the son of Laertes, whose home is in +Ithaca +. Him I saw in an island, shedding big tears, in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who keeps him there perforce, and he cannot come to his native land, for he has at hand no ships with oars and no comrades +to send him on his way over the broad back of the sea. But for thyself, Menelaus, fostered of Zeus, it is not ordained that thou shouldst die and meet thy fate in horse-pasturing +Argos +, but to the Elysian plain and the bounds of the earth will the immortals convey thee, where dwells fair-haired Rhadamanthus, +and where life is easiest for men. No snow is there, nor heavy storm, nor ever rain, but ever does Ocean send up blasts of the shrill-blowing West Wind that they may give cooling to men; for thou hast Helen to wife, and art in their eyes the husband of the daughter of Zeus.’ + +“So saying he plunged beneath the surging sea, but I went to my ships with my god like comrades, and many things did my heart darkly ponder as I went. But when I had come down to the ship and to the sea, and we had made ready our supper, and immortal night had come on, +then we lay down to rest on the shore of the sea. And as soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, our ships first of all we drew down to the bright sea, and set the masts and the sails in the shapely ships, and the men, too, went on board and sat down upon the benches, +and sitting well in order smote the grey sea with their oars. So back again to the waters of +Aegyptus +, the heaven-fed river, I sailed, and there moored my ships and offered hecatombs that bring fulfillment. But when I had stayed the wrath of the gods that are forever, I heaped up a mound to Agamemnon, that his fame might be unquenchable. +Then, when I had made an end of this, I set out for home, and the immortals gave me a fair wind, and brought me swiftly to my dear native land. But come now, tarry in my halls until the eleventh or the twelfth day be come. Then will I send thee forth with honor and give thee splendid gifts, +three horses and a well-polished car; and besides I will give thee a beautiful cup, that thou mayest pour libations to the immortal gods, and remember me all thy days.” + + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Son of Atreus, keep me no long time here, +for verily for a year would I be content to sit in thy house, nor would desire for home or parents come upon me; for wondrous is the pleasure I take in listening to thy tales and thy speech. But even now my comrades are chafing in sacred +Pylos +, and thou art keeping me long time here. +And whatsoever gift thou wouldest give me, let it be some treasure; but horses will I not take to +Ithaca +, but will leave them here for thyself to delight in, for thou art lord of a wide plain, wherein is lotus in abundance, and galingale and wheat and spelt, and broad-eared white barley. +But in +Ithaca + there are no widespread courses nor aught of meadow-land. It is a pasture-land of goats and pleasanter than one that pastures horses. For not one of the islands that lean upon the sea is fit for driving horses, or rich in meadows, and +Ithaca + least of all.” + So he spoke, and Menelaus, good at the war-cry, smiled, +and stroked him with his hand, and spoke, and addressed him: + “Thou art of noble blood, dear child, that thou speakest thus. Therefore will I change these gifts, for well I may. Of all the gifts that lie stored as treasures in my house, I will give thee that one which is fairest and costliest. +I will give thee a well-wrought mixing bowl. All of silver it is, and with gold are the rims thereof gilded, the work of Hephaestus; and the warrior Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me, when his house sheltered me as I came thither, and now I am minded to give it to thee.” + +Thus they spoke to one another, and meanwhile the banqueters came to the palace of the divine king. They drove up sheep, and brought strengthening wine, and their wives with beautiful veils sent them bread. Thus they were busied about the feast in the halls. +But the wooers in front of the palace of Odysseus were making merry, throwing the discus and the javelin in a levelled place, as their wont was, in insolence of heart; and Antinous and godlike Eurymachus were sitting there, the leaders of the wooers, who in valiance were far the best of all. +To them Noemon, son of Phronius, drew near, and he questioned Antinous, and spoke, and said: + “Antinous, know we at all in our hearts, or know we not, when Telemachus will return from sandy +Pylos +? He is gone, taking a ship of mine, and I have need of her +to cross over to spacious +Elis +, where I have twelve brood mares, and at the teat sturdy mules as yet unbroken. Of these I would fain drive one off and break him in.” + So he spoke, and they marvelled at heart, for they did not deem that Telemachus had gone to Neleian Pylos, but that he was somewhere there +on his lands, among the flocks or with the swineherd. + Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke to him, saying: “Tell me the truth; when did he go, and what youths went with him? Were they chosen youths of +Ithaca +, or hirelings and slaves of his own? Able would he be to accomplish even that. +And tell me this truly, that I may know full well. Was it perforce and against thy will that he took from thee the black ship? or didst thou give it him freely of thine own will, because he besought thee?” + Then Noemon, son of Phronius, answered him:“I myself freely gave it him. What else could any man do, +when a man like him, his heart laden with care, makes entreaty? Hard it were to deny the gift. The youths that are the noblest in the land after ourselves, even these have gone with him; and among them I noted one going on board as their leader, Mentor, or a god, who was in all things like unto Mentor. +But at this I marvel. I saw goodly Mentor here yesterday at early dawn; but at that time he embarked for +Pylos +.” + So saying he departed to his father's house, but of those two the proud hearts were angered. The wooers they straightway made to sit down and cease from their games; +and among them spoke Antinous, son of Eupeithes, in displeasure; and with rage was his black heart wholly filled, and his eyes were like blazing fire. + “Out upon him, verily a proud deed has been insolently brought to pass by Telemachus, even this journey, and we deemed that he would never see it accomplished. +Forth in despite of all of us here the lad is gone without more ado, launching a ship, and choosing the best men in the land. He will begin by and by to be our bane; but to his own undoing may Zeus destroy his might before ever he reaches the measure of manhood. But come, give me a swift ship and twenty men, +that I may watch in ambush for him as he passes in the strait between +Ithaca + and rugged +Samos +. Thus shall his voyaging in search of his father come to a sorry end.” + So he spoke, and they all praised his words, and bade him act. And straightway they rose up and went to the house of Odysseus. +Now Penelope was no long time without knowledge of the plans which the wooers were plotting in the deep of their hearts; for the herald Medon told her, who heard their counsel as he stood without the court and they within were weaving their plot. So he went through the hall to bear the tidings to Penelope; +and as he stepped across the threshold Penelope spoke to him and said: + “Herald, why have the lordly wooers sent thee forth? Was it to tell the handmaids of divine Odysseus to cease from their tasks, and make ready a feast for them? Never wooing +1 + any more, nor consorting together elsewhere, +may they now feast here their latest and their last—even ye who are ever thronging here and wasting much livelihood, the wealth of wise Telemachus. Surely ye hearkened not at all in olden days, when ye were children, when your fathers told what manner of man Odysseus was among them that begat you, +in that he wrought no wrong in deed or word to any man in the land, as the wont is of divine kings—one man they hate and another they love. Yet he never wrought iniquity at all to any man. But your mind and your unseemly deeds +are plain to see, nor is there in after days any gratitude for good deeds done.” + Then Medon, wise of heart, answered her: “I would, O queen, that this were the greatest evil. But another greater far and more grievous are the wooers planning, which I pray that the son of Cronos may never bring to pass. +They are minded to slay Telemachus with the sharp sword on his homeward way; for he went in quest of tidings of his father to sacred +Pylos + and to goodly +Lacedaemon +.” + So he spoke, and her knees were loosened where she sat, and her heart melted. Long time she was speechless, and both her eyes +were filled with tears, and the flow of her voice was checked. But at last she made answer, and said to him: + “Herald, why is my son gone? He had no need to go on board swift-faring ships, which serve men as horses of the deep, and cross over the wide waters of the sea. +Was it that not even his name should be left among men?” + Then Medon, wise of heart, answered her: “I know not whether some god impelled him, or whether his own heart was moved to go to +Pylos +, that he might learn either of his father's return or what fate he had met.” +So he spoke, and departed through the house of Odysseus, and on her fell a cloud of soul-consuming grief, and she had no more the heart to sit upon one of the many seats that were in the room, but down upon the threshold of her fair-wrought chamber she sank, moaning piteously, and round about her wailed her handmaids, +even all that were in the house, both young and old. Among these with sobs of lamentation spoke Penelope: + “Hear me, my friends, for to me the Olympian has given sorrow above all the women who were bred and born with me. For long since I lost my noble husband of the lion heart, +pre-eminent in all manner of worth among the Danaans, my noble husband, whose fame is wide through +Hellas + and mid- +Argos +. And now again my well-loved son have the storm-winds swept away from our halls without tidings, nor did I hear of his setting forth. Cruel, that ye are! Not even you took thought, any one of you, +to rouse me from my couch, though in your hearts ye knew full well when he went on board the hollow black ship. For had I learned that he was pondering this journey, he should verily have stayed here, how eager soever to be gone, or he should have left me dead in the halls. +But now let one hasten to call hither the aged Dolius, my servant, whom my father gave me or ever I came hither, and who keeps my garden of many trees, that he may straightway go and sit by Laertes, and tell him of all these things. So haply may Laertes weave some plan in his heart, +and go forth and with weeping make his plea to the people, who are minded to destroy his race and that of godlike Odysseus.” + Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered her:“Dear lady, thou mayest verily slay me with the pitiless sword or let me abide in the house, yet will I not hide my word from thee. +I knew all this, and gave him whatever he bade me, bread and sweet wine. But he took from me a mighty oath not to tell thee until at least the twelfth day should come, or thou shouldst thyself miss him and hear that he was gone, that thou mightest not mar thy fair flesh with weeping. +But now bathe thyself, and take clean raiment for thy body, and then go up to thy upper chamber with thy handmaids and pray to Athena, the daughter of Zeus who bears the aegis; for she may then save him even from death. And trouble not a troubled old man; for +the race of the son of Arceisius is not, methinks, utterly hated by the blessed gods, but there shall still be one, I ween, to hold the high-roofed halls and the rich fields far away.” + + So she spoke, and lulled Penelope's laments, and made her eyes to cease from weeping. She then bathed, and took clean raiment for her body, +and went up to her upper chamber with her handmaids, and placing barley grains in a basket prayed to Athena: + “Hear me, child of Zeus who bears the aegis, unwearied one. If ever Odysseus, of many wiles, burnt to thee in his halls fat thigh-pieces of heifer or ewe, +remember these things now, I pray thee, and save my dear son, and ward off from him the wooers in their evil insolence.” + So saying she raised the sacred cry, and the goddess heard her prayer. But the wooers broke into uproar throughout the shadowy halls, and thus would one of the proud youths speak: + +“Aye, verily the queen, wooed of many, is preparing our marriage, nor does she know at all that death has been made ready for her son.” + So would one of them speak; but they knew not how these things were to be. And Antinous addressed their company, and said: + “Good sirs, +1 + shun haughty speech +of every kind alike, lest someone report your speech even within the house. Nay come, in silence thus let us arise and put into effect our plan which pleased us one and all at heart.” + So he spoke, and chose twenty men that were best, and they went their way to the swift ship and the shore of the sea. +The ship first of all they drew down to the deep water, and set the mast and sail in the black ship, and fitted the oars in the leathern thole-straps, all in due order, and spread the white sail. And proud squires brought them their weapons. +Well out in the roadstead they moored the ship, and themselves disembarked. There then they took supper, and waited till evening should come. + But she, the wise Penelope, lay there in her upper chamber, touching no food, tasting neither meat nor drink, pondering whether her peerless son would escape death, +or be slain by the insolent wooers. And even as a lion is seized with fear and broods amid a throng of men, when they draw their crafty ring about him, so was she pondering when sweet +1 + sleep came upon her. And she sank back and slept, and all her joints relaxed. +Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, took other counsel. She made a phantom, and likened it in form to a woman, Iphthime, daughter of great-hearted Icarius, whom Eumelus wedded, whose home was in Pherae. And she sent it to the house of divine Odysseus, +to Penelope in the midst of her wailing and lamenting, to bid her cease from weeping and tearful lamentation. So into the chamber it passed by the thong of the bolt, and stood above her head, and spoke to her, and said: + “Sleepest thou, Penelope, thy heart sore stricken? +Nay, the gods that live at ease suffer thee not to weep or be distressed, seeing that thy son is yet to return; for in no wise is he a sinner in the eyes of the gods.” + Then wise Penelope answered her, as she slumbered very sweetly at the gates of dreams: +“Why, sister, art thou come hither? Thou hast not heretofore been wont to come, for thou dwellest in a home far away. And thou biddest me cease from my grief and the many pains that distress me in mind and heart. Long since I lost my noble husband of the lion heart, +pre-eminent in all manner of worth among the Danaans, my noble husband whose fame is wide in +Hellas + and mid- +Argos +. And now again my well-loved son is gone forth in a hollow ship, a mere child, knowing naught of toils and the gatherings of men. For him I sorrow even more than for that other, +and tremble for him, and fear lest aught befall him, whether it be in the land of the men to whom he is gone, or on the sea. For many foes are plotting against him, eager to slay him before he comes back to his native land.” + Then the dim phantom answered her, and said: +“Take heart, and be not in thy mind too sore afraid; since such a guide goes with him as men have full often besought to stand by their side, for she has power,—even Pallas Athena. And she pities thee in thy sorrow, for she it is that has sent me forth to tell thee this.” + +Then again wise Penelope answered her: “If thou art indeed a god, and hast listened to the voice of a god, come, tell me, I pray thee, also of that hapless one, whether he still lives and beholds the light of the sun, or whether he is already dead and in the house of Hades.” + +And the dim phantom answered her, and said:“Nay, of him I may not speak at length, whether he be alive or dead; it is an ill thing to speak words vain as wind.” + So saying the phantom glided away by the bolt of the door into the breath of the winds. And +the daughter of Icarius started up from sleep, and her heart was warmed with comfort, that so clear a vision had sped to her in the darkness +1 + of night. + But the wooers embarked, and sailed over the watery ways, pondering in their hearts utter murder for Telemachus. There is a rocky isle in the midst of the sea, +midway between +Ithaca + and rugged +Samos +, Asteris, of no great size, but therein is a harbor where ships may lie, with an entrance on either side. There it was that the Achaeans tarried, lying in wait for Telemachus. +Now Dawn arose from her couch from beside lordly Tithonus, to bear light to the immortals and to mortal men. And the gods were sitting down to council, and among them Zeus, who thunders on high, whose might is supreme. +To them Athena was recounting the many woes of Odysseus, as she called them to mind; for it troubled her that he abode in the dwelling of the nymph: + “Father Zeus, and ye other blessed gods that are forever, never henceforward let sceptred king with a ready heart be kind and gentle, nor let him heed righteousness in his mind; +but let him ever be harsh, and work unrighteousness, seeing that no one remembers divine Odysseus of the people whose lord he was; yet gentle was he as a father. He verily abides in an island suffering grievous pains, in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who +keeps him perforce; and he cannot return to his own land, for he has at hand no ships with oars and no comrades to send him on his way over the broad back of the sea. And now again they are minded to slay his well-loved son on his homeward way; for he went in quest of tidings of his father +to sacred +Pylos + and to goodly +Lacedaemon +.” + Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered her, and said: “My child, what a word has escaped the barrier of thy teeth! Didst thou not thyself devise this plan, that verily Odysseus might take vengeance on these men at his coming? +But concerning Telemachus, do thou guide him in thy wisdom, for thou canst, that all unscathed he may reach his native land, and the wooers may come back in their ship baffled in their purpose.” + He spoke, and said to Hermes, his dear son:“Hermes, do thou now, seeing that thou art at other times our messenger, +declare to the fair-tressed nymph our fixed resolve, even the return of Odysseus of the steadfast heart, that he may return with guidance neither of gods nor of mortal men, but that on a stoutly-bound raft, suffering woes, he may come on the twentieth day to deep-soiled +Scheria +, +the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the gods. These shall heartily shew him all honor, as if he were a god, and shall send him in a ship to his dear native land, after giving him stores of bronze and gold and raiment, more than Odysseus would ever have won for himself from +Troy +, +if he had returned unscathed with his due share of the spoil. For in this wise it is his fate to see his friends, and reach his high-roofed house and his native land.” + So he spoke, and the messenger, Argeiphontes, failed not to hearken. Straightway he bound beneath his feet his beautiful sandals, +immortal, golden, which were wont to bear him over the waters of the sea and over the boundless land swift as the blasts of the wind. And he took the wand wherewith he lulls to sleep the eyes of whom he will, while others again he awakens even out of slumber. With this in his hand the strong Argeiphontes flew. +On to +Pieria + he stepped from the upper air, and swooped down upon the sea, and then sped over the wave like a bird, the cormorant, which in quest of fish over the dread gulfs of the unresting sea wets its thick plumage in the brine. In such wise did Hermes ride upon the multitudinous waves. +But when he had reached the island which lay afar, then forth from the violet sea he came to land, and went his way until he came to a great cave, wherein dwelt the fair-tressed nymph; and he found her within. A great fire was burning on the hearth, and from afar over the isle there was a fragrance +of cleft cedar and juniper, as they burned; but she within was singing with a sweet voice as she went to and fro before the loom, weaving with a golden shuttle. Round about the cave grew a luxuriant wood, alder and poplar and sweet-smelling cypress, +wherein birds long of wing were wont to nest, owls and falcons and sea-crows with chattering tongues, who ply their business on the sea. And right there about the hollow cave ran trailing a garden vine, in pride of its prime, richly laden with clusters. +And fountains four in a row were flowing with bright water hard by one another, turned one this way, one that. And round about soft meadows of violets and parsley were blooming. There even an immortal, who chanced to come, might gaze and marvel, and delight his soul; +and there the messenger Argeiphontes stood and marvelled. But when he had marvelled in his heart at all things, straightway he went into the wide cave; nor did Calypso, the beautiful goddess, fail to know him, when she saw him face to face; for not unknown are +the immortal gods to one another, even though one dwells in a home far away. But the great-hearted Odysseus he found not within; for he sat weeping on the shore, as his wont had been, racking his soul with tears and groans and griefs, and he would look over the unresting sea, shedding tears. +And Calypso, the beautiful goddess, questioned Hermes, when she had made him sit on a bright shining chair: + “Why, pray, Hermes of the golden wand, hast thou come, an honorable guest and welcome? heretofore thou hast not been wont to come. Speak what is in thy mind; my heart bids me fulfil it, +if fulfil it I can, and it is a thing that hath fulfillment. But follow me further, that I may set before thee entertainment.” + + So saying, the goddess set before him a table laden with ambrosia, and mixed the ruddy nectar. So he drank and ate, the messenger Argeiphontes. +But when he had dined and satisfied his soul with food, then he made answer, and addressed her, saying: + “Thou, a goddess, dost question me, a god, upon my coming, and I will speak my word truly, since thou biddest me. It was Zeus who bade me come hither against my will. +Who of his own will would speed over so great space of salt sea-water, great past telling? Nor is there at hand any city of mortals who offer to the gods sacrifice and choice hecatombs. But it is in no wise possible for any other god to evade or make void the will of Zeus, who bears the aegis. +He says that there is here with thee a man most wretched above all those warriors who around the city of Priam fought for nine years, and in the tenth year sacked the city and departed homeward. But on the way they sinned against Athena, and she sent upon them an evil wind and long waves. +There all the rest of his goodly comrades perished, but as for him, the wind and the wave, as they bore him, brought him hither. Him now Zeus bids thee to send on his way with all speed, for it is not his fate to perish here far from his friends, but it is still his lot to see his friends and reach +his high-roofed house and his native land.” + So he spoke, and Calypso, the beautiful goddess, shuddered, and she spoke, and addressed him with winged words: “Cruel are ye, O ye gods, and quick to envy above all others, seeing that ye begrudge goddesses that they should mate with men +openly, if any takes a mortal as her dear bed-fellow. Thus, when rosy-fingered Dawn took to herself Orion, ye gods that live at ease begrudged her, till in Ortygia chaste Artemis of the golden throne assailed him with her gentle +1 + shafts and slew him. +Thus too, when fair-tressed Demeter, yielding to her passion, lay in love with Iasion in the thrice-ploughed fallow land, Zeus was not long without knowledge thereof, but smote him with his bright thunder-bolt and slew him. And even so again do ye now begrudge me, O ye gods, that a mortal man should abide with me. +Him I saved when he was bestriding the keel and all alone, for Zeus had smitten his swift ship with his bright thunder-bolt, and had shattered +2 + it in the midst of the wine-dark sea. There all the rest of his goodly comrades perished, but as for him, the wind and the wave, as they bore him, brought him hither. +Him I welcomed kindly and gave him food, and said that I would make him immortal and ageless all his days. But since it is in no wise possible for any other god to evade or make void the will of Zeus who bears the aegis, let him go his way, if Zeus thus orders and commands, +over the unresting sea. But it is not I that shall give him convoy, for I have at hand no ships with oars and no men to send him on his way over the broad back of the sea. But with a ready heart will I give him counsel, and will hide naught, that all unscathed he may return to his native land.” +Then again the messenger Argeiphontes answered her: “Even so send him forth now, and beware of the wrath of Zeus, lest haply he wax wroth and visit his anger upon thee hereafter.” + So saying, the strong Argeiphontes departed, and the queenly nymph went to the great-hearted Odysseus, +when she had heard the message of Zeus. Him she found sitting on the shore, and his eyes were never dry of tears, and his sweet life was ebbing away, as he longed mournfully for his return, for the nymph was no longer pleasing in his sight. By night indeed he would sleep by her side perforce +in the hollow caves, unwilling beside the willing nymph, but by day he would sit on the rocks and the sands, racking his soul with tears and groans and griefs, and he would look over the unresting sea, shedding tears. Then coming close to him, the beautiful goddess addressed him: + +“Unhappy man, sorrow no longer here, I pray thee, nor let thy life pine away; for even now with a ready heart will I send thee on thy way. Nay, come, hew with the axe long beams, and make a broad raft, and fasten upon it cross-planks for a deck well above it, that it may bear thee over the misty deep. +And I will place therein bread and water and red wine to satisfy thy heart, to keep hunger from thee. And I will clothe thee with raiment, and will send a fair wind behind thee, that all unscathed thou mayest return to thy native land, if it be the will of the gods who hold broad heaven; +for they are mightier than I both to purpose and to fulfil.” + So she spoke, and much-enduring goodly Odysseus shuddered, and he spoke, and addressed her with winged words: “Some other thing, goddess, art thou planning in this, and not my sending, seeing that thou biddest me cross on a raft the great gulf of the sea, +dread and grievous, over which not even the shapely, swift-faring ships pass, rejoicing in the wind of Zeus. But I will not set foot on a raft in thy despite, unless thou, goddess, wilt bring thyself to swear a mighty oath that thou wilt not plot against me any fresh mischief to my hurt.” + +So he spoke, but Calypso, the beautiful goddess, smiled, and stroked him with her hand, and spoke, and addressed him: “Verily thou art a knave, and not stunted in wit, that thou hast bethought thee to utter such a word. Now therefore let earth be witness to this, and the broad heaven above, +and the down-flowing water of the Styx, which is the greatest and most dread oath for the blessed gods, that I will not plot against thee any fresh mischief to thy hurt. Nay, I have such thoughts in mind, and will give such counsel, as I should devise for mine own self, if such need should come on me. +For I too have a mind that is righteous, and the heart in this breast of mine is not of iron, but hath compassion.” + + So saying, the beautiful goddess led the way quickly, and he followed in the footsteps of the goddess. And they came to the hollow cave, the goddess and the man, +and he sat down upon the chair from which Hermes had arisen, and the nymph set before him all manner of food to eat and drink, of such sort as mortal men eat. But she herself sat over against divine Odysseus, and before her the handmaids set ambrosia and nectar. +So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. But when they had their fill of food and drink, Calypso, the beautiful goddess, was the first to speak, and said: + “Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, +would'st thou then fare now forthwith home to thy dear native land! Yet, even so fare thee well. Howbeit if in thy heart thou knewest all the measure of woe it is thy fate to fulfil before thou comest to thy native land thou wouldest abide here and keep this house with me, and wouldest be immortal, for all thy desire to see +thy wife for whom thou longest day by day. Surely not inferior to her do I declare myself to be either in form or stature, for in no wise is it seemly that mortal women should vie with immortals in form or comeliness.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: +“Mighty goddess, be not wroth with me for this. I know full well of myself that wise Penelope is meaner to look upon than thou in comeliness and in stature, for she is a mortal, while thou art immortal and ageless. But even so I wish and long day by day +to reach my home, and to see the day of my return. And if again some god shall smite me on the wine-dark sea, I will endure it, having in my breast a heart that endures affliction. For ere this I have suffered much and toiled much amid the waves and in war; let this also be added unto that.” + +So he spoke, and the sun set and darkness came on. And the two went into the innermost recess of the hollow cave, and took their joy of love, abiding each by the other's side. + + As soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, straightway Odysseus put on a cloak and a tunic, +and the nymph clothed herself in a long white robe, finely woven and beautiful, and about her waist she cast a fair girdle of gold, and on her head a veil above. Then she set herself to plan the sending of the great-hearted Odysseus. She gave him a great axe, well fitted to his hands, +an axe of bronze, sharpened on both sides; and in it was a beautiful handle of olive wood, securely fastened; and thereafter she gave him a polished adze. Then she led the way to the borders of the island where tall trees were standing, alder and popular and fir, reaching to the skies, +long dry and well-seasoned, which would float for him lightly. But when she had shewn him where the tall trees grew, Calypso, the beautiful goddess, returned homewards, but he fell to cutting timbers, and his work went forward apace. Twenty trees in all did he fell, and trimmed them with the axe; +then he cunningly smoothed them all and made them straight to the line. Meanwhile Calypso, the beautiful goddess, brought him augers; and he bored all the pieces and fitted them to one another, and with pegs and morticings did he hammer it together. Wide as a man well-skilled in carpentry marks out the curve of the hull of a freight-ship, +broad of beam, even so wide did Odysseus make his raft. And he set up the deck-beams, bolting them to the close-set ribs, and laboured on; and he finished the raft with long gunwales. In it he set a mast and a yard-arm, fitted to it, +and furthermore made him a steering-oar, wherewith to steer. Then he fenced in the whole from stem to stern with willow withes to be a defence against the wave, and strewed much brush thereon. +1 + Meanwhile Calypso, the beautiful goddess, brought him cloth to make him a sail, and he fashioned that too with skill. +And he made fast in the raft braces and halyards and sheets, and then with levers +2 + forced it down into the bright sea. + + Now the fourth day came and all his work was done. And on the fifth the beautiful Calypso sent him on his way from the island after she had bathed him and clothed him in fragrant raiment. +On the raft the goddess put a skin of dark wine, and another, a great one, of water, and provisions, too, in a wallet. Therein she put abundance of dainties to satisfy his heart, and she sent forth a gentle wind and warm. Gladly then did goodly Odysseus spread his sail to the breeze; +and he sat and guided his raft skilfully with the steering-oar, nor did sleep fall upon his eyelids, as he watched the Pleiads, and late-setting Bootes, and the Bear, which men also call the Wain, which ever circles where it is and watches Orion, +and alone has no part in the baths of Ocean. For this star Calypso, the beautiful goddess, had bidden him to keep on the left hand as he sailed over the sea. For seventeen days then he sailed over the sea, and on the eighteenth appeared the shadowy mountains +of the land of the Phaeacians, where it lay nearest to him; and it shewed like unto a shield in the misty deep. + But the glorious Earth-shaker, as he came back from the Ethiopians, +1 + beheld him from afar, from the mountains of the Solymi: for Odysseus was seen of him sailing over the sea; and he waxed the more wroth in spirit, +and shook his head, and thus he spoke to his own heart: + “Out on it! Surely the gods have changed their purpose regarding Odysseus, while I was among the Ethiopians. And lo, he is near to the land of the Phaeacians, where it is his fate to escape from the great bonds of the woe which has come upon him. +Aye, but even yet, methinks, I shall drive him to surfeit of evil.” + So saying, he gathered the clouds, and seizing his trident in his hands troubled the sea, and roused all blasts of all manner of winds, and hid with clouds land and sea alike; and night rushed down from heaven. +Together the East Wind and the South Wind dashed, and the fierce-blowing West Wind and the +North Wind +, born in the bright heaven, rolling before him a mighty wave. Then were the knees of Odysseus loosened and his heart melted, and deeply moved he spoke to his own mighty spirit: + “Ah me, wretched that I am! What is to befall me at the last? +I fear me that verily all that the goddess said was true, when she declared that on the sea, before ever I came to my native land, I should fill up my measure of woes; and lo, all this now is being brought to pass. In such wise does Zeus overcast the broad heaven with clouds, and has stirred up the sea, and the blasts +of all manner of winds sweep upon me; now is my utter destruction sure. Thrice blessed those Danaans, aye, four times blessed, who of old perished in the wide land of +Troy +, doing the pleasure of the sons of Atreus. Even so would that I had died and met my fate on that day when the throngs +of the Trojans hurled upon me bronze-tipped spears, fighting around the body of the dead son of Peleus. Then should I have got funeral rites, and the Achaeans would have spread my fame, but now by a miserable death was it appointed me to be cut off.” + + Even as thus he spoke the great wave smote him from on high, rushing upon him with terrible might, and around it whirled his raft. +Far from the raft he fell, and let fall the steering-oar from his hand; but his mast was broken in the midst by the fierce blast of tumultuous winds that came upon it, and far in the sea sail and yardarm fell. As for him, long time did the wave hold him in the depths, nor could he +rise at once from beneath the onrush of the mighty wave, for the garments which beautiful Calypso had given him weighed him down. At length, however, he came up, and spat forth from his mouth the bitter brine which flowed in streams from his head. Yet even so he did not forget his raft, in evil case though he was, +but sprang after it amid the waves, and laid hold of it, and sat down in the midst of it, seeking to escape the doom of death; and a great wave ever bore him this way and that along its course. As when in autumn the +North Wind + bears the thistle-tufts over the plain, and close they cling to one another, +so did the winds bear the raft this way and that over the sea. Now the South Wind would fling it to the +North Wind + to be driven on, and now again the East Wind would yield it to the +West Wind + to drive. + But the daughter of +Cadmus +, Ino of the fair ankles, saw him, even Leucothea, who of old was a mortal of human speech, +but now in the deeps of the sea has won a share of honor from the gods. She was touched with pity for Odysseus, as he wandered and was in sore travail, and she rose up from the deep like a sea-mew on the wing, and sat on the stoutly-bound raft, and spoke, saying: + “Unhappy man, how is it that Poseidon, the earth-shaker, +has conceived such furious wrath against thee, that he is sowing for thee the seeds of many evils? Yet verily he shall not utterly destroy thee for all his rage. Nay, do thou thus; and methinks thou dost not lack understanding. Strip off these garments, and leave thy raft to be driven by the winds, but do thou swim with thy hands and so strive to reach +the land of the Phaeacians, where it is thy fate to escape. Come, take this veil, and stretch it beneath thy breast. It is immortal; there is no fear that thou shalt suffer aught or perish. But when with thy hands thou hast laid hold of the land, loose it from thee, and cast it into the wine-dark sea +far from the land, and thyself turn away.” + So saying, the goddess gave him the veil, and herself plunged again into the surging deep, like a sea-mew; and the dark wave hid her. Then the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus pondered, +and deeply moved he spoke to his own mighty spirit: + “Woe is me! Let it not be that some one of the immortals is again weaving a snare for me, that she bids me leave my raft. Nay, but verily I will not yet obey, for afar off mine eyes beheld the land, where she said I was to escape. +But this will I do, and meseems that this is best: as long as the timbers hold firm in their fastenings, so long will I remain here and endure to suffer affliction; but when the wave shall have shattered the raft to pieces, I will swim, seeing that there is naught better to devise.” +While he pondered thus in mind and heart, Poseidon, the earth-shaker, made to rise up a great wave, dread and grievous, arching over from above, and drove it upon him. And as when a strong wind tosses a heap of straw that is dry, and some it scatters here, some there, +even so the wave scattered the long timbers of the raft. But Odysseus bestrode one plank, as though he were riding a horse, and stripped off the garments which beautiful Calypso had given him. Then straightway he stretched the veil beneath his breast, and flung himself headlong into the sea with hands outstretched, +ready to swim. And the lord, the earth-shaker, saw him, and he shook his head, and thus he spoke to his own heart: + “So now, after thou hast suffered many ills, go wandering over the deep, till thou comest among the folk fostered of Zeus. Yet even so, methinks, thou shalt not make any mock at thy suffering.” + +So saying, he lashed his fair-maned horses, and came to +Aegae +, where is his glorious palace. + But Athena, daughter of Zeus, took other counsel. She stayed the paths of the other winds, and bade them all cease and be lulled to rest; +but she roused the swift +North Wind +, and broke the waves before him, to the end that Zeus-born Odysseus might come among the Phaeacians, lovers of the oar, escaping from death and the fates. + Then for two nights and two days he was driven about over the swollen waves, and full often his heart forboded destruction. +But when fair-tressed Dawn brought to its birth the third day, then the wind ceased and there was a windless calm, and he caught sight of the shore close at hand, casting a quick glance forward, as he was raised up by a great wave. And even as when most welcome to his children appears the life +of a father who lies in sickness, bearing grievous pains, long while wasting away, and some cruel god assails him, but then to their joy the gods free him from his woe, so to Odysseus did the land and the wood seem welcome; and he swam on, eager to set foot on the land. +But when he was as far away as a man's voice carries when he shouts, and heard the boom of the sea upon the reefs—for the great wave thundered against the dry land, belching upon it in terrible fashion, and all things were wrapped in the foam of the sea; for there were neither harbors where ships might ride, nor road-steads, +but projecting headlands, and reefs, and cliffs—then the knees of Odysseus were loosened and his heart melted, and deeply moved he spoke to his own mighty spirit: + + “Ah me, when Zeus has at length granted me to see the land beyond my hopes, and lo, I have prevailed to cleave my way and to cross this gulf, +nowhere doth there appear a way to come forth from the grey sea. For without are sharp crags, and around them the wave roars foaming, and the rock runs up sheer, and the water is deep close in shore, so that in no wise is it possible to plant both feet firmly and escape ruin. +Haply were I to seek to land, a great wave may seize me and dash me against the jagged rock, and so shall my striving be in vain. But if I swim on yet further in hope to find shelving beaches +1 + and harbors of the sea, I fear me lest the storm-wind may catch me up again, +and bear me, groaning heavily, over the teeming deep; or lest some god may even send forth upon me some great monster from out the sea—and many such does glorious Amphitrite breed. For I know that the glorious Earth-shaker is filled with wrath against me.” + While he pondered thus in mind and heart, +a great wave bore him against the rugged shore. There would his skin have been stripped off and his bones broken, had not the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, put a thought in his mind. On he rushed and seized the rock with both hands, and clung to it, groaning, until the great wave went by. +Thus then did he escape this wave, but in its backward flow it once more rushed upon him and smote him, and flung him far out in the sea. And just as, when a cuttlefish is dragged from its hole, many pebbles cling to its suckers, even so from his strong hands +were bits of skin stripped off against the rocks; and the great wave covered him. Then verily would hapless Odysseus have perished beyond his fate, had not flashing-eyed Athena given him prudence. Making his way forth from the surge where it belched upon the shore, he swam outside, looking ever toward the land in hope to find +shelving beaches and harbors of the sea. But when, as he swam, he came to the mouth of a fair-flowing river, where seemed to him the best place, since it was smooth of stones, and besides there was shelter from the wind, he knew the river as he flowed forth, and prayed to him in his heart: + +“Hear me, O king, whosoever thou art. As to one greatly longed-for +1 + do I come to thee, seeking to escape from out the sea from the threats of Poseidon. Reverend even in the eyes of the immortal gods is that man who comes as a wanderer, even as I have now come to thy stream and to thy knees, after many toils. +Nay, pity me, O king, for I declare that I am thy suppliant.” + + So he spoke, and the god straightway stayed his stream, and checked the waves, and made a calm before him, and brought him safely to the mouth of the river. And he let his two knees bend and his strong hands fall, for his spirit was crushed by the sea. +And all his flesh was swollen, and sea water flowed in streams up through his mouth and nostrils. So he lay breathless and speechless, with scarce strength to move; for terrible weariness had come upon him. But when he revived, and his spirit returned again into his breast, then he loosed from him the veil of the goddess and let it fall into the river that murmured seaward; +and the great wave bore it back down the stream, and straightway Ino received it in her hands. But Odysseus, going back from the river, sank down in the reeds and kissed the earth, the giver of grain; and deeply moved he spoke to his own mighty spirit: + +“Ah, woe is me! what is to befall me? What will happen to me at the last? If here in the river bed I keep watch throughout the weary night, I fear that together the bitter frost and the fresh dew may overcome me, when from feebleness I have breathed forth my spirit; and the breeze from the river blows cold in the early morning. +But if I climb up the slope to the shady wood and lie down to rest in the thick brushwood, in the hope that the cold and weariness might leave me, and if sweet sleep comes over me, I fear me lest I become a prey and spoil to wild beasts.” + Then, as he pondered, this thing seemed to him the better: +he went his way to the wood and found it near the water in a clear space; and he crept beneath two bushes that grew from the same spot, one of thorn and one of olive. Through these the strength of the wet winds could never blow, nor the rays of the bright sun beat, +nor could the rain pierce through them, so closely did they grow, intertwining one with the other. Beneath these Odysseus crept and straightway gathered with his hands a broad bed, for fallen leaves were there in plenty, enough to shelter two men or three +in winter-time, however bitter the weather. And the much-enduring goodly Odysseus saw it, and was glad, and he lay down in the midst, and heaped over him the fallen leaves. And as a man hides a brand beneath the dark embers in an outlying farm, a man who has no neighbors, +and so saves a seed of fire, that he may not have to kindle it from some other source, so Odysseus covered himself with leaves. And Athena shed sleep upon his eyes, that it might enfold his lids and speedily free him from toilsome weariness. +So he lay there asleep, the much-enduring goodly Odysseus, overcome with sleep and weariness; but Athena went to the land and city of the Phaeacians. These dwelt of old in spacious Hypereia +hard by the Cyclopes, men overweening in pride who plundered them continually and were mightier than they. From thence Nausithous, the godlike, had removed them, and led and settled them in +Scheria + far from men that live by toil. About the city he had drawn a wall, he had built houses +and made temples for the gods, and divided the ploughlands; but he, ere now, had been stricken by fate and had gone to the house of Hades, and Alcinous was now king, made wise in counsel by the gods. To his house went the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, to contrive the return of great-hearted Odysseus. +She went to a chamber, richly wrought, wherein slept a maiden like the immortal goddesses in form and comeliness, Nausicaa, the daughter of great-hearted Alcinous; hard by slept two hand-maidens, gifted with beauty by the Graces, one on either side of the door-posts, and the bright doors were shut. + +But like a breath of air the goddess sped to the couch of the maiden, and stood above her head, and spoke to her, taking the form of the daughter of Dymas, famed for his ships, a girl who was of like age with Nausicaa, and was dear to her heart. Likening herself to her, the flashing-eyed Athena spoke and said: + +“Nausicaa, how comes it that thy mother bore thee so heedless? Thy bright raiment is lying uncared for; yet thy marriage is near at hand, when thou must needs thyself be clad in fair garments, and give other such to those who escort thee. It is from things like these, thou knowest, that good report goeth up among men, +and the father and honored mother rejoice. Nay, come, let us go to wash them at break of day, for I will follow with thee to aid thee, that thou mayest with speed make thee ready; for thou shalt not long remain a maiden. Even now thou hast suitors in the land, the noblest +of all the Phaeacians, from whom is thine own lineage. Nay, come, bestir thy noble father early this morning that he make ready mules and a wagon for thee, to bear the girdles and robes and bright coverlets. And for thyself, too, it is far more seemly +to go thus than on foot, for the washing tanks are far from the city.” + So saying, the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, departed to +Olympus +, where, they say, is the abode of the gods that stands fast forever. Neither is it shaken by winds nor ever wet with rain, nor does snow fall upon it, but the air +is outspread clear and cloudless, and over it hovers a radiant whiteness. Therein the blessed gods are glad all their days, and thither went the flashing-eyed one, when she had spoken all her word to the maiden. + + At once then came fair-throned Dawn and awakened Nausicaa of the beautiful robes, and straightway she marvelled at her dream, +and went through the house to tell her parents, her father dear and her mother; and she found them both within. The mother sat at the hearth with her handmaidens, spinning the yarn of purple dye, and her father she met as he was going forth to join the glorious kings +in the place of council, to which the lordly Phaeacians called him. But she came up close to her dear father, and said: + “Papa dear, wilt thou not make ready for me a wagon, high and stout of wheel, that I may take to the river for washing the goodly raiment of mine which is lying here soiled? +Moreover for thyself it is seemly that when thou art at council with the princes thou shouldst have clean raiment upon thee; and thou hast five sons living in thy halls—two are wedded, but three are sturdy bachelors—and these ever wish to put on them freshly-washed raiment, +when they go to the dance. Of all this must I take thought.” + So she spoke, for she was ashamed to name gladsome +1 + marriage to her father; but he understood all, and answered, saying: “Neither the mules do I begrudge thee, my child, nor aught beside. Go thy way; the slaves shall make ready for thee the wagon, +high and stout of wheel and fitted with a box above.” +2 + + With this he called to the slaves, and they hearkened. Outside the palace they made ready the light-running mule wagon, and led up the mules and yoked them to it; and the maiden brought from her chamber the bright raiment, +and placed it upon the polished car, while her mother put in a chest food of all sorts to satisfy the heart. Therein she put dainties, and poured wine in a goat-skin flask; and the maiden mounted upon the wagon. Her mother gave her also soft olive oil in a flask of gold, +that she and her maidens might have it for the bath. Then Nausicaa took the whip and the bright reins, and smote the mules to start them; and there was a clatter of the mules as they sped on a main, bearing the raiment and the maiden; neither went she alone, for with her went her handmaids as well. +Now when they came to the beautiful streams of the river, where were the washing tanks that never failed—for abundant clear water welled up from beneath and flowed over, to cleanse garments however soiled—there they loosed the mules from under the wagon and drove them along the eddying river +to graze on the honey-sweet water-grass, and themselves took in their arms the raiment from the wagon, and bore it into the dark water, and trampled it in the trenches, busily vying each with each. Now when they had washed the garments, and had cleansed them of all the stains, they spread them out in rows on the shore of the sea where +the waves dashing against the land washed the pebbles cleanest; and they, after they had bathed and anointed themselves richly with oil, took their meal on the river's banks, and waited for the clothing to dry in the bright sunshine. Then when they had had their joy of food, she and her handmaids, +they threw off their head-gear and fell to playing at ball, and white-armed Nausicaa was leader in the song. +1 + And even as Artemis, the archer, roves over the mountains, along the ridges of lofty Taygetus or Erymanthus, joying in the pursuit of boars and swift deer, +and with her sport the wood-nymphs, the daughters of Zeus who bears the aegis, and Leto is glad at heart—high above them all Artemis holds her head and brows, and easily may she be known, though all are fair—so amid her handmaidens shone the maid unwed. + +But when she was about to yoke the mules, and fold the fair raiment, in order to return homeward, then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, took other counsel, that Odysseus might awake and see the fair-faced maid, who should lead him to the city of the Phaeacians. +So then the princess tossed the ball to one of her maidens; the maiden indeed she missed, but cast it into a deep eddy, and thereat they cried aloud, and goodly Odysseus awoke, and sat up, and thus he pondered in mind and heart: + “Woe is me! to the land of what mortals am I now come? +Are they cruel, and wild, and unjust? or do they love strangers and fear the gods in their thoughts? There rang in my ears a cry as of maidens, of nymphs who haunt the towering peaks of the mountains, the springs that feed the rivers, and the grassy meadows! +Can it be that I am somewhere near men of human speech? Nay, I will myself make trial and see.” + + So saying the goodly Odysseus came forth from beneath the bushes, and with his stout hand he broke from the thick wood a leafy branch, that he might hold it about him and hide therewith his nakedness. +Forth he came like a mountain-nurtured lion trusting in his might, who goes forth, beaten with rain and wind, but his two eyes are ablaze: into the midst of the kine he goes, or of the sheep, or on the track of the wild deer, and his belly bids him go even into the close-built fold, to make an attack upon the flocks. +Even so Odysseus was about to enter the company of the fair-tressed maidens, naked though he was, for need had come upon him. But terrible did he seem to them, all befouled with brine, and they shrank in fear, one here, one there, along the jutting sand-spits. Alone the daughter of Alcinous kept her place, for +in her heart Athena put courage, and took fear from her limbs. She fled not, but stood and faced him; and Odysseus pondered whether he should clasp the knees of the fair-faced maid, and make his prayer, or whether, standing apart as he was, he should beseech her with gentle words, in hope that she might show him the city and give him raiment. +And, as he pondered, it seemed to him better to stand apart and beseech her with gentle words, lest the maiden's heart should be wroth with him if he clasped her knees; so straightway he spoke a gentle word and crafty: + “I beseech thee, O queen,—a goddess art thou, or art thou mortal? +If thou art a goddess, one of those who hold broad heaven, to Artemis, the daughter of great Zeus, do I liken thee most nearly in comeliness and in stature and in form. But if thou art one of mortals who dwell upon the earth, thrice-blessed then are thy father and thy honored mother, +and thrice-blessed thy brethren. Full well, I ween, are their hearts ever warmed with joy because of thee, as they see thee entering the dance, a plant +1 + so fair. But he again is blessed in heart above all others, who shall prevail with his gifts of wooing and lead thee to his home. +For never yet have mine eyes looked upon a mortal such as thou, whether man or woman; amazement holds me as I look on thee. +Of a truth in +Delos + once I saw such a thing, a young shoot of a palm springing up beside the altar of Apollo—for thither, too, I went, and much people followed with me, +on that journey on which evil woes were to be my portion;—even so, when I saw that, I marvelled long at heart, for never yet did such a tree spring up from the earth. And in like manner, lady, do I marvel at thee, and am amazed, and fear greatly to touch thy knees; but sore grief has come upon me. +Yesterday, on the twentieth day, I escaped from the wine-dark sea, but ever until then the wave and the swift winds bore me from the island of Ogygia; and now fate has cast me ashore here, that here too, haply, I may suffer some ill. For not yet, methinks, will my troubles cease, but the gods ere that will bring many to pass. +Nay, O queen, have pity; for it is to thee first that I am come after many grievous toils, and of the others who possess this city and land I know not one. Shew me the city, and give me some rag to throw about me, if thou hadst any wrapping for the clothes when thou camest hither. +And for thyself, may the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires; a husband and a home may they grant thee, and oneness of heart—a goodly gift. For nothing is greater or better than this, when man and wife dwell in a home in one accord, a great grief to their foes +and a joy to their friends; but they know it +1 + best themselves.” + Then white-armed Nausicaa answered him:“Stranger, since thou seemest to be neither an evil man nor a witless, and it is Zeus himself, the Olympian, that gives happy fortune to men, both to the good and the evil, to each man as he will; +so to thee, I ween, he has given this lot, and thou must in any case endure it. But now, since thou hast come to our city and land, thou shalt not lack clothing or aught else of those things which befit a sore-tried suppliant when he cometh in the way. The city will I shew thee, and will tell thee the name of the people. +The Phaeacians possess this city and land, and I am the daughter of great-hearted Alcinous, upon whom depend the might and power of the Phaeacians.” + She spoke, and called to her fair-tressed handmaids:“Stand, my maidens. Whither do ye flee at the sight of a man? +Ye do not think, surely, that he is an enemy? That mortal man lives not, or exists +1 + nor shall ever be born who shall come to the land of the Phaeacians as a foeman, for we are very dear to the immortals. Far off we dwell in the surging sea, +the furthermost of men, and no other mortals have dealings with us. Nay, this is some hapless wanderer that has come hither. Him must we now tend; for from Zeus are all strangers and beggars, and a gift, though small, is welcome. Come, then, my maidens, give to the stranger food and drink, +and bathe him in the river in a spot where there is shelter from the wind.” + + So she spoke, and they halted and called to each other. Then they set Odysseus in a sheltered place, as Nausicaa, the daughter of great-hearted Alcinous, bade, and beside him they put a cloak and a tunic for raiment, +and gave him soft olive oil in the flask of gold, and bade him bathe in the streams of the river. Then among the maidens spoke goodly Odysseus: “Maidens, stand yonder apart, that by myself I may wash the brine from my shoulders, and +anoint myself with olive oil; for of a truth it is long since oil came near my skin. But in your presence will I not bathe, for I am ashamed to make me naked in the midst of fair-tressed maidens.” + So he said, and they went apart and told the princess. But with water from the river goodly Odysseus washed from his skin +the brine which clothed his back and broad shoulders, and from his head he wiped the scurf of the unresting sea. But when he had washed his whole body and anointed himself with oil, and had put on him the raiment which the unwedded maid had given him, then Athena, the daughter of Zeus, made him +taller to look upon and mightier, and from his head she made the locks to flow in curls like unto the hyacinth flower. And as when a man overlays silver with gold, a cunning workman whom Hephaestus and Pallas Athena have taught all manner of craft, and full of grace is the work he produces, +even so the goddess shed grace upon his head and shoulders. Then he went apart and sat down on the shore of the sea, gleaming with beauty and grace; and the damsel marvelled at him, and spoke to her fair-tressed handmaids, saying: + “Listen, white-armed maidens, that I may say somewhat. +Not without the will of all the gods who hold +Olympus + does this man come among the godlike Phaeacians. Before he seemed to me uncouth, but now he is like the gods, who hold broad heaven. Would that a man such as he might be called my husband, +dwelling here, and that it might please him here to remain. But come, my maidens; give to the stranger food and drink.” + So she spoke, and they readily hearkened and obeyed, and set before Odysseus food and drink. Then verily did the much-enduring goodly Odysseus drink and eat, +ravenously; for long had he been without taste of food. + + But the white-armed Nausicaa took other counsel. She folded the raiment and put it in the fair wagon, and yoked the stout-hoofed mules, and mounted the car herself. Then she hailed Odysseus, and spoke and addressed him: +“Rouse thee now, stranger, to go to the city, that I may escort thee to the house of my wise father, where, I tell thee, thou shalt come to know all the noblest of the Phaeacians. Only do thou thus, and, methinks, thou dost not lack understanding: so long as we are passing through the country and the tilled fields of men go thou quickly +with the handmaids behind the mules and the wagon, and I will lead the way. But when we are about to enter the city, around which runs a lofty wall,—a fair harbor lies on either side of the city and the entrance is narrow, and curved ships +are drawn up along the road, for they all have stations for their ships, each man one for himself. There, too, is their place of assembly about the fair temple of Poseidon, fitted with huge +1 + stones set deep in the earth. Here the men are busied with the tackle of their black ships, with cables and sails, and here they shape the thin oar-blades. + For the Phaeacians care not for bow or quiver, but for masts and oars of ships, and for the shapely ships, rejoicing in which they cross over the grey sea. It is their ungentle speech that I shun, lest hereafter some man should taunt me, for indeed there are insolent folk in the land, +and thus might some baser fellow say, shall he meet us: ‘Who is this that follows Nausicaa, a comely man and tall, a stranger? Where did she find him? He will doubtless be a husband for her. Haply she has brought from his ship some wanderer of a folk that dwell afar—for none are near us— +or some god, long prayed-for, has come down from heaven in answer to her prayers, and she will have him as her husband all her days. Better so, even if she has herself gone forth and found a husband from another people; for of a truth she scorns the Phaeacians here in the land, where she has wooers many and noble!’ +So will they say, and this would become a reproach to me. Yea, I would myself blame another maiden who should do such thing, and in despite of her dear father and mother, while yet they live, should consort with men before the day of open marriage. +Nay, stranger, do thou quickly hearken to my words, that with all speed +thou mayest win from my father an escort and a return to thy land. Thou wilt find a goodly grove of Athena hard by the road, a grove of poplar trees. In it a spring wells up, and round about is a meadow. There is my father's park and fruitful vineyard, as far from the city as a man's voice carries when he shouts. +Sit thou down there, and wait for a time, until we come to the city and reach the house of my father. But when thou thinkest that we have reached the house, then do thou go to the city of the Phaeacians and ask for the house of my father, great-hearted Alcinous. +Easily may it be known, and a child could guide thee, a mere babe; for the houses of the Phaeacians are no wise built of such sort as is the palace of the lord Alcinous. But when the house and the court enclose thee, pass quickly through the great hall, till thou comest +to my mother, who sits at the hearth in the light of the fire, spinning the purple yarn, a wonder to behold, leaning against a pillar, and her handmaids sit behind her. There, too, leaning against the selfsame pillar, is set the throne of my father, whereon he sits and quaffs his wine, like unto an immortal. +Him pass thou by, and cast thy hands about my mother's knees, that thou mayest quickly see with rejoicing the day of thy return, though thou art come from never so far. If in her sight thou dost win favour, then there is hope that thou wilt see thy friends, and return +to thy well-built house and unto thy native land.” + So saying, she smote the mules with the shining whip, and they quickly left the streams of the river. Well did they trot, well did they ply their ambling feet, +1 + and she drove with care that +the maidens and Odysseus might follow on foot, and with judgment did she ply the lash. Then the sun set, and they came to the glorious grove, sacred to Athena. There Odysseus sat him down, and straightway prayed to the daughter of great Zeus: “Hear me, child of aegis-bearing Zeus, unwearied one. +Hearken now to my prayer, since aforetime thou didst not hearken when I was smitten, what time the glorious Earth-shaker smote me. Grant that I may come to the Phaeacians as one to be welcomed and to be pitied.” + So he spoke in prayer, and Pallas Athena heard him; but she did not yet appear to him face to face, for she feared +her father's brother; but he furiously raged against godlike Odysseus, until at length he reached his own land. +So he prayed there, the much-enduring goodly Odysseus, while the two strong mules bore the maiden to the city. But when she had come to the glorious palace of her father, she halted the mules at the outer gate, and her brothers +thronged about her, men like the immortals, and loosed the mules from the wagon, and bore the raiment within; and she herself went to her chamber. There a fire was kindled for her by her waiting-woman, Eurymedusa, an aged dame from Apeire. Long ago the curved ships had brought her from Apeire, +and men had chosen her from the spoil as a gift of honor for Alcinous, for that he was king over all the Phaeacians, and the people hearkened to him as to a god. She it was who had reared the white-armed Nausicaa in the palace, and she it was who kindled the fire for her, and made ready her supper in the chamber. + Then Odysseus roused himself to go to the city, and Athena, +with kindly purpose, cast about him a thick mist, that no one of the great-hearted Phaeacians, meeting him, should speak mockingly to him, and ask him who he was. But when he was about to enter the lovely city, then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, met him +in the guise of a young maiden carrying a pitcher, and she stood before him; and goodly Odysseus questioned her, saying: + “My child, couldst thou not guide me to the house of him they call Alcinous, who is lord among the people here? For I am come hither a stranger sore-tried +from afar, from a distant country; wherefore I know no one of the people who possess this city and land.” + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Then verily, Sir stranger, I will shew thee the palace as thou dost bid me, for it lies hard by the house of my own noble father. +Only go thou quietly, and I will lead the way. But turn not thine eyes upon any man nor question any, for the men here endure not stranger-folk, nor do they give kindly welcome to him who comes from another land. They, indeed, trusting in the speed of their swift ships, +cross over the great gulf of the sea, for this the Earth-shaker has granted them; and their ships are swift as a bird on the wing or as a thought.” + + So speaking, Pallas Athena led the way quickly, and he followed in the footsteps of the goddess. +And as he went through the city in the midst of them, the Phaeacians, famed for their ships, took no heed of him, for fair-tressed Athena, the dread goddess, would not suffer it, but shed about him a wondrous mist, for her heart was kind toward him. And Odysseus marvelled at the harbors and the stately ships, at the meeting-places where the heroes themselves gathered, and the walls, long and +high and crowned with palisades, a wonder to behold. But when they had come to the glorious palace of the king, the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, was the first to speak, saying: + “Here, Sir stranger, is the house which thou didst bid me shew to thee, and thou wilt find the kings, fostered of Zeus, +feasting at the banquet. Go thou within, and let thy heart fear nothing; for a bold man is better in all things, though he be a stranger from another land. The queen shalt thou approach first in the palace; Arete is the name by which she is called, +and she is sprung from the same line as is the king Alcinous. Nausithous at the first was born from the earth-shaker Poseidon and Periboea, the comeliest of women, youngest daughter of great-hearted Eurymedon, who once was king over the insolent Giants. +But he brought destruction on his froward people, and was himself destroyed. But with Periboea lay Poseidon and begat a son, great-hearted Nausithous, who ruled over the Phaeacians; and Nausithous begat Rhexenor and Alcinous. Rhexenor, when as yet he had no son, Apollo of the silver bow smote +in his hall, a bridegroom though he was, and he left only one daughter, Arete. Her Alcinous made his wife, and honored her as no other woman on earth is honored, of all those who in these days direct their households in subjection to their husbands; so heartily is she honored, +and has ever been, by her children and by Alcinous himself and by the people, who look upon her as upon a goddess, and greet her as she goes through the city. For she of herself is no wise lacking in good understanding, and for the women +1 + to whom she has good will she makes an end of strife even among their husbands. +If in her sight thou dost win favour, then there is hope that thou wilt see thy friends, and return to thy high-roofed house and unto thy native land.” + + So saying, flashing-eyed Athena departed over the unresting sea, and left lovely +Scheria +. +She came to Marathon and broad-wayed +Athens +, and entered the well-built house of Erectheus; but Odysseus went to the glorious palace of Alcinous. There he stood, and his heart pondered much before he reached the threshold of bronze; for there was a gleam as of sun or moon +over the high-roofed house of great-hearted Alcinous. Of bronze were the walls that stretched this way and that from the threshold to the innermost chamber, and around was a cornice of cyanus. +2 + Golden were the doors that shut in the well-built house, and doorposts of silver were set in a threshold of bronze. +Of silver was the lintel above, and of gold the handle. On either side of the door there stood gold and silver dogs, which Hephaestus had fashioned with cunning skill to guard the palace of great-hearted Alcinous; immortal were they and ageless all their days. +3 +Within, seats were fixed along the wall on either hand, from the threshold to the innermost chamber, and on them were thrown robes of soft fabric, cunningly woven, the handiwork of women. On these the leaders of the Phaeacians were wont to sit drinking and eating, for they had unfailing store. +And golden youths stood on well-built pedestals, holding lighted torches in their hands to give light by night to the banqueters in the hall. And fifty slave-women he had in the house, of whom some grind the yellow grain on the millstone, +and others weave webs, or, as they sit, twirl the yarn, like unto the leaves +1 + of a tall poplar tree; and from the closely-woven linen the soft olive oil drips down. +2 +For as the Phaeacian men are skilled above all others in speeding a swift ship upon the sea, so are the women +cunning workers at the loom, for Athena has given to them above all others skill in fair handiwork, and an understanding heart. But without the courtyard, hard by the door, is a great orchard of four acres, +3 + and a hedge runs about it on either side. Therein grow trees, tall and luxuriant, +pears and pomegranates and apple-trees with their bright fruit, and sweet figs, and luxuriant olives. Of these the fruit perishes not nor fails in winter or in summer, but lasts throughout the year; and ever does the west wind, as it blows, quicken to life some fruits, and ripen others; +pear upon pear waxes ripe, apple upon apple, cluster upon cluster, and fig upon fig. There, too, is his fruitful vineyard planted, one part of which, a warm spot on level ground, is being dried in the sun, while other grapes men are gathering, +and others, too, they are treading; but in front are unripe grapes that are shedding the blossom, and others that are turning purple. There again, by the last row of the vines, grow trim garden beds of every sort, blooming the year through, and therein are two springs, one of which sends its water throughout all the garden, +while the other, over against it, flows beneath the threshold of the court toward the high house; from this the townsfolk drew their water. Such were the glorious gifts of the gods in the palace of Alcinous. + There the much-enduring goodly Odysseus stood and gazed. But when he had marvelled in his heart at all things, +he passed quickly over the threshold into the house. There he found the leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians pouring libations from their cups to the keen-sighted Argeiphontes, to whom they were wont to pour the wine last of all, when they were minded to go to their rest. But the much-enduring goodly Odysseus went through the hall, +wrapped in the thick mist which Athena had shed about him, till he came to Arete and to Alcinous the king. About the knees of Arete Odysseus cast his hands, and straightway the wondrous mist melted from him, and a hush fell upon all that were in the room at sight of the man, +and they marvelled as they looked upon him. But Odysseus made his prayer: + “Arete, daughter of godlike Rhexenor, to thy husband and to thy knees am I come after many toils,—aye and to these banqueters, to whom may the gods grant happiness in life, and may each of them hand down to his children +the wealth in his halls, and the dues of honor which the people have given him. But for me do ye speed my sending, that I may come to my native land, and that quickly; for long time have I been suffering woes far from my friends.” + + So saying he sat down on the hearth in the ashes by the fire, and they were all hushed in silence. +But at length there spoke among them the old lord Echeneus, who was an elder among the Phaeacians, well skilled in speech, and understanding all the wisdom of old. He with good intent addressed the assembly, and said: “Alcinous, lo, this is not the better way, nor is it seemly, +that a stranger should sit upon the ground on the hearth in the ashes; but these others hold back waiting for thy word. Come, make the stranger to arise, and set him upon a silver-studded chair, and bid the heralds mix wine, +that we may pour libations also to Zeus, who hurls the thunderbolt; for he ever attends upon reverend suppliants. And let the housewife give supper to the stranger of the store that is in the house.” + When the strong and mighty Alcinous heard this, he took by the hand Odysseus, the wise and crafty-minded, and raised him from the hearth, and set him upon a bright chair +from which he bade his son, the kindly +1 + Laodamas, to rise; for he sat next to him, and was his best beloved. Then a handmaid brought water for the hands in a fair pitcher of gold, and poured it over a silver basin, for him to wash, and beside him drew up a polished table. +And the grave housewife brought and set before him bread, and therewith dainties in abundance, giving freely of her store. So the much-enduring goodly Odysseus drank and ate; and then the mighty Alcinous spoke to the herald, and said: + “Pontonous, mix the bowl, and serve wine +to all in the hall, that we may pour libations also to Zeus, who hurls the thunderbolt; for he ever attends upon reverend suppliants.” + He spoke, and Pontonous mixed the honey-hearted wine, and served out to all, pouring first drops for libation into the cups. But when they had poured libations, and had drunk to their heart's content, +Alcinous addressed the assembly, and spoke among them: + “Hearken to me, leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians, that I may say what the heart in my breast bids me. Now that ye have finished your feast, go each of you to his house to rest. But in the morning we will call more of the elders together, +and will entertain the stranger in our halls and offer goodly victims to the gods. After that we will take thought also of his sending, that without toil or pain yon stranger may under our sending, come to his native land speedily and with rejoicing, though he come from never so far. +Nor shall he meanwhile suffer any evil or harm, until he sets foot upon his own land; but thereafter he shall suffer whatever Fate and the dread Spinners spun with their thread for him at his birth, when his mother bore him. +But if he is one of the immortals come down from heaven, +then is this some new thing which the gods are planning; for ever heretofore have they been wont to appear to us in manifest form, when we sacrifice to them glorious hecatombs, and they feast among us, sitting even where we sit. Aye, and if one of us as a lone wayfarer meets them, +they use no concealment, for we are of near kin to them, as are the Cyclopes and the wild tribes of the Giants.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Alcinous, far from thee be that thought; for I am not like the immortals, who hold broad heaven, +either in stature or in form, but like mortal men. Whomsoever ye know among men who bear greatest burden of woe, to them might I liken myself in my sorrows. Yea, and I could tell a yet longer tale of all the evils which I have endured by the will of the gods. +But as for me, suffer me now to eat, despite my grief; for there is nothing more shameless than a hateful belly, which bids a man perforce take thought thereof, be he never so sore distressed and laden with grief at heart, even as I, too, am laden with grief at heart, yet ever does my belly +bid me eat and drink, and makes me forget all that I have suffered, and commands me to eat my fill. But do ye make haste at break of day, that ye may set me, hapless one, on the soil of my native land, even after my many woes. Yea, let life leave me, when I have seen once more +my possessions, my slaves, and my great high-roofed house.” + So he spoke, and they all praised his words, and bade send the stranger on his way, since he had spoken fittingly. Then when they had poured libations, and had drunk to their heart's content, they went each man to his home, to take their rest, +and goodly Odysseus was left behind in the hall, and beside him sat Arete and godlike Alcinous; and the handmaids cleared away the dishes of the feast. Then white-armed Arete was the first to speak; for, as she saw it, she knew his +fair raiment, the mantle and tunic, which she herself had wrought with her handmaids. And she spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + “Stranger, this question will I myself ask thee first. Who art thou among men, and from whence? Who gave thee this raiment? Didst thou not say that thou camest hither wandering over the sea?” +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Hard were it, O queen, to tell to the end the tale of my woes, since full many have the heavenly gods given me. But this will I tell thee, of which thou dost ask and enquire. There is an isle, Ogygia, which lies far off in the sea. +Therein dwells the fair-tressed daughter of Atlas, guileful Calypso, a dread goddess, and with her no one either of gods or mortals hath aught to do; but me in my wretchedness did fate bring to her hearth alone, for Zeus had smitten my swift ship with his bright thunderbolt, +and had shattered it in the midst of the wine-dark sea. There all the rest of my trusty comrades perished, but I clasped in my arms the keel of my curved ship and was borne drifting for nine days, and on the tenth black night the gods brought me to the isle, Ogygia, where +the fair-tressed Calypso dwells, a dread goddess. She took me to her home with kindly welcome, and gave me food, and said that she would make me immortal and ageless all my days; but she could never persuade the heart in my breast. There for seven years' space I remained continually, and ever +with my tears would I wet the immortal raiment which Calypso gave me. But when the eight year came in circling course, then she roused me and bade me go, either because of some message from Zeus, or because her own mind was turned. And she sent me on my way on a raft, stoutly bound, and gave me abundant store +of bread and sweet wine, and clad me in immortal raiment, and sent forth a gentle wind and warm. So for seventeen days I sailed over the sea, and on the eighteenth appeared the shadowy mountains of your land; and my heart was glad, +ill-starred that I was; for verily I was yet to have fellowship with great woe, which Poseidon, the earth-shaker, sent upon me. For he stirred up the winds against me and stayed my course, and wondrously roused the sea, nor would the wave suffer me to be borne upon my raft, as I groaned ceaselessly. +My raft indeed the storm shattered, but by swimming I clove my way through yon gulf of the sea, until the wind and the waves, as they bore me, brought me to your shores. There, had I sought to land, the waves would have hurled me upon the shore, and dashed me against the great crags and a cheerless place, +but I gave way, and swam back until I came to a river, where seemed to me the best place, since it was smooth of rocks, and besides there was shelter from the wind. Forth then I staggered, and sank down, gasping for breath, and immortal night came on. Then I went forth from the heaven-fed river, +and lay down to sleep in the bushes, gathering leaves about me; and a god shed over me infinite sleep. +So there among the leaves I slept, my heart sore stricken, the whole night through, until the morning and until midday; and the sun turned to his setting +1 + ere sweet sleep released me. +Then I saw the handmaids of thy daughter on the shore at play, and amid them was she, fair as the goddesses. To her I made my prayer; and she in no wise failed in good understanding, to do as thou wouldst not deem that one of younger years would do on meeting thee; for younger folk are ever thoughtless. +She gave bread in plenty and sparkling wine, and bathed me in the river, and gave me this raiment. In this, for all my sorrows, have I told thee the truth.” + Then in turn Alcinous answered him, and said:“Stranger, verily my daughter was not minded aright in this, +that she did not bring thee to our house with her maidens. Yet it was to her first that thou didst make thy prayer.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Prince, rebuke not for this, I pray thee, thy blameless daughter. She did indeed bid me follow with her maidens, +but I would not for fear and shame, lest haply thy heart should darken with wrath as thou sawest it; for we are quick to anger, we tribes of men upon the earth.” + And again Alcinous answered him, and said:“Stranger, not such is the heart in my breast, +to be filled with wrath without a cause. Better is due measure in all things. I would, O father Zeus, and Athena and Apollo, that thou, so goodly a man, and like-minded with me, wouldst have my daughter to wife, and be called my son, and abide here; a house and possessions would I give thee, +if thou shouldst choose to remain, but against thy will shall no one of the Phaeacians keep thee; let not that be the will of father Zeus. +But as for thy sending, that thou mayest know it surely, I appoint a time thereto, even the morrow. Then shalt thou lie down, overcome by sleep, and they shall row thee over the calm sea until thou comest +to thy country and thy house, or to whatsoever place thou wilt, aye though it be even far beyond +Euboea +, which those of our people who saw it, when they carried fair-haired Rhadamanthus to visit Tityus, the son of Gaea, say is the furthest of lands. +Thither they went, and without toil accomplished their journey, and on the selfsame day came back home. So shalt thou, too, know for thyself how far my ships are the best, and my youths at tossing the brine with the oar-blade.” + So said he, and the much-enduring goodly Odysseus was glad; +and he spoke in prayer, and said: “Father Zeus, grant that Alcinous may bring to pass all that he has said. So shall his fame be unquenchable over the earth, the giver of grain, and I shall reach my native land.” + Thus they spoke to one another, +and white-armed Arete bade her maidens place a bedstead under cover of the portico, and to lay on it fair blankets of purple, and to spread there over coverlets, and on these to put fleecy cloaks for clothing. So they went forth from the hall with torches in their hands. +But when they had busily spread the stout-built bedstead, they came to Odysseus, and called to him, and said: “Rouse thee now, stranger, to go to thy rest; thy bed is made.” + Thus they spoke, and welcome did it seem to him to lay him down to sleep. So there he slept, the much-enduring goodly Odysseus, +on the corded bedstead under the echoing portico. But Alcinous lay down in the inmost chamber of the lofty house, and beside him lay the lady his wife, who had strewn the couch. +As soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, the strong and mighty Alcinous rose from his couch, and up rose also Zeus-born Odysseus, the sacker of cities. And the strong and mighty Alcinous led the way +to the place of assembly of the Phaeacians, which was builded for them hard by their ships. Thither they came and sat down on the polished stones close by one another; and Pallas Athena went throughout the city, in the likeness of the herald of wise Alcinous, devising a return for great-hearted Odysseus. +To each man's side she came, and spoke and said: + “Hither now, leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians, come to the place of assembly, that you may learn of the stranger who has newly come to the palace of wise Alcinous after his wanderings over the sea, and in form is like unto the immortals.” + +So saying she roused the spirit and heart of each man, and speedily the place of assembly and the seats were filled with men that gathered. And many marvelled at the sight of the wise son of Laertes, for wondrous was the grace that Athena shed upon his head and shoulders; +and she made him taller and sturdier to behold, that he might be welcomed by all the Phaeacians, and win awe and reverence, and might accomplish the many feats wherein the Phaeacians made trial of Odysseus. Now when they were assembled and met together, +Alcinous addressed their assembly and spoke among them: + “Hearken to me, leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians, that I may speak what the heart in my breast bids me. This stranger—I know not who he is—has come to my house in his wanderings, whether from men of the east or of the west. +He urges that he be sent on his way, and prays for assurance, and let us on our part, as of old we were wont, speed on his sending; for verily no man soever who comes to my house, abides here long in sorrow for lack of sending. Nay come, let us draw a black ship down to the bright sea +for her first voyage, and let men choose two and fifty youths from out the people, even those that have heretofore been the best. And when you have all duly lashed the oars to the thole-pins, +1 + go ashore, and then go your way to my house, and prepare a feast with speed; and I will provide bountifully for all. +To the youths this is my command, but do you others, the sceptred kings, come to my fair palace, that we may entertain yon stranger in the halls; and let no man say me nay. And summon hither the divine minstrel, Demodocus; for to him above all others has the god granted skill in song, +to give delight in whatever way his spirit prompts him to sing.” + + So saying, he led the way, and the sceptred kings followed him, while a herald went for the divine minstrel. And chosen youths, two and fifty, went, as he bade, to the shore of the unresting sea. +And when they had come down to the ship and to the sea, they drew the black ship down to the deep water, and placed the mast and sail in the black ship, and fitted the oars in the leathern thole-straps, all in due order, and spread the white sail. +Well out in the roadstead they moored the ship, and then went their way to the great palace of the wise Alcinous. Filled were the porticoes and courts and rooms with the men that gathered, for many there were, both young and old. For them Alcinous slaughtered twelve sheep, +and eight white-tusked boars, and two oxen of shambling gait. These they flayed and dressed, and made ready a goodly feast. + Then the herald drew near, leading the good minstrel, whom the Muse loved above all other men, and gave him both good and evil; of his sight she deprived him, but gave him the gift of sweet song. +For him Pontonous, the herald, set a silver-studded chair in the midst of the banqueters, leaning it against a tall pillar, and he hung the clear-toned lyre from a peg close above his head, and showed him how to reach it with his hands. And beside him he placed a basket and a beautiful table, +and a cup of wine, to drink when his heart should bid him. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, the Muse moved the minstrel to sing of the glorious deeds of warriors, from that lay the fame whereof had then reached broad heaven, +even the quarrel of Odysseus and Achilles, son of Peleus, how once they strove with furious words at a rich feast of the gods, and Agamemnon, king of men, was glad at heart that the best of the Achaeans were quarrelling; for thus Phoebus Apollo, in giving his response, had told him that it should be, +in sacred +Pytho +, when he passed over the threshold of stone to enquire of the oracle. For then the beginning of woe was rolling upon Trojans and Danaans through the will of great Zeus. + + This song the famous minstrel sang; but Odysseus grasped his great purple cloak with his stout hands, +and drew it down over his head, and hid his comely face; for he had shame of the Phaeacians as he let fall tears from beneath his eyebrows. Yea, and as often as the divine minstrel ceased his singing, Odysseus would wipe away his tears and draw the cloak from off his head, and taking the two-handled cup would pour libations to the gods. +But as often as he began again, and the nobles of the Phaeacians bade him sing, because they took pleasure in his lay, Odysseus would again cover his head and moan. Now from all the rest he concealed the tears that he shed, but Alcinous alone marked him and took heed, +for he sat by him, and heard him groaning heavily. And straightway he spoke among the Phaeacians, lovers of the oar: + “Hear me, ye leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians, already have we satisfied our hearts with the equal banquet and with the lyre, which is the companion of the rich feast. +But now let us go forth, and make trial of all manner of games, that yon stranger may tell his friends, when he returns home, how far we excel other men in boxing and wrestling and leaping and in speed of foot.” + So saying, he led the way, and they followed him. +From the peg the herald hung the clear-toned lyre, and took Demodocus by the hand, and led him forth from the hall, guiding him by the self-same road by which the others, the nobles of the Phaeacians, had gone to gaze upon the games. They went their way to the place of assembly, and with them went a great throng, +past counting; and up rose many noble youths. There rose Acroneus, and Ocyalus, and Elatreus, and Nauteus, and Prymneus, and Anchialus, and Eretmeus, and Ponteus, and Proreus, Thoon and Anabesineus, +and Amphialus, son of Polyneus, son of Tecton; and up rose also Euryalus, the peer of man-destroying Ares, the son of Naubolus, who in comeliness and form was the best of all the Phaeacians after peerless Laodamas; and up rose the three sons of noble Alcinous, Laodamas, and Halius, and godlike Clytoneus. +These then first made trial in the foot-race. +A course was marked out for them from the turning point, +1 + and they all sped swiftly, raising the dust of the plain; but among them noble Clytoneus was far the best at running, and by as far as is the range +2 + of a team of mules in fallow land, +by so far he shot to the front and reached the host, and the others were left behind. Then they made trial of toilsome wrestling, and here in turn Euryalus excelled all the princes. And in leaping Amphialus was best of all, and with the discus again far the best of all was Elatreus, +and in boxing Laodamas, the good son of Alcinous. But when the hearts of all had taken pleasure in the contests, Laodamas, the son of Alcinous, spoke among them: + “Come, friends, let us ask yon stranger whether he knows and has learned any contests. In build, surely, he is no mean man, +in thighs and calves, and in his two arms above, his stout neck, and his great might. In no wise does he lack aught of the strength of youth, but he has been broken by many troubles. For to my mind there is naught worse than the sea to confound a man, be he never so strong.” + +And Euryalus in turn answered him, and said:“Laodamas, this word of thine is right fitly spoken. Go now thyself and challenge him, and make known thy word.” + Now when the good son of Alcinous heard this he came and took his stand in the midst and spoke to Odysseus: +“Come, Sir stranger, do thou, too, make trial of the contests, if thou knowest any; and it must be that thou knowest contests, for there is no greater glory for a man so long as he lives than that which he achieves by his own hands and his feet. Nay, come, make trial, and cast away care from thy heart. +Thy journey shall no more be long delayed, nay, even now thy ship is launched and the crew is ready.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Laodamas, why do ye mock me with this challenge? Sorrow is in my mind far more than contests, +seeing that in time past I have suffered much and toiled much, and now I sit in the midst of your assembly, longing for my return home, and making my prayer to the king and to all the people.” + Then again Euryalus made answer and taunted him to his face: “Nay verily, stranger, for I do not liken thee to a man that is skilled +in contests, such as abound among men, but to one who, faring to and fro with his benched ship, is a captain of sailors who are merchantmen, one who is mindful of his freight, and has charge of a home-borne cargo, and the gains of his greed. Thou dost not look like an athlete.” +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus of many wiles answered him: “Stranger, thou hast not spoken well; thou art as one blind with folly. So true is it that the gods do not give gracious gifts to all alike, not form nor mind nor eloquence. For one man is inferior in comeliness, +but the god sets a crown +1 + of beauty upon his words, and men look upon him with delight, and he speaks on unfalteringly with sweet modesty, and is conspicuous among the gathered people, and as he goes through the city men gaze upon him as upon a god. Another again is in comeliness like the immortals, +but no crown of grace is set about his words. So, in thy case, thy comeliness is preeminent, nor could a god himself mend it, but in mind thou art stunted. Thou hast stirred the spirit in my breast by speaking thus unmannerly. I am not unskilled in sports +as thou pratest, nay, methinks I was among the first so long as I trusted in my youth and in my hands. But now I am bound by suffering and pains; for much have I endured in passing through wars of men and the grievous waves. But even so, though I have suffered much, I will make trial of the contests, +for thy word has stung me to the heart, and thou hast provoked me with thy speech.” + He spoke, and, leaping up with his cloak about him as it was, seized a discus larger than the rest and thick, no little heavier than those with which the Phaeacians were wont to contend one with another. This with a whirl he sent from his stout hand, +and the stone hummed as it flew; and down they crouched to the earth, the Phaeacians of the long oars, men famed for their ships, beneath the rush of the stone. Past the marks of all it flew, speeding lightly from his hand, and Athena, in the likeness of a man, set the mark, and she spoke and addressed him: + +“Even a blind man, stranger, could distinguish this mark, groping for it with his hands, for it is in nowise confused with the throng of the others, but is far the first. Be thou of good cheer for this bout at least: no one of the Phaeacians will reach this, or cast beyond it.” + + So she spoke, and the much-enduring goodly Odysseus was glad, +rejoicing that he saw a true friend in the lists. Then with a lighter heart he spoke among the Phaeacians: + “Reach this now, young men; and presently, methinks, I will send another after it, as far or even further. Of the rest, if any man's heart and spirit bid him, +let him come hither and make trial—for ye have greatly angered me—be it in boxing or in wrestling, aye, or in running, I care not; let any one come of all the Phaeacians, save Laodamas alone. For he is my host, and who would quarrel with one that entertains him? Foolish is that man and worthless, +who challenges to a contest the host who receives him in a strange land; he does but mar his own fortunes. But of all the rest I refuse none, and make light of none, but am fain to know them, and make trial of them man to man. For in all things I am no weakling, even in all the contests that are practised among men. +Well do I know how to handle the polished bow, and ever would I be the first to shoot and smite my man in the throng of the foe, even though many comrades stood by me and were shooting at the men. Only Philoctetes excelled me with the bow +in the land of the Trojans, when we Achaeans shot. But of all others I declare that I am best by far, of all mortals that are now upon the earth and eat bread. Yet with men of former days I will not seek to vie, with Heracles or with Eurytus of +Oechalia +, +who strove even with the immortals in archery. Wherefore great Eurytus died soon, nor did old age come upon him in his halls, for Apollo waxed wroth and slew him, because he had challenged him to a contest with the bow. And with the spear I throw farther than any other man can shoot with an arrow. +In the foot race alone I fear that someone of the Phaeacians may out strip me, for cruelly have I been broken amid the many waves, since there was in my ship no lasting store of provisions; therefore my limbs are loosened.” + So he spoke and they were all hushed in silence; +but Alcinous alone answered him and said: + “Stranger, since not ungraciously dost thou speak thus in our midst, but art minded to shew forth the prowess which waits upon thee, in anger that yonder man came up to thee in the lists and taunted thee in a way in which no mortal would make light of thy prowess, +who knew in his heart how to speak fitly; come, now, hearken to my words, that thou mayest tell to another hero, when in thy halls thou art feasting with thy wife and children, and rememberest our skill, what feats +Zeus has vouchsafed to us from our fathers' days even until now. For we are not faultless boxers or wrestlers, but in the foot race we run swiftly, and we are the best seamen; and ever to us is the banquet dear, and the lyre, and the dance, and changes of raiment, and warm baths, and the couch. +But come now, all ye that are the best dancers of the Phaeacians, make sport, that the stranger may tell his friends on reaching home how far we surpass others in seamanship and in fleetness of foot, and in the dance and in song. And let one go straightway +and fetch for Demodocus the clear-toned lyre which lies somewhere in our halls.” + So spoke Alcinous the godlike, and the herald rose to fetch the hollow lyre from the palace of the king. Then stood up masters of the lists, nine in all, men chosen from out the people, who in their gatherings were wont to order all things aright. +They levelled a place for the dance, and marked out a fair wide ring, and the herald came near, bearing the clear-toned lyre for Demodocus. He then moved into the midst, and around him stood boys in the first bloom of youth, well skilled in the dance, and they smote the goodly dancing floor with their feet. And Odysseus +gazed at the twinklings of their feet and marvelled in spirit. + But the minstrel struck the chords in prelude to his sweet lay and sang of the love of Ares and Aphrodite of the fair crown, how first they lay together in the house of Hephaestus secretly; and Ares gave her many gifts, and shamed the bed +of the lord Hephaestus. But straightway one came to him with tidings, even Helius, who had marked them as they lay together in love. And when Hephaestus heard the grievous tale, he went his way to his smithy, pondering evil in the deep of his heart, and set on the anvil block the great anvil and forged bonds +which might not be broken or loosed, that the lovers +1 + might bide fast where they were. But when he had fashioned the snare in his wrath against Ares, he went to his chamber where lay his bed, and everywhere round about the bed-posts he spread the bonds, and many too were hung from above, from the roof-beams, +fine as spiders' webs, so that no one even of the blessed gods could see them, so exceeding craftily were they fashioned. But when he had spread all his snare about the couch, he made as though he would go to +Lemnos +, that well-built citadel, which is in his eyes far the dearest of all lands. +And no blind watch did Ares of the golden rein keep, when he saw Hephaestus, famed for his handicraft, departing, but he went his way to the house of famous Hephaestus, eager for the love of Cytherea of the fair crown. Now she had but newly come from the presence of her father, the mighty son of Cronos, +and had sat her down. And Ares came into the house and clasped her hand and spoke and addressed her: + “Come, love, let us to bed and take our joy, couched together. For Hephaestus is no longer here in the land, but has now gone, I ween, to +Lemnos +, to visit the Sintians of savage speech.” +So he spoke, and a welcome thing it seemed to her to lie with him. So they two went to the couch, and lay them down to sleep, and about them clung the cunning bonds of the wise Hephaestus, nor could they in any wise stir their limbs or raise them up. Then at length they learned that there was no more escaping. +And near to them came the famous god of the two strong arms, +1 + having turned back before he reached the land of +Lemnos +; for Helius had kept watch for him and had brought him word. So he went to his house with a heavy heart, and stood at the gateway, and fierce anger seized him. +And terribly he cried out and called to all the gods: + “Father Zeus, and ye other blessed gods that are forever, come hither that ye may see a laughable matter and a monstrous, +1 + even how Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, scorns me for that I am lame and loves destructive Ares +because he is comely and strong of limb, whereas I was born misshapen. Yet for this is none other to blame but my two parents—would they had never begotten me! But ye shall see where these two have gone up into my bed and sleep together in love; and I am troubled at the sight. +Yet, methinks, they will not wish to lie longer thus, no, not for a moment, how loving soever they are. Soon shall both lose their desire to sleep; but the snare and the bonds shall hold them until her father pays back to me all the gifts of wooing that I gave him for the sake of his shameless girl; +for his daughter is fair but bridles not her passion.” +2 + + So he spoke and the gods gathered to the house of the brazen floor. +3 + Poseidon came, the earth-enfolder, and the helper Hermes came, and the lord Apollo, the archer god. +4 + Now the goddesses abode for shame each in her own house, +but the gods, the givers of good things, stood in the gateway; and unquenchable laughter arose among the blessed gods as they saw the craft of wise Hephaestus. And thus would one speak, with a glance at his neighbor: + “Ill deeds thrive not. The slow catches the swift; +even as now Hephaestus, slow though he is, has out-stripped Ares for all that he is the swiftest of the gods who hold +Olympus +. Lame though he is, he has caught him by craft, wherefore Ares owes the fine of the adulterer.” + Thus they spoke to one another. But to Hermes the lord Apollo, son of Zeus, said: + +“Hermes, son of Zeus, messenger, giver of good things, wouldst thou in sooth be willing, even though ensnared with strong bonds, to lie on a couch by the side of golden Aphrodite?” + Then the messenger, Argeiphontes, answered him:“Would that this might befall, lord Apollo, thou archer god— +that thrice as many bonds inextricable might clasp me about and ye gods, aye, and all the goddesses too might be looking on, but that I might sleep by the side of golden Aphrodite.” + + So he spoke and laughter arose among the immortal gods. Yet Poseidon laughed not, but ever besought +Hephaestus, the famous craftsman, to set Ares free; and he spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + “Loose him, and I promise, as thou biddest me, that he shall himself pay thee all that is right in the presence of the immortal gods.” + Then the famous god of the two strong arms answered him: +“Ask not this of me, Poseidon, thou earth-enfolder. A sorry thing to be sure of is the surety for a sorry knave. How could I put thee in bonds among the immortal gods, if Ares should avoid both the debt and the bonds and depart?” + Then again Poseidon, the earth-shaker, answered him: +“Hephaestus, even if Ares shall avoid the debt and flee away, I will myself pay thee this.” + Then the famous god of the two strong arms answered him: “It may not be that I should say thee nay, nor were it seemly.” + So saying the mighty Hephaestus loosed the bonds +and the two, when they were freed from that bond so strong, sprang up straightway. And Ares departed to +Thrace +, but she, the laughter-loving Aphrodite, went to +Cyprus +, to +Paphos +, where is her demesne and fragrant altar. There the Graces bathed her and anointed her with +immortal oil, such as gleams +1 + upon the gods that are forever. And they clothed her in lovely raiment, a wonder to behold. + This song the famous minstrel sang; and Odysseus was glad at heart as he listened, and so too were the Phaeacians of the long oars, men famed for their ships. + +Then Alcinous bade Halius and Laodamas dance alone, for no one could vie with them. And when they had taken in their hands the beautiful ball of purple, which wise Polybus had made for them, the one +would lean backward and toss it toward the shadowy clouds, and the other would leap up from the earth and skilfully catch it before his feet touched the ground again. But when they had tried their skill in throwing the ball straight up, the two fell to dancing on the bounteous earth, ever tossing the ball to and fro, and the other youths +stood in the lists and beat time, and thereat a great din arose. + Then to Alcinous spoke goodly Odysseus: “Lord Alcinous, renowned above all men, +2 + thou didst boast that thy dancers were the best, and lo, thy words are made good; amazement holds me as I look on them.” +So he spoke, and the strong and mighty Alcinous was glad; and straightway he spoke among the Phaeacians, lovers of the oar: + “Hear me, leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians. This stranger verily seems to me a man of understanding. Come then, let us give him a gift of friendship, as is fitting; +for twelve glorious kings bear sway in our land as rulers, and I myself am the thirteenth. Now do you, each of the twelve, bring a newly washed cloak and tunic, and a talent of precious gold, and let us straightway bring all together, +that the stranger with our gifts in his hands may go to his supper glad at heart. And let Euryalus make amends to the stranger himself with words and with a gift, for the word that he spoke was in no wise seemly.” + So he spoke, and they all praised his words and bade that so it should be, and sent forth every man a herald to fetch the gifts. +And Euryalus in turn made answer, and said: + “Lord Alcinous, renowned above all men, I will indeed make amends to the stranger, as thou biddest me. I will give him this sword, all of bronze, whereon is a hilt of silver, and a scabbard of new-sawn ivory +is wrought about it; and it shall be to him a thing of great worth.” + So saying, he put into his hands the silver-studded sword, and spoke, and addressed him with winged words: “Hail, Sir stranger; but if any word has been spoken that was harsh, may the storm-winds straightway snatch it and bear it away. +And for thyself, may the gods grant thee to see thy wife, and to come to thy native land, for long time hast thou been suffering woes far from thy friends.” + And Odysseus of many wiles answered him: “All hail to thee, too, friend; and may the gods grant thee happiness, and mayest thou never hereafter miss +this sword which thou hast given me, making amends with gentle speech.” + He spoke, and about his shoulders hung the silver-studded sword. And the sun set, and the glorious gifts were brought him. These the lordly heralds bore to the palace of Alcinous, and the sons of peerless Alcinous +took the beautiful gifts and set them before their honored mother. And the strong and mighty Alcinous led the way, and they came in and sat down on the high seats. Then to Arete spoke the mighty Alcinous: + “Bring hither, wife, a goodly chest, the best thou hast, +and thyself place in it a newly-washed cloak and tunic; and do ye heat for the stranger a cauldron on the fire, and warm water, that when he has bathed and has seen well bestowed all the gifts which the noble Phaeacians have brought hither, he may take pleasure in the feast, and in hearing the strains of the song. +And I will give him this beautiful cup of mine, wrought of gold, that he may remember me all his days as he pours libations in his halls to Zeus and to the other gods.” + + So he spoke, and Arete bade her handmaids to set a great cauldron on the fire with all speed. +And they set on the blazing fire the cauldron for filling the bath, and poured in water, and took billets of wood and kindled them beneath it. Then the fire played about the belly of the cauldron, and the water grew warm; but meanwhile Arete brought forth for the stranger a beautiful chest from the treasure chamber, and placed in it the goodly gifts, +the raiment and the gold, which the Phaeacians gave. And therein she herself placed a cloak and a fair tunic; and she spoke and addressed Odysseus with winged words: + “Look now thyself to the lid, and quickly cast a cord upon it, lest some one despoil thee of thy goods on the way, when later on +1 +thou art lying in sweet sleep, as thou farest in the black ship.” + Now when the much-enduring goodly Odysseus heard these words, he straightway fitted on the lid, and quickly cast a cord upon it—a cunning knot, which queenly Circe once had taught him. Then forthwith the housewife bade him +go to the bath and bathe; and his heart was glad when he saw the warm bath, for he had not been wont to have such tendance from the time that he left the house of faired-haired Calypso, but until then he had tendance continually as a god. + Now when the handmaids had bathed him and anointed him with oil, +and had cast about him a fair cloak and a tunic, he came forth from the bath, and went to join the men at their wine. And Nausicaa, gifted with beauty by the gods, stood by the door-post of the well-built hall, and she marvelled at Odysseus, as her eyes beheld him, +and she spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + “Farewell, stranger, and hereafter even in thy own native land mayest thou remember me, for to me first thou owest the price of thy life.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her:“Nausicaa, daughter of great-hearted Alcinous, +so may Zeus grant, the loud-thundering lord of Here, that I may reach my home and see the day of my returning. Then will I even there pray to thee as to a god all my days, for thou, maiden, hast given me life.” + + He spoke, and sat down on a chair beside king Alcinous. +And now they were serving out portions and mixing the wine. Then the herald came near, leading the good minstrel, Demodocus, held in honor by the people, and seated him in the midst of the banqueters, leaning his chair against a high pillar. Then to the herald said Odysseus of many wiles, +cutting off a portion of the chine of a white-tusked boar, whereof yet more was left, and there was rich fat on either side: + “Herald, take and give this portion to Demodocus, that he may eat, and I will greet him, despite my grief. For among all men that are upon the earth minstrels +win honor and reverence, for that the Muse has taught them the paths of song, and loves the tribe of minstrels.” + So he spoke, and the herald bore the portion and placed it in the hands of the lord Demodocus, and he took it and was glad at heart. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. +But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, then to Demodocus said Odysseus of many wiles: + “Demodocus, verily above all mortal men do I praise thee, whether it was the Muse, the daughter of Zeus, that taught thee, or Apollo; for well and truly dost thou sing of the fate of the Achaeans, +all that they wrought and suffered, and all the toils they endured, as though haply thou hadst thyself been present, or hadst heard the tale from another. But come now, change thy theme, and sing of the building of the horse of wood, which Epeius made with Athena's help, the horse which once Odysseus led up into the citadel as a thing of guile, +when he had filled it with the men who sacked +Ilios +. If thou dost indeed tell me this tale aright, I will declare to all mankind that the god has of a ready heart granted thee the gift of divine song.” + So he spoke, and the minstrel, moved by the god, began, and let his song be heard, +taking up the tale where the Argives had embarked on their benched ships and were sailing away, after casting fire on their huts, while those others led by glorious Odysseus were now sitting in the place of assembly of the Trojans, hidden in the horse; for the Trojans had themselves dragged it to the citadel. +So there it stood, while the people talked long as they sat about it, and could form no resolve. Nay, in three ways did counsel find favour in their minds: either to cleave the hollow timber with the pitiless bronze, or to drag it to the height and cast it down the rocks, or to let it stand as a great offering to propitiate the gods, +even as in the end it was to be brought to pass; for it was their fate to perish when their city should enclose the great horse of wood, wherein were sitting all the best of the Argives, bearing to the Trojans death and fate. And he sang how the sons of the Achaeans +poured forth from the horse and, leaving their hollow ambush, sacked the city. Of the others he sang how in divers ways they wasted the lofty city, but of Odysseus, how he went like Ares to the house of Deiphobus together with godlike Menelaus. There it was, he said, that Odysseus braved the most terrible fight +and in the end conquered by the aid of great-hearted Athena. + + This song the famous minstrel sang. But the heart of Odysseus was melted and tears wet his cheeks beneath his eyelids. And as a woman wails and flings herself about her dear husband, who has fallen in front of his city and his people, +seeking toward off from his city and his children the pitiless day; and as she beholds him dying and gasping for breath, she clings to him and shrieks aloud, while the foe behind her smite her back and shoulders with their spears, and lead her away to captivity to bear toil and woe, +while with most pitiful grief her cheeks are wasted: even so did Odysseus let fall pitiful tears from beneath his brows. Now from all the rest he concealed the tears that he shed, but Alcinous alone marked him and took heed, +for he sat by him and heard him groaning heavily. And straightway he spoke among the Phaeacians, lovers of the oar: + “Hear me, leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians, and let Demodocus now check his clear-toned lyre, for in no wise to all alike does he give pleasure with this song. Ever since we began to sup and the divine minstrel was moved to sing, +from that time yon stranger has never ceased from sorrowful lamentation; surely, methinks, grief has encompassed his heart. Nay, let the minstrel cease, that we may all make merry, hosts and guest alike, since it is better thus. Lo, for the sake of the honored stranger all these things have been made ready, +his sending and the gifts of friendship which we give him of our love. Dear as a brother is the stranger and the suppliant to a man whose wits have never so short a range. Therefore do not thou longer hide with crafty thought whatever I shall ask thee;to speak out plainly is the better course. +Tell me the name by which they were wont to call thee in thy home, even thy mother and thy father and other folk besides, thy townsmen and the dwellers round about. For there is no one of all mankind who is nameless, be he base man or noble, when once he has been born, but parents bestow names on all when they give them birth. +And tell me thy country, thy people, and thy city, that our ships may convey thee thither, discerning the course by their wits. For the Phaeacians have no pilots, nor steering-oars such as other ships have, but their ships of themselves understand the thoughts and minds of men, +and they know the cities and rich fields of all peoples, and most swiftly do they cross over the gulf of the sea, hidden in mist and cloud, nor ever have they fear of harm or ruin. Yet this story I once heard thus told by my father +Nausithous, who was wont to say that Poseidon was wroth with us because we give safe convoy to all men. He said that someday, as a well-built ship of the Phaeacians was returning from a convoy over the misty deep, Poseidon would smite her and would fling a great mountain about our city. +1 +So that old man spoke, and these things the god will haply bring to pass, or will leave unfulfilled, as may be his good pleasure. But come, now, tell me this and declare it truly: whither thou hast wandered and to what countries of men thou hast come; tell me of the people and of their well-built cities, +both of those who are cruel and wild and unjust, and of those who love strangers and fear the gods in their thoughts. And tell me why thou dost weep and wail in spirit as thou hearest the doom of the Argive Danaans and of +Ilios +. This the gods wrought, and spun the skein of ruin +for men, that there might be a song for those yet to be born. Did some kinsman of thine fall before +Ilios +, some good, true man, thy daughter's husband or thy wife's father, such as are nearest to one after one's own kin and blood? Or was it haply some comrade dear to thy heart, +some good, true man? For no whit worse than a brother is a comrade who has an understanding heart.” +Then Odysseus, of many wiles, answered him, and said: “Lord Alcinous, renowned above all men, verily this is a good thing, to listen to a minstrel such as this man is, like unto the gods in voice. +For myself I declare that there is no greater fulfillment of delight than when joy possesses a whole people, and banqueters in the halls listen to a minstrel as they sit in order due, and by them tables are laden with bread and meat, and the cup-bearer draws wine from the bowl +and bears it round and pours it into the cups. This seems to my mind the fairest thing there is. But thy heart is turned to ask of my grievous woes, that I may weep and groan the more. What, then, shall I tell thee first, what last? +for woes full many have the heavenly gods given me. First now will I tell my name, that ye, too, may know it, and that I hereafter, when I have escaped from the pitiless day of doom, may be your host, though I dwell in a home that is afar. I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, who +am known among men for all manner of wiles, +1 + and my fame reaches unto heaven. But I dwell in clear-seen +Ithaca +, wherein is a mountain, Neriton, covered with waving forests, conspicuous from afar; and round it lie many isles hard by one another, Dulichium, and Same, and wooded +Zacynthus +. +Ithaca + itself lies close in to the mainland +1 + the furthest toward the gloom, +2 + but the others lie apart toward the Dawn and the sun—a rugged isle, but a good nurse of young men; and for myself no other thing can I see sweeter than one's own land. Of a truth Calypso, the beautiful goddess, sought to keep me by her +in her hollow caves, yearning that I should be her husband; and in like manner Circe would fain have held me back in her halls, the guileful lady of Aeaea, yearning that I should be her husband; but they could never persuade the heart within my breast. So true is it that naught is sweeter than a man's own land and his parents, +even though it be in a rich house that he dwells afar in a foreign land away from his parents. But come, let me tell thee also of my woeful home-coming, which Zeus laid upon me as I came from +Troy +. + “From +Ilios + the wind bore me and brought me to the Cicones, +to Ismarus. There I sacked the city and slew the men; and from the city we took their wives and great store of treasure, and divided them among us, that so far as lay in me no man might go defrauded of an equal share. Then verily I gave command that we should flee with swift foot, but the others in their great folly did not hearken. +But there much wine was drunk, and many sheep they slew by the shore, and sleek kine of shambling gait. +Meanwhile the Cicones went and called to other Cicones who were their neighbors, at once more numerous and braver than they—men that dwelt inland and were skilled +at fighting with their foes from chariots, and, if need were, on foot. So they came in the morning, as thick as leaves or flowers spring up in their season; and then it was that an evil fate from Zeus beset us luckless men, that we might suffer woes full many. They set their battle in array and fought by the swift ships, + and each side hurled at the other with bronze-tipped spears. Now as long as it was morn and the sacred day was waxing, so long we held our ground and beat them off, though they were more than we. But when the sun turned to the time for the unyoking of oxen, then the Cicones prevailed and routed the Achaeans, +and six of my well-greaved comrades perished from each ship; but the rest of us escaped death and fate. + “Thence we sailed on, grieved at heart, glad to have escaped from death, though we had lost our dear comrades; nor did I let my curved ships pass on +till we had called thrice on each of those hapless comrades of ours who died on the plain, cut down by the Cicones. But against our ships Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, roused the North Wind with a wondrous tempest, and hid with clouds the land and the sea alike, and night rushed down from heaven. +Then the ships were driven headlong, and their sails were torn to shreds by the violence of the wind. So we lowered the sails and stowed them aboard, in fear of death, and rowed the ships hurriedly toward the land. There for two nights and two days continuously +we lay, eating our hearts for weariness and sorrow. But when now fair-tressed Dawn brought to its birth the third day, we set up the masts and hoisted the white sails, and took our seats, and the wind and the helmsmen steered the ships. And now all unscathed should I have reached my native land, +but the wave and the current and the North Wind beat me back as I was rounding Malea, and drove me from my course past +Cythera +. + + “Thence for nine days' space I was borne by direful winds over the teeming deep; but on the tenth we set foot on the land of the Lotus-eaters, who eat a flowery food. +There we went on shore and drew water, and straightway my comrades took their meal by the swift ships. But when we had tasted food and drink, I sent forth some of my comrades to go and learn who the men were, who here ate bread upon the earth; +two men I chose, sending with them a third as a herald. So they went straightway and mingled with the Lotus-eaters, and the Lotus-eaters did not plan death for my comrades, but gave them of the lotus to taste. And whosoever of them ate of the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus, +had no longer any wish to bring back word or to return, but there they were fain to abide among the Lotus-eaters, feeding on the lotus, and forgetful of their homeward way. These men, therefore, I brought back perforce to the ships, weeping, and dragged them beneath the benches and bound them fast in the hollow ships; +and I bade the rest of my trusty comrades to embark with speed on the swift ships, lest perchance anyone should eat of the lotus and forget his homeward way. So they went on board straightway and sat down upon the benches, and sitting well in order smote the grey sea with their oars. + +“Thence we sailed on, grieved at heart, and we came to the land of the Cyclopes, an overweening and lawless folk, who, trusting in the immortal gods, plant nothing with their hands nor plough; but all these things spring up for them without sowing or ploughing, +wheat, and barley, and vines, which bear the rich clusters of wine, and the rain of Zeus gives them increase. Neither assemblies for council have they, nor appointed laws, but they dwell on the peaks of lofty mountains in hollow caves, and each one is lawgiver +to his children and his wives, and they reck nothing one of another. + + “Now there is a level +1 + isle that stretches aslant outside the harbor, neither close to the shore of the land of the Cyclopes, nor yet far off, a wooded isle. Therein live wild goats innumerable, for the tread of men scares them not away, +nor are hunters wont to come thither, men who endure toils in the woodland as they course over the peaks of the mountains. Neither with flocks is it held, nor with ploughed lands, but unsown and untilled all the days it knows naught of men, but feeds the bleating goats. +For the Cyclopes have at hand no ships with vermilion cheeks, +2 + nor are there ship-wrights in their land who might build them well-benched ships, which should perform all their wants, passing to the cities of other folk, as men often cross the sea in ships to visit one another— +craftsmen, who would have made of this isle also a fair settlement. For the isle is nowise poor, but would bear all things in season. In it are meadows by the shores of the grey sea, well-watered meadows and soft, where vines would never fail, and in it level ploughland, whence +they might reap from season to season harvests exceeding deep, so rich is the soil beneath; and in it, too, is a harbor giving safe anchorage, where there is no need of moorings, either to throw out anchor-stones or to make fast stern cables, but one may beach one's ship and wait until the sailors' minds bid them put out, and the breezes blow fair. +Now at the head of the harbor a spring of bright water flows forth from beneath a cave, and round about it poplars grow. Thither we sailed in, and some god guided us through the murky night; for there was no light to see, but a mist lay deep about the ships and the moon +showed no light from heaven, but was shut in by clouds. Then no man's eyes beheld that island, nor did we see the long waves rolling on the beach, until we ran our well-benched ships on shore. And when we had beached the ships we lowered all the sails +and ourselves went forth on the shore of the sea, and there we fell asleep and waited for the bright Dawn. + “As soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, we roamed throughout the isle marvelling at it; and the nymphs, the daughters of Zeus who bears the aegis, roused +the mountain goats, that my comrades might have whereof to make their meal. Straightway we took from the ships our curved bows and long javelins, and arrayed in three bands we fell to smiting; and the god soon gave us game to satisfy our hearts. The ships that followed me were twelve, and to each +nine goats fell by lot, but for me alone they chose out ten. + + “So then all day long till set of sun we sat feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine. For not yet was the red wine spent from out our ships, but some was still left; for abundant store +had we drawn in jars for each crew when we took the sacred citadel of the Cicones. And we looked across to the land of the Cyclopes, who dwelt close at hand, and marked the smoke, and the voice of men, and of the sheep, and of the goats. But when the sun set and darkness came on, then we lay down to rest on the shore of the sea. +And as soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, I called my men together and spoke among them all: + “‘Remain here now, all the rest of you, my trusty comrades, but I with my own ship and my own company will go and make trial of yonder men, to learn who they are, +whether they are cruel, and wild, and unjust, or whether they love strangers and fear the gods in their thoughts.’ + “So saying, I went on board the ship and bade my comrades themselves to embark, and to loose the stern cables. So they went on board straightway and sat down upon the benches, +and sitting well in order smote the grey sea with their oars. But when we had reached the place, which lay close at hand, there on the land's edge hard by the sea we saw a high cave, roofed over with laurels, and there many flocks, sheep and goats alike, were wont to sleep. Round about it +a high court was built with stones set deep in the earth, and with tall pines and high-crested oaks. There a monstrous man was wont to sleep, who shepherded his flocks alone and afar, and mingled not with others, but lived apart, with his heart set on lawlessness. +For he was fashioned a wondrous monster, and was not like a man that lives by bread, but like a wooded peak of lofty mountains, which stands out to view alone, apart from the rest. + + “Then I bade the rest of my trusty comrades to remain there by the ship and to guard the ship, +but I chose twelve of the best of my comrades and went my way. With me I had a goat-skin of the dark, sweet wine, which Maro, son of Euanthes, had given me, the priest of Apollo, the god who used to watch over Ismarus. And he had given it me because we had protected him with his child and wife +out of reverence; for he dwelt in a wooded grove of Phoebus Apollo. And he gave me splendid gifts: of well-wrought gold he gave me seven talents, and he gave me a mixing-bowl all of silver; and besides these, wine, wherewith he filled twelve jars in all, +wine sweet and unmixed, a drink divine. Not one of his slaves nor of the maids in his halls knew thereof, but himself and his dear wife, and one house-dame only. And as often as they drank that honey-sweet red wine he would fill one cup and pour it into twenty measures of water, +and a smell would rise from the mixing-bowl marvellously sweet; then verily would one not choose to hold back. With this wine I filled and took with me a great skin, and also provision in a scrip; for my proud spirit had a foreboding that presently a man would come to me clothed in great might, +a savage man that knew naught of justice or of law. +1 + + “Speedily we came to the cave, nor did we find him within, but he was pasturing his fat flocks in the fields. So we entered the cave and gazed in wonder at all things there. The crates were laden with cheeses, and the pens were crowded +with lambs and kids. Each kind was penned separately: by themselves the firstlings, by themselves the later lambs, and by themselves again the newly weaned. And with whey were swimming all the well-wrought vessels, the milk-pails and the bowls into which he milked. Then my comrades spoke and besought me first of all +to take of the cheeses and depart, and thereafter speedily to drive to the swift ship the kids and lambs from out the pens, and to sail over the salt water. But I did not listen to them—verily it would have been better far—to the end that I might see the man himself, and whether he would give me gifts of entertainment. +Yet, as it fell, his appearing was not to prove a joy to my comrades. + + “Then we kindled a fire and offered sacrifice, and ourselves, too, took of the cheeses and ate, and thus we sat in the cave and waited for him until he came back, herding his flocks. He bore a mighty weight of dry wood to serve him at supper time, +and flung it down with a crash inside the cave, but we, seized with terror, shrank back into a recess of the cave. But he drove his fat flocks into the wide cavern—all those that he milked; but the males—the rams and the goats—he left without in the deep court. +1 +Then he lifted on high and set in place the great door-stone, a mighty rock; two and twenty stout four-wheeled wagons could not lift it from the ground, such a towering mass of rock he set in the doorway. Thereafter he sat down and milked the ewes and bleating goats +all in turn, and beneath each dam he placed her young. Then presently he curdled half the white milk, and gathered it in wicker baskets and laid it away, and the other half he set in vessels that he might have it to take and drink, and that it might serve him for supper. +But when he had busily performed his tasks, then he rekindled the fire, and caught sight of us, and asked: + “‘Strangers, who are ye? Whence do ye sail over the watery ways? Is it on some business, or do ye wander at random over the sea, even as pirates, who wander, +hazarding their lives and bringing evil to men of other lands?’ + “So he spoke, and in our breasts our spirit was broken for terror of his deep voice and monstrous self; yet even so I made answer and spoke to him, saying: + “‘We, thou must know, are from +Troy +, Achaeans, driven wandering +by all manner of winds over the great gulf of the sea. Seeking our home, we have come by another way, by other paths; so, I ween, Zeus was pleased to devise. And we declare that we are the men of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, whose fame is now mightiest under heaven, +so great a city did he sack, and slew many people; but we on our part, thus visiting thee, have come as suppliants to thy knees, in the hope that thou wilt give us entertainment, or in other wise make some present, as is the due of strangers. Nay, mightiest one, reverence the gods; we are thy suppliants; +and Zeus is the avenger of suppliants and strangers—Zeus, the strangers' god—who ever attends upon reverend strangers.’ + “So I spoke, and he straightway made answer with pitiless heart: ‘A fool art thou, stranger, or art come from afar, seeing that thou biddest me either to fear or to shun the gods. +For the Cyclopes reck not of Zeus, who bears the aegis, nor of the blessed gods, since verily we are better far than they. Nor would I, to shun the wrath of Zeus, spare either thee or thy comrades, unless my own heart should bid me. But tell me where thou didst moor thy well-wrought ship on thy coming. +Was it haply at a remote part of the land, or close by? I fain would know.’ + + “So he spoke, tempting me, but he trapped me not because of my great cunning; and I made answer again in crafty words: + “‘My ship Poseidon, the earth-shaker, dashed to pieces, casting her upon the rocks at the border of your land; +for he brought her close to the headland, and the wind drove her in from the sea. But I, with these men here, escaped utter destruction.’ + “So I spoke, but from his pitiless heart he made no answer, but sprang up and put forth his hands upon my comrades. Two of them at once he seized and dashed to the earth like puppies, +and the brain flowed forth upon the ground and wetted the earth. Then he cut them limb from limb and made ready his supper, and ate them as a mountain-nurtured lion, leaving naught—ate the entrails, and the flesh, and the marrowy bones. And we with wailing held up our hands to Zeus, +beholding his cruel deeds; and helplessness possessed our souls. But when the +Cyclops + had filled his huge maw by eating human flesh and thereafter drinking pure milk, he lay down within the cave, stretched out among the sheep. And I formed a plan in my great heart +to steal near him, and draw my sharp sword from beside my thigh and smite him in the breast, where the midriff holds the liver, feeling for the place with my hand. But a second thought checked me, for right there should we, too, have perished in utter ruin. For we should not have been able +to thrust back with our hands from the high door the mighty stone which he had set there. So then, with wailing, we waited for the bright Dawn. + “As soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, he rekindled the fire and milked his goodly flocks all in turn, and beneath each dam placed her young. +Then, when he had busily performed his tasks, again he seized two men at once and made ready his meal. And when he had made his meal he drove his fat flocks forth from the cave, easily moving away the great door-stone; and then he put it in place again, as one might set the lid upon a quiver. +Then with loud whistling the +Cyclops + turned his fat flocks toward the mountain, and I was left there, devising evil in the deep of my heart, if in any way I might take vengeance on him, and Athena grant me glory. + + “Now this seemed to my mind the best plan. There lay beside a sheep-pen a great club of the +Cyclops +, +a staff of green olive-wood, which he had cut to carry with him when dry; and as we looked at it we thought it as large as is the mast of a black ship of twenty oars, a merchantman, broad of beam, which crosses over the great gulf; so huge it was in length and in breadth to look upon. +To this I came, and cut off therefrom about a fathom's length and handed it to my comrades, bidding them dress it down; and they made it smooth, and I, standing by, sharpened it at the point, and then straightway took it and hardened it in the blazing fire. Then I laid it carefully away, hiding it beneath the dung, +which lay in great heaps throughout the cave. And I bade my comrades cast lots among them, which of them should have the hardihood with me to lift the stake and grind it into his eye when sweet sleep should come upon him. And the lot fell upon those whom I myself would fain have chosen; +four they were, and I was numbered with them as the fifth. At even then he came, herding his flocks of goodly fleece, and straightway drove into the wide cave his fat flocks one and all, and left not one without in the deep court, either from some foreboding or because a god so bade him. +Then he lifted on high and set in place the great door-stone, and sitting down he milked the ewes and bleating goats all in turn, and beneath each dam he placed her young. But when he had busily performed his tasks, again he seized two men at once and made ready his supper. +Then I drew near and spoke to the +Cyclops +, holding in my hands an ivy +1 + bowl of the dark wine: + “‘ +Cyclops +, take and drink wine after thy meal of human flesh, that thou mayest know what manner of drink this is which our ship contained. It was to thee that I was bringing it as a drink offering, in the hope that, touched with pity, +thou mightest send me on my way home; but thou ragest in a way that is past all bearing. Cruel man, how shall any one of all the multitudes of men ever come to thee again hereafter, seeing that thou hast wrought lawlessness?’ + “So I spoke, and he took the cup and drained it, and was wondrously pleased as he drank the sweet draught, and asked me for it again a second time: + +“‘Give it me again with a ready heart, and tell me thy name straightway, that I may give thee a stranger's gift whereat thou mayest be glad. For among the Cyclopes the earth, the giver of grain, bears the rich clusters of wine, and the rain of Zeus gives them increase; but this is a streamlet of ambrosia and nectar.’ +“So he spoke, and again I handed him the flaming wine. Thrice I brought and gave it him, and thrice he drained it in his folly. But when the wine had stolen about the wits of the +Cyclops +, then I spoke to him with gentle words: + “‘ +Cyclops +, thou askest me of my glorious name, and I +will tell it thee; and do thou give me a stranger's gift, even as thou didst promise. Noman is my name, Noman do they call me—my mother and my father, and all my comrades as well.’ + “So I spoke, and he straightway answered me with pitiless heart: ‘Noman will I eat last among his comrades, +and the others before him; this shall be thy gift.’ + “He spoke, and reeling fell upon his back, and lay there with his thick neck bent aslant, and sleep, that conquers all, laid hold on him. And from his gullet came forth wine and bits of human flesh, and he vomited in his drunken sleep. +Then verily I thrust in the stake under the deep ashes until it should grow hot, and heartened all my comrades with cheering words, that I might see no man flinch through fear. But when presently that stake of olive-wood was about to catch fire, green though it was, and began to glow terribly, +then verily I drew nigh, bringing the stake from the fire, and my comrades stood round me and a god breathed into us great courage. They took the stake of olive-wood, sharp at the point, and thrust it into his eye, while I, throwing my weight upon it from above, whirled it round, as when a man bores a ship's timber +with a drill, while those below keep it spinning with the thong, which they lay hold of by either end, and the drill runs around unceasingly. Even so we took the fiery-pointed stake and whirled it around in his eye, and the blood flowed around the heated thing. And his eyelids wholly and his brows round about did the flame singe +as the eyeball burned, and its roots crackled in the fire. And as when a smith dips a great axe or an adze in cold water amid loud hissing to temper it—for therefrom comes the strength of iron—even so did his eye hiss round the stake of olive-wood. +Terribly then did he cry aloud, and the rock rang around; and we, seized with terror, shrank back, while he wrenched from his eye the stake, all befouled with blood, and flung it from him, wildly waving his arms. Then he called aloud to the Cyclopes, who +dwelt round about him in caves among the windy heights, and they heard his cry and came thronging from every side, and standing around the cave asked him what ailed him: + “‘What so sore distress is thine, Polyphemus, that thou criest out thus through the immortal night, and makest us sleepless? +Can it be that some mortal man is driving off thy flocks against thy will, or slaying thee thyself by guile or by might?’ + “‘Then from out the cave the mighty Polyphemus answered them: ‘My friends, it is Noman that is slaying me by guile and not by force.’ + + “And they made answer and addressed him with winged words: +‘If, then, no man does violence to thee in thy loneliness, sickness which comes from great Zeus thou mayest in no wise escape. Nay, do thou pray to our father, the lord Poseidon.’ + “So they spoke and went their way; and my heart laughed within me that my name and cunning device had so beguiled. +But the +Cyclops +, groaning and travailing in anguish, groped with his hands and took away the stone from the door, and himself sat in the doorway with arms outstretched in the hope of catching anyone who sought to go forth with the sheep—so witless, forsooth, he thought in his heart to find me. +But I took counsel how all might be the very best, if I might haply find some way of escape from death for my comrades and for myself. And I wove all manner of wiles and counsel, as a man will in a matter of life and death; for great was the evil that was nigh us. And this seemed to my mind the best plan. +Rams there were, well-fed and thick of fleece, fine beasts and large, with wool dark as the violet. These I silently bound together with twisted withes on which the +Cyclops +, that monster with his heart set on lawlessness, was wont to sleep. Three at a time I took. The one in the middle in each case bore a man, +and the other two went, one on either side, saving my comrades. Thus every three sheep bore a man. But as for me—there was a ram, far the best of all the flock; him I grasped by the back, and curled beneath his shaggy belly, lay there face upwards +with steadfast heart, clinging fast with my hands to his wondrous fleece. So then, with wailing, we waited for the bright dawn. + “As soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, then the males of the flock hastened forth to pasture and the females bleated unmilked about the pens, +for their udders were bursting. And their master, distressed with grievous pains, felt along the backs of all the sheep as they stood up before him, but in his folly he marked not this, that my men were bound beneath the breasts of his fleecy sheep. Last of all the flock the ram went forth, +burdened with the weight of his fleece and my cunning self. And mighty Polyphemus, as he felt along his back, spoke to him, saying: + “‘Good ram, why pray is it that thou goest forth thus through the cave the last of the flock? Thou hast not heretofore been wont to lag behind the sheep, but wast ever far the first to feed on the tender bloom of the grass, +moving with long strides, and ever the first didst reach the streams of the river, and the first didst long to return to the fold at evening. But now thou art last of all. Surely thou art sorrowing for the eye of thy master, which an evil man blinded along with his miserable fellows, when he had overpowered my wits with wine, +even Noman, who, I tell thee, has not yet escaped destruction. If only thou couldst feel as I do, and couldst get thee power of speech to tell me where he skulks away from my wrath, then should his brains be dashed on the ground here and there throughout the cave, when I had smitten him, and my heart +should be lightened of the woes which good-for-naught Noman has brought me.’ + + “So saying, he sent the ram forth from him. And when we had gone a little way from the cave and the court, I first loosed myself from under the ram and set my comrades free. Speedily then we drove off those long-shanked sheep, rich with fat, +turning full often to look about until we came to the ship. And welcome to our dear comrades was the sight of us who had escaped death, but for the others they wept and wailed; yet I would not suffer them to weep, but with a frown forbade each man. Rather I bade them +to fling on board with speed the many sheep of goodly fleece, and sail over the salt water. So they went on board straightway and sat down upon the benches, and sitting well in order smote the grey sea with their oars. But when I was as far away as a man's voice carries when he shouts, then I spoke to the +Cyclops + with mocking words: + +“‘ +Cyclops +, that man, it seems, was no weakling, whose comrades thou wast minded to devour by brutal strength in thy hollow cave. Full surely were thy evil deeds to fall on thine own head, thou cruel wretch, who didst not shrink from eating thy guests in thine own house. Therefore has Zeus taken vengeance on thee, and the other gods.’ + +“So I spoke, and he waxed the more wroth at heart, and broke off the peak of a high mountain and hurled it at us, and cast it in front of the dark-prowed ship. +1 + And the sea surged beneath the stone as it fell, +and the backward flow, like a flood from the deep, bore the ship swiftly landwards and drove it upon the shore. But I seized a long pole in my hands and shoved the ship off and along the shore, +and with a nod of my head I roused my comrades, and bade them fall to their oars that we might escape out of our evil plight. And they bent to their oars and rowed. But when, as we fared over the sea, we were twice as far distant, then was I fain to call to the +Cyclops +, though round about me my comrades, one after another, sought to check me with gentle words: + “‘Reckless one, why wilt thou provoke to wrath a savage man, +who but now hurled his missile into the deep and drove our ship back to the land, and verily we thought that we had perished there? And had he heard one of us uttering a sound or speaking, he would have hurled a jagged rock and crushed our heads and the timbers of our ship, so mightily does he throw.’ +“So they spoke, but they could not persuade my great-hearted spirit; and I answered him again with angry heart: + “‘ +Cyclops +, if any one of mortal men shall ask thee about the shameful blinding of thine eye, say that Odysseus, the sacker of cities, blinded it, +even the son of Laertes, whose home is in +Ithaca +.’ + “So I spoke, and he groaned and said in answer:‘Lo now, verily a prophecy uttered long ago is come upon me. There lived here a soothsayer, a good man and tall, Telemus, son of Eurymus, who excelled all men in soothsaying, +and grew old as a seer among the Cyclopes. He told me that all these things should be brought to pass in days to come, that by the hands of Odysseus I should lose my sight. But I ever looked for some tall and comely man to come hither, clothed in great might, +but now one that is puny, a man of naught and a weakling, has blinded me of my eye when he had overpowered me with wine. Yet come hither, Odysseus, that I may set before thee gifts of entertainment, and may speed thy sending hence, that the glorious Earth-shaker may grant it thee. For I am his son, and he declares himself my father; + and he himself will heal me, if it be his good pleasure, but none other either of the blessed gods or of mortal men.’ + “So he spoke, and I answered him and said:‘Would that I were able to rob thee of soul and life, and to send thee to the house of Hades, +as surely as not even the Earth-shaker shall heal thine eye.’ + “So I spoke, and he then prayed to the lord Poseidon, stretching out both his hands to the starry heaven: ‘Hear me, Poseidon, earth-enfolder, thou dark-haired god, if indeed I am thy son and thou declarest thyself my father; +grant that Odysseus, the sacker of cities, may never reach his home, even the son of Laertes, whose home is in +Ithaca +; but if it is his fate to see his friends and to reach his well-built house and his native land, late may he come and in evil case, after losing all his comrades, +in a ship that is another's; and may he find woes in his house.’ + + “So he spoke in prayer, and the dark-haired god heard him. But the +Cyclops + lifted on high again a far greater stone, and swung and hurled it, putting into the throw measureless strength. He cast it +a little behind the dark-prowed ship, and barely missed the end of the steering-oar. And the sea surged beneath the stone as it fell, and the wave bore the ship onward and drove it to the shore. + “Now when we had come to the island, where our other well-benched ships lay all together, and round about them our comrades, +ever expecting us, sat weeping, then, on coming thither, we beached our ship on the sands, and ourselves went forth upon the shore of the sea. Then we took from out the hollow ship the flocks of the +Cyclops +, and divided them, that so far as in me lay no man might go defrauded of an equal share. +But the ram my well-greaved comrades gave to me alone, when the flocks were divided, as a gift apart; and on the shore I sacrificed him to Zeus, son of Cronos, god of the dark clouds, who is lord of all, and burned the thigh-pieces. Howbeit he heeded not my sacrifice, but was planning how all +my well-benched ships might perish and my trusty comrades. + “So, then, all day long till set of sun we sat feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine; but when the sun set and darkness came on, then we lay down to rest on the shore of the sea. +And as soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, I roused my comrades, and bade them themselves to embark and to loose the stern cables. So they went on board straightway and sat down upon the benches, and sitting well in order smote the grey sea with their oars. + +“Thence we sailed on, grieved at heart, glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our dear comrades. +“Then to the Aeolian isle we came, where dwelt Aeolus, son of Hippotas, dear to the immortal gods, in a floating island, and all around it is a wall of unbreakable bronze, and the cliff runs up sheer. +Twelve children of his, too, there are in the halls, six daughters and six sturdy sons, and he gave his daughters to his sons to wife. These, then, feast continually by their dear father and good mother, and before them lies boundless good cheer. +And the house, filled with the savour of feasting, resounds all about even in the outer court by day, +1 + and by night again they sleep beside their chaste wives on blankets and on corded bedsteads. To their city, then, and fair palace did we come, and for a full month he made me welcome and questioned me about each thing, +about +Ilios +, and the ships of the Argives, and the return of the Achaeans. And I told him all the tale in due order. But when I, on my part, asked him that I might depart and bade him send me on my way, he, too, denied me nothing, but furthered my sending. He gave me a wallet, made of the hide of an ox nine years old, +2 + which he flayed, +and therein he bound the paths of the blustering winds; for the son of Cronos had made him keeper of the winds, both to still and to rouse whatever one he will. And in my hollow ship he bound it fast with a bright cord of silver, that not a breath might escape, were it never so slight. +But for my furtherance he sent forth the breath of the West Wind to blow, that it might bear on their way both ships and men. Yet this he was not to bring to pass, for we were lost through our own folly. + “For nine days we sailed, night and day alike, and now on the tenth our native land came in sight, +and lo, we were so near that we saw men tending the beacon fires. +1 + Then upon me came sweet sleep in my weariness, for I had ever kept in hand the sheet of the ship, and had yielded it to none other of my comrades, that we might the sooner come to our native land. But my comrades meanwhile began to speak one to another, +and said that I was bringing home for myself gold and silver as gifts from Aeolus, the great-hearted son of Hippotas. And thus would one speak, with a glance at his neighbor: + “‘Out on it, how beloved and honored this man is by all men, to whose city and land soever he comes! +Much goodly treasure is he carrying with him from the land of +Troy + from out the spoil, while we, who have accomplished the same journey as he, are returning, bearing with us empty hands. And now Aeolus has given him these gifts, granting them freely of his love. Nay, come, let us quickly see what is here, +what store of gold and silver is in the wallet.’ + + “So they spoke, and the evil counsel of my comrades prevailed. They loosed the wallet, and all the winds leapt forth, and swiftly the storm-wind seized them and bore them weeping out to sea away from their native land; but as for me, +I awoke, and pondered in my goodly heart whether I should fling myself from the ship and perish in the sea, or endure in silence and still remain among the living. However, I endured and abode, and covering my head lay down in the ship. But the ships were borne by an evil blast of wind +back to the Aeolian isle; and my comrades groaned. + “There we went ashore and drew water, and straightway my comrades took their meal by the swift ships. But when we had tasted of food and drink, I took with me a herald and one companion +and went to the glorious palace of Aeolus, and I found him feasting beside his wife and his children. So we entered the house and sat down by the doorposts on the threshold, and they were amazed at heart, and questioned us: + “‘How hast thou come hither, Odysseus? What cruel god assailed thee? +Surely we sent thee forth with kindly care, that thou mightest reach thy native land and thy home, and whatever place thou wouldest.’ + “So said they, but I with a sorrowing heart spoke among them and said: ‘Bane did my evil comrades work me, and therewith sleep accursed; but bring ye healing, my friends, for with you is the power.’ + +“So I spoke and addressed them with gentle words, but they were silent. Then their father answered and said: + “‘Begone from our island with speed, thou vilest of all that live. In no wise may I help or send upon his way that man who is hated of the blessed gods. +Begone, for thou comest hither as one hated of the immortals.’ + “So saying, he sent me forth from the house, groaning heavily. Thence we sailed on, grieved at heart. And worn was the spirit of the men by the grievous rowing, because of our own folly, for no longer appeared any breeze to bear us on our way. +So for six days we sailed, night and day alike, and on the seventh we came to the lofty citadel of Lamus, even to Telepylus of the Laestrygonians, where herdsman calls to herdsman as he drives in his flock, and the other answers as he drives his forth. There a man who never slept could have earned a double wage, +one by herding cattle, and one by pasturing white sheep; for the out goings of the night and of the day are close together. +1 + + When we had come thither into the goodly harbor, about which on both sides a sheer cliff runs continuously, and projecting headlands opposite to one another +stretch out at the mouth, and the entrance is narrow, then all the rest steered their curved ships in, and the ships were moored within the hollow harbor close together; for therein no wave ever swelled, great or small, but all about was a bright calm. +But I alone moored my black ship outside, there on the border of the land, making the cables fast to the rock. Then I climbed to a rugged height, a point of outlook, and there took my stand; from thence no works of oxen or of men appeared; smoke alone we saw springing up from the land. +So then I sent forth some of my comrades to go and learn who the men were, who here ate bread upon the earth—two men I chose, and sent with them a third as a herald. Now when they had gone ashore, they went along a smooth road by which wagons were wont to bring wood down to the city from the high mountains. +And before the city they met a maiden drawing water, the goodly +1 + daughter of Laestrygonian Antiphates, who had come down to the fair-flowing spring Artacia, from whence they were wont to bear water to the town. So they came up to her and spoke to her, +and asked her who was king of this folk, and who they were of whom he was lord. And she showed them forth with the high-roofed house of her father. Now when they had entered the glorious house, they found there his wife, huge as the peak of a mountain, and they were aghast at her. At once she called from the place of assembly the glorious Antiphates, +her husband, and he devised for them woeful destruction. Straightway he seized one of my comrades and made ready his meal, but the other two sprang up and came in flight to the ships. Then he raised a cry throughout the city, and as they heard it the mighty Laestrygonians came thronging from all sides, +a host past counting, not like men but like the Giants. They hurled at us from the cliffs with rocks huge as a man could lift, and at once there rose throughout the ships a dreadful din, alike from men that were dying and from ships that were being crushed. And spearing them like fishes they bore them home, a loathly meal. +Now while they were slaying those within the deep harbor, I meanwhile drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh, and cut therewith the cables of my dark-prowed ship; and quickly calling to my comrades bade them fall to their oars, that we might escape from out our evil plight. +And they all tossed the sea with their oar-blades in fear of death, and joyfully seaward, away from the beetling cliffs, my ship sped on; but all those other ships were lost together there. + + “Thence we sailed on, grieved at heart, glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our dear comrades; +and we came to the isle of Aeaea, where dwelt fair-tressed Circe, a dread goddess of human speech, own sister to Aeetes of baneful mind; and both are sprung from Helius, who gives light to mortals, and from +Perse +, their mother, whom Oceanus begot. +Here we put in to shore with our ship in silence, into a harbor where ships may lie, and some god guided us. Then we disembarked, and lay there for two days and two nights, eating our hearts for weariness and sorrow. But when fair-tressed Dawn brought to its birth the third day, +then I took my spear and my sharp sword, and quickly went up from the ship to a place of wide prospect, in the hope that I might see the works of men, and hear their voice. So I climbed to a rugged height, a place of outlook, and there took my stand, and I saw smoke rising from the broad-wayed earth +in the halls of Circe, through the thick brush and the wood. And I debated in mind and heart, whether I should go and make search, when I had seen the flaming smoke. And as I pondered, this seemed to me to be the better way, to go first to the swift ship and the shore of the sea, +and give my comrades their meal, and send them forth to make search. But when, as I went, I was near to the curved ship, then some god took pity on me in my loneliness, and sent a great, high-horned stag into my very path. He was coming down to the river from his pasture in the wood +to drink, for the might of the sun oppressed him; and as he came out I struck him on the spine in the middle of the back, and the bronze spear passed right through him, and down he fell in the dust with a moan, and his spirit flew from him. Then I planted my foot upon him, +and drew the bronze spear forth from the wound, and left it there to lie on the ground. But for myself, I plucked twigs and osiers, and weaving a rope as it were a fathom in length, well twisted from end to end, I bound together the feet of the monstrous beast, and went my way to the black ship, bearing him across my back and +leaning on my spear, since in no wise could I hold him on my shoulder with one hand, for he was a very mighty beast. Down I flung him before the ship, and heartened my comrades with gentle words, coming up to each man in turn: + “‘Friends, not yet shall we go down +to the house of Hades, despite our sorrows, before the day of fate comes upon us. Nay, come, while there is yet food and drink in our swift ship, let us bethink us of food, that we pine not with hunger.’ + + “So I spoke, and they quickly hearkened to my words. From their faces they drew their cloaks, +1 +and marvelled at the stag on the shore of the unresting sea, for he was a very mighty beast. But when they had satisfied their eyes with gazing, they washed their hands, and made ready a glorious feast. So then all day long till set of sun we sat feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine. +But when the sun set and darkness came on, then we lay down to rest on the shore of the sea. And as soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, I called my men together, and spoke among them all: + “‘Hearken to my words, comrades, for all your evil plight. +My friends, we know not where the darkness is or where the dawn, neither where the sun, who give light to mortals, goes beneath the earth, nor where he rises; but let us straightway take thought if any device be still left us. As for me I think not that there is. For I climbed to a rugged point of outlook, and beheld +the island, about which is set as a crown the boundless deep. The isle itself lies low, and in the midst of it my eyes saw smoke through the thick brush and the wood.’ + “So I spoke, and their spirit was broken within them, as they remembered the deeds of the Laestrygonian, Antiphates, +and the violence of the great-hearted +Cyclops +, the man-eater. And they wailed aloud, and shed big tears. But no good came of their mourning. + “Then I told off in two bands all my well-greaved comrades, and appointed a leader for each band. +Of the one I took command, and of the other godlike Eurylochus. Quickly then we shook lots in a brazen helmet, and out leapt the lot of great-hearted Eurylochus. +So he set out, and with him went two-and-twenty comrades, all weeping; and they left us behind, lamenting. +Within the forest glades they found the house of Circe, built of polished stone in a place of wide outlook, +1 + and round about it were mountain wolves and lions, whom Circe herself had bewitched; for she gave them evil drugs. Yet these beasts did not rush upon my men, +but pranced about them fawningly, wagging their long tails. And as when hounds fawn around their master as he comes from a feast, for he ever brings them bits to soothe their temper, so about them fawned the stout-clawed wolves and lions; but they were seized with fear, as they saw the dread monsters. +So they stood in the gateway of the fair-tressed goddess, and within they heard Circe singing with sweet voice, as she went to and fro before a great imperishable web, such as is the handiwork of goddesses, finely-woven and beautiful, and glorious. Then among them spoke Polites, a leader of men, +dearest to me of my comrades, and trustiest: + “‘Friends, within someone goes to and fro before a great web, singing sweetly, so that all the floor echoes; some goddess it is, or some woman. Come, let us quickly call to her.’ + “So he spoke, and they cried aloud, and called to her. +And she straightway came forth and opened the bright doors, and bade them in; and all went with her in their folly. Only Eurylochus remained behind, for he suspected that there was a snare. She brought them in and made them sit on chairs and seats, and made for them a potion of cheese and barley meal and yellow honey +with Pramnian wine; but in the food she mixed baneful drugs, that they might utterly forget their native land. Now when she had given them the potion, and they had drunk it off, then she presently smote them with her wand, and penned them in the sties. And they had the heads, and voice, and bristles, +and shape of swine, but their minds remained unchanged even as before. So they were penned there weeping, and before them Circe flung mast and acorns, and the fruit of the cornel tree, to eat, such things as wallowing swine are wont to feed upon. + “But Eurylochus came back straightway to the swift, black ship, +to bring tiding of his comrades and their shameful doom. Not a word could he utter, for all his desire, so stricken to the heart was he with great distress, and his eyes were filled with tears, and his spirit was set on lamentation. But when we questioned him in amazement, +then he told the fate of the others, his comrades. + “‘We went through the thickets, as thou badest, noble Odysseus. We found in the forest glades a fair palace, built of polished stones, in a place of wide outlook. There someone was going to and fro before a great web, and singing with clear voice, +some goddess or some woman, and they cried aloud, and called to her. And she came forth straightway, and opened the bright doors, and bade them in; and they all went with her in their folly. But I remained behind, for I suspected that there was a snare. Then they all vanished together, nor did one of them +appear again, though I sat long and watched.’ + + “So he spoke, and I cast my silver-studded sword about my shoulders, a great sword of bronze, and slung my bow about me, and bade him lead me back by the self-same road. But he clasped me with both hands, and be sought me by my knees, +and with wailing he spoke to me winged words: + “‘Lead me not thither against my will, O thou fostered of Zeus, but leave me here. For I know that thou wilt neither come back thyself, nor bring anyone of thy comrades. Nay, with these that are here let us flee with all speed, for still we may haply escape the evil day.’ + +“So he spoke, but I answered him, and said:‘Eurylochus, do thou stay here in this place, eating and drinking by the hollow, black ship; but I will go, for strong necessity is laid upon me.’ + “So saying, I went up from the ship and the sea. +But when, as I went through the sacred glades, I was about to come to the great house of the sorceress, Circe, then Hermes, of the golden wand, met me as I went toward the house, in the likeness of a young man with the first down upon his lip, in whom the charm of youth is fairest. +He clasped my hand, and spoke, and addressed me: + “‘Whither now again, hapless man, dost thou go alone through the hills, knowing naught of the country? Lo, thy comrades yonder in the house of Circe are penned like swine in close-barred sties. And art thou come to release them? Nay, I tell thee, thou shalt not +thyself return, but shalt remain there with the others. But come, I will free thee from harm, and save thee. Here, take this potent herb, and go to the house of Circe, and it shall ward off from thy head the evil day. And I will tell thee all the baneful wiles of Circe. +She will mix thee a potion, and cast drugs into the food; but even so she shall not be able to bewitch thee, for the potent herb that I shall give thee will not suffer it. And I will tell thee all. When Circe shall smite thee with her long wand, then do thou draw thy sharp sword from beside thy thigh, +and rush upon Circe, as though thou wouldst slay her. And she will be seized with fear, and will bid thee lie with her. Then do not thou thereafter refuse the couch of the goddess, that she may set free thy comrades, and give entertainment to thee. But bid her swear a great oath by the blessed gods, +that she will not plot against thee any fresh mischief to thy hurt, lest when she has thee stripped she may render thee a weakling and unmanned.’ + + “So saying, Argeiphontes gave me the herb, drawing it from the ground, and showed me its nature. At the root it was black, but its flower was like milk. +Moly the gods call it, and it is hard for mortal men to dig; but with the gods all things are possible. Hermes then departed to high +Olympus + through the wooded isle, and I went my way to the house of Circe, and many things did my heart darkly ponder as I went. +So I stood at the gates of the fair-tressed goddess. There I stood and called, and the goddess heard my voice. Straightway then she came forth, and opened the bright doors, and bade me in; and I went with her, my heart sore troubled. She brought me in and made me sit on a silver-studded chair, +a beautiful chair, richly wrought, and beneath was a foot-stool for the feet. And she prepared me a potion in a golden cup, that I might drink, and put therein a drug, with evil purpose in her heart. But when she had given it me, and I had drunk it off, yet was not bewitched, she smote me with her wand, and spoke, and addressed me: +‘Begone now to the sty, and lie with the rest of thy comrades.’ + “So she spoke, but I, drawing my sharp sword from beside my thigh, rushed upon Circe, as though I would slay her. But she, with a loud cry, ran beneath, and clasped my knees, and with wailing she spoke to me winged words: + +“‘Who art thou among men, and from whence? Where is thy city, and where thy parents? Amazement holds me that thou hast drunk this charm and wast in no wise bewitched. For no man else soever hath withstood this charm, when once he has drunk it, and it has passed the barrier of his teeth. Nay, but the mind in thy breast is one not to be beguiled. +Surely thou art Odysseus, the man of ready device, who Argeiphontes of the golden wand ever said to me would come hither on his way home from +Troy + with his swift, black ship. Nay, come, put up thy sword in its sheath, and let us two then go up into my bed, that couched together +in love we may put trust in each other.’ + “So she spoke, but I answered her, and said:‘Circe, how canst thou bid me be gentle to thee, who hast turned my comrades into swine in thy halls, and now keepest me here, and with guileful purpose biddest me +go to thy chamber, and go up into thy bed, that when thou hast me stripped thou mayest render me a weakling and unmanned? Nay, verily, it is not I that shall be fain to go up into thy bed, unless thou, goddess, wilt consent to swear a mighty oath that thou wilt not plot against me any fresh mischief to my hurt.’ +“So I spoke, and she straightway swore the oath to do me no harm, as I bade her. But when she had sworn, and made an end of the oath, then I went up to the beautiful bed of Circe. + “But her handmaids meanwhile were busied in the halls, four maidens who are her serving-women in the house. +Children are they of the springs and groves, and of the sacred rivers that flow forth to the sea, and of them one threw upon chairs fair rugs of purple above, and spread beneath them a linen cloth; another drew up before the chairs tables +of silver, and set upon them golden baskets; and the third mixed sweet, honey-hearted wine in a bowl of silver, and served out golden cups; and the fourth brought water, and kindled a great fire beneath a large cauldron, and the water grew warm. +But when the water boiled in the bright bronze, she set me in a bath, and bathed me with water from out the great cauldron, mixing it to my liking, and pouring it over my head and shoulders, till she took from my limbs soul-consuming weariness. But when she had bathed me, and anointed me richly with oil, +and had cast about me a fair cloak and a tunic, she brought me into the hall, and made me sit upon a silver-studded chair—a beautiful chair, richly wrought, and beneath was a foot-stool for the feet. Then a handmaid brought water for the hands in a fair pitcher of gold, and poured it over a silver basin +for me to wash, and beside me drew up a polished table. And the grave housewife brought and set before me bread, and therewith meats in abundance, granting freely of her store. Then she bade me eat, but my heart inclined not thereto. Rather, I sat with other thoughts, and my spirit boded ill. + +“Now when Circe noted that I sat thus, and did not put forth my hands to the food, but was burdened with sore grief, she came close to me, and spoke winged words: + “‘Why, Odysseus, dost thou sit thus like one that is dumb, eating thy heart, and dost not touch food or drink? +Dost thou haply forbode some other guile? Nay, thou needest in no wise fear, for already have I sworn a mighty oath to do thee no harm.’ + “So she spoke, but I answered her, and said:‘Circe, what man that is right-minded could bring himself to taste of food or drink, +ere yet he had won freedom for his comrades, and beheld them before his face? But if thou of a ready heart dost bid me eat and drink, set them free, that mine eyes may behold my trusty comrades.’ + + “So I spoke, and Circe went forth through the hall holding her wand in her hand, and opened the doors of the sty, +and drove them out in the form of swine of nine years old. So they stood there before her, and she went through the midst of them, and anointed each man with another charm. Then from their limbs the bristles fell away which the baneful drug that queenly Circe gave them had before made to grow, +and they became men again, younger than they were before, and far comelier and taller to look upon. They knew me, and clung to my hands, each man of them, and upon them all came a passionate sobbing, and the house about them rang wondrously, and the goddess herself was moved to pity. + +“Then the beautiful goddess drew near me, and said: ‘Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, go now to thy swift ship and to the shore of the sea. First of all do ye draw the ship up on the land, and store your goods and all the tackling in caves. +Then come back thyself, and bring thy trusty comrades.’ + “So she spoke, and my proud heart consented. I went my way to the swift ship and the shore of the sea, and there I found my trusty comrades by the swift ship, wailing piteously, shedding big tears. +And as when calves in a farmstead sport about the droves of cows returning to the yard, when they have had their fill of grazing—all together they frisk before them, and the pens no longer hold them, but with constant lowing they run about their mothers—so those men, when their eyes beheld me, +thronged about me weeping, and it seemed to their hearts as though they had got to their native land, and the very city of rugged +Ithaca +, where they were bred and born. And with wailing they spoke to me winged words: + “‘At thy return, O thou fostered of Zeus, we are as glad +as though we had returned to +Ithaca +, our native land. But come, tell the fate of the others, our comrades.’ + “So they spoke, and I answered them with gentle words: ‘First of all let us draw the ship up on the land, and store our goods and all the tackling in caves. +Then haste you, one and all, to go with me that you may see your comrades in the sacred halls of Circe, drinking and eating, for they have unfailing store.’ + + “So I spoke, and they quickly hearkened to my words. Eurylochus alone sought to hold back all my comrades, + and he spoke, and addressed them with winged words: + “‘Ah, wretched men, whither are we going? Why are you so enamoured of these woes, as to go down to the house of Circe, who will change us all to swine, or wolves, or lions, that so we may guard her great house perforce? +Even so did the +Cyclops +, when our comrades went to his fold, and with them went this reckless Odysseus. For it was through this man's folly that they too perished.’ + “So he spoke, and I pondered in heart, whether to draw my long sword from beside my stout thigh, +and therewith strike off his head, and bring it to the ground, near kinsman of mine by marriage though he was; but my comrades one after another sought to check me with gentle words: + “‘O thou sprung from Zeus, as for this man, we will leave him, if thou so biddest, to abide here by the ship, and to guard the ship, +but as for us, do thou lead us to the sacred house of Circe.’ + “So saying, they went up from the ship and the sea. Nor was Eurylochus left beside the hollow ship, but he went with us, for he feared my dread reproof. + “Meanwhile in her halls Circe +bathed the rest of my comrades with kindly care, and anointed them richly with oil, and cast about them fleecy cloaks and tunics; and we found them all feasting bountifully in the halls. But when they saw and recognized one another, face to face, they wept and wailed, and the house rang around. +Then the beautiful goddess drew near me, and said: + “‘No longer now do ye rouse this plenteous lamenting. Of myself I know both all the woes you have suffered on the teeming deep, and all the wrong that cruel men have done you on the land. +Nay, come, eat food and drink wine, until you once more get spirit in your breasts such as when at the first you left your native land of rugged +Ithaca +; but now ye are withered and spiritless, ever thinking of your weary wanderings, nor are your +hearts ever joyful, for verily ye have suffered much.’ + “So she spoke, and our proud hearts consented. So there day after day for a full year we abode, feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine. But when a year was gone and the seasons turned, +as the months waned and the long days were brought in their course, then my trusty comrades called me forth, and said: + “‘Strange man, bethink thee now at last of thy native land, if it is fated for thee to be saved, and to reach thy high-roofed house and thy native land.’ +“So they spoke, and my proud heart consented. So then all day long till set of sun we sat feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine. But when the sun set and darkness came on, they lay down to sleep throughout the shadowy halls, +but I went up to the beautiful bed of Circe, and besought her by her knees; and the goddess heard my voice, and I spoke, and addressed her with winged words: + “‘Circe, fulfil for me the promise which thou gavest to send me home; for my spirit is now eager to be gone, +and the spirit of my comrades, who make my heart to pine, as they sit about me mourning, whensoever thou haply art not at hand.’ + “So I spoke, and the beautiful goddess straightway made answer: ‘Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, abide ye now no longer in my house against your will; +but you must first complete another journey, and come to the house of Hades and dread Persephone, to seek soothsaying of the spirit of Theban Teiresias, the blind seer, whose mind abides steadfast. To him even in death Persephone has granted reason, +that he alone should have understanding; but the others flit about as shadows.’ + “So she spoke, and my spirit was broken within me, and I wept as I sat on the bed, nor had my heart any longer desire to live and behold the light of the sun. But when I had my fill of weeping and writhing, +then I made answer, and addressed her, saying: + “‘O Circe, who will guide us on this journey? To Hades no man ever yet went in a black ship.’ + + “So I spoke, and the beautiful goddess straightway made answer: ‘Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, +let there be in thy mind no concern for a pilot to guide thy ship, +1 + but set up thy mast, and spread the white sail, and sit thee down; and the breath of the North Wind will bear her onward. But when in thy ship thou hast now crossed the stream of Oceanus, where is a level shore and the groves of Persephone— +tall poplars, and willows that shed their fruit—there do thou beach thy ship by the deep eddying Oceanus, but go thyself to the dank house of Hades. There into +Acheron + flow Periphlegethon and Cocytus, which is a branch of the water of the Styx; +and there is a rock, and the meeting place of the two roaring rivers. Thither, prince, do thou draw nigh, as I bid thee, and dig a pit of a cubit's length this way and that, and around it pour a libation to all the dead, first with milk and honey, thereafter with sweet wine, +and in the third place with water, and sprinkle thereon white barley meal. And do thou earnestly entreat the powerless heads of the dead, vowing that when thou comest to +Ithaca + thou wilt sacrifice in thy halls a barren heifer, the best thou hast, and wilt fill the altar with rich gifts; and that to Teiresias alone thou wilt sacrifice separately a ram, +wholly black, the goodliest of thy flock. But when with prayers thou hast made supplication to the glorious tribes of the dead, then sacrifice a ram and a black ewe, turning their heads toward Erebus but thyself turning backward, and setting thy face towards the streams of the river. Then many +ghosts of men that are dead will come forth. But do thou thereafter call to thy comrades, and bid them flay and burn the sheep that lie there, slain by the pitiless bronze, and make prayer to the gods, to mighty Hades and to dread Persephone. +And do thou thyself draw thy sharp sword from beside thy thigh, and sit there, not suffering the powerless heads of the dead to draw near to the blood, till thou hast enquired of Teiresias. Then the seer will presently come to thee, leader of men, and he will tell thee thy way and the measures of thy path, +and of thy return, how thou mayest go over the teeming deep.’ + “So she spoke, and straightway came golden-throned Dawn. Round about me then she cast a cloak and tunic as raiment, and the nymph clothed herself in a long white robe, finely-woven and beautiful, and about her waist she cast +a fair girdle of gold, and upon her head she put a veil. +But I went through the halls, and roused my men with gentle words, coming up to each man in turn. + “‘No longer now sleep ye, and drowse in sweet slumber, but let us go; lo! queenly Circe has told me all.’ + +“So I spoke, and their proud hearts consented. But not even from thence could I lead my men unscathed. There was one, Elpenor, the youngest of all, not over valiant in war nor sound of understanding, who had laid him down apart from his comrades in the sacred house of Circe, +seeking the cool air, for he was heavy with wine. He heard the noise and the bustle of his comrades as they moved about, and suddenly sprang up, and forgot to go to the long ladder that he might come down again, but fell headlong from the roof, and his neck +was broken away from the spine, and his spirit went down to the house of Hades. + “But as my men were going on their way I spoke among them, saying: ‘Ye think, forsooth, that ye are going to your dear native land; but Circe has pointed out for us another journey, even to the house of Hades and dread Persephone, +to consult the spirit of Theban Teiresias.’ + “So I spoke, and their spirit was broken within them, and sitting down right where they were, they wept and tore their hair. But no good came of their lamenting. + “But when we were on our way to the swift ship and the shore of the sea, +sorrowing and shedding big tears, meanwhile Circe had gone forth and made fast beside the black ship a ram and a black ewe, for easily had she passed us by. Who with his eyes could behold a god against his will, whether going to or fro? +“But when we had come down to the ship and to the sea, first of all we drew the ship down to the bright sea, and set the mast and sail in the black ship, and took the sheep and put them aboard, +and ourselves embarked, sorrowing, and shedding big tears. And for our aid in the wake of our dark-prowed ship a fair wind that filled the sail, a goodly comrade, was sent by fair-tressed Circe, dread goddess of human speech. So when we had made fast all the tackling throughout the ship, +we sat down, and the wind and the helms man made straight her course. All the day long her sail was stretched as she sped over the sea; and the sun set and all the ways grew dark. + “She came to deep-flowing Oceanus, that bounds the Earth, +1 + where is the land and city of the Cimmerians, +wrapped in mist and cloud. Never does the bright sun look down on them with his rays either when he mounts the starry heaven or when he turns again to earth from heaven, but baneful night is spread over wretched mortals. +Thither we came and beached our ship, and took out the sheep, and ourselves went beside the stream of Oceanus until we came to the place of which Circe had told us. + “Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh, +and dug a pit of a cubit's length this way and that, and around it poured a libation to all the dead, first with milk and honey, thereafter with sweet wine, and in the third place with water, and I sprinkled thereon white barley meal. And I earnestly entreated the powerless heads of the dead, +vowing that when I came to +Ithaca + I would sacrifice in my halls a barren heifer, the best I had, and pile the altar with goodly gifts, and to Teiresias alone would sacrifice separately a ram, wholly black, the goodliest of my flocks. But when with vows and prayers +I had made supplication to the tribes of the dead, I took the sheep and cut their throats over the pit, and the dark blood ran forth. Then there gathered from out of Erebus the spirits of those that are dead, brides, and unwedded youths, and toil-worn old men, and tender maidens with hearts yet new to sorrow, +and many, too, that had been wounded with bronze-tipped spears, men slain in fight, wearing their blood-stained armour. These came thronging in crowds about the pit from every side, with a wondrous cry; and pale fear seized me. Then I called to my comrades and bade them flay and burn +the sheep that lay there slain with the pitiless bronze, and to make prayer to the gods, to mighty Hades and dread Persephone. And I myself drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh and sat there, and would not suffer the powerless heads of the dead +to draw near to the blood until I had enquired of Teiresias. + + “The first to come was the spirit of my comrade Elpenor. Not yet had he been buried beneath the broad-wayed earth, for we had left his corpse behind us in the hall of Circe, unwept and unburied, since another task was then urging us on. +When I saw him I wept, and my heart had compassion on him; and I spoke and addressed him with winged words: + “‘Elpenor, how didst thou come beneath the murky darkness? Thou coming on foot hast out-stripped me in my black ship.’ + “So I spoke, and with a groan he answered me and said: +‘Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, an evil doom of some god was my undoing, and measureless wine. When I had lain down to sleep in the house of Circe I did not think to go to the long ladder that I might come down again, but fell headlong from the roof, and my neck +was broken away from the spine and my spirit went down to the house of Hades. Now I beseech thee by those whom we left behind, who are not present with us, by thy wife and thy father who reared thee when a babe, and by Telemachus whom thou didst leave an only son in thy halls; for I know that as thou goest hence from the house of Hades +thou wilt touch at the Aeaean isle with thy well-built ship. There, then, O prince, I bid thee remember me. Leave me not behind thee unwept and unburied as thou goest thence, and turn not away from me, lest haply I bring the wrath of the gods upon thee. Nay, burn me with my armour, all that is mine, +and heap up a mound for me on the shore of the grey sea, in memory of an unhappy man, that men yet to be may learn of me. Fulfil this my prayer, and fix upon the mound my oar wherewith I rowed in life when I was among my comrades.’ + “So he spoke, and I made answer and said: +‘All this, unhappy man, will I perform and do.’ + “Thus we two sat and held sad converse one with the other, I on one side holding my sword over the blood, while on the other side the phantom of my comrade spoke at large. + “Then there came up the spirit of my dead mother, +Anticleia, the daughter of great-hearted Autolycus, whom I had left alive when I departed for sacred +Ilios +. At sight of her I wept, and my heart had compassion on her, but even so I would not suffer her to come near the blood, for all my great sorrow, until I had enquired of Teiresias. + +“Then there came up the spirit of the Theban Teiresias, bearing his golden staff in his hand, and he knew me and spoke to me: ‘Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, what now, hapless man? Why hast thou left the light of the sun and come hither to behold the dead and a region where is no joy? +Nay, give place from the pit and draw back thy sharp sword, that I may drink of the blood and tell thee sooth.’ + + “So he spoke, and I gave place and thrust my silver-studded sword into its sheath, and when he had drunk the dark blood, then the blameless seer spoke to me and said: + +“‘Thou askest of thy honey-sweet return, glorious Odysseus, but this shall a god make grievous unto thee; for I think not that thou shalt elude the Earth-shaker, seeing that he has laid up wrath in his heart against thee, angered that thou didst blind his dear son. Yet even so ye may reach home, though in evil plight, +if thou wilt curb thine own spirit and that of thy comrades, as soon as thou shalt bring thy well-built ship to the island Thrinacia, escaping from the violet sea, and ye find grazing there the kine and goodly flocks of Helios, who over sees and overhears all things. +If thou leavest these unharmed and heedest thy homeward way, verily ye may yet reach +Ithaca +, though in evil plight. But if thou harmest them, then I foresee ruin for thy ship and thy comrades, and even if thou shalt thyself escape, late shalt thou come home and in evil case, after losing all thy comrades, +in a ship that is another's, and thou shalt find woes in thy house—proud men that devour thy livelihood, wooing thy godlike wife, and offering wooers' gifts. Yet verily on their violent deeds shalt thou take vengeance when thou comest. But when thou hast slain the wooers in thy halls, +whether by guile or openly with the sharp sword, then do thou go forth, taking a shapely oar, until thou comest to men that know naught of the sea and eat not of food mingled with salt, aye, and they know naught of ships with purple cheeks, +or of shapely oars that are as wings unto ships. And I will tell thee a sign right manifest, which will not escape thee. When another wayfarer, on meeting thee, shall say that thou hast a winnowing-fan on thy stout shoulder, then do thou fix in the earth thy shapely oar +and make goodly offerings to lord Poseidon—a ram, and a bull, and a boar that mates with sows—and depart for thy home and offer sacred hecatombs to the immortal gods who hold broad heaven, to each one in due order. And death shall come to thee thyself far from the sea, +1 +a death so gentle, that shall lay thee low when thou art overcome with sleek +1 + old age, and thy people shall dwell in prosperity around thee. In this have I told thee sooth.’ + + “So he spoke, and I made answer and said: ‘Teiresias, of all this, I ween, the gods themselves have spun the thread. +But come, tell me this, and declare it truly. I see here the spirit of my dead mother; she sits in silence near the blood, and deigns not to look upon the face of her own son or to speak to him. Tell me, prince, how she may recognize that I am he?’ + +“So I spoke, and he straightway made answer, and said: ‘Easy is the word that I shall say and put in thy mind. Whomsoever of those that are dead and gone thou shalt suffer to draw near the blood, he will tell thee sooth; but whomsoever thou refusest, he surely will go back again.’ + +“So saying the spirit of the prince, Teiresias, went back into the house of Hades, when he had declared his prophecies; but I remained there steadfastly until my mother came up and drank the dark blood. At once then she knew me, and with wailing she spoke to me winged words: + +“‘My child, how didst thou come beneath the murky darkness, being still alive? Hard is it for those that live to behold these realms, for between are great rivers and dread streams; Oceanus first, which one may in no wise cross on foot, but only if one have a well-built ship. +Art thou but now come hither from +Troy + after long wanderings with thy ship and thy companions? and hast thou not yet reached +Ithaca +, nor seen thy wife in thy halls?’ + “So she spoke, and I made answer and said: ‘My mother, necessity brought me down to the house of Hades, +to seek soothsaying of the spirit of Theban Teiresias. For not yet have I come near to the shore of +Achaea +, nor have I as yet set foot on my own land, but have ever been wandering, laden with woe, from the day when first I went with goodly Agamemnon to +Ilios +, famed for its horses, to fight with the Trojans. +But come, tell me this, and declare it truly. What fate of grievous death overcame thee? Was it long disease, or did the archer, Artemis, assail thee with her gentle shafts, and slay thee? And tell me of my father and my son, whom I left behind me. +Does the honor that was mine still abide with them, or does some other man now possess it, and do they say that I shall no more return? And tell me of my wedded wife, of her purpose and of her mind. Does she abide with her son, and keep all things safe? or has one already wedded her, whosoever is best of the Achaeans?’ +“So I spoke, and my honored mother straightway answered: ‘Aye verily she abides with steadfast heart in thy halls, and ever sorrowfully for her do the nights and the days wane, as she weeps. But the fair honor that was thine no man yet possesses, +but Telemachus holds thy demesne unharassed, and feasts a equal banquets, such as it is fitting that one who deals judgment should share, for all men invite him. But thy father abides there in the tilled land, and comes not to the city, nor has he, for bedding, bed and cloaks and bright coverlets, +but through the winter he sleeps in the house, where the slaves sleep, in the ashes by the fire, and wears upon his body mean raiment. But when summer comes and rich autumn, then all about the slope of his vineyard plot are strewn his lowly beds of fallen leaves. +There he lies sorrowing, and nurses his great grief in his heart, in longing for thy return, and heavy old age has come upon him. Even so did I too perish and meet my fate. Neither did the keen-sighted archer goddess assail me in my halls with her gentle shafts, and slay me, +nor did any disease come upon me, such as oftenest through grievous wasting takes the spirit from the limbs; nay, it was longing for thee, and for thy counsels, glorious Odysseus, and for thy tender-heartedness, that robbed me of honey-sweet life.’ + “So she spoke, and I pondered in heart, and was fain +to clasp the spirit of my dead mother. Thrice I sprang towards her, and my heart bade me clasp her, and thrice she flitted from my arms like a shadow or a dream, and pain grew ever sharper at my heart. And I spoke and addressed her with winged words: + +“‘My mother, why dost thou not stay for me, who am eager to clasp thee, that even in the house of Hades we two may cast our arms each about the other, and take our fill of chill lamenting. Is this but a phantom that august Persephone has sent me, that I may lament and groan the more?’ + +“So I spoke, and my honored mother straightway answered: ‘Ah me, my child, ill-fated above all men, in no wise does Persephone, the daughter of Zeus, deceive thee, but this is the appointed way with mortals when one dies. For the sinews no longer hold the flesh and the bones together, +but the strong might of blazing fire destroys these, as soon as the life leaves the white bones, and the spirit, like a dream, flits away, and hovers to and fro. But haste thee to the light with what speed thou mayest, and bear all these things in mind, that thou mayest hereafter tell them to thy wife.’ +“Thus we two talked with one another; and the women came, for august Persephone sent them forth, even all those that had been the wives and the daughters of chieftains. These flocked in throngs about the dark blood, and I considered how I might question each; +and this seemed to my mind the best counsel. I drew my long sword from beside my stout thigh, and would not suffer them to drink of the dark blood all at one time. So they drew near, one after the other, and each declared her birth, and I questioned them all. + +“Then verily the first that I saw was high-born Tyro, who said that she was the daughter of noble Salmoneus, and declared herself to be the wife of Cretheus, son of Aeolus. She became enamoured of the river, divine Enipeus, who is far the fairest of rivers that send forth their streams upon the earth, +and she was wont to resort to the fair waters of Enipeus. But the Enfolder and Shaker of the earth took his form, and lay with her at the mouths of the eddying river. And the dark wave stood about them like a mountain, vaulted-over, and hid the god and the mortal woman. +And he loosed her maiden girdle, and shed sleep upon her. But when the god had ended his work of love, he clasped her hand, and spoke, and addressed her: + “‘Be glad, woman, in our love, and as the year goes on its course thou shalt bear glorious children, for not weak are the embraces +of a god. These do thou tend and rear. But now go to thy house, and hold thy peace, and tell no man; but know that I am Poseidon, the shaker of the earth.’ + “So saying, he plunged beneath the surging sea. But she conceived and bore Pelias and Neleus, +who both became strong servants of great Zeus; and Pelias dwelt in spacious Iolcus, and was rich in flocks, and the other dwelt in sandy +Pylos +. But her other children she, the queenly among women, bore to Cretheus, even Aeson, and Pheres, and Amythaon, who fought from chariots. +1 +“And after her I saw Antiope, daughter of Asopus, who boasted that she had slept even in the arms of Zeus, and she bore two sons, Amphion and Zethus, who first established the seat of seven-gated Thebe, and fenced it in with walls, for they could not +dwell in spacious Thebe unfenced, how mighty soever they were. + “And after her I saw Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, who lay in the arms of great Zeus, and bore Heracles, staunch in fight, the lion-hearted. And +Megara + I saw, daughter of Creon, high-of-heart, +whom the son of Amphitryon, ever stubborn in might, had to wife. + + “And I saw the mother of Oedipodes, fair Epicaste, who wrought a monstrous deed in ignorance of mind, in that she wedded her own son, and he, when he had slain his own father, wedded her, and straightway the gods made these things known among men. +Howbeit he abode as lord of the Cadmeans in lovely Thebe, suffering woes through the baneful counsels of the gods, but she went down to the house of Hades, the strong warder. She made fast a noose on high from a lofty beam, overpowered by her sorrow, but for him she left behind woes +full many, even all that the Avengers of a mother bring to pass. + “And I saw beauteous Chloris, whom once Neleus wedded because of her beauty, when he had brought countless gifts of wooing. Youngest daughter was she of Amphion, son of Iasus, who once ruled mightily in +Orchomenus + of the Minyae. +And she was queen of +Pylos +, and bore to her husband glorious children, Nestor, and Chromius, and lordly Periclymenus, and besides these she bore noble +Pero +, a wonder to men. Her all that dwelt about sought in marriage, but Neleus would give her to no man, save to him who +should drive from +Phylace + the kine of mighty Iphicles, sleek and broad of brow; and hard they were to drive. These the blameless seer alone undertook to drive off; but a grievous fate of the gods ensnared him, even hard bonds and the herdsmen of the field. +Howbeit when at length the months and the days were being brought to fulfillment, as the year rolled round, and the seasons came on, then verily mighty Iphicles released him, when he had told all the oracles; and the will of Zeus was fulfilled. + “And I saw +Lede +, the wife of Tyndareus, who bore to Tyndareus two sons, stout of heart, +Castor the tamer of horses, and the boxer Polydeuces. These two the earth, the giver of life, covers, albeit alive, and even in the world below they have honor from Zeus. One day they live in turn, and one day they are dead; and they have won honor like unto that of the gods. + +“And after her I saw Iphimedeia, wife of Aloeus, who declared that she had lain with Poseidon. She bore two sons, but short of life were they, godlike Otus, and far-famed Ephialtes—men whom the earth, the giver of grain, reared as the tallest, +and far the comeliest, after the famous Orion. For at nine years they were nine cubits in breadth and in height nine fathoms. Yea, and they threatened to raise the din of furious war against the immortals in +Olympus +. +They were fain to pile Ossa on +Olympus +, and Pelion, with its waving forests, on Ossa, that so heaven might be scaled. And this they would have accomplished, if they had reached the measure of manhood; but the son of Zeus, whom fair-haired Leto bore, slew them both before +the down blossomed beneath their temples and covered their chins with a full growth of beard. + + “And Phaedra and Procris I saw, and fair Ariadne, the daughter of Minos of baneful mind, whom once Theseus was fain to bear from +Crete + to the hill of sacred +Athens +; but he had no joy of her, for ere that Artemis slew her +in sea-girt Dia because of the witness of Dionysus. + “And Maera and Clymene I saw, and hateful Eriphyle, who took precious gold as the price of the life of her own lord. But I cannot tell or name all the wives and daughters of heroes that I saw; +ere that immortal night would wane. Nay, it is now time to sleep, either when I have gone to the swift ship and the crew, or here. My sending shall rest with the gods, and with you.” + So he spoke, and they were all hushed in silence, and were held spell-bound throughout the shadowy halls. +Then among them white-armed Arete was the first to speak: + “Phaeacians, how seems this man to you for comeliness and stature, and for the balanced spirit within him? And moreover he is my guest, though each of you has a share in this honor. Wherefore be not in haste to send him away, nor +stint your gifts to one in such need; for many are the treasures which lie stored in your halls by the favour of the gods.” + Then among them spoke also the old lord Echeneus, who was an elder among the Phaeacians:“Friends, verily not wide of the mark or of our own thought +are the words of our wise queen. Nay, do you give heed to them. Yet it is on Alcinous here that deed and word depend.” + Then again Alcinous answered him and said:“This word of hers shall verily hold, as surely as I live and am lord over the Phaeacians, lovers of the oar. +But let our guest, for all his great longing to return, nevertheless endure to remain until tomorrow, till I shall make all our gift complete. His sending shall rest with the men, with all, but most of all with me; for mine is the control in the land.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him and said: +“Lord Alcinous, renowned above all men, if you should bid me abide here even for a year, and should further my sending, and give glorious gifts, even that would I choose; and it would be better far to come with a fuller hand to my dear native land. +Aye, and I should win more respect and love from all men who should see me when I had returned to +Ithaca +.” + + Then again Alcinous made answer and said:“Odysseus, in no wise as we look on thee do we deem this of thee, that thou art a cheat and a dissembler, such as are many +whom the dark earth breeds scattered far and wide, men that fashion lies out of what no man can even see. But upon thee is grace of words, and within thee is a heart of wisdom, and thy tale thou hast told with skill, as doth a minstrel, even the grievous woes of all the Argives and of thine own self. +But come, tell me this, and declare it truly, whether thou sawest any of thy godlike comrades, who went to +Ilios + together with thee, and there met their fate. The night is before us, long, aye, wondrous long, and it is not yet the time for sleep in the hall. Tell on, I pray thee, the tale of these wondrous deeds. +Verily I could abide until bright dawn, so thou wouldest be willing to tell in the hall of these woes of thine.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him and said: “Lord Alcinous, renowned above all men, there is a time for many words and there is a time also for sleep. +But if thou art fain still to listen, I would not begrudge to tell thee of other things more pitiful still than these, even the woes of my comrades, who perished afterward, who escaped from the dread battle-cry of the Trojans, but perished on their return through the will of an evil woman. + +“When then holy Persephone had scattered this way and that the spirits of the women, there came up the spirit of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, sorrowing; and round about him others were gathered, spirits of all those who were slain with him in the house of Aegisthus, and met their fate. +He knew me straightway, when he had drunk the dark blood, and he wept aloud, and shed big tears, and stretched forth his hands toward me eager to reach me. But no longer had he aught of strength or might remaining such as of old was in his supple limbs. + +“When I saw him I wept, and my heart had compassion on him, and I spoke, and addressed him with winged words: ‘Most glorious son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, what fate of grievous death overcame thee? Did Poseidon smite thee on board thy ships, +when he had roused a furious blast of cruel winds? Or did foemen work thee harm on the land, while thou wast cutting off their cattle and fair flocks of sheep, or wast fighting to win their city and their women?’ + + “So I spoke, and he straightway made answer and said: +‘Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, neither did Poseidon smite me on board my ships, when he had roused a furious blast of cruel winds, nor did foemen work me harm on the land, but Aegisthus wrought for me death and fate, +and slew me with the aid of my accursed wife, when he had bidden me to his house and made me a feast, even as one slays an ox at the stall. So I died by a most pitiful death, and round about me the rest of my comrades were slain unceasingly like white-tusked swine, which are slaughtered in the house of a rich man of great might +at a marriage feast, or a joint meal, or a rich drinking-bout. Ere now thou hast been present at the slaying of many men, killed in single combat or in the press of the fight, but in heart thou wouldst have felt most pity hadst thou seen that sight, how about the mixing bowl and the laden tables +we lay in the hall, and the floor all swam with blood. But the most piteous cry that I heard was that of the daughter of Priam, Cassandra, whom guileful Clytemnestra slew by my side. +1 + And I sought to raise my hands and smite down the murderess, dying though I was, pierced through with the sword. But she, the shameless one, +turned her back upon me, and even though I was going to the house of Hades deigned neither to draw down my eyelids with her fingers nor to close my mouth. So true is it that there is nothing more dread or more shameless than a woman who puts into her heart such deeds, even as she too devised a monstrous thing, +contriving death for her wedded husband. Verily I thought that I should come home welcome to my children and to my slaves; but she, with her heart set on utter wickedness, has shed shame on herself and on women yet to be, even upon her that doeth uprightly.’ + +“So he spoke, and I made answer and said: ‘Ah, verily has Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, visited wondrous hatred on the race of Atreus from the first because of the counsels of women. For Helen's sake many of us perished, and against thee Clytemnestra spread a snare whilst thou wast afar.’ +“So I spoke, and he straightway made answer and said: ‘Wherefore in thine own case be thou never gentle even to thy wife. Declare not to her all the thoughts of thy heart, but tell her somewhat, and let somewhat also be hidden. Yet not upon thee, Odysseus, shall death come from thy wife, +for very prudent and of an understanding heart is the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope. Verily we left her a bride newly wed, when we went to the war, and a boy was at her breast, a babe, who now, I ween, sits in the ranks of men, +happy in that his dear father will behold him when he comes, and he will greet his father as is meet. But my wife did not let me sate my eyes even with sight of my own son. Nay, ere that she slew even me, her husband. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart: +in secret and not openly do thou bring thy ship to the shore of thy dear native land; for no longer is there faith in women. But, come, tell me this, and declare it truly, whether haply ye hear of my son as yet alive in +Orchomenus + it may be, or in sandy +Pylos +, +or yet with Menelaus in wide +Sparta +; for not yet has goodly Orestes perished on the earth.’ + “So he spoke, and I made answer and said: ‘Son of Atreus, wherefore dost thou question me of this? I know not at all whether he be alive or dead, and it is an ill thing to speak words vain as wind.’ + +“Thus we two stood and held sad converse with one another, sorrowing and shedding big tears; and there came up the spirit of Achilles, son of Peleus, and those of Patroclus and of peerless Antilochus and of Aias, who in comeliness and form was the goodliest +of all the Danaans after the peerless son of Peleus. And the spirit of the swift-footed son of Aeacus recognized me, and weeping, spoke to me winged words: + “Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, rash man, what deed yet greater than this wilt thou devise in thy heart? +How didst thou dare to come down to Hades, where dwell the unheeding dead, the phantoms of men outworn.’ +1 + + “‘So he spoke, and I made answer and said:‘Achilles, son of Peleus, far the mightiest of the Achaeans, I came through need of Teiresias, +1 + if haply +he would tell me some plan whereby I might reach rugged +Ithaca +. For not yet have I come near to the land of +Achaea +, nor have I as yet set foot on my own country, but am ever suffering woes; whereas than thou, Achilles, no man aforetime was more blessed nor shall ever be hereafter. For of old, when thou wast alive, we Argives honored thee even as the gods, +and now that thou art here, thou rulest mightily among the dead. Wherefore grieve not at all that thou art dead, Achilles.’ + + “So I spoke, and he straightway made answer and said: ‘Nay, seek not to speak soothingly to me of death, glorious Odysseus. I should choose, so I might live on earth, +2 + to serve as the hireling of another, +of some portionless man whose livelihood was but small, rather than to be lord over all the dead that have perished. But come, tell me tidings of my son, that lordly youth, whether or not he followed to the war to be a leader. And tell me of noble Peleus, if thou hast heard aught, +whether he still has honor among the host of the Myrmidons, or whether men do him dishonor throughout +Hellas + and +Phthia +, because old age binds him hand and foot. For I am not there to bear him aid beneath the rays of the sun in such strength as once was mine in wide +Troy +, +when I slew the best of the host in defence of the Argives. If but in such strength I could come, were it but for an hour, to my father's house, I would give many a one of those who do him violence and keep him from his honor, cause to rue my strength and my invincible hands.’ + “So he spoke, and I made answer and said: +‘Verily of noble Peleus have I heard naught, but as touching thy dear son, Neoptolemus, I will tell thee all the truth, as thou biddest me. I it was, myself, who brought him from Scyros in my shapely, hollow ship to join the host of the well-greaved Archaeans. +And verily, as often as we took counsel around the city of +Troy +, he was ever the first to speak, and made no miss of words; godlike Nestor and I alone surpassed him. But as often as we fought with the bronze on the Trojan plain, he would never remain behind in the throng or press of men, +but would ever run forth far to the front, yielding to none in his might; and many men he slew in dread combat. All of them I could not tell or name, all the host that he slew in defence of the Argives; but what a warrior was that son of Telephus whom he slew with the sword, +the prince Eurypylus! Aye, and many of his comrades, the Ceteians, were slain about him, because of gifts a woman craved. +1 + He verily was the comeliest man I saw, next to goodly Memnon. And again, when we, the best of the Argives, were about to go down into the horse which Epeus made, and the command of all was laid upon me, +both to open and to close the door of our stout-built ambush, then the other leaders and counsellors of the Danaans would wipe away tears from their eyes, and each man's limbs shook beneath him, but never did my eyes see his fair face grow pale at all, nor see him +wiping tears from his cheeks; but he earnestly besought me to let him go forth from the horse, and kept handling his sword-hilt and his spear heavy with bronze, and was eager to work harm to the Trojans. But after we had sacked the lofty city of Priam, he went on board his ship with his share of the spoil and a goodly prize— +all unscathed he was, neither smitten with the sharp spear nor wounded in close fight, as often befalls in war; for Ares rages confusedly.’ + + “So I spoke, and the spirit of the son of Aeacus departed with long strides over the field of asphodel, +joyful in that I said that his son was preeminent. + “And other spirits of those dead and gone stood sorrowing, and each asked of those dear to him. Alone of them all the spirit of Aias, son of Telamon, stood apart, still full of wrath for the victory +that I had won over him in the contest by the ships for the arms of Achilles, whose honored mother had set them for a prize; and the judges were the sons of the Trojans and Pallas Athena. I would that I had never won in the contest for such a prize, over so noble a head did the earth close because of those arms, +even over Aias, who in comeliness and in deeds of war was above all the other Achaeans, next to the peerless son of Peleus. To him I spoke with soothing words: + “‘Aias, son of peerless Telamon, wast thou then not even in death to forget thy wrath against me because of +those accursed arms? Surely the gods set them to be a bane to the Argives: such a tower of strength was lost to them in thee; and for thee in death we Achaeans sorrow unceasingly, even as for the life of Achilles, son of Peleus. Yet no other is to blame but Zeus, +who bore terrible hatred against the host of Danaan spearmen, and brought on thee thy doom. Nay, come hither, prince, that thou mayest hear my word and my speech; and subdue thy wrath and thy proud spirit.’ + “So I spoke, but he answered me not a word, but went his way to Erebus to join the other spirits of those dead and gone. +Then would he nevertheless have spoken to me for all his wrath, or I to him, but the heart in my breast was fain to see the spirits of those others that are dead. + + “There then I saw Minos, the glorious son of Zeus, golden sceptre in hand, giving judgment to the dead +from his seat, while they sat and stood about the king through the wide-gated house of Hades, and asked of him judgment. + “And after him I marked huge Orion driving together over the field of asphodel wild beasts which he himself had slain on the lonely hills, +and in his hands he held a club all of bronze, ever unbroken. + “And I saw Tityos, son of glorious Gaea, lying on the ground. Over nine roods +1 + he stretched, and two vultures sat, one on either side, and tore his liver, plunging their beaks into his bowels, nor could he beat them off with his hands. +For he had offered violence to Leto, the glorious wife of Zeus, as she went toward +Pytho + through Panopeus with its lovely lawns. + “Aye, and I saw Tantalus in violent torment, standing in a pool, and the water came nigh unto his chin. He seemed as one athirst, but could not take and drink; +for as often as that old man stooped down, eager to drink, so often would the water be swallowed up and vanish away, and at his feet the black earth would appear, for some god made all dry. And trees, high and leafy, let stream their fruits above his head, pears, and pomegranates, and apple trees with their bright fruit, +and sweet figs, and luxuriant olives. But as often as that old man would reach out toward these, to clutch them with his hands, the wind would toss them to the shadowy clouds. + “Aye, and I saw Sisyphus in violent torment, seeking to raise a monstrous stone with both his hands. +Verily he would brace himself with hands and feet, and thrust the stone toward the crest of a hill, but as often as he was about to heave it over the top, the weight would turn it back, and then down again to the plain would come rolling the ruthless stone. But he would strain again and thrust it back, and the sweat +flowed down from his limbs, and dust rose up from his head. + + “And after him I marked the mighty Heracles—his phantom; for he himself among the immortal gods takes his joy in the feast, and has to wife Hebe, of the fair ankles, daughter of great Zeus and of Here, of the golden sandals. +About him rose a clamor from the dead, as of birds flying everywhere in terror; and he like dark night, with his bow bare and with arrow on the string, glared about him terribly, like one in act to shoot. Awful was the belt about his breast, +a baldric of gold, whereon wondrous things were fashioned, bears and wild boars, and lions with flashing eyes, and conflicts, and battles, and murders, and slayings of men. May he never have designed, +1 + or hereafter design such another, even he who stored up in his craft the device of that belt. +He in turn knew me when his eyes beheld me, and weeping spoke to me winged words: + “‘Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, ah, wretched man, dost thou, too, drag out an evil lot such as I once bore beneath the rays of the sun? +I was the son of Zeus, son of Cronos, but I had woe beyond measure; for to a man far worse than I was I made subject, and he laid on me hard labours. Yea, he once sent me hither to fetch the hound of Hades, for he could devise for me no other task mightier than this. +The hound I carried off and led forth from the house of Hades; and Hermes was my guide, and flashing-eyed Athena.’ + “So saying, he went his way again into the house of Hades, but I abode there steadfastly, in the hope that some other haply might still come forth of the warrior heroes who died in the days of old. +And I should have seen yet others of the men of former time, whom I was fain to behold, even Theseus and Peirithous, glorious children of the gods, but ere that the myriad tribes of the dead came thronging up with a wondrous cry, and pale fear seized me, lest +august Persephone might send forth upon me from out the house of Hades the head of the Gorgon, that awful monster. + “Straightway then I went to the ship and bade my comrades themselves to embark, and to loose the stern cables. So they went on board quickly and sat down upon the benches. And the ship was borne down the stream Oceanus by the swelling flood, +first with our rowing, and afterwards the wind was fair. +“Now after our ship had left the stream of the river Oceanus and had come to the wave of the broad sea, and the Aeaean isle, where is the dwelling of early Dawn and her dancing-lawns, and the risings of the sun, +there on our coming we beached our ship on the sands, and ourselves went forth upon the shore of the sea, and there we fell asleep, and waited for the bright Dawn. + “As soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, then I sent forth my comrades to the house of Circe +to fetch the body of the dead Elpenor. Straightway then we cut billets of wood and gave him burial where the headland runs furthest out to sea, sorrowing and shedding big tears. But when the dead man was burned, and the armour of the dead, we heaped up a mound and dragged on to it a pillar, +and on the top of the mound we planted his shapely oar. + “We then were busied with these several tasks, howbeit Circe was not unaware of our coming forth from the house of Hades, but speedily she arrayed herself and came, and her handmaids brought with her bread and meat in abundance and flaming red wine. +And the beautiful goddess stood in our midst, and spoke among us, saying: + “‘Rash men, who have gone down alive to the house of Hades to meet death twice, while other men die but once. Nay, come, eat food and drink wine here this whole day through; but at the coming of Dawn +ye shall set sail, and I will point out the way and declare to you each thing, in order that ye may not suffer pain and woes through wretched ill-contriving either by sea or on land.’ + “So she spoke, and our proud hearts consented. So then all day long till set of sun +we sat feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine. But when the sun set and darkness came on, they lay down to rest beside the stern cables of the ship; but Circe took me by the hand, and leading me apart from my dear comrades, made me to sit, and herself lay down close at hand and asked me all the tale. +And I told her all in due order. +Then queenly Circe spoke to me and said: + “All these things have thus found an end; but do thou hearken as I shall tell thee, and a god shall himself bring it to thy mind. To the Sirens first shalt thou come, who +beguile all men whosoever comes to them. Whoso in ignorance draws near to them and hears the Sirens' voice, he nevermore returns, that his wife and little children may stand at his side rejoicing, but the Sirens beguile him with their clear-toned song, +as they sit in a meadow, and about them is a great heap of bones of mouldering men, and round the bones the skin is shrivelling. But do thou row past them, and anoint the ears of thy comrades with sweet wax, which thou hast kneaded, lest any of the rest may hear. But if thou thyself hast a will to listen, +let them bind thee in the swift ship hand and foot upright in the step of the mast, and let the ropes be made fast at the ends to the mast itself, that with delight thou mayest listen to the voice of the two Sirens. And if thou shalt implore and bid thy comrades to loose thee, then let them bind thee with yet more bonds. +But when thy comrades shall have rowed past these, thereafter I shall not fully say on which side thy course is to lie, but do thou thyself ponder it in mind, and I will tell thee of both ways. For on the one hand are beetling crags, and against them +roars the great wave of dark-eyed Amphitrite; the Planctae +1 + do the blessed gods call these. Thereby not even winged things may pass, no, not the timorous doves that bear ambrosia to father Zeus, but the smooth rock ever snatches away one even of these, +and the father sends in another to make up the tale. And thereby has no ship of men ever yet escaped that has come thither, but the planks of ships and bodies of men are whirled confusedly by the waves of the sea and the blasts of baneful fire. One seafaring ship alone has passed thereby, +that +Argo + famed of all, on her voyage from Aeetes, and even her the wave would speedily have dashed there against the great crags, had not Here sent her through, for that Jason was dear to her. + + “‘Now on the other path are two cliffs, one of which reaches with its sharp peak to the broad heaven, and a dark cloud surrounds it. +This never melts away, nor does clear sky ever surround that peak in summer or in harvest time. No mortal man could scale it or set foot upon the top, not though he had twenty hands and feet; for the rock is smooth, as if it were polished. +And in the midst of the cliff is a dim cave, turned to the West, toward Erebus, even where you shall steer your hollow ship, glorious Odysseus. Not even a man of might could shoot an arrow from the hollow ship so as to reach into that vaulted cave. +Therein dwells Scylla, yelping terribly. Her voice is indeed but as the voice of a new-born whelp, but she herself is an evil monster, nor would anyone be glad at sight of her, no, not though it were a god that met her. Verily she has twelve feet, all misshapen, +1 +and six necks, exceeding long, and on each one an awful head, and therein three rows of teeth, thick and close, and full of black death. Up to her middle she is hidden in the hollow cave, but she holds her head out beyond the dread chasm, +and fishes there, eagerly searching around the rock for dolphins and sea-dogs and whatever greater beast she may haply catch, such creatures as deep-moaning Amphitrite rears in multitudes past counting. By her no sailors yet may boast that they have fled unscathed in their ship, for with each head she carries off +a man, snatching him from the dark-prowed ship. + “‘But the other cliff, thou wilt note, Odysseus, is lower—they are close to each other; thou couldst even shoot an arrow across—and on it is a great fig tree with rich foliage, but beneath this divine Charybdis sucks down the black water. +Thrice a day she belches it forth, and thrice she sucks it down terribly. Mayest thou not be there when she sucks it down, for no one could save thee from ruin, no, not the Earth-shaker. Nay, draw very close to Scylla's cliff, and drive thy ship past quickly; for it is better far +to mourn six comrades in thy ship than all together.’ + + “So she spoke, but I made answer and said:‘Come, I pray thee, goddess, tell me this thing truly, if in any wise I might escape from fell Charybids, and ward off that other, when she works harm to my comrades.’ + +“So I spoke, and the beautiful goddess answered and said: ‘Rash man, lo, now again thy heart is set on the deeds of war and on toil. Wilt thou not yield even to the immortal gods? She is not mortal, but an immortal bane, dread, and dire, and fierce, and not to be fought with; +there is no defence; to flee from her is bravest. For if thou tarriest to arm thyself by the cliff, I fear lest she may again dart forth and attack thee with as many heads and seize as many men as before. Nay, row past with all thy might, and call upon Crataiis, +the mother of Scylla, who bore her for a bane to mortals. Then will she keep her from darting forth again. + “‘And thou wilt come to the isle Thrinacia. There in great numbers feed the kine of Helios and his goodly flocks, seven herds of kine and as many fair flocks of sheep, +and fifty in each. These bear no young, nor do they ever die, and goddesses are their shepherds, fair-tressed nymphs, Phaethusa and Lampetie, whom beautiful Neaera bore to Helios Hyperion. These their honored mother, when she had borne and reared them, +sent to the isle Thrinacia to dwell afar, and keep the flocks of their father and his sleek kine. If thou leavest these unharmed and heedest thy homeward way, verily ye may yet reach +Ithaca +, though in evil plight. But if thou harmest them, then I foretell ruin +for thy ship and for thy comrades, and even if thou shalt thyself escape, late shalt thou come home and in evil case, after losing all thy comrades.’ + “So she spoke, and presently came golden-throned Dawn. Then the beautiful goddess departed up the island, but I went to the ship and roused my comrades +themselves to embark and to loose the stern cables. So they went on board straightway and sat down upon the benches, and sitting well in order smote the grey sea with their oars. And for our aid in the wake of our dark-prowed ship a fair wind that filled the sail, a goodly comrade, was sent +by fair-tressed Circe, dread goddess of human speech. So when we had straightway made fast all the tackling throughout the ship we sat down, but the wind and the helmsman guided the ship. + + “Then verily I spoke among my comrades, grieved at heart: ‘Friends, since it is not right that one or two alone should know +the oracles that Circe, the beautiful goddess, told me, therefore will I tell them, in order that knowing them we may either die or, shunning death and fate, escape. First she bade us avoid the voice of the wondrous Sirens, and their flowery meadow. +Me alone she bade to listen to their voice; but do ye bind me with grievous bonds, that I may abide fast where I am, upright in the step of the mast, and let the ropes be made fast at the ends to the mast itself; and if I implore and bid you to loose me, then do ye tie me fast with yet more bonds.’ + +“Thus I rehearsed all these things and told them to my comrades. Meanwhile the well-built ship speedily came to the isle of the two Sirens, for a fair and gentle wind bore her on. Then presently the wind ceased and there was a windless calm, and a god lulled the waves to sleep. +But my comrades rose up and furled the sail and stowed it in the hollow ship, and thereafter sat at the oars and made the water white with their polished oars of fir. But I with my sharp sword cut into small bits a great round cake of wax, and kneaded it with my strong hands, +and soon the wax grew warm, forced by the strong pressure and the rays of the lord Helios Hyperion. +1 + Then I anointed with this the ears of all my comrades in turn; and they bound me in the ship hand and foot, upright in the step of the mast, and made the ropes fast at the ends to the mast itself; +and themselves sitting down smote the grey sea with their oars. But when we were as far distant as a man can make himself heard when he shouts, driving swiftly on our way, the Sirens failed not to note the swift ship as it drew near, and they raised their clear-toned song: + “‘Come hither, as thou farest, renowned Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans; +stay thy ship that thou mayest listen to the voice of us two. For never yet has any man rowed past this isle in his black ship until he has heard the sweet voice from our lips. Nay, he has joy of it, and goes his way a wiser man. For we know all the toils that in wide +Troy +the Argives and Trojans endured through the will of the gods, and we know all things that come to pass upon the fruitful earth.’ + + “So they spoke, sending forth their beautiful voice, and my heart was fain to listen, and I bade my comrades loose me, nodding to them with my brows; but they fell to their oars and rowed on. +And presently Perimedes and Eurylochus arose and bound me with yet more bonds and drew them tighter. But when they had rowed past the Sirens, and we could no more hear their voice or their song, then straightway my trusty comrades took away the +wax with which I had anointed their ears and loosed me from my bonds. + “But when we had left the island, I presently saw smoke and a great billow, and heard a booming. Then from the hands of my men in their terror the oars flew, and splashed one and all in the swirl, and +the ship stood still where it was, when they no longer plied with their hands the tapering oars. But I went through the ship and cheered my men with gentle words, coming up to each man in turn: + “‘Friends, hitherto we have been in no wise ignorant of sorrow; surely this evil that besets us now is no greater than when the +Cyclops +penned us in his hollow cave by brutal strength; yet even thence we made our escape through my valor and counsel and wit; these dangers, too, methinks we shall some day remember. But now come, as I bid, let us all obey. Do you keep your seats on the benches +and smite with your oars the deep surf of the sea, in the hope that Zeus may grant us to escape and avoid this death. And to thee, steersman, I give this command, and do thou lay it to heart, since thou wieldest the steering oar of the hollow ship. From this smoke and surf keep +the ship well away and hug the cliff, lest, ere thou know it, the ship swerve off to the other side and thou cast us into destruction.’ + “So I spoke, and they quickly hearkened to my words. But of Scylla I went not on to speak, a cureless bane, lest haply my comrades, seized with fear, should cease +from rowing and huddle together in the hold. Then verily I forgot the hard command of Circe, whereas she bade me in no wise to arm myself; but when I had put on my glorious armour and grasped in my hand two long spears, I went to the fore-deck of the ship, +whence I deemed that Scylla of the rock would first be seen, who was to bring ruin upon my comrades. But nowhere could I descry her, and my eyes grew weary as I gazed everywhere toward the misty rock. + + “We then sailed on up the narrow strait with wailing. +For on one side lay Scylla and on the other divine Charybdis terribly sucked down the salt water of the sea. Verily whenever she belched it forth, like a cauldron on a great fire she would seethe and bubble in utter turmoil, and high over head the spray would fall on the tops of both the cliffs. +But as often as she sucked down the salt water of the sea, within she could all be seen in utter turmoil, and round about the rock roared terribly, while beneath the earth appeared black with sand; and pale fear seized my men. So we looked toward her and feared destruction; +but meanwhile Scylla seized from out the hollow ship six of my comrades who were the best in strength and in might. Turning my eyes to the swift ship and to the company of my men, +1 + even then I noted above me their feet and hands as they were raised aloft. To me they cried aloud, calling upon me +by name for that last time in anguish of heart. And as a fisher on a jutting rock, when he casts in his baits as a snare to the little fishes, with his long pole lets down into the sea the horn of an ox of the steading, +2 + and then as he catches a fish flings it writhing ashore, +even so were they drawn writhing up towards the cliffs. Then at her doors she devoured them shrieking and stretching out their hands toward me in their awful death-struggle. Most piteous did mine eyes behold that thing of all that I bore while I explored the paths of the sea. + +“Now when we had escaped the rocks, and dread Charybdis and Scylla, presently then we came to the goodly island of the god, where were the fair kine, broad of brow, and the many goodly flocks of Helios Hyperion. Then while I was still out at sea in my black ship, +I heard the lowing of the cattle that were being stalled and the bleating of the sheep, and upon my mind fell the words of the blind seer, Theban Teiresias, and of Aeaean Circe, who very straitly charged me to shun the island of Helios, who gives joy to mortals. +Then verily I spoke among my comrades, grieved at heart: + “‘Hear my words, comrades, for all your evil plight, that I may tell you the oracles of Teiresias and of Aeaean Circe, who very straitly charged me to shun the island of Helios, who gives joy to mortals; +for there, she said, was our most terrible bane. Nay, row the black ship out past the island.’ + + “So I spoke, but their spirit was broken within them, and straightway Eurylochus answered me with hateful words: + “‘Hardy art thou, Odysseus; thou hast strength beyond that of other men and thy limbs never +grow weary. Verily thou art wholly wrought of iron, seeing that thou sufferest not thy comrades, worn out with toil and drowsiness, to set foot on shore, where on this sea-girt isle we might once more make ready a savoury supper; but thou biddest us even as we are to wander on through the swift night, +driven away from the island over the misty deep. It is from the night that fierce winds are born, wreckers of ships. How could one escape utter destruction, if haply there should suddenly come a blast of the South Wind or the blustering +West Wind +, which oftenest +wreck ships in despite of the sovereign gods? Nay, verily for this time let us yield to black night and make ready our supper, remaining by the swift ship, and in the morning we will go aboard, and put out into the broad sea.’ + “So spoke Eurylochus, and the rest of my comrades gave assent. +Then verily I knew that some god was assuredly devising ill, and I spoke and addressed him with winged words: + “‘Eurylochus, verily ye constrain me, who stand alone. But come now, do ye all swear to me a mighty oath, to the end that, if we haply find a herd of kine or a great flock of sheep, +no man may slay either cow or sheep in the blind folly of his mind; but be content to eat the food which immortal Circe gave.’ + “So I spoke; and they straightway swore that they would not, even as I bade them. But when they had sworn and made an end of the oath, +we moored our well-built ship in the hollow harbor near a spring of sweet water, and my comrades went forth from the ship and skilfully made ready their supper. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, then they fell to weeping, as they remembered their dear comrades +whom Scylla had snatched from out the hollow ship and devoured; and sweet sleep came upon them as they wept. But when it was the third watch of the night, and the stars had turned their course, Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, roused against us a fierce wind with a wondrous tempest, and hid with clouds +the land and sea alike, and night rushed down from heaven. And as soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, we dragged our ship, and made her fast in a hollow cave, where were the fair dancing-floors and seats of the nymphs. Then I called my men together and spoke among them: + +“‘Friends, in our swift ship is meat and drink; let us therefore keep our hands from those kine lest we come to harm, for these are the cows and goodly sheep of a dread god, even of Helios, who oversees all things and overhears all things.’ + “So I spoke, and their proud hearts consented. +Then for a full month the South Wind blew unceasingly, nor did any other wind arise except the East and the South. + + “Now so long as my men had grain and red wine they kept their hands from the kine, for they were eager to save their lives. +1 + But when all the stores had been consumed from out the ship, +and now they must needs roam about in search of game, fishes, and fowl, and whatever might come to their hands—fishing with bent hooks, for hunger pinched their bellies—then I went apart up the island that I might pray to the gods in the hope that one of them might show me a way to go. +And when, as I went through the island, I had got away from my comrades, I washed my hands in a place where there was shelter from the wind, and prayed to all the gods that hold +Olympus +; but they shed sweet sleep upon my eyelids. And meanwhile Eurylochus began to give evil counsel to my comrades: + +“‘Hear my words, comrades, for all your evil plight. All forms of death are hateful to wretched mortals, but to die of hunger, and so meet one's doom, is the most pitiful. Nay, come, let us drive off the best of the kine of Helios and offer sacrifice to the immortals who hold broad heaven. + And if we ever reach +Ithaca +, our native land, we will straightway build a rich temple to Helios Hyperion and put therein many goodly offerings. And if haply he be wroth at all because of his straight-horned kine, and be minded to destroy our ship, and the other gods consent, +rather would I lose my life once for all with a gulp at the wave, than pine slowly away in a desert isle.’ + “So spoke Eurylochus, and the rest of my comrades gave assent. Straightway they drove off the best of the kine of Helios from near at hand, for not far from the dark-prowed ship +were grazing the fair, sleek kine, broad of brow. Around these, then, they stood and made prayer to the gods, plucking the tender leaves from off a high-crested oak; +1 + for they had no white barley on board the well-benched ship. Now when they had prayed and had cut the throats of the kine and flayed them, +they cut out the thigh-pieces and covered them with a double layer of fat and laid raw flesh upon them. They had no wine to pour over the blazing sacrifice, but they made libations with water, and roasted all the entrails over the fire. +Now when the thighs were wholly burned and they had tasted the inner parts, +they cut up the rest and spitted it. Then it was that sweet sleep fled from my eyelids, and I went my way to the swift ship and the shore of the sea. But when, as I went, I drew near to the curved ship, then verily the hot savour of the fat was wafted about me, +and I groaned and cried aloud to the immortal gods: + “‘Father Zeus and ye other blessed gods that are for ever, verily it was for my ruin that ye lulled me in pitiless sleep, while my comrades remaining behind have contrived a monstrous deed.’ + “Swiftly then to Helios Hyperion came +Lampetie of the long robes, bearing tidings that we had slain his kine; and straightway he spoke among the immortals, wroth at heart: + “‘Father Zeus and ye other blessed gods that are for ever, take vengeance now on the comrades of Odysseus, son of Laertes, who have insolently slain my kine, in which I +ever took delight, when I went toward the starry heaven and when I turned back again to earth from heaven. If they do not pay me fit atonement for the kine I will go down to Hades and shine among the dead.’ + “Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered him and said: +‘Helios, do thou verily shine on among the immortals and among mortal men upon the earth, the giver of grain. As for these men I will soon smite their swift ship with my bright thunder-bolt, and shatter it to pieces in the midst of the wine-dark sea.’ + “This I heard from fair-haired Calypso, +and she said that she herself had heard it from the messenger Hermes. + “But when I had come down to the ship and to the sea I upbraided my men, coming up to each in turn, but we could find no remedy—the kine were already dead. For my men, then, the gods straightway shewed forth portents. +The hides crawled, the flesh, both roast and raw, bellowed upon the spits, and there was a lowing as of kine. + + “For six days, then, my trusty comrades feasted on the best of the kine of Helios which they had driven off. But when Zeus, the son of Cronos, brought upon us the seventh day, +then the wind ceased to blow tempestuously, and we straightway went on board, and put out into the broad sea when we had set up the mast and hoisted the white sail. + “But when we had left that island and no other land appeared, but only sky and sea, +then verily the son of Cronos set a black cloud above the hollow ship, and the sea grew dark beneath it. She ran on for no long time, for straightway came the shrieking +West Wind +, blowing with a furious tempest, and the blast of the wind snapped both the fore-stays of the mast, +so that the mast fell backward and all its tackling was strewn in the bilge. On the stern of the ship the mast struck the head of the pilot and crushed all the bones of his skull together, and like a diver he fell from the deck and his proud spirit left his bones. +Therewith Zeus thundered and hurled his bolt upon the ship, and she quivered from stem to stern, smitten by the bolt of Zeus, and was filled with sulphurous smoke, and my comrades fell from out the ship. Like sea-crows they were borne on the waves about the black ship, and the god took from them their returning. +But I kept pacing up and down the ship till the surge tore the sides from the keel, and the wave bore her on dismantled and snapped the mast off at the keel; but over the mast had been flung the back-stay fashioned of ox-hide; with this I lashed the two together, both keel and mast, +and sitting on these was borne by the direful winds. + + “Then verily the +West Wind + ceased to blow tempestuously, and swiftly the South Wind came, bringing sorrow to my heart, that I might traverse again the way to baneful +Charybdis +. All night long was I borne, and at the rising of the sun +I came to the cliff of Scylla and to dread +Charybdis +. She verily sucked down the salt water of the sea, but I, springing up to the tall fig-tree, laid hold of it, and clung to it like a bat. Yet I could in no wise plant my feet firmly or climb upon the tree, +for its roots spread far below and its branches hung out of reach above, long and great, and overshadowed +Charybdis +. There I clung steadfastly until she should vomit forth mast and keel again, and to my joy they came at length. At the hour when a man rises from the assembly for his supper, +one that decides the many quarrels of young men that seek judgment, even at that hour those spars appeared from out +Charybdis +. And I let go hands and feet from above and plunged down into the waters out beyond the long spars, and sitting on these I rowed onward with my hands. +But as for Scylla, the father of gods and men did not suffer her again to catch sight of me, else should I never have escaped utter destruction. + “Thence for nine days was I borne, and on the tenth night the gods brought me to Ogygia, where the fair-tressed Calypso dwells, dread goddess of human speech, +who gave me welcome and tendance. But why should I tell thee this tale? For it was but yesterday that I told it in thy hall to thyself and to thy noble wife. It is an irksome thing, meseems, to tell again a plain-told tale.” +So he spoke, and they were all hushed in silence, and were spellbound throughout the shadowy halls. And Alcinous again answered him, and said: + “Odysseus, since thou hast come to my +high-roofed house with floor of brass, thou shalt not, methinks, be driven back, and return with baffled purpose, even though thou hast suffered much. And to each man of you that in my halls are ever wont to drink the flaming wine of the elders, and to listen to the minstrel, I speak, and give this charge. +Raiment for the stranger lies already stored in the polished chest, with gold curiously wrought and all the other gifts which the counsellors of the Phaeacians brought hither. But, come now, let us give him a great tripod and a cauldron, each man of us, and we in turn will gather the cost from among the people, +and repay ourselves. It were hard for one man to give freely, without requital.” + So spake Alcinous, and his word was pleasing to them. They then went, each man to his house, to take their rest; but as soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, they hastened to the ship and brought the bronze, that gives strength to men. +And the strong and mighty Alcinous went himself throughout the ship, and carefully stowed the gifts beneath the benches, that they might not hinder any of the crew at their rowing, when they busily plied the oars. Then they went to the house of Alcinous, and prepared a feast. + And for them the strong and mighty Alcinous sacrificed a bull +to Zeus, son of Cronos, god of the dark clouds, who is lord of all. Then, when they had burned the thigh-pieces, they feasted a glorious feast, and made merry, and among them the divine minstrel Demodocus, held in honor by the people, sang to the lyre. But Odysseus would ever turn his head toward the blazing sun, +eager to see it set, for verily he was eager to return home. And as a man longs for supper, for whom all day long a yoke of wine-dark oxen has drawn the jointed plough through fallow land, and gladly for him does the light of the sun sink, that he may busy him with his supper, and his knees grow weary as he goes; +even so gladly for Odysseus did the light of the sun sink. Straightway then he spoke among the Phaeacians, lovers of the oar, and to Alcinous above all he declared his word, and said: + “Lord Alcinous, renowned above all men, pour libations now, and send ye me on my way in peace; and yourselves too—Farewell! +For now all that my heart desired has been brought to pass: a convoy, and gifts of friendship. May the gods of heaven bless them to me, and on my return may I find in my home my peerless wife with those I love unscathed; and may you again, remaining here, make glad +your wedded wives and children; and may the gods grant you prosperity of every sort, and may no evil come upon your people.” + + So he spoke, and they all praised his words, and bade send the stranger on his way, since he had spoken fittingly. Then the mighty Alcinous spoke to the herald, saying: +“Pontonous, mix the bowl, and serve out wine to all in the hall, in order that, when we have made prayer to father Zeus, we may send forth the stranger to his own native land.” + So he spoke, and Pontonous mixed the honey hearted wine and served out to all, coming up to each in turn; +and they poured libations to the blessed gods, who hold broad heaven, from where they sat. But goodly Odysseus arose, and placed in the hand of Arete the two-handled cup, and spoke, and addressed her with winged words: + “Fare thee well, O queen, throughout all the years, till old age +and death come, which are the lot of mortals. As for me, I go my way, but do thou in this house have joy of thy children and thy people and Alcinous the king.” + So the goodly Odysseus spake and passed over the threshold. And with him the mighty Alcinous sent forth a herald +to lead him to the swift ship and the shore of the sea. And Arete sent with him slave women, one bearing a newly washed cloak and a tunic, and another again she bade follow to bear the strong chest, and yet another bore bread and red wine. + +But when they had come down to the ship and to the sea, straightway the lordly youths that were his escort took these things, and stowed them in the hollow ship, even all the food and drink. Then for Odysseus they spread a rug and a linen sheet on the deck of the hollow ship +at the stern, that he might sleep soundly; and he too went aboard, and laid him down in silence. Then they sat down on the benches, each in order, and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone. And as soon as they leaned back, and tossed the brine with their oarblades, sweet sleep fell upon his eyelids, +an unawakening sleep, most sweet, and most like to death. And as on a plain four yoked stallions spring forward all together beneath the strokes of the lash, and leaping on high swiftly accomplish their way, even so the stern of that ship leapt on high, and in her wake +the dark wave of the loud-sounding sea foamed mightily, and she sped safely and surely on her way; not even the circling hawk, the swiftest of winged things, could have kept pace with her. Thus she sped on swiftly and clove the waves of the sea, bearing a man the peer of the gods in counsel, +one who in time past had suffered many griefs at heart in passing through wars of men and the grievous waves; but now he slept in peace, forgetful of all that he had suffered. + + Now when that brightest of stars rose which ever comes to herald the light of early Dawn, +even then the seafaring ship drew near to the island. + There is in the land of +Ithaca + a certain harbor of Phorcys, the old man of the sea, and at its mouth two projecting headlands sheer to seaward, but sloping down on the side toward the harbor. These keep back the great waves raised by heavy winds +without, but within the benched ships lie unmoored when they have reached the point of anchorage. At the head of the harbor is a long-leafed olive tree, and near it a pleasant, shadowy cave sacred to the nymphs that are called Naiads. +Therein are mixing bowls and jars of stone, and there too the bees store honey. And in the cave are long looms of stone, at which the nymphs weave webs of purple dye, a wonder to behold; and therein are also ever-flowing springs. Two doors there are to the cave, +one toward the +North Wind +, by which men go down, but that toward the South Wind is sacred, nor do men enter thereby; it is the way of the immortals. + Here they rowed in, knowing the place of old; and the ship ran full half her length on the shore +in her swift course, at such pace was she driven by the arms of the rowers. Then they stepped forth from the benched ship upon the land, and first they lifted Odysseus out of the hollow ship, with the linen sheet and bright rug as they were, and laid him down on the sand, still overpowered by sleep. +And they lifted out the goods which the lordly Phaeacians had given him, as he set out for home, through the favour of great-hearted Athena. These they set all together by the trunk of the olive tree, out of the path, lest haply some wayfarer, before Odysseus awoke, might come upon them and spoil them. +Then they themselves returned home again. But the Shaker of the Earth did not forget the threats wherewith at the first he had threatened godlike Odysseus, and he thus enquired of the purpose of Zeus: + “Father Zeus, no longer shall I, even I, be held in honor among the immortal gods, seeing that mortals honor me not a whit— +even the Phaeacians, who, thou knowest, are of my own lineage. For I but now declared that Odysseus should suffer many woes ere he reached his home, though I did not wholly rob him of his return when once thou hadst promised it and confirmed it with thy nod; yet in his sleep these men have borne him in a swift ship over the sea +and set him down in +Ithaca +, and have given him gifts past telling, stores of bronze and gold and woven raiment, more than Odysseus would ever have won for himself from +Troy +, if he had returned unscathed with his due share of the spoil.” + + Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered him, and said: +“Ah me, thou shaker of the earth, wide of sway, what a thing hast thou said! The gods do thee no dishonor; hard indeed would it be to assail with dishonor our eldest and best. But as for men, if any one, yielding to his might and strength, fails to do thee honor in aught, thou mayest ever take vengeance, even thereafter. +Do as thou wilt, and as is thy good pleasure.” + Then Poseidon, the earth-shaker, answered him: “Straightway should I have done as thou sayest, thou god of the dark clouds, but I ever dread and avoid thy wrath. But now I am minded to smite the fair ship of the Phaeacians, +as she comes back from his convoy on the misty deep, that hereafter they may desist and cease from giving convoy to men, and to fling a great mountain about their city.” + Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered him and said: “Lazy one, hear what seems best in my sight. +When all the people are looking forth from the city upon her as she speeds on her way, then do thou turn her to stone hard by the land—a stone in the shape of a swift ship, that all men may marvel; and do thou fling a great mountain about their city.” + Now when Poseidon, the earth-shaker, heard this +he went his way to +Scheria +, where the Phaeacians dwell, and there he waited. And she drew close to shore, the seafaring ship, speeding swiftly on her way. Then near her came the Earth-shaker and turned her to stone, and rooted her fast beneath by a blow of the flat of his hand, and then he was gone. + +But they spoke winged words to one another, the Phaeacians of the long oars, men famed for their ships. And thus would one speak, with a glance at his neighbor: + “Ah me, who has now bound our swift ship on the sea as she sped homeward? Lo, she was in plain sight.” + +So would one of them speak, but they knew not how these things were to be. Then Alcinous addressed their company and said: + “Lo now, verily the oracles of my father, uttered long ago, have come upon me. He was wont to say that Poseidon was wroth with us because we give safe convoy to all men. +He said that some day, as a beautiful ship of the Phaeacians was returning from a convoy over the misty deep, Poseidon would smite her, and would fling a great mountain about our town. So that old man spoke, and lo, now all this is being brought to pass. But now come, as I bid let us all obey. +Cease ye to give convoy to mortals, when anyone comes to our city, and let us sacrifice to Poseidon twelve choice bulls, if haply he may take pity, and not fling a lofty mountain about our town.” + + So he spoke, and they were seized with fear and made ready the bulls. +Thus they were praying to the lord Poseidon, the leaders and counsellors of the land of the Phaeacians, as they stood about the altar, but Odysseus awoke out of his sleep in his native land. Yet he knew it not after his long absence, for about him the goddess had shed a mist, +even Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus, that she might render him unknown, and tell him all things, so that his wife might not know him, nor his townsfolk, nor his friends, until the wooers had paid the full price of all their transgressions. Therefore all things seemed strange to their lord, +the long paths, the bays offering safe anchorage, the sheer cliffs, and the luxuriant trees. So he sprang up and stood and looked upon his native land, and then he groaned and smote both of his thighs with the flat of his hands, and mournfully spoke, and said: + +“Woe is me, to the land of what mortals am I now come? Are they cruel, and wild, and unjust, or do they love strangers and fear the gods in their thoughts? Whither shall I bear all this wealth, or whither shall I myself go wandering on? Would that I had remained there among the Phaeacians, +and had then come to some other of the mighty kings, who would have entertained me and sent me on my homeward way. But now I know not where to bestow this wealth; yet here will I not leave it, lest haply it become the spoil of others to my cost. Out upon them; not wholly wise, it seems, nor just +were the leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians who have brought me to a strange land. Verily they said that they would bring me to clear-seen +Ithaca +, but they have not made good their word. May Zeus, the suppliant's god, requite them, who watches over all men, and punishes him that sins. +But come, I will number the goods, and go over them, lest to my cost these men have carried off aught with them in the hollow ship.” + + So he spake, and set him to count the beautiful tripods, and the cauldrons, and the gold, and the fair woven raiment, and of these he missed nothing. Then, mournfully longing for his native land, +he paced by the shore of the loud-sounding sea, uttering many a moan. And Athena drew near him in the form of a young man, a herdsman of sheep, one most delicate, as are the sons of princes. In a double fold about her shoulders she wore a well-wrought cloak, +and beneath her shining feet she had sandals, and in her hands a spear. Then Odysseus was glad at sight of her, and came to meet her, and he spoke, and addressed her with winged words: + “Friend, since thou art the first to whom I have come in this land, hail to thee, and mayst thou meet me with no evil mind. +Nay, save this treasure, and save me; for to thee do I pray, as to a god, and am come to thy dear knees. And tell me this also truly, that I may know full well. What land, what people is this? What men dwell here? Is it some clear-seen island, or a shore +of the deep-soiled mainland that lies resting on the sea?” + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “A fool art thou, stranger, or art come from far, if indeed thou askest of this land. Surely it is no wise so nameless, but full many know it, +both all those who dwell toward the dawn and the sun, and all those that are behind toward the murky darkness. It is a rugged isle, not fit for driving horses, yet it is not utterly poor, though it be but narrow. Therein grows corn beyond measure, and the wine-grape as well, +and the rain never fails it, nor the rich dew. It is a good land for pasturing goats and kine; there are trees of every sort, and in it also pools for watering that fail not the year through. Therefore, stranger, the name of +Ithaca + has reached even to the land of +Troy + which, they say, is far from this land of Achaea.” +So she spake, and the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus was glad, and rejoiced in his land, the land of his fathers, as he heard the word of Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus, who bears the aegis; and he spoke, and addressed her with winged words; yet he spoke not the truth, but checked the word ere it was uttered, +ever revolving in his breast thoughts of great cunning: + “I heard of +Ithaca +, even in broad +Crete +, far over the sea; and now have I myself come hither with these my goods. And I left as much more with my children, when I fled the land, after I had slain the dear son of Idomeneus, +Orsilochus, swift of foot, who in broad +Crete + surpassed in fleetness all men that live by toil. Now he would have robbed me of all that booty of +Troy +, for which I had borne grief of heart, passing through wars of men and the grievous waves, +for that I would not shew favour to his father, and serve as his squire in the land of the Trojans, but commanded other men of my own. So I smote him with my bronze-tipped spear as he came home from the field, lying in wait for him with one of my men by the roadside. A dark night covered the heavens, and no +man was ware of us, but unseen I took away his life. Now when I had slain him with the sharp bronze, I went straightway to a ship, and made prayer to the lordly Phoenicians, giving them booty to satisfy their hearts. I bade them take me aboard and land me at +Pylos +, +or at goodly +Elis +, where the Epeans hold sway. Yet verily the force of the wind thrust them away from thence, sore against their will, nor did they purpose to play me false; but driven wandering from thence we came hither by night. With eager haste we rowed on into the harbor, nor had we any +thought of supper, sore as was our need of it, but even as we were we went forth from the ship and lay down, one and all. Then upon me came sweet sleep in my weariness, but they took my goods out of the hollow ship and set them where I myself lay on the sands. +And they went on board, and departed for the well-peopled land of +Sidon +; but I was left here, my heart sore troubled.” + + So he spoke, and the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, smiled, and stroked him with her hand, and changed herself to the form of a woman, comely and tall, and skilled in glorious handiwork. +And she spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + “Cunning must he be and knavish, who would go beyond thee in all manner of guile, aye, though it were a god that met thee. Bold man, crafty in counsel, insatiate in deceit, not even in thine own land, it seems, wast thou to cease from guile +and deceitful tales, which thou lovest from the bottom of thine heart. But come, let us no longer talk of this, being both well versed in craft, since thou art far the best of all men in counsel and in speech, and I among all the gods am famed for wisdom and craft. Yet thou didst not know +Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus, even me, who ever stand by thy side, and guard thee in all toils. Aye, and I made thee beloved by all the Phaeacians. And now am I come hither to weave a plan with thee, and to hide all the treasure, which the lordly Phaeacians +gave thee by my counsel and will, when thou didst set out for home; and to tell thee all the measure of woe it is thy fate to fulfil in thy well-built house. But do thou be strong, for bear it thou must, and tell no man of them all nor any woman that thou hast come back from thy wanderings, but in silence +endure thy many griefs, and submit to the violence of men.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Hard is it, goddess, for a mortal man to know thee when he meets thee, how wise soever he be, for thou takest what shape thou wilt. But this I know well, that of old thou wast kindly toward me, +so long as we sons of the Achaeans were warring in the land of +Troy +. But after we had sacked the lofty city of Priam, and had gone away in our ships, and a god had scattered the Achaeans, never since then have I seen thee, daughter of Zeus, nor marked thee coming on board my ship, that thou mightest ward off sorrow from me. +Nay, I ever wandered on, bearing in my breast a stricken heart, till the gods delivered me from evil, even until in the rich land of the Phaeacians thou didst cheer me with thy words, and thyself lead me to their city. But now I beseech thee by thy father—for I think not +that I am come to clear-seen +Ithaca +; nay, it is some other land over which I roam, and thou, methinks, dost speak thus in mockery to beguile my mind—tell me whether in very truth I am come to my dear native land.” + + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: +“Ever such is the thought in thy breast, and therefore it is that I cannot leave thee in thy sorrow, for thou art soft of speech, keen of wit, and prudent. Eagerly would another man on his return from wanderings have hastened to behold in his halls his children and his wife; +but thou art not yet minded to know or learn of aught, till thou hast furthermore proved thy wife, who abides as of old in her halls, and ever sorrowfully for her the nights and days wane, as she weeps. But as for me, I never doubted of this, but in my heart +knew it well, that thou wouldest come home after losing all thy comrades. Yet, thou must know, I was not minded to strive against Poseidon, my father's brother, who laid up wrath in his heart against thee, angered that thou didst blind his dear son. But come, I will shew thee the land of +Ithaca +, that thou mayest be sure. +This is the harbor of Phorcys, the old man of the sea, and here at the head of the harbor is the long-leafed olive tree, and near it is the pleasant, shadowy cave, sacred to the nymphs that are called Naiads. This, thou must know, is the vaulted cave in which thou +wast wont to offer to the nymphs many hecatombs that bring fulfillment; and yonder is Mount Neriton, clothed with its forests.” + So spake the goddess, and scattered the mist, and the land appeared. Glad then was the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus, rejoicing in his own land, and he kissed the earth, the giver of grain. +And straightway he prayed to the nymphs with upstretched hands: + “Ye Naiad Nymphs, daughters of Zeus, never did I think to behold you again, but now I hail you with loving prayers. Aye, and gifts too will I give, as aforetime, if the daughter of Zeus, she that drives the spoil, shall graciously grant me +to live, and shall bring to manhood my dear son.” + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him again: “Be of good cheer, and let not these things distress thy heart. But let us now forthwith set thy goods in the innermost recess of the wondrous cave, where they may abide for thee in safety, +and let us ourselves take thought how all may be far the best.” + + So saying, the goddess entered the shadowy cave and searched out its hiding-places. And Odysseus brought all the treasure thither, the gold and the stubborn bronze and the finely-wrought raiment, which the Phaeacians gave him. +These things he carefully laid away, and Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus, who bears the aegis, set a stone at the door. Then the two sat them down by the trunk of the sacred olive tree, and devised death for the insolent wooers. And the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, was the first to speak, saying: + +“Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, take thought how thou mayest put forth thy hands on the shameless wooers, who now for three years have been lording it in thy halls, wooing thy godlike wife, and offering wooers' gifts. And she, as she mournfully looks for thy coming, +offers hopes to all, and has promises for each man, sending them messages, but her mind is set on other things.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Lo now, of a surety I was like to have perished in my halls by the evil fate of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, +hadst not thou, goddess, duly told me all. But come, weave some plan by which I may requite them; and stand thyself by my side, and endue me with dauntless courage, even as when we loosed the bright diadem of +Troy +. Wouldest thou but stand by my side, thou flashing-eyed one, as eager as thou wast then, +I would fight even against three hundred men, with thee, mighty goddess, if with a ready heart thou wouldest give me aid.” + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Yea verily, I will be with thee, and will not forget thee, when we are busied with this work; and methinks many a one +of the wooers that devour thy substance shall bespatter the vast earth with his blood and brains. But come, I will make thee unknown to all mortals. I will shrivel the fair skin on thy supple limbs, and destroy the flaxen hair from off thy head, and clothe thee in a ragged garment, +such that one would shudder to see a man clad therein. And I will dim thy two eyes that were before so beautiful, that thou mayest appear mean in the sight of all the wooers, and of thy wife, and of thy son, whom thou didst leave in thy halls. And for thyself, do thou go first of all +to the swineherd who keeps thy swine, and withal has a kindly heart towards thee, and loves thy son and constant Penelope. Thou wilt find him abiding by the swine, and they are feeding by the rock of Corax and the spring Arethusa, eating acorns to their heart's content and +drinking the black water, things which cause the rich flesh of swine to wax fat. There do thou stay, and sitting by his side question him of all things, while I go to +Sparta +, the land of fair women, to summon thence Telemachus, thy dear son, Odysseus, who went to spacious +Lacedaemon + to the house of Menelaus, +to seek tidings of thee, if thou wast still anywhere alive.” + + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her: “Why then, I pray thee, didst thou not tell him, thou whose mind knows all things? Nay, was it haply that he too might suffer woes, wandering over the unresting sea, and that others might devour his substance?” + +Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Nay verily, not for him be thy heart overmuch troubled. It was I that guided him, that he might win good report by going thither, and he has no toil, but sits in peace in the palace of the son of Atreus, and good cheer past telling is before him. +Truly young men in a black ship lie in wait for him, eager to slay him before he comes to his native land, but methinks this shall not be. Ere that shall the earth cover many a one of the wooers that devour thy substance.” + So saying, Athena touched him with her wand. +She withered the fair flesh on his supple limbs, and destroyed the flaxen hair from off his head, and about all his limbs she put the skin of an aged old man. And she dimmed his two eyes that were before so beautiful, and clothed him in other raiment, +a vile ragged cloak and a tunic, tattered garments and foul, begrimed with filthy smoke. And about him she cast the great skin of a swift hind, stripped of the hair, and she gave him a staff, and a miserable wallet, full of holes, slung by a twisted cord. + So when the two had thus taken counsel together, they parted; and thereupon the goddess +went to goodly +Lacedaemon + to fetch the son of Odysseus. +But Odysseus went forth from the harbor by the rough path up over the woodland and through the heights to the place where Athena had shewed him that he should find the goodly swineherd, who cared for his substance above all the slaves that goodly Odysseus had gotten. + +He found him sitting in the fore-hall of his house, where his court was built high in a place of wide outlook, a great and goodly court with an open space around it. This the swineherd had himself built for the swine of his master, that was gone, without the knowledge of his mistress and the old man Laertes. +With huge stones had he built it, and set on it a coping of thorn. Without he had driven stakes the whole length, this way and that, huge stakes, set close together, which he had made by splitting an oak to the black core; +1 + and within the court he had made twelve sties close by one another, as beds for the swine, and in each one +were penned fifty wallowing swine, females for breeding; but the boars slept without. These were far fewer in numbers, for on them the godlike wooers feasted, and lessened them, for the swineherd ever sent in the best of all the fatted hogs, +which numbered three hundred and sixty. By these ever slept four dogs, savage as wild beasts, which the swineherd had reared, a leader of men. But he himself was fitting boots about his feet, cutting an ox-hide of good color, while the others +had gone, three of them, one here one there, with the droves of swine; and the fourth he had sent to the city to drive perforce a boar to the insolent wooers, that they might slay it and satisfy their souls with meat. + Suddenly then the baying hounds caught sight of Odysseus, +and rushed upon him with loud barking, but Odysseus sat down in his cunning, and the staff fell from his hand. Then even in his own farmstead would he have suffered cruel hurt, but the swineherd with swift steps followed after them, and hastened through the gateway, and the hide fell from his hand. +He called aloud to the dogs, and drove them this way and that with a shower of stones, and spoke to his master, and said: + “Old man, verily the dogs were like to have torn thee to pieces all of a sudden, and on me thou wouldest have shed reproach. Aye, and the gods have given me other griefs and sorrow. +It is for a godlike master that I mourn and grieve, as I abide here, and rear fat swine for other men to eat, while he haply in want of food wanders over the land and city of men of strange speech, if indeed he still lives and sees the light of the sun. +But come with me, let us go to the hut, old man, that when thou hast satisfied thy heart with food and wine, thou too mayest tell whence thou art, and all the woes thou hast endured.” + + So saying, the goodly swineherd led him to the hut, and brought him in, and made him sit, strowing beneath thick brushwood, +and thereon spreading the skin of a shaggy wild goat, large and hairy, on which he was himself wont to sleep. And Odysseus was glad that he gave him such welcome, and spoke, and addressed him: + “Stranger, may Zeus and the other immortal gods grant thee what most thou desirest, since thou with a ready heart hast given me welcome.” + +To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “Nay, stranger, it were not right for me, even though one meaner than thou were to come, to slight a stranger: for from Zeus are all strangers and beggars, and a gift, though small, is welcome from such as we; since this is the lot of slaves, +ever in fear when over them as lords their masters hold sway—young masters such as ours. For verily the gods have stayed the return of him who would have loved me with all kindness, and would have given me possessions of my own, a house and a bit of land, and a wife, sought of many wooers, even such things as a kindly master gives to his thrall +who has toiled much for him, and whose labour the god makes to prosper, even as this work of mine prospers, to which I give heed. Therefore would my master have richly rewarded me, if he had grown old here at home: but he perished—as I would all the kindred of Helen had perished in utter ruin, since she loosened the knees of many warriors. +For he too went forth to win recompense for Agamemnon to +Ilios +, famed for its horses, that he might fight with the Trojans.” + + So saying, he quickly bound up his tunic with his belt, and went to the sties, where the tribes of swine were penned. Choosing two from thence, he brought them in and slew them both, +and singed, and cut them up, and spitted them. Then, when he had roasted all, he brought and set it before Odysseus, hot upon the spits, and sprinkled over it white barley meal. Then in a bowl of ivy wood he mixed honey-sweet wine, and himself sat down over against Odysseus, and bade him to his food, and said: + +“Eat now, stranger, such food as slaves have to offer, meat of young pigs; the fatted hogs the wooers eat, who reck not in their hearts of the wrath of the gods, nor have any pity. Verily the blessed gods love not reckless deeds, but they honor justice and the righteous deeds of men. +Even cruel foemen that set foot on the land of others, and Zeus gives them booty, and they fill their ships and depart for home—even on the hearts of these falls great fear of the wrath of the gods. But these men here, look you, know somewhat, and have heard some voice of a god +regarding my master's pitiful death, seeing that they will not woo righteously, nor go back to their own, but at their ease they waste our substance in insolent wise, and there is no sparing. For every day and night that comes from Zeus they sacrifice not one victim nor two alone, +and they draw forth wine, and waste it in insolent wise. Verily his substance was great past telling, so much has no lord either on the dark mainland or in +Ithaca + itself; nay, not twenty men together have wealth so great. Lo, I will tell thee the tale thereof; +twelve herds of kine has he on the mainland; as many flocks of sheep; as many droves of swine; as many packed herds of goats do herdsmen, both foreigners and of his own people, pasture. And here too graze roving herds of goats on the borders of the island, eleven in all, and over them trusty men keep watch. +And each man of these ever drives up day by day one of his flock for the wooers, even that one of the fatted goats which seems to him the best. But as for me, I guard and keep these swine, and choose out with care and send them the best of the boars.” + + So he spoke, but Odysseus eagerly +1 + ate flesh and drank wine, +greedily, in silence, and was sowing the seeds of evil for the wooers. But when he had dined, and satisfied his soul with food, then the swineherd filled the bowl from which he was himself wont to drink, and gave it him brim full of wine, and he took it, and was glad at heart; and he spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + +“Friend, who was it who bought thee with his wealth, a man so very rich and mighty, as thou tellest? Thou saidest that he died to win recompense for Agamemnon; tell me, if haply I may know him, being such an one. For Zeus, I ween, and the other immortal gods know +whether I have seen him, and could bring tidings; for I have wandered far.” + Then the swineherd, a leader of men, answered him: “Old man, no wanderer that came and brought tidings of him could persuade his wife and his dear son; nay, at random, when they have need of entertainment, do vagabonds +lie, and are not minded to speak the truth. Whosoever in his wanderings comes to the land of +Ithaca +, goes to my mistress and tells a deceitful tale. And she, receiving him kindly, gives him entertainment, and questions him of all things, and the tears fall from her eyelids, while she weeps, +as is the way of a woman, when her husband dies afar. And readily wouldest thou too, old man, fashion a story, if one would give thee a cloak and a tunic for raiment. But as for him, ere now dogs and swift birds are like to have torn the flesh from his bones, and his spirit has left him; +or in the sea fishes have eaten him, and his bones lie there on the shore, wrapped in deep sand. Thus has he perished yonder, and to his friends grief is appointed for days to come, to all, but most of all to me. For never again shall I find a master so kind, how far soever I go, +not though I come again to the house of my father and mother, where at the first I was born, and they reared me themselves. Yet it is not for them that I henceforth mourn so much, eager though I am to behold them with my eyes and to be in my native land; nay, it is longing for Odysseus, who is gone, that seizes me. +His name, stranger, absent though he is, I speak with awe, for greatly did he love me and care for me at heart; but I call him my lord beloved, for all he is not here.” + + Then the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus answered him: “Friend, since thou dost utterly make denial, and declarest +that he will never come again, and thy heart is ever unbelieving, therefore will I tell thee, not at random but with an oath, that Odysseus shall return. And let me have a reward for bearing good tidings, as soon as he shall come, and reach his home; clothe me in a cloak and tunic, goodly raiment. +But ere that, how sore soever my need, I will accept naught; for hateful in my eyes as the gates of Hades is that man, who, yielding to stress of poverty, tells a deceitful tale. Now be my witness Zeus, above all gods, and this hospitable board, and the hearth of noble Odysseus to which I am come, +that verily all these things shall be brought to pass even as I tell thee. In the course of this self-same day +1 + Odysseus shall come hither, as the old moon wanes, and the new appears. He shall return, and take vengeance on all those who here dishonor his wife and his glorious son.” + +To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “Old man, neither shall I, meseems, pay thee this reward for bearing good tidings, nor shall Odysseus ever come to his home. Nay, drink in peace, and let us turn our thoughts to other things, and do not thou recall this to my mind; for verily the heart in my breast +is grieved whenever any one makes mention of my good master. But as for thy oath, we will let it be; yet I would that Odysseus might come, even as I desire, I, and Penelope, and the old man Laertes, and godlike Telemachus. But now it is for his son that I grieve unceasingly, +even for Telemachus, whom Odysseus begot. When the gods had made him grow like a sapling, and I thought that he would be among men no whit worse than his dear father, glorious in form and comeliness, then some one of the immortals marred the wise spirit within him, or haply some man, and he went +to sacred +Pylos + after tidings of his father. For him now the lordly wooers lie in wait on his homeward way, that the race of godlike Arceisius may perish out of +Ithaca +, and leave no name. But verily we will let him be; he may be taken, or he may escape, and the son of Cronos stretch forth his hand to guard him. +But come, do thou, old man, tell me of thine own sorrows, and declare me this truly, that I may know full well. Who art thou among men, and from whence? Where is thy city, and where thy parents? On what manner of ship didst thou come, and how did sailors bring thee to +Ithaca +? Who did they declare themselves to be? +For nowise, methinks, didst thou come hither on foot.” + + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Then verily I will frankly tell thee all. Would that now we two might have food and sweet wine for the while, +to feast on in quiet here in thy hut, and that others might go about their work; easily then might I tell on for a full year, and yet in no wise finish the tale of the woes of my spirit—even all the toils that I have endured by the will of the gods. + “From broad +Crete + I declare that I am come by lineage, +the son of a wealthy man. And many other sons too were born and bred in his halls, true sons of a lawful wife; but the mother that bore me was bought, a concubine. Yet Castor, son of Hylax, of whom I declare that I am sprung, honored me even as his true-born sons. +He was at that time honored as a god among the Cretans in the land for his good estate, and his wealth, and his glorious sons. But the fates of death bore him away to the house of Hades, and his proud sons divided among them his substance, and cast lots therefor. +To me they gave a very small portion, and allotted a dwelling. But I took unto me a wife from a house that had wide possessions, winning her by my valor; for I was no weakling, nor a coward in fight. Now all that strength is gone; yet even so, in seeing the stubble, methinks +thou mayest judge what the grain was; for verily troubles in full measure encompass me. But then Ares and Athena gave me courage, and strength that breaks the ranks of men; and whenever I picked the best warriors for an ambush, sowing the seeds of evil for the foe, never did my proud spirit forbode death, +but ever far the first did I leap forth, and slay with my spear whosoever of the foe gave way in flight before me. +1 + Such a man was I in war, but labour in the field was never to my liking, nor the care of a household, which rears goodly children, but oared ships were ever dear to me, +and wars, and polished spears, and arrows,—grievous things, whereat others are wont to shudder. But those things, I ween, were dear to me, which a god put in my heart; for different men take joy in different works. For before the sons of the Achaeans set foot on the land of +Troy +, +I had nine times led warriors and swift-faring ships against foreign folk, and great spoil had ever fallen to my hands. Of this I would choose what pleased my mind, and much I afterwards obtained by lot. Thus my house straightway grew rich, and thereafter I became one feared and honored among the Cretans. +“But when Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, devised that hateful journey which loosened the knees of many a warrior, then they bade me and glorious Idomeneus to lead the ships to +Ilios +, nor was there any way to refuse, for the voice of the people pressed hard upon us. +There for nine years we sons of the Achaeans warred, and in the tenth we sacked the city of Priam, and set out for home in our ships, and a god scattered the Achaeans. But for me, wretched man that I was, Zeus, the counsellor, devised evil. For a month only I remained, taking joy in my children, +my wedded wife, and my wealth; and then to +Egypt + did my spirit bid me voyage with my godlike comrades, when I had fitted out my ships with care. Nine ships I fitted out, and the host gathered speedily. Then for six days my trusty comrades +feasted, and I gave them many victims, that they might sacrifice to the gods, and prepare a feast for themselves; and on the seventh we embarked and set sail from broad +Crete +, with the North Wind blowing fresh and fair, and ran on easily as if down stream. No +harm came to any of my ships, but free from scathe and from disease we sat, and the wind and the helmsman guided the ships. + “On the fifth day we came to fair-flowing +Aegyptus +, and in the river +Aegyptus + I moored my curved ships. Then verily I bade my trusty comrades +to remain there by the ships, and to guard the ships, and I sent out scouts to go to places of outlook. But my comrades, yielding to wantonness, and led on by their own might, straightway set about wasting the fair fields of the men of +Egypt +; and they carried off the women and little children, +and slew the men; and the cry came quickly to the city. Then, hearing the shouting, the people came forth at break of day, and the whole plain was filled with footmen, and chariots and the flashing of bronze. But Zeus who hurls the thunderbolt cast an evil panic upon my comrades, and none had the courage +to hold his ground and face the foe; for evil surrounded us on every side. So then they slew many of us with the sharp bronze, and others they led up to their city alive, to work for them perforce. But in my heart Zeus himself put this thought—I would that I had rather died and met my fate +there in +Egypt +, for still was sorrow to give me welcome. Straightway I put off from my head my well-wrought helmet, and the shield from off my shoulders, and let the spear fall from my hand, and went toward the chariot horses of the king. I clasped, and kissed his knees, and he delivered me, and took pity on me, +and, setting me in his chariot, took me weeping to his home. Verily full many rushed upon me with their ashen spears, eager to slay me, for they were exceeding angry. But he warded them off, and had regard for the wrath of Zeus, the stranger's god, who above all others hath indignation at evil deeds. +“There then I stayed seven years, and much wealth did I gather among the Egyptians, for all men gave me gifts. But when the eighth circling year was come, then there came a man of +Phoenicia +, well versed in guile, a greedy knave, who had already wrought much evil among men. +He prevailed upon me by his cunning, and took me with him, until we reached +Phoenicia +, where lay his house and his possessions. There I remained with him for a full year. But when at length the months and the days were being brought to fulfillment, as the year rolled round and the seasons came on, +he set me on a seafaring ship bound for +Libya +, having given lying counsel to the end that I should convey a cargo with him, but in truth that, when there, he might sell me and get a vast price. So I went with him on board the ship, suspecting his guile, yet perforce. And she ran before the North Wind, blowing fresh and fair, +on a mid-sea course to the windward of +Crete +, and Zeus devised destruction for the men. But when we had left +Crete +, and no other land appeared, but only sky and sea, +then verily the son of Cronos set a black cloud above the hollow ship, and the sea grew dark beneath it. Therewith Zeus thundered, and hurled his bolt upon the ship, and she quivered from stem to stern, smitten by the bolt of Zeus, and was filled with sulphurous smoke, and all the crew fell from out the ship. Like sea-crows they were borne on the waves about the black ship, and the god took from them their returning. +But as for me, Zeus himself when my heart was compassed with woe, put into my hands the tossing +1 + mast of the dark-prowed ship, that I might again escape destruction. Around this I clung, and was borne by the direful winds. For nine days I was borne, but on the tenth black night +the great rolling wave brought me to the land of the Thesprotians. There the king of the Thesprotians, lord Pheidon, took me in, and asked no ransom, for his dear son came upon me, overcome as I was with cold and weariness, and raised me by the hand, and led me until he came to his father's palace; +and he clothed me in a cloak and tunic, as raiment. + + “There I learned of Odysseus, for the king said that he had entertained him, and given him welcome on his way to his native land. And he showed me all the treasure that Odysseus had gathered, bronze, and gold, and iron, wrought with toil; +verily unto the tenth generation would it feed his children after him, so great was the wealth that lay stored for him in the halls of the king. But Odysseus, he said, had gone to +Dodona +, to hear the will of Zeus from the high-crested oak of the god, even how he might return to the rich land of +Ithaca +after so long an absence, whether openly or in secret. And moreover he swore in my own presence, as he poured libations in his house, that the ship was launched, and the men ready, who were to convey him to his dear native land. But me he sent forth first, for a ship +of the Thesprotians chanced to be setting out for Dulichium, rich in wheat. Thither he bade them to convey me with kindly care, to king Acastus. But an evil counsel regarding me found favour in their hearts, that I might even yet be brought into utter misery. When the sea-faring ship had sailed far from the land, +they presently sought to bring about for me the day of slavery. They stripped me of my garments, my cloak and tunic, and clothed me in other raiment, a vile ragged cloak and tunic, even the tattered garments which thou seest before thine eyes; and at evening they reached the tilled fields of clear-seen +Ithaca +. +Then with a twisted rope they bound me fast in the benched ship, and themselves went ashore, and made haste to take their supper by the shore of the sea. But as for me, the gods themselves undid my bonds full easily, and, wrapping the tattered cloak about my head, +I slid down the smooth lading-plank, +1 + and brought my breast to the sea, and then struck out with both hands, and swam, and very soon was out of the water, and away from them. Then I went up to a place where there was a thicket of leafy wood, and lay there crouching. +And they went hither and thither with loud cries; but as there seemed to be no profit in going further in their search, they went back again on board their hollow ship. And the gods themselves hid me easily, and led me, and brought me to the farmstead of a wise man; for still haply it is my lot to live.” +To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “Ah, wretched stranger, verily thou hast stirred my heart deeply in telling all the tale of thy sufferings and thy wanderings. But in this, methinks, thou hast not spoken aright, nor shalt thou persuade me with thy tale about Odysseus. Why shouldst thou, who art in such plight +lie to no purpose? Nay, of myself I know well regarding the return of my master, that he was utterly hated of all the gods, in that they did not slay him among the Trojans, or in the arms of his friends, when he had wound up the skein of war. Then would the whole host of the Achaeans have made him a tomb, +and for his son too he would have won great glory in days to come. But as it is the spirits of the storm have swept him away, and left no tidings. I, for my part, dwell aloof with the swine, nor do I go to the city, unless haply wise Penelope bids me thither, when tidings come to her from anywhere. +Then men sit around him that comes, and question him closely, both those that grieve for their lord, that has long been gone, and those who rejoice, as they devour his substance without atonement. But I care not to ask or enquire, since the time when an Aetolian beguiled me with his story, +one that had killed a man, and after wandering over the wide earth came to my house, and I gave him kindly welcome. He said that he had seen Odysseus among the Cretans at the house of Idomeneus, mending his ships which storms had shattered. And he said that he would come either by summer or by harvest-time, +bringing much treasure along with his godlike comrades. Thou too, old man of many sorrows, since a god has brought thee to me, seek not to win my favour by lies, nor in any wise to cajole me. It is not for this that I shall shew thee respect or kindness, but from fear of Zeus, the stranger's god, and from pity for thyself.” + +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Verily thou hast in thy bosom a heart that is slow to believe, seeing that in such wise, even with an oath, I won thee not, neither persuade thee. But come now, let us make a covenant, and the gods who hold +Olympus + shall be witnesses for us both in time to come. +If thy master returns to this house, clothe me in a cloak and tunic, as raiment, and send me on my way to Dulichium, where I desire to be. But if thy master does not come as I say, set the slaves upon me, and fling me down from a great cliff, +that another beggar may beware of deceiving.” + + And the goodly swineherd answered him, and said: “Aye, stranger, so should I indeed win fair fame and prosperity among men both now and hereafter, if I, who brought thee to my hut and gave thee entertainment, +should then slay thee, and take away thy dear life. With a ready heart thereafter should I pray to Zeus, son of Cronos. But it is now time for supper, and may my comrades soon be here, that we may make ready a savoury supper in the hut.” + Thus they spoke to one another, +and the swine and the swineherds drew near. The sows they shut up to sleep in their wonted sties, and a wondrous noise arose from them, as they were penned. Then the goodly swineherd called to his comrades saying: + “Bring forth the best of the boars, that I may slaughter him for the stranger +who comes from afar, and we too shall have some profit therefrom, who have long borne toil and suffering for the sake of the white-tusked swine, while others devour our labour without atonement.” + So saying, he split wood with the pitiless bronze, and the others brought in a fatted boar of five years old, +and set him by the hearth. Nor did the swineherd forget the immortals, for he had an understanding heart, but as a first offering he cast into the fire bristles from the head of the white-tusked boar, and made prayer to all the gods that wise Odysseus might return to his own house. +Then he raised himself up, and smote the boar with a billet of oak, which he had left when splitting the wood, and the boar's life left him. And the others cut the boar's throat, and signed him, and quickly cut him up, and the swineherd took as first offerings bits of raw flesh from all the limbs, and laid them in the rich fat. These he cast into the fire, when he had sprinkled them with barley meal, +but the rest they cut up and spitted, and roasted it carefully, and drew it all off the spits, and cast it in a heap on platters. Then the swineherd stood up to carve, for well did his heart know what was fair, and he cut up the mess and divided it into seven portions. +One with a prayer he set aside for the nymphs and for Hermes, son of +Maia +, and the rest he distributed to each. And Odysseus he honored with the long chine of the white-tusked boar, and made glad the heart of his master; and Odysseus of many wiles spoke to him, and said: + +“Eumaeus, mayest thou be as dear to father Zeus as thou art to me, since thou honourest me with a good portion, albeit I am in such plight.” + To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “Eat, unhappy stranger, and have joy of such fare as is here. It is the god that will give one thing and withhold another, +even as seems good to his heart; for he can do all things.” + + He spoke, and sacrificed the firstling pieces to the gods that are for ever, and, when he had made libations of the flaming wine, he placed the cup in the hands of Odysseus, the sacker of cities, and took his seat by his own portion. And bread was served to them by Mesaulius, whom the swineherd +had gotten by himself alone, while his master was gone, without the knowledge of his mistress or the old Laertes, buying him of the Taphians with his own goods. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, +Mesaulius took away the food, and they were fain to go to their rest, sated with bread and meat. + Now the night came on, foul and without a moon, and Zeus rained the whole night through, and the West Wind, ever the rainy wind, blew strong. Then Odysseus spoke among them, making trial of the swineherd, +to see whether he would strip off his own cloak and give it him, or bid some other of his comrades to do so, since he cared for him so greatly: + “Hear me now, Eumaeus and all the rest of you, his men, with a wish in my heart will I tell a tale; for the wine bids me, befooling wine, which sets one, even though he be right wise, to singing +and laughing softly, and makes him stand up and dance, aye, and brings forth a word which were better unspoken. Still, since I have once spoken out, I will hide nothing. Would that I were young and my strength firm as when we made ready our ambush, and led it beneath the walls of +Troy +. +The leaders were Odysseus and Menelaus, son of Atreus, and with them I was third in command; for so had they ordered it themselves. Now when we had come to the city and the steep wall, round about the town in the thick brushwood among the needs and swamp-land +we lay, crouching beneath our arms, and night came on, foul, when the North Wind had fallen, and frosty, and snow came down on us from above, covering us like rime, bitter cold, and ice formed upon our shields. Now all the rest had cloaks and tunics, and slept in peace, with their shields covering their shoulders, +but I, when I set out, had left my cloak behind with my comrades in my folly, for I did not think that even so I should be cold, and had come with my shield alone and my bright kilt. But when it was the third watch of the night, and the stars had turned their course, then I spoke to Odysseus, who was near me, +nudging him with my elbow; and he straightway gave ear: + “Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, lo now, no longer shall I be among the living. Nay, the cold is killing me, for I have no cloak. Some god beguiled me to wear my tunic only, and now there is no more escape.’ + +“So I spoke, and he then devised this plan in his heart, such a man was he both to plan and to fight; and speaking in a low voice he said to me: ‘Be silent now, lest another of the Achaeans hear thee.’ + + “With this he raised his head upon his elbow, and spoke, saying: +‘Hear me, friends; a dream from the gods came to me in my sleep. Lo, we have come very far from the ships, and I would that there were one to bear word to Agamemnon, son of Atreus, shepherd of the host, in the hope that he might bid more men to come from the ships.’ + “So he spoke, and Thoas, son of Andraemon, sprang up +quickly, and from him flung his purple cloak, and set out to run to the ships. Then in his garment I gladly lay, and golden-throned Dawn appeared. Would that I were young as then, and my strength as firm; then would one of the swineherds in the farmstead give me a cloak +both from kindness and from respect for a brave warrior. But as it is they scorn me, since I have foul raiment about me.” + To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “Old man, the tale thou hast told is a good one, nor hast thou thus far spoken aught amiss or unprofitably. +Wherefore thou shalt lack neither clothing nor aught else that a sore-tried suppliant should receive, when he meets one—for this night at least; but in the morning thou shalt shake about thee those rags of thine. For not many cloaks are here or changes of tunics to put on, but each man has one alone. +But when the dear son of Odysseus comes, he will himself give thee a cloak and a tunic as raiment, and will send thee whithersoever thy heart and spirit bid thee go.” + So saying, he sprang up and placed a bed for Odysseus near the fire, and cast upon it skins of sheep and goats. +There Odysseus lay down, and the swineherd threw over him a great thick cloak, which he kept at hand for a change of clothing whenever a terrible storm should arise. + So there Odysseus slept, and beside him slept the young men. But the swineherd +liked not a bed in that place, that he should lay him down away from the boars; so he made ready to go outside. And Odysseus was glad that he took such care of his master's substance while he was afar. First Eumaeus flung his sharp sword over his strong shoulders, and then put about him a cloak, very thick, to keep off the wind; +and he picked up the fleece of a large, well-fatted goat, took a sharp javelin to ward off dogs and men, and went forth to lie down to sleep where the white-tusked boars slept beneath a hollow rock, in a place sheltered from the North Wind. +But Pallas Athena went to spacious +Lacedaemon + to remind the glorious son of great-hearted Odysseus of his return, and to hasten his coming. She found Telemachus and the noble son of Nestor +lying in the fore-hall of the palace of glorious Menelaus. Now Nestor's son was overcome with soft sleep, but sweet sleep did not hold Telemachus, but all through the immortal night anxious thoughts for his father kept him wakeful. And flashing-eyed Athena stood near him, and said: + +“Telemachus, thou dost not well to wander longer far from thy home, leaving behind thee thy wealth and men in thy house so insolent, lest they divide and devour all thy possessions, and thou shalt have gone on a fruitless journey. Nay, rouse with all speed Menelaus, good at the war-cry, +to send thee on thy way, that thou mayest find thy noble mother still in her home. For now her father and her brothers bid her wed Eurymachus, for he surpasses all the wooers in his presents, and has increased his gifts of wooing. Beware lest she carry forth from thy halls some treasure against thy will. +For thou knowest what sort of a spirit there is in a woman's breast; she is fain to increase the house of the man who weds her, but of her former children and of the lord of her youth she takes no thought, when once he is dead, and asks no longer concerning them. Nay, go, and thyself put all thy possessions in the charge of whatsoever one +of the handmaids seems to thee the best, until the gods shall show thee a noble bride. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart. The best men of the wooers lie in wait for thee of set purpose in the strait between +Ithaca + and rugged +Samos +, +eager to slay thee before thou comest to thy native land. But methinks this shall not be; ere that shall the earth cover many a one of the wooers that devour thy substance. But do thou keep thy well-built ship far from the islands, and sail by night as well as by day, and that +one of the immortals, who keeps and guards thee, will send a fair breeze in thy wake. But when thou hast reached the nearest shore of +Ithaca +, send thy ship and all thy comrades on to the city, but thyself go first of all to the swineherd who keeps thy swine, and withal has a kindly heart toward thee. +There do thou spend the night, and bid him to go to the city to bear word to wise Penelope that she has thee safe, and thou art come from +Pylos +.” + So saying, she departed to high +Olympus +. But Telemachus woke the son of Nestor out of sweet sleep, +rousing him with a touch of his heel, and spoke to him, saying: + “Awake, Peisistratus, son of Nestor; bring up thy fiery-hoofed +1 + horses, and yoke them beneath the car, that we may speed on our way.” + + Then Peisistratus, son of Nestor, answered, and said: “Telemachus, in no wise may we +drive through the dark night, how eager soever for our journey; and soon it will be dawn. Wait then, until the warrior son of Atreus, Menelaus, famed for his spear, shall bring gifts and set them on the car, and shall send us on our way with kindly words of farewell. For a guest remembers all his days +the host who shews him kindness.” + So he spoke, and presently came golden-throned Dawn. Up to them then came Menelaus, good at the war-cry, rising from his couch from beside fair-tressed Helen. And when the prince, the dear son of Odysseus, saw him, +he made haste to put about him his bright tunic, and to fling over his mighty shoulders a great cloak, and went forth. Then Telemachus, the dear son of divine Odysseus, came up to Menelaus, and addressed him, saying: + “Menelaus, son of Atreus, fostered of Zeus, leader of hosts, +send me back now at length to my dear native land, for now my heart is eager to return home.” + Then Menelaus, good at the war-cry, answered him: “Telemachus, I verily shall not hold thee here a long time, when thou art eager to return. Nay, I should blame another, + who, as host, loves overmuch or hates overmuch; better is due measure in all things. 'Tis equal wrong if a man speed on a guest who is loath to go, and if he keep back one that is eager to be gone. One should make welcome the present guest, and send forth him that would go. +But stay, till I bring fair gifts and put them on thy car, and thine own eyes behold them, and till I bid the women make ready a meal in the halls of the abundant store that is within. It is a double boon—honor and glory it brings, and profit withal—that the traveller should dine before he goes forth over the wide and boundless earth. +And if thou art fain to journey through +Hellas + and mid- +Argos +, be it so, to the end that I may myself go with thee, and I will yoke for thee horses, and lead thee to the cities of men. Nor will any one send us away empty-handed, but will give us some one thing at least to bear with us, a fair brazen tripod or cauldron, +or a pair of mules, or a golden cup.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Menelaus, son of Atreus, fostered of Zeus, leader of hosts, rather would I go at once to my home, for when I departed I left behind me no one to watch over my possessions. +I would not that in seeking for my god-like father I myself should perish, or some goodly treasure be lost from my halls.” + + Now when Menelaus, good in battle, heard this, he straightway bade his wife and her handmaids make ready a meal in the halls of the abundant store that was within. +Up to him then came Eteoneus, son of Boethous, just risen from his bed, for he dwelt not far from him. Him Menelaus, good at the war-cry, bade kindle a fire and roast of the flesh; and he heard, and obeyed. And Menelaus himself went down to his vaulted +1 + treasure-chamber, +not alone, for with him went Helen and Megapenthes. But when they came to the place where his treasures were stored, the son of Atreus took a two-handled cup, and bade his son Megapenthes bear a mixing bowl of silver. And Helen came up to the chests +in which were her richly-broidered robes, that she herself had wrought. One of these Helen, the beautiful lady, lifted out and bore away, the one that was fairest in its broideries, and the amplest. It shone like a star, and lay beneath all the rest. Then they went forth through the house until they came to +Telemachus; and fair-haired Menelaus spoke to him, and said: + “Telemachus, may Zeus, the loud-thundering lord of Here, verily bring to pass for thee thy return, even as thy heart desires. And of all the gifts that lie stored as treasures in my house, I will give thee that one which is fairest and costliest. +I will give thee a well-wrought mixing-bowl. It is all of silver, and with gold are the rims thereof gilded, the work of Hephaestus; and the warrior Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me, when his house sheltered me as I came thither; and now I am minded to give it to thee.” + +So saying, the warrior, son of Atreus, placed the two-handled cup in his hands. And the strong Megapenthes brought the bright mixing-bowl of silver and set it before him, and fair-cheeked Helen came up with the robe in her hands, and spoke, and addressed him: + +“Lo, I too give thee this gift, dear child, a remembrance of the hands of Helen, against the day of thy longed-for marriage, for thy bride to wear it. But until then let it lie in thy halls in the keeping of thy dear mother. And for thyself I wish that with joy thou mayest reach thy well-built house and thy native land.” +So saying, she placed it in his hands, and he took it gladly. And the prince Peisistratus took the gifts, and laid them in the box of the chariot, and gazed at them all wondering in his heart. Then fair-haired Menelaus led them to the house, and the two sat down on chairs and high seats. +And a handmaid brought water for the hands in a fair pitcher of gold, and poured it over a silver basin for them to wash, and beside them drew up a polished table. And the grave housewife brought and set before them bread, and therewith meats in abundance, granting freely of her store. +And hard by the son of Boethous carved the meat, and divided the portions, and the son of glorious Menelaus poured the wine. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, then Telemachus and the glorious son of Nestor +yoked the horses and mounted the inlaid car, and drove forth from the gateway and the echoing portico. After them went the son of Atreus, fair-haired Menelaus, bearing in his right hand honey-hearted wine in a cup of gold, that they might pour libations ere they set out. +And he took his stand before the horses, and pledged the youths, and said: + “Fare ye well, young men, and bear greeting to Nestor, shepherd of the host, for verily he was kind as a father to me, while we sons of the Achaeans warred in the land of +Troy +.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: +“Aye, verily, king, fostered of Zeus, to him will we tell all this on our coming, as thou dost bid. And I would that, when I return to +Ithaca +, I might as surely find Odysseus in his house, to tell him how I met with every kindness at thy hands, ere I departed and bring with me treasures many and goodly.” + +Even as he spoke a bird flew by on the right, an eagle, bearing in his talons a great, white goose, a tame fowl from the yard, and men and women followed shouting. But the eagle drew near to them, and darted off to the right in front of the horses; and +they were glad as they saw it, and the hearts in the breasts of all were cheered. And among them Peisistratus, son of Nestor, was first to speak: + “Consider, Menelaus, fostered of Zeus, leader of hosts, whether it was for us two that the god showed this sign, or for thyself.” + so he spoke, and Menelaus, dear to Ares, pondered +how he might with understanding interpret the sign aright. But long-robed Helen took the word from him, and said: + “Hear me, and I will prophesy as the immortals put it into my heart, and as I think it will be brought to pass. Even as this eagle came +from the mountain, where are his kin, and where he was born, and snatched up the goose that was bred in the house, even so shall Odysseus return to his home after many toils and many wanderings, and shall take vengeance; or even now he is at home, and is sowing the seeds of evil for all the wooers.” + + Then again wise Telemachus answered her: +“So may Zeus grant, the loud-thundering lord of Here; then will I even there ever pray to thee, as to a god.” + He spoke, and touched the two horses with the lash, and they sped swiftly toward the plain, coursing eagerly through the city. So all day long they shook the yoke they bore about their necks. +And the sun set, and all the ways grew dark. And they came to Pherae, to the house of Diocles, son of Ortilochus, whom Alpheus begot. There they spent the night, and before them he set the entertainment due to strangers. + As soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, +they yoked the horses, and mounted the inlaid car, and drove forth from the gateway and the echoing portico. Then Peisistratus touched the horses with the whip to start them, and nothing loath the pair sped onward, and soon thereafter they reached the steep citadel of +Pylos +. Then Telemachus spoke to the son of Nestor, saying: + +“Son of Nestor, wilt thou now make me a promise, and fulfil it, as I bid? Friends from of old we call ourselves by reason of our fathers' friendship, and we are moreover of the same age, and this journey shall yet more stablish us in oneness of heart. Lead me not past my ship, O thou fostered of Zeus, but leave me there, +lest that old man keep me in his house against my will, fain to show me kindness, whereas I must needs hasten home.” + So he spoke, and the son of Nestor took counsel with his heart, how he might duly give the promise and fulfil it. And, as he pondered, this seemed to him the better course. +He turned his horses to the swift ship and the shore of the sea, and took out, and set in the stern of the ship the beautiful gifts, the raiment and gold, which Menelaus gave him. And he urged on Telemachus, and addressed him with winged words: + “Make haste now to go on board, and bid all thy comrades to do likewise, +before I reach home and bring the old man word. For well I know this in mind and heart, so masterful is his spirit he will not let thee go, but will himself come hither to bid thee to his house; and, I tell thee, he will not go back without thee; for very wroth will he be, despite of all.” + +So saying, he drove his horses with beautiful mane back to the city of the Pylians, and speedily reached the palace. And Telemachus called to his men, and gave command to them, saying: + “Set all the gear in order, men, in the black ship, and let us go on board ourselves, that we may speed on our way.” + +So he spoke, and they readily hearkened and obeyed; and at once they went on board, and sat down upon the benches. + + He verily was busied thus, and was praying and offering sacrifice to Athena by the stern of the ship, when there drew nigh to him a man from a far land, one that was fleeing out of +Argos + because he had slain a man; +and he was a seer. By lineage he was sprung from Melampus, who of old dwelt in +Pylos +, mother of flocks, a rich man and one that had a very wealthy house among the Pylians, but had afterward come to a land of strangers, fleeing from his country and from great-hearted Neleus, the lordliest of living men, +who for a full year had kept much wealth from him by force. +1 + Now Melampus meanwhile lay bound with bitter bonds in the halls of Phylacus, suffering grievous pains because of the daughter of Neleus, and the terrible blindness of heart which the goddess, the Erinys, who brings houses to ruin, +2 + had laid upon him. +Howbeit he escaped his fate, and drove off the deep-lowing kine from +Phylace + to +Pylos +, and avenged the cruel deed upon godlike Neleus, and brought the maiden home to be his own brother's wife. For himself, he went to the land of other men, to horse-pasturing +Argos +, for there it was appointed him +to dwell, bearing sway over many Argives. There he wedded a wife and built him a high-roofed house, and begot Antiphates and Mantius, two stalwart sons. Now Antiphates begot great-hearted Oicles, and Oicles Amphiaraus, the rouser of the host, +whom Zeus, who bears the aegis, and Apollo heartily loved with all manner of love. Yet he did not reach the threshold of old age, but died in Thebe, because of a woman's gifts. To him were born sons, Alcmaeon and Amphilochus. And Mantius on his part begot Polypheides and Cleitus. +Now Cleitus golden-throned Dawn snatched away by reason of his beauty, that he might dwell with the immortals; but of Polypheides, high of heart, Apollo made a seer, far the best of mortals, after that Amphiaraus was dead. He removed to +Hyperesia +, having waxed wroth with his father, +and there he dwelt and prophesied to all men. + His son it was, Theoclymenus by name, who now came and stood by Telemachus; and he found him pouring libations and praying by his swift, black ship, and he spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + +“Friend, since I find thee making burnt-offering in this place, I beseech thee by thine offerings and by the god, aye, and by thine own life and the lives of thy comrades who follow thee, tell me truly what I ask, and hide it not. Who art thou among men, and from whence? Where is thy city, and where thy parents?” +And wise Telemachus answered him: “Then verily, stranger, will I frankly tell thee all. Of +Ithaca + I am by birth, and my father is Odysseus, as sure as ever +1 + such a one there was; but now he has perished by a pitiful fate. Therefore have I now taken my comrades and a black ship, +and am come to seek tidings of my father, that has long been gone.” + Then godlike Theoclymenus answered him: “Even so have I, too, fled from my country, for that I slew a man, one of mine own kin. And many brethren and kinsmen of his there are in horse-pasturing +Argos +, and mightily do they bear sway over the Achaeans. +It is to shun death and black fate at their hands that I flee, for, I ween, it is my lot to be a wanderer among men. But do thou set me on thy ship, since in my flight I have made prayer to thee, lest they utterly slay me; for methinks they are in pursuit.” + And wise Telemachus answered him: +“Then will I in no wise thrust thee from my shapely ship, since thou art eager to come. Nay, follow with us, and in our home shalt thou find entertainment such as we have.” + So saying, he took from him his spear of bronze, and laid it at length on the deck of the curved ship, and himself went aboard the seafaring ship. +Then he sat down in the stern and made Theoclymenus sit down beside him; and his men loosed the stern cables. And Telemachus called to his men and bade them lay hold of the tackling, and they quickly obeyed. The mast of fir +they raised and set in the hollow socket, and made it fast with fore-stays, and hauled up the white sail with twisted thongs of oxhide. And flashing-eyed Athena sent them a favorable wind, blowing strongly through the sky, that, speeding swiftly, the ship might accomplish her way over the salt water of the sea. +So they fared past Crouni and +Chalcis +, with its beautiful streams. + Now the sun set and all the ways grew dark. And the ship drew near to Pheae, sped by the wind of Zeus, and on past goodly +Elis +, where the Epeans hold sway. From thence again he steered for the sharp isles +1 +pondering whether he should escape death or be taken. + + But the two, Odysseus and the goodly swineherd, were supping in the hut, and with them supped the other men. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, Odysseus spoke among them, making trial of the swineherd to see +whether he would still entertain him with kindly care and bid him remain there at the farmstead, or send him forth to the city: + “Hearken now, Eumaeus, and all ye other men. In the morning I am minded to go forth to the city to beg, that I may not be the ruin of thee and of thy men. Now then, give me good counsel, and send with me a trusty guide to lead me thither; +but through the city will I wander by myself perforce, in the hope that one haply will give me a cup of water and a loaf. Aye, and I would go to the house of godlike Odysseus and bear tidings to the wise Penelope, +and join the company of the insolent wooers, if perchance they may give me a meal, since they have good cheer in abundance. Straightway might I do good service among them in all that they would. For I will tell thee, and do thou give heed and hearken. By the favour of Hermes, the messenger, who +lends grace and glory to all men's work, in the business of serving no man beside can vie with me, in piling well a fire, in splitting dry faggots, in carving and roasting meat, and in pouring wine —in all things in which meaner men serve the noble.” + +Then deeply moved didst thou speak to him, swineherd Eumaeus: “Ah me, stranger, why has such a thought come into thy mind? Verily thou art fain utterly to perish there, if thou wouldest indeed enter the throng of the wooers, whose wantonness and violence reach the iron heaven. +Not such as thou are their serving men; nay, they that serve them are young men, well clad in cloaks and tunics, and ever are their heads and bright faces sleek; and polished tables are laden with bread, and meat, and wine. +Nay, abide here; there is none that is vexed by thy presence, not I, nor any other of the men that are with me. But when the dear son of Odysseus comes, he will himself clothe thee in a cloak and a tunic as raiment, and will send thee whithersoever thy heart and spirit bid thee go.” +Then the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus answered him: “Would, Eumaeus, that thou mightest be as dear to father Zeus as thou art to me, for that thou hast made me cease from wandering and from grievous hardships. Than roaming naught else is more evil for mortals; yet for their cursed belly's sake +men endure evil woes, when wandering and sorrow and pain come upon them. But now, since thou keepest me here and biddest me await thy master, come, tell me of the mother of godlike Odysseus, and of the father, whom, when he went forth, he left behind him on the threshold of old age. Are they haply still living beneath the rays of the sun? +or are they now dead and in the house of Hades?” + Then the swineherd, a leader of men, answered him: “Then verily, stranger, will I frankly tell thee. Laertes still lives, but ever prays to Zeus that his life may waste away from his limbs within his halls. +For wondrously does he grieve for his son that is gone, and for the wise lady, his wedded wife, whose death troubled him most of all, and brought him to untimely old age. But she died of grief for her glorious son by a miserable death, as I would that no man may die +who dwells here as my friend and does me kindness. So long as she lived, though it was in sorrow, it was ever a pleasure to me to ask and enquire after her, for she herself had brought me up with long-robed Ctimene, her noble daughter, whom she bore as her youngest child. +With her was I brought up, and the mother honored me little less than her own children. But when we both reached the longed-for prime of youth they sent her to Same to wed, and got themselves countless bridal gifts, but as for me, my lady clad me in a cloak and tunic, right goodly raiment, and gave me sandals for my feet +and sent me forth to the field; but in her heart she loved me the more. But now I lack all this, though for my own part the blessed gods make to prosper the work to which I give heed. Therefrom have I eaten and drunk, and given to reverend strangers. But from my mistress I may hear naught pleasant, +whether word or deed, for a plague has fallen upon the house, even overweening men. Yet greatly do servants long to speak before their mistress, and learn of all, and to eat and drink, and thereafter to carry off somewhat also to the fields, such things as ever make the heart of a servant to grow warm.” +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Lo now, surely when thou wast but a child, swineherd Eumaeus, thou didst wander far from thy country and thy parents. But come now, tell me this, and declare it truly. Was a broad-wayed city of men sacked, +wherein thy father and honored mother dwelt? Or, when thou wast alone with thy sheep or cattle, did foemen take thee in their ships and bear thee for sale to the house of this thy master, who paid for thee a goodly price?” + Then the swineherd, a leader of men, answered him: +“Stranger, since thou dost ask and question me of this, hearken now in silence, and take thy joy, and drink thy wine, as thou sittest here. These nights are wondrous long. There is time for sleep, and there is time to take joy in hearing tales; thou needest not lay thee down till it be time; there is weariness even in too much sleep. +As for the rest, if any man's heart and spirit bid him, let him go forth and sleep, and at daybreak let him eat, and follow our master's swine. But we two will drink and feast in the hut, and will take delight each in the other's grievous woes, +as we recall them to mind. For in after time a man finds joy even in woes, whosoever has suffered much, and wandered much. But this will I tell thee, of which thou dost ask and enquire. + “There is an isle called +Syria +, if haply thou hast heard thereof, above Ortygia, where are the turning-places of the sun. +It is not so very thickly settled, but it is a good land, rich in herds, rich in flocks, full of wine, abounding in wheat. Famine never comes into the land, nor does any hateful sickness besides fall on wretched mortals; but when the tribes of men grow old throughout the city, +Apollo, of the silver bow, comes with Artemis, and assails them with his gentle shafts, and slays them. In that isle are two cities, and all the land is divided between them, and over both ruled as king my father, Ctesius, son of Ormenus, a man like to the immortals. +“Thither came Phoenicians, men famed for their ships, greedy knaves, bringing countless trinkets in their black ship. Now there was in my father's house a Phoenician woman, comely and tall, and skilled in glorious handiwork. Her the wily Phoenicians beguiled. +First, as she was washing clothes, one of them lay with her in love by the hollow ship; for this beguiles the minds of women, even though one be upright. Then he asked her who she was, and whence she came, and she straightway shewed him the high-roofed home of my father, and said: + +“‘Out of +Sidon +, rich in bronze, I declare that I come, and I am the daughter of Arybas, to whom wealth flowed in streams. But Taphian pirates seized me, as I was coming from the fields, and brought me hither, and sold me to the house of yonder man, and he paid for me a goodly price.’ + +“Then the man who had lain with her in secret answered her: ‘Wouldest thou then return again with us to thy home, that thou mayest see the high-roofed house of thy father and mother, and see them too? For of a truth they yet live, and are accounted rich.’ + “Then the woman answered him, and said: +‘This may well be, if you sailors will pledge yourselves by an oath, that you will bring me safely home.’ + “So she spoke, and they all gave an oath thereto, as she bade them. But when they had sworn and made an end of the oath, the woman again spoke among them, and made answer: + +“‘Be silent now, and let no one of your company speak to me, if he meets me in the street or haply at the well, lest some one go to the palace and tell the old king, and he wax suspicious and bind me with grievous bonds, and devise death for you. +Nay, keep my words in mind, and speed the barter of your wares. But, when your ship is laden with goods, let a message come quickly to me at the palace; for I will also bring whatever gold comes under my hand. Aye, and I would gladly give another thing for my passage. +There is a child of my noble +1 + master, whose nurse I am in the palace, such a cunning child, who ever runs abroad with me. Him would I bring on board, and he would fetch you a vast price, wherever you might take him for sale among men of strange speech.’ + + “So saying, she departed to the fair palace. +And they remained there in our land a full year, and got by trade much substance in their hollow ship. But when their hollow ship was laden for their return, then they sent a messenger to bear tidings to the woman. There came a man, well versed in guile, to my father's house +with a necklace of gold, and with amber beads was it strung between. This the maidens in the hall and my honored mother were handling, and were gazing on it, and were offering him their price; but he nodded to the woman in silence. Then verily when he had nodded to her, he went his way to the hollow ship, +but she took me by the hand, and led me forth from the house. Now in the fore-hall of the palace she found the cups and tables of the banqueters, who waited upon my father. They had gone forth to the council and the people's place of debate, but she quickly hid three goblets in her bosom, +and bore them away; and I followed in my heedlessness. Then the sun set, and all the ways grew dark. And we made haste and came to the goodly harbor, where was the swift ship of the Phoenicians. Then they embarked, +putting both of us on board as well, and sailed over the watery ways, and Zeus sent them a favorable wind. For six days we sailed, night and day alike; but when Zeus, son of Cronos, brought upon us the seventh day, then Artemis, the archer, smote the woman, and she fell with a thud into the hold, as a sea bird plunges. +Her they cast forth to be a prey to seals and fishes, but I was left, my heart sore stricken. Now the wind, as it bore them, and the wave, brought them to +Ithaca +, where Laertes bought me with his wealth. Thus it was that my eyes beheld this land.” + +To him then Zeus-born Odysseus made answer, and said: “Eumaeus, of a truth thou hast deeply stirred the heart in my breast in telling all this tale of the sorrow thou hast borne at heart. Yet verily in thy case Zeus has given good side by side with the evil, since after all thy toil thou hast come to the house of +a kindly man, who gives thee food and drink, and that with kindness, and thou livest well; while as for me, it is while wandering through the many cities of men that I am come hither.” + + Thus they spoke to one another, and then lay down to sleep, for no long time, but for a little; +for soon came fair-throned Dawn. But the comrades of Telemachus, drawing near the shore, furled the sail, and took down the mast quickly, and rowed the ship to her anchorage with their oars. Then they cast out the mooring-stones and made fast the stern cables, and themselves went forth upon the shore of the sea, +and made ready their meal and mixed the flaming wine. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, among them wise Telemachus was the first to speak, saying: + “Do you now row the black ship to the city, but I will visit the fields and the herdsmen, +and at evening will come to the city when I have looked over my lands. And in the morning I will set before you, as wages for your journey, a good feast of flesh and sweet wine.” + Then godlike Theoclymenus answered him: “Whither shall I go, dear child? To whose house shall I come +of those who rule in rocky +Ithaca +? Or shall I go straight to thy mother's house and thine?” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Were things otherwise, I should bid thee go even to our house, for there is in no wise lack of entertainment for strangers, but +it would be worse for thyself, since I shall be away, and my mother will not see thee. For she does not often appear before the wooers in the house, but apart from them weaves at her loom in an upper chamber. But I will tell thee of another man to whom thou mayest go, Eurymachus, glorious son of wise Polybus, +whom now the men of +Ithaca + look upon as on a god. For he is by far the best man, and is most eager to marry my mother and to have the honor of Odysseus. Nevertheless Olympian Zeus, who dwells in the sky, knows this, whether or not before marriage he will fulfil for them the evil day.” +Even as he spoke a bird flew forth upon the right, a hawk, the swift messenger of Apollo. In his talons he held a dove, and was plucking her and shedding the feathers down on the ground midway between the ship and Telemachus himself. Then Theoclymenus called him apart from his companions, +and clasped his hand, and spoke, and addressed him: + “Telemachus, surely not without a god's warrant has this bird flown forth upon our right, for I knew, as I looked upon him, that he was a bird of omen. Than yours is no other house in the land of +Ithaca + more kingly; nay, ye are ever supreme.” + +Then wise Telemachus answered him again: “Ah, stranger, I would that this word of thine might be fulfilled. Then shouldest thou straightway know of kindness and many a gift from me, so that one that met thee would call thee blessed.” + Therewith he spoke to Peiraeus, his trusty comrade: + “Peiraeus, son of Clytius, it is thou that in other matters art wont to hearken to me above all my comrades, who went with me to +Pylos +; so now do thou, I pray thee, take this stranger and give him kindly welcome in thy house, and show him honor until I come.” + +Then Peiraeus, the famous spearman, answered him: “Telemachus, though thou shouldest stay here long, I will entertain him, and he shall have no lack of what is due to strangers.” + So saying, he went on board the ship, and bade his comrades themselves to embark and to loose the stern cables. So they went on board straightway, and sat down upon the benches. +But Telemachus bound beneath his feet his fair sandals, and took his mighty spear, tipped with sharp bronze, from the deck of the ship. Then the men loosed the stern cables, and thrusting off, sailed to the city, as Telemachus bade, the dear son of divine Odysseus. +But his feet bore him swiftly on, as he strode forward, until he reached the farmstead where were his countless swine, among whom slept the worthy swineherd with a heart loyal to his masters. +Meanwhile the two in the hut, Odysseus and the goodly swineherd, had kindled a fire, and were making ready their breakfast at dawn, and had sent forth the herdsmen with the droves of swine; but around Telemachus the baying hounds fawned, +and barked not as he drew near. And goodly Odysseus noted the fawning of the hounds, and the sound of footsteps fell upon his ears; and straightway he spoke to Eumaeus winged words: + “Eumaeus, surely some comrade of thine will be coming, or at least some one thou knowest, for the hounds do not bark, +but fawn about him, and I hear the sound of footsteps.” + Not yet was the word fully uttered, when his own dear son stood in the doorway. In amazement up sprang the swineherd, and from his hands the vessels fell with which he was busied as he mixed the flaming wine. And he went to meet his lord, +and kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes and his two hands, and a big tear fell from him. And as a loving father greets his own dear son, who comes in the tenth year from a distant land—his only son and well-beloved, for whose sake he has borne much sorrow— +even so did the goodly swineherd then clasp in his arms godlike Telemachus, and kiss him all over as one escaped from death; and with wailing he addressed him with winged words: + “Thou art come, Telemachus, sweet light of my eyes. I thought I should never see thee more after thou hadst gone in thy ship to +Pylos +. +But come, enter in, dear child, that I may delight my heart with looking at thee here in my house, who art newly come from other lands. For thou dost not often visit the farm and the herdsmen, but abidest in the town; so, I ween, has it seemed good to thy heart, to look upon the destructive throng of the wooers.” + +Then wise Telemachus answered him: “So shall it be, father. It is for thy sake that I am come hither, to see thee with my eyes, and to hear thee tell whether my mother still abides in the halls, or whether by now some other man has wedded her, and the couch of Odysseus +lies haply in want of bedding, covered with foul spider-webs.” + Then the swineherd, a leader of men, answered him: “Aye, verily, she abides with steadfast heart in thy halls, and ever sorrowfully for her the nights and the days wane as she weeps.” + +So saying, he took from him the spear of bronze, and Telemachus went in and passed over the stone threshold. As he drew near, his father, Odysseus, rose from his seat and gave him place, but Telemachus on his part checked him, and said: + “Be seated, stranger, and we shall find a seat elsewhere +in our farmstead. There is a man here who will set us one.” + + So he spoke, and Odysseus went back and sat down again, and for Telemachus the swineherd strewed green brushwood beneath and a fleece above it, and there the dear son of Odysseus sat down. Then the swineherd set before them platters +of roast meats, which they had left at their meal the day before, and quickly heaped up bread in baskets, and mixed in a bowl of ivy wood honey-sweet wine, and himself sat down over against divine Odysseus. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. +But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, Telemachus spoke to the goodly swineherd, and said: + “Father, from whence did this stranger come to thee? How did sailors bring him to +Ithaca +? Who did they declare themselves to be? For nowise, methinks, did he come hither on foot.” + +To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “Then verily, my child, I will tell thee all the truth. From broad +Crete + he declares that he has birth, and he says that he has wandered roaming through many cities of mortals; so has a god spun for him this lot. +But now he has run away from a ship of the Thesprotians and come to my farmstead, and I shall put him in thy hands. Do what thou wilt. He declares himself thy suppliant.” + Then again wise Telemachus answered him: “Eumaeus, verily this word which thou hast uttered stings me to the heart. +For how am I to welcome this stranger in my house? I am myself but young, nor have I yet trust in my might to defend me against a man, when one waxes wroth without a cause. And as for my mother, the heart in her breast wavers this way and that, whether to abide here with me and keep the house, +respecting the bed of her husband and the voice of the people, or to go now with him whosoever is best of the Achaeans that woo her in the halls, and offers the most gifts of wooing. But verily, as regards this stranger, now that he has come to thy house, I will clothe him in a cloak and tunic, fair raiment, +and will give him a two-edged sword, and sandals for his feet, and send him whithersoever his heart and spirit bid him go. Or, if thou wilt, do thou keep him here at the farmstead, and care for him, and raiment will I send hither and all his food to eat, that he be not the ruin of thee and of thy men. +But thither will I not suffer him to go, to join the company of the wooers, for they are over-full of wanton insolence, lest they mock him, and dread grief come upon me. And to achieve aught is hard for one man among many, how mighty soever he be, for verily they are far stronger.” +Then the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus answered him: “Friend, since surely it is right for me to make answer—verily ye rend my heart, as I hear your words, such wantonness you say the wooers devise in the halls in despite of thee, so goodly a man. +Tell me, art thou willingly thus oppressed? Or do the people throughout the land hate thee, following the voice of a god? Or hast thou cause to blame thy brothers, in whose fighting a man trusts even if a great strife arise. Would that with my present temper I were as young as thou, +either the son of blameless Odysseus, or Odysseus himself, +1 + straightway then might some stranger cut my head from off my neck, if I did not prove myself the bane of them all when I had come to the halls of Odysseus, son of Laertes. +But if they should overwhelm me by their numbers, alone as I was, far rather would I die, slain in my own halls, than behold continually these shameful deeds, strangers mishandled, and men dragging the handmaidens in shameful fashion through the fair halls, +and wine drawn to waste, and men devouring my bread all heedlessly, without limit, with no end to the business.” + And wise Telemachus answered him: “Then verily, stranger, I will frankly tell thee all. Neither do the people at large bear me any grudge or hatred, +nor have I cause to blame brothers, in whose fighting a man trusts, even if a great strife arise. For in this wise has the son of Cronos made our house to run in but a single line. As his only son did Arceisius beget Laertes, as his only son again did his father beget Odysseus, and Odysseus +begot me as his only son, and left me in his halls, and had no joy of me. Therefore it is that foes past counting are now in the house; for all the princes who hold sway over the islands—Dulichium, and Same, and wooded Zacynthus—and those who lord it over rocky +Ithaca +, +all these woo my mother and lay waste my house. And she neither refuses the hateful marriage, nor is she able to make an end; but they with feasting consume my substance, and will ere long bring me, too, to ruin. Yet these things verily lie on the knees of the gods. +But, father, do thou go with speed, and tell constant Penelope that she has me safe, and I am come from +Pylos +. But I will abide here, and do thou come back hither, when thou hast told thy tale to her alone; but of the rest of the Achaeans let no one learn it, for many there are who contrive evil against me.” +To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “I see, I give heed; this thou biddest one with understanding. But come now, tell me this, and declare it truly; whether I shall go on the self-same way with tidings to Laertes also, wretched man, who for a time, though grieving sorely for Odysseus, +was still wont to oversee the fields, and would eat and drink with the slaves in the house, as the heart in his breast bade him. But now, from the day when thou wentest in thy ship to +Pylos +, they say he has no more eaten and drunk as before, nor overseen the fields, but with groaning and wailing +he sits and weeps, and the flesh wastes from off his bones.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “'Tis the sadder; but none the less we will let him be, despite our sorrow; for if in any wise all things might be had by mortals for the wishing, we should choose first of all the day of my father's return. +No, do thou come back, when thou hast given thy message, and wander not over the fields in search of Laertes; but did my mother with all speed send forth her handmaid, the housewife, secretly, for she might bear word to the old man.” + With this he roused the swineherd, and he took his sandals in his hands +and bound them beneath his feet and went forth to the city. Nor was Athena unaware that the swineherd Eumaeus was gone from the farmstead, but she drew near in the likeness of a woman, comely and tall, and skilled in glorious handiwork. And she stood over against the door of the hut, shewing herself to Odysseus, +but Telemachus did not see her before him, or notice her; for in no wise do the gods appear in manifest presence to all. But Odysseus saw her, and the hounds, and they barked not, but with whining slunk in fear to the further side of the farmstead. The she made a sign with her brows, and goodly Odysseus perceived it, +and went forth from the hall, past the great wall of the court, and stood before her, and Athena spoke to him, saying: + “Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, even now do thou reveal thy word to thy son, and hide it not, that when you two have planned death and fate for the wooers, +you may go to the famous city. Nor will I myself be long away from you, for I am eager for the battle.” + With this, Athena touched him with her golden wand. A well-washed cloak and a tunic she first of all cast about his breast, and she increased his stature and his youthful bloom. +Once more he grew dark of color, and his cheeks filled out, and dark grew the beard about his chin. Then, when she had wrought thus, she departed, but Odysseus went into the hut. And his dear son marvelled, and, seized with fear, turned his eyes aside, lest it should be a god. +And he spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + “Of other sort thou seemest to me now, stranger, than awhile ago, and other are the garments thou hast on, and thy color is no more the same. Verily thou art a god, one of those who hold broad heaven. Nay then, be gracious, that we may offer to thee acceptable sacrifices +and golden gifts, finely wrought; but do thou spare us.” + + Then the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus answered him: “Be sure I am no god; why dost thou liken me to the immortals? Nay, I am thy father, for whose sake thou dost with groaning endure many griefs, and submittest to the violence of men.” + +So saying, he kissed his son, and from his cheeks let fall a tear to earth, but before he ever steadfastly held them back. Howbeit Telemachus—for he did not yet believe that it was his father—again answered, and spoke to him, saying: + “Thou verily art not my father Odysseus, but some god +beguiles me, that I may weep and groan yet more. For nowise could a mortal man contrive this by his own wit, unless a god were himself to come to him, and easily by his will make him young or old. For verily but now thou wast an old man and meanly clad, +whereas now thou art like the gods, who hold broad heaven.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Telemachus, it beseems thee not to wonder overmuch that thy father is in the house, or to be amazed. For thou mayest be sure no other Odysseus will ever come hither; +but I here, I, even such as thou seest me, after sufferings and many wanderings, am come in the twentieth year to my native land. But this, thou must know, is the work of Athena, driver of the spoil, who makes me such as she will—for she has the power—now like a beggar, and now again +like a young man, and one wearing fair raiment about his body. Easy it is for the gods, who hold broad heaven, both to glorify a mortal man and to abase him.” + So saying, he sat down, and Telemachus, flinging his arms about his noble father, wept and shed tears, +and in the hearts of both arose a longing for lamentation. And they wailed aloud more vehemently than birds, sea-eagles, or vultures with crooked talons, whose young the country-folk have taken from their nest before they were fledged; even so piteously did they let tears fall from beneath their brows. +And now would the light of the sun have gone down upon their weeping, had not Telemachus spoken to his father suddenly: + “In what manner of ship, dear father, have sailors now brought thee hither to +Ithaca +? Who did they declare themselves to be? For nowise, methinks, didst thou come hither on foot.” +And the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus answered him: “Then verily, my child, I will tell thee all the truth. The Phaeacians brought me, men famed for their ships, who send other men too on their way, whosoever comes to them. And they brought me as I slept in a swift ship over the sea, +and set me down in +Ithaca +, and gave me glorious gifts, stores of bronze and gold and woven raiment. These treasures, by the favour of the gods, are lying in caves. And now I am come hither at the bidding of Athena, that we may take counsel about the slaying of our foes. +Come now, count me the wooers, and tell their tale, that I may know how many they are and what manner of men, and that I may ponder in my noble heart and decide whether we two shall be able to maintain our cause against them alone without others, or whether we shall also seek out others.” + +Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Father, of a truth I have ever heard of thy great fame, that thou wast a warrior in strength of hand and in wise counsel, but this thou sayest is too great; amazement holds me. It could not be that two men should fight against many men and mighty. +For of the wooers there are not ten alone, or twice ten, but full many more. Here as we are shalt thou straightway learn their number. From Dulichium there are two and fifty chosen youths, and six serving men attend them; from Same came four and twenty men; +from +Zacynthus + there are twenty youths of the Achaeans; and from +Ithaca + itself twelve men, all of them the noblest, and with them is Medon, the herald, and the divine minstrel, and two squires skilled in carving meats. If we shall meet all these within the halls, +bitter, I fear, and with bane will be thy coming to avenge violence. Nay, do thou consider, if thou canst bethink thee of any helper—one that would aid us two with a ready heart.” + Then the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus answered him:“Well, then, I will tell thee, and do thou give heed and hearken to my words, +and consider whether for us two Athena, with father Zeus, will be enough, or whether I shall bethink me of some other helper.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Good, thou mayest be sure, are these two helpers whom thou dost mention, though high in the clouds do they abide, and they +rule over all men alike and the immortal gods.” + + Then the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus answered: “Not long of a surety will those two hold aloof from the mighty fray, when between the wooers and us in my halls the might of Ares is put to the test. +But for the present, do thou go at daybreak to thy house and join the company of the haughty wooers. As for me, the swineherd will lead me later on to the city in the likeness of a woeful and aged beggar. And if they shall put despite on me in the house, +let the heart in thy breast endure while I am evil entreated, even if they drag me by the feet through the house to the door, or hurl at me and smite me; still do thou endure to behold it. Thou shalt indeed bid them cease their folly, seeking to dissuade them with gentle words; yet in no wise +will they hearken to thee, for verily their day of doom is at hand. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart. When Athena, rich in counsel, shall put it in my mind, I will nod to thee with my head; and do thou thereupon, when thou notest it, take all the weapons of war that lie in thy halls, +and lay them away one and all in the secret place of the lofty store-room. And as for the wooers, when they miss the arms and question thee, do thou beguile them with gentle words, saying: + “‘Out of the smoke have I laid them, +1 + since they are no longer like those which of old Odysseus left behind him when he went forth to +Troy +, +but are all befouled so far as the breath of the fire has reached them. And furthermore this greater fear has the son of Cronos put in my heart, lest haply, when heated with wine, you may set a quarrel afoot among you and wound one another, and so bring shame on your feast and on your wooing. For of itself does the iron draw a man to it.’ + +“But for us two alone do thou leave behind two swords and two spears, and two ox-hide shields for us to grasp, that we may rush upon them and seize them; while as for the wooers, Pallas Athena and Zeus, the counsellor, will beguile them. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart. +If in truth thou art my son and of our blood, then let no one hear that Odysseus is at home; neither let Laertes know it, nor the swineherd, nor any of the household, nor Penelope herself; but by ourselves thou and I will learn the temper of the women. +Aye, and we will likewise make trial of many a one of the serving men, and see where any of them honours us two and fears us at heart, and who recks not of us and scorns thee, a man so goodly.” + + Then his glorious son answered him, and said: “Father, my spirit, methinks, +thou shalt verily come to know hereafter, for no slackness of will possesses me. But I think not that this plan will be a gain to us both, and so I bid thee take thought. Long time shalt thou vainly go about, making trial of each man as thou visitest the farms, while in thy halls those others at their ease +are wasting thy substance in insolent wise, and there is no sparing. Yet verily, as for the women, I do bid thee learn who among them dishonor thee, and who are guiltless. But of the men in the farmsteads I would not that we should make trial, but that we should deal therewith hereafter, +if in very truth thou knowest some sign from Zeus who bears the aegis.” + Thus they spoke to one another, but meanwhile into +Ithaca + put the well-built ship that brought Telemachus and all his comrades from +Pylos +; and they, when they had come into the deep harbor, +drew the black ship up on the shore, while proud squires bore forth their armour and straightway carried the beauteous gifts to the house of Clytius. But they sent a herald forth to the house of Odysseus to bear word to wise Penelope +that Telemachus was at the farm, and had bidden the ship to sail on to the city, lest the noble queen might grow anxious and let round tears fall. So the two met, the herald and the goodly swineherd, on the self-same errand, to bear tidings to the lady. +And when they reached the palace of the godlike king, the herald spoke out in the midst of the handmaids, and said: “Even now, queen, thy son has come back from +Pylos +.” + But the swineherd came close to Penelope and told her all that her dear son had bidden him say. +And when he had fully told all that had been commanded him, he went his way to the swine and left the courtyard and the hall. + But the wooers were dismayed and downcast in spirit, and forth they went from the hall past the great wall of the court, and there before the gates they sat down. +Then among them Eurymachus, son of Polybus, was the first to speak: + “My friends, verily a great deed has been insolently brought to pass by Telemachus, even this journey, and we deemed that he would never see it accomplished. But come, let us launch a black ship, the best we have, and let us get together seamen as rowers that they may straightway +bear tidings to those others speedily to return home.” + + Not yet was the word fully uttered when Amphinomus, turning in his place, saw a ship in the deep harbor and men furling the sail, and with oars in their hands. Then, breaking into a merry laugh, he spoke among his comrades: + +“Let us not be sending a message any more, for here they are at home. Either some god told them of this, or they themselves caught sight of the ship of Telemachus as she sailed by, but could not catch her.” + So he spoke, and they rose up and went to the shore of the sea. Swiftly the men drew up the black ship on the shore, +and proud squires bore forth their armour. Themselves meanwhile went all together to the place of assembly, and none other would they suffer to sit with them, either of the young men or the old. Then among them spoke Antinous, son of Eupeithes: + “Lo, now, see how the gods have delivered this man from destruction. +Day by day watchmen sat upon the windy heights, watch ever following watch, and at set of sun we never spent a night upon the shore, but sailing over the deep in our swift ship we waited for the bright Dawn, lying in wait for Telemachus, that we might take him and slay +the man himself; howbeit meanwhile some god has brought him home. But, on our part, let us here devise for him a woeful death, even for Telemachus, and let him not escape from out our hands, for I deem that while he lives this work of ours will not prosper. For he is himself shrewd in counsel and in wisdom, +and the people nowise show us favour any more. Nay, come, before he gathers the Achaeans to the place of assembly—for methinks he will in no wise be slow to act, but will be full of wrath, and rising up will declare among them all how that we contrived against him utter destruction, but did not catch him; +and they will not praise us when they hear of our evil deeds. Beware, then, lest they work us some harm and drive us out from our country, and we come to the land of strangers. Nay, let us act first, and seize him in the field far from the city, or on the road; and his substance let us ourselves keep, and his wealth, +dividing them fairly among us; though the house we would give to his mother to possess, and to him who weds her. Howbeit if this plan does not please you, but you choose rather that he should live and keep all the wealth of his fathers, let us not continue to devour his store of pleasant things +as we gather together here, but let each man from his own hall woo her with his gifts and seek to win her; and she then would wed him who offers most, and who comes as her fated lord.” + + So he spoke, and they were all hushed in silence. Then Amphinomus addressed their assembly, and spoke among them. +He was the glorious son of the prince Nisus, son of Aretias, and he led the wooers who came from Dulichium, rich in wheat and in grass, and above all the others he pleased Penelope with his words, for he had an understanding heart. He it was who with good intent addressed their assembly, and spoke among them: + +“Friends, I surely would not choose to kill Telemachus; a dread thing is it to slay one of royal stock. Nay, let us first seek to learn the will of the gods. If the oracles of great Zeus approve, I will myself slay him, and bid all the others do so; +but if the gods turn us from the act, I bid you desist.” + Thus spoke Amphinomus, and his word was pleasing to them. So they arose straightway and went to the house of Odysseus, and entering in, sat down on the polished seats. + Then the wise Penelope took other counsel, +to show herself to the wooers, overweening in their insolence. For she had learned of the threatened death of her son in her halls, for the herald Medon told her, who had heard their counsel. So she went her way toward the hall with her handmaids. But when the fair lady reached the wooers, +she stood by the doorpost of the well-built hall, holding before her face her shining veil; and she rebuked Antinous, and spoke, and addressed him: + “Antinous, full of insolence, deviser of evil! and yet it is thou, men say, that dost excel among all of thy years in the land of +Ithaca +in counsel and in speech. But thou, it seems, art not such a man. Madman! why dost thou devise death and fate for Telemachus, and carest not for suppliants, for whom Zeus is witness. 'Tis an impious thing to plot evil one against another. Dost thou not know of the time when thy father came to this house a fugitive +in terror of the people? For of a truth they were greatly wroth with him because he had joined Taphian pirates and harried the Thesprotians, who were in league with us. Him, then, they were minded to slay, and take from him his life by violence, and utterly to devour his great and pleasant livelihood; +but Odysseus held them back, and stayed them despite their eagerness. His house it is that thou consumest now without atonement, and wooest his wife, and seekest to slay his son, and on me thou bringest great distress. Nay, forbear, I charge thee, and bid the rest forbear.” + + Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered her: +“Daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, be of good cheer, and let not things distress thy heart. That man lives not, nor shall live, nor shall ever be born, who shall lay hands upon thy son Telemachus while I live and behold the light upon the earth. +For thus will I speak out to thee, and verily it shall be brought to pass. Quickly shall that man's black blood flow forth about my spear; for of a truth me, too, did Odysseus the sacker of cities often set upon his knees, and put roast meat in my hands, and hold to my lips red wine. +Therefore Telemachus is far the dearest of all men to me, and I bid him have no fear of death, at least from the wooers; but from the gods can no man avoid it.” + Thus he spoke to cheer her, but against that son he was himself plotting death. So she went up to her bright upper chamber +and then bewailed Odysseus, her dear husband, until flashing-eyed Athena cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids. + But at evening the goodly swineherd came back to Odysseus and his son, and they were busily making ready their supper, and had slain a boar of a year old. Then Athena +came close to Odysseus, son of Laertes, and smote him with her wand, and again made him an old man; and mean raiment she put about his body, lest the swineherd might look upon him and know him, and might go to bear tidings to constant Penelope, and not hold the secret fast in his heart. + +Now Telemachus spoke first to the swineherd, and said: “Thou hast come, goodly Eumaeus. What news is there in the city? Have the proud wooers by this time come home from their ambush, or are they still watching for me where they were, to take me on my homeward way?” + To him, then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer and say: +“I was not minded to go about the city, asking and enquiring of this; my heart bade me with all speed to come back hither when I had given my message. But there joined me a swift messenger from thy companions, a herald, who was the first to tell the news to thy mother. +And this further thing I know, for I saw it with my eyes. I was now above the city, as I went on my way, where the hill of Hermes is, when I saw a swift ship putting into our harbor, and there were many men in her, and she was laden with shields and double-pointed spears. +And I thought it was they, but I have no knowledge.” + So he spoke, and the strong and mighty Telemachus smiled and with his eyes he glanced at his father, but shunned the swineherd's eye. + And when they had ceased from their labour and had made ready the meal, they fell to feasting, nor did their hearts lack aught of the equal feast. +But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, they bethought them of rest, and took the gift of sleep. +As soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, Telemachus, the dear son of divine Odysseus, bound beneath his feet his fair sandals and took his mighty spear, that fitted his grasp, +hasting to the city; and he spoke to his swineherd, saying: + “Father, I verily am going to the city, that my mother may see me, for, methinks, she will not cease from woeful wailing and tearful lamentation until she sees my very self. But to thee I give this charge. +Lead this wretched stranger to the city, that there he may beg his food, and whoso will shall give him a loaf and a cup of water. For my part, I can in no wise burden myself with all men, seeing that I have grief at heart. But if the stranger is sore angered at this, +it will be the worse for him. I verily love to speak the truth.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Friend, be sure I am not myself fain to be left here. For a beggar it is better to beg his food in the town than in the fields, and whoso will shall give it me. +For I am no more of an age to remain at the farmstead, so as to obey in all things the command of an overseer. Nay, go thy way; this man that thou biddest will lead me as soon as I have warmed myself at the fire, and the sun has grown hot. For miserably poor are these garments which I wear, and I fear lest +the morning frost may overcome me; and ye say it is far to the city.” + So he spoke, and Telemachus passed out through the farmstead with rapid strides, and was sowing the seeds of evil for the wooers. But when he came to the stately house he set his spear in place, leaning it against a tall pillar, +and himself went in and crossed the threshold of stone. + Him the nurse Eurycleia was far the first to see, as she was spreading fleeces on the richly-wrought chairs. With a burst of tears she came straight toward him, and round about them gathered the other maids of Odysseus of the steadfast heart, +and they kissed his head and shoulders in loving welcome. + Then forth from her chamber came wise Penelope, like unto Artemis or golden Aphrodite, and bursting into tears she flung her arms about her dear son, and kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes; +and with wailing she spoke to him winged words: + “Thou art come, Telemachus, sweet light of my eyes; I thought I should never see thee more after thou hadst gone in thy ship to +Pylos +—secretly, and in my despite, to seek tidings of thy dear father. Come, then, tell me what sight thou hadst of him.” +Then wise Telemachus answered her:“My mother, stir not lamentation, I pray thee, nor rouse the heart in my breast, seeing that I am escaped from utter destruction. Nay, bathe thyself, and take clean raiment for thy body, and then, going to thy upper chamber with thy handmaids, +vow to all the gods that thou wilt offer hecatombs that bring fulfillment, in the hope that Zeus may some day bring deeds of requital to pass. But I will go to the place of assembly that I may bid to our house a stranger who followed me from Pylos on my way hither. Him I sent forward with my godlike comrades, +and I bade Peiraeus take him home and give him kindly welcome, and show him honor until I should come.” + So he spoke, but her word remained unwinged. +1 + Then she bathed and took clean raiment for her body, and vowed to all the gods that she would offer hecatombs +that bring fulfillment, in the hope that Zeus would some day bring deeds of requital to pass. + But Telemachus thereafter went forth through the hall with his spear in his hand, and with him went two swift hounds. And wondrous was the grace that Athena shed upon him, and all the people marvelled at him as he came. +Round about him the proud wooers thronged, speaking him fair, but pondering evil in the deep of their hearts. Howbeit he avoided the great throng of these men, but where Mentor sat, and Antiphus, and Halitherses, who were friends of his father's house of old, +there he went and sat down, and they questioned him of each thing. Then Peiraeus, the famous spearman, drew near, leading the stranger through the city to the place of assembly; and Telemachus did not long turn away from his guest, but went up to him. Then Peiraeus was the first to speak, saying: + +“Telemachus, quickly send women to my house, that I may send to thee the gifts which Menelaus gave thee.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Peiraeus, we know not how these things will be. If the proud wooers +shall secretly slay me in my hall, and divide among them all the goods of my fathers, I would that thou shouldest keep and enjoy these things thyself rather than one of these. But if I shall sow for them the seeds of death and fate, then do thou bring all to my house gladly, as I shall be glad.” + + So saying, he led the sore-tired stranger to the house. +Now when they had come to the stately house they laid their cloaks on the chairs and high seats, and went into the polished baths and bathed. And when the maids had bathed them and anointed them with oil, and had cast about them fleecy cloaks and tunics, +they came forth from the baths and sat down upon the chairs. Then a handmaid brought water for the hands in a fair pitcher of gold, and poured it over a silver basin for them to wash, and beside them drew up a polished table. And the grave housewife brought and set before them bread, +and therewith meats in abundance, granting freely of her store. And his mother sat over against Telemachus by the door-post of the hall, leaning against a chair and spinning fine threads of yarn. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, +the wise Penelope spoke first among them: + “Telemachus, I truly will go to my upper chamber and lay me on my bed, which has become for me a bed of wailing, ever wet with my tears, since the day when Odysseus set forth with the sons of Atreus for +Ilios +. But thou tookest no care, +before the proud wooers come into this house, to tell me plainly of the return of thy father, if haply thou heardest aught.” + And wise Telemachus answered her: “Then verily, mother, I will tell thee all the truth. We went to +Pylos + and to Nestor, the shepherd of the people, +and he received me in his lofty house and gave me kindly welcome, as a father might his own son who after a long time had newly come from a far: even so kindly he tended me with his glorious sons. Yet of Odysseus of the steadfast heart, +whether living or dead, he said he had heard naught from any man on earth. But he sent me on my way with horses and jointed car to Menelaus, son of Atreus, the famous spearman. There I saw Argive Helen, for whose sake Argives and Trojans toiled much by the will of the gods. +And straightway Menelaus, good at the war-cry, asked me in quest of what I had come to goodly +Lacedaemon +; and I told him all the truth. Then he made answer to me, and said: + “‘Out upon them! for verily in the bed of a man of valiant heart +were they fain to lie, who are themselves cravens. Even as when in the thicket-lair of a mighty lion a hind has laid to sleep her new-born suckling fawns, and roams over the mountain slopes and grassy vales seeking pasture, and then the lion comes to his lair +and upon the two lets loose a cruel doom, so will Odysseus let loose a cruel doom upon these men. I would, O father Zeus, and Athena, and Apollo, that in such strength, as when once in fair-stablished +Lesbos + he rose up and wrestled a match with Philomeleides +and threw him mightily, and all the Achaeans rejoiced, even in such strength Odysseus might come among the wooers; then should they all find swift destruction and bitterness in their wooing. But in this matter of which thou dost ask and entreat me, verily I will not swerve aside to speak of other things, nor will I deceive thee; +but of all that the unerring old man of the sea told me, not one thing will I hide from thee or conceal. He said that he had seen Odysseus in an island in grievous distress, in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who keeps him there perforce. And he cannot come to his own native land, for he has at hand no ships with oars, and no comrades, +to send him on his way over the broad back of the sea.’ + “So spoke Menelaus, son of Atreus, the famous spearman. Now when I had made an end of all this I set out for home, and the immortals gave me a fair wind and brought me quickly to my dear native land.” + +So he spoke, and stirred the heart in her breast. Then among them spoke also the godlike Theoclymenus, saying: + “Honored wife of Odysseus, son of Laertes, he truly has no clear understanding; but do thou hearken to my words, for with certain knowledge will I prophesy to thee, and will hide naught. +Be my witness Zeus above all gods, and this hospitable board and the hearth of noble Odysseus to which I am come, that verily Odysseus is even now in his native land, resting or moving, learning of these evil deeds, and he is sowing the seeds of evil for all the wooers. +So plain a bird of omen did I mark as I sat on the benched ship, and I declared it to Telemachus.” + Then wise Penelope answered him: “Ah, stranger, I would that this word of thine might be fulfilled. Then shouldest thou straightway know of kindness and many a gift +from me, so that one who met thee would call the blessed.” + + Thus they spoke to one another. And the wooers meanwhile in front of the palace of Odysseus were making merry, throwing the discus and the javelin in a levelled place, as their wont was, in insolence of heart. +But when it was the hour for dinner, and the flocks came in from all sides from the fields, and the men led them who were wont to lead, then Medon, who of all the heralds was most to their liking and was ever present at their feasts, spoke to them, saying: + “Youths, now that you have all made glad your hearts with sport, +come to the house that we may make ready a feast; for it is no bad thing to take one's dinner in season.” + So he spoke, and they rose up and went, and hearkened to his word. And when they had come to the stately house they laid their cloaks on the chairs and high seats, +and men fell to slaying great sheep and fat goats, aye, and fatted and swine, and a heifer of the herd, and so made ready the meal. But Odysseus and the goodly swineherd were making haste to go from the field to the city; and the swineherd, a leader of men, spoke first, and said: + +“Stranger, since thou art eager to go the city today, as my master bade—though for myself I would rather have thee left here to keep the farmstead; but I reverence and fear him, lest hereafter he chide me, and hard are the rebukes of masters— +come now, let us go. The day is far spent, and soon thou wilt find it colder toward evening.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “I see, I give heed; this thou biddest one with understanding. Come, let us go, and be thou my guide all the way. +But give me a staff to lean upon, if thou hast one cut anywhere, for verily ye said that the way was treacherous.” + He spoke, and flung about his shoulders his miserable wallet, full of holes, slung by a twisted cord, and Eumaeus gave him a staff to his liking. +So they two set forth, and the dogs and the herdsmen stayed behind to guard the farmstead; but the swineherd led his master to the city in the likeness of a woeful and aged beggar, leaning on a staff; and miserable was the raiment that he wore about his body. + + But when, as they went along the rugged path, +they were near the city, and had come to a well-wrought, fair-flowing fountain, wherefrom the townsfolk drew water—this Ithacus had made, and Neritus, and Polyctor, and around was a grove of poplars, that grow by the waters, circling it on all sides, and down the cold water flowed +from the rock above, and on the top was built an altar to the nymphs where all passers-by made offerings—there Melantheus, son of Dolius, met them as he was driving his she-goats, the best that were in all the herds, to make a feast for the wooers; and two herdsmen followed with him. +As he saw them, he spoke and addressed them, and reviled them in terrible and unseemly words, and stirred the heart of Odysseus: + “Lo, now, in very truth the vile leads the vile. As ever, the god is bringing like and like together. Whither, pray, art thou leading this filthy wretch, +1 + thou miserable swineherd, +this nuisance of a beggar to mar our feasts? He is a man to stand and rub his shoulders on many doorposts, begging for scraps, not for swords or cauldrons. +2 + If thou wouldest give me this fellow to keep my farmstead, to sweep out the pens and to carry young shoots to the kids, +then by drinking whey he might get himself a sturdy thigh. But since he has learned only deeds of evil, he will not care to busy himself with work, but is minded rather to go skulking through the land, that by begging he may feed his insatiate belly. But I will speak out to thee, and this word shall verily be brought to pass. +If he comes to the palace of divine Odysseus, many a footstool, hurled about his head by the hands of those that are men, shall be broken on his ribs +1 + as he is pelted through the house.” + So he spoke, and as he passed he kicked Odysseus on the hip in his folly, yet he did not drive him from the path, +but he stood steadfast. And Odysseus pondered whether he should leap upon him and take his life with his staff, or seize him round about, +2 + and lift him up, and dash his head upon the ground. Yet he endured, and stayed him from his purpose. And the swineherd looked the man in the face, and rebuked him, and lifted up his hands, and prayed aloud: + +“Nymphs of the fountain, daughters of Zeus, if ever Odysseus burned upon your altars pieces of the thighs of lambs or kids, wrapped in rich fat, fulfil for me this prayer; grant that he, my master, may come back, and that some god may guide him. Then would he scatter all the proud airs +which now thou puttest on in thy insolence,ever roaming about the city, while evil herdsmen destroy the flock.” + + Then Melanthius, the goatherd, answered him: “Lo now, how the cur talks, his mind full of mischief. Him will I some day +take on a black, benched ship far from +Ithaca +, that he may bring me in much wealth. Would that Apollo, of the silver bow, might smite Telemachus to-day in the halls, or that he might be slain by the wooers, as surely as for Odysseus in a far land the day of return has been lost.” + So saying, he left them there, as they walked slowly on, +but himself strode forward and right swiftly came to the palace of the king. Straightway he entered in and sat down among the wooers over against Eurymachus, for he loved him best of all. Then by him those that served set a portion of meat, and the grave housewife brought and set before him bread, +for him to eat. And Odysseus and the goodly swineherd halted as they drew nigh, and about them rang the sound of the hollow lyre, for Phemius was striking the chords to sing before the wooers. Then Odysseus clasped the swineherd by the hand, and said: + “Eumaeus, surely this is the beautiful house of Odysseus. +Easily might it be known, though seen among many. There is building upon building, and the court is built with wall and coping, and the double gates are well-fenced; no man may scorn it. And I mark that in the house itself many +men are feasting: for the savour of meat arises from it, and therewith resounds the voice of the lyre, which the gods have made the companion of the feast.” + To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “Easily hast thou marked it, for in all things thou art ready of wit. But come, let us take thought how these things shall be. +Either do thou go first into the stately palace, and enter the company of the wooers, and I will remain behind here, or, if thou wilt, remain thou here and I will go before thee. But do not thou linger long, lest some man see thee without and pelt thee or smite thee. Of this I bid thee take thought.” + +Then the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus answered him: “I see, I give heed: this thou biddest one with understanding. But go thou before, and I will remain behind here; for no whit unused am I to blows and peltings. Staunch is my heart, for much evil have I suffered +amid the waves and in war; let this too be added to what has gone before. But a ravening belly may no man hide, an accursed plague that brings many evils upon men. Because of it are the benched ships also made ready, that bear evil to foemen over the unresting sea.” +Thus they spoke to one another. And a hound that lay there raised his head and pricked up his ears, +Argos +, the hound of Odysseus, of the steadfast heart, whom of old he had himself bred, but had no joy of him, for ere that he went to sacred +Ilios +. In days past the young men were wont to take the hound to hunt +the wild goats, and deer, and hares; but now he lay neglected, his master gone, in the deep dung of mules and cattle, which lay in heaps before the doors, till the slaves of Odysseus should take it away to dung his wide lands. +There lay the hound +Argos +, full of vermin; yet even now, when he marked Odysseus standing near, he wagged his tail and dropped both his ears, but nearer to his master he had no longer strength to move. Then Odysseus looked aside and wiped away a tear, +easily hiding from Eumaeus what he did; and straightway he questioned him, and said: + “Eumaeus, verily it is strange that this hound lies here in the dung. He is fine of form, but I do not clearly know whether he has speed of foot to match this beauty or whether he is merely as table-dogs +are, which their masters keep for show.” + To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer and say: “Aye, verily this is the hound of a man that has died in a far land. If he were but in form and in action such as he was when Odysseus left him and went to +Troy +, +thou wouldest soon be amazed at seeing his speed and his strength. No creature that he started in the depths of the thick wood could escape him, and in tracking too he was keen of scent. But now he is in evil plight, and his master has perished far from his native land, and the heedless women give him no care. +Slaves, when their masters lose their power, are no longer minded thereafter to do honest service: for Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, takes away half his worth from a man, when the day of slavery comes upon him.” + So saying, he entered the stately house +and went straight to the hall to join the company of the lordly wooers. But as for +Argos +, the fate of black death seized him straightway when he had seen Odysseus in the twentieth year. + Now as the swineherd came through the hall godlike Telemachus was far the first to see him, and quickly +with a nod he called him and to his side. And Eumaeus looked about him and took a stool that lay near, on which the carver was wont to sit when carving for the wooers the many joints of meat, as they feasted in the hall. This he took and placed at the table of Telemachus, over against him, and there sat down himself. And a herald +took a portion of meat and set it before him, and bread from out the basket. + + Night after him Odysseus entered the palace in the likeness of a woeful and aged beggar, leaning on a staff, and miserable was the raiment that he wore about his body. He sat down upon the ashen threshold within the doorway, +leaning against a post of cypress wood, which of old a carpenter had skilfully planed, and made straight to the line. Then Telemachus called the swineherd to him, and, taking a whole loaf from out the beautiful basket, and all the meat his hands could hold in their grasp, spoke to him saying: + +“Take, and give this mess to yon stranger, and bid him go about himself and beg of the wooers one and all. Shame is no good comrade for a man that is in need.” + So he spoke, and the swineherd went, when he had heard this saying, and coming up to Odysseus spoke to him winged words: + +“Stranger, Telemachus gives thee these, and bids thee go about and beg of the wooers one and all. Shame, he says, is no good thing in a beggar man.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said, “King Zeus, grant, I pray thee, that Telemachus may be blest among men, +and may have all that his heart desires.” + He spoke, and took the mess in both his hands and set it down there before his feet on his miserable wallet. Then he ate so long as the minstrel sang in the halls. But when he had dined and the divine minstrel was ceasing to sing, +the wooers broke into uproar throughout the halls; but Athena drew close to the side of Odysseus, son of Laertes, and roused him to go among the wooers and gather bits of bread, and learn which of them were righteous and which lawless. Yet even so she was not minded to save one of them from ruin. +So he set out to beg of every man, beginning on the right, stretching out his hand on every side, as though he had been long a beggar. And they pitied him and gave, and marvelled at him, asking one another who he was and whence he came. + Then among them spoke Melanthius, the goatherd: +“Hear me, wooers of the glorious queen, regarding this stranger, for verily I have seen him before. Truly it was the swineherd that led him hither, but of the man himself I know not surely from whence he declares his birth to be.” + So he spoke, and Antinous rebuked the swineherd, saying: +“Notorious swineherd, why, pray, didst thou bring this man to the city? Have we not vagabonds enough without him, nuisances of beggars to mar our feast? Dost thou not think it enough that they gather here and devour the substance of thy master, that thou dost bid this fellow too?” +To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “Antinous, no fair words are these thou speakest, noble though thou art. Who pray, of himself ever seeks out and bids a stranger from abroad, unless it be one of those that are masters of some public craft, a prophet, or a healer of ills, or a builder, +aye, or a divine minstrel, who gives delight with his song? For these men are bidden all over the boundless earth. Yet a beggar would no man bid to be burden to himself. But thou art ever harsh above all the wooers to the slaves of Odysseus, and most of all to me; yet I +care not, so long as my lady, the constant Penelope, lives in the hall, and godlike Telemachus.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Be silent: do not, I bid thee, answer yonder man with many words, for Antinous is wont ever in evil wise to provoke to anger +with harsh words, aye, and urges on the others too.” + With this he spoke winged words to Antinous: “Antinous, truly thou carest well for me, as a father for his son, seeing that thou biddest me drive yonder stranger from the hall with a word of compulsion. May the god never bring such a thing to pass. +Nay, take and give him somewhat: I begrudge it not, but rather myself bid thee give. In this matter regard not my mother, no, nor any of the slaves that are in the house of divine Odysseus. But verily far other is the thought in thy breast; for thou art far more fain thyself to eat than to give to another.” + +Then Antinous answered him, and said: “Telemachus, thou braggart, unrestrained in daring, what a thing hast thou said! If all the wooers would but hand him as much as I, for full three months' space this house would keep him at a distance.” + So he spoke, and seized the footstool +on which he was wont to rest his shining feet as he feasted, and shewed it from beneath the table, where it lay. But all the rest gave gifts, and filled the wallet with bread and bits of meat. And now Odysseus was like to have gone back again to the threshold, and to have made trial of the Achaeans without cost, +1 + but he paused by Antinous, and spoke to him, saying: + +“Friend, give me some gift; thou seemest not in my eyes to be the basest of the Achaeans, but rather the noblest, for thou art like a king. Therefore it is meet that thou shouldest give even a better portion of bread than the rest; so would I make thy fame known all over the boundless earth. For I too once dwelt in a house of my own among men, +a rich man in a wealthy house, and full often I gave gifts to a wanderer, whosoever he was and with whatsoever need he came. Slaves too I had past counting, and all other things in abundance whereby men live well and are reputed wealthy. + + But Zeus, son of Cronos, brought all to naught—so, I ween, was his good pleasure— +who sent me forth with roaming pirates to go to +Egypt +, a far voyage, that I might meet my ruin; and in the river +Aegyptus + I moored my curved ships. Then verily I bade my trusty comrades to remain there by the ships and to guard the ships, +and I sent out scouts to go to places of outlook. But my comrades, yielding to wantonness and led on by their own might, straightway set about wasting the fair fields of the men of +Egypt +; and they carried off the women and little children, and slew the men; and the cry came quickly to the city. +Then, hearing the shouting, the people came forth at break of day, and the whole plain was filled with footmen and chariots and the flashing of bronze. And Zeus, who hurls the thunderbolt, cast an evil panic upon my comrades, and none had courage to take his stand and face the foe; for evil surrounded us on every side. +So then they slew many of us with the sharp bronze, and others they led up to their city alive, to work for them perforce. But they gave me to a friend who met them to take to +Cyprus +, even to Dmetor, son of Iasus, who ruled mightily over +Cyprus +; and from thence am I now come hither, sore distressed.” + +Then Antinous answered him, and said: “What god has brought this bane hither to trouble our feast? Stand off yonder in the midst, away from my table, lest thou come presently to a bitter +Egypt + and a bitter +Cyprus +, seeing that thou art a bold and shameless beggar. +Thou comest up to every man in turn, and they give recklessly; for there is no restraint or scruple in giving freely of another's goods, since each man has plenty beside him.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles drew back, and said to him: “Lo, now, it seems that thou at least hast not wits to match thy beauty. +Thou wouldest not out of thine own substance give even a grain of salt to thy suppliant, thou who now, when sitting at another's table, hadst not the heart to take of the bread and give me aught. Yet here lies plenty at thy hand.” + So he spoke, and Antinous waxed the more wroth at heart, and with an angry glance from beneath his brows spoke to him winged words: + +“Now verily, methinks, thou shalt no more go forth from the hall in seemly fashion, since thou dost even utter words of reviling.” + + So saying, he seized the footstool and flung it, and struck Odysseus on the base of the right shoulder, where it joins the back. But he stood firm as a rock, nor did the missile of Antinous make him reel; +but he shook his head in silence, pondering evil in the deep of his heart. Then back to the threshold he went and sat down, and down he laid his well-filled wallet; and he spoke among the wooers: + “Hear me, wooers of the glorious queen, that I may say what the heart in my breast bids me. +Verily there is no pain of heart nor any grief when a man is smitten while fighting for his own possessions, whether for his cattle or for his white sheep; but Antinous has smitten me for my wretched belly's sake, an accursed plague that brings many evils upon men. +Ah, if for beggars there are gods and avengers, may the doom of death come upon Antinous before his marriage.” + Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him: “Sit still, and eat, stranger, or go elsewhere; lest the young men drag thee +by hand or foot through the house for words like these, and strip off all thy skin.” + So he spoke, but they all were filled with exceeding indignation, and thus would one of the proud youths speak: + “Antinous, thou didst not well to strike the wretched wanderer. Doomed man that thou art, what if haply he be some god come down from heaven! +Aye, and the gods in the guise of strangers from afar put on all manner of shapes, and visit the cities, beholding the violence and the righteousness of men.” + So spoke the wooers, but Antinous paid no heed to their words. And Telemachus nursed in his heart great grief +for the smiting, though he let no tear fall from his eyelids to the ground; but he shook his head in silence, pondering evil in the deep of his heart. + Howbeit when wise Penelope heard of the man's being smitten in the hall, she spoke among her handmaids, and said: “Even so may thine own self be smitten by the famed archer Apollo.” + +And again the housewife Eurynome said to her: “Would that fulfillment might be granted to our prayers. So should not one of these men come to the fair-throned Dawn.” + And wise Penelope answered her: “Nurse, enemies are they all, for they devise evil. +But Antinous more than all is like black fate. Some wretched stranger roams through the house, begging alms of the men, for want compels him, and all the others filled his wallet and gave him gifts, but Antinous flung a footstool and smote him at the base of the right shoulder.” +So she spoke among her handmaids, sitting in her chamber, while goodly Odysseus was at meat. Then she called to her the goodly swineherd, and said: + “Go, goodly Eumaeus, and bid the stranger come hither, that I may give him greeting, and ask him +if haply he has heard of Odysseus of the steadfast heart, or has seen him with his eyes. He seems like one that has wandered far.” + To her, then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “I would, O queen, that the Achaeans would keep silence, for he speaks such words as would charm thy very soul. +Three nights I had him by me, and three days I kept him in my hut, for to me first he came when he fled by stealth from a ship, but he had not yet ended the tale of his sufferings. Even as when a man gazes upon a minstrel who sings to mortals songs of longing that the gods have taught him, +and their desire to hear him has no end, whensoever he sings, even so he charmed me as he sat in my hall. He says that he is an ancestral friend of Odysseus, and that he dwells in +Crete +, where is the race of Minos. From thence has he now come on this journey hither, ever suffering woes +as he wanders on and on. And he insists that he has heard tidings of Odysseus, near at hand in the rich land of the Thesprotians and yet alive; and he is bringing many treasures to his home.” + Then wise Penelope answered him: “Go, call him hither, that he may himself tell me to my face. +But as for these men, let them make sport as they sit in the doorway or here in the house, since their hearts are merry. For their own possessions lie untouched in their homes, bread and sweet wine, and on these do their servants feed. But themselves throng our house day after day, +slaying our oxen, and sheep, and fat goats, and keep revel and drink the flaming wine recklessly, and havoc is made of all this wealth, for there is no man here such as Odysseus was to keep ruin from the house. But if Odysseus should come and return to his native land, +straightway would he with his son take vengeance on these men for their violent deeds.” + So she spoke, and Telemachus sneezed loudly, and all the room round about echoed wondrously. And Penelope laughed, and straightway spoke to Eumaeus winged words: + “Go, pray, call the stranger here before me. +Dost thou not note that my son has sneezed at all my words. Therefore shall utter death fall upon the wooers one and all, nor shall one of them escape death and the fates. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart. If I find that he speaks all things truly, +I will clothe him in a cloak and tunic, fair raiment.” + So she spoke, and the swineherd went when he had heard this saying; and coming up to Odysseus he spoke to him winged words: + “Sir stranger, wise Penelope calls for thee, the mother of Telemachus, and her heart +bids her make enquiry about her husband, though she has suffered many woes. And if she finds that thou speakest all things truly, she will clothe thee in a cloak and tunic, which thou needest most of all. As for thy food, thou shalt beg it through the land, and feed thy belly, and whoso will shall give it thee.” +Then the much-enduring goodly Odysseus answered him: “Eumaeus, soon will I tell all the truth to the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope. For well do I know of Odysseus, and in common have we borne affliction. But I have fear of this throng of harsh wooers, +whose wantonness and violence reach the iron heaven. For even now, when, as I was going through the hall doing no evil, this man struck me and hurt me, neither Telemachus nor any other did aught to ward off the blow. Wherefore now bid Penelope +to wait in the halls, eager though she be, till set of sun; and then let her ask me of her husband regarding the day of his return, giving me a seat nearer the fire, for lo, the raiment that I wear is mean, and this thou knowest of thyself, for to thee first did I make my prayer.” + So he spoke, and the swineherd went when he had heard this saying. +And as he passed over the threshold Penelope said to him: + “Thou dost not bring him, Eumaeus. What does the wanderer mean by this? Does he fear some one beyond measure, or does he idly feel ashamed in the house? 'Tis ill for a beggar to feel shame.” + To her, then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer and say: +“He speaks rightly, even as any other man would deem, in seeking to shun the insolence of overweening men. But he bids thee to wait till set of sun. And for thyself, too, it is far more seemly, O queen, to speak to the stranger alone, and to hear his words.” + +Then wise Penelope answered him: “Not without wisdom is the stranger; he divines how it may be. There are no mortal men, methinks, who in wantonness devise such wicked folly as these.” + So she spoke, and the goodly swineherd departed +into the throng of the wooers when he had told her all. And straightway he spoke winged words to Telemachus, holding his head close to him that the others might not hear: + “Friend, I am going forth to guard the swine and all things there, thy livelihood and mine; but have thou charge of all things here. +Thine own self do thou keep safe first of all, and let thy mind beware lest some ill befall thee, for many of the Achaeans are devising evil, whom may Zeus utterly destroy before harm fall on us.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “So shall it be, father; go thy way when thou hast supped. +And in the morning do thou come and bring goodly victims. But all matters here shall be a care to me and to the immortals.” + So he spoke, and the swineherd sat down again on the polished chair. But when he had satisfied his heart with meat and drink, he went his way to the swine, and left the courts and the hall +full of banqueters. And they were making merry with dance and song, for evening had now come on. +Now there came up a public beggar who was wont to beg through the town of +Ithaca +, and was known for his greedy belly, eating and drinking without end. No strength had he nor might, but in bulk was big indeed to look upon. +Arnaeus was his name, for this name his honored mother had given him at his birth; but Irus all the young men called him, because he used to run on errands +1 + when anyone bade him. He came now, and was for driving Odysseus from his own house; and he began to revile him, and spoke winged words: + +“Give way, old man, from the doorway, lest soon thou be even dragged out by the foot. Dost thou not see that all men are winking at me, and bidding me drag thee? Yet for myself, I am ashamed to do it. Nay, up with thee, lest our quarrel even come to blows.” + Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus of many wiles answered him: +“Good fellow, I harm thee not in deed or word, nor do I begrudge that any man should give thee, though the portion he took up were a large one. This threshold will hold us both, and thou hast no need to be jealous for the goods of other folk. Thou seemest to me to be a vagrant, even as I am; and as for happy fortune, it is the gods that are like to give us that. +1 +But with thy fists do not provoke me overmuch, lest thou anger me, and, old man though I am, I befoul thy breast and lips with blood. So should I have the greater peace tomorrow, for I deem not that thou shalt return a second time to the hall of Odysseus, son of Laertes.” + +Then, waxing wroth, the vagrant Irus said to him: “Now see how glibly the filthy wretch talks, like an old kitchen-wife. But I will devise evil for him, smiting him left and right, and will scatter on the ground all the teeth from his jaws, as though he were a swine wasting the corn. +Gird thyself now, that these men, too, may all know our fighting. But how couldst thou fight with a younger man?” + Thus on the polished threshold before the lofty doors they stirred one another's rage right heartily. And the strong and mighty Antinous heard the two, +and, breaking into a merry laugh, he spoke among the wooers: + “Friends, never before has such a thing come to pass, that a god has brought sport like this to this house. Yon stranger and Irus are provoking one another to blows. Come, let us quickly set them on.” + +So he spoke, and they all sprang up laughing and gathered about the tattered beggars. And Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke among them, and said: + “Hear me, ye proud wooers, that I may say somewhat. Here at the fire are goats' paunches lying, which +we set there for supper, when we had filled them with fat and blood. Now whichever of the two wins and proves himself the better man, let him rise and choose for himself which one of these he will. And furthermore he shall always feast with us, nor will we suffer any other beggar to join our company and beg of us.” +So spoke Antinous, and his word was pleasing to them. Then with crafty mind Odysseus of many wiles spoke among them: + “Friends, in no wise may an old man that is overcome with woe fight with a younger. Howbeit my belly, that worker of evil, urges me on, that I may be overcome by his blows. +But come now, do you all swear to me a mighty oath, to the end that no man, doing a favour to Irus, may deal me a foul blow with heavy hand, and so by violence subdue me to this fellow.” + So he spoke, and they all gave the oath not to smite him, even as he bade. But when they had sworn and made an end of the oath, +among them spoke again the strong and mighty Telemachus: + “Stranger, if thy heart and thy proud spirit bid thee beat off this fellow, then fear not thou any man of all the Achaeans, for whoso strikes thee shall have to fight with more than thou. Thy host am I, and the princes assent hereto, +Antinous and Eurymachus, men of prudence both.” + So he spoke, and they all praised his words. But Odysseus girded his rags about his loins and showed his thighs, comely and great, and his broad shoulders came to view, and his chest and mighty arms. And Athena +drew nigh and made greater the limbs of the shepherd of the people. Then all the wooers marvelled exceedingly, and thus would one speak with a glance at his neighbor: + “Right soon shall Irus, un-Irused, have a bane of his own bringing, such a thigh does yon old man show from beneath his rags.” + +So they spoke, and the mind of Irus was miserably shaken; yet even so the serving men girded him, and led him out perforce all filled with dread, and his flesh trembled on his limbs. Then Antinous rated him and spoke, and addressed him: + “Better were it now, thou braggart, that thou wert not living, nor hadst ever been born, +if thou quailest and art so terribly afraid of this fellow—a man that is old and overcome by the woe that has come upon him. But I will speak out to thee, and this word shall verily be brought to pass. If this fellow conquers thee and proves the better man, I will fling thee into a black ship and send thee to the mainland +to King Echetus, the maimer of all men, who will cut off thy nose and ears with the pitiless bronze, and will draw forth thy vitals and give them raw to dogs to rend.” + + So he spoke, and thereat yet greater trembling seized the other's limbs, and they led him into the ring and both men put up their hands. +Then the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus was divided in mind whether he should strike him so that life should leave him even there as he fell, or whether he should deal him a light blow and stretch him on the earth. And, as he pondered, this seemed to him the better course, to deal him a light blow, that the Achaeans might not take note of him. +Then verily, when they had put up their hands, Irus let drive at the right shoulder, but Odysseus smote him on the neck beneath the ear and crushed in the bones, and straightway the red blood ran forth from his mouth, and down he fell in the dust with a moan, and he gnashed his teeth, kicking the ground with his feet. But the lordly wooers +raised their hands, and were like to die with laughter. Then Odysseus seized him by the foot, and dragged him forth through the doorway until he came to the court and the gates of the portico. And he set him down and leaned him against the wall of the court, and thrust his staff into his hand and spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + +“Sit there now, and scare off swine and dogs, and do not thou be lord of strangers and beggars, miserable that thou art, lest haply thou meet with some worse thing to profit withal.” + He spoke, and flung about his shoulders his miserable wallet, full of holes, and slung by a twisted cord. +Then back to the threshold he went and sat down; and the wooers went within, laughing merrily, and they greeted him, saying: + “May Zeus grant thee, stranger, and the other immortal gods what thou desirest most, and the dearest wish of thy heart, seeing that thou hast made this insatiate fellow to cease from begging +in the land. For soon shall we take him to the mainland to King Echetus, the maimer of all men.” + So they spoke, and goodly Odysseus was glad at the word of omen. And Antinous set before him the great paunch, filled with fat and blood, and Amphinomus +took up two loaves from the basket and set them before him, and pledged him in a cup of gold, and said: + “Hail, Sir stranger; may happy fortune be thine in time to come, though now thou art the thrall of many sorrows.” + + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: +“Amphinomus, verily thou seemest to me to be a man of prudence; and such a man, too, was thy father, for I have heard of his fair fame, that Nisus of Dulichium was a brave man and a wealthy. From him, they say, thou art sprung, and thou seemest a man soft of speech. Wherefore I will tell thee, and do thou give heed and hearken. +Nothing feebler does earth nurture than man, of all things that on earth are breathing and moving. For he thinks that he will never suffer evil in time to come, so long as the gods give him prosperity and his knees are quick; but when again the blessed gods decree him sorrow, +this too he bears in sore despite with steadfast heart; for the spirit of men upon the earth is even such as the day which the father of gods and men brings upon them. For I, too, was once like to be prosperous among men, but many deeds of wantonness I wrought, yielding to my might and my strength, +and trusting in my father and my brethren. Wherefore let no man soever be lawless at any time, but let him keep in silence whatever gifts the gods give. Aye, for I see the wooers devising wantonness, wasting the wealth and dishonoring the wife +of a man who, I tell thee, will not long be away from his friends and his native land; nay, he is very near. But may some god lead thee forth hence to thy home, and mayest thou not meet him when he comes home to his dear native land. For not without bloodshed, methinks, +will the wooers and he part one from the other when once he comes beneath his roof.” + So he spoke, and pouring a libation, drank of the honey-sweet wine, and then gave back the cup into the hands of the marshaller of the people. But Amphinomus went through the hall with a heavy heart, bowing his head; for his spirit boded bane. +Yet even so he did not escape his fate, but him, too, did Athena set in bonds so that he might be slain outright at the hands of Telemachus and by his spear. So he sat down again on the chair from which he had risen. + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, put it in the heart of the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, +to show herself to the wooers, that she might set their hearts a-flutter and win greater honor from her husband and her son than heretofore. Then she laughed a meaningless laugh and spoke, and addressed the nurse: + “Eurynome, my heart longs, though it has never longed before, +to show myself to the wooers, hateful though they are. Also I would say a word to my son that will be for his profit, namely, that he should not consort ever with the overweening wooers, who speak him fair but have evil plans thereafter.” + + Then the housewife, Eurynome, spoke to her and said: +“Aye, verily, child, all this hast thou spoken aright. Go, then, reveal thy word to thy son and hide it not; but first wash thy body and anoint thy face, and go not as thou art with both cheeks stained with tears. Go, for it is ill to grieve ever without ceasing. +For now, behold, thy son is of such an age, and it has been thy dearest prayer to the immortals to see him a bearded man.” + Then wise Penelope answered her again: “Eurynome, beguile me not thus in thy love to wash my body and anoint me with oil. +All beauty of mine have the gods, that hold +Olympus +, destroyed since the day when my lord departed in the hollow ships. But bid Autonoe and Hippodameia come to me, that they may stand by my side in the hall. Alone I will not go among men, for I am ashamed.” + +So she spoke, and the old woman went forth through the chamber to bear tidings to the women, and bid them come. + Then again the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, took other counsel. On the daughter of Icarius she shed sweet sleep, and she leaned back and slept +there on her couch, and all her joints were relaxed. And meanwhile the fair goddess was giving her immortal gifts, that the Achaeans might marvel at her. With balm +1 + she first made fair her beautiful face, with balm ambrosial, such as that wherewith Cytherea, of the fair crown, anoints herself when she goes into the lovely dance of the Graces; +and she made her taller, too, and statelier to behold, and made her whiter than new-sawn ivory. Now when she had done this the fair goddess departed, and the white-armed handmaids came forth from the chamber and drew near with sound of talking. Then sweet sleep released Penelope, +and she rubbed her cheeks with her hands, and said: + “Ah, in my utter wretchedness soft slumber enfolded me. Would that pure Artemis would even now give so soft a death, that I might no more waste my life away with sorrow at heart, longing for +the manifold excellence of my dear husband, for that he was pre-eminent among the Achaeans.” + + So saying, she went down from the bright upper chamber, not alone, for two handmaids attended her. Now when the fair lady reached the wooers she stood by the doorpost of the well-built hall, +holding before her face her shining veil; and a faithful handmaid stood on either side of her. Straightway then the knees of the wooers were loosened and their hearts enchanted with love, and they all prayed, each that he might lie by her side. But she spoke to Telemachus, her dear son: + +“Telemachus, thy mind and thy thoughts are no longer steadfast as heretofore. When thou wast but a child thou wast wont to revolve in thy mind thoughts more cunning; but now that thou art grown and hast reached the bounds of manhood, and wouldest be called a rich man's son by one who looked only to thy stature and thy comeliness, being himself a stranger from afar, +thy mind and thy thoughts are no longer right as before. What a thing is this that has been done in these halls, that thou hast suffered yon stranger to be so maltreated! How now, if the stranger, while sitting thus in our house, should come to some harm through grievous mishandling? +On thee, then, would fall shame and disgrace among men.” + Then wise Telemachus answered her: “My mother, in this matter I take it not ill that thou art filled with anger. Yet of myself I know in my heart and understand each thing, the good and the evil, whereas heretofore I was but a child. +But I am not able to plan all things wisely, for these men here thwart my will, keeping by me, one on this side and one on that, with evil purpose, and I have none to help me. Howbeit, I can tell thee, this battle between the stranger and Irus fell not out according to the mind of the wooers, but the stranger proved the better man. +I would, O father Zeus, and Athena, and Apollo, that even now the wooers were thus subdued in our halls, and were hanging their heads, some in the court and some within the hall, and that each man's limbs were loosened, even as Irus now sits yonder by the gate of the court, +hanging his head like a drunken man, and cannot stand erect upon his feet, or go home to whatsoever place he is wont to go, because his limbs are loosened.” + Thus they spoke to one another. But Eurymachus addressed Penelope, and said: + +“Daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, if all the Achaeans throughout Iasian Argos could see thee, even more wooers would be feasting in your halls from to-morrow on, for thou excellest all women in comeliness and stature, and in the wise heart within thee.” +Then wise Penelope answered him: “Eurymachus, all excellence of mine, both of beauty and of form, the immortals destroyed on the day when the Argives embarked for +Ilios +, and with them went my husband Odysseus. If he might but come and watch over this life of mine, +greater would be my fame and fairer. But now I am in sorrow, so many woes has some god brought upon me. Verily, when he went forth and left his native land, he clasped my right hand by the wrist, and said: + “‘Wife, I deem not that the well-greaved Achaeans +will all return from +Troy + safe and unscathed, for the Trojans, men say, are men of war, hurlers of the spear, and drawers of the bow, and drivers of swift horses, such as most quickly decide the great strife of equal war. +Therefore I know not whether the god will bring me back, or whether I shall be cut off there in the land of +Troy +: so have thou charge of all things here. Be mindful of my father and my mother in the halls even as thou art now, or yet more, while I am far away. But when thou shalt see my son a bearded man, +wed whom thou wilt, and leave thy house.’ + “So he spoke, and now all this is being brought to pass. The night shall come when a hateful marriage shall fall to the lot of me accursed, whose happiness Zeus has taken away. But herein has bitter grief come upon my heart and soul, +for such as yours was never the way of wooers heretofore. They who are fain to woo a lady of worth and the daughter of a rich man and vie with one another, these bring of themselves cattle and goodly flocks, a banquet for the friends of the bride, and give to her glorious gifts; +but they do not devour the livelihood of another without atonement.” + So she spoke, and the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus was glad, because she drew from them gifts, and beguiled their souls with gentle words, but her mind was set on other things. + Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke to her again, and said: +“Daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, as for gifts, if any man of the Achaeans is minded to bring them hither, do thou take them; for it is not well to refuse a gift. But for us, we will go neither to our lands nor elsewhither, until thou weddest him whosoever is best of the Achaeans.” +So spoke Antinous, and his word was pleasing to them, and each man sent forth a herald to bring his gifts. For Antinous he brought a large and beautiful robe, richly broidered, and in it were golden brooches, twelve in all, fitted with curved clasps. +And a chain did another straightway bring to Eurymachus, one cunningly wrought of gold, strung with amber beads, bright as the sun. A pair of earrings his squires brought to Eurydamas, with three clustering +1 + drops, and great grace shone therefrom. And out of the house of lord Peisander, son of Polyctor, +his squire brought a necklace, a jewel exceeding fair. So of the Achaeans one brought one fair gift and one another. But she thereafter, the fair lady, went up to her upper chamber, and her handmaids bare for her the beautiful gifts. + But the wooers +turned to dance and gladsome song, and made them merry, and waited for evening to come on. And as they made merry dark evening came upon them. Presently they set up three braziers in the hall to give them light, and round about them placed dry faggots, long since seasoned and hard, and newly split with the axe; +and in the spaces between they set torches; +2 + and in turn the handmaids of Odysseus, of the steadfast heart, kindled the flame. Then Zeus-born Odysseus, of many wiles, himself spoke among the maids, and said: + “Maidens of Odysseus, that has long been gone, go to the chambers where your honored queen abides, +and twist the yarn by her side, and make glad her heart, as you sit in the chamber, or card the wool with your hands; but I will give light to all these men. For if they wish to wait for fair-throned Dawn, they shall in no wise outdo me. I am one that can endure much.” + +So he spoke, and the maids broke into a laugh, and glanced at one another. And fair-cheeked Melantho rated him shamefully, Melantho, whom Dolius begot, but whom Penelope had reared and cherished as her own child, and gave her playthings to her heart's desire. Yet even so she had at heart no sorrow for Penelope, +but she loved Eurymachus and was wont to lie with him. She then rated Odysseus with reviling words: + “Wretched stranger, thou art but a crack-brained fellow, unwilling to go to a smithy to sleep, or to a common lodge, but pratest here continually, +unabashed in the company of many lords, and hast no fear at heart. Surely wine has mastered thy wits, or else thy mind is ever thus, that thou dost babble idly. Art thou beside thyself because thou hast beaten that vagrant Irus? Beware, lest presently another better than Irus shall rise up against thee +to beat thee about the head with heavy hands, and befoul thee with streams of blood, and send thee forth from the house.” + + Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus of many wiles answered her: “Presently shall I go yonder, thou shameless thing, and tell Telemachus, since thou speakest thus, that on the spot he may cut thee limb from limb.” + +So he spoke, and with his words scattered the women, who fled through the hall, and the limbs of each were loosened beneath her in terror, for they thought that he spoke truth. But Odysseus took his stand by the burning braziers to give light, and looked upon all the men. +Yet other things was the heart within him pondering—things that were not to be unfulfilled. + But Athena would in no wise suffer the proud wooers to abstain from bitter outrage, that pain might sink yet deeper into the heart of Odysseus, son of Laertes. So among them Eurymachus, son of Polybus, began to speak, +jeering at Odysseus, and making mirth for his companions: + “Hear me, wooers of the glorious queen, that I may say what the heart in my breast bids me. Not without the will of the gods has this man come to the palace of Odysseus; in any case there is a glare of torches from him— +from his head, for there is no hair on it, no, not a trace.” +1 + + Therewith he called to Odysseus, sacker of cities: “Stranger, wouldest thou have a mind to serve for hire, if I should take thee into service on an outlying farm—thy pay shall be assured thee—gathering stones for walls, and planting tall trees? +There would I provide thee with food the year through, and clothe thee with raiment and give thee sandals for thy feet. But since thou hast learned only deeds of evil, thou wilt not care to busy thyself with work, but art minded rather to go skulking through the land, that thou mayest have wherewith to feed thy insatiate belly.” +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Eurymachus, I would that we two might have a match in working in the season of spring, when the long days come, at mowing the grass, I with a curved scythe in my hands and thou with another like it, +and that the grass might be in plenty that so we might test our work, fasting till late evening. Or I would again that there were oxen to drive—the best there are, tawny and large, both well fed with grass, of like age and like power to bear the yoke, tireless in strength—and that there were a field of four acres, and the soil should yield before the plough: +then shouldest thou see me, whether or no I could cut a straight furrow to the end. Or I would again that this day the son of Cronos might bring war upon us from whence he would, and I had a shield and two spears and a helmet all of bronze, that fitted well my temples: then shouldest thou see me mingling amid the foremost fighters, +and wouldest not prate, taunting me with this belly of mine. But right insolent art thou, and thy heart is cruel, and forsooth thou thinkest thyself to be some great man and mighty, because thou consortest with few men and weak. If but Odysseus might return, and come to his native land, +soon would yonder doors, right wide though they are, prove all too narrow for thee in thy flight out through the doorway.” + So he spoke, and Eurymachus waxed the more wroth at heart, and with an angry glance from beneath his brows spoke to him winged words: + “Wretch, presently will I work thee evil, that thou pratest thus, +unabashed in the presence of many lords, and hast no fear at heart. Surely wine has mastered thy wits, or else thy mind is ever thus, that thou dost babble idly. Art thou beside thyself because thou hast beaten that vagrant Irus?” + + So saying, he seized a footstool, but Odysseus +sat down at the knees of Amphinomus of Dulichium, in fear of Eurymachus. And so Eurymachus struck a cup-bearer on the right hand, and the wine-jug fell to the ground with a clang, and the bearer groaned, and fell backwards in the dust. Then the wooers broke into uproar throughout the shadowy halls, +and thus would one man speak with a glance at his neighbor: + “Would that yon stranger had perished elsewhere on his wanderings or ever he came hither; then should he never have brought among us all this tumult. But now we are brawling about beggars, nor shall there be any joy in our rich feast, since worse things prevail.” + +Then among them spoke the strong and mighty Telemachus: “Strange sirs, ye are mad, and no longer hide that ye have eaten and drunk; some god surely is moving you. Nay, now that you have well feasted, go to your homes and take your rest, when your spirits bid you. Yet do I drive no man forth.” + +So he spoke, and they all bit their lips, and marvelled at Telemachus, that he spoke boldly. But Amphinomus spoke, and addressed them—he was son of the noble prince Nisus, son of Aretias: + “Friends, no man in answer to what has been fairly spoken +would wax wroth and make reply with wrangling words. Abuse not any more this stranger nor any one of the slaves that are in the house of divine Odysseus. Nay, come, let the bearer pour drops for libation in the cups, that we may pour libations, and go home to take our rest. As for this stranger, +let us leave him in the halls of Odysseus to be cared for by Telemachus; for to his house has he come.” + So said he, and the words that he spoke were pleasing to all. Then a bowl was mixed for them by the lord Mulius, a herald from Dulichium, who was squire to Amphinomus. +And he served out to all, coming up to each in turn; and they made libations to the blessed gods, and drank the honey-sweet wine. Then when they had made libations and had drunk to their heart's content, they went their way, each man to his own house, to take their rest. +So goodly Odysseus was left behind in the hall, planning with Athena's aid the slaying of the wooers, and he straightway spoke winged words to Telemachus: + “Telemachus, the weapons of war thou must needs lay away within +one and all, and when the wooers miss them and question thee, thou must beguile them with gentle words, saying: ‘Out of the smoke have I laid them, since they are no longer like those which of old Odysseus left behind him, when he went forth to +Troy +, but are all befouled, so far as the breath of fire has reached them. +And furthermore this greater fear has a god put in my heart, lest haply, when heated with wine, you may set a quarrel afoot among you, and wound one another, and so bring shame on your feast and on your wooing. For of itself does the iron draw a man to it.’” So he spoke, and Telemachus hearkened to his dear father, +and calling forth the nurse Eurycleia, said to her: + “Nurse, come now, I bid thee, shut up the women in their rooms, while I lay away in the store-room the weapons of my father, the goodly weapons which all uncared-for the smoke bedims in the hall since my father went forth, and I was still a child. +But now I am minded to lay them away, where the breath of the fire will not come upon them.” + Then the dear nurse Eurycleia answered him: “Aye, child, I would thou mightest ever take thought to care for the house and guard all its wealth. But come, who then shall fetch a light and bear it for thee, +since thou wouldest not suffer the maids, who might have given light, to go before thee?” + Then wise Telemachus answered her; “This stranger here; for I will suffer no man to be idle who touches my portion of meal, +1 + even though he has come from afar.” + So he spoke, but her word remained unwinged, and she locked the doors of the stately hall. +Then the two sprang up, Odysseus and his glorious son, and set about bearing within the helmets and the bossy shields and the sharp-pointed spears; and before them Pallas Athena, bearing a golden lamp, made a most beauteous light. +Then Telemachus suddenly spoke to his father, and said: + “Father, verily this is a great marvel that my eyes behold; certainly the walls of the house and the fair beams +2 + and cross-beams of fir and the pillars that reach on high, glow in my eyes as with the light of blazing fire. +Surely some god is within, one of those who hold broad heaven.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Hush, check thy thought, and ask no question; this, I tell thee, is the way of the gods that hold +Olympus +. But do thou go and take thy rest and I will remain behind here, +that I may stir yet more the minds of the maids and of thy mother; and she with weeping shall ask me of each thing separately.” + + So he spoke, and Telemachus went forth through the hall by the light of blazing torches to go to his chamber to lie down, where he had heretofore been wont to rest, when sweet sleep came upon him. +There now too he lay down and waited for the bright Dawn. But goodly Odysseus was left behind in the hall, planning with Athena's aid the slaying of the wooers. + Then wise Penelope came forth from her chamber like unto Artemis or golden Aphrodite, +and for her they set by the fire, where she was wont to sit, a chair inlaid with spirals of ivory and silver, which of old the craftsman Icmalius had made, and had set beneath it a foot-stool for the feet, that was part of the chair, and upon it a great fleece was wont to be laid. On this then wise Penelope sat down, +and the white-armed maids came forth from the women's hall. These began to take away the abundant food, the tables, and the cups from which the lordly men had been drinking, and they cast the embers from the braziers on to the floor, and piled upon the braziers fresh logs in abundance, to give light and warmth. + +But Melantho began again a second time to rate Odysseus, saying: “Stranger, wilt thou even now still be a plague to us through the night, roaming through the house, and wilt thou spy upon the women? Nay, get thee forth, thou wretch, and be content with thy supper, or straightway shalt thou even be smitten with a torch, and so go forth.” + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus of many wiles answered her: “Good woman, why, pray, dost thou thus assail me with angry heart? Is it because I am foul and wear mean raiment on my body, and beg through the land? Aye, for necessity compels me. Of such sort are beggars and vagabond folk. +For I too once dwelt in a house of my own among men, a rich man in a wealthy house, and full often I gave gifts to a wanderer, whosoever he was and with whatsoever need he came. Slaves too I had past counting and all other things in abundance whereby men live well and are reputed wealthy. +But Zeus, son of Cronos, brought all to naught; so, I ween, was his good pleasure. Wherefore, woman, beware lest thou too some day lose all the glory whereby thou now hast excellence among the handmaids; lest perchance thy mistress wax wroth and be angry with thee, or Odysseus come home; for there is yet room for hope. +But if, even as it seems, he is dead, and is no more to return, yet now is his son by the favour of Apollo such as he was—even Telemachus. Him it escapes not if any of the women in the halls work wantonness; for he is no longer the child he was.” + + So he spoke, and wise Penelope heard him; +and she rebuked the handmaid and spoke, and addressed her: + “Be sure, thou bold and shameless thing, that thy outrageous deed is in no wise hid from me, and with thine own head shalt thou wipe out its stain. Full well didst thou know, for thou hast heard it from my own lips, that I was minded +to question the stranger in my halls concerning my husband; for I am sore distressed.” + With this she spoke also to the housewife Eurynome, and said: “Eurynome, bring hither a chair and a fleece upon it, that the stranger may sit down and tell his tale, and listen to me; for I am fain to ask him of all things.” + +So she spoke, and Eurynome speedily brought a polished chair and set it in place, and on it cast a fleece. Then the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus sat down upon it, and the wise Penelope spoke first, and said: + “Stranger, this question will I myself ask thee first. +Who art thou among men, and from whence? Where is thy city, and where thy parents?” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Lady, no one of mortals upon the boundless earth could find fault with thee, for thy fame goes up to the broad heaven, as does the fame of some blameless king, who with the fear of the gods in his heart, +is lord over many mighty men, upholding justice; and the black earth bears wheat and barley, and the trees are laden with fruit, the flocks bring forth young unceasingly, and the sea yields fish, all from his good leading; and the people prosper under him. +Wherefore question me now in thy house of all things else, but ask not concerning my race and my native land, lest thou fill my heart the more with pains, as I think thereon; for I am a man of many sorrows. Moreover it is not fitting +that I should sit weeping and wailing in another's house, for it is ill to grieve ever without ceasing. I would not that one of thy maidens or thine own self be vexed with me, and say that I swim in tears because my mind is heavy with wine.” + Then wise Penelope answered him: “Stranger, all excellence of mine, both of beauty and of form, +the immortals destroyed on the day when the Argives embarked for +Ilios +, and with them went my husband, Odysseus. If he might but come, and watch over this life of mine, greater would be my fame and fairer. But now I am in sorrow, so many woes has some god brought upon me. +For all the princes who hold sway over the islands—Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus—and those who dwell around in clear-seen +Ithaca + itself, all these woo me against my will, and lay waste my house. Wherefore I pay no heed to strangers or to suppliants +or in any wise to heralds, whose trade is a public one; but in longing for Odysseus I waste my heart away. So these men urge on my marriage, and I wind a skein of wiles. First some god breathed the thought in my heart to set up a great web in my halls and fall to weaving a robe— +fine of thread was the web and very wide; and I straightway spoke among them: + “‘Young men, my wooers, since goodly Odysseus is dead, be patient, though eager for my marriage, until I finish this robe—I would not that my spinning should come to naught—a shroud for the lord Laertes against the time when +the fell fate of grievous death shall strike him down; lest any one of the Achaean women in the land should be wroth with me, if he were to lie without a shroud, who had won great possessions.’ + + “So I spoke, and their proud hearts consented. Then day by day I would weave at the great web, +but by night would unravel it, when I had let place torches by me. Thus for three years I kept the Achaeans from knowing, and beguiled them; but when the fourth year came, as the seasons rolled on, as the months waned, and the many days were brought in their course, then verily by the help of my maidens, shameless creatures and reckless, +they came upon me and caught me, and upbraided me loudly. So I finished the web against my will perforce. And now I can neither escape the marriage nor devise any counsel more, and my parents are pressing me to marry, and my son frets, while these men devour his livelihood, +as he takes note of it all; for by now he is a man, and fully able to care for a household to which Zeus grants honor. Yet even so tell me of thy stock from whence thou art; for thou art not sprung from an oak of ancient story, or from a stone.” +1 + + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: +“Honored wife of Odysseus, son of Laertes, wilt thou never cease to ask me of my lineage? Well, I will tell thee; though verily thou wilt give me over to pains yet more than those by which I am now held in thrall; for so it ever is, when a man has been far from his country as long as I have now, +wandering through the many cities of men in sore distress. Yet even so will I tell thee what thou dost ask and enquire. There is a land called +Crete +, in the midst of the wine-dark sea, a fair, rich land, begirt with water, and therein are many men, past counting, and ninety cities. +They have not all the same speech, but their tongues are mixed. There dwell Achaeans, there great-hearted native Cretans, there Cydonians, and Dorians of waving plumes, and goodly Pelasgians. Among their cities is the great city Cnosus, where Minos reigned when nine years old, +2 + he that held converse with great Zeus, +and was father of my father, great-hearted Deucalion. Now Deucalion begat me and prince Idomeneus. Idomeneus had gone forth in his beaked ships to +Ilios + with the sons of Atreus; but my famous name is Aethon; I was the younger by birth, while he was the elder and the better man. +There it was that I saw Odysseus and gave him gifts of entertainment; for the force of the wind had brought him too to +Crete +, as he was making for the land of +Troy +, and drove him out of his course past Malea. So he anchored his ships at Amnisus, where is the cave of Eilithyia, in a difficult harbor, and hardly did he escape the storm. +Then straightway he went up to the city and asked for Idomeneus; for he declared that he was his friend, beloved and honored. But it was now the tenth or the eleventh dawn since Idomeneus had gone in his beaked ships to +Ilios +. So I took him to the house, and gave him entertainment +with kindly welcome of the rich store that was in the house, and to the rest of his comrades who followed with him I gathered and gave out of the public store barley meal and flaming wine and bulls for sacrifice, that their hearts might be satisfied. There for twelve days the goodly Achaeans tarried, +for the strong North Wind penned them there, and would not suffer them to stand upon their feet on the land, for some angry god had roused it. But on the thirteenth day the wind fell and they put to sea.” + He spoke, and made the many falsehoods of his tale seem like the truth, +1 + and as she listened her tears flowed and her face melted +as the snow melts on the lofty mountains, the snow which the East Wind thaws when the West Wind has strewn it, and as it melts the streams of the rivers flow full: so her fair cheeks melted as she wept and mourned for her husband, who even then was sitting by her side. And Odysseus +in his heart had pity for his weeping wife, but his eyes stood fixed between his lids as though they were horn or iron, and with guile he hid his tears. But she, when she had had her fill of tearful wailing, again answered him and spoke, saying: + +“Now verily, stranger, am I minded to put thee to the test, whether or no thou didst in very truth entertain there in thy halls my husband with his godlike comrades, even as thou sayest. Tell me what manner of raiment he wore about his body, and what manner of man he was himself; and tell me of the comrades who followed him.” + +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Lady, hard is it for one that has been so long afar to tell thee this, for it is now the twentieth year since he went thence and departed from my country. But I will tell thee as my mind pictures him. +A fleecy cloak of purple did goodly Odysseus wear, a cloak of double fold, but the brooch upon it was fashioned of gold with double clasps, and on the front it was curiously wrought: a hound held in his fore paws a dappled fawn, and pinned it +1 + in his jaws as it writhed. And at this all men marvelled, +how, though they were of gold, the hound was pinning the fawn and strangling it, and the fawn was writhing with its feet and striving to flee. And I noted the tunic about his body, all shining as is the sheen upon the skin of a dried onion, so soft it was; and it glistened like the sun. +Verily many women gazed at him in wonder. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart. I know not whether Odysseus was thus clothed at home, or whether one of his comrades gave him the raiment when he went on board the swift ship, or haply even some stranger, since to many men +was Odysseus dear, for few of the Achaeans were his peers. + + I, too, gave him a sword of bronze, and a fair purple cloak of double fold, and a fringed tunic, and with all honor sent him forth on his benched ship. Furthermore, a herald +attended him, a little older than he, and I will tell thee of him too, what manner of man he was. He was round-shouldered, dark of skin, and curly-haired, and his name was Eurybates; and Odysseus honored him above his other comrades, because he was like-minded with himself.” + So he spoke, and in her heart aroused yet more the desire of weeping, +as she recognized the sure tokens that Odysseus told her. But she, when she had had her fill of tearful wailing, made answer and said to him: + “Now verily, stranger, though before thou wast pitied, shalt thou be dear and honored in my halls, +for it was I that gave him this raiment, since thou describest it thus, and folded it, and brought it forth from the store-room, and added thereto the shining brooch to be a thing of joy to him. But my husband I shall never welcome back, returning home to his dear native land. Wherefore it was with an evil fate that Odysseus +went forth in the hollow ship to see evil +Ilios +, that should never be named.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Honored wife of Odysseus, son of Laertes, mar not now thy fair face any more, nor waste thy heart at all in weeping for thy husband. I count it indeed no blame in thee; +for any woman weeps when she has lost her wedded husband, to whom she has borne children in her love, though he were far other than Odysseus, who, they say, is like unto the gods. Yet do thou cease from weeping, and hearken to my words; for I will tell thee with sure truth, and will hide nothing, +how but lately I heard of the return of Odysseus, that he is near at hand in the rich land of the Thesprotians, and yet alive, and he is bringing with him many rich treasures, as he begs through the land. But he lost his trusty comrades and his hollow ship on the wine-dark sea, +as he journeyed from the isle Thrinacia; for Zeus and Helios waxed wroth against him because his comrades had slain the kine of Helios. + + So they all perished in the surging sea, but he on the keel of his ship was cast forth by the wave on the shore, on the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the gods. +These heartily showed him all honor, as if he were a god, and gave him many gifts, and were fain themselves to send him home unscathed. Yea, and Odysseus would long since have been here, only it seemed to his mind more profitable to gather wealth by roaming over the wide earth; +so truly does Odysseus beyond all mortal men know many gainful ways, nor could any mortal beside vie with him. Thus Pheidon, king of the Thesprotians, told me the tale. Moreover he swore in my own presence, as he poured libations in his halls, that the ship was launched and the men ready +who were to convey him to his dear native land. But me he sent forth first, for a ship of the Thesprotians chanced to be setting out for Dulichium, rich in wheat. And he showed me all the treasure that Odysseus had gathered; verily unto the tenth generation would it feed his children after him, +so great was the wealth that lay stored for him in the halls of the king. But Odysseus, he said, had gone to +Dodona + to hear the will of Zeus from the high-crested oak of the god, even how he might return to his dear native land after so long an absence, whether openly or in secret. + +“Thus, as I tell thee, he is safe, and will presently come; he is very near, and not long will he now be far from his friends and his native land. Yet will I give thee an oath. Be Zeus my witness first, highest and best of gods, and the hearth of noble Odysseus to which I am come, +that verily all these things shall be brought to pass even as I tell thee. In the course of this very month shall Odysseus come hither, as the old moon wanes and the new appears.” + Then wise Penelope answered him: “Ah, stranger, I would that this word of thine might be fulfilled. +Then shouldest thou straightway know of kindness and many a gift from me, so that one who met thee would call thee blessed. Yet in my heart I forebode it thus, even as it shall be. Neither shall Odysseus any more come home, nor shalt thou obtain a convoy hence, since there are not now in the house such masters +as Odysseus was among men—as sure as ever such a man there was—to send reverend strangers on their way, and to welcome them. + + But still, my maidens, wash the stranger's feet and prepare his bed—bedstead and cloaks and bright coverlets—that in warmth and comfort he may come to the golden-throned Dawn. +And right early in the morning bathe him and anoint him, that in our house at the side of Telemachus he may bethink him of food as he sits in the hall. And worse shall it be for any man among them who vexes this man's soul with pain; naught thereafter shall he accomplish here, how fierce soever his wrath. +For how shalt thou learn of me, stranger, whether I in any wise excel other women in wit and prudent counsel, if all unkempt and clad in poor raiment thou sittest at meat in my halls? Men are but short-lived. If one be himself hard, and have a hard heart, +on him do all mortal men invoke woes for the time to come, while he still lives, and when he is dead all men mock at him. But if one be blameless and have a blameless heart, his fame do strangers bear far and wide among all men, and many call him a true man.” + +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Honored wife of Odysseus, son of Laertes, verily cloaks and bright coverlets became hateful in my eyes on the day when first I left behind me the snowy mountains of +Crete +, as I fared on my long-oared ship. +Nay, I will lie, as in time past I was wont to rest through sleepless nights; for many a night have I lain upon a foul bed and waited for the bright-throned Dawn. Aye, and baths for the feet give my heart no pleasure, nor shall any woman touch my foot +of all those who are serving-women in thy hall, unless there is some old, true-hearted dame who has suffered in her heart as many woes as I; such an one I would not grudge to touch my feet.” + Then wise Penelope answered him again: +“Dear stranger, never yet has a man discreet as thou, of those who are strangers from afar, come to my house as a more welcome guest, so wise and prudent are all thy words. I have an old dame with a heart of understanding in her breast, who lovingly nursed and cherished my hapless husband, +and took him in her arms on the day when his mother bore him. She shall wash thy feet, weak with age though she be. Come now, wise Eurycleia, arise and wash the feet of one of like age with thy master. Even such as his are now haply the feet of Odysseus, and such his hands, +for quickly do men grow old in evil fortune.” + + So she spoke, and the old woman hid her face in her hands and let fall hot tears, uttering words of lamentation: + “Ah, woe is me, child, because of thee, for that I can do naught. Surely Zeus hated thee above all men, though thou hadst a god-fearing heart. +For never yet did any mortal burn to Zeus, who hurls the thunderbolt, so many fat thigh-pieces or so many choice hecatombs as thou gavest him, with prayers that thou mightest reach a sleek old age and rear thy glorious son. But lo, now, from thee alone has he wholly cut off the day of thy returning. +Even thus, I ween, did women mock at him too, +1 + in a strange and distant land, when he came to some man's glorious house, as these shameless creatures here all mock at thee. It is to shun insult now from them and their many taunts that thou dost not suffer them to wash thy feet, but me, who am nothing loath, has +the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, bidden to wash thee. Therefore will I wash thy feet, both for Penelope's own sake and for thine, for the heart within me is stirred with sorrow. But come now, hearken to the word that I shall speak. Many sore-tried strangers have come hither, +but I declare that never yet have I seen any man so like another as thou in form, and in voice, and in feet art like Odysseus.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Old dame, so say all men whose eyes have beheld us two, that +we are very like each other, even as thou thyself dost note and say.” + So he spoke, and the old dame took the shining cauldron with water wherefrom she was about to wash his feet, and poured in cold water in plenty, and then added thereto the warm. But Odysseus sat him down away from the hearth and straightway turned himself toward the darkness, +for he at once had a foreboding at heart that, as she touched him, she might note a scar, and the truth be made manifest. So she drew near and began to wash her lord, and straightway knew the scar of the wound which long ago a boar had dealt him with his white tusk, when Odysseus had gone to +Parnassus + to visit Autolycus and the sons of Autolycus, +his mother's noble father, who excelled all men in thievery and in oaths. It was a god himself that had given him this skill, even Hermes, for to him he was wont to burn acceptable sacrifices of the thighs of lambs and kids; so Hermes befriended him with a ready heart. Now Autolycus, on coming once to the rich land of +Ithaca +, +had found his daughter's son a babe new-born, and when he was finishing his supper, Eurycleia laid the child upon his knees and spoke, and addressed him: + “Autolycus, find now thyself a name to give to thy child's own child; be sure he has long been prayed for.” +Then Autolycus answered her, and said: “My daughter's husband and my daughter, give him whatsoever name I say. Lo, inasmuch as I am come hither as one that has been angered with many, both men and women, over the fruitful earth, therefore let the name by which the child is named be Odysseus. +1 + And for my part, +when he is a man grown and comes to the great house of his mother's kin at +Parnassus +, where are my possessions, I will give him thereof and send him back rejoicing.” + It was for this reason that Odysseus had come, that Autolycus might give him the glorious gifts. And Autolycus and the sons of Autolycus +clasped his hands in welcome and greeted him with gentle words, and Amphithea, his mother's mother, took Odysseus in her arms and kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes. But Autolycus called to his glorious sons to make ready the meal, and they hearkened to his call. +At once they led in a bull, five years old, which they flayed and dressed, and cut up all the limbs. Then they sliced these cunningly and pierced them with spits, and roasted them skilfully and distributed the portions. So, then, all day long till set of sun +they feasted, nor did their hearts lack aught of the equal feast. But when the sun set and darkness came on they lay down to rest and took the gift of sleep. + But as soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, they went forth to the hunt, the hounds and +the sons of Autolycus too, and with them went goodly Odysseus. Up the steep mountain +Parnassus +, clothed with forests, they climbed, and presently reached its windy hollows. The sun was now just striking on the fields, as he rose from softly-gliding, deep-flowing Oceanus, +when the beaters came to a glade. Before them went the hounds, tracking the scent, and behind them the sons of Autolycus, and among these the goodly Odysseus followed, close upon the hounds, brandishing his long spear. Now thereby a great wild boar was lying in a thick lair, +through which the strength of the wet winds could never blow nor the rays of the bright sun beat, nor could the rain pierce through it, so thick it was; and fallen leaves were there in plenty. Then about the boar there came the noise of the feet of men and dogs +as they pressed on in the chase, and forth from his lair he came against them with bristling back and eyes flashing fire, and stood there at bay close before them. Then first of all Odysseus rushed on, holding his long spear on high in his stout hand, eager to smite him; but the boar was too quick for him and struck him +above the knee, charging upon him sideways, and with his tusk tore a long gash in the flesh, but did not reach the bone of the man. But Odysseus with sure aim smote him on the right shoulder, and clear through went the point of the bright spear, and the boar fell in the dust with a cry, and his life flew from him. +Then the dear sons of Autolycus busied themselves with the carcase, and the wound of noble, god-like Odysseus they bound up skilfully, and checked the black blood with a charm, and straightway returned to the house of their dear father. And when Autolycus and the sons of Autolycus +had fully healed him, and had given him glorious gifts, they quickly sent him back with joy to his native land, to +Ithaca +. Then his father and his honored mother rejoiced at his return, and asked him all the story, how he got his wound; and he told them all the truth, +how, while he was hunting, a boar had struck him with his white tusk when he had gone to +Parnassus + with the sons of Autolycus. + This scar the old dame, when she had taken the limb in the flat of her hands, knew by the touch, and she let fall the foot. Into the basin the leg fell, and the brazen vessel rang. +Over it tilted, and the water was spilled upon the ground. Then upon her soul came joy and grief in one moment, and both her eyes were filled with tears and the flow of her voice was checked. But she touched the chin of Odysseus, and said: + “Verily thou art Odysseus, dear child, and I knew thee not, +till I had handled all the body of my lord.” + She spoke, and with her eyes looked toward Penelope, fain to show her that her dear husband was at home. But Penelope could not meet her glance nor understand, for Athena had turned her thoughts aside. But Odysseus, +feeling for the woman's throat, seized it with his right hand, and with the other drew her closer to him, and said: + “Mother, why wilt thou destroy me? Thou didst thyself nurse me at this thy breast, and now after many grievous toils I am come in the twentieth year to my native land. +But since thou hast found me out, and a god has put this in thy heart, be silent lest any other in the halls learn hereof. For thus will I speak out to thee, and verily it shall be brought to pass: if a god shall subdue the lordly wooers unto me, I will not spare thee, my nurse though thou art, when +I slay the other serving-women in my halls.” + Then wise Eurycleia answered him: “My child, what a word has escaped the barrier of thy teeth! Thou knowest how firm my spirit is and unyielding: I shall be as close as hard stone or iron. +And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart. If a god shall subdue the lordly wooers unto thee, then will I name over to thee the women in thy halls, which ones dishonor thee, and which are guiltless.” + + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: +“Mother, why, pray, wilt thou speak of them? Thou needest not at all. Of myself will I mark them well, and come to know each one. Nay, keep the matter to thyself, and leave the issue to the gods.” + So he spoke, and the old woman went forth through the hall to bring water for his feet, for all the first was spilled. +And when she had washed him, and anointed him richly with oil, Odysseus again drew his chair nearer to the fire to warm himself, and hid the scar with his rags. + Then wise Penelope was the first to speak, saying: “Stranger, this little thing further will I ask thee myself, +for it will soon be the hour for pleasant rest, for him at least on whom sweet sleep may come despite his care. But to me has a god given sorrow that is beyond all measure, for day by day I find my joy in mourning and lamenting, while looking to my household tasks and those of my women in the house, +but when night comes and sleep lays hold of all, I lie upon my bed, and sharp cares, crowding close about my throbbing heart, disquiet me, as I mourn. Even as when the daughter of Pandareus, the nightingale of the greenwood, +1 + sings sweetly, when spring is newly come, +as she sits perched amid the thick leafage of the trees, and with many trilling notes pours forth her rich voice in wailing for her child, dear Itylus, whom she had one day slain with the sword unwittingly, Itylus, the son of king Zethus; even so my heart sways to and fro in doubt, +whether to abide with my son and keep all things safe, my possessions, my slaves, and my great, high-roofed house, respecting the bed of my husband and the voice of the people, or to go now with him whosoever is best of the Achaeans, who woos me in the halls and offers bride-gifts past counting. +Furthermore my son, so long as he was a child and slack of wit, would not suffer me to marry and leave the house of my husband; but now that he is grown and has reached the bounds of manhood, lo, he even prays me to go back again from these halls, being vexed for his substance that the Achaeans devour to his cost. +But come now, hear this dream of mine, and interpret it for me. Twenty geese I have in the house that come forth from the water +1 + and eat wheat, and my heart warms with joy as I watch them. But forth from the mountain there came a great eagle with crooked beak and broke all their necks and killed them; and they lay strewn +in a heap in the halls, while he was borne aloft to the bright sky. Now for my part I wept and wailed, in a dream though it was, and round me thronged the fair-tressed Achaean women, as I grieved piteously because the eagle had slain my geese. + + Then back he came and perched upon a projecting roof-beam, +and with the voice of a mortal man checked my weeping, and said: + “‘Be of good cheer, daughter of far-famed Icarius; this is no dream, but a true vision of good which shall verily find fulfillment. The geese are the wooers, and I, that before was the eagle, am now again come back as thy husband, +who will let loose a cruel doom upon all the wooers.’ + “So he spoke, and sweet sleep released me, and looking about I saw the geese in the halls, feeding on wheat beside the trough, where they had before been wont to feed.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her and said: +“Lady, in no wise is it possible to wrest this dream aside and give it another meaning, since verily Odysseus himself has shewn thee how he will bring it to pass. For the wooers' destruction is plain to see, for one and all; not one of them shall escape death and the fates.” + Then wise Penelope answered him again: +“Stranger, dreams verily are baffling and unclear of meaning, and in no wise do they find fulfillment in all things for men. For two are the gates of shadowy dreams, and one is fashioned of horn and one of ivory. Those dreams that pass through the gate of sawn ivory +deceive men, bringing words that find no fulfillment. +1 + But those that come forth through the gate of polished horn bring true issues to pass, when any mortal sees them. But in my case it was not from thence, methinks, that my strange dream came. Ah, truly it would then have been welcome to me and to my son. +But another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart. Even now is coming on this morn of evil name which is to cut me off from the house of Odysseus; for now I shall appoint for a contest those axes which he was wont to set up in line in his halls, like props of a ship that is building, twelve in all, +and he would stand afar off and shoot an arrow through them. +1 + + Now then I shall set this contest before the wooers: whosoever shall most easily string the bow in his hands, and shoot an arrow through all twelve axes, with him will I go and forsake this house +of my wedded life, a house most fair and filled with livelihood, which, methinks, I shall ever remember even in my dreams.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Honored wife of Odysseus, son of Laertes, no longer now do thou put off this contest in thy halls; +for, I tell thee, Odysseus of many wiles will be here, ere these men, handling this polished bow, shall have strung it, and shot an arrow through the iron.” + Then wise Penelope answered him: “If thou couldest but wish, stranger, to sit here in my halls +and give me joy, sleep should never be shed over my eyelids. But it is in no wise possible that men should forever be sleepless, for the immortals have appointed a proper time for each thing upon the earth, the giver of grain. But I verily will go to my upper chamber +and lay me on my bed, which has become for me a bed of wailings, ever bedewed with my tears, since the day when Odysseus went to see evil +Ilios +, that should never be named. There will I lay me down, but do thou lie down here in the hall, when thou hast strewn bedding on the floor; or let the maids set a bedstead for thee.” + +So saying, she went up to her bright upper chamber, not alone, for with her went her handmaids as well. And when she had gone up to her upper chamber with her handmaids, she then bewailed Odysseus, her dear husband, until flashing-eyed Athena cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids. +But the goodly Odysseus lay down to sleep in the fore-hall of the house. On the ground he spread an undressed ox-hide and above it many fleeces of sheep, which the Achaeans were wont to slay, and Eurynome threw over him a cloak, when he had laid him down. +There Odysseus, pondering in his heart evil for the wooers, lay sleepless. And the women came forth from the hall, those that had before been wont to lie with the wooers, making laughter and merriment among themselves. But the heart was stirred in his breast, +and much he debated in mind and heart, whether he should rush after them and deal death to each, or suffer them to lie with the insolent wooers for the last and latest time; and his heart growled within him. And as a bitch stands over her tender whelps +growling, when she sees a man she does not know, and is eager to fight, so his heart growled within him in his wrath at their evil deeds; but he smote his breast, and rebuked his heart, saying: + “Endure, my heart; a worse thing even than this didst thou once endure on that day when the +Cyclops +, unrestrained in daring, devoured my +mighty comrades; but thou didst endure until craft got thee forth from the cave where thou thoughtest to die.” + So he spoke, chiding the heart in his breast, and his heart remained bound +1 + within him to endure steadfastly; but he himself lay tossing this way and that. +And as when a man before a great blazing fire turns swiftly this way and that a paunch full of fat and blood, and is very eager to have it roasted quickly, so Odysseus tossed from side to side, pondering how he might put forth his hands upon the shameless wooers, +one man as he was against so many. Then Athena came down from heaven and drew near to him in the likeness of a woman, and she stood above his head, and spoke to him, and said: + “Why now again art thou wakeful, ill-fated above all men? Lo, this is thy house, and here within is thy wife +and thy child, such a man, methinks, as anyone might pray to have for his son.” + And Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Yea, goddess, all this hast thou spoken aright. But the heart in my breast is pondering somewhat upon this, how I may put forth my hands upon the shameless wooers, +all alone as I am, while they remain always in a body in the house. And furthermore this other and harder thing I ponder in my mind: even if I were to slay them by the will of Zeus and of thyself, where then should I find escape from bane? Of this I bid thee take thought.” + + Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: +“Obstinate one, many a man puts his trust even in a weaker friend than I am, one that is mortal, and knows not such wisdom as mine; but I am a god, that guard thee to the end in all thy toils. And I will tell thee openly; if fifty troops of mortal men +should stand about us, eager to slay us in battle, even their cattle and goodly sheep shouldest thou drive off. Nay, let sleep now come over thee. There is weariness also in keeping wakeful watch the whole night through; and even now shalt thou come forth from out thy perils.” + So she spoke, and shed sleep upon his eyelids, +but herself, the fair goddess, went back to +Olympus +. + Now while sleep seized him, loosening the cares of his heart, sleep that loosens the limbs of men, his true-hearted wife awoke, and wept, as she sat upon her soft bed. But when her heart had had its fill of weeping, +to Artemis first of all the fair lady made her prayer: + “Artemis, mighty goddess, daughter of Zeus, would that now thou wouldest fix thy arrow in my breast and take away my life even in this hour; or that a storm-wind might catch me up and bear me hence over the murky ways, +and cast me forth at the mouth of backward-flowing Oceanus, even as on a time storm-winds bore away the daughters of Pandareus. Their parents the gods had slain, and they were left orphans in the halls, and fair Aphrodite tended them with cheese, and sweet honey, and pleasant wine, +and Here gave them beauty and wisdom above all women, and chaste Artemis gave them stature, and Athena taught them skill in famous handiwork. But while beautiful Aphrodite was going to high +Olympus + to ask for the maidens the accomplishment of gladsome marriage— +going to Zeus who hurls the thunderbolt, for well he knows all things, both the happiness and the haplessness of mortal men—meanwhile the spirits of the storm snatched away the maidens and gave them to the hateful Erinyes to deal with. +1 + Would that even so those who have dwellings on +Olympus + would blot me from sight, +or that fair-tressed Artemis would smite me, so that with Odysseus before my mind I might even pass beneath the hateful earth, and never gladden in any wise the heart of a baser man. Yet when a man weeps by day with a heart sore distressed, +but at night sleep holds him, this brings with it an evil that may well be borne—for sleep makes one forget all things, the good and the evil, when once it envelops the eyelids—but upon me a god sends evil dreams as well. For this night again there lay by my side one like him, even such as he was when he went forth with the host, and my heart +was glad, for I deemed it was no dream, but the truth at last.” + + So she spoke, and straightway came golden-throned Dawn. But as she wept goodly Odysseus heard her voice, and thereupon he mused, and it seemed to his heart that she knew him and was standing by his head. +Then he gathered up the cloak and the fleeces on which he was lying and laid them on a chair in the hall, and carried the ox-hide out of doors and set it down; and he lifted up his hands and prayed to Zeus: + “Father Zeus, if of your good will ye gods have brought me over land and sea to my own country, when ye had afflicted me sore, +let some one of those who are awaking utter a word of omen for me within, and without let a sign from Zeus be shown besides.” + So he spoke in prayer, and Zeus the counsellor heard him. Straightway he thundered from gleaming +Olympus +, from on high from out the clouds; and goodly Odysseus was glad. +And a woman, grinding at the mill, uttered a word of omen from within the house hard by, where the mills of the shepherd of the people were set. At these mills twelve women in all were wont to ply their tasks, making meal of barley and of wheat, the marrow of men. Now the others were sleeping, for they had ground their wheat, +but she alone had not yet ceased, for she was the weakest of all. She now stopped her mill and spoke a word, a sign for her master: + “Father Zeus, who art lord over gods and men, verily loud hast thou thundered from the starry sky, yet nowhere is there any cloud: surely this is a sign that thou art showing to some man. +Fulfil now even for wretched me the word that I shall speak. May the wooers this day for the last and latest time hold their glad feast in the halls of Odysseus. They that have loosened my limbs with bitter labour, as I made them barley meal, may they now sup their last.” + +So she spoke, and goodly Odysseus was glad at the word of omen and at the thunder of Zeus, for he thought he had gotten vengeance on the guilty. + Now the other maidens in the fair palace of Odysseus had gathered together and were kindling on the hearth unwearied fire, and Telemachus rose from his bed, a godlike man, +and put on his clothing. He slung his sharp sword about his shoulder, and beneath his shining feet he bound his fair sandals; and he took his mighty spear, tipped with sharp bronze, and went and stood upon the threshold, and spoke to Eurycleia: + “Dear nurse, have ye honored the stranger in our house +with bed and food, or does he lie all uncared for? For such is my mother's way, wise though she is: in wondrous fashion she honours one of mortal men, though he be the worse, while the better she sends unhonored away.” + + Then wise Eurycleia answered him: +“In this matter, child, thou shouldest not blame her, who is without blame. He sat here and drank wine as long as he would, but for food he said he had no more hunger, for she asked him. But when he bethought him of rest and sleep, she bade the maidens strew his bed. +But he, as one wholly wretched and hapless, would not sleep on a bed and under blankets, but on an undressed ox-hide and fleeces of sheep he slept in the fore-hall, and we flung over him a cloak.” + So she spoke, and Telemachus went forth through the hall +with his spear in his hand, and with him went two swift hounds. And he went his way to the place of assembly to join the company of the well-greaved Achaeans, but Eurycleia, the goodly lady, daughter of Ops, son of Peisenor, called to her maidens, saying: + “Come, let some of you busily sweep the hall +and sprinkle it, and throw on the shapely chairs coverlets of purple, and let others wipe all the tables with sponges and cleanse the mixing-bowls and the well-wrought double cups, and others still go to the spring for water and bring it quickly here. +For the wooers will not long be absent from the hall, but will return right early; for it is a feast-day for all men.” + So she spoke, and they readily hearkened and obeyed. Twenty of them went to the spring of dark water, and the others busied themselves there in the house in skilful fashion. + +Then in came the serving-men of the Acheans, who thereafter split logs of wood well and skilfully; and the women came back from the spring. After them came the swineherd, driving three boars which were the best in all his herd. These he let be to feed in the fair courts, +but himself spoke to Odysseus with gentle words: + “Stranger, do the Achaeans look on thee with any more regard, or do they dishonor thee in the halls as before?” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Ah, Eumaeus, I would that the gods might take vengeance on the outrage +wherewith these men in wantonness devise wicked folly in another's house, and have no place for shame.” + Thus they spoke to one another. And near to them came Melanthius the goatherd, leading she-goats that were the best in all the herds, +to make a feast for the wooers, and two herdsmen followed with him. The goats he tethered beneath the echoing portico, and himself spoke to Odysseus with taunting words: + “Stranger, wilt thou even now still be a plague to us here in the hall, asking alms of men, and wilt thou not begone? +'Tis plain, methinks, that we two shall not part company till we taste one another's fists, for thy begging is in no wise decent. Also it is not here alone that there are feasts of the Achaeans.” + + So he spoke, but Odysseus of many wiles made no answer, but he shook his head in silence, pondering evil in the deep of his heart. + +Besides these a third man came, Philoetius, a leader of men, driving for the wooers a barren heifer and fat she-goats. These had been brought over from the mainland by ferrymen, who send other men, too, on their way, whosoever comes to them. The beasts he tethered carefully beneath the echoing portico, +but himself came close to the swineherd and questioned him, saying: + “Who is this stranger, swineherd, who has newly come to our house? From what men does he declare himself to be sprung? Where are his kinsmen and his native fields? Hapless man! Yet truly in form he is like a royal prince; +howbeit the gods bring to misery far-wandering men, whenever they spin for them the threads of trouble, even though they be kings.” + Therewith he drew near to Odysseus, and stretching forth his right hand in greeting, spoke and addressed him with winged words: + “Hail, Sir stranger; +may happy fortune be thine in time to come, though now thou art the thrall of many sorrows! Father Zeus, no other god is more baneful than thou; thou hast no pity on men when thou hast thyself given them birth, but bringest them into misery and wretched pains. The sweat broke out on me when I marked the man, and my eyes are full of tears +as I think of Odysseus; for he, too, I ween, is clothed in such rags and is a wanderer among men, if indeed he still lives and beholds the light of the sun. But if he is already dead and in the house of Hades, then woe is me for blameless Odysseus, who +set me over his cattle, when I was yet a boy, in the land of the Cephallenians And now these wax past counting; in no other wise could the breed of broad-browed cattle yield better increase +1 + for a mortal man. But strangers bid me drive these now for themselves to eat, and they care nothing for the son in the house, +nor do they tremble at the wrath of the gods, for they are eager now to divide among themselves the possessions of our lord that has long been gone. Now, as for myself, the heart in my breast keeps revolving this matter: a very evil thing it is, while the son lives, to depart along with my cattle and go to a land of strangers, +even to an alien folk; but this is worse still, to remain here and suffer woes in charge of cattle that are given over to others. Aye, verily, long ago would I have fled and come to some other of the proud kings, for now things are no more to be borne; but still I think of that hapless one, if perchance he might come back I know not whence, +and make a scattering of the wooers in his house.” + + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Neatherd, since thou seemest to be neither an evil man nor a witless, and I see for myself that thou hast gotten an understanding heart, therefore will I speak out and swear a great oath to confirm my words. +Now be my witness Zeus above all gods, and this hospitable board, and the hearth of noble Odysseus to which I am come, that verily while thou art here Odysseus shall come home, and thou shalt see with thine eyes, if thou wilt, the slaying of the wooers, who lord it here.” + +Then the herdsman of the cattle answered him: “Ah, stranger, I would that the son of Cronos might fulfil this word of thine! Then shouldest thou know what manner of might is mine, and how my hands obey.” + And even in like manner did Eumaeus pray to all the gods that wise Odysseus might come back to his own home. + +Thus they spoke to one another, but the wooers meanwhile were plotting death and fate for Telemachus; howbeit there came to them a bird on their left, an eagle of lofty flight, clutching a timid dove. Then Amphinomus spoke in their assembly, and said: + +“Friends, this plan of ours will not run to our liking, even the slaying of Telemachus; nay, let us bethink us of the feast.” + So spoke Amphinomus, and his word was pleasing to them. Then, going into the house of godlike Odysseus, they laid their cloaks on the chairs and high seats, +and men fell to slaying great sheep and fat goats, aye, and fatted swine, and the heifer of the herd. Then they roasted the entrails and served them out, and mixed wine in the bowls, and the swineherd handed out the cups. And Philoetius, a leader of men, handed them bread +in a beautiful basket, and Melanthius poured them wine. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. + But Telemachus, with crafty thought, made Odysseus sit within the well-built hall by the threshold of stone, and placed for him a mean stool and a little table. +Beside him he set portions of the entrails and poured wine in a cup of gold, and said to him: + “Sit down here among the lords and drink thy wine, and the revilings and blows of all the wooers will I myself ward from thee; for this is no public +resort, but the house of Odysseus, and it was for me that he won it. And for your part, ye wooers, refrain your minds from rebukes and blows, that no strife or quarrel may arise.” + + So he spoke, and they all bit their lips and marvelled at Telemachus for that he spoke boldly; +and Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke among them, saying: + “Hard though it be, Achaeans, let us accept the word of Telemachus, though boldly he threatens us in his speech. For Zeus, son of Cronos, did not suffer it, else would we ere now have silenced him in the halls, clear-voiced talker though he is.” + +So spoke Antinous, but Telemachus paid no heed to his words. Meanwhile the heralds were leading through the city the holy hecatomb of the gods, and the long-haired Achaeans gathered together beneath a shady grove of Apollo, the archer-god. + But when they had roasted the outer flesh and drawn it off the spits, +they divided the portions and feasted a glorious feast. And by Odysseus those who served set a portion equal to that which they received themselves, for so Telemachus commanded, the dear son of divine Odysseus. + But the proud wooers Athena +would in no wise suffer to abstain from bitter outrage, that pain might sink yet deeper into the heart of Odysseus, son of Laertes. There was among the wooers a man with his heart set on lawlessness—Ctesippus was his name, and in Same was his dwelling—who, trusting forsooth in his boundless wealth, +wooed the wife of Odysseus, that had long been gone. He it was who now spoke among the haughty wooers: + “Hear me, ye proud wooers, that I may say somewhat. A portion has the stranger long had, an equal portion, as is meet; for it is not well nor just to rob of their due +the guests of Telemachus, whosoever he be that comes to this house. Nay, come, I too will give him a stranger's-gift, that he in turn may give a present either to the bath-woman or to some other of the slaves who are in the house of godlike Odysseus.” + + So saying, he hurled with strong hand the hoof of an ox, +taking it up from the basket where it lay. But Odysseus avoided it with a quick turn of his head, and in his heart he smiled a right grim and bitter smile; and the ox's hoof struck the well-built wall. Then Telemachus rebuked Ctesippus, and said: + “Ctesippus, verily this thing fell out more to thy soul's profit. +Thou didst not smite the stranger, for he himself avoided thy missile, else surely would I have struck thee through the middle with my sharp spear, and instead of a wedding feast thy father would have been busied with a funeral feast in this land. Wherefore let no man, I warn you, make a show of forwardness in my house; for now I mark and understand all things, +the good and the evil, whereas heretofore I was but a child. But none the less we still endure to see these deeds, while sheep are slaughtered, and wine drunk, and bread consumed, for hard it is for one man to restrain many. Yet come, no longer work me harm of your evil wills. +But if you are minded even now to slay me myself with the sword, even that would I choose, and it would be better far to die than continually to behold these shameful deeds, strangers mishandled and men dragging the handmaidens in shameful fashion through the fair hall.” + +So he spoke, and they were all hushed in silence, but at last there spoke among them Agelaus, son of Damastor: + “Friends, no man in answer to what has been fairly spoken would wax wroth and make reply with wrangling words. Abuse not any more the stranger nor any +of the slaves that are in the house of divine Odysseus. But to Telemachus and his mother I would speak a gentle word, if perchance it may find favour in the minds of both. So long as the hearts in your breasts had hope that wise Odysseus would return to his own house, +so long there was no ground for blame that you waited, and restrained the wooers in your halls; for this was the better course, had Odysseus returned and come back to his house. But now this is plain, that he will return no more. Nay then, come, sit by thy mother and tell her this, +namely that she must wed him whosoever is the best man, and who offers the most gifts; to the end that thou mayest enjoy in peace all the heritage of thy fathers, eating and drinking, and that she may keep the house of another.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Nay, by Zeus, Agelaus, and by the woes of my father, +who somewhere far from +Ithaca + has perished or is wandering, in no wise do I delay my mother's marriage, but I bid her wed what man she will, and I offer besides gifts past counting. But I am ashamed to drive her forth from the hall against her will by a word of compulsion. May God never bring such a thing to pass.” +So spoke Telemachus, but among the wooers Pallas Athena roused unquenchable laughter, and turned their wits awry. And now they laughed with alien lips, and all bedabbled with blood was the flesh they ate, +1 + and their eyes were filled with tears and their spirits set on wailing. +Then among them spoke godlike Theoclymenus: + “Ah, wretched men, what evil is this that you suffer? Shrouded in night are your heads and your faces and your knees beneath you; kindled is the sound of wailing, bathed in tears are your cheeks, and sprinkled with blood are the walls and the fair rafters. +And full of ghosts is the porch and full the court, of ghosts that hasten down to Erebus beneath the darkness, and the sun has perished out of heaven and an evil mist hovers over all.” + So he spoke, but they all laughed merrily at him. And among them Eurymachus, son of Polybus, was the first to speak: + +“Mad is the stranger that has newly come from abroad. Quick, ye youths, convey him forth out of doors to go his way to the place of assembly, since here he finds it like night.” + Then godlike Theoclymenus answered him: “Eurymachus, in no wise do I bid thee give me guides for my way. +I have eyes and ears and my two feet, and a mind in my breast that is in no wise meanly fashioned. With these will I go forth out of doors, for I mark evil coming upon you which not one of the wooers may escape or avoid, of all you who in the house of godlike Odysseus +insult men and devise wicked folly.” + So saying, he went forth from the stately halls and came to Piraeus, who received him with a ready heart. But all the wooers, looking at one another, sought to provoke Telemachus by laughing at his guests. +And thus would one of the proud youths speak: + “Telemachus, no man is more unlucky in his guests than thou, seeing that thou keepest such a filthy vagabond as this man here, always wanting bread and wine, and skilled neither in the works of peace nor those of war, but a mere burden of the earth. +And this other fellow again stood up to prophesy. Nay, if thou wouldst hearken to me it would be better far: let us fling these strangers on board a benched ship, and send them to the Sicilians, whence they would bring +1 + thee in a fitting price.” + So spake the wooers, but he paid no heed to their words. +Nay, in silence he watched his father, ever waiting until he should put forth his hands upon the shameless wooers. + But the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, had set her beautiful chair over against them, and heard the words of each man in the hall. +For they had made ready their meal in the midst of their laughing, a sweet meal, and one to satisfy the heart, for they had slain many beasts. But never could meal have been more graceless than a supper such as a goddess and a mighty man were soon to set before them. For unprovoked they were contriving deeds of shame. +But the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, put it into the heart of the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, to set before the wooers in the halls of Odysseus the bow and the gray iron, to be a contest and the beginning of death. +She climbed the high stairway to her chamber, and took the bent key in her strong hand—a goodly key of bronze, and on it was a handle of ivory. And she went her way with her handmaidens to a store-room, far remote, where lay the treasures of her lord, +bronze and gold and iron, wrought with toil. And there lay the back-bent bow and the quiver that held the arrows, and many arrows were in it, fraught with groanings—gifts which a friend of Odysseus had given him when he met him once in +Lacedaemon +, even Iphitus, son of Eurytus, a man like unto the immortals. +They two had met one another in +Messene + in the house of wise Ortilochus. Odysseus verily had come to collect a debt which the whole people owed him, for the men of +Messene + had lifted from +Ithaca + in their benched ships three hundred sheep and the shepherds with them. +It was on an embassy in quest of these that Odysseus had come a far journey, while he was but a youth; for his father and the other elders had sent him forth. And Iphitus, on his part, had come in search of twelve brood mares, which he had lost, with sturdy mules at the teat; but to him thereafter did they bring death and doom, +when he came to the stout-hearted son of Zeus, the man Heracles, who well knew +1 + deeds of daring; for Heracles slew him, his guest though he was, in his own house, ruthlessly, and had regard neither for the wrath of the gods nor for the table which he had set before him, but slew the man thereafter, +and himself kept the stout-hoofed mares in his halls. It was while asking for these that Iphitus met Odysseus, and gave him the bow, which of old great Eurytus had been wont to bear, and had left at his death to his son in his lofty house. And to Iphitus Odysseus gave a sharp sword and a mighty spear, +as the beginning of loving friendship; yet they never knew one another at the table, for ere that might be the son of Zeus had slain Iphitus, son of Eurytus, a man like unto the immortals, who gave Odysseus the bow. This bow goodly Odysseus, when going forth to war, would never +take with him on the black ships, but it lay in his halls at home as a memorial of a dear friend, and he carried it in his own land. + + Now when the fair lady had come to the store-room, and had stepped upon the threshold of oak, which of old the carpenter had skilfully planed and made straight to the line— +thereon had he also fitted door-posts, and set on them bright doors—straightway she quickly loosed the thong +2 + from the handle and thrust in the key, and with sure aim shot back the bolts. And as a bull bellows +when grazing in a meadow, even so bellowed the fair doors, smitten by the key; and quickly they flew open before her. Then she stepped upon the high floor, where the chests stood in which fragrant raiment was stored, and stretched out her hand from thence and took from its peg the bow together with the bright case which surrounded it. +And there she sat down and laid the case upon her knees and wept aloud, and took out the bow of her lord. But when she had had her fill of tearful wailing, she went her way to the hall, to the company of the lordly wooers, bearing in her hands the back-bent bow and the quiver +that held the arrows, and many arrows were in it, fraught with groanings. And by her side her maidens bore a chest, wherein lay abundance of iron and bronze, the battle-gear of her lord. Now when the fair lady reached the wooers, she stood by the door-post of the well-built hall, +holding before her face her shining veil; and a faithful handmaid stood on either side of her. Then straightway she spoke among the wooers, and said: + “Hear me, ye proud wooers, who have beset this house to eat and drink ever without end, +since its master has long been gone, nor could you find any other plea to urge, save only as desiring to wed me and take me to wife. Nay, come now, ye wooers, since this is shewn to be your prize. +1 + I will set before you the great bow of divine Odysseus, +and whosoever shall most easily string the bow in his hands and shoot an arrow through all twelve axes, with him will I go, and forsake this house of my wedded life, a house most fair and filled with livelihood, which, methinks I shall ever remember even in my dreams.” +So she spoke, and bade Eumaeus, the goodly swineherd, set for the wooers the bow and the grey iron. And, bursting into tears, Eumaeus took them and laid them down, and in another place the neatherd wept, when he saw the bow of his lord. Then Antinous rebuked them, and spoke, and addressed them: + +“Foolish boors, who mind only the things of the day! Wretched pair, why now do you shed tears, and trouble the soul in the breast of the lady, whose heart even as it is lies low in pain, seeing that she has lost her dear husband? Nay, sit and feast in silence, +or else go forth and weep, and leave the bow here behind as a decisive +1 + contest for the wooers; for not easily, methinks, is this polished bow to be strung. For there is no man among all these here such as Odysseus was, and I myself saw him. +For I remember him, though I was still but a child.” + So he spoke, but the heart in his breast hoped that he would string the bow and shoot an arrow through the iron. Yet verily he was to be the first to taste of an arrow from the hands of noble Odysseus, whom then he, +as he sat in the halls, was dishonoring, and urging on all his comrades. + Then among them spoke the strong and mighty Telemachus: “Lo now, of a truth Zeus, son of Cronos, has made me witless. My dear mother, for all that she is wise, declares that she will follow another lord, forsaking this house; +yet I laugh, and am glad with a witless mind. Come then, ye wooers, since this is shewn to be your prize, a lady, the like of whom is not now in the Achaean land, neither in sacred +Pylos +, nor in +Argos +, nor in Mycene, nor yet in +Ithaca + itself, nor in the dark mainland. + Nay, but of yourselves you know this—what need have I to praise my mother? Come then, put not the matter aside with excuses, nor any more turn away too long from the drawing of the bow, that we may see the issue. Yea, and I would myself make trial of yon bow. If I shall string it and shoot an arrow through the iron, +it will not vex me that my honored mother should leave this house and go along with another, seeing that I should be left here able now to wield the goodly battle-gear of my father.” + + With this he flung the scarlet cloak from off his back, and sprang up erect; and he laid his sharp sword from off his shoulders. +First then he set up the axes, when he had dug a trench, one long trench for all, and made it straight to the line, and about them he stamped in the earth. And amazement seized all who saw him, that he set them out so orderly, though before he had never seen them. Then he went and stood upon the threshold, and began to try the bow. +Thrice he made it quiver in his eagerness to draw it, and thrice he relaxed his effort, though in his heart he hoped to string the bow and shoot an arrow through the iron. And now at the last he would haply have strung it in his might, as for the fourth time he sought to draw up the string, but Odysseus nodded in dissent, and checked him in his eagerness. +Then the strong and mighty Telemachus spoke among them again: + “Out on it, even in days to come shall I be a coward and a weakling, or else I am too young, and have not yet trust in my might to defend me against a man, when one waxes wroth without a cause. But, come now, you that are mightier than I, +make trial of the bow, and let us end the contest.” + So saying, he set the bow from him on the ground, leaning it against the jointed, polished door, and hard by he leaned the swift arrow against the fair bow-tip, and then sat down again on the seat from which he had risen. + +Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke among them: “Rise up in order, all you of our company, from left to right, beginning from the place where the cupbearer pours the wine.” + So spoke Antinous, and his word was pleasing to them. Then first arose Leiodes, son of Oenops, +who was their soothsayer, and ever sat by the fair mixing-bowl in the innermost part of the hall; deeds of wanton folly were hateful to him alone, and he was full of indignation at all the wooers. He it was who now first took the bow and swift arrow, and he went and stood upon the threshold, and began to try the bow; +but he could not string it. Ere that might be his hands grew weary, as he sought to draw up the string, his unworn delicate hands; and he spoke among the wooers: + “Friends, it is not I that shall string it; let another take it. For many princes shall this bow rob of spirit and of life, since verily it is better far +to die than to live on and fail of that for the sake of which we ever gather here, waiting expectantly day after day. Now many a man even hopes in his heart and desires to wed Penelope, the wife of Odysseus; but when he shall have made trial of the bow, and seen the outcome, thereafter let him woo +some other of the fair-robed Achaean women with his gifts, and seek to win her; then should Penelope wed him who offers most, and who comes as her fated lord.” + + So he spoke, and set the bow from him, leaning it against the jointed, polished door, +and hard by he leaned the swift arrow against the fair bow-tip, and then sat down on the seat from which he had risen. But Antinous rebuked him, and spoke, and addressed him: “Leiodes, what a word has escaped the barrier of thy teeth, a dread word and grievous! I am angered to hear it, +if forsooth this bow is to rob princes of spirit and of life, because thou art not able to string it. For, I tell thee, thy honored mother did not bear thee of such strength as to draw a bow and shoot arrows; but others of the lordly wooers will soon string it.” + +So he spoke, and called to Melanthius, the goatherd: “Come now, light a fire in the hall, Melanthius; and set by it a great seat with a fleece upon it, and bring forth a great cake of the fat that is within, that we youths may warm the bow, and anoint it with fat, +and so make trial of it, and end the contest.” + So he spoke, and Melanthius straightway rekindled the unwearied fire, and brought and placed by it a great seat with a fleece upon it, and he brought forth a great cake of the fat that was within. Therewith the youths warmed the bow, and made trial of it, but they could not +string it, for they were far lacking in strength. + Now Antinous was still persisting and godlike Eurymachus, leaders of the wooers, who were far the best in valiance; but those other two had gone forth both together from the hall, the neatherd and the swineherd of divine Odysseus; +and after them Odysseus himself went forth from the house. But when they were now outside the gates and the court, he spoke and addressed them with gentle words: + “Neatherd, and thou too swineherd, shall I tell you something or keep it to myself? Nay, my spirit bids me tell it. +What manner of men would you be to defend Odysseus, if he should come from somewhere thus suddenly, and some god should bring him? Would you bear aid to the wooers or to Odysseus? Speak out as your heart and spirit bid you.” + Then the herdsmen of the cattle answered him: +“Father Zeus, oh that thou wouldest fulfil this wish! Grant that that man may come back, and that some god may guide him. Then shouldest thou know what manner of might is mine, and how my hands obey.” + And even in like manner did Eumaeus pray to all the gods that wise Odysseus; might come back to his own home. +But when he knew with certainty the mind of these, he made answer, and spoke to them again, saying: + “At home now in truth am I here before you, my very self. After many grievous toils I am come in the twentieth year to my native land. And I know that by you two +alone of all my thralls is my coming desired, but of the rest have I heard not one praying that I might come back again to my home. But to you two will I tell the truth, even as it shall be. If a god shall subdue the lordly wooers unto me, I will bring you each a wife, and will give you possessions +and a house built near my own, and thereafter you two shall be in my eyes friends and brothers of Telemachus. Nay, come, more than this, I will shew you also a manifest sign, that you may know me well and be assured in heart, even the scar of the wound which long ago a boar dealt me with his white tusk, +when I went to +Parnassus + with the sons of Autolycus.” + So saying, he drew aside the rags from the great scar. And when the two had seen it, and had marked each thing well, they flung their arms about wise Odysseus, and wept; and they kissed his head and shoulders in loving welcome. +And even in like manner Odysseus kissed their heads and hands. And now the light of the sun would have gone down upon their weeping, had not Odysseus himself checked them, and said: + “Cease now from weeping and wailing, lest some one come forth from the hall and see us, and make it known within as well. +But go within one after another, not all together, I first and you thereafter, and let this be made a sign. All the rest, as many as are lordly wooers, will not suffer the bow and the quiver to be given to me; but do thou, goodly Eumaeus, as thou bearest the bow through the halls, +place it in my hands, and bid the women bar the close-fitting doors of their hall. And if any one of them hears groanings or the din of men within our walls, let them not rush out, but remain where they are in silence at their work. +But to thee, goodly Philoetius, do I give charge to fasten with a bar the gate of the court, and swiftly to cast a cord upon it.” + So saying, he entered the stately house, and went and sat down on the seat from which he had risen. And the two slaves of divine Odysseus went in as well. + +Eurymachus was now handling the bow, warming it on this side and on that in the light of the fire; but not even so was he able to string it; and in his noble heart he groaned, and with a burst of anger he spoke and addressed them: + “Out on it! Verily I am grieved for myself and for you all. +It is in no wise for the marriage that I mourn so greatly, grieved though I am; for there are many other Achaean women, some in sea-girt +Ithaca + itself, and some in other cities; but I mourn if in truth we fall so far short of godlike Odysseus in might, seeing that we cannot string +his bow. This is a reproach for men that are yet to be to hear of.” + + Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him: “Eurymachus, this shall not be so, and thou of thyself too knowest it. For to-day throughout the land is the feast of the god +1 +—a holy feast. Who then would bend a bow? Nay, quietly +set it by; and as for the axes—what if we should let them all stand as they are? No man, methinks, will come to the hall of Odysseus, son of Laertes, and carry them off. Nay, come, let the bearer pour drops for libation into the cups, that we may pour libations, and lay aside the curved bow. +And in the morning bid Melanthius, the goatherd, to bring she-goats, far the best in all the herds, that we may lay thigh-pieces on the altar of Apollo, the famed archer; and so make trial of the bow, and end the contest.” + So spoke Antinous, and his word was pleasing to them. +Then the heralds poured water over their hands, and youths filled the bowls brim full of drink, and served out to all, pouring first drops for libation into the cups. But when they had poured libations, and had drunk to their heart's content, then with crafty mind Odysseus of many wiles spoke among them: + +“Hear me, wooers of the glorious queen, that I may say what the heart in my breast bids me. To Eurymachus most of all do I make my prayer, and to godlike Antinous, since this word also of his was spoken aright, namely that for the present you cease to try the bow, and leave the issue with the gods; +and in the morning the god will give the victory to whomsoever he will. But come, give me the polished bow, that in your midst I may prove my hands and strength, whether I have yet might such as was of old in my supple limbs, or whether by now my wanderings and lack of food have destroyed it.” + +So he spoke, and they all waxed exceeding wroth, fearing lest he might string the polished bow. And Antinous rebuked him, and spoke and addressed him: + “Ah, wretched stranger, thou hast no wit, no, not a trace. Art thou not content +that thou feastest undisturbed in our proud company, and lackest naught of the banquet, but hearest our words and our speech, while no other that is a stranger and beggar hears our words? It is wine that wounds thee, honey-sweet wine, which works harm to others too, if one takes it in great gulps, and drinks beyond measure. +It was wine that made foolish even the centaur, glorious Eurytion, in the hall of greathearted Peirithous, when he went to the Lapithae: and when his heart had been made foolish with wine, in his madness he wrought evil in the house of Peirithous. Then grief seized the heroes, +and they leapt up and dragged him forth through the gateway, when they had shorn off his ears and his nostrils with the pitiless bronze, and he, made foolish in heart, went his way, bearing with him the curse of his sin in the folly of his heart. From hence the feud arose between the centaurs and mankind; but it was for himself first that he found evil, being heavy with wine. +Even so do I declare great harm for thee, if thou shalt string the bow, for thou shalt meet with no kindness at the hands of anyone in our land, but we will send thee straightway in a black ship to king Echetus, the maimer of all men, from whose hands thou shalt in no wise escape alive. Nay, then, be still, +and drink thy wine, and do not strive with men younger than thou.” + + Then wise Penelope answered him: “Antinous, it is not well nor just to rob of their due the guests of Telemachus, whosoever he be that comes to this house. Dost thou think that, if yon stranger +strings the great bow of Odysseus, trusting in his strength and his might, he will lead me to his home, and make me his wife? Nay, he himself, I ween, has not this hope in his breast; so let no one of you on this account sit at meat here in sorrow of heart; nay, that were indeed unseemly.” + +Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered her: “Daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, it is not that we think the man will lead thee to his home—that were indeed unseemly—but that we dread the talk of men and women, lest hereafter some base fellow among the Achaeans should say: +‘Truly men weaker far are wooing the wife of a noble man, and cannot string his polished bow. But another, a beggar, that came on his wanderings, easily strung the bow, and shot through the iron.’ Thus will men speak, but to us this would become a reproach.” + +Then wise Penelope answered him again: “Eurymachus, in no wise can there be good report in the land for men who dishonor and consume the house of a prince. Why then do you make this matter +1 + a reproach? This stranger is right tall and well-built, +and declares himself to be born the son of a good father. Nay, come, give him the polished bow and let us see. For thus will I speak out to thee, and this word shall verily be brought to pass; if he shall string the bow, and Apollo grant him glory, I will clothe him with a cloak and tunic, fair raiment, +and will give him a sharp javelin to ward off dogs and men, and a two-edged sword; and I will give him sandals to bind beneath his feet, and will send him whithersoever his heart and spirit bid him go.” + Then wise Telemachus answered her: “My mother, as for the bow, no man of the Achaeans +has a better right than I to give or to deny it to whomsoever I will—no, not all those who lord it in rocky +Ithaca +, or in the islands towards horse-pasturing +Elis +. No man among these shall thwart me against my will, even though I should wish to give this bow outright to the stranger to bear away with him. +But do thou go thy chamber, and busy thyself with thine own tasks, the loom and the distaff, and bid thy handmaids ply their tasks. The bow shall be for men, for all, but most of all for me; since mine is the authority in the house.” + + She then, seized with wonder, went back to her chamber, +for she laid to heart the wise saying of her son. Up to her upper chamber she went with her handmaids, and then bewailed Odysseus, her dear husband, until flashing-eyed Athena cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids. + Now the goodly swineherd had taken the curved bow and was bearing it, +but the wooers all cried out in the halls. And thus would one of the proud youths speak: + “Whither, pray, art thou bearing the curved bow, miserable swineherd, thou man distraught? Soon by thy swine, alone and apart from men, shall the swift hounds devour thee—hounds thyself didst rear—if but Apollo +be gracious to us, and the other immortal gods.” + So they spoke, and he set down the bow, as he bore it, in that very place, seized with fear because many men were crying out aloud in the halls. But Telemachus on the other side called out threateningly: + “Father, bear the bow onward—soon shalt thou rue giving heed to all— +lest, younger though I am, I drive thee to the field, and pelt thee with stones; for in strength I am the better. I would that I were even so much better in strength and might than all the wooers that are in the house; then would I soon send many a one +forth from our house to go his way in evil case; for they devise wickedness.” + So he spoke, but all the wooers laughed merrily at him, and relaxed the bitterness of their anger against Telemachus. Howbeit the swineherd bore the bow through the hall, and came up to wise Odysseus, and put it in his hands. +Then he called forth the nurse Eurycleia, and said to her: + “Telemachus bids thee, wise Eurycleia, to bar the close-fitting doors of the hall, and if any of the women hear within groanings or the din of men within our walls, let them not +rush out, but remain where they are in silence at their work.” + So he spoke, but her word remained unwinged; and she barred the doors of the stately halls. + But in silence Philoetius hastened forth from the house, and barred the gates of the well-fenced court. +Now there lay beneath the portico the cable of a curved ship, made of byblus plant, wherewith he made fast the gates, and then himself went within. Thereafter he came and sat down on the seat from which he had risen, and gazed upon Odysseus; now he was already handling the bow, turning it round and round, and trying it this way and that, +lest worms might have eaten the horns, while its lord was afar. And thus would one speak with a glance at his neighbor: + “Verily he has a shrewd eye, and is a cunning knave with a bow. It may be haply that he has himself such bows stored away at home, or else he is minded to make one, that he thus +turns it this way and that in his hands, the rascally vagabond.” + + And again another of the proud youths would say: “Would that the fellow might find profit in just such measure as he shall prove able ever to string this bow.” + So spoke the wooers, but Odysseus of many wiles, +as soon as he had lifted the great bow and scanned it on every side—even as when a man well-skilled in the lyre and in song easily stretches the string about a new peg, making fast at either end the twisted sheep-gut—so without effort did Odysseus string the great bow. +And he held it in his right hand, and tried the string, which sang sweetly beneath his touch, like to a swallow in tone. But upon the wooers came great grief, and the faces of them changed color, and Zeus thundered loud, shewing forth his signs. Then glad at heart was the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus +that the son of crooked-counselling Cronos sent him an omen, and he took up a swift arrow, which lay by him on the table, bare, but the others were stored within the hollow quiver, even those of which the Achaeans were soon to taste. This he took, and laid upon the bridge of the bow, and drew the bow-string and the notched arrow +even from the chair where he sat, and let fly the shaft with sure aim, and did not miss the end of the handle of one of the axes, but clean through and out at the end passed the arrow weighted with bronze. But he spoke to Telemachus, saying: + “Telemachus, the stranger +that sits in thy halls brings no shame upon thee, nor in any wise did I miss the mark, or labour long in stringing the bow; still is my strength unbroken—not as the wooers scornfully taunt me. But now it is time that supper too be made ready for the Achaeans, while yet there is light, and thereafter must yet other sport be made +with song and with the lyre; for these things are the accompaniments of a feast.” + He spoke, and made a sign with his brows, and Telemachus, the dear son of divine Odysseus, girt about him his sharp sword, and took his spear in his grasp, and stood by the chair at his father's side, armed with gleaming bronze. +But Odysseus of many wiles stripped off his rags and sprang to the great threshold with the bow and the quiver full of arrows, and poured forth the swift arrows right there before his feet, and spoke among the wooers: + +“Lo, now at last is this decisive contest ended; and now as for another mark, which till now no man has ever smitten, I will know +1 + if haply I may strike it, and Apollo grant me glory.” + He spoke, and aimed a bitter arrow at Antinous. Now he was on the point of raising to his lips a fair goblet, +a two-eared cup of gold, and was even now handling it, that he might drink of the wine, and death was not in his thoughts. For who among men that sat at meat could think that one man among many, how strong soever he were, would bring upon himself evil death and black fate? +But Odysseus took aim, and smote him with an arrow in the throat, and clean out through the tender neck passed the point; he sank to one side, and the cup fell from his hand as he was smitten, and straightway up through his nostrils there came a thick jet of the blood of man; and quickly +he thrust the table from him with a kick of his foot, and spilled all the food on the floor, and the bread and roast flesh were befouled. Then into uproar broke the wooers through the halls, as they saw the man fallen, and from their high seats they sprang, driven in fear through the hall, gazing everywhere along the well-built walls; +but nowhere was there a shield or mighty spear to seize. But they railed at Odysseus with angry words: + “Stranger, to thy cost dost thou shoot at men; never again shalt thou take part in other contests; now is thy utter destruction sure. Aye, for thou hast now slain a man who was far the best +of the youths in +Ithaca +; therefore shall vultures devour thee here.” + So spoke +1 + each man, for verily they thought that he had not slain the man willfully; and in their folly they knew not this, that over themselves one and all the cords of destruction had been made fast. Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus of many wiles answered them: + +“Ye dogs, ye thought that I should never more come home from the land of the Trojans, seeing that ye wasted my house, and lay with the maidservants by force, and while yet I lived covertly wooed my wife, having no fear of the gods, who hold broad heaven, +nor of the indignation of men, that is to be hereafter. Now over you one and all have the cords of destruction been made fast.” + + So he spoke, and thereat +2 + pale fear seized them all, and each man gazed about to see how he might escape utter destruction; Eurymachus alone answered him, and said: + +“If thou art indeed Odysseus of +Ithaca +, come home again, this that thou sayest is just regarding all that the Achaeans have wrought—many deeds of wanton folly in thy halls and many in the field. But he now lies dead, who was to blame for all, even Antinous; for it was he who set on foot these deeds, +not so much through desire or need of the marriage, but with another purpose, which the son of Cronos did not bring to pass for him, that in the land of settled +Ithaca + he might himself be king, and might lie in wait for thy son and slay him. But now he lies slain, as was his due, but do thou spare the people +that are thine own; and we will hereafter go about the land and get thee recompense for all that has been drunk and eaten in thy halls, and will bring each man for himself in requital the worth of twenty oxen, and pay thee back in bronze and gold until thy heart be warmed; but till then no one could blame thee that thou art wroth.” + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus of many wiles answered him: “Eurymachus, not even if you should give me in requital all that your fathers left you, even all that you now have, and should add other wealth thereto from whence ye might, not even so would I henceforth stay my hands from slaying until the wooers had paid the full price of all their transgression. +Now it lies before you to fight in open fight, or to flee, if any man may avoid death and the fates; but many a one, methinks, shall not escape from utter destruction.” + So he spoke, and their knees were loosened where they stood, and their hearts melted; and Eurymachus spoke among them again a second time: + +“Friends, for you see that this man will not stay his invincible hands, but now that he was got the polished bow and the quiver, will shoot from the smooth threshold until he slays us all, come, let us take thought of battle. Draw your swords, and hold the tables before you against +the arrows that bring swift death, and let us all have at him in a body, in the hope that we may thrust him from the threshold and the doorway, and go throughout the city, and so the alarm be swiftly raised; then should this fellow soon have shot his last.” + + So saying, he drew his sharp sword +of bronze, two-edged, and sprang upon Odysseus with a terrible cry, but at the same instant goodly Odysseus let fly an arrow, and struck him upon the breast beside the nipple, and fixed the swift shaft in his liver. And Eurymachus let the sword fall from his hand to the ground, and writhing over the table +he bowed and fell, and spilt upon the floor the food and the two-handled cup. With his brow he beat the earth in agony of soul, and with both his feet he spurned and shook the chair, and a mist was shed over his eyes. + Then Amphinomus made at glorious Odysseus, +rushing straight upon him, and had drawn his sharp sword, in hope that Odysseus might give way before him from the door. But Telemachus was too quick for him, and cast, and smote him from behind with his bronze-tipped spear between the shoulders, and drove it through his breast; and he fell with a thud, and struck the ground full with his forehead. +But Telemachus sprang back, leaving the long spear where it was, fixed in Amphinomus, for he greatly feared lest, as he sought to draw forth the long spear, one of the Achaeans might rush upon him and stab with his sword, or deal him a blow as he stooped over the corpse. So he started to run, and came quickly to his dear father, +and standing by his side spoke to him winged words: + “Father, now will I bring thee a shield and two spears and a helmet all of bronze, well fitted to the temples, and when I come back I will arm myself, and will give armour likewise to the swineherd and yon neatherd; for it is better to be clothed in armour.” + +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him and said: “Run, and bring them, while yet I have arrows to defend me, lest they thrust me from the door, alone as I am.” + So he spoke, and Telemachus hearkened to his dear father, and went his way to the store-chamber where the glorious arms were stored. +Thence he took four shields and eight spears and four helmets of bronze, with thick plumes of horse-hair; and he bore them forth, and quickly came to his dear father. Then first of all he himself girded the bronze about his body, and even in like manner the two slaves put on them the beautiful armour, +and took their stand on either side of Odysseus, the wise and crafty-minded. + But he, so long as he had arrows to defend him, would ever aim, and smite the wooers one by one in his house, and they fell thick and fast. But when the arrows failed the prince, as he shot, +he leaned the bow against the door-post of the well-built hall, and let it stand against the bright entrance wall. For himself, he put about his shoulders a four-fold shield, and set on his mighty head a well-wrought helmet with horse-hair plume, and terribly did the plume wave above him; +and he took two mighty spears, tipped with bronze. + + Now there was in the well-built wall a certain postern door, +1 + and along the topmost level of the threshold of the well-built hall was a way into a passage, and well-fitting folding doors closed it. This postern Odysseus bade the goodly swineherd watch, +taking his stand close by, for there was but a single way to reach it. Then Agelaus spoke among the wooers, and declared his word to all: + “Friends, will not one mount up by the postern door, and tell the people, that so an alarm may be raised straightway? Then should this fellow soon have shot his last.” + +Then Melanthius, the goatherd, answered him: “It may not be, Agelaus, fostered of Zeus, for terribly near is the fair door of the court, and the mouth of the passage is hard. One man could bar the way for all, so he were valiant. But come, let me bring you +from the store-room arms to don, for it is within, methinks, and nowhere else that Odysseus and his glorious son have laid the arms.” + So saying, Melanthius, the goatherd, mounted up by the steps +2 + of the hall to the store-rooms of Odysseus. Thence he took twelve shields, as many spears, +and as many helmets of bronze with thick plumes of horsehair, and went his way, and quickly brought and gave them to the wooers. Then the knees of Odysseus were loosened and his heart melted, when he saw them donning armour and brandishing long spears in their hands, and great did his task seem to him; +but quickly he spoke to Telemachus winged words: + “Telemachus, verily some one of the women in the halls is rousing against us an evil battle, or haply it is Melanthius.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Father, it is I myself that am at fault in this, and no other +is to blame, for I left the close-fitting door of the store-room open: their watcher was better than I. But go now, goodly Eumaeus, close the door of the store-room, and see whether it is one of the women who does this, or Melanthius, son of Dolius, as I suspect.” + +Thus they spoke to one another. But Melanthius, the goatherd, went again to the store-room to bring beautiful armour; howbeit the goodly swineherd marked him, and straightway said to Odysseus who was near: + “Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, +yonder again is the pestilent fellow, whom we ourselves suspect, going to the store-room. But do thou tell me truly, shall I slay him, if I prove the better man, or shall I bring him hither to thee, that the fellow may pay for the many crimes that he has planned in thy house?” +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him and said: “Verily I and Telemachus will keep the lordly wooers within the hall, how fierce soever they be, but do you two bend behind him his feet and his arms above, and cast him into the store-room, and tie boards behind his back; +then make fast to his body a twisted rope, and hoist him up the tall pillar, till you bring him near the roof-beams, that he may keep alive long, and suffer grievous torment.” + So he spoke, and they readily hearkened and obeyed. Forth they went to the store-room, unseen of him who was within. +He truly was seeking for armour in the innermost part of the store-room, and the two lay in wait, standing on either side of the door-posts. And when Melanthius, the goatherd, was about to pass over the threshold, bearing in one hand a goodly helm, and in the other a broad old shield, flecked with rust— +the shield of lord Laertes, which he was wont to bear in his youth, but now it was laid by, and the seams of its straps were loosened—then the two sprang upon him and seized him. They dragged him in by the hair, and flung him down on the ground in sore terror, and bound his feet and hands with galling bonds, +binding them firmly behind his back, as the son of Laertes bade them, the much enduring, goodly Odysseus; and they made fast to his body a twisted rope, and hoisted him up the tall pillar, till they brought him near the roof-beams. Then didst thou mock him, swineherd Eumaeus, and say: + +“Now verily, Melanthius, shalt thou watch the whole night through, lying on a soft bed, as befits thee, nor shalt thou fail to mark the early Dawn, golden-throned, as she comes forth from the streams of Oceanus, at the hour when thou art wont to drive thy she-goats for the wooers, to prepare a feast in the halls.” + +So he was left there, stretched in the direful bond, but the two put on their armour, and closed the bright door, and went to Odysseus, the wise and crafty-minded. There they stood, breathing fury, those on the threshold but four, while those within the hall were many and brave. +Then Athena, daughter of Zeus, drew near them, like unto Mentor in form and voice, and Odysseus saw her, and was glad; and he spoke, saying: + “Mentor, ward off ruin, and remember me, thy dear comrade, who often befriended thee. Thou art of like age with myself.” +So he spoke, deeming that it was Athena, the rouser of hosts. But the wooers on the other side shouted aloud in the hall, and first Agelaus, son of Damastor, rebuked Athena, saying: + “Mentor, let not Odysseus beguile thee with his words to fight against the wooers and bear aid to himself. +For in this wise, methinks, shall our will be brought to pass: when we have killed these men, father and son, thereafter shalt thou too be slain with them, such deeds art thou minded to do in these halls: with thine own head shalt thou pay the price. But when with the sword we have stripped you of your might, +all the possessions that thou hast within doors and in the fields we will mingle with those of Odysseus, and will not suffer thy sons or thy daughters to dwell in thy halls, nor thy faithful wife to fare at large in the city of +Ithaca +.” + So he spoke, and Athena waxed the more wroth at heart, +and she rebuked Odysseus with angry words: + “Odysseus, no longer hast thou steadfast might nor any valor, such as was thine when for high-born Helen of the white arms thou didst for nine years battle with the Trojans unceasingly, and many men thou slewest in dread conflict, +and by thy counsel was the broad-wayed city of Priam taken. How is it that now, when thou hast come to thy house and thine own possessions, thou shrinkest with wailing from playing the man, and that against the wooers? Nay, friend, come hither and take thy stand by my side, and see my deeds, that thou mayest know what manner of man +Mentor, son of Alcimus, is to repay kindness in the midst of the foe.” + She spoke, but did not give him strength utterly to turn the course of the battle, but still made trial of the might and valor of Odysseus and his glorious son; and for herself, +she flew up to the roof-beam of the smoky hall, and sat there in the guise of a swallow to look upon. + Now the wooers were urged on by Agelaus, son of Damastor, by Eurynomus, and Amphimedon and Demoptolemus and Peisander, son of Polyctor, and wise Polybus, for these were in valiance far the best of all the wooers +who still lived and fought for their lives; but the rest the bow and the swiftly-falling arrows had by now laid low. But Agelaus spoke among them, and declared his word to all: + “Friends, now at length will this man stay his invincible hands. Lo, Mentor has gone from him, and has but uttered empty boasts, +and they are left alone there at the outer doors. Therefore hurl not now upon them your long spears all at once, but come, do you six throw first in the hope that Zeus may grant that Odysseus be struck, and that we win glory. Of the rest there is no care, once he shall have fallen.” +So he spoke, and they all hurled their spears, as he bade, eagerly; but Athena made all vain. One man smote the door-post of the well-built hall, another the close-fitting door, another's ashen spear, heavy with bronze, struck upon the wall. +But when they had avoided the spears of the wooers, first among them spoke the much-enduring goodly Odysseus: + “Friends, now I give the word that we too cast our spears into the throng of the wooers, who are minded to slay us in addition to their former wrongs.” + +So he spoke, and they all hurled their sharp spears with sure aim. Odysseus smote Demoptolemus, Telemachus Euryades, the swineherd Elatus, and the herdsmen of the cattle slew Peisander. So these all at the same moment bit the vast floor with their teeth, +and the wooers drew back to the innermost part of the hall. But the others sprang forward and drew forth their spears from the dead bodies. + Then again the wooers hurled their sharp spears eagerly, but Athena made them vain, many as they were. One man +smote the door-post of the well-built hall, another the close-fitting door, another's ashen spear, heavy with bronze, struck upon the wall. But Amphimedon smote Telemachus on the hand by the wrist, a grazing blow, and the bronze tore the surface of the skin. And Ctesippus with his long spear +grazed the shoulder of Eumaeus above his shield, but the spear flew over and fell upon the ground. Then once more Odysseus, the wise and crafty-minded, and his company hurled their sharp spears into the throng of the wooers, and again Odysseus, the sacker of cities, smote Eurydamas, and Telemachus Amphimedon, the swineherd Polybus, +and thereafter the herdsman of the cattle smote Ctesippus in the breast, and boasted over him, saying: + “Son of Polytherses, thou lover of revilings, never more at all do thou speak big, yielding to folly, but leave the matter to the gods, since verily they are mightier far. +This is thy gift of welcome to match the hoof which of late thou gavest to godlike Odysseus, when he went begging through the house.” + + So spoke the herdsman of the sleek cattle. But Odysseus wounded the son of Damastor in close fight with a thrust of his long spear, and Telemachus wounded Leiocritus, son of Evenor, +with a spear-thrust full upon the groin, and drove the bronze clean through, and he fell headlong and struck the ground full with his forehead. Then Athena held up her aegis, the bane of mortals, on high from the roof, and the minds of the wooers were panic-stricken, and they fled through the halls like a herd of kine +that the darting gad-fly falls upon and drives along in the season of spring, when the long days come. And even as vultures of crooked talons and curved beaks come forth from the mountains and dart upon smaller birds, which scour the plain, flying low beneath the clouds, +and the vultures pounce upon them and slay them, and they have no defence or way of escape, and men rejoice at the chase; even so did those others set upon the wooers and smite them left and right through the hall. And therefrom rose hideous groaning as heads were smitten, and all the floor swam with blood. + +But Leiodes rushed forward and clasped the knees of Odysseus, and made entreaty to him, and spoke winged words: + “By thy knees I beseech thee, Odysseus, and do thou respect me and have pity. For I declare to thee that never yet have I wronged one of the women in thy halls by wanton word or deed; nay, +I sought to check the other wooers, when any would do such deeds. But they would not hearken to me to withhold their hands from evil, wherefore through their wanton folly they have met a cruel doom. Yet I, the soothsayer among them, that have done no wrong, shall be laid low even as they; so true is it that there is no gratitude in aftertime for good deeds done.” + +Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus of many wiles answered him: “If verily thou dost declare thyself the soothsayer among these men, often, I ween, must thou have prayed in the halls that far from me the issue of a joyous return might be removed, and that it might be with thee that my dear wife should go and bear thee children; +wherefore thou shalt not escape grievous death.” + So saying, he seized in his strong hand a sword that lay near, which Agelaus had let fall to the ground when he was slain, and with this he smote him full upon the neck. And even while he was yet speaking his head was mingled with the dust. +Now the son of Terpes, the minstrel, was still seeking to escape black fate, even Phemius, who sang perforce among the wooers. He stood with the clear-toned lyre in his hands near the postern door, and he was divided in mind whether he should slip out from the hall +and sit down by the well-built altar of great Zeus, the God of the court, whereon Laertes and Odysseus had burned many things of oxen, or whether he should rush forward and clasp the knees of Odysseus in prayer. And as he pondered this seemed to him the better course, to clasp the knees of Odysseus, son of Laertes. +So he laid the hollow lyre on the ground between the mixing-bowl and the silver-studded chair, and himself rushed forward and clasped Odysseus by the knees, and made entreaty to him, and spoke winged words: + “By thy knees I beseech thee, Odysseus, and do thou respect me and have pity; +on thine own self shall sorrow come hereafter, if thou slayest the minstrel, even me, who sing to gods and men. Self-taught am I, and the god has planted in my heart all manner of lays, and worthy am I to sing to thee as to a god; wherefore be not eager to cut my throat. +Aye, and Telemachus too will bear witness to this, thy dear son, how that through no will or desire of mine I was wont to resort to thy house to sing to the wooers at their feasts, but they, being far more and stronger, led me hither perforce.” + So he spoke, and the strong and mighty Telemachus heard him, +and quickly spoke to his father, who was near: + “Stay thy hand, and do not wound this guiltless man with the sword. Aye, and let us save also the herald, Medon, who ever cared for me in our house, when I was a child—unless perchance Philoetius has already slain him, or the swineherd, +or he met thee as thou didst rage through the house.” + So he spoke, and Medon, wise of heart, heard him, for he lay crouching beneath a chair, and had clothed himself in the skin of an ox, newly flayed, seeking to avoid black fate. Straightway he rose from beneath the chair and stripped off the ox-hide, +and then rushed forward and clasped Telemachus by the knees, and made entreaty to him, and spoke winged words: + “Friend, here I am; stay thou thy hand and bid thy father stay his, lest in the greatness of his might he harm me with the sharp bronze in his wrath against the wooers, who wasted his +possessions in the halls, and in their folly honored thee not at all.” + But Odysseus of many wiles smiled, and said to him: “Be of good cheer, for he has delivered thee and saved thee, that thou mayest know in thy heart and tell also to another, how far better is the doing of good deeds than of evil. +But go forth from the halls and sit down outside in the court away from the slaughter, thou and the minstrel of many songs, till I shall have finished all that I must needs do in the house.” + + So he spoke, and the two went their way forth from the hall and sat down by the altar of great Zeus, +gazing about on every side, ever expecting death. And Odysseus too gazed about all through his house to see if any man yet lived, and was hiding there, seeking to avoid black fate. But he found them one and all fallen in the blood and dust—all the host of them, like fishes that fishermen +have drawn forth in the meshes of their net from the grey sea upon the curving beach, and they all lie heaped upon the sand, longing for the waves of the sea, and the bright sun takes away their life; even so now the wooers lay heaped upon each other. +Then Odysseus of many wiles spoke to Telemachus: + “Telemachus, go call me the nurse Eurycleia, that I may tell her the word that is in my mind.” + So he spoke, and Telemachus hearkened to his dear father, and shaking the door said to Eurycleia: + +“Up and hither, aged wife, that hast charge of all our woman servants in the halls. Come, my father calls thee, that he may tell thee somewhat.” + So he spoke, but her word remained unwinged; she opened the doors of the stately hall, +and came forth, and Telemachus led the way before her. There she found Odysseus amid the bodies of the slain, all befouled with blood and filth, like a lion that comes from feeding on an ox of the farmstead, and all his breast and his cheeks on either side +are stained with blood, and he is terrible to look upon; even so was Odysseus befouled, his feet and his hands above. But she, when she beheld the corpses and the great welter of blood, made ready to utter loud cries of joy, seeing what a deed had been wrought. But Odysseus stayed and checked her in her eagerness, +and spoke and addressed her with winged words: + “In thine own heart rejoice, old dame, but refrain thyself and cry not out aloud: an unholy thing is it to boast over slain men. These men here has the fate of the gods destroyed and their own reckless deeds, for they honored no one of men upon the earth, +were he evil or good, whosoever came among them; wherefore by their wanton folly they brought on themselves a shameful death. But come, name thou over to me the women in the halls, which ones dishonor me and which are guiltless.” + Then the dear nurse Eurycleia answered him: +“Then verily, my child, will I tell thee all the truth. Fifty women servants hast thou in the halls, women that we have taught to do their work, to card the wool and bear the lot of slaves. Of these twelve in all have set their feet in the way of shamelessness, +and regard not me nor Penelope herself. And Telemachus is but newly grown to manhood, and his mother would not suffer him to rule over the women servants. But come, let me go up to the bright upper chamber and bear word to thy wife, on whom some god has sent sleep.” +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Wake her not yet, but do thou bid come hither the women, who in time past have contrived shameful deeds.” + So he spoke, and the old dame went forth through the hall to bear tidings to the women, and bid them come; +but Odysseus called to him Telemachus and the neatherd and the swineherd, and spoke to them winged words: + “Begin now to bear forth the dead bodies and bid the women help you, and thereafter cleanse the beautiful chairs and the tables with water and porous sponges. +But when you have set all the house in order, lead the women forth from the well-built hall to a place between the dome +1 + and the goodly fence of the court, and there strike them down with your long swords, until you take away the life from them all, and they forget the love +which they had at the bidding of the wooers, when they lay with them in secret.” + So he spoke, and the women came all in a throng, wailing terribly and shedding big tears. First they bore forth the bodies of the slain and set them down beneath the portico of the well-fenced court, +propping them one against the other; and Odysseus himself gave them orders and hastened on the work, and they bore the bodies forth perforce. Then they cleansed the beautiful high seats and the tables with water and porous sponges. But Telemachus and the neatherd and the swineherd +scraped with hoes the floor of the well-built house, and the women bore the scrapings forth and threw them out of doors. But when they had set in order all the hall, they led the women forth from the well-built hall to a place between the dome and the goodly fence of the court, +and shut them up in a narrow space, whence it was in no wise possible to escape. Then wise Telemachus was the first to speak to the others, saying: + “Let it be by no clean death that I take the lives of these women, who on my own head have poured reproaches and on my mother, and were wont to lie with the wooers.” +So he spoke, and tied the cable of a dark-prowed ship to a great pillar and flung it round the dome, stretching it on high that none might reach the ground with her feet. And as when long-winged thrushes or doves fall into a snare that is set in a thicket, +as they seek to reach their resting-place, and hateful is the bed that gives them welcome, even so the women held their heads in a row, and round the necks of all nooses were laid, that they might die most piteously. And they writhed a little while with their feet, but not long. + Then forth they led Melanthius through the doorway and the court, +and cut off his nostrils and his ears with the pitiless bronze, and drew out his vitals for the dogs to eat raw, and cut off his hands and his feet in their furious wrath. + Thereafter they washed their hands and feet, and went into the house to Odysseus, and the work was done. +But Odysseus said to the dear nurse Eurycleia: “Bring sulphur, old dame, to cleanse from pollution, and bring me fire, that I may purge the hall; and do thou bid Penelope come hither with her handmaidens, and order all the women in the house to come.” + +Then the dear nurse Eurycleia answered him: “Yea, all this, my child, hast thou spoken aright. But come, let me bring thee a cloak and a tunic for raiment, and do not thou stand thus in the halls with thy broad shoulders wrapped in rags; that were a cause for blame.” + +Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her: “First of all let a fire now be made me in the hall.” + So he spoke, and the dear nurse Eurycleia did not disobey, but brought fire and sulphur; but Odysseus throughly purged the hall and the house and the court. + +Then the old dame went back through the fair house of Odysseus to bear tidings to the women and bid them come; and they came forth from their hall with torches in their hands. They thronged about Odysseus and embraced him, and clasped and kissed his head and shoulders +and his hands in loving welcome; and a sweet longing seized him to weep and wail, for in his heart he knew them all. +Then the old dame went up to the upper chamber, laughing aloud, to tell her mistress that her dear husband was in the house. Her knees moved nimbly, but her feet trotted along beneath her; +1 + and she stood above her lady's head, and spoke to her, and said: + +“Awake, Penelope, dear child, that with thine own eyes thou mayest see what thou desirest all thy days. Odysseus is here, and has come home, late though his coming has been, and has slain the proud wooers who vexed his house, and devoured his substance, and oppressed his son.” + +Then wise Penelope answered her: “Dear nurse, the gods have made thee mad, they who can make foolish even one who is full wise, and set the simple-minded in the paths of understanding; it is they that have marred thy wits, though heretofore thou wast sound of mind. +Why dost thou mock me, who have a heart full of sorrow, to tell me this wild tale, and dost rouse me out of slumber, the sweet slumber that bound me and enfolded my eyelids? For never yet have I slept so sound since the day when Odysseus went forth to see evil +Ilios + that should not be named. +Nay come now, go down and back to the women's hall, for if any other of the women that are mine had come and told me this, and had roused me out of sleep, straightway would I have sent her back in sorry wise to return again to the hall, but to thee old age shall bring this profit.” + +Then the dear nurse Eurycleia answered her: “I mock thee not, dear child, but in very truth Odysseus is here, and has come home, even as I tell thee. He is that stranger to whom all men did dishonor in the halls. But Telemachus long ago knew that he was here, +yet in his prudence he hid the purpose of his father, till he should take vengeance on the violence of overweening men.” + So she spoke, and Penelope was glad, and she leapt from her bed and flung her arms about the old woman and let the tears fall from her eyelids; and she spoke, and addressed her with winged words: + +“Come now, dear nurse, I pray thee tell me truly, if verily he has come home, as thou sayest, how he put forth his hands upon the shameless wooers, all alone as he was, while they remained always in a body in the house.” + Then the dear nurse Eurycleia answered her: +“I saw not, I asked not; only I heard the groaning of men that were being slain. As for us women, we sat terror-stricken in the innermost part of our well-built chambers, and the close-fitting doors shut us in, until the hour when thy son Telemachus called me from the hall, for his father had sent him forth to call me. +Then I found Odysseus standing among the bodies of the slain, and they, stretched all around him on the hard floor, lay one upon the other; the sight would have warmed thy heart with cheer. +1 + + And now the bodies are all gathered together at the gates of the court, +but he is purging the fair house with sulphur, and has kindled a great fire, and sent me forth to call thee. Nay, come with me, that the hearts of you two may enter into joy, for you have suffered many woes. But now at length has this thy long desire been fulfilled: +he has come himself, alive to his own hearth, and he has found both thee and his son in the halls; while as for those, even the wooers, who wrought him evil, on them has he taken vengeance one and all in his house.” + Then wise Penelope answered her: “Dear nurse, boast not yet loudly over them with laughter. +Thou knowest how welcome the sight of him in the halls would be to all, but above all to me and to his son, born of us two. But this is no true tale, as thou tellest it; nay, some one of the immortals has slain the lordly wooers in wrath at their grievous insolence and their evil deeds. +For they honored no one among men upon the earth, were he evil or good, whosoever came among them; therefore it is through their own wanton folly that they have suffered evil. But Odysseus far away has lost his return to the land of +Achaea +, and is lost himself.” + Then the dear nurse Eurycleia answered her: +“My child, what a word has escaped the barrier of thy teeth, in that thou saidst that thy husband, who even now is here, at his own hearth, would never more return! Thy heart is ever unbelieving. Nay come, I will tell thee a manifest sign besides, even the scar of the wound which long ago the boar dealt him with his white tusk. +This I marked while I washed his feet, and was fain to tell it to thee as well, but he laid his hand upon my mouth, and in the great wisdom of his heart would not suffer me to speak. So come with me; but I will set my very life at stake that, if I deceive thee, thou shouldest slay me by a most pitiful death.” + +Then wise Penelope answered her: “Dear nurse, it is hard for thee to comprehend the counsels of the gods that are forever, how wise soever thou art. Nevertheless let us go to my son, that I may see the wooers dead and him that slew them.” +So saying, she went down from the upper chamber, and much her heart pondered whether she should stand aloof and question her dear husband, or whether she should go up to him, and clasp and kiss his head and hands. But when she had come in and had passed over the stone threshold, she sat down opposite Odysseus in the light of the fire +beside the further wall; but he was sitting by a tall pillar, looking down, and waiting to see whether his noble wife would say aught to him, when her eyes beheld him. Howbeit she sat long in silence, and amazement came upon her soul; and now with her eyes she would look full upon his face, and now again +she would fail to know him, for that he had upon him mean raiment. But Telemachus rebuked her, and spoke, and addressed her: + “My mother, cruel mother, that hast an unyielding heart, why dost thou thus hold aloof from my father, and dost not sit by his side and ask and question him? +No other woman would harden her heart as thou dost, and stand aloof from her husband, who after many grievous toils had come back to her in the twentieth year to his native land: but thy heart is ever harder than stone.” + Then wise Penelope answered him: +“My child, the heart in my breast is lost in wonder, and I have no power to speak at all, nor to ask a question, nor to look him in the face. But if in very truth he is Odysseus, and has come home, we two shall surely know one another more certainly; +for we have signs which we two alone know, signs hidden from others.” + So she spoke, and the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus smiled, and straightway spoke to Telemachus winged words: + “Telemachus, suffer now thy mother to test me in the halls; presently shall she win more certain knowledge. +But now because I am foul, and am clad about my body in mean clothing, she scorns me, and will not yet admit that I am he. But for us, let us take thought how all may be the very best. For whoso has slain but one man in a land, even though it be a man that leaves not many behind to avenge him, +he goes into exile, and leaves his kindred and his native land; but we have slain those who were the very stay of the city, far the noblest of the youths of +Ithaca +. Of this I bid thee take thought.” + Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Do thou thyself look to this, dear father; for thy +counsel, they say, is the best among men, nor could any other of mortal men vie with thee. As for us, we will follow with thee eagerly, nor methinks shall we be wanting in valor, so far as we have strength.” + + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him and said: +“Then will I tell thee what seems to me to be the best way. First bathe yourselves, and put on your tunics, and bid the handmaids in the halls to take their raiment. But let the divine minstrel with his clear-toned lyre in hand be our leader in the gladsome dance, +that any man who hears the sound from without, whether a passer-by or one of those who dwell around, may say that it is a wedding feast; and so the rumor of the slaying of the wooers shall not be spread abroad throughout the city before we go forth to our well-wooded farm. There +shall we afterwards devise whatever advantage the Olympian may vouchsafe us.” + So he spoke, and they all readily hearkened and obeyed. First they bathed and put on their tunics, and the women arrayed themselves, and the divine minstrel took the hollow lyre and aroused in them the desire +of sweet song and goodly dance. So the great hall resounded all about with the tread of dancing men and of fair-girdled women; and thus would one speak who heard the noise from without the house: + “Aye, verily some one has wedded the queen wooed of many. +Cruel she was, nor had she the heart to keep the great house of her wedded husband to the end, even till he should come.” + So they would say, but they knew not how these things were. Meanwhile the housewife Eurynome bathed the great-hearted Odysseus in his house, and anointed him with oil, +and cast about him a fair cloak and a tunic; and over his head Athena shed abundant beauty, making him taller to look upon and mightier, and from his head she made locks to flow in curls like the hyacinth flower. And as when a man overlays silver with gold, +a cunning workman whom Hephaestus and Pallas Athena have taught all manner of craft, and full of grace is the work he produces, even so the goddess shed grace on his head and shoulders, and forth from the bath he came, in form like unto the immortals. Then he sat down again on the chair from which he had risen, +opposite his wife; and he spoke to her and said: + “Strange lady! to thee beyond all women have the dwellers on +Olympus + given a heart that cannot be softened. No other woman would harden her heart as thou dost, and stand aloof from her husband who after many grievous toils +had come to her in the twentieth year to his native land. Nay come, nurse, strew me a couch, that all alone I may lay me down, for verily the heart in her breast is of iron.” + Then wise Penelope answered him: “Strange sir, I am neither in any wise proud, nor do I scorn thee, +nor yet am I too greatly amazed, but right well do I know what manner of man thou wast, when thou wentest forth from +Ithaca + on thy long-oared ship. Yet come, Eurycleia, strew for him the stout bedstead outside the well-built bridal chamber which he made himself. Thither do ye bring for him the stout bedstead, and cast upon it bedding, +fleeces and cloaks and bright coverlets.” + + So she spoke, and made trial of her husband. But Odysseus, in a burst of anger, spoke to his true-hearted wife, and said: “Woman, truly this is a bitter word that thou hast spoken. Who has set my bed elsewhere? Hard would it be for one, +though never so skilled, unless a god himself should come and easily by his will set it in another place. But of men there is no mortal that lives, be he never so young and strong, who could easily pry it from its place, for a great token is wrought in the fashioned bed, and it was I that built it and none other. +A bush of long-leafed olive was growing within the court, strong and vigorous, and girth it was like a pillar. Round about this I built my chamber, till I had finished it, with close-set stones, and I roofed it over well, and added to it jointed doors, close-fitting. +Thereafter I cut away the leafy branches of the long-leafed olive, and, trimming the trunk from the root, I smoothed it around with the adze well and cunningly, and made it straight to the line, thus fashioning the bed-post; and I bored it all with the augur. Beginning with this I hewed out my bed, till I had finished it, +inlaying it with gold and silver and ivory, and I stretched on it a thong of ox-hide, bright with purple. Thus do I declare to thee this token; but I know not, woman, whether my bedstead is still fast in its place, or whether by now some man has cut from beneath the olive stump, and set the bedstead elsewhere.” + +So he spoke, and her knees were loosened where she sat, and her heart melted, as she knew the sure tokens which Odysseus told her. Then with a burst of tears she ran straight toward him, and flung her arms about the neck of Odysseus, and kissed his head, and spoke, saying: + “Be not vexed with me, Odysseus, for in all else +thou wast ever the wisest of men. It is the gods that gave us sorrow, the gods who begrudged that we two should remain with each other and enjoy our youth, and come to the threshold of old age. But be not now wroth with me for this, nor full of indignation, because at the first, when I saw thee, I did not thus give thee welcome. +For always the heart in my breast was full of dread, lest some man should come and beguile me with his words; for there are many that plan devices of evil. Nay, even Argive Helen, daughter of Zeus, would not have lain in love with a man of another folk, +had she known that the warlike sons of the Achaeans were to bring her home again to her dear native land. Yet verily in her case a god prompted her to work a shameful deed; nor until then did she lay up in her mind the thought of that folly, the grievous folly from which at the first sorrow came upon us too. +But now, since thou hast told the clear tokens of our bed, which no mortal beside has ever seen save thee and me alone and one single handmaid, the daughter of Actor, whom my father gave me or ever I came hither, even her who kept the doors of our strong bridal chamber, +lo, thou dost convince my heart, unbending as it is.” + + So she spoke, and in his heart aroused yet more the desire for lamentation; and he wept, holding in his arms his dear and true-hearted wife. And welcome as is the sight of land to men that swim, whose well-built ship Poseidon +has smitten on the sea as it was driven on by the wind and the swollen wave, and but few have made their escape from the gray sea to the shore by swimming, and thickly are their bodies crusted with brine, and gladly have they set foot on the land and escaped from their evil case; even so welcome to her was her husband, as she gazed upon him, +and from his neck she could in no wise let her white arms go. And now would the rosy-fingered Dawn have arisen upon their weeping, had not the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, taken other counsel. The long night she held back at the end of its course, and likewise stayed the golden-throned Dawn at the streams of Oceanus, and would not suffer her +to yoke her swift-footed horses that bring light to men, Lampus and Phaethon, who are the colts that bear the Dawn. + Then to his wife said Odysseus of many wiles: “Wife, we have not yet come to the end of all our trials, but still hereafter there is to be measureless toil, +long and hard, which I must fulfil to the end; for so did the spirit of Teiresias foretell to me on the day when I went down into the house of Hades to enquire concerning the return of my comrades and myself. But come, wife, let us to bed, that +lulled now by sweet slumber we may take our joy of rest.” + Then wise Penelope answered him: “Thy bed shall be ready for thee whensoever thy heart shall desire it, since the gods have indeed caused thee to come back to thy well-built house and thy native land. +But since thou hast bethought thee of this, and a god has put it into thy heart, come, tell me of this trial, for in time to come, methinks, I shall learn of it, and to know it at once is no whit worse.” + + And Odysseus of many wiles answered her, and said: “Strange lady! why dost thou now so urgently bid me +tell thee? Yet I will declare it, and will hide nothing. Verily thy heart shall have no joy of it, even as I myself have none; for Teiresias bade me go forth to full many cities of men, bearing a shapely oar in my hands, till I should come +to men that know naught of the sea, and eat not of food mingled with salt; aye, and they know naught of ships with purple cheeks, or of shapely oars that serve as wings to ships. And he told me this sign, right manifest; nor will I hide it from thee. When another wayfarer, on meeting me, +should say that I had a winnowing fan on my stout shoulder, then he bade me fix my oar in the earth, and make goodly offerings to lord Poseidon—a ram and a bull and a boar, that mates with sows—and depart for my home, and offer sacred hecatombs +to the immortal gods, who hold broad heaven, to each one in due order. And death shall come to me myself far from the sea, a death so gentle, that shall lay me low, when I am overcome with sleek old age, and my people shall dwell in prosperity around me. All this, he said, should I see fulfilled.” + +Then wise Penelope answered him: “If verily the gods are to bring about for thee a happier old age, there is hope then that thou wilt find an escape from evil.” + Thus they spoke to one another; and meanwhile Eurynome and the nurse made ready the bed +of soft coverlets by the light of blazing torches. But when they had busily spread the stout-built bedstead, the old nurse went back to her chamber to lie down, and Eurynome, the maiden of the bedchamber, led them on their way to the couch with a torch in her hands; +and when she had led them to the bridal chamber, she went back. And they then gladly came to the place of the couch that was theirs of old. But Telemachus and the neatherd and the swineherd stayed their feet from dancing, and stayed the women, and themselves lay down to sleep throughout the shadowy halls. + +But when the two had had their fill of the joy of love, they took delight in tales, speaking each to the other. She, the fair lady, told of all that she had endured in the halls, looking upon the destructive throng of the wooers, who for her sake +slew many beasts, cattle and goodly sheep; and great store of wine was drawn from the jars. But Zeus-born Odysseus recounted all the woes that he had brought on men, and all the toil that in his sorrow he had himself endured, and she was glad to listen, nor did sweet sleep fall upon her eyelids, till he had told all the tale. +He began by telling how at the first he overcame the Cicones, and then came to the rich land of the Lotus-eaters, and all that the +Cyclops + wrought, and how he made him pay the price for his mighty comrades, whom the +Cyclops + had eaten, and had shown no pity. Then how he came to Aeolus, who received him with a ready heart, +and sent him on his way; but it was not yet his fate to come to his dear native land, nay, the storm-wind caught him up again, and bore him over the teeming deep, groaning heavily. Next how he came to Telepylus of the Laestrygonians, who destroyed his ships and his well-greaved comrades +one and all, and Odysseus alone escaped in his black ship. Then he told of all the wiles and craftiness of Circe, and how in his benched ship he had gone to the dank house of Hades to consult the spirit of Theban Teiresias, and had seen all his comrades +and the mother who bore him and nursed him, when a child. And how he heard the voice of the Sirens, who sing unceasingly, and had come to the Wandering Rocks, and to dread Charybdis, and to Scylla, from whom never yet had men escaped unscathed. Then how his comrades slew the kine of Helios, +and how Zeus, who thunders on high, smote his swift ship with a flaming thunderbolt, and his goodly comrades perished all together, while he alone escaped the evil fates. And how he came to the isle Ogygia and to the nymph Calypso, who kept him there +in her hollow caves, yearning that he should be her husband, and tended him, and said that she would make him immortal and ageless all his days; yet she could never persuade the heart in his breast. Then how he came after many toils to the Phaeacians, who heartily showed him all honor, as if he were a god, +and sent him in a ship to his dear native land, after giving him stores of bronze and gold and raiment. This was the end of the tale he told, when sweet sleep, that loosens the limbs of men, leapt upon him, loosening the cares of his heart. + + Then again the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, took other counsel. +When she judged that the heart of Odysseus had had its fill of dalliance with his wife and of sleep, straightway she roused from Oceanus golden-throned Dawn to bring light to men; and Odysseus rose from his soft couch, and gave charge to his wife, saying: + +“Wife, by now have we had our fill of many trials, thou and I, thou here, mourning over my troublous journey home, while as for me, Zeus and the other gods bound me fast in sorrows far from my native land, all eager as I was to return. But now that we have both come to the couch of our desire, +do thou care for the wealth that I have within the halls; as for the flocks which the insolent wooers have wasted, I shall myself get me many as booty, and others will the Achaeans give, until they fill all my folds; but I verily will go to my well-wooded farm +to see my noble father, who for my sake is sore distressed, and on thee, wife, do I lay this charge, wise though thou art. Straightway at the rising of the sun will report go abroad concerning the wooers whom I slew in the halls. Therefore go thou up to thy upper chamber with thy handmaids, +and abide there. Look thou on no man, nor ask a question.” + He spoke, and girt about his shoulders his beautiful armour, and roused Telemachus and the neatherd and the swineherd, and bade them all take weapons of war in their hands. They did not disobey, but clad themselves in bronze, +and opened the doors, and went forth, and Odysseus led the way. By now there was light over the earth, but Athena hid them in night, and swiftly led them forth from the city. +Meanwhile Cyllenian Hermes called forth the spirits of the wooers. He held in his hands his wand, a fair wand of gold, wherewith he lulls to sleep the eyes of whom he will, while others again he wakens even out of slumber; +with this he roused and led the spirits, and they followed gibbering. And as in the innermost recess of a wondrous cave bats flit about gibbering, when one has fallen from off the rock from the chain in which they cling to one another, so these went with him gibbering, and +Hermes, the Helper, led them down the dank ways. Past the streams of Oceanus they went, past the rock +Leucas +, past the gates of the sun and the land of dreams, and quickly came to the mead of asphodel, where the spirits dwell, phantoms of men who have done with toils. +Here they found the spirit of Achilles, son of Peleus, and those of Patroclus, of peerless Antilochus, and of Aias, who in comeliness and form was the goodliest of all the Danaans after the peerless son of Peleus. + So these were thronging about Achilles, and near to them +drew the spirit of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, sorrowing; and round about him others were gathered, the spirits of all those who were slain with him in the house of Aegisthus, and met their fate. And the spirit of the son of Peleus was first to address him, saying: + “Son of Atreus, we deemed that thou +above all other heroes wast all thy days dear to Zeus, who hurls the thunderbolt, because thou wast lord over many mighty men in the land of the Trojans, where we Achaeans suffered woes. But verily on thee too was deadly doom to come all too early, the doom that not one avoids of those who are born. +Ah, would that in the pride of that honor of which thou wast master thou hadst met death and fate in the land of the Trojans. Then would the whole host of the Achaeans have made thee a tomb, and for thy son too wouldst thou have won great glory in days to come; but now, as it seems, it has been decreed that thou shouldst be cut off by a most piteous death.” +Then the spirit of the son of Atreus answered him: “Fortunate son of Peleus, godlike Achilles, that wast slain in the land of +Troy + far from +Argos +, and about thee others fell, the best of the sons of the Trojans and Achaeans, fighting for thy body; and thou in the whirl of dust +didst lie mighty in thy mightiness, forgetful of thy horsemanship. We on our part strove the whole day long, nor should we ever have stayed from the fight, had not Zeus stayed us with a storm. But after we had borne thee to the ships from out the fight, we laid thee on a bier, and cleansed thy fair flesh +with warm water and with ointment, and many hot tears did the Danaans shed around thee, and they shore their hair. And thy mother came forth from the sea with the immortal sea-nymphs, when she heard the tidings, and a wondrous cry arose over the deep, and thereat trembling laid hold of all the Achaeans. +Then would they all have sprung up and rushed to the hollow ships, had not a man, wise in the wisdom of old, stayed them, even Nestor, whose counsel had before appeared the best. He with good intent addressed their assembly, and said: + “‘Hold, ye Argives; flee not, Achaean youths. +'Tis his mother who comes here forth from the sea with the immortal sea-nymphs to look upon the face of her dead son.’ + “So he spoke, and the great-hearted Achaeans ceased from their flight. Then around thee stood the daughters of the old man of the sea wailing piteously, and they clothed thee about with immortal raiment. +And the Muses, nine in all, replying to one another with sweet voices, led the dirge. There couldst thou not have seen an +Argive + but was in tears, so deeply did the clear-toned Muse move their hearts. Thus for seventeen days alike by night and day did we bewail thee, immortal gods and mortal men, +and on the eighteenth we gave thee to the fire, and many well-fatted sheep we slew around thee and sleek kine. So thou wast burned in the raiment of the gods and in abundance of unguents and sweet honey; and many Achaean warriors moved in their armour about the pyre, when thou wast burning, +both footmen and charioteers, and a great din arose. But when the flame of Hephaestus had made an end of thee, in the morning we gathered thy white bones, Achilles, and laid them in unmixed wine and unguents. Thy mother had given a two-handled, golden urn, and +said that it was the gift of Dionysus, and the handiwork of famed Hephaestus. In this lie thy white bones, glorious Achilles, and mingled with them the bones of the dead Patroclus, son of Menoetius, but apart lie those of Antilochus, whom thou didst honor above all the rest of thy comrades after the dead Patroclus. +And over them we heaped up a great and goodly tomb, we the mighty host of +Argive + spearmen, on a projecting headland by the broad +Hellespont +, that it might be seen from far over the sea both by men that now are and that shall be born hereafter. +But thy mother asked of the gods beautiful prizes, and set them in the midst of the list for the chiefs of the Achaeans. Ere now hast thou been present at the funeral games of many men that were warriors, when at the death of a king the young men gird themselves and make ready the contests, +1 + but hadst thou seen that sight thou wouldst most have marvelled at heart, such beautiful prizes did the goddess, silver-footed Thetis, set there in thy honor; for very dear wast thou to the gods. Thus not even in death didst thou lose thy name, but ever shalt thou have fair renown among all men, Achilles. +But, as for me, what pleasure have I now in this, that I wound up the skein of war? For on my return Zeus devised for me a woeful doom at the hands of Aegisthus and my accursed wife.” + Thus they spoke to one another, but the messenger, Argeiphontes, drew near, +leading down the spirits of the wooers slain by Odysseus; and the two, seized with wonder, went straight toward them when they beheld them. And the spirit of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, recognized the dear son of Melaneus, glorious Amphimedon, who had been his host, dwelling in +Ithaca +. +Then the spirit of the son of Atreus spoke first to him and said + “Amphimedon, what has befallen you that ye have come down beneath the dark earth, all of you picked men and of like age? One would make no other choice, were one to pick the best men in a city. Did Poseidon smite you on board your ships, +when he had roused cruel winds and long waves? Or did foemen work you harm on the land, while you were cutting off their cattle and fair flocks of sheep, or while they fought in defence of their city and their women? Tell me what I ask; for I declare that I am a friend of thy house. +Dost thou not remember when I came thither to your house with godlike Menelaus to urge Odysseus to go with us to +Ilios + on the benched ships? A full month it took us to cross all the wide sea, for hardly could we win to our will Odysseus, the sacker of cities.” + +Then the spirit of Amphimedon answered him, and said: “Most glorious son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, I remember all these things, O thou fostered of Zeus, even as thou dost tell them; and on my part I will frankly tell thee all the truth, how for us an evil end of death was wrought. +We wooed the wife of Odysseus, that had long been gone, and she neither refused the hateful marriage, nor would she ever make an end, devising for us death and black fate. Nay, she contrived in her heart this guileful thing also: she set up in her halls a great web, and fell to weaving— +fine of thread was the web and very wide; and straightway she spoke among us: + “‘Young men, my wooers, since goodly Odysseus is dead, be patient, though eager for my marriage, until I finish this robe—I would not that my spinning should come to naught—a shroud for the lord Laertes against the time when +the fell fate of grievous death shall strike him down; lest any of the Achaean women in the land should be wroth at me, if he were to lie without a shroud, who had won great possessions.’ + + “So she spoke, and our proud hearts consented. Then day by day she would weave at the great web, +but by night would unravel it, when she had let place torches by her. Thus for three years she by her craft kept the Achaeans from knowing, and beguiled them; but when the fourth year came, as the seasons rolled on, as the months waned and many days were brought in their course, even then one of her women who knew all, told us, +and we caught her unravelling the splendid web. So she finished it against her will perforce. + “Now when she had shewn us the robe, after weaving the great web and washing it, and it shone like the sun or the moon, then it was that some cruel god brought Odysseus from somewhere +to the border of the land, where the swineherd dwelt. Thither too came the dear son of divine Odysseus on his return from sandy +Pylos + in his black ship, and these two, when they had planned an evil death for the wooers, came to the famous city, Odysseus verily +later, but Telemachus led the way before him. Now the swineherd brought his master, clad in mean raiment, in the likeness of a woeful and aged beggar, leaning on a staff, and miserable was the raiment that he wore about his body; and not one of us could know that it was he, +when he appeared so suddenly, no, not even those that were older men, but we assailed him with evil words and with missiles. Howbeit he with steadfast heart endured for a time to be pelted and taunted in his own halls; but when at last the will of Zeus, who bears the aegis, roused him, +with the help of Telemachus he took all the beautiful arms and laid them away in the store-room and made fast the bolts. Then in his great cunning he bade his wife set before the wooers his bow and the grey iron to be a contest for us ill-fated men and the beginning of death. +And no man of us was able to stretch the string of the mighty bow; nay, we fell far short of that strength. But when the great bow came to the hands of Odysseus, then we all cried out aloud not to give him the bow, how much soever he might speak; +but Telemachus alone urged him on, and bade him take it. Then he took the bow in his hand, the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus, and with ease did he string it and send an arrow through the iron. Then he went and stood on the threshold, and poured out the swift arrows, glaring about him terribly, and smote king Antinous. +And thereafter upon the others he with sure aim let fly his shafts, fraught with groanings, and the men fell thick and fast. Then was it known that some god was their helper; for straightway rushing on through the halls in their fury they slew men left and right, and therefrom rose hideous groaning, +as heads were smitten, and all the floor swam with blood. Thus we perished, Agamemnon, and even now our bodies still lie uncared-for in the halls of Odysseus; for our friends in each man's home know naught as yet—our friends who might wash the black blood from our wounds +and lay our bodies out with wailing; for that is the due of the dead.” + + Then the spirit of the son of Atreus answered him: “Happy son of Laertes, Odysseus of many devices, of a truth full of all excellence was the wife thou didst win, so good of understanding was peerless Penelope, +daughter of Icarius, in that she was loyally mindful of Odysseus, her wedded husband. Therefore the fame of her virtue shall never perish, but the immortals shall make among men on earth a pleasant song in honor of constant Penelope. Not on this wise did the daughter of Tyndareus devise evil deeds +and slay her wedded husband, and hateful shall the song regarding her be among men, and evil repute doth she bring upon all womankind, even upon her that doeth uprightly.” + Thus the two spoke to one another, as they stood in the house of Hades beneath the depths of the earth. + +But Odysseus and his men, when they had gone down from the city, quickly came to the fair and well-ordered farm of Laertes, which he had won for himself in days past, and much had he toiled for it. +1 + There was his house, and all about it ran the sheds in which ate, and sat, and slept +the servants that were bondsmen, that did his pleasure; but within it was an old Sicilian woman, who tended the old man with kindly care there at the farm, far from the city. Then Odysseus spoke to the servants and to his son, saying: + “Do you now go within the well-built house, +and straightway slay for dinner the best of the swine; but I will make trial of my father, and see whether he will recognize me and know me by sight, or whether he will fail to know me, since I have been gone so long a time.” + So saying, he gave to the slaves his battle-gear. +They thereafter went quickly to the house; but Odysseus drew near to the fruitful vineyard in his quest. Now he did not find Dolius as he went down into the great orchard, nor any of his slaves or of his sons, but as it chanced +they had gone to gather stones for the vineyard wall, and the old man was their leader. But he found his father alone in the well-ordered vineyard, digging about a plant; and he was clothed in a foul tunic, patched and wretched, and about his shins he had bound stitched greaves of ox-hide to guard against scratches, +and he wore gloves upon his hands because of the thorns, and on his head a goatskin cap; and he nursed his sorrow. + + Now when the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus saw him, worn with old age and laden with great grief at heart, he stood still beneath a tall pear tree, and shed tears. +Then he debated in mind and heart whether to kiss and embrace his father, and tell him all, how he had returned and come to his native land, or whether he should first question him, and prove him in each thing. And, as he pondered, this seemed to him the better course, +to prove him first with mocking words. So with this in mind the goodly Odysseus went straight toward him. He verily was holding his head down, digging about a plant, and his glorious son came up to him, and addressed him, saying: + “Old man, no lack of skill hast thou to tend +a garden; nay, thy care is good, and there is naught whatsoever, either plant or fig tree, or vine, nay, or olive, or pear, or garden-plot in all the field that lacks care. But another thing will I tell thee, and do thou not lay up wrath thereat in thy heart: thou thyself enjoyest no good care, but +thou bearest woeful old age, and therewith art foul and unkempt, and clad in mean raiment. Surely it is not because of sloth on thy part that thy master cares not for thee, nor dost thou seem in any wise like a slave to look upon either in form or in stature; for thou art like a king, even like one who, when he has bathed and eaten, +should sleep soft; for this is the way of old men. But come, tell me this, and declare it truly. Whose slave art thou, and whose orchard dost thou tend? And tell me this also truly, that I may know full well, whether this is indeed +Ithaca +, to which we are now come, as +a man yonder told me, who met me but now on my way hither. In no wise over sound of wit was he, for he deigned not to tell me of each thing, nor to listen to my word, when I questioned him about a friend of mine, whether haply he still lives, or is now dead and in the house of Hades. +For I will tell thee, and do thou give heed and hearken. I once entertained in my dear native land a man that came to our house, and never did any man beside of strangers that dwell afar come to my house a more welcome guest. He declared that by lineage he came from +Ithaca +, and said +that his own father was Laertes, son of Arceisius. So I took him to the house and gave him entertainment with kindly welcome of the rich store that was within, and I gave him gifts of friendship, such as are meet. Of well-wrought gold +I gave him seven talents, and a mixing-bowl all of silver, embossed with flowers, and twelve cloaks of single fold, and as many coverlets, and as many fair mantles, and as many tunics besides, and furthermore women, skilled in goodly handiwork, four comely women, whom he himself was minded to choose.” +Then his father answered him, weeping: “Stranger, verily thou art come to the country of which thou dost ask, but wanton and reckless men now possess it. And all in vain didst thou bestow those gifts, the countless gifts thou gavest. For if thou hadst found him yet alive in the land of +Ithaca +, +then would he have sent thee on thy way with ample requital of gifts and good entertainment; for that is the due of him who begins the kindness But come, tell me this, and declare it truly. How many years have passed since thou didst entertain that guest, that hapless guest, my son—as sure as ever such a man there was— +my ill-starred son, whom far from his friends and his native land haply the fishes have devoured in the deep, or on the shore he has become the spoil of beasts and birds? Nor did his mother deck him for burial and weep over him, nor his father, we who gave him birth, no, nor did his wife, wooed with many gifts, +1 + constant Penelope, +bewail her own husband upon the bier, as was meet, when she had closed his eyes in death; though that is the due of the dead. And tell me this also truly, that I may know full well. Who art thou among men, and from whence? Where is thy city, and where thy parents? Where is the swift ship moored that brought thee hither +with thy godlike comrades? Or didst thou come as a passenger on another's ship, and did they depart when they had set thee on shore?” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Then verily will I frankly tell thee all. I come from Alybas, where I have a glorious house, +and I am the son of Apheidas, son of lord Polypemon, and my own name is Eperitus. But a god drove me wandering from Sicania to come hither against my will and my ship lies yonder off the tilled land away from the city. But as for Odysseus, it is now the fifth year +since he went thence, and departed from my country. Hapless man! Yet he had birds of good omen, when he set out, birds upon the right. So I was glad of them, as I sent him on his way, and he went gladly forth, and our hearts hoped that we should yet meet as host and guest and give one another glorious gifts.” + +So he spoke, and a dark cloud of grief enwrapped Laertes, and with both his hands he took the dark dust and strewed it over his grey head with ceaseless groaning. Then the heart of Odysseus was stirred, and up through his nostrils +2 + shot a keen pang, as he beheld his dear father. +And he sprang toward him, and clasped him in his arms, and kissed him, saying: + “Lo, father, I here before thee, my very self, am that man of whom thou dost ask; I am come in the twentieth year to my native land. But cease from grief and tearful lamenting, for I will tell thee all, though great is the need of haste. +The wooers have I slain in our halls, and have taken vengeance on their grievous insolence and their evil deeds.” + + Then Laertes answered him again, and said: “If it is indeed as Odysseus, my son, that thou art come hither, tell me now some clear sign, that I maybe sure.” + +And Odysseus of many wiles answered him and said: “This scar first do thou mark with thine eyes, the scar of the wound which a boar dealt me with his white tusk on +Parnassus +, when I had gone thither. It was thou that didst send me forth, thou and my honored mother, to Autolycus, my mother's father, that I might get +the gifts which, when he came hither, he promised and agreed to give me. And come, I will tell thee also the trees in the well-ordered garden which once thou gavest me, and I, who was but a child, was following thee through the garden, and asking thee for this and that. It was through these very trees that we passed, and thou didst name them, and tell me of each one. +Pear-trees thirteen thou gavest me, and ten apple-trees, and forty fig-trees. And rows of vines too didst thou promise to give me, even as I say, fifty of them, which ripened severally at different times—and upon them are clusters of all sorts—whensoever the seasons of Zeus weighed them down from above.” +1 +So he spoke, and his father's knees were loosened where he stood, and his heart melted, as he knew the sure tokens which Odysseus told him. About his dear son he flung both his arms, and the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus caught him unto him fainting. But when he revived, and his spirit returned again into his breast, +once more he made answer, and spoke, saying: + “Father Zeus, verily ye gods yet hold sway on high +Olympus +, if indeed the wooers have paid the price of their wanton insolence. But now I have wondrous dread at heart, lest straightway all the men of +Ithaca + come hither against us, and +send messengers everywhere to the cities of the Cephallenians.” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Be of good cheer, and let not these things distress thy heart. But let us go to the house, which lies near the orchard, for thither +I sent forward Telemachus and the neatherd and the swineherd, that with all speed they might prepare our meal.” + So spoke the two, and went their way to the goodly house. And when they had come to the stately house, they found Telemachus, and the neatherd, and the swineherd carving flesh in abundance, and mixing the flaming wine. +Meanwhile the Sicilian handmaid bathed great-hearted Laertes in his house, and anointed him with oil, and about him cast a fair cloak. But Athena drew near, and made greater the limbs of the shepherd of the people, and made him taller than before and mightier to behold. +Then he came forth from the bath, and his dear son marvelled at him, seeing him in presence like unto the immortal gods. And he spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + “Father, surely some one of the gods that are forever has made thee goodlier to behold in comeliness and in stature.” + +Then wise Laertes answered him: “I would, O father Zeus, and Athena, and Apollo, that in such strength as when I took Nericus, the well built citadel on the shore of the mainland, when I was lord of the Cephallenians, even in such strength I had stood by thy side yesterday in our house +with my armour about my shoulders, and had beaten back the wooers. So should I have loosened the knees of many of them in the halls, and thy heart would have been made glad within thee.” + So they spoke to one another. But when the others had ceased from their labour, and had made ready the meal, +they sat down in order on the chairs and high seats. Then they were about to set hands to their food, when the old man Dolius drew near, and with him the old man's sons, wearied from their work in the fields, for their mother, the old Sicilian woman, had gone forth and called them, she who +saw to their food, and tended the old man with kindly care, now that old age had laid hold of him. And they, when they saw Odysseus, and marked him in their minds, stood in the halls lost in wonder. But Odysseus addressed them with gentle words, and said: + “Old man, sit down to dinner, and do ye wholly forget your wonder, +for long have we waited in the halls, though eager to set hands to the food, ever expecting your coming.” + So he spoke, and Dolius ran straight toward him with both hands outstretched, and he clasped the hand of Odysseus and kissed it on the wrist, and spoke, and addressed him with winged words: + +“Dear master, since thou hast come back to us, who sorely longed for thee, but had no more thought to see thee, and the gods themselves have brought thee—hail to thee, and all welcome, and may the gods grant thee happiness. And tell me this also truly, that I may know full well. Does wise Penelope yet know surely +that thou hast come back hither, or shall we send her a messenger?” + Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said: “Old man, she knows already; why shouldst thou be busied with this?” + So he spoke, and the other sat down again on the polished chair. And even in like manner the sons of Dolius gathered around glorious Odysseus +and greeted him in speech, and clasped his hands. Then they sat down in order beside Dolius, their father. + + So they were busied with their meal in the halls; but meanwhile Rumor, the messenger, went swiftly throughout all the city, telling of the terrible death and fate of the wooers. +And the people heard it all at once, and gathered from every side with moanings and wailings before the palace of Odysseus. Forth from the halls they brought each his dead, and buried them; and those from other cities they sent each to his own home, placing them on swift ships for seamen to bear them, +but they themselves went together to the place of assembly, sad at heart. Now when they were assembled and met together Eupeithes arose and spoke among them, for comfortless grief for his son lay heavy on his heart, even for Antinous, the first man whom goodly Odysseus had slain. +Weeping for him he addressed their assembly and said: + “Friends, a monstrous deed has this man of a truth devised against the Achaeans. Some he led forth in his ships, many men and goodly, and he has lost his hollow ships and utterly lost his men; and others again has he slain on his return, and these by far the best of the Cephallenians. +Nay then, come, before the fellow goes swiftly to +Pylos + or to goodly +Elis +, where the Epeans hold sway, let us go forth; verily even in days to come shall we be disgraced forever. For a shame is this even for men that are yet to be to hear of, if we shall not +take vengeance on the slayers of our sons and our brothers. To me surely life would then no more be sweet; rather would I die at once and be among the dead. Nay, let us forth, lest they be too quick for us, and cross over the sea.” + So he spoke, weeping, and pity laid hold of all the Achaeans. Then near them came Medon and the divine minstrel +from the halls of Odysseus, for sleep had released them; and they took their stand in the midst, and wonder seized every man. Then Medon, wise of heart, spoke among them: + “Hearken now to me, men of +Ithaca +, for verily not without the will of the immortal gods has Odysseus devised these deeds. +Nay, I myself saw an immortal god, who stood close beside Odysseus, and seemed in all things like unto Mentor. Yet as an immortal god now in front of Odysseus would he appear, heartening him, and now again would rage through the hall, scaring the wooers; and they fell thick and fast.” +So he spoke, and thereat pale fear seized them all. Then among them spoke the old lord Halitherses, son of Mastor, for he alone saw before and after: he with good intent addressed their assembly, and said: + “Hearken now to me, men of +Ithaca +, to the word that I shall say. +Through your own cowardice, friends, have these deeds been brought to pass, for you would not obey me, nor Mentor, shepherd of the people, to make your sons cease from their folly. They wrought a monstrous deed in their blind and wanton wickedness, wasting the wealth and dishonoring the wife +of a prince, who, they said, would never more return. Now then be it thus; and do you hearken to me, as I bid. Let us not go forth, lest haply many a one shall find a bane which he has brought upon himself.” + So he spoke, but they sprang up with loud cries, more than half of them, but the rest remained together in their seats; +for his speech was not to their mind, but they hearkened to Eupeithes, and quickly thereafter they rushed for their arms. Then when they had clothed their bodies in gleaming bronze, they gathered together in front of the spacious city. And Eupeithes led them in his folly, +for he thought to avenge the slaying of his son; yet he was himself never more to come back, but was there to meet his doom. + But Athena spoke to Zeus, son of Cronos, saying: “Father of us all, thou son of Cronos, high above all lords, tell to me that ask thee what purpose thy mind now hides within thee. +Wilt thou yet further bring to pass evil war and the dread din of battle, or wilt thou establish friendship betwixt the twain?” + Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered her, and said: “My child, why dost thou ask and question me of this? Didst thou not thyself devise this plan, +that verily Odysseus should take vengeance on these men at his coming? Do as thou wilt, but I will tell thee what is fitting. Now that goodly Odysseus has taken vengeance on the wooers, let them swear a solemn oath, and let him be king all his days, and let us on our part +bring about a forgetting of the slaying of their sons and brothers; and let them love one another as before, and let wealth and peace abound.” + So saying, he roused Athena, who was already eager, and she went darting down from the heights of +Olympus +. + But when they had put from them the desire of honey-hearted food, +the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus was the first to speak among his company, saying: “Let one go forth and see whether they be not now drawing near.” + So he spoke, and a son of Dolius went forth, as he bade; he went and stood upon the threshold, and saw them all close at hand, and straightway he spoke to Odysseus winged words: +“Here they are close at hand. Quick, let us arm.” + + So he spoke, and they rose up and arrayed themselves in armour: Odysseus and his men were four, and six the sons of Dolius, and among them Laertes and Dolius donned their armour, grey-headed though they were, warriors perforce. +But when they had clothed their bodies in gleaming bronze, they opened the doors and went forth, and Odysseus led them. + Then Athena, daughter of Zeus, drew near them in the likeness of Mentor both in form and in voice, and the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus was glad at sight of her, +and straightway spoke to Telemachus, his dear son: + “Telemachus, now shalt thou learn this—having thyself come to the place of battle, where the best warriors are put to the trial—to bring no disgrace upon the house of thy fathers, for we have ever excelled in strength and in valor over all the earth.” + +And wise Telemachus answered him: “Thou shalt see me, if thou wilt, dear father, in my present temper, bringing no disgrace upon thy house, even as thou sayest.” + So said he, and Laertes was glad, and spoke, saying: “What a day is this for me, kind gods! +Verily right glad am I: my son and my son's son are vying with one another in valor.” + Then flashing-eyed Athena came near him and said: “Son of Arceisius, far the dearest of all my friends, make a prayer to the flashing-eyed maiden and to father Zeus, and then straightway raise aloft thy long spear, and hurl it.” + +So spoke Pallas Athena, and breathed into him great might. Then he prayed to the daughter of great Zeus, and straightway raised aloft his long spear, and hurled it, and smote Eupeithes through the helmet with cheek-piece of bronze. This stayed not the spear, but the bronze passed through, +and he fell with a thud, and his armour clanged about him. Then on the foremost fighters fell Odysseus and his glorious son, and thrust at them with swords and double-pointed spears. And now would they have slain them all, and cut them off from returning, had not Athena, daughter of Zeus, who bears the aegis, +shouted aloud, and checked all the host, saying: + “Refrain, men of +Ithaca +, from grievous war, that with all speed you may part, and that without bloodshed.” + So spoke Athena, and pale fear seized them. Then in their terror the arms flew from their hands +and fell one and all to the ground, as the goddess uttered her voice, and they turned toward the city, eager to save their lives. Terribly then shouted the much-enduring, goodly Odysseus, and gathering himself together he swooped upon them like an eagle of lofty flight, and at that moment the son of Cronos cast a flaming thunderbolt, +and down it fell before the flashing-eyed daughter of the mighty sire. Then flashing-eyed Athena spoke to Odysseus saying: + “Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, stay thy hand, and make the strife of equal +1 + war to cease, lest haply the son of Cronos be wroth with thee, even Zeus, whose voice is borne afar.” + +So spoke Athena, and he obeyed, and was glad at heart. Then for all time to come a solemn covenant betwixt the twain was made by Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus, who bears the aegis, in the likeness of Mentor both in form and in voice. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt b/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt index e69de29..f7ac114 100644 --- a/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt +++ b/tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng4.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11033 @@ +Tell me, O Muse, of that many-sided hero who + traveled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of +Troy +. Many cities did he visit, and many were + the people with whose customs and thinking [ +noos +] + he was acquainted; many things he suffered at sea while seeking to save his own + life [ +psukhê +] and to achieve the safe homecoming + [ +nostos +] of his companions; but do what he might + he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer + recklessness in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Helios; so the god prevented + them from ever reaching home. Tell me, as you have told those who came before + me, about all these things, O daughter of Zeus, starting from whatsoever point + you choose. +So now all who escaped death in battle or by + shipwreck had got safely home except Odysseus, and he, though he was longing + for his return [ +nostos +] to his wife and country, + was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large cave and + wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there came a time when the gods + settled that he should go back to +Ithaca +; even then, however, when he was among his own people, + his trials [ +athloi +] were not yet over; nevertheless + all the gods had now begun to pity him except Poseidon, who still persecuted + him without ceasing and would not let him get home. +Now Poseidon had gone off to the Ethiopians, who + are at the world's end, and lie in two halves, the one looking West and the + other East. He had gone there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was + enjoying himself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house of + Olympian Zeus, and the sire of gods and men spoke first. At that moment he was + thinking of Aigisthos, who had been killed by Agamemnon's son Orestes; so he + said to the other gods: +"See now, how men consider us gods responsible + [ +aitioi +] for what is after all nothing but their + own folly. Look at Aigisthos; he must needs make love to Agamemnon's wife + unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he knew it would be the death of + him; for I sent Hermes to warn him not to do either of these things, inasmuch + as Orestes would be sure to take his revenge when he grew up and wanted to + return home. Hermes told him this in all good will but he would not listen, and + now he has paid for everything in full." +Then Athena said, "Father, son of Kronos, King + of kings, it served Aigisthos right, and so it would any one else who does as + he did; but Aigisthos is neither here nor there; it is for Odysseus that my + heart bleeds, when I think of his sufferings in that lonely sea-girt island, + far away, poor man, from all his friends. It is an island covered with forest, + in the very middle of the sea, and a goddess lives there, daughter of the + magician Atlas, who looks after the bottom of the ocean, and carries the great + columns that keep heaven and earth asunder. This daughter of Atlas has got hold + of poor unhappy Odysseus, and keeps trying by every kind of blandishment to + make him forget his home, so that he is tired of life, and thinks of nothing + but how he may once more see the smoke of his own chimneys. You, sir, take no + heed of this, and yet when Odysseus was before +Troy + did he not propitiate you with many a burnt sacrifice? Why + then should you keep on being so angry with him?" +And Zeus said, "My child, what are you talking + about? How can I forget Odysseus than whom there is no more capable man on + earth [in regard to +noos +], nor more liberal in his + offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven? Bear in mind, however, that + Poseidon is still furious with Odysseus for having blinded an eye of Polyphemus + king of the Cyclopes. Polyphemus is son to Poseidon by the nymph Thoosa, + daughter to the sea-king Phorkys; therefore though he will not kill Odysseus + outright, he torments him by preventing him from his homecoming [ +nostos +]. Still, let us lay our heads together and see + how we can help him to return; Poseidon will then be pacified, for if we are + all of a mind he can hardly stand out against us." +And Athena said, "Father, son of Kronos, King of + kings, if, then, the gods now mean that Odysseus should get home, we should + first send Hermes to the Ogygian island to tell Calypso that we have made up + our minds and that he is to have his homecoming [ +nostos +]. In the meantime I will go to +Ithaca +, to put heart into Odysseus' son Telemakhos; I will + embolden him to call the Achaeans in assembly, and speak out to the suitors of + his mother Penelope, who persist in eating up any number of his sheep and oxen; + I will also conduct him to +Sparta + + and to +Pylos +, to see if he can hear + anything about the return [ +nostos +] of his dear + father - for this will give him genuine fame [ +kleos +] throughout humankind." +So saying she bound on her glittering golden + sandals, imperishable, with which she can fly like the wind over land or sea; + she grasped the redoubtable bronze-shod spear, so stout and sturdy and strong, + wherewith she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her, and down she + darted from the topmost summits of +Olympus +, whereon forthwith she was in the +dêmos + of +Ithaca +, at the + gateway of Odysseus' house, disguised as a visitor, Mentes, chief of the + Taphians, and she held a bronze spear in her hand. There she found the lordly + suitors seated on hides of the oxen which they had killed and eaten, and + playing draughts in front of the house. Men-servants and pages were bustling + about to wait upon them, some mixing wine with water in the mixing-bowls, some + cleaning down the tables with wet sponges and laying them out again, and some + cutting up great quantities of meat. +Telemakhos saw her long before any one else + did. He was sitting moodily among the suitors thinking about his brave father, + and how he would send them fleeing out of the house, if he were to come to his + own again and be honored as in days gone by. Thus brooding as he sat among + them, he caught sight of Athena and went straight to the gate, for he was vexed + that a stranger should be kept waiting for admittance. He took her right hand + in his own, and bade her give him her spear. "Welcome," said he, "to our house, + and when you have partaken of food you shall tell us what you have come + for." +He led the way as he spoke, and Athena followed + him. When they were within he took her spear and set it in the spear - stand + against a strong bearing-post along with the many other spears of his unhappy + father, and he conducted her to a richly decorated seat under which he threw a + cloth of damask. There was a footstool also for her feet, and he set another + seat near her for himself, away from the suitors, that she might not be annoyed + while eating by their noise and insolence, and that he might ask her more + freely about his father. +A maid servant then brought them water in a + beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their + hands, and she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them + bread, and offered them many good things of what there was in the house, the + carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and set cups of gold by their + side, and a man-servant brought them wine and poured it out for them. +Then the suitors came in and took their places + on the benches and seats. Forthwith men servants poured water over their hands, + maids went round with the bread-baskets, pages filled the mixing-bowls with + wine and water, and they laid their hands upon the good things that were before + them. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink they wanted music and + dancing, which are the crowning embellishments of a banquet, so a servant + brought a lyre to Phemios, whom they compelled perforce to sing to them. As + soon as he touched his lyre and began to sing Telemakhos spoke low to Athena, + with his head close to hers that no man might hear. +"I hope, sir," said he, "that you will not be + offended with what I am going to say. Singing comes cheap to those who do not + pay for it, and all this is done at the cost of one whose bones lie rotting in + some wilderness or grinding to powder in the surf. If these men were to see my + father come back to +Ithaca + they would + pray for longer legs rather than a longer purse, for wealth would not serve + them; but he, alas, has fallen on an ill fate, and even when people do + sometimes say that he is coming, we no longer heed them; we shall never see him + again. And now, sir, tell me and tell me true, who you are and where you come + from. Tell me of your town and parents, what manner of ship you came in, how + your crew brought you to +Ithaca +, and + of what nation they declared themselves to be - for you cannot have come by + land. Tell me also truly, for I want to know, are you a stranger to this house, + or have you been here in my father's time? In the old days we had many visitors + for my father went about much himself." +And Athena answered, "I will tell you truly and + particularly all about it. I am Mentes, son of Anchialos, and I am King of the + Taphians. I have come here with my ship and crew, on a voyage to men of a + foreign tongue being bound for Temesa with a cargo of iron, and I shall bring + back copper. As for my ship, it lies over yonder off the open country away from + the town, in the harbor Rheithron under the wooded mountain Neritum. Our + fathers were friends before us, as old +Laertes + will tell you, if you will go and ask him. They say, + however, that he never comes to town now, and lives by himself in the country, + faring hardly, with an old woman to look after him and get his dinner for him, + when he comes in tired from pottering about his vineyard. They told me your + father was at home again, and that was why I came, but it seems the gods are + still keeping him back, for he is not dead yet not on the mainland. It is more + likely he is on some sea-girt island in mid ocean, or a prisoner among savages + who are detaining him against his will. I am no seer [ +mantis +], and know very little about omens, but I speak as it is + borne in upon me from heaven, and assure you that he will not be away much + longer; for he is a man of such resource that even though he were in chains of + iron he would find some means of getting home again. But tell me, and tell me + true, can Odysseus really have such a fine looking young man for a son? You are + indeed wonderfully like him about the head and eyes, for we were close friends + before he set sail for +Troy + where the + flower of all the Argives went also. Since that time we have never either of us + seen the other." +"My mother," answered Telemakhos, "tells me I + am son to Odysseus, but it is a wise child that knows his own father. Would + that I were son to one who had grown old upon his own estates, for, since you + ask me, there is no more ill-starred man under heaven than he who they tell me + is my father." +And Athena said, "There is no fear of your race + dying out yet, while Penelope has such a fine son as you are. But tell me, and + tell me true, what is the meaning of all this feasting, and who are these + people? What is it all about? Have you some banquet, or is there a wedding in + the family - for no one seems to be bringing any provisions of his own? And the + guests - how atrociously they are behaving; what riot they make over the whole + house; it is enough to disgust any respectable person who comes near them." +"Sir," said Telemakhos, "as regards your + question, so long as my father was here it was well with us and with the house, + but the gods in their displeasure have willed it otherwise, and have hidden him + away more closely than mortal man was ever yet hidden. I could have borne it + better even though he were dead, if he had fallen with his men in the +dêmos + of +Troy +, or had died with friends around him when the days of his + fighting were done; for then the Achaeans would have built a mound over his + ashes, and I should myself have been heir to his renown [ +kleos +]; but now the storm-winds have spirited him away we know not + wither; he is gone without leaving so much as a trace behind him, and I inherit + nothing but dismay. Nor does the matter end simply with grief for the loss of + my father; heaven has laid sorrows upon me of yet another kind; for the chiefs + from all our islands, Dulichium, Same, and the woodland island of +Zacynthus +, as also all the principal men of + +Ithaca + itself, are eating up my + house under the pretext of paying their court to my mother, who will neither + point blank say that she will not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end; so + they are making havoc of my estate, and before long will do so also with + myself." +"Is that so?" exclaimed Athena, "then you do + indeed want Odysseus home again. Give him his helmet, shield, and a couple + lances, and if he is the man he was when I first knew him in our house, + drinking and making merry, he would soon lay his hands about these rascally + suitors, were he to stand once more upon his own threshold. He was then coming + from +Ephyra +, where he had been to + beg poison for his arrows from Ilos, son of Mermerus. Ilos feared the + ever-living gods and would not give him any, but my father let him have some, + for he was very fond of him. If Odysseus is the man he then was these suitors + will have a swift doom and a sorry wedding. +"But there! It rests with heaven to determine + whether he is to return, and take his revenge in his own house or no; I would, + however, urge you to set about trying to get rid of these suitors at once. Take + my advice, call the Achaean heroes in assembly tomorrow -lay your case before + them, and call heaven to bear you witness. Bid the suitors take themselves off, + each to his own place, and if your mother's mind is set on marrying again, let + her go back to her father, who will find her a husband and provide her with all + the marriage gifts that so dear a daughter may expect. As for yourself, let me + prevail upon you to take the best ship you can get, with a crew of twenty men, + and go in quest of your father who has so long been missing. Some one may tell + you something, or (and people often hear things in this way) some heaven-sent + message [ +kleos +] may direct you. First go to + +Pylos + and ask Nestor; thence go + on to +Sparta + and visit Menelaos, + for he got home last of all the Achaeans; if you hear that your father is alive + and about to achieve his homecoming [ +nostos +], you + can put up with the waste these suitors will make for yet another twelve + months. If on the other hand you hear of his death, come home at once, + celebrate his funeral rites with all due pomp, build a grave marker [ +sêma +] to his memory, and make your mother marry again. + Then, having done all this, think it well over in your mind how, by fair means + or foul, you may kill these suitors in your own house. You are too old to plead + infancy any longer; have you not heard how people are singing Orestes' praises + [ +kleos +] for having killed his father's murderer + Aigisthos? You are a fine, smart looking young man; show your mettle, then, and + make yourself a name in story. Now, however, I must go back to my ship and to + my crew, who will be impatient if I keep them waiting longer; think the matter + over for yourself, and remember what I have said to you." +"Sir," answered Telemakhos, "it has been very + kind of you to talk to me in this way, as though I were your own son, and I + will do all you tell me; I know you want to be getting on with your voyage, but + stay a little longer till you have taken a bath and refreshed yourself. I will + then give you a present, and you shall go on your way rejoicing; I will give + you one of great beauty and value - a keepsake such as only dear friends give + to one another." +Athena answered, "Do not try to keep me, for I + would be on my way at once. As for any present you may be disposed to make me, + keep it till I come again, and I will take it home with me. You shall give me a + very good one, and I will give you one of no less value in return." +With these words she flew away like a bird into + the air, but she had given Telemakhos courage, and had made him think more than + ever about his father. He felt the change, wondered at it, and knew that the + stranger had been a god, so he went straight to where the suitors were + sitting. +Phemios was still singing, and his hearers sat + rapt in silence as he told the baneful tale of the homecoming [ +nostos +] from +Troy +, and the ills Athena had laid upon the Achaeans. Penelope, + daughter of Ikarios, heard his song from her room upstairs, and came down by + the great staircase, not alone, but attended by two of her handmaids. When she + reached the suitors she stood by one of the bearing posts that supported the + roof of the cloisters with a staid maiden on either side of her. She held a + veil, moreover, before her face, and was weeping bitterly. +"Phemios," she cried, "you know many another + feat of gods and heroes, such as poets love to celebrate. Sing the suitors some + one of these, and let them drink their wine in silence, but cease this sad + tale, for it breaks my sorrowful heart, and reminds me of my lost husband for + whom I have grief [ +penthos +] ever without ceasing, + and whose name [ +kleos +] was great over all + +Hellas + and middle +Argos +." +"Mother," answered Telemakhos, "let the bard + sing what he has a mind [ +noos +] to; bards are not + responsible [ +aitios +] for the ills they sing of; it + is Zeus, not they, who is responsible [ +aitios +], and + who sends weal or woe upon humankind according to his own good pleasure. There + should be no feeling of +nemesis + against this one + for singing the ill-fated return of the Danaans, for people always favor most + warmly the +kleos + of the latest songs. Make up your + mind to it and bear it; Odysseus is not the only man who never came back from + +Troy +, but many another went down + as well as he. Go, then, within the house and busy yourself with your daily + duties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for speech + is man's matter, and mine above all others - for it is I who am master + here." +She went wondering back into the house, and + laid her son's saying in her heart. Then, going upstairs with her handmaids + into her room, she mourned her dear husband till Athena shed sweet sleep over + her eyes. But the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered cloisters, and + prayed each one that he might be her bed fellow. +Then Telemakhos spoke, "You suitors of my + mother," he cried, "you with your overweening +hubris +, let us feast at our pleasure now, and let there be no + brawling, for it is a rare thing to hear a man with such a divine voice as + Phemios has; but in the morning meet me in full assembly that I may give you + formal notice to depart, and feast at one another's houses, turn and turn + about, at your own cost. If on the other hand you choose to persist in sponging + upon one man, heaven help me, but Zeus shall reckon with you in full, and when + you fall in my father's house there shall be no man to avenge you." +The suitors bit their lips as they heard him, + and marveled at the boldness of his speech. Then, Antinoos, son of Eupeithes, + said, "The gods seem to have given you lessons in bluster and tall talking; may + Zeus never grant you to be chief in +Ithaca + as your father was before you." +Telemakhos answered, "Antinoos, do not chide + with me, but, god willing, I will be chief too if I can. Is this the worst fate + you can think of for me? It is no bad thing to be a chief, for it brings both + riches and honor. Still, now that Odysseus is dead there are many great men in + +Ithaca + both old and young, and some + other may take the lead among them; nevertheless I will be chief in my own + house, and will rule those whom Odysseus has won for me." +Then Eurymakhos, son of Polybos, answered, "It + rests with heaven to decide who shall be chief among us, but you shall be + master in your own house and over your own possessions; no one while there is a + man in +Ithaca + shall do you violence + [ +biê +] nor rob you. And now, my good man, I want + to know about this stranger. What country does he come from? Of what family is + he, and where is his estate? Has he brought you news about the return of your + father, or was he on business of his own? He seemed a well-to-do man, but he + hurried off so suddenly that he was gone in a moment before we could get to + know him." +"The +nostos + of my + father is dead and gone," answered Telemakhos, "and even if some rumor reaches + me I put no more faith in it now. My mother does indeed sometimes send for a + soothsayer and question him, but I give his prophesying no heed. As for the + stranger, he was Mentes, son of Anchialos, chief of the Taphians, an old friend + of my father's." But in his heart he knew that it had been the goddess. +The suitors then returned to their singing and + dancing until the evening; but when night fell upon their pleasuring they went + home to bed each in his own abode. Telemakhos' room was high up in a tower that + looked on to the outer court; there, then, he went, brooding and full of + thought. A good old woman, Eurykleia, daughter of Ops, the son of Pisenor, went + before him with a couple of blazing torches. +Laertes + had bought her with his own wealth when she was quite + young; he gave the worth of twenty oxen for her, and showed as much respect to + her in his household as he did to his own wedded wife, but he did not take her + to his bed for he feared his wife's resentment. She it was who now lighted + Telemakhos to his room, and she loved him better than any of the other women in + the house did, for she had nursed him when he was a baby. He opened the door of + his bed room and sat down upon the bed; as he took off his shirt he gave it to + the good old woman, who folded it tidily up, and hung it for him over a peg by + his bed side, after which she went out, pulled the door to by a silver catch, + and drew the bolt home by means of the strap. But Telemakhos as he lay covered + with a woolen fleece kept thinking all night through of his intended voyage and + of the counsel that Athena had given him +. +Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered + Dawn, appeared, Telemakhos rose and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to + his comely feet, girded his sword about his shoulder, and left his room looking + like an immortal god. He at once sent the criers round to call the people in + assembly, so they called them and the people gathered thereon; then, when they + were got together, he went to the place of assembly spear in hand - not alone, + for his two hounds went with him. Athena endowed him with a presence of such + divine comeliness [ +kharis +] that all marveled at him + as he went by, and when he took his place in his father's seat even the oldest + councilors made way for him. +Aigyptios, a man bent double with age, and of + infinite experience, was the first to speak His son Antiphos had gone with + Odysseus to +Ilion +, land of noble + steeds, but the savage +Cyclops + had + killed him when they were all shut up in the cave, and had cooked his last + dinner for him. He had three sons left, of whom two still worked on their + father's land, while the third, Eurynomos, was one of the suitors; nevertheless + their father could not get over the loss of Antiphos, and was still weeping for + him when he began his speech. +"Men of +Ithaca +," he said, "hear my words. From the day Odysseus left us + there has been no meeting of our councilors until now; who then can it be, + whether old or young, that finds it so necessary to convene us? Has he got wind + of some host approaching, and does he wish to warn us, or would he speak upon + some other matter of public moment? I am sure he is an excellent person, and I + hope Zeus will grant him his heart's desire." +Telemakhos took this speech as of good omen and + rose at once, for he was bursting with what he had to say. He stood in the + middle of the assembly and the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff. Then, + turning to Aigyptios, "Sir," said he, "it is I, as you will shortly learn, who + have convened you, for it is I who am the most aggrieved. I have not got wind + of any host approaching about which I would warn you, nor is there any matter + of public moment on which I would speak. My grievance is purely personal, and + turns on two great misfortunes which have fallen upon my house. The first of + these is the loss of my excellent father, who was chief among all you here + present, and was like a father to every one of you; the second is much more + serious, and ere long will be the utter ruin of my estate. The sons of all the + chief men among you are pestering my mother to marry them against her will. + They are afraid to go to her father Ikarios, asking him to choose the one he + likes best, and to provide marriage gifts for his daughter, but day by day they + keep hanging about my father's house, sacrificing our oxen, sheep, and fat + goats for their banquets, and never giving so much as a thought to the quantity + of wine they drink. No estate can stand such recklessness; we have now no + Odysseus to ward off harm from our doors, and I cannot hold my own against + them. I shall never all my days be as good a man as he was, still I would + indeed defend myself if I had power to do so, for I cannot stand such treatment + any longer; my house is being disgraced and ruined. Have respect, therefore, to + your own consciences and to public opinion. Fear, too, the wrath [ +mênis +] of the gods, lest they should be displeased and + turn upon you. I pray you by Zeus and Themis, who is the beginning and the end + of councils, [do not] hold back, my friends, and leave me singlehanded - unless + it be that my brave father Odysseus did some wrong to the Achaeans which you + would now avenge on me, by aiding and abetting these suitors. Moreover, if I am + to be eaten out of house and home at all, I had rather you did the eating + yourselves, for I could then take action against you to some purpose, and serve + you with notices from house to house till I got paid in full, whereas now I + have no remedy." +With this Telemakhos dashed his staff to the + ground and burst into tears. Every one was very sorry for him, but they all sat + still and no one ventured to make him an angry answer, save only Antinoos, who + spoke thus: +"Telemakhos, insolent braggart that you are, how + dare you try to throw the blame upon us suitors? We are not the ones who are + responsible [ +aitioi +] but your mother is, for she + knows many kinds of +kerdos +. This three years past, + and close on four, she has been driving us out of our minds, by encouraging + each one of us, and sending him messages that say one thing but her +noos + means other things. And then there was that other + trick she played us. She set up a great tambour frame in her room, and began to + work on an enormous piece of fine fabric. ‘Sweet hearts,’ said she, ‘Odysseus + is indeed dead, still do not press me to marry again immediately, wait - for I + would not have skill in weaving perish unrecorded - till I have completed a + shroud for the hero +Laertes +, to be + in readiness against the time when death shall take him. He is very rich, and + the women of the +dêmos + will talk if he is laid out + without a shroud.’ +"This was what she said, and we assented; + whereon we could see her working on her great web all day long, but at night + she would unpick the stitches again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way + for three years and we never found her out, but as time [ +hôra +] wore on and she was now in her fourth year, one of her maids + who knew what she was doing told us, and we caught her in the act of undoing + her work, so she had to finish it whether she would or no. The suitors, + therefore, make you this answer, that both you and the Achaeans may understand + - ‘Send your mother away, and bid her marry the man of her own and of her + father's choice’; for I do not know what will happen if she goes on plaguing us + much longer with the airs she gives herself on the score of the accomplishments + Athena has taught her, and because she knows so many kinds of +kerdos +. We never yet heard of such a woman; we know + all about Tyro, Alkmene, Mycene, and the famous women of old, but they were + nothing to your mother, any one of them. It was not fair of her to treat us in + that way, and as long as she continues in the mind [ +noos +] with which heaven has now endowed her, so long shall we go on + eating up your estate; and I do not see why she should change, for she gets all + the honor and glory [ +kleos +], and it is you who pay + for it, not she. Understand, then, that we will not go back to our lands, + neither here nor elsewhere, till she has made her choice and married some one + or other of us." +Telemakhos answered, "Antinoos, how can I drive + the mother who bore me from my father's house? My father is abroad and we do + not know whether he is alive or dead. It will be hard on me if I have to pay + Ikarios the large sum which I must give him if I insist on sending his daughter + back to him. Not only will he deal rigorously with me, but some +daimôn + will also punish me; for my mother when she + leaves the house will call on the Erinyes to avenge her; besides, it will + result in +nemesis + for me among men, and I will have + nothing to say to it. If you choose to take offense at this, leave the house + and feast elsewhere at one another's houses at your own cost turn and turn + about. If, on the other hand, you elect to persist in sponging upon one man, + heaven help me, but Zeus shall reckon with you in full, and when you fall in my + father's house there shall be no man to avenge you." +As he spoke Zeus sent two eagles from the top + of the mountain, and they flew on and on with the wind, sailing side by side in + their own lordly flight. When they were right over the middle of the assembly + they wheeled and circled about, beating the air with their wings and glaring + death into the eyes of them that were below; then, fighting fiercely and + tearing at one another, they flew off towards the right over the town. The + people wondered as they saw them, and asked each other what an this might be; + whereon Halitherses, who was the best seer and reader of omens among them, + spoke to them plainly and in all honesty, saying: +"Hear me, men of +Ithaca +, and I speak more particularly to the suitors, for I see + mischief brewing for them. Odysseus is not going to be away much longer; indeed + he is close at hand to deal out death and destruction, not on them alone, but + on many another of us who live in +Ithaca +. Let us then be wise in time, and put a stop to this + wickedness before he comes. Let the suitors do so of their own accord; it will + be better for them, for I am not prophesying without due knowledge; everything + has happened to Odysseus as I foretold when the Argives set out for +Troy +, and he with them. I said that after + going through much hardship and losing all his men he should come home again in + the twentieth year and that no one would know him; and now all this is coming + true." +Eurymakhos son of Polybos then said, "Go home, + old man, and prophesy to your own children, or it may be worse for them. I can + read these omens myself much better than you can; birds are always flying about + in the sunshine somewhere or other, but they seldom mean anything. Odysseus has + died in a far country, and it is a pity you are not dead along with him, + instead of prating here about omens and adding fuel to the anger of Telemakhos + which is fierce enough as it is. I suppose you think he will give you something + for your family, but I tell you - and it shall surely be - when an old man like + you, who should know better, talks a young one over till he becomes + troublesome, in the first place his young friend will only fare so much the + worse - he will take nothing by it, for the suitors will prevent this - and in + the next, we will lay a heavier fine, sir, upon yourself than you will at all + like paying, for it will bear hardly upon you. As for Telemakhos, I warn him in + the presence of you all to send his mother back to her father, who will find + her a husband and provide her with all the marriage gifts so dear a daughter + may expect. Till then we shall go on harassing him with our suit; for we fear + no man, and care neither for him, with all his fine speeches, nor for any + fortune-telling of yours. You may preach as much as you please, but we shall + only hate you the more. We shall go back and continue to eat up Telemakhos' + estate without paying him, till such time as his mother leaves off tormenting + us by keeping us day after day on the tiptoe of expectation, each vying with + the other in his suit for a prize of such rare perfection [ +aretê +]. Besides we cannot go after the other women whom we should + marry in due course, but for the way in which she treats us." +Then Telemakhos said, "Eurymakhos, and you + other suitors, I shall say no more, and entreat you no further, for the gods + and the people of +Ithaca + now know my + story. Give me, then, a ship and a crew of twenty men to take me hither and + thither, and I will go to +Sparta + + and to +Pylos + to inquire about the + +nostos + of my father who has so long been + missing. Some one may tell me something, or (and people often hear +kleos + in this way) some heaven-sent message may direct + me. If I can hear of him as alive and achieving his homecoming [ +nostos +] I will put up with the waste you suitors will + make for yet another twelve months. If on the other hand I hear of his death, I + will return at once, celebrate his funeral rites with all due pomp, build a + grave marker [ +sêma +] to his memory, and make my + mother marry again." +With these words he sat down, and Mentor who + had been a friend of Odysseus, and had been left in charge of everything with + full authority over the servants, rose to speak. He, then, plainly and in all + honesty addressed them thus: +"Hear me, men of +Ithaca +, I hope that you may never have a kind and well-disposed + ruler any more, nor one who will govern you equitably; I hope that all your + chiefs henceforward may be cruel and unjust, for there is not one of you but + has forgotten Odysseus, who ruled you as though he were your father. I am not + half so angry with the suitors, for if they choose to do violence in the + naughtiness of their minds [ +noos +], and wager their + heads that Odysseus will not return, they can take the high hand and eat up his + estate, but as for you others I am shocked at the way in which you the rest of + the population [ +dêmos +] all sit still without even + trying to stop such scandalous goings on - which you could do if you chose, for + you are many and they are few." +Leiokritos, son of Euenor, answered him saying, + "Mentor, what folly is all this, that you should set the people to stay us? It + is a hard thing for one man to fight with many about his victuals. Even though + Odysseus himself were to set upon us while we are feasting in his house, and do + his best to oust us, his wife, who wants him back so very badly, would have + small cause for rejoicing, and his blood would be upon his own head if he + fought against such great odds. There is no sense in what you have been saying. + Now, therefore, do you people go about your business, and let his father's old + friends, Mentor and Halitherses, speed this boy on his journey, if he goes at + all - which I do not think he will, for he is more likely to stay where he is + till some one comes and tells him something." +On this he broke up the assembly, and every man + went back to his own abode, while the suitors returned to the house of + Odysseus. +Then Telemakhos went all alone by the sea side, + washed his hands in the gray waves, and prayed to Athena. +"Hear me," he cried, "you god who visited me + yesterday, and bade me sail the seas in search of the +nostos + of my father who has so long been missing. I would obey you, + but the Achaeans, and more particularly the wicked suitors, are hindering me + that I cannot do so." +As he thus prayed, Athena came close up to him + in the likeness and with the voice of Mentor. "Telemakhos," said she, "if you + are made of the same stuff as your father you will be neither fool nor coward + henceforward, for Odysseus never broke his word nor left his work half done. + If, then, you take after him, your voyage will not be fruitless, but unless you + have the blood of Odysseus and of Penelope in your veins I see no likelihood of + your succeeding. Sons are seldom as good men as their fathers; they are + generally worse, not better; still, as you are not going to be either fool or + coward henceforward, and are not entirely without some share of your father's + wise discernment, I look with hope upon your undertaking. But mind you never + make common cause [ +noos +] with any of those foolish + suitors, for they are neither sensible nor just [ +dikaioi +], and give no thought to death and to the doom that will + shortly fall on one and all of them, so that they shall perish on the same day. + As for your voyage, it shall not be long delayed; your father was such an old + friend of mine that I will find you a ship, and will come with you myself. Now, + however, return home, and go about among the suitors; begin getting provisions + ready for your voyage; see everything well stowed, the wine in jars, and the + barley meal, which is the staff of life, in leathern bags, while I go round the + +dêmos + and round up volunteers at once. There are + many ships in +Ithaca + both old and new; + I will run my eye over them for you and will choose the best; we will get her + ready and will put out to sea without delay." +Thus spoke Athena daughter of Zeus, and + Telemakhos lost no time in doing as the goddess told him. He went moodily and + found the suitors flaying goats and singeing pigs in the outer court. Antinoos + came up to him at once and laughed as he took his hand in his own, saying, + "Telemakhos, my fine fire-eater, bear no more ill blood neither in word nor + deed, but eat and drink with us as you used to do. The Achaeans will find you + in everything - a ship and a picked crew to boot - so that you can set sail for + +Pylos + at once and get news of + your noble father." +"Antinoos," answered Telemakhos, "I cannot eat + in peace, nor take pleasure of any kind with such men as you are. Was it not + enough that you should waste so much good property of mine while I was yet a + boy? Now that I am older and know more about it, I am also stronger, and + whether here among this people [ +dêmos +], or by going + to +Pylos +, I will do you all the harm + I can. I shall go, and my going will not be in vain though, thanks to you + suitors, I have neither ship nor crew of my own, and must be passenger not + leader." +As he spoke he snatched his hand from that of + Antinoos. Meanwhile the others went on getting dinner ready about the + buildings, jeering at him tauntingly as they did so. +"Telemakhos," said one youngster, "means to be + the death of us; I suppose he thinks he can bring friends to help him from + +Pylos +, or again from +Sparta +, where he seems bent on going. Or + will he go to +Ephyra + as well, for + poison to put in our wine and kill us?" +Another said, "Perhaps if Telemakhos goes on + board ship, he will be like his father and perish far from his friends. In this + case we should have plenty to do, for we could then divide up his property + amongst us: as for the house we can let his mother and the man who marries her + have that." +This was how they talked. But Telemakhos went + down into the lofty and spacious store-room where his father's treasure of gold + and bronze lay heaped up upon the floor, and where the linen and spare clothes + were kept in open chests. Here, too, there was a store of fragrant olive oil, + while casks of old, well-ripened wine, unblended and fit for a god to drink, + were ranged against the wall in case Odysseus should come home again after all. + The room was closed with well-made doors opening in the middle; moreover the + faithful old house-keeper Eurykleia, daughter of Ops the son of Pisenor, was in + charge of everything both night and day. Telemakhos called her to the + store-room and said: +"Nurse, draw me off some of the best wine you + have, after what you are keeping for my father's own drinking, in case, poor + man, he should escape death, and find his way home again after all. Let me have + twelve jars, and see that they all have lids; also fill me some well-sewn + leathern bags with barley meal - about twenty measures in all. Get these things + put together at once, and say nothing about it. I will take everything away + this evening as soon as my mother has gone upstairs for the night. I am going + to +Sparta + and to +Pylos + to see if I can hear anything about + the +nostos + of my dear father. +When Eurykleia heard this she began to cry, and + spoke fondly to him, saying, "My dear child, what ever can have put such notion + as that into your head? Where in the world do you want to go to - you, who are + the one hope of the house? Your poor father is dead and gone in some foreign + country [ +dêmos +] nobody knows where, and as soon as + your back is turned these wicked ones here will be scheming to get you put out + of the way, and will share all your possessions among themselves; stay where + you are among your own people, and do not go wandering and worrying your life + out on the barren ocean." +"Fear not, nurse," answered Telemakhos, "my + scheme is not without heaven's sanction; but swear that you will say nothing + about all this to my mother, till I have been away some ten or twelve days, + unless she hears of my having gone, and asks you; for I do not want her to + spoil her beauty by crying." +The old woman swore most solemnly that she + would not, and when she had completed her oath, she began drawing off the wine + into jars, and getting the barley meal into the bags, while Telemakhos went + back to the suitors. +Then Athena bethought her of another matter. + She took his shape, and went round the town to each one of the crew, telling + them to meet at the ship by sundown. She went also to Noemon son of Phronios, + and asked him to let her have a ship - which he was very ready to do. When the + sun had set and darkness was over all the land, she got the ship into the + water, put all the tackle on board her that ships generally carry, and + stationed her at the end of the harbor. Presently the crew came up, and the + goddess spoke encouragingly to each of them. +Furthermore she went to the house of Odysseus, + and threw the suitors into a deep slumber. She caused their drink to fuddle + them, and made them drop their cups from their hands, so that instead of + sitting over their wine, they went back into the town to sleep, with their eyes + heavy and full of drowsiness. Then she took the form and voice of Mentor, and + called Telemakhos to come outside. +"Telemakhos," said she, "the men are on board + and at their oars, waiting for you to give your orders, so make haste and let + us be off." +On this she led the way, while Telemakhos + followed in her steps. When they got to the ship they found the crew waiting by + the water side, and Telemakhos said, "Now my men, help me to get the stores on + board; they are all put together in the room, and my mother does not know + anything about it, nor any of the maid servants except one." +With these words he led the way and the others + followed after. When they had brought the things as he told them, Telemakhos + went on board, Athena going before him and taking her seat in the stern of the + vessel, while Telemakhos sat beside her. Then the men loosed the hawsers and + took their places on the benches. Athena sent them a fair wind from the West, + that whistled over the seething deep waves whereon Telemakhos told them to + catch hold of the ropes and hoist sail, and they did as he told them. They set + the mast in its socket in the cross plank, raised it, and made it fast with the + forestays; then they hoisted their white sails aloft with ropes of twisted ox + hide. As the sail bellied out with the wind, the ship flew through the seething + deep water, and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onward. Then they + made all fast throughout the ship, filled the mixing-bowls to the brim, and + made drink offerings to the immortal gods that are from everlasting, but more + particularly to the gray-eyed daughter of Zeus. +Thus, then, the ship sped on her way through + the watches of the night from dark till dawn. +But as the sun was rising from the fair sea into + the firmament of heaven to shed light on mortals and immortals, they reached + +Pylos + the city of Neleus. Now the + people of +Pylos + were gathered on the + sea shore to offer sacrifice of black bulls to Poseidon lord of the Earthquake. + There were nine guilds with five hundred men in each, and there were nine bulls + to each guild. As they were eating the inward meats and burning the thigh bones + [on the embers] in the name of Poseidon, Telemakhos and his crew arrived, + furled their sails, brought their ship to anchor, and went ashore. +Athena led the way and Telemakhos followed her. + Presently she said, "Telemakhos, you must not at all feel +aidôs + or be nervous; you have taken this voyage to try and find out + where your father is buried and how he came by his end; so go straight up to + Nestor that we may see what he has got to tell us. Beg of him to speak the + truth, and he will tell no lies, for he is an excellent person." +"But how, Mentor," replied Telemakhos, "dare I + go up to Nestor, and how am I to address him? I have never yet been used to + holding long conversations with people, and feel +aidôs + about questioning one who is so much older than myself." +"Some things, Telemakhos," answered Athena, + "will be suggested to you by your own instinct, and some +daimôn + will prompt you further; for I am assured that the gods have + been with you from the time of your birth until now." +She then went quickly on, and Telemakhos + followed in her steps till they reached the place where the guilds of the + Pylian people were assembled. There they found Nestor sitting with his sons, + while his company round him were busy getting dinner ready, and putting pieces + of meat on to the spits while other pieces were cooking. When they saw the + strangers they crowded round them, took them by the hand and bade them take + their places. Nestor's son Peisistratos at once offered his hand to each of + them, and seated them on some soft sheepskins that were lying on the sands near + his father and his brother Thrasymedes. Then he gave them their portions of the + inward meats and poured wine for them into a golden cup, handing it to Athena + first, and saluting her at the same time. +"Offer a prayer, sir," said he, "to lord + Poseidon, for it is his feast that you are joining; when you have duly prayed + and made your drink-offering, pass the cup to your friend that he may do so + also. I doubt not that he too lifts his hands in prayer, for man cannot live + without gods in the world. Still, he is younger than you are, and is much of an + age with myself, so I will give you the precedence." +As he spoke he handed her the cup. Athena + thought that he was just [ +dikaios +] and right to + have given it to herself first; she accordingly began praying heartily to + Poseidon. "O you," she cried, "who encircle the earth, deign to grant the + prayers of your servants that call upon you. More especially we pray you send + down your grace on Nestor and on his sons; thereafter also make the rest of the + Pylian people some handsome return for the goodly hecatomb they are offering + you. Lastly, grant Telemakhos and myself a happy issue, in respect of the + matter that has brought us in our to +Pylos +." +When she had thus made an end of praying, she + handed the cup to Telemakhos and he prayed likewise. By and by, when the outer + meats were roasted and had been taken off the spits, the carvers gave every man + his portion and they all made an excellent dinner. As soon as they had had + enough to eat and drink, Nestor, horseman of Gerene, began to speak. +"Now," said he, "that our guests have done their + dinner, it will be best to ask them who they are. Who, then, sir strangers, are + you, and from what port have you sailed? Are you traders? Or do you sail the + seas as rovers with your hand against every man, and every man's hand against + you?" +Telemakhos answered boldly, for Athena had given + him courage to ask about his father and get himself a good name [ +kleos +]. +"Nestor," said he, "son of Neleus, honor to the + Achaean name, you ask whence we come, and I will tell you. We come from + +Ithaca + under Neritum, and the + matter about which I would speak is of private not public import. I seek news + [ +kleos +] of my unhappy father Odysseus, who is + said to have sacked the town of +Troy + + in company with yourself. We know what fate befell each one of the other heroes + who fought at +Troy +, but as regards + Odysseus heaven has hidden from us the knowledge even that he is dead at all, + for no one can certify us in what place he perished, nor say whether he fell in + battle on the mainland, or was lost at sea amid the waves of Amphitrite. + Therefore I am suppliant at your knees, if haply you may be pleased to tell me + of his melancholy end, whether you saw it with your own eyes, or heard it from + some other traveler, for he was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things out + of any pity for me, but tell me in all plainness exactly what you saw. If my + brave father Odysseus ever did you loyal service, either by word or deed, when + you Achaeans were harassed at the district [ +dêmos +] + of the Trojans, bear it in mind now as in my favor and tell me truly all." +"My friend," answered Nestor, "you recall a + time of much sorrow to my mind, for the brave Achaeans suffered much both at + sea, while privateering under Achilles, and in that district [ +dêmos +] when fighting before the great city of king + Priam. Our best men all of them fell there - Ajax, Achilles, Patroklos peer of + gods in counsel, and my own dear son Antilokhos, a man singularly fleet of foot + and in fight valiant. But we suffered much more than this; what mortal tongue + indeed could tell the whole story? Though you were to stay here and question me + for five years, or even six, I could not tell you all that the Achaeans + suffered, and you would turn homeward weary of my tale before it ended. Nine + long years did we try every kind of stratagem, but the hand of heaven was + against us; during all this time there was no one who could compare with your + father in subtlety - if indeed you are his son. I can hardly believe my eyes - + and you talk just like him too - no one would say that people of such different + ages could speak so much alike. He and I never had any kind of difference from + first to last neither in camp nor council, but in singleness of heart and + purpose [ +noos +] we advised the Argives how all might + be ordered for the best. +"When however, we had sacked the city of Priam, + and were setting sail in our ships as heaven had dispersed us, then Zeus saw + fit to vex the Argives on their homeward voyage [ +nostos +]; for they had not all been either wise or just [ +dikaios +], and hence many came to a bad end through the + displeasure [ +mênis +] of Zeus' daughter Athena, who + brought about a quarrel between the two sons of Atreus. +"The sons of Atreus called a meeting which was + not according to +kosmos +, for it was sunset and the + Achaeans were heavy with wine. When they explained why they had called the + people together, it seemed that Menelaos was for sailing homeward [ +nostos +] at once, and this displeased Agamemnon, who + thought that we should wait till we had offered hecatombs to appease the anger + of Athena. Fool that he was, he might have known that he would not prevail with + her, for when the gods have made up their minds [ +noos +] they do not change them lightly. So the two stood bandying + hard words, whereon the Achaeans sprang to their feet with a cry that rent the + air, and were of two minds as to what they should do. +"That night we rested and nursed our anger, for + Zeus was hatching mischief against us. But in the morning some of us drew our + ships into the water and put our goods with our women on board, while the rest, + about half in number, stayed behind with Agamemnon. We - the other half - + embarked and sailed; and the ships went well, for heaven had smoothed the sea. + When we reached +Tenedos + we offered + sacrifices to the gods, for we were longing to get home [ +nostos +]; cruel Zeus, however, did not yet mean that we should do so, + and raised a second quarrel in the course of which some among us turned their + ships back again, and sailed away under Odysseus to make their peace with + Agamemnon; but I, and all the ships that were with me pressed forward, for I + saw that mischief was brewing. The son of Tydeus went on also with me, and his + crews with him. Later on Menelaos joined us at +Lesbos +, and found us making up our minds about our course - for + we did not know whether to go outside +Chios + by the island of Psyra, keeping this to our left, or + inside +Chios +, over against the stormy + headland of Mimas. So we asked heaven [ +daimôn +] for + a sign, and were shown one to the effect that we should be soonest out of + danger if we headed our ships across the open sea to +Euboea +. This we therefore did, and a fair wind + sprang up which gave us a quick passage during the night to +Geraistos +, where we offered many + sacrifices to Poseidon for having helped us so far on our way. Four days later + Diomedes and his men stationed their ships in +Argos +, but I held on for +Pylos +, and the wind never fell light from the day when heaven + first made it fair for me. +"Therefore, my dear young friend, I returned + without hearing anything about the others. I know neither who got home safely + nor who were lost but, as in duty bound, I will give you without reserve the + reports that have reached me since I have been here in my own house. They say + the Myrmidons returned home safely under Achilles' son Neoptolemos; so also did + the valiant son of Poias, Philoctetes. Idomeneus, again, lost no men at sea, + and all his followers who escaped death in the field got safe home with him to + +Crete +. No matter how far out of the + world you live, you will have heard of Agamemnon and the bad end he came to at + the hands of Aigisthos - and a fearful reckoning did Aigisthos presently pay. + See what a good thing it is for a man to leave a son behind him to do as + Orestes did, who killed false Aigisthos the murderer of his noble father. You + too, then - for you are a tall, smart-looking young man - show your mettle and + make yourself a name in story." +"Nestor son of Neleus," answered Telemakhos, + "honor to the Achaean name, the Achaeans will bear the +kleos + of Orestes in song even to future generations, for he has + avenged his father nobly. Would that heaven might grant me to do like vengeance + on the insolence of the wicked suitors, who are ill treating me and plotting my + ruin; but the gods have no such happiness [ +olbos +] + in store for me and for my father, so we must bear it as best we may." +"My friend," said Nestor, "now that you remind + me, I remember to have heard that your mother has many suitors, who are ill + disposed towards you and are making havoc of your estate. Do you submit to this + tamely, or are the people of the +dêmos +, following + the voice of a god, against you? Who knows but that Odysseus may come back + after all, and pay these scoundrels in full, either single-handed or with a + force of Achaeans behind him? If Athena were to take as great a liking to you + as she did to Odysseus when we were fighting in the Trojan +dêmos + (for I never yet saw the gods so openly fond of any one as + Athena then was of your father), if she would take as good care of you as she + did of him, these wooers would soon some of them forget their wooing." +Telemakhos answered, "I can expect nothing of + the kind; it would be far too much to hope for. I dare not let myself think of + it. Even though the gods themselves willed it no such good fortune could befall + me." +On this Athena said, "Telemakhos, what are you + talking about? Heaven has a long arm if it is minded to save a man; and if it + were me, I should not care how much I suffered before getting home, provided I + could be safe when I was once there. I would rather this, than get home + quickly, and then be killed in my own house as Agamemnon was by the treachery + of Aigisthos and his wife. Still, death is certain, and when a man's hour is + come, not even the gods can save him, no matter how fond they are of him." +"Mentor," answered Telemakhos, "do not let us + talk about it any more. There is no chance of my father's ever coming back + [ +nostos +]; the gods have long since counseled his + destruction. There is something else, however, about which I should like to ask + Nestor, for he knows much more than any one else does. They say he has reigned + for three generations so that it is like talking to an immortal. Tell me, + therefore, Nestor, and tell me true [ +alêthês +]; how + did Agamemnon come to die in that way? What was Menelaos doing? And how came + false Aigisthos to kill so far better a man than himself? Was Menelaos away + from Achaean Argos, voyaging elsewhere among humankind, that Aigisthos took + heart and killed Agamemnon?" +"I will tell you truly [ +alêthês +]," answered Nestor, "and indeed you have yourself divined + how it all happened. If Menelaos when he got back from +Troy + had found Aigisthos still alive in his + house, there would have been no grave marker heaped up for him, not even when + he was dead, but he would have been thrown outside the city to dogs and + vultures, and not a woman would have mourned him, for he had done a deed of + great wickedness; but we were over there, fighting hard [ +athlos +] at +Troy +, and + Aigisthos who was taking his ease quietly in the heart of +Argos +, cajoled Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra + with incessant flattery. +"At first she would have nothing to do with his + wicked scheme, for she was of a good natural disposition; moreover there was a + singer with her, to whom Agamemnon had given strict orders on setting out for + +Troy +, that he was to keep guard + over his wife; but when heaven had counseled her destruction, Aigisthos led + this bard off to a desert island and left him there for crows and seagulls to + batten upon - after which she went willingly enough to the house of Aigisthos. + Then he offered many burnt sacrifices to the gods, and decorated many temples + with tapestries and gilding, for he had succeeded far beyond his + expectations. +"Meanwhile Menelaos and I were on our way home + from +Troy +, on good terms with one + another. When we got to +Sounion +, + which is the point of +Athens +, + Apollo with his painless shafts killed Phrontis the steersman of Menelaos' ship + (and never man knew better how to handle a vessel in rough weather) so that he + died then and there with the helm in his hand, and Menelaos, though very + anxious to press forward, had to wait in order to bury his comrade and give him + his due funeral rites. Presently, when he too could put to sea again, and had + sailed on as far as the Malean heads, Zeus counseled evil against him and made + it blow hard till the waves ran mountains high. Here he divided his fleet and + took the one half towards +Crete + where + the Cydonians dwell round about the waters of the river Iardanos. There is a + high headland hereabouts stretching out into the sea from a place called + +Gortyn +, and all along this part + of the coast as far as +Phaistos + + the sea runs high when there is a south wind blowing, but past +Phaistos + the coast is more protected, for + a small headland can make a great shelter. Here this part of the fleet was + driven on to the rocks and wrecked; but the crews just managed to save + themselves. As for the other five ships, they were taken by winds and seas to + +Egypt +, where Menelaos gathered much + gold and substance among people of an alien speech. Meanwhile Aigisthos here at + home plotted his evil deed. For seven years after he had killed Agamemnon he + ruled in +Mycenae +, and the people + were obedient under him, but in the eighth year Orestes came back from + +Athens + to be his bane, and + killed the murderer of his father. Then he celebrated the funeral rites of his + mother and of false Aigisthos by a banquet to the people of +Argos +, and on that very day Menelaos came + home, with as much treasure as his ships could carry. +"Take my advice then, and do not go traveling + about for long so far from home, nor leave your property with such dangerous + people in your house; they will eat up everything you have among them, and you + will have been on a fool's errand. Still, I should advise you by all means to + go and visit Menelaos, who has lately come off a voyage among such distant + peoples as no man could ever hope to get back from, when the winds had once + carried him so far out of his reckoning; even birds cannot fly the distance in + a twelvemonth, so vast and terrible are the seas that they must cross. Go to + him, therefore, by sea, and take your own men with you; or if you would rather + travel by land you can have a chariot, you can have horses, and here are my + sons who can escort you to +Lacedaemon + + where Menelaos lives. Beg of him to speak the truth, and he will tell you no + lies, for he is an excellent person." +As he spoke the sun set and it came on dark, + whereon Athena said, "Sir, all that you have said is well; now, however, order + the tongues of the victims to be cut, and mix wine that we may make + drink-offerings to Poseidon, and the other immortals, and then go to bed, for + it is bed time [ +hôra +]. People should go away early + and not keep late hours at a religious festival." +Thus spoke the daughter of Zeus, and they + obeyed her saying. Men servants poured water over the hands of the guests, + while pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine and water, and handed it round + after giving every man his drink-offering; then they threw the tongues of the + victims into the fire, and stood up to make their drink-offerings. When they + had made their offerings and had drunk each as much as he was minded, Athena + and Telemakhos were for going on board their ship, but Nestor caught them up at + once and stayed them. +"Heaven and the immortal gods," he exclaimed, + "forbid that you should leave my house to go on board of a ship. Do you think I + am so poor and short of clothes, or that I have so few cloaks and as to be + unable to find comfortable beds both for myself and for my guests? Let me tell + you I have store both of rugs and cloaks, and shall not permit the son of my + old friend Odysseus to camp down on the deck of a ship - not while I live - nor + yet will my sons after me, but they will keep open house as I have done." +Then Athena answered, "Sir, you have spoken + well, and it will be much better that Telemakhos should do as you have said; + he, therefore, shall return with you and sleep at your house, but I must go + back to give orders to my crew, and keep them in good heart. I am the only + older person among them; the rest are all young men of Telemakhos' own age, who + have taken this voyage out of friendship; so I must return to the ship and + sleep there. Moreover tomorrow I must go to the Cauconians where I have a large + sum of wealth long owed to me. As for Telemakhos, now that he is your guest, + send him to +Lacedaemon + in a chariot, + and let one of your sons go with him. Be pleased also to provide him with your + best and fleetest horses." +When she had thus spoken, she flew away in the + form of an eagle, and all marveled as they beheld it. Nestor was astonished, + and took Telemakhos by the hand. "My friend," said he, "I see that you are + going to be a great hero some day, since the gods wait upon you thus while you + are still so young. This can have been none other of those who dwell in heaven + than Zeus' redoubtable daughter, the Trito-born, who showed such favor towards + your brave father among the Argives." "Holy queen," he continued, "agree to + send down noble +kleos + upon myself, my good wife, + and my children. In return, I will offer you in sacrifice a broad-browed heifer + of a year old, unbroken, and never yet brought by man under the yoke. I will + gild her horns, and will offer her up to you in sacrifice." +Thus did he pray, and Athena heard his prayer. + He then led the way to his own house, followed by his sons and sons-in-law. + When they had got there and had taken their places on the benches and seats, he + mixed them a bowl of sweet wine that was eleven years old when the housekeeper + took the lid off the jar that held it. As he mixed the wine, he prayed much and + made drink-offerings to Athena, daughter of Aegis-bearing Zeus. Then, when they + had made their drink-offerings and had drunk each as much as he was minded, the + others went home to bed each in his own abode; but Nestor put Telemakhos to + sleep in the room that was over the gateway along with Peisistratos, who was + the only unmarried son now left him. As for himself, he slept in an inner room + of the house, with the queen his wife by his side. +Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered + Dawn, appeared, Nestor left his couch and took his seat on the benches of white + and polished marble that stood in front of his house. Here aforetime sat + Neleus, peer of gods in counsel, but he was now dead, and had gone to the house + of Hades; so Nestor sat in his seat, scepter in hand, as guardian of the public + weal. His sons as they left their rooms gathered round him, Echephron, + Stratios, Perseus, Aretos, and Thrasymedes; the sixth son was Peisistratos, and + when Telemakhos joined them they made him sit with them. Nestor then addressed + them. +"My sons," said he, "make haste to do as I + shall bid you. I wish first and foremost to propitiate the great goddess + Athena, who manifested herself visibly to me during yesterday's festivities. + Go, then, one or other of you to the plain, tell the stockman to look me out a + heifer, and come on here with it at once. Another must go to Telemakhos' ship, + and invite all the crew, leaving two men only in charge of the vessel. Some one + else will run and fetch Laerceus the goldsmith to gild the horns of the heifer. + The rest, stay all of you where you are; tell the maids in the house to prepare + an excellent dinner, and to fetch seats, and logs of wood for a burnt offering. + Tell them also to bring me some clear spring water." +On this they hurried off on their several + errands. The heifer was brought in from the plain, and Telemakhos' crew came + from the ship; the goldsmith brought the anvil, hammer, and tongs, with which + he worked his gold, and Athena herself came to the sacrifice. Nestor gave out + the gold, and the smith gilded the horns of the heifer that the goddess might + have pleasure in their beauty. Then Stratios and Echephron brought her in by + the horns; Aretos fetched water from the house in a ewer that had a flower + pattern on it, and in his other hand he held a basket of barley meal; sturdy + Thrasymedes stood by with a sharp axe, ready to strike the heifer, while + Perseus held a bucket. Then Nestor began with washing his hands and sprinkling + the barley meal, and he offered many a prayer to Athena as he threw a lock from + the heifer's head upon the fire. +When they had done praying and sprinkling the + barley meal Thrasymedes dealt his blow, and brought the heifer down with a + stroke that cut through the tendons at the base of her neck, whereon the + daughters and daughters-in-law of Nestor, and his venerable wife Eurydice (she + was eldest daughter to Klymenos) screamed with delight. Then they lifted the + heifer's head from off the ground, and Peisistratos cut her throat. When she + had done bleeding and was quite dead, they cut her up. They cut out the thigh + bones all in due course, wrapped them round in two layers of fat, and set some + pieces of raw meat on the top of them; then Nestor laid them upon the wood fire + and poured wine over them, while the young men stood near him with five-pronged + spits in their hands. When the thighs were burned and they had tasted the + inward meats, they cut the rest of the meat up small, put the pieces on the + spits and toasted them over the fire. +Meanwhile lovely Polykaste, Nestor's youngest + daughter, washed Telemakhos. When she had washed him and anointed him with oil, + she brought him a fair mantle and shirt, and he looked like a god as he came + from the bath and took his seat by the side of Nestor. When the outer meats + were done they drew them off the spits and sat down to dinner where they were + waited upon by some worthy henchmen, who kept pouring them out their wine in + cups of gold. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink Nestor said, + "Sons, put Telemakhos' horses to the chariot that he may start at once." +Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had + said, and yoked the fleet horses to the chariot. The housekeeper packed them up + a provision of bread, wine, and sweetmeats fit for the sons of princes. Then + Telemakhos got into the chariot, while Peisistratos gathered up the reins and + took his seat beside him. He lashed the horses on and they flew forward nothing + loath into the open country, leaving the high citadel of +Pylos + behind them. All that day did they + travel, swaying the yoke upon their necks till the sun went down and darkness + was over all the land. Then they reached +Pherai + where Diokles lived, who was son to Ortilokhos and + grandson to Alpheus. Here they passed the night and Diokles entertained them + hospitably. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn; appeared, they again + yoked their horses and drove out through the gateway under the echoing + gatehouse. Peisistratos lashed the horses on and they flew forward nothing + loath; presently they came to the wheat lands of the open country, and in the + course of time completed their journey, so well did their steeds take them. +Now when the sun had set and darkness was over + the land, +They reached the low lying city of +Lacedaemon +, where they drove straight to the + halls of Menelaos. They found him in his own house, feasting with his many + clansmen in honor of the wedding of his son, and also of his daughter, whom he + was marrying to the son of that valiant warrior Achilles. He had given his + consent and promised her to him while he was still at +Troy +, and now the gods were bringing the + marriage about; so he was sending her with chariots and horses to the city of + the Myrmidons over whom Achilles’ son was reigning. For his only son he had + found a bride from +Sparta +, daughter + of Alektor. This son, Megapenthes, was born to him of a bondwoman, for heaven + granted Helen no more children after she had borne Hermione, who was fair as + golden Aphrodite herself. +So the neighbors and kinsmen of Menelaos were + feasting and making merry in his house. There was a singer also to sing to them + and play his lyre, while two tumblers went about performing in the midst of + them when the man struck up with his tune. +Telemakhos and the son of Nestor stayed their + horses at the gate, whereon Eteoneus servant to Menelaos came out, and as soon + as he saw them ran hurrying back into the house to tell his Master. He went + close up to him and said, "Menelaos, there are some strangers come here, two + men, who look like sons of Zeus. What are we to do? Shall we take their horses + out, or tell them to find friends elsewhere as they best can?" +Menelaos was very angry and said, "Eteoneus, son + of Boethoos, you never used to be a fool, but now you talk like a simpleton. + Take their horses out, of course, and show the strangers in that they may have + supper; you and I have stayed often enough at other people's houses before we + got back here, where heaven grant that we may rest in peace henceforward." +So Eteoneus bustled back and bade other servants + come with him. They took their sweating hands from under the yoke, made them + fast to the mangers, and gave them a feed of oats and barley mixed. Then they + leaned the chariot against the end wall of the courtyard, and led the way into + the house. Telemakhos and Peisistratos were astonished when they saw it, for + its splendor was as that of the sun and moon; then, when they had admired + everything to their heart's content, they went into the bath room and washed + themselves. +When the servants had washed them and anointed + them with oil, they brought them woolen cloaks and shirts, and the two took + their seats by the side of Menelaos. A maidservant brought them water in a + beautiful golden ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their + hands; and she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them + bread, and offered them many good things of what there was in the house, while + the carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and set cups of gold by + their side. +Menelaos then greeted them saying, "Eat up, and + welcome; when you have finished supper I shall ask who you are, for the lineage + of such men as you cannot have been lost. You must be descended from a line of + scepter-bearing kings, for poor people do not have such sons as you are." +On this he handed them a piece of fat roast + loin, which had been set near him as being a prime part, and they laid their + hands on the good things that were before them; as soon as they had had enough + to eat and drink, Telemakhos said to the son of Nestor, with his head so close + that no one might hear, "Look, Peisistratos, man after my own heart, see the + gleam of bronze and gold - of amber, ivory, and silver. Everything is so + splendid that it is like seeing the palace of Olympian Zeus. I am lost in + admiration." +Menelaos overheard him and said, "No one, my + sons, can hold his own with Zeus, for his house and everything about him is + immortal; but among mortal men - well, there may be another who has as much + wealth as I have, or there may not; but at all events I have traveled much and + have undergone much hardship, for it was nearly eight years before I could get + home with my fleet. I went to +Cyprus +, + +Phoenicia + and the Egyptians; I went + also to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Erembians, and to +Libya + where the lambs have horns as soon as + they are born, and the sheep bear lambs three times a year. Every one in that + country, whether master or man, has plenty of cheese, meat, and good milk, for + the ewes yield all the year round. But while I was traveling and getting great + riches among these people, my brother was secretly and shockingly murdered + through the perfidy of his wicked wife, so that I have no pleasure in being + lord of all this wealth. Whoever your parents may be they must have told you + about all this, and of my heavy loss in the ruin of a stately mansion fully and + magnificently furnished. Would that I had only a third of what I now have so + that I had stayed at home, and all those were living who perished on the plain + of +Troy +, far from +Argos +. I often grieve, as I sit here in my + house, for one and all of them. At times I cry aloud for sorrow, but presently + I leave off again, for crying is cold comfort and one soon tires of it. Yet + grieve for these as I may, I do so for one man more than for them all. I cannot + even think of him without loathing both food and sleep, so miserable does he + make me, for no one of all the Achaeans worked so hard or risked so much as he + did. He took nothing by it, and has left a legacy of sorrow [ +akhos +] to myself, for he has been gone a long time, + and we know not whether he is alive or dead. His old father, his long-suffering + wife Penelope, and his son Telemakhos, whom he left behind him an infant in + arms, are plunged in grief on his account." +Thus spoke Menelaos, and the heart of + Telemakhos yearned as he bethought him of his father. Tears fell from his eyes + as he heard him thus mentioned, so that he held his cloak before his face with + both hands. When Menelaos saw this he doubted whether to let him choose his own + time for speaking, or to ask him at once and find what it was all about. +While he was thus in two minds Helen came down + from her high-vaulted and perfumed room, looking as lovely as Artemis herself. + Adraste brought her a seat, Alkippe a soft woolen rug, while Phylo fetched her + the silver work-box which Alkandra wife of Polybos had given her. Polybos lived + in Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in the whole world; he gave + Menelaos two baths, both of pure silver, two tripods, and ten talents of gold; + besides all this, his wife gave Helen some beautiful presents, to wit, a golden + distaff, and a silver work-box that ran on wheels, with a gold band round the + top of it. Phylo now placed this by her side, full of fine spun yarn, and a + distaff charged with violet colored wool was laid upon the top of it. Then + Helen took her seat, put her feet upon the footstool, and began to question her + husband. +"Do we know, Menelaos," said she, "the names of + these strangers who have come to visit us? Shall I guess right or wrong? But I + cannot help saying what I think. Never yet have I seen either man or woman so + like somebody else (indeed when I look at him I hardly know what to think) as + this young man is like Telemakhos, whom Odysseus left as a baby behind him, + when you Achaeans went to +Troy + with + battle in your hearts, on account of my most shameless self." +"My dear wife," replied Menelaos, "I see the + likeness just as you do. His hands and feet are just like Odysseus’ so is his + hair, with the shape of his head and the expression of his eyes. Moreover, when + I was talking about Odysseus, and saying how much he had suffered on my + account, tears fell from his eyes, and he hid his face in his mantle." +Then Peisistratos said, "Menelaos, son of + Atreus, you are right in thinking that this young man is Telemakhos, but he is + very modest, and is ashamed to come here and begin opening up discourse with + one whose conversation is so divinely interesting as your own. My father, + Nestor, sent me to escort him hither, for he wanted to know whether you could + give him any counsel or suggestion. A son has always trouble at home when his + father has gone away leaving him without supporters; and this is how Telemakhos + is now placed, for his father is absent, and there is no one among his own + +dêmos + to stand by him." +"Bless my heart," replied Menelaos; "then I am + receiving a visit from the son of a very dear friend, who suffered much + hardship [ +athlos +] for my sake. I had always hoped + to entertain him with most marked distinction when heaven had granted us a safe + return [ +nostos +] from beyond the seas. I should have + founded a city for him in +Argos +, and + built him a house. I should have made him leave +Ithaca + with his goods, his son, and all his people, and should + have sacked for them some one of the neighboring cities that are subject to me. + We should thus have seen one another continually, and nothing but death could + have interrupted so close and happy an intercourse. I suppose, however, that + heaven grudged us such good fortune, for it has prevented the poor man from + ever getting home at all." +Thus did he speak, and his words set them all + to weeping. Helen wept, Telemakhos wept, and so did Menelaos, nor could + Peisistratos keep his eyes from filling, when he remembered his dear brother + Antilokhos whom the son of bright Dawn had killed. Thereon he said to + Menelaos, +"Sir, my father Nestor, when we used to talk + about you at home, told me you were a person of rare and excellent + understanding. If, then, it be possible, do as I would urge you. I am not fond + of crying while I am getting my supper. Morning will come in due course, and in + the forenoon I care not how much I cry for those that are dead and gone. This + is all we can do for the poor things. We can only shave our heads for them and + wring the tears from our cheeks. I had a brother who died at +Troy +; he was by no means the worst man there; + you are sure to have known him - his name was Antilokhos; I never set eyes upon + him myself, but they say that he was singularly fleet of foot and in fight + valiant." +"Your discretion, my friend," answered + Menelaos, "is beyond your years. It is plain you take after your father. One + can soon see when a man is son to one whom Zeus grants blessedness [ +olbos +] both as regards wife and offspring - and he has + blessed Nestor from first to last all his days, giving him a green old age in + his own house, with sons about him who are both well disposed and valiant. We + will put an end therefore to all this weeping, and attend to our supper again. + Let water be poured over our hands. Telemakhos and I can talk with one another + fully in the morning." +On this Asphalion, one of the servants, poured + water over their hands and they laid their hands on the good things that were + before them. +Then Zeus’ daughter Helen bethought her of + another matter. She drugged the wine with the herb +nêpenthes + [= anti- +penthos +], which + banishes all care, sorrow, and anger. Whoever drinks wine thus drugged cannot + shed a single tear all the rest of the day, not even though his father and + mother both of them drop down dead, or he sees a brother or a son hewn in + pieces before his very eyes. This drug, of such sovereign power and virtue, had + been given to Helen by Polydamna wife of +Thon +, a woman of +Egypt +, where there grow all sorts of herbs, some good to put into + the mixing-bowl and others poisonous. Moreover, every one in the whole country + is a skilled physician, for they are of the race of Paieon. When Helen had put + this drug in the bowl, and had told the servants to serve the wine round, she + said: +"Menelaos, son of Atreus, and you my good + friends, sons of honorable men (which is as Zeus wills, for he is the giver + both of good and evil, and can do what he chooses), feast here as you will, and + listen while I tell you a tale in season. I cannot indeed name every single one + of the exploits [ +athlos +] of Odysseus, but I can say + what he did when he was in the Trojan +dêmos +, and + you Achaeans were in all sorts of difficulties. He covered himself with wounds + and bruises, dressed himself all in rags, and entered the enemy's city looking + like a menial or a beggar, quite different from how he looked when he was among + his own people. In this disguise he entered the city of +Troy +, and no one said anything to him. I + alone recognized him and began to question him, but he was too cunning for me. + When, however, I had washed and anointed him and had given him clothes, and + after I had sworn a solemn oath not to betray him to the Trojans till he had + got safely back to his own camp and to the ships, he explained to me the whole + +noos + of the Achaeans. He killed many Trojans and + got much information before he reached the +Argive + camp, for all which things the Trojan women made + lamentation, but for my own part I was glad, for my heart was beginning to long + after my home, and I was unhappy about the wrong [ +atê +] that Aphrodite had done me in taking me over there, away from + my country, my girl, and my lawful wedded husband, who is indeed by no means + deficient either in looks or understanding." +Then Menelaos said, "All that you have been + saying, my dear wife, is true. I have traveled much, and have learned the plans + and +noos + of many a hero, but I have never seen such + another man as Odysseus. What endurance too, and what courage he displayed + within the wooden horse, wherein all the bravest of the Argives were lying in + wait to bring death and destruction upon the Trojans. At that moment you came + up to us; some +daimôn + who wished well to the + Trojans must have set you on to it and you had Deiphobos with you. Three times + did you go all round our hiding place and pat it; you called our chiefs each by + his own name, and mimicked all our wives. Diomedes, Odysseus, and I from our + seats inside heard what a noise you made. Diomedes and I could not make up our + minds whether to spring out then and there, or to answer you from inside, but + Odysseus held us all in check, so we sat quite still, all except Antiklos, who + was beginning to answer you, when Odysseus clapped his two brawny hands over + his mouth, and kept them there. It was this that saved us all, for he muzzled + Antiklos till Athena took you away again." +"How sad," exclaimed Telemakhos, "that all this + was of no avail to save him, nor yet his own iron courage. But now, sir, be + pleased to send us all to bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon + of sleep." +On this Helen told the maid servants to set + beds in the room that was in the gatehouse, and to make them with good red + rugs, and spread coverlets on the top of them with woolen cloaks for the guests + to wear. So the maids went out, carrying a torch, and made the beds, to which a + man-servant presently conducted the strangers. Thus, then, did Telemakhos and + Peisistratos sleep there in the forecourt, while the son of Atreus lay in an + inner room with lovely Helen by his side. +When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, + appeared, Menelaos rose and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his + comely feet, girded his sword about his shoulders, and left his room looking + like an immortal god. Then, taking a seat near Telemakhos he said: +"And what, Telemakhos, has led you to take this + long sea voyage to +Lacedaemon +? Are you + on public or private business? Tell me all about it." +"I have come, sir replied Telemakhos, "to see + if you can tell me anything about my father. I am being eaten out of house and + home; my fair estate is being wasted, and my house is full of miscreants who in + overweening +hubris + keep killing great numbers of my + sheep and oxen, on the pretense of wooing my mother. Therefore, I am suppliant + at your knees if haply you may tell me about my father's melancholy end, + whether you saw it with your own eyes, or heard it from some other traveler; + for he was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things out of any pity for + myself, but tell me in all plainness exactly what you saw. If my brave father + Odysseus ever did you loyal service either by word or deed, when you Achaeans + were harassed in the +dêmos + of the Trojans, bear it + in mind now as in my favor and tell me truly all." +Menelaos on hearing this was very much shocked. + "So," he exclaimed, "these cowards would usurp a brave man's bed? A hind might + as well lay her new born young in the lair of a lion, and then go off to feed + in the forest or in some grassy dell: the lion when he comes back to his lair + will make short work with the pair of them - and so will Odysseus with these + suitors. By father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo, if Odysseus is still the man that + he was when he wrestled with Philomeleides in +Lesbos +, and threw him so heavily that all the Achaeans cheered + him - if he is still such and were to come near these suitors, they would have + a swift doom and a sorry wedding. As regards your questions, however, I will + not prevaricate nor deceive you, but will tell you without concealment all that + the old man of the sea told me. +"I was trying to come on here, but the gods + detained me in +Egypt +, for my hecatombs + had not given them full satisfaction, and the gods are very strict about having + their dues. Now off +Egypt +, about as + far as a ship can sail in a day with a good stiff breeze behind her, there is + an island called Pharos - it has a good harbor from which vessels can get out + into open sea when they have taken in water - and the gods becalmed me twenty + days without so much as a breath of fair wind to help me forward. We should + have run clean out of provisions and my men would have starved, if a goddess + had not taken pity upon me and saved me in the person of Eidothea, daughter to + Proteus, the old man of the sea, for she had taken a great fancy to me. +"She came to me one day when I was by myself, + as I often was, for the men used to go with their barbed hooks, all over the + island in the hope of catching a fish or two to save them from the pangs of + hunger. ‘Stranger,’ said she, ‘it seems to me that you like starving in this + way - at any rate it does not greatly trouble you, for you stick here day after + day, without even trying to get away though your men are dying by inches.’ +"‘Let me tell you,’ said I, ‘whichever of the + goddesses you may happen to be, that I am not staying here of my own accord, + but must have offended the gods that live in heaven. Tell me, therefore, for + the gods know everything: which of the immortals it is that is hindering me in + this way, and tell me also how I may sail the sea so as to reach my home [ +nostos +]?’ +"‘Stranger,’ replied she, ‘I will make it all + quite clear to you. There is an old immortal who lives under the sea hereabouts + and whose name is Proteus. He is an Egyptian, and people say he is my father; + he is Poseidon's head man and knows every inch of ground all over the bottom of + the sea. If you can snare him and hold him tight, he will tell you about your + voyage, what courses you are to take, and how you are to sail the sea so as to + reach your home [ +nostos +]. He will also tell you, if + you so will, all that has been going on at your house both good and bad, while + you have been away on your long and dangerous journey.’ +"‘Can you show me,’ said I, ‘some strategy by + means of which I may catch this old god without his suspecting it and finding + me out? For a +daimôn + is not easily caught - not by + a mortal man.’ +"‘Stranger,’ said she, ‘I will make it all + quite clear to you. About the time when the sun shall have reached mid heaven, + the old man of the sea comes up from under the waves, heralded by the West wind + that furs the water over his head. As soon as he has come up he lies down, and + goes to sleep in a great sea cave, where the seals - (Halosydne's chickens as + they call them) - come up also from the gray sea, and go to sleep in shoals all + round him; and a very strong and fish-like smell do they bring with them. Early + tomorrow morning I will take you to this place and will lay you in ambush. Pick + out [ +krînô +], therefore, the three best men you have + in your fleet, and I will tell you all the tricks that the old man will play + you. +"‘First he will look over all his seals, and + count them; then, when he has seen them and tallied them on his five fingers, + he will go to sleep among them, as a shepherd among his sheep. The moment you + see that he is asleep seize him; put forth all your strength [ +biê +] and hold him fast, for he will do his very utmost + to get away from you. He will turn himself into every kind of creature that + goes upon the earth, and will become also both fire and water; but you must + hold him fast and grip him tighter and tighter, till he begins to talk to you + and comes back to what he was when you saw him go to sleep; then you may + slacken your hold [ +biê +] and let him go; and you can + ask him which of the gods it is that is angry with you, and what you must do to + reach your home [ +nostos +] over the fishy sea.’ +"Having so said she dived under the waves, + whereon I turned back to the place where my ships were ranged upon the shore; + and my heart was clouded with care as I went along. When I reached my ship we + got supper ready, for night was falling, and camped down upon the beach. +"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, + appeared, I took the three men on whose prowess of all kinds I could most rely, + and went along by the sea-side, praying heartily to heaven. Meanwhile the + goddess fetched me up four seal skins from the bottom of the sea, all of them + just skinned, for she meant to play a trick upon her father. Then she dug four + pits for us to lie in, and sat down to wait till we should come up. When we + were close to her, she made us lie down in the pits one after the other, and + threw a seal skin over each of us. Our ambuscade would have been intolerable, + for the stench of the fishy seals was most distressing - who would go to bed + with a sea monster if he could help it?-but here, too, the goddess helped us, + and thought of something that gave us great relief, for she put some ambrosia + under each man's nostrils, which was so fragrant that it killed the smell of + the seals. +"We waited the whole morning and made the best + of it, watching the seals come up in hundreds to bask upon the sea shore, till + at noon the old man of the sea came up too, and when he had found his fat seals + he went over them and counted them. We were among the first he counted, and he + never suspected any guile, but laid himself down to sleep as soon as he had + done counting. Then we rushed upon him with a shout and seized him; on which he + began at once with his old tricks, and changed himself first into a lion with a + great mane; then all of a sudden he became a dragon, a leopard, a wild boar; + the next moment he was running water, and then again directly he was a tree, + but we stuck to him and never lost hold, till at last the cunning old creature + became distressed, and said, Which of the gods was it, Son of Atreus, that + hatched this plot with you for snaring me and seizing me against my will? What + do you want?’ +"‘You know that yourself, old man,’ I answered. + ‘You will gain nothing by trying to put me off. It is because I have been kept + so long in this island, and see no sign of my being able to get away. I am + losing all heart; tell me, then, for you gods know everything, which of the + immortals it is that is hindering me, and tell me also how I may sail the sea + so as to reach my home [ +nostos +]?’ +"Then,’ he said, ‘if you would finish your + voyage and get home quickly, you must offer sacrifices to Zeus and to the rest + of the gods before embarking; for it is decreed that you shall not get back to + your friends, and to your own house, till you have returned to the heaven-fed + stream of +Egypt +, and offered holy + hecatombs to the immortal gods that reign in heaven. When you have done this + they will let you finish your voyage.’ +"I was broken-hearted when I heard that I must + go back all that long and terrible voyage to +Egypt +; nevertheless, I answered, ‘I will do all, old man, that + you have laid upon me; but now tell me, and tell me true, whether all the + Achaeans whom Nestor and I left behind us when we set sail from +Troy + have got home safely, or whether any one + of them came to a bad end either on board his own ship or among his friends + when the days of his fighting were done.’ +"‘Son of Atreus,’ he answered, ‘why ask me? You + had better not know my +noos +, for your eyes will + surely fill when you have heard my story. Many of those about whom you ask are + dead and gone, but many still remain, and only two of the chief men among the + Achaeans perished during their return home. As for what happened on the field + of battle - you were there yourself. A third Achaean leader is still at sea, + alive, but hindered from returning [ +nostos +]. Ajax + was wrecked, for Poseidon drove him on to the great rocks of Gyrae; + nevertheless, he let him get safe out of the water, and in spite of all + Athena's hatred he would have escaped death, if he had not ruined himself by + boasting. He said the gods could not drown him even though they had tried to do + so, and when Poseidon heard this large talk, he seized his trident in his two + brawny hands, and split the rock of Gyrae in two pieces. The base remained + where it was, but the part on which Ajax was sitting fell headlong into the sea + and carried Ajax with it; so he drank salt water and was drowned. +"‘Your brother and his ships escaped, for Hera + protected him, but when he was just about to reach the high promontory of + Malea, he was caught by a heavy gale which carried him out to sea again sorely + against his will, and drove him to the foreland where Thyestes used to dwell, + but where Aigisthos was then living. By and by, however, it seemed as though he + was to return [ +nostos +] safely after all, for the + gods backed the wind into its old quarter and they reached home; whereon + Agamemnon kissed his native soil, and shed tears of joy at finding himself in + his own country. +"‘Now there was a watchman whom Aigisthos kept + always on the watch, and to whom he had promised two talents of gold. This man + had been looking out for a whole year to make sure that Agamemnon did not give + him the slip and prepare war; when, therefore, this man saw Agamemnon go by, he + went and told Aigisthos who at once began to lay a plot for him. He picked + [ +krînô +] twenty of his bravest warriors from the + +dêmos + and placed them in ambuscade on one side + the room, while on the opposite side he prepared a banquet. Then he sent his + chariots and horsemen to Agamemnon, and invited him to the feast, but he meant + foul play. He got him there, all unsuspicious of the doom that was awaiting + him, and killed him when the banquet was over as though he were butchering an + ox in the shambles; not one of Agamemnon's followers was left alive, nor yet + one of Aigisthos’, but they were all killed there in the cloisters.’ +"Thus spoke Proteus, and I was broken hearted + as I heard him. I sat down upon the sands and wept; I felt as though I could no + longer bear to live nor look upon the light of the sun. Presently, when I had + had my fill of weeping and writhing upon the ground, the old man of the sea + said, ‘Son of Atreus, do not waste any more time in crying so bitterly; it can + do no manner of good; find your way home as fast as ever you can, for Aigisthos + be still alive, and even though Orestes anticipates you in killing him, you may + yet come in for his funeral.’ +"On this I took comfort in spite of all my + sorrow, and said, ‘I know, then, about these two; tell me, therefore, about the + third man of whom you spoke; is he still alive, but at sea, and unable to get + home? Or is he dead? Tell me, no matter how much it may grieve me.’ +"‘The third man,’ he answered, ‘is Odysseus who + dwells in +Ithaca +. I can see him in an + island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the nymph Calypso, who is keeping him + prisoner, and he cannot reach his home for he has no ships nor sailors to take + him over the sea. As for your own end, Menelaos, you shall not die in + +Argos +, but the gods will take you + to the Elysian plain, which is at the ends of the world. There fair-haired + Rhadamanthus reigns, and men lead an easier life than any where else in the + world, for in Elysium there falls not rain, nor hail, nor snow, but Okeanos + breathes ever with a West wind that sings softly from the sea, and gives fresh + life to all men. This will happen to you because you have married Helen, and + are Zeus’ son-in-law.’ +"As he spoke he dived under the waves, whereon + I turned back to the ships with my companions, and my heart was clouded with + care as I went along. When we reached the ships we got supper ready, for night + was falling, and camped down upon the beach. When the child of morning, + rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, we drew our ships into the water, and put our + masts and sails within them; then we went on board ourselves, took our seats on + the benches, and smote the gray sea with our oars. I again stationed my ships + in the heaven-fed stream of +Egypt +, and + offered hecatombs that were full and sufficient. When I had thus appeased + heaven's anger, I raised a tomb to the memory of Agamemnon that his +kleos + might be inextinguishable, after which I had a + quick passage home, for the gods sent me a fair wind. +"And now for yourself - stay here some ten or + twelve days longer, and I will then speed you on your way. I will make you a + noble present of a chariot and three horses. I will also give you a beautiful + chalice that so long as you live you may think of me whenever you make a + drink-offering to the immortal gods." +"Son of Atreus," replied Telemakhos, "do not + press me to stay longer; I should be contented to remain with you for another + twelve months; I find your conversation so delightful that I should never once + wish myself at home with my parents; but my crew whom I have left at +Pylos + are already impatient, and you are + detaining me from them. As for any present you may be disposed to make me, I + had rather that it should he a piece of plate. I will take no horses back with + me to +Ithaca +, but will leave them to + adorn your own stables, for you have much flat ground in your kingdom where + lotus thrives, as also meadowsweet and wheat and barley, and oats with their + white and spreading ears; whereas in +Ithaca + we have neither open fields nor racecourses, and the + country is more fit for goats than horses, and I like it the better for that. + None of our islands have much level ground, suitable for horses, and +Ithaca + least of all." +Menelaos smiled and took Telemakhos’ hand + within his own. "What you say," said he, "shows that you come of good family. I + both can, and will, make this exchange for you, by giving you the finest and + most precious piece of plate in all my house. It is a mixing-bowl by + Hephaistos’ own hand, of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with + gold. Phaidimos, king of the Sidonians, gave it me in the course of a visit + which I paid him when I returned there on my homeward journey. I will make you + a present of it." +Thus did they converse as guests kept coming to + the king's house. They brought sheep and wine, while their wives had put up + bread for them to take with them; so they were busy cooking their dinners in + the courts. +Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs or + aiming with spears at a mark on the leveled ground in front of Odysseus’ house, + and were behaving with all their old +hubris +. + Antinoos and Eurymakhos, who were their ringleaders and much the foremost in + +aretê + among them all, were sitting together when + Noemon son of Phronios came up and said to Antinoos, +"Have we any idea, Antinoos, on what day + Telemakhos returns from +Pylos +? He + has a ship of mine, and I want it, to cross over to +Elis +: I have twelve brood mares there with + yearling mule foals by their side not yet broken in, and I want to bring one of + them over here and break him." +They were astounded when they heard this, for + they had made sure that Telemakhos had not gone to the city of Neleus. They + thought he was only away somewhere on the farms, and was with the sheep, or + with the swineherd; so Antinoos said, "When did he go? Tell me truly, and what + young men did he take with him? Were they freemen or his own bondsmen - for he + might manage that too? Tell me also, did you let him have the ship of your own + free will because he asked you, or did he take it by force [ +biê +] without your leave?" +"I lent it him," answered Noemon. "What else + could I do when a man of his position said he was in a difficulty and asked me + to oblige him? I could not possibly refuse. As for those who went with him they + were the best young men we have in the +dêmos +, and I + saw Mentor go on board as leader - or some god who was exactly like him. I + cannot understand it, for I saw Mentor here myself yesterday morning, and yet + he was then setting out for +Pylos +." +Noemon then went back to his father's house, + but Antinoos and Eurymakhos were very angry. They told the others to leave off + competing [ +athlos +], and to come and sit down along + with themselves. When they came, Antinoos son of Eupeithes spoke in anger. His + heart was black with rage, and his eyes flashed fire as he said: +"Good heavens, this voyage of Telemakhos is a + very serious matter; we had made sure that it would come to nothing, but the + young man has got away in spite of us, and with a crew picked [ +krînô +] from the best of the +dêmos +, too. He will be giving us trouble presently; may Zeus destroy + him with violence [ +biê +] before he is full grown. + Find me a ship, therefore, with a crew of twenty men, and I will lie in wait + for him in the straits between +Ithaca + + and +Samos +; he will then rue the day + that he set out to try and get news of his father." +Thus did he speak, and the others applauded his + saying; they then all of them went inside the buildings. +It was not long ere Penelope came to know what + the suitors were plotting; for a man servant, Medon, overheard them from + outside the outer court as they were laying their schemes within, and went to + tell his mistress. As he crossed the threshold of her room Penelope said: + "Medon, what have the suitors sent you here for? Is it to tell the maids to + leave their master's business and cook dinner for them? I wish they may neither + woo nor dine henceforward, neither here nor anywhere else, but let this be the + very last time, for the waste you all make of my son's estate. Did not your + fathers tell you when you were children how good Odysseus had been to them - + never doing anything high-handed, nor speaking harshly to anybody in the +dêmos +? Such is the justice [ +dikê +] of divine kings: they may take a fancy to one man and dislike + another, but Odysseus never did an unjust thing by anybody - which shows what + bad hearts you have, and that there is no such thing as gratitude [ +kharis +] left in this world." +Then Medon said, "I wish, my lady, that this + were all; but they are plotting something much more dreadful now - may heaven + frustrate their design. They are going to try and murder Telemakhos as he is + coming home from +Pylos + and + +Lacedaemon +, where he has been to + get news of his father." +Then Penelope's heart sank within her, and for + a long time she was speechless; her eyes filled with tears, and she could find + no utterance. At last, however, she said, "Why did my son leave me? What + business had he to go sailing off in ships that make long voyages over the + ocean like sea-horses? Does he want to die without leaving any one behind him + to keep up his name?" +"I do not know," answered Medon, "whether some + god set him on to it, or whether he went on his own impulse to see if he could + find out if his father was dead, or alive and on his way home [ +nostos +]." +Then he went downstairs again, leaving Penelope + in an agony of grief [ +akhos +]. There were plenty of + seats in the house, but she had no heart for sitting on any one of them; she + could only fling herself on the floor of her own room and cry; whereon all the + maids in the house, both old and young, gathered round her and began to cry + too, till at last in a transport of sorrow she exclaimed, +"My dears, heaven has been pleased to try me + with more affliction than any other woman of my age and country. First I lost + my brave and lion-hearted husband, who had every good quality [ +aretê +] under heaven, and whose +kleos + was great over all +Hellas + and middle +Argos +; and now my darling son is at the mercy of the winds and + waves, without my having heard one word about his leaving home. You hussies, + there was not one of you would so much as think of giving me a call out of my + bed, though you all of you very well knew when he was starting. If I had known + he meant taking this voyage, he would have had to give it up, no matter how + much he was bent upon it, or leave me a corpse behind him - one or other. Now, + however, go some of you and call old Dolios, who was given me by my father on + my marriage, and who is my gardener. Bid him go at once and tell everything to + +Laertes +, who may be able to hit + on some plan for enlisting public sympathy on our side, as against those who + are trying to exterminate his own race and that of Odysseus." +Then the dear old nurse Eurykleia said, "You + may kill me, my lady, or let me live on in your house, whichever you please, + but I will tell you the real truth. I knew all about it, and gave him + everything he wanted in the way of bread and wine, but he made me take my + solemn oath that I would not tell you anything for some ten or twelve days, + unless you asked or happened to hear of his having gone, for he did not want + you to spoil your beauty by crying. And now, my lady, wash your face, change + your dress, and go upstairs with your maids to offer prayers to Athena, + daughter of Aegis-bearing Zeus, for she can save him even though he be in the + jaws of death. Do not trouble Laertes: he has trouble enough already. Besides, + I cannot think that the gods hate the race of the son of Arceisius so much, but + there will be a son left to come up after him, and inherit both the house and + the fair fields that lie far all round it." +With these words she made her mistress leave + off crying, and dried the tears from her eyes. Penelope washed her face, + changed her dress, and went upstairs with her maids. She then put some bruised + barley into a basket and began praying to Athena. +"Hear me," she cried, "Daughter of + Aegis-bearing Zeus, unweariable. If ever Odysseus while he was here burned you + fat thigh bones of sheep or heifer, bear it in mind now as in my favor, and + save my darling son from the villainy of the suitors." +She cried aloud as she spoke, and the goddess + heard her prayer; meanwhile the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered + room, and one of them said: +"The queen is preparing for her marriage with + one or other of us. Little does she dream that her son has now been doomed to + die." +This was what they said, but they did not know + what was going to happen. Then Antinoos said, "Comrades, let there be no loud + talking, lest some of it get carried inside. Let us be up and do that in + silence, about which we are all of a mind." +He then chose [ +krînô +] twenty men, and they went down to their ship and to the sea + side; they drew the vessel into the water and got her mast and sails inside + her; they bound the oars to the thole-pins with twisted thongs of leather, all + in due course, and spread the white sails aloft, while their fine servants + brought them their armor. Then they made the ship fast a little way out, came + on shore again, got their suppers, and waited till night should fall. +But Penelope lay in her own room upstairs + unable to eat or drink, and wondering whether her brave son would escape, or be + overpowered by the wicked suitors. Like a lioness caught in the toils with + huntsmen hemming her in on every side she thought and thought till she sank + into a slumber, and lay on her bed bereft of thought and motion. +Then Athena bethought her of another matter, + and made a vision in the likeness of Penelope's sister Iphthime daughter of + Ikarios who had married Eumelos and lived in +Pherai +. She told the vision to go to the house of Odysseus, and + to make Penelope leave off crying, so it came into her room by the hole through + which the thong went for pulling the door to, and hovered over her head, + saying, +"You are asleep, Penelope: the gods who live at + ease will not suffer you to weep and be so sad. Your son has done them no + wrong, so he will yet come back to you." +Penelope, who was sleeping sweetly at the gates + of dreamland, answered, "Sister, why have you come here? You do not come very + often, but I suppose that is because you live such a long way off. Am I, then, + to leave off crying and refrain from all the sad thoughts that torture me? I, + who have lost my brave and lion-hearted husband, who had every good quality + [ +aretê +] under heaven, and whose +kleos + was great over all +Hellas + and middle +Argos +; and now my darling son has gone off on board of a ship - + a foolish man who has never been used to undergoing ordeals [ +ponos +], nor to going about among gatherings of men. I + am even more anxious about him than about my husband; I am all in a tremble + when I think of him, lest something should happen to him, either from the + people in the +dêmos + where he has gone, or at sea, + for he has many enemies who are plotting against him, and are bent on killing + him before he can return home." +Then the vision said, "Take heart, and be not + so much dismayed. There is one gone with him whom many a man would be glad + enough to have stand by his side, I mean Athena; it is she who has compassion + upon you, and who has sent me to bear you this message." +"Then," said Penelope, "if you are a god or + have been sent here by divine commission, tell me also about that other unhappy + one - is he still alive, or is he already dead and in the house of Hades?" +And the vision said, "I shall not tell you for + certain whether he is alive or dead, and there is no use in idle + conversation." +Then it vanished through the thong-hole of the + door and was dissipated into thin air; but Penelope rose from her sleep + refreshed and comforted, so vivid had been her dream. +Meantime the suitors went on board and sailed + their ways over the sea, intent on murdering Telemakhos. Now there is a rocky + islet called Asteris, of no great size, in mid channel between +Ithaca + and +Samos +, and there is a harbor on either side of it where a ship + can lie. Here then the Achaeans placed themselves in ambush. +And now, as Dawn rose from her couch beside + Tithonos - harbinger of light alike to mortals and immortals - the gods met in + council and with them, Zeus the lord of thunder, who is their king. Thereon + Athena began to tell them of the many sufferings of Odysseus, for she pitied + him away there in the house of the nymph Calypso. +"Father Zeus," said she, "and all you other gods + that live in everlasting bliss, I hope there may never be such a thing as a + kind and well-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern equitably. I + hope they will be all henceforth cruel and unjust, for there is not one of his + subjects who has not forgotten Odysseus, who ruled them as though he were their + father. There he is, lying in great pain in an island where dwells the nymph + Calypso, who will not let him go; and he cannot get back to his own country, + for he can find neither ships nor sailors to take him over the sea. + Furthermore, wicked people are now trying to murder his only son Telemakhos, + who is coming home from +Pylos + and + +Lacedaemon +, where he has been to + see if he can get news of his father." +"What, my dear, are you talking about?" replied + her father. "Did you not send him there yourself, because you thought [ +noos +] it would help Odysseus to get home and punish + the suitors? Besides, you are perfectly able to protect Telemakhos, and to see + him safely home again, while the suitors have to come hurrying back without + having killed him." +When he had thus spoken, he said to his son + Hermes, "Hermes, you are our messenger, go therefore and tell Calypso we have + decreed that poor Odysseus is to return home [ +nostos +]. He is to be convoyed neither by gods nor men, but after a + perilous voyage of twenty days upon a raft he is to reach fertile +Scheria +, the land of the Phaeacians, who are + near of kin to the gods, and will honor him as though he were one of ourselves. + They will send him in a ship to his own country, and will give him more bronze + and gold and raiment than he would have brought back from +Troy +, if he had had all his prize wealth and + had got home without disaster. This is how we have settled that he shall return + to his country and his friends." +Thus he spoke, and Hermes, guide and guardian, + slayer of +Argos +, did as he was told. + Forthwith he bound on his glittering golden sandals with which he could fly + like the wind over land and sea. He took the wand with which he seals men's + eyes in sleep or wakes them just as he pleases, and flew holding it in his hand + over +Pieria +; then he swooped down + through the firmament till he reached the level of the sea, whose waves he + skimmed like a cormorant that flies fishing every hole and corner of the ocean, + and drenching its thick plumage in the spray. He flew and flew over many a + weary wave, but when at last he got to the island which was his journey's end, + he left the sea and went on by land till he came to the cave where the nymph + Calypso lived. +He found her at home. There was a large fire + burning on the hearth, and one could smell from far the fragrant reek of + burning cedar and sandal wood. As for herself, she was busy at her loom, + shooting her golden shuttle through the warp and singing beautifully. Round her + cave there was a thick wood of alder, poplar, and sweet smelling cypress trees, + wherein all kinds of great birds had built their nests - owls, hawks, and + chattering sea-crows that have their business in the waters. A vine loaded with + grapes was trained and grew luxuriantly about the mouth of the cave; there were + also four running rills of water in channels cut pretty close together, and + turned here and there so as to irrigate the beds of violets and luscious + herbage over which they flowed. Even a god could not help being charmed with + such a lovely spot, so Hermes stood still and looked at it; but when he had + admired it sufficiently he went inside the cave. +Calypso knew him at once - for the gods all know + each other, no matter how far they live from one another - but Odysseus was not + within; he was on the sea-shore as usual, looking out upon the barren ocean + with tears in his eyes, groaning and breaking his heart for sorrow. Calypso + gave Hermes a seat and said: "Why have you come to see me, Hermes - honored, + and ever welcome - for you do not visit me often? Say what you want; I will do + it for you at once if I can, and if it can be done at all; but come inside, and + let me set refreshment before you. +As she spoke she drew a table loaded with + ambrosia beside him and mixed him some red nectar, so Hermes ate and drank till + he had had enough, and then said: +"We are speaking god and goddess to one another, + one another, and you ask me why I have come here, and I will tell you truly as + you would have me do. Zeus sent me; it was no doing of mine; who could possibly + want to come all this way over the sea where there are no cities full of people + to offer me sacrifices or choice hecatombs? Nevertheless I had to come, for + none of us other gods can cross Zeus, nor transgress his orders [his +noos +]. He says that you have here the most ill-starred + of all those who fought nine years before the city of King Priam and sailed + home in the tenth year after having sacked it. On their way home [ +nostos +] they erred against Athena, who raised both + wind and waves against them, so that all his brave companions perished, and he + alone was carried here by wind and tide. Zeus says that you are to let this by + man go at once, for it is decreed that he shall not perish here, far from his + own people, but shall return to his house and country and see his friends + again." +Calypso trembled with rage when she heard this, + "You gods," she exclaimed, "ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You are always + jealous and hate seeing a goddess take a fancy to a mortal man, and live with + him in open matrimony. So when rosy-fingered Dawn made love to Orion, you + precious gods were all of you furious till Artemis went and killed him in + Ortygia. So again when Demeter fell in love with Iasion, and yielded to him in + a thrice ploughed fallow field, Zeus came to hear of it before so long and + killed Iasion with his thunder-bolts. And now you are angry with me too because + I have a man here. I found the poor creature sitting all alone astride of a + keel, for Zeus had struck his ship with lightning and sunk it in mid ocean, so + that all his crew were drowned, while he himself was driven by wind and waves + on to my island. I got fond of him and cherished him, and had set my heart on + making him immortal, so that he should never grow old all his days; still I + cannot cross Zeus, nor bring his counsels [ +noos +] to + nothing; therefore, if he insists upon it, let the man go beyond the seas + again; but I cannot send him anywhere myself for I have neither ships nor men + who can take him. Nevertheless I will readily give him such advice, in all good + faith, as will be likely to bring him safely to his own country." +"Then send him away," said Hermes, "and fear + the +mênis + of Zeus, lest he grow angry and punish + you"’ +On this he took his leave, and Calypso went out + to look for Odysseus, for she had heard Zeus’ message. She found him sitting + upon the beach with his eyes ever filled with tears, his sweet life wasting + away as he mourned his +nostos +; for he had got tired + of Calypso, and though he was forced to sleep with her in the cave by night, it + was she, not he, that would have it so. As for the daytime, he spent it on the + rocks and on the sea-shore, weeping, crying aloud for his despair, and always + looking out upon the sea. Calypso then went close up to him said: +"My poor man, you shall not stay here grieving + and fretting your life out any longer. I am going to send you away of my own + free will; so go, cut some beams of wood, and make yourself a large raft with + an upper deck that it may carry you safely over the sea. I will put bread, + wine, and water on board to save you from starving. I will also give you + clothes, and will send you a fair wind to take you home, if the gods in heaven + so will it - for they know more about these things, and can settle them better + than I can." +Odysseus shuddered as he heard her. "Now + goddess," he answered, "there is something behind all this; you cannot be + really meaning to help me home when you bid me do such a dreadful thing as put + to sea on a raft. Not even a well-found ship with a fair wind could venture on + such a distant voyage: nothing that you can say or do shall make me go on board + a raft unless you first solemnly swear that you mean me no mischief." +Calypso smiled at this and caressed him with + her hand: "You know a great deal," said she, "but you are quite wrong here. May + heaven above and earth below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx + - and this is the most solemn oath which a blessed god can take - that I mean + you no sort of harm, and am only advising you to do exactly what I should do + myself in your place. My +noos + is favorable towards + you; my heart is not made of iron, and I am very sorry for you." +When she had thus spoken she led the way + rapidly before him, and Odysseus followed in her steps; so the pair, goddess + and man, went on and on till they came to Calypso's cave, where Odysseus took + the seat that Hermes had just left. Calypso set meat and drink before him of + the food that mortals eat; but her maids brought ambrosia and nectar for + herself, and they laid their hands on the good things that were before them. + When they had satisfied themselves with meat and drink, Calypso spoke, + saying: +"Odysseus, noble son of +Laertes +, so you would start home to your + own land at once? Good luck go with you, but if you could only know how much + suffering is in store for you before you get back to your own country, you + would stay where you are, keep house along with me, and let me make you + immortal, no matter how anxious you may be to see this wife of yours, of whom + you are thinking all the time, day after day; yet I flatter myself that I am no + whit less tall or well-looking than she is, for it is not to be expected that a + mortal woman should compare in beauty with an immortal." +"Goddess," replied Odysseus, "do not be angry + with me about this. I am quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so + tall or so beautiful as yourself. She is only a woman, whereas you are an + immortal. Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing else. If + some god wrecks me when I am on the sea, I will bear it and make the best of + it. I have had infinite trouble both by land and sea already, so let this go + with the rest." +Presently the sun set and it became dark, + whereon the pair retired into the inner part of the cave and went to bed. +When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, + appeared, Odysseus put on his shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a dress + of a light gossamer fabric, very fine and graceful, with a beautiful golden + girdle about her waist and a veil to cover her head. She at once set herself to + think how she could speed Odysseus on his way. So she gave him a great bronze + axe that suited his hands; it was sharpened on both sides, and had a beautiful + olive-wood handle fitted firmly on to it. She also gave him a sharp adze, and + then led the way to the far end of the island where the largest trees grew - + alder, poplar and pine, that reached the sky - very dry and well seasoned, so + as to sail light for him in the water. Then, when she had shown him where the + best trees grew, Calypso went home, leaving him to cut them, which he soon + finished doing. He cut down twenty trees in all and adzed them smooth, squaring + them by rule in good workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile Calypso came back with some + augers, so he bored holes with them and fitted the timbers together with bolts + and rivets. He made the raft as broad as a skilled shipwright makes the beam of + a large vessel, and he filed a deck on top of the ribs, and ran a gunwale all + round it. He also made a mast with a yard arm, and a rudder to steer with. He + fenced the raft all round with wicker hurdles as a protection against the + waves, and then he threw on a quantity of wood. By and by Calypso brought him + some linen to make the sails, and he made these too, excellently, making them + fast with braces and sheets. Last of all, with the help of levers, he drew the + raft down into the water. +In four days he had completed the whole work, + and on the fifth Calypso sent him from the island after washing him and giving + him some clean clothes. She gave him a goat skin full of black wine, and + another larger one of water; she also gave him a wallet full of provisions, and + found him in much good meat. Moreover, she made the wind fair and warm for him, + and gladly did Odysseus spread his sail before it, while he sat and guided the + raft skillfully by means of the rudder. He never closed his eyes, but kept them + fixed on the Pleiads, on late-setting Boötes, and on the Bear - which men also + call the Wain, and which turns round and round where it is, facing Orion, and + alone never dipping into the stream of Okeanos - for Calypso had told him to + keep this to his left. Seventeen days did he sail over the sea, and on the + eighteenth the dim outlines of the mountains on the nearest part of the + Phaeacian coast appeared, rising like a shield on the horizon. +But lord Poseidon, who was returning from the + Ethiopians, caught sight of Odysseus a long way off, from the mountains of the + Solymi. He could see him sailing upon the sea, and it made him very angry, so + he wagged his head and muttered to himself, saying, heavens, so the gods have + been changing their minds about Odysseus while I was away in +Ethiopia +, and now he is close to the land of + the Phaeacians, where it is decreed that he shall escape from the calamities + that have befallen him. Still, he shall have plenty of hardship yet before he + has done with it." +Thereon he gathered his clouds together, + grasped his trident, stirred it round in the sea, and roused the rage of every + wind that blows till earth, sea, and sky were hidden in cloud, and night sprang + forth out of the heavens. Winds from East, South, North, and West fell upon him + all at the same time, and a tremendous sea got up, so that Odysseus’ heart + began to fail him. "Alas," he said to himself in his dismay, "what ever will + become of me? I am afraid Calypso was right when she said I should have trouble + by sea before I got back home. It is all coming true. How black is Zeus making + heaven with his clouds, and what a sea the winds are raising from every quarter + at once. I am now safe to perish. Blest and thrice blest were those Danaans who + fell before +Troy + in the cause of + [ +kharis +] the sons of Atreus. Would that had been + killed on the day when the Trojans were pressing me so sorely about the dead + body of Achilles, for then I should have had due burial and the Achaeans would + have honored my name [ +kleos +]; but now it seems that + I shall come to a most pitiable end." +As he spoke a sea broke over him with such + terrific fury that the raft reeled again, and he was carried overboard a long + way off. He let go the helm, and the force of the wind was so great that it + broke the mast half way up, and both sail and yard went over into the sea. For + a long time Odysseus was under water, and it was all he could do to rise to the + surface again, for the clothes Calypso had given him weighed him down; but at + last he got his head above water and spat out the bitter brine that was running + down his face in streams. In spite of all this, however, he did not lose sight + of his raft, but swam as fast as he could towards it, got hold of it, and + climbed on board again so as to escape drowning. The sea took the raft and + tossed it about as Autumn winds whirl thistledown round and round upon a road. + (It was as though the South, North, East, and West winds were all at once + tossing it back and forth.) +When he was in this plight, Ino daughter of + Cadmus, also called Leukothea, saw him. She had formerly been a mere mortal, + but had been since raised to the rank of a marine goddess. Seeing in what great + distress Odysseus now was, she had compassion upon him, and, rising like a + sea-gull from the waves, took her seat upon the raft. +"My poor good man," said she, "why is Poseidon + so furiously angry with you? He is giving you a great deal of trouble, but for + all his bluster he will not kill you. You seem to be a sensible person, do then + as I bid you; strip, leave your raft to drive before the wind, and swim to the + Phaeacian coast where better luck awaits you. And here, take my veil and put it + round your chest; it is enchanted, and you can come to no harm so long as you + wear it. As soon as you touch land take it off, throw it back as far as you can + into the sea, and then go away again." With these words she took off her veil + and gave it him. Then she dived down again like a sea-gull and vanished beneath + the seething dark waters. +But Odysseus did not know what to think. + "Alas," he said to himself in his dismay, "this is only some one or other of + the gods who is luring me to ruin by advising me to will quit my raft. At any + rate I will not do so at present, for the land where she said I should be quit + of all troubles seemed to be still a good way off. I know what I will do - I am + sure it will be best - no matter what happens I will stick to the raft as long + as her timbers hold together, but when the sea breaks her up I will swim for + it; I do not see how I can do any better than this." +While he was thus in two minds, Poseidon sent a + terrible great wave that seemed to rear itself above his head till it broke + right over the raft, which then went to pieces as though it were a heap of dry + chaff tossed about by a whirlwind. Odysseus got astride of one plank and rode + upon it as if he were on horseback; he then took off the clothes Calypso had + given him, bound Ino's veil under his arms, and plunged into the sea - meaning + to swim on shore. King Poseidon watched him as he did so, and wagged his head, + muttering to himself and saying, "‘There now, swim up and down as you best can + till you fall in with well-to-do people. I do not think you will be able to say + that I have let you off too lightly." On this he lashed his horses and drove to + +Aigai + where his palace is. +But Athena resolved to help Odysseus, so she + bound the ways of all the winds except one, and made them lie quite still; but + she roused a good stiff breeze from the North that should lay the waters till + Odysseus reached the land of the Phaeacians where he would be safe. +Thereon he floated about for two nights and two + days in the water, with a heavy swell on the sea and death staring him in the + face; but when the third day broke, the wind fell and there was a dead calm + without so much as a breath of air stirring. As he rose on the swell he looked + eagerly ahead, and could see land quite near. Then, as children rejoice when + their dear father begins to get better after having for a long time borne sore + affliction sent him by some angry spirit, but the gods deliver him from evil, + so was Odysseus thankful when he again saw land and trees, and swam on with all + his strength that he might once more set foot upon dry ground. When, however, + he got within earshot, he began to hear the surf thundering up against the + rocks, for the swell still broke against them with a terrific roar. Everything + was enveloped in spray; there were no harbors where a ship might ride, nor + shelter of any kind, but only headlands, low-lying rocks, and mountain + tops. +Odysseus’ heart now began to fail him, and he + said despairingly to himself, "Alas, Zeus has let me see land after swimming so + far that I had given up all hope, but I can find no landing place, for the + coast is rocky and surf-beaten, the rocks are smooth and rise sheer from the + sea, with deep water close under them so that I cannot climb out for want of + foothold. I am afraid some great wave will lift me off my legs and dash me + against the rocks as I leave the water - which would give me a sorry landing. + If, on the other hand, I swim further in search of some shelving beach or + harbor, a wind may carry me out to sea again sorely against my will, or heaven + may send some great monster of the deep to attack me; for Amphitrite breeds + many such, and I know that Poseidon is very angry with me." +While he was thus in two minds a wave caught + him and took him with such force against the rocks that he would have been + smashed and torn to pieces if Athena had not shown him what to do. He caught + hold of the rock with both hands and clung to it groaning with pain till the + wave retired, so he was saved that time; but presently the wave came on again + and carried him back with it far into the sea- tearing his hands as the suckers + of a octopus are torn when some one plucks it from its bed, and the stones come + up along with it- even so did the rocks tear the skin from his strong hands, + and then the wave drew him deep down under the water. +Here poor Odysseus would have certainly + perished even in spite of his own destiny, if Athena had not helped him to keep + his wits about him. He swam seaward again, beyond reach of the surf that was + beating against the land, and at the same time he kept looking towards the + shore to see if he could find some haven, or a spit that should take the waves + aslant. By and by, as he swam on, he came to the mouth of a river, and here he + thought would be the best place, for there were no rocks, and it afforded + shelter from the wind. He felt that there was a current, so he prayed inwardly + and said: +"Hear me, O King, whoever you may be, and save + me from the anger of the sea-god Poseidon, for I approach you prayerfully. + Anyone who has lost his way has at all times a claim even upon the gods, + wherefore in my distress I draw near to your stream, and cling to the knees of + your riverhood. Have mercy upon me, O king, for I declare myself your + suppliant." +Then the god stayed his stream and stilled the + waves, making all calm before him, and bringing him safely into the mouth of + the river. Here at last Odysseus’ knees and strong hands failed him, for the + sea had completely broken him. His body was all swollen, and his mouth and + nostrils ran down like a river with sea-water, so that he could neither breathe + nor speak, and lay swooning from sheer exhaustion; presently, when he had got + his breath and came to himself again, he took off the scarf that Ino had given + him and threw it back into the salt stream of the river, whereon Ino received + it into her hands from the wave that bore it towards her. Then he left the + river, laid himself down among the rushes, and kissed the bounteous earth. +"Alas," he cried to himself in his dismay, + "what ever will become of me, and how is it all to end? If I stay here upon the + river bed through the long watches of the night, I am so exhausted that the + bitter cold and damp may make an end of me - for towards sunrise there will be + a keen wind blowing from off the river. If, on the other hand, I climb the hill + side, find shelter in the woods, and sleep in some thicket, I may escape the + cold and have a good night's rest, but some savage beast may take advantage of + me and devour me." +In the end he deemed it best to take to the + woods, and he found one upon some high ground not far from the water. There he + crept beneath two shoots of olive that grew from a single stock - the one + ungrafted, while the other had been grafted. No wind, however squally, could + break through the cover they afforded, nor could the sun's rays pierce them, + nor the rain get through them, so closely did they grow into one another. + Odysseus crept under these and began to make himself a bed to lie on, for there + was a great litter of dead leaves lying about - enough to make a covering for + two or three men even in hard winter weather. He was glad enough to see this, + so he laid himself down and heaped the leaves all round him. Then, as one who + lives alone in the country, far from any neighbor, hides a brand as fire-seed + in the ashes to save himself from having to get a light elsewhere, even so did + Odysseus cover himself up with leaves; and Athena shed a sweet sleep upon his + eyes, closed his eyelids, and made him lose all memories of his sorrows + +. +So here Odysseus slept, overcome by sleep and + toil; but Athena went off to the +dêmos + and city of + the Phaeacians - a people who used to live in the fair town of Hypereia, near + the lawless Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes were stronger in force [ +biê +] than they and plundered them, so their king + Nausithoos moved them thence and settled them in +Scheria +, far from all other people. He surrounded the city with + a wall, built houses and temples, and divided the lands among his people; but + he was dead and gone to the house of Hades, and King Alkinoos, whose counsels + were inspired of heaven, was now reigning. To his house, then, did Athena go in + furtherance of the return [ +nostos +] of Odysseus. +She went straight to the beautifully decorated + bedroom in which there slept a girl who was as lovely as a goddess, Nausicaa, + daughter to King Alkinoos. Two maid servants were sleeping near her, both very + pretty, one on either side of the doorway, which was closed with well-made + folding doors. Athena took the form of the famous sea leader Dymas’ daughter, + who was a bosom friend of Nausicaa and just her own age; then, coming up to the + girl's bedside like a breath of wind, she hovered over her head and said: +"Nausicaa, what can your mother have been about, + to have such a lazy daughter? Here are your clothes all lying in disorder, yet + you are going to be married almost immediately, and should not only be well + dressed yourself, but should find good clothes for those who attend you. This + is the way to get yourself a good name, and to make your father and mother + proud of you. Suppose, then, that we make tomorrow a washing day, and start at + daybreak. I will come and help you so that you may have everything ready as + soon as possible, for all the best young men throughout your own +dêmos + are courting you, and you are not going to + remain a young girl much longer. Ask your father, therefore, to have a wagon + and mules ready for us at daybreak, to take the rugs, robes, and belts; and you + can ride, too, which will be much pleasanter for you than walking, for the + washing-cisterns are some way from the town." +When she had said this Athena went away to + +Olympus +, which they say is the + everlasting home of the gods. Here no wind beats roughly, and neither rain nor + snow can fall; but it abides in everlasting sunshine and in a great + peacefulness of light, wherein the blessed gods are illumined for ever and + ever. This was the place to which the goddess went when she had given + instructions to the girl. +By and by morning came and woke Nausicaa, who + began wondering about her dream; she therefore went to the other end of the + house to tell her father and mother all about it, and found them in their own + room. Her mother was sitting by the fireside spinning her purple yarn with her + maids around her, and she happened to catch her father just as he was going out + to attend a meeting of the town council, which the Phaeacian aldermen had + convened. She stopped him and said: +"Papa dear, could you manage to let me have a + good big wagon? I want to take all our dirty clothes to the river and wash + them. You are the chief man here, so it is only right that you should have a + clean shirt when you attend meetings of the council. Moreover, you have five + sons at home, two of them married, while the other three are good-looking + bachelors; you know they always like to have clean linen when they go to a + dance [ +khoros +], and I have been thinking about all + this." +She did not say a word about her own wedding, + for she did not like to, but her father knew and said, "You shall have the + mules, my love, and whatever else you have a mind for. Be off with you, and the + men shall get you a good strong wagon with a body to it that will hold all your + clothes." +On this he gave his orders to the servants, who + got the wagon out, harnessed the mules, and put them to, while the girl brought + the clothes down from the linen room and placed them on the wagon. Her mother + prepared her a basket of provisions with all sorts of good things, and a goat + skin full of wine; the girl now got into the wagon, and her mother gave her + also a golden cruse of oil, that she and her women might anoint themselves. + Then she took the whip and reins and lashed the mules on, whereon they set off, + and their hoofs clattered on the road. They pulled without flagging, and + carried not only Nausicaa and her wash of clothes, but the maids also who were + with her. +When they reached the water side they went to + the washing-cisterns, through which there ran at all times enough pure water to + wash any quantity of linen, no matter how dirty. Here they unharnessed the + mules and turned them out to feed on the sweet juicy herbage that grew by the + water side. They took the clothes out of the wagon, put them in the water, and + vied with one another in treading them in the pits to get the dirt out. After + they had washed them and got them quite clean, they laid them out by the sea + side, where the waves had raised a high beach of shingle, and set about washing + themselves and anointing themselves with olive oil. Then they got their dinner + by the side of the stream, and waited for the sun to finish drying the clothes. + When they had done dinner they threw off the veils that covered their heads and + began to play at ball, while Nausicaa sang for them. As the huntress Artemis + goes forth upon the mountains of Taygetus or Erymanthus to hunt wild boars or + deer, and the wood-nymphs, daughters of Aegis-bearing Zeus, take their sport + along with her (then is Leto proud at seeing her daughter stand a full head + taller than the others, and eclipse the loveliest amid a whole bevy of + beauties), even so did the girl outshine her handmaids. +When it was time for them to start home, and + they were folding the clothes and putting them into the wagon, Athena began to + consider how Odysseus should wake up and see the handsome girl who was to + conduct him to the city of the Phaeacians. The girl, therefore, threw a ball at + one of the maids, which missed her and fell into deep water. On this they all + shouted, and the noise they made woke Odysseus, who sat up in his bed of leaves + and began to wonder what it might all be. +"Alas," said he to himself, "what kind of + people have I come amongst? Are they cruel, savage, and uncivilized [not +dikaios +], or hospitable and endowed with a god-fearing + +noos +? I seem to hear the voices of young women, + and they sound like those of the nymphs that haunt mountaintops, or springs of + rivers and meadows of green grass. At any rate I am among a race of men and + women. Let me try if I cannot manage to get a look at them." +As he said this he crept from under his bush, + and broke off a bough covered with thick leaves to hide his nakedness. He + looked like some lion of the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his + strength and defying both wind and rain; his eyes glare as he prowls in quest + of oxen, sheep, or deer, for he is famished, and will dare break even into a + well-fenced homestead, trying to get at the sheep - even such did Odysseus seem + to the young women, as he drew near to them all naked as he was, for he was in + great want. On seeing one so unkempt and so begrimed with salt water, the + others scampered off along the spits that jutted out into the sea, but the + daughter of Alkinoos stood firm, for Athena put courage into her heart and took + away all fear from her. She stood right in front of Odysseus, and he doubted + whether he should go up to her, throw himself at her feet, and embrace her + knees as a suppliant, or stay where he was and entreat her to give him some + clothes and show him the way to the town. In the end he deemed it best to + entreat her from a distance in case the girl should take offense at his coming + near enough to clasp her knees, so he addressed her in honeyed and persuasive + language. +"O queen," he said, "I implore your aid - but + tell me, are you a goddess or are you a mortal woman? If you are a goddess and + dwell in heaven, I can only conjecture that you are Zeus’ daughter Artemis, for + your face and figure resemble none but hers; if on the other hand you are a + mortal and live on earth, thrice happy are your father and mother - thrice + happy, too, are your brothers and sisters; how proud and delighted they must + feel when they see so fair a scion as yourself going out to a dance [ +khoros +]; most happy, however, of all will he be whose + wedding gifts have been the richest, and who takes you to his own home. I never + yet saw any one so beautiful, neither man nor woman, and am lost in admiration + as I behold you. I can only compare you to a young palm tree which I saw when I + was at +Delos + growing near the altar + of Apollo - for I was there, too, with many people after me, when I was on that + journey which has been the source of all my troubles. Never yet did such a + young plant shoot out of the ground as that was, and I admired and wondered at + it exactly as I now admire and wonder at yourself. I dare not clasp your knees, + but I am in great distress [ +penthos +]; yesterday + made the twentieth day that I had been tossing about upon the sea. The winds + and waves have taken me all the way from the Ogygian island, and now a +daimôn + has flung me upon this coast that I may endure + still further suffering; for I do not think that I have yet come to the end of + it, but rather that the gods have still much evil in store for me. +"And now, O queen, have pity upon me, for you + are the first person I have met, and I know no one else in this country. Show + me the way to your town, and let me have anything that you may have brought + here to wrap your clothes in. May heaven grant you in all things your heart's + desire - husband, house, and a happy, peaceful home; for there is nothing + better in this world than that man and wife should be of one mind in a house. + It discomfits their enemies, makes the hearts of their friends glad, and they + themselves know more about it than any one." +To this Nausicaa answered, "Stranger, you + appear to be a sensible, well-disposed person. There is no accounting for luck; + Zeus gives prosperity [ +olbos +] to rich and poor just + as he chooses, so you must take what he has seen fit to send you, and make the + best of it. Now, however, that you have come to this our country, you shall not + want for clothes nor for anything else that a foreigner in distress may + reasonably look for. I will show you the way to the town, and will tell you the + name of our people: we are called Phaeacians, and I am daughter to Alkinoos, in + whom the whole strength and power [ +biê +] of the + state is vested." +Then she called her maids and said, "Stay where + you are, you girls. Can you not see a man without running away from him? Do you + take him for a robber or a murderer? Neither he nor any one else can come here + to do us Phaeacians any harm, for we are dear to the gods, and live apart on a + land's end that juts into the sounding sea, and have nothing to do with any + other people. This is only some poor man who has lost his way, and we must be + kind to him, for strangers and foreigners in distress are under Zeus’ + protection, and will take what they can get and be thankful; so, girls, give + the poor man something to eat and drink, and wash him in the stream at some + place that is sheltered from the wind." +On this the maids left off running away and + began calling one another back. They made Odysseus sit down in the shelter as + Nausicaa had told them, and brought him a shirt and cloak. They also brought + him the little golden cruse of oil, and told him to go wash in the stream. But + Odysseus said, "Young women, please to stand a little on one side that I may + wash the brine from my shoulders and anoint myself with oil, for it is long + enough since my skin has had a drop of oil upon it. I cannot wash as long as + you all keep standing there. I am ashamed to strip before a number of + good-looking young women." +Then they stood on one side and went to tell + the girl, while Odysseus washed himself in the stream and scrubbed the brine + from his back and from his broad shoulders. When he had thoroughly washed + himself, and had got the brine out of his hair, he anointed himself with oil, + and put on the clothes which the girl had given him; Athena then made him look + taller and stronger than before, she also made the hair grow thick on the top + of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms; she poured down + gracefulness [ +kharis +] over his head and shoulders + as a skillful workman who has studied art of all kinds under Hephaistos and + Athena enriches a piece of silver plate by gilding it - and his work is full of + beauty. Then he went and sat down a little way off upon the beach, looking + quite young and handsome [ +kharis +], and the girl + gazed on him with admiration; then she said to her maids: +"Hush, my dears, for I want to say something. I + believe the gods who live in heaven have sent this man to the Phaeacians. When + I first saw him I thought him plain, but now his appearance is like that of the + gods who dwell in heaven. I should like my future husband to be just such + another as he is, if he would only stay here and not want to go away. However, + give him something to eat and drink." +They did as they were told, and set food before + Odysseus, who ate and drank ravenously, for it was long since he had had food + of any kind. Meanwhile, Nausicaa bethought her of another matter. She got the + linen folded and placed in the wagon, she then yoked the mules, and, as she + took her seat, she called Odysseus: +"Stranger," said she, "rise and let us be going + back to the town; I will introduce you at the house of my excellent father, + where I can tell you that you will meet all the best people among the + Phaeacians. But be sure and do as I bid you, for you seem to be a sensible + person. As long as we are going past the fields - and farm lands, follow + briskly behind the wagon along with the maids and I will lead the way myself. + Presently, however, we shall come to the town, where you will find a high wall + running all round it, and a good harbor on either side with a narrow entrance + into the city, and the ships will be drawn up by the road side, for every one + has a place where his own ship can lie. You will see the market place with a + temple of Poseidon in the middle of it, and paved with large stones bedded in + the earth. Here people deal in ship's gear of all kinds, such as cables and + sails, and here, too, are the places where oars are made, for the Phaeacians + are not a nation of archers; they know nothing about bows and arrows, but are a + sea-faring folk, and pride themselves on their masts, oars, and ships, with + which they travel far over the sea. +"I am afraid of the gossip and scandal that may + be set on foot against me later on; for the people in the +dêmos + here are very ill-natured, and some lowly person, if he met + us, might say, ‘Who is this fine-looking stranger that is going about with + Nausicaa? Where did she find him? I suppose she is going to marry him. Perhaps + he is a vagabond sailor whom she has taken from some foreign vessel, for we + have no neighbors; or some god has at last come down from heaven in answer to + her prayers, and she is going to live with him all the rest of her life. It + would be a better thing if she would take herself away and find a husband + somewhere else, for she will not look at one of the many excellent young + Phaeacians in the +dêmos + who woo her.’ This is the + kind of disparaging remark that would be made about me, and I could not + complain, for I should myself be scandalized at seeing any other girl do the + like, and go about with men in spite of everybody, while her father and mother + were still alive, and without having been married in the face of all the + world. +"If, therefore, you want my father to give you + an escort and to help you home [ +nostos +], do as I + bid you; you will see a beautiful grove of poplars by the road side dedicated + to Athena; it has a well in it and a meadow all round it. Here my father has a + field of fertile garden ground, about as far from the town as a man's voice + will carry. Sit down there and wait for a while till the rest of us can get + into the town and reach my father's house. Then, when you think we must have + done this, come into the town and ask the way to the house of my father + Alkinoos. You will have no difficulty in finding it; any child will point it + out to you, for no one else in the whole town has anything like such a fine + house as he has. When you have got past the gates and through the outer court, + go right across the inner court till you come to my mother. You will find her + sitting by the fire and spinning her purple wool by firelight. It is a fine + sight to see her as she leans back against one of the bearing-posts with her + maids all ranged behind her. Close to her seat stands that of my father, on + which he sits and topes like an immortal god. Never mind him, but go up to my + mother, and lay your hands upon her knees if you would get home quickly. If you + can win her over, you may hope to see your own country again, no matter how + distant it may be." +So saying she lashed the mules with her whip + and they left the river. The mules drew well and their hoofs went up and down + upon the road. She was careful not to go too fast for Odysseus and the maids + who were following on foot along with the wagon, so she plied her whip with + judgment [ +noos +]. As the sun was going down they + came to the sacred grove of Athena, and there Odysseus sat down and prayed to + the mighty daughter of Zeus. +"Hear me," he cried, "daughter of Aegis-bearing + Zeus, unweariable, hear me now, for you gave no heed to my prayers when + Poseidon was wrecking me. Now, therefore, have pity upon me and grant that I + may find friends and be hospitably received by the Phaeacians." +Thus did he pray, and Athena heard his prayer, + but she would not show herself to him openly, for she was afraid of her uncle + Poseidon, who was still furious in his endeavors to prevent Odysseus from + getting home. +Thus, then, did Odysseus wait and pray; but the + girl drove on to the town. When she reached her father's house she drew up at + the gateway, and her brothers - comely as the gods - gathered round her, took + the mules out of the wagon, and carried the clothes into the house, while she + went to her own room, where an old servant, Eurymedousa of Apeira, lit the fire + for her. This old woman had been brought by sea from Apeira, and had been + chosen as a prize for Alkinoos because he was king over the Phaeacians, and the + people in the +dêmos + obeyed him as though he were a + god. She had been nurse to Nausicaa, and had now lit the fire for her, and + brought her supper for her into her own room. +Presently Odysseus got up to go towards the + town; and Athena shed a thick mist all round him to hide him in case any of the + proud Phaeacians who met him should be rude to him, or ask him who he was. + Then, as he was just entering the town, she came towards him in the likeness of + a little girl carrying a pitcher. She stood right in front of him, and Odysseus + said: +"My dear, will you be so kind as to show me the + house of king Alkinoos? I am an unfortunate foreigner in distress, and do not + know one in your town and country." +Then Athena said, "Yes, father stranger, I will + show you the house you want, for Alkinoos lives quite close to my own father. I + will go before you and show the way, but say not a word as you go, and do not + look at any man, nor ask him questions; for the people here cannot abide + strangers, and do not like men who come from some other place. They are a + sea-faring folk, and sail the seas by the grace of Poseidon in ships that glide + along like thought, or as a bird in the air." +On this she led the way, and Odysseus followed + in her steps; but not one of the Phaeacians could see him as he passed through + the city in the midst of them; for the great goddess Athena in her good will + towards him had hidden him in a thick cloud of darkness. He admired their + harbors, ships, places of assembly, and the lofty walls of the city, which, + with the palisade on top of them, were very striking, and when they reached the + king's house Athena said: +"This is the house, father stranger, which you + would have me show you. You will find a number of great people sitting at + table, but do not be afraid; go straight in, for the bolder a man is the more + likely he is to carry his point, even though he is a stranger. First find the + queen. Her name is Arete, and she comes of the same family as her husband + Alkinoos. They both descend originally from Poseidon, who was father to + Nausithoos by Periboia, a woman of great beauty. Periboia was the youngest + daughter of Eurymedon, who at one time reigned over the giants, but he ruined + his ill-fated people and lost his own life to boot. +"Poseidon, however, lay with his daughter, and + she had a son by him, the great Nausithoos, who reigned over the Phaeacians. + Nausithoos had two sons Rhexenor and Alkinoos; Apollo killed the first of them + while he was still a bridegroom and without male issue; but he left a daughter + Arete, whom Alkinoos married, and honors as no other woman is honored of all + those that keep house along with their husbands. +"Thus she both was, and still is, respected + beyond measure by her children, by Alkinoos himself, and by the whole people, + who look upon her as a goddess, and greet her whenever she goes about the city, + for she is a thoroughly good woman both in head [ +noos +] and heart, and when any women are friends of hers, she will + help their husbands also to settle their disputes. If you can gain her good + will, you may have every hope of seeing your friends again, and getting safely + back to your home and country." +Then Athena left +Scheria + and went away over the sea. She went to Marathon and to + the spacious streets of +Athens +, + where she entered the abode of Erechtheus; but Odysseus went on to the house of + Alkinoos, and he pondered much as he paused a while before reaching the + threshold of bronze, for the splendor of the palace was like that of the sun or + moon. The walls on either side were of bronze from end to end, and the cornice + was of blue enamel. The doors were gold, and hung on pillars of silver that + rose from a floor of bronze, while the lintel was silver and the hook of the + door was of gold. +On either side there stood gold and silver + mastiffs which Hephaistos, with his consummate skill, had fashioned expressly + to keep watch over the palace of king Alkinoos; so they were immortal and could + never grow old. Seats were ranged all along the wall, here and there from one + end to the other, with coverings of fine woven work which the women of the + house had made. Here the chief persons of the Phaeacians used to sit and eat + and drink, for there was abundance at all seasons; and there were golden + figures of young men with lighted torches in their hands, raised on pedestals, + to give light by night to those who were at table. There are fifty maid + servants in the house, some of whom are always grinding rich yellow grain at + the mill, while others work at the loom, or sit and spin, and their shuttles + go, backwards and forwards like the fluttering of aspen leaves, while the linen + is so closely woven that it will turn oil. As the Phaeacians are the best + sailors in the world, so their women excel all others in weaving, for Athena + has taught them all manner of useful arts, and they are very intelligent. +Outside the gate of the outer court there is a + large garden of about four acres with a wall all round it. It is full of + beautiful trees - pears, pomegranates, and the most delicious apples. There are + luscious figs also, and olives in full growth. The fruits never rot nor fail + all the year round, neither winter nor summer, for the air is so soft that a + new crop ripens before the old has dropped. Pear grows on pear, apple on apple, + and fig on fig, and so also with the grapes, for there is an excellent + vineyard: on the level ground of a part of this, the grapes are being made into + raisins; in another part they are being gathered; some are being trodden in the + wine tubs, others further on have shed their blossom and are beginning to show + fruit, others again are just changing color. In the furthest part of the ground + there are beautifully arranged beds of flowers that are in bloom all the year + round. Two streams go through it, the one turned in ducts throughout the whole + garden, while the other is carried under the ground of the outer court to the + house itself, and the town's people draw water from it. Such, then, were the + splendors with which the gods had endowed the house of king Alkinoos. +So here Odysseus stood for a while and looked + about him, but when he had looked long enough he crossed the threshold and went + within the precincts of the house. There he found all the chief people among + the Phaeacians making their drink-offerings to Hermes, which they always did + the last thing before going away for the night. He went straight through the + court, still hidden by the cloak of darkness in which Athena had enveloped him, + till he reached Arete and King Alkinoos; then he laid his hands upon the knees + of the queen, and at that moment the miraculous darkness fell away from him and + he became visible. Every one was speechless with surprise at seeing a man + there, but Odysseus began at once with his petition. +"Queen Arete," he exclaimed, "daughter of great + Rhexenor, in my distress I humbly pray you, as also your husband and these your + guests (whom may heaven prosper with long life and happiness [ +olbos +], and may they leave their possessions to their + children, and all the honors conferred upon them by the state [ +dêmos +]) to help me home to my own country as soon as + possible; for I have been long in trouble and away from my friends." +Then he sat down on the hearth among the ashes + and they all held their peace, till presently the old hero Echeneus, who was an + excellent speaker and an elder among the Phaeacians, plainly and in all honesty + addressed them thus: +"Alkinoos," said he, "it is not creditable to + you that a stranger should be seen sitting among the ashes of your hearth; + every one is waiting to hear what you are about to say; tell him, then, to rise + and take a seat on a stool inlaid with silver, and bid your servants mix some + wine and water that we may make a drink-offering to Zeus the lord of thunder, + who takes all well-disposed suppliants under his protection; and let the + housekeeper give him some supper, of whatever there may be in the house." +When Alkinoos heard this he took Odysseus by + the hand, raised him from the hearth, and bade him take the seat of Laodamas, + who had been sitting beside him, and was his favorite son. A maid servant then + brought him water in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin + for him to wash his hands, and she drew a clean table beside him; an upper + servant brought him bread and offered him many good things of what there was in + the house, and Odysseus ate and drank. Then Alkinoos said to one of the + servants, "Pontonoos, mix a cup of wine and hand it round that we may make + drink-offerings to Zeus the lord of thunder, who is the protector of all + well-disposed suppliants." +Pontonoos then mixed wine and water, and handed + it round after giving every man his drink-offering. When they had made their + offerings, and had drunk each as much as he was minded, Alkinoos said: +"Aldermen and town councilors of the + Phaeacians, hear my words. You have had your supper, so now go home to bed. + Tomorrow morning I shall invite a still larger number of aldermen, and will + give a sacrificial banquet in honor of our guest; we can then discuss the + question of his escort, and consider how we may at once send him back rejoicing + to his own country without toil [ +ponos +] or + inconvenience to himself, no matter how distant it may be. We must see that he + comes to no harm while on his homeward journey, but when he is once at home he + will have to take the luck he was born with for better or worse like other + people. It is possible, however, that the stranger is one of the immortals who + has come down from heaven to visit us; but in this case the gods are departing + from their usual practice, for hitherto they have made themselves perfectly + clear to us when we have been offering them hecatombs. They come and sit at our + feasts just like one of our selves, and if any solitary wayfarer happens to + stumble upon some one or other of them, they affect no concealment, for we are + as near of kin to the gods as the Cyclopes and the savage giants are." +Then Odysseus said: "Pray, Alkinoos, do not + take any such notion into your head. I have nothing of the immortal about me, + neither in body nor mind, and most resemble those among you who are the most + afflicted. Indeed, were I to tell you all that heaven has seen fit to lay upon + me, you would say that I was still worse off than they are. Nevertheless, let + me sup in spite of sorrow, for an empty stomach is a very importunate thing, + and thrusts itself on a man's notice no matter how dire is his distress [ +penthos +]. I am in great distress [ +penthos +], yet it insists that I shall eat and drink, bids me lay + aside all memory of my sorrows and dwell only on the due replenishing of + itself. As for yourselves, do as you propose, and at break of day set about + helping me to get home. I shall be content to die if I may first once more + behold my property, my bondsmen, and all the greatness of my house." +Thus did he speak. Every one approved his + saying, and agreed that he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken + reasonably. Then when they had made their drink-offerings, and had drunk each + as much as he was minded they went home to bed every man in his own abode, + leaving Odysseus in the room with Arete and Alkinoos while the servants were + taking the things away after supper. Arete was the first to speak, for she + recognized the shirt, cloak, and good clothes that Odysseus was wearing, as the + work of herself and of her maids; so she said, "Stranger, before we go any + further, there is a question I should like to ask you. Who, and whence are you, + and who gave you those clothes? Did you not say you had come here from beyond + the sea?" +And Odysseus answered, "It would be a long + story, Lady, were I to relate in full the tale of my misfortunes, for the hand + of heaven has been laid heavy upon me; but as regards your question, there is + an island far away in the sea which is called ‘the Ogygian.’ Here dwells the + cunning and powerful goddess Calypso, daughter of Atlas. She lives by herself + far from all neighbors human or divine. A +daimôn +, + however, led me to her hearth all desolate and alone, for Zeus struck my ship + with his thunderbolts, and broke it up in mid-ocean. My brave comrades were + drowned every man of them, but I stuck to the keel and was carried hither and + thither for the space of nine days, till at last during the darkness of the + tenth night the gods brought me to the Ogygian island where the great goddess + Calypso lives. She took me in and treated me with the utmost kindness; indeed + she wanted to make me immortal that I might never grow old, but she could not + persuade me to let her do so. +"I stayed with Calypso seven years straight on + end, and watered the good clothes she gave me with my tears during the whole + time; but at last when the eighth year came round she bade me depart of her own + free will, either because Zeus had told her she must, or because she had + changed her mind [ +noos +]. She sent me from her + island on a raft, which she provisioned with abundance of bread and wine. + Moreover she gave me good stout clothing, and sent me a wind that blew both + warm and fair. Seventeen days did I sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth I + caught sight of the first outlines of the mountains upon your coast - and glad + indeed was I to set eyes upon them. Nevertheless there was still much trouble + in store for me, for at this point Poseidon would let me go no further, and + raised a great storm against me; the sea was so terribly high that I could no + longer keep to my raft, which went to pieces under the fury of the gale, and I + had to swim for it, till wind and current brought me to your shores. +"There I tried to land, but could not, for it + was a bad place and the waves dashed me against the rocks, so I again took to + the sea and swam on till I came to a river that seemed the most likely landing + place, for there were no rocks and it was sheltered from the wind. Here, then, + I got out of the water and gathered my senses together again. Night was coming + on, so I left the river, and went into a thicket, where I covered myself all + over with leaves, and presently heaven sent me off into a very deep sleep. Sick + and sorry as I was I slept among the leaves all night, and through the next day + till afternoon, when I woke as the sun was westering, and saw your daughter's + maid servants playing upon the beach, and your daughter among them looking like + a goddess. I besought her aid, and she proved to be of an excellent + disposition, much more so than could be expected from so young a person - for + young people are apt to be thoughtless. She gave me plenty of bread and wine, + and when she had had me washed in the river she also gave me the clothes in + which you see me. Now, therefore, though it has pained me to do so, I have told + you the whole truth [ +alêtheia +]." +Then Alkinoos said, "Stranger, it was very + wrong of my daughter not to bring you on at once to my house along with the + maids, seeing that she was the first person whose aid you asked." +"Pray do not scold her," replied Odysseus; "she + is not to blame. She did tell me to follow along with the maids, but I was + ashamed and afraid, for I thought you might perhaps be displeased if you saw + me. Every human being is sometimes a little suspicious and irritable." +"Stranger," replied Alkinoos, "I am not the + kind of man to get angry about nothing; it is always better to be reasonable; + but by Father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo, now that I see what kind of person you + are, and how much you think as I do, I wish you would stay here, marry my + daughter, and become my son-in-law. If you will stay I will give you a house + and an estate, but no one (heaven forbid) shall keep you here against your own + wish, and that you may be sure of this I will attend tomorrow to the matter of + your escort. You can sleep during the whole voyage if you like, and the men + shall sail you over smooth waters either to your own home, or wherever you + please, even though it be a long way further off than +Euboea +, which those of my people who saw it + when they took yellow-haired Rhadamanthus to see Tityus the son of Gaia, tell + me is the furthest of any place - and yet they did the whole voyage in a single + day without distressing themselves, and came back again afterwards. You will + thus see how much my ships excel all others, and what magnificent oarsmen my + sailors are." +Then was Odysseus glad and prayed aloud saying, + "Father Zeus, grant that Alkinoos may do all as he has said, for so he will win + an imperishable +kleos + among humankind, and at the + same time I shall return to my country." +Thus did they converse. Then Arete told her + maids to set a bed in the room that was in the gatehouse, and make it with good + red rugs, and to spread coverlets on the top of them with woolen cloaks for + Odysseus to wear. The maids thereon went out with torches in their hands, and + when they had made the bed they came up to Odysseus and said, "Rise, sir + stranger, and come with us for your bed is ready," and glad indeed was he to go + to his rest. +So Odysseus slept in a bed placed in a room + over the echoing gateway; but Alkinoos lay in the inner part of the house, with + the queen his wife by his side. +Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered + Dawn, appeared, Alkinoos and Odysseus both rose, and Alkinoos led the way to + the Phaeacian place of assembly, which was near the ships. When they got there + they sat down side by side on a seat of polished stone, while Athena took the + form of one of Alkinoos’ servants, and went round the town in order to contrive + +nostos + for great-hearted Odysseus. She went up + to the citizens, man by man, and said, "Aldermen and town councilors of the + Phaeacians, come to the assembly all of you and listen to the stranger who has + just come off a long voyage to the house of King Alkinoos; he looks like an + immortal god." +With these words she made them all want to come, + and they flocked to the assembly till seats and standing room were alike + crowded. Every one was struck with the appearance of Odysseus, for Athena had + beautified [ +kharis +] him about the head and + shoulders, making him look taller and stouter than he really was, that he might + impress the Phaeacians favorably as being a very remarkable man, and might come + off well in the many trials [ +athlos +] of skill to + which they would challenge him. Then, when they were got together, Alkinoos + spoke: +"Hear me," said he, "aldermen and town + councilors of the Phaeacians, that I may speak even as I am minded. This + stranger, whoever he may be, has found his way to my house from somewhere or + other either East or West. He wants an escort and wishes to have the matter + settled. Let us then get one ready for him, as we have done for others before + him; indeed, no one who ever yet came to my house has been able to complain of + me for not speeding on his way soon enough. Let us draw a ship into the sea - + one that has never yet made a voyage - and man her with two and fifty of our + choicest [ +krînô +] young sailors in the +dêmos. + Then when you have made fast your oars each by + his own seat, leave the ship and come to my house to prepare a feast. I will + provide you with everything. I am giving these instructions to the young men + who will form the crew, for as regards you aldermen and town councilors, you + will join me in entertaining our guest in the cloisters. I can take no excuses, + and we will have Demodokos to sing to us; for there is no bard like him + whatever he may choose to sing about." +Alkinoos then led the way, and the others + followed after, while a servant went to fetch Demodokos. The fifty-two picked + [ +krînô +] oarsmen went to the sea shore as they + had been told, and when they got there they drew the ship into the water, got + her mast and sails inside her, bound the oars to the thole-pins with twisted + thongs of leather, all in due course, and spread the white sails aloft. They + moored the vessel a little way out from land, and then came on shore and went + to the house of King Alkinoos. The outhouses, yards, and all the precincts were + filled with crowds of men in great multitudes both old and young; and Alkinoos + killed them a dozen sheep, eight full grown pigs, and two oxen. These they + skinned and dressed so as to provide a magnificent banquet. +A servant presently led in the famous bard + Demodokos, whom the muse had dearly loved, but to whom she had given both good + and evil, for though she had endowed him with a divine gift of song, she had + robbed him of his eyesight. Pontonoos set a seat for him among the guests, + leaning it up against a bearing-post. He hung the lyre for him on a peg over + his head, and showed him where he was to feel for it with his hands. He also + set a fair table with a basket of victuals by his side, and a cup of wine from + which he might drink whenever he was so disposed. +The company then laid their hands upon the good + things that were before them, but as soon as they had had enough to eat and + drink, the muse inspired Demodokos to sing the feats [ +kleos +] of heroes, and most especially a matter whose +kleos + at that time reached wide heaven, to wit, the + quarrel [ +neikos +] between Odysseus and Achilles, and + the fierce words that they heaped on one another as they sat together at a + banquet. But Agamemnon was glad in his +noos + when he + heard his chieftains quarreling with one another, for Apollo had foretold him + this at +Pytho + when he crossed the + stone floor to consult the oracle. Here the beginning of the evil started + rolling down, by the will of Zeus, toward both Danaans and Trojans. +Thus sang the bard, but Odysseus drew his purple + mantle over his head and covered his face, for he was ashamed to let the + Phaeacians see that he was weeping. When the bard left off singing he wiped the + tears from his eyes, uncovered his face, and, taking his cup, made a + drink-offering to the gods; but when the Phaeacians pressed Demodokos to sing + further, for they delighted in his lays, then Odysseus again drew his mantle + over his head and wept bitterly. No one noticed his distress except Alkinoos, + who was sitting near him, and heard the heavy sighs that he was heaving. So he + at once said, "Aldermen and town councilors of the Phaeacians, we have had + enough now, both of the feast, and of the minstrelsy that is its due + accompaniment; let us proceed therefore to the athletic sports [ +athlos +], so that our guest on his return home may be + able to tell his friends how much we surpass all other nations as boxers, + wrestlers, jumpers, and runners." +With these words he led the way, and the others + followed after. A servant hung Demodokos’ lyre on its peg for him, led him out + of the room, and set him on the same way as that along which all the chief men + of the Phaeacians were going to see the sports; a crowd of several thousand + people followed them, and there were many excellent competitors for all the + prizes. Akroneos, Okyalos, Elatreus, Nauteus, Prymneus, Anchialos, Eretmeus, + Ponteus, Proreus, Thoon, Anabesineos, and Amphialos son of Polyneos son of + Tekton. There was also Euryalos son of Naubolos, who was like Ares himself, and + was the best looking man among the Phaeacians except Laodamas. Three sons of + Alkinoos, Laodamas, Halios, and Clytoneus, competed also. +The foot races came first. The course was set + out for them from the starting post, and they raised a dust upon the plain as + they all flew forward at the same moment. Clytoneus came in first by a long + way; he left every one else behind him by the length of the furrow that a + couple of mules can plough in a fallow field. They then turned to the painful + art of wrestling, and here Euryalos proved to be the best man. Amphialos + excelled all the others in jumping, while at throwing the disc there was no one + who could approach Elatreus. Alkinoos’ son Laodamas was the best boxer, and he + it was who presently said, when they had all been diverted with the games + [ +athlos +], "Let us ask the stranger whether he + excels in any of these sports [ +athlos +]; he seems + very powerfully built; his thighs, calves, hands, and neck are of prodigious + strength, nor is he at all old, but he has suffered much lately, and there is + nothing like the sea for making havoc with a man, no matter how strong he + is." +"You are quite right, Laodamas," replied + Euryalos, "go up to your guest and speak to him about it yourself." +When Laodamas heard this he made his way into + the middle of the crowd and said to Odysseus, "I hope, sir, that you will enter + yourself in some one or other of our competitions [ +athloi +] if you are skilled in any of them - for you seem to know of + +athloi + . There is no greater +kleos + for a man all his life long as the showing + himself good with his hands and feet. Have a try therefore at something, and + banish all sorrow from your mind. Your return home will not be long delayed, + for the ship is already drawn into the water, and the crew is found." +Odysseus answered, "Laodamas, why do you taunt + me in this way? My mind is set rather on cares than contests +athloi +; I have been through infinite trouble, and am + come among you now as a suppliant, praying your king and +dêmos + to further me on my return home [ +nostos +]." +Then Euryalos reviled him outright and said, "I + gather, then, that you are unskilled in any of the many sports +athloi + that men generally delight in. I suppose you + are one of those grasping traders that go about in ships as captains or + merchants, and who think of nothing but of their outward freights and homeward + cargoes. There does not seem to be much of the athlete [ +athlêtês +] about you." +"For shame, sir," answered Odysseus, fiercely, + "you are an insolent man - so true is it that the gods do not grace all men + alike in speech, person, and understanding. One man may be of weak presence, + but heaven has adorned this with such a good conversation that he charms every + one who sees him; his honeyed moderation [ +aidôs +] + carries his hearers with him so that he is leader in all assemblies of his + fellows, and wherever he goes he is looked up to. Another may be as handsome as + a god, but his good looks are not crowned with verbal grace [ +kharis +]. This is your case. No god could make a finer + looking man than you are, but you are empty with respect to +noos +. Your ill-judged remarks [contrary to +kosmos +] have made me exceedingly angry, for I excel in + a great many athletic exercises [ +athlos +]; indeed, + so long as I had youth and strength, I was among the first athletes of the age. + Now, however, I am worn out by labor and sorrow, for I have gone through much + both on the field of battle and by the waves of the weary sea; still, in spite + of all this I will compete [ +athlos +], for your + taunts have stung me to the quick." +So he hurried up without even taking his cloak + off, and seized a disc, larger, more massive and much heavier than those used + by the Phaeacians when disc-throwing among themselves. Then, swinging it back, + he threw it from his brawny hand, and it made a humming sound in the air as he + did so. The Phaeacians quailed beneath the rushing of its flight as it sped + gracefully from his hand, and flew beyond any mark [ +sêma +] that had been made yet. Athena, in the form of a man, came and + marked the place where it had fallen. "A blind man, sir," said she, "could + easily tell your mark [ +sêma +] by groping for it - it + is so far ahead of any other. You may make your mind easy about this contest + [ +athlos +], for no Phaeacian can come near to such + a throw as yours." +Odysseus was glad when he found he had a friend + among the lookers-on, so he began to speak more pleasantly. "Young men," said + he, "come up to that throw if you can, and I will throw another disc as heavy + or even heavier. If anyone wants to have a bout with me let him come on, for I + am exceedingly angry; I will box, wrestle, or run, I do not care what it is, + with any man of you all except Laodamas, but not with him because I am his + guest, and one cannot compete with one's own personal friend. At least I do not + think it a prudent or a sensible thing for a guest to challenge his host's + family at any game [ +athlos +], especially when he is + in a foreign +dêmos +. He will cut the ground from + under his own feet if he does; but I make no exception as regards any one else, + for I want to have the matter out and know which is the best man. I am a good + hand at every kind of athletic sport [ +athlos +] known + among humankind. I am an excellent archer. In battle I am always the first to + bring a man down with my arrow, no matter how many more are taking aim at him + alongside of me. Philoctetes was the only man who could shoot better than I + could when we Achaeans were before the +dêmos + of the + Trojans. I far excel every one else in the whole world, of those who still eat + bread upon the face of the earth, but I should not like to shoot against the + mighty dead, such as Herakles, or Eurytos the Cechalian- men who could shoot + against the gods themselves. This in fact was how Eurytos came prematurely by + his end, for Apollo was angry with him and killed him because he challenged him + as an archer. I can throw a dart farther than any one else can shoot an arrow. + Running is the only point in respect of which I am afraid some of the + Phaeacians might beat me, for I have been brought down very low at sea; my + provisions ran short, and therefore I am still weak." +They all held their peace except King Alkinoos, + who began, "Sir, we have had much pleasure in hearing all that you have told + us, from which I understand that you are willing to show your prowess [ +aretê +], as having been displeased with some insolent + remarks that have been made to you by one of our athletes, and which could + never have been uttered by any one who knows how to talk with propriety. I hope + you will apprehend my meaning, and will explain to any one of your chief men + who may be dining with yourself and your family when you get home, that we have + an hereditary aptitude [ +aretê +] for accomplishments + of all kinds. We are not particularly remarkable for our boxing, nor yet as + wrestlers, but we are singularly fleet of foot and are excellent sailors. We + are extremely fond of good dinners, music, and dancing [ +khoros +]; we also like frequent changes of linen, warm baths, and + good beds; so now, please, some of you who are the best dancers set about + dancing, that our guest on his return home may be able to tell his friends how + much we surpass all other nations as sailors, runners, dancers, minstrels. + Demodokos has left his lyre at my house, so run some one or other of you and + fetch it for him." +On this a servant hurried off to bring the lyre + from the king's house, and the nine men who had been chosen as stewards stood + forward. It was their business to manage everything connected with the sports, + so they made the ground smooth and marked a wide space for the dancers [ +khoros +]. Presently the servant came back with + Demodokos’ lyre, and he took his place in the midst of them, whereon the best + young dancers [ +khoros +] in the town began to foot + and trip it so nimbly that Odysseus was delighted with the merry twinkling of + their feet. +Meanwhile the bard began to sing the loves of + Ares and Aphrodite, and how they first began their intrigue in the house of + Hephaistos. Ares made Aphrodite many presents, and defiled lord Hephaistos’ + marriage bed, so the sun, who saw what they were about, told Hephaistos. + Hephaistos was very angry when he heard such dreadful news, so he went to his + smithy brooding mischief, got his great anvil into its place, and began to + forge some chains which none could either unloose or break, so that they might + stay there in that place. When he had finished his snare he went into his + bedroom and festooned the bed-posts all over with chains like cobwebs; he also + let many hang down from the great beam of the ceiling. Not even a god could see + them, so fine and subtle were they. As soon as he had spread the chains all + over the bed, he made as though he were setting out for the fair state of + +Lemnos +, which of all places in the + world was the one he was most fond of. But Ares kept no blind look out, and as + soon as he saw him start, hurried off to his house, burning with love for + Aphrodite. +Now Aphrodite was just come in from a visit to + her father Zeus, and was about sitting down when Ares came inside the house, + and said as he took her hand in his own, "Let us go to the couch of Hephaistos: + he is not at home, but is gone off to +Lemnos + among the Sintians, whose speech is barbarous." +She was not unwilling, so they went to the + couch to take their rest, whereon they were caught in the toils which cunning + Hephaistos had spread for them, and could neither get up nor stir hand or foot, + but found too late that they were in a trap. Then Hephaistos came up to them, + for he had turned back before reaching +Lemnos +, when his scout the sun told him what was going on. He + was in a furious passion, and stood in the vestibule making a dreadful noise as + he shouted to all the gods. +"Father Zeus," he cried, "and all you other + blessed gods who live for ever, come here and see the ridiculous and + disgraceful sight that I will show you. Zeus’ daughter Aphrodite is always + dishonoring me because I am lame. She is in love with Ares, who is handsome and + clean built, whereas I am a cripple - but my parents are responsible [ +aitioi +] for that, not I; they ought never to have + begotten me. Come and see the pair together asleep on my bed. It makes me + furious to look at them. They are very fond of one another, but I do not think + they will lie there longer than they can help, nor do I think that they will + sleep much; there, however, they shall stay till her father has repaid me the + sum I gave him for his baggage of a daughter, who is fair but not honest." +On this the gods gathered to the house of + Hephaistos. Earth-encircling Poseidon came, and Hermes the bringer of luck, and + lord Apollo, but the goddesses stayed at home all of them for shame. Then the + givers of all good things stood in the doorway, and the blessed gods roared + with inextinguishable laughter, as they saw how cunning Hephaistos had been, + whereon one would turn towards his neighbor saying: +"Ill deeds do not bring +aretê +, and the weak confound the strong. See how limping Hephaistos, + lame as he is, has caught Ares who is the fleetest god in heaven; and now Ares + will be cast in heavy damages." +Thus did they converse, but lord Apollo said to + Hermes, "Messenger Hermes, giver of good things, you would not care how strong + the chains were, would you, if you could sleep with Aphrodite?" +"King Apollo," answered Hermes, "I only wish I + might get the chance, though there were three times as many chains - and you + might look on, all of you, gods and goddesses, but I would sleep with her if I + could." +The immortal gods burst out laughing as they + heard him, but Poseidon took it all seriously, and kept on imploring Hephaistos + to set Ares free again. "Let him go," he cried, "and I will undertake, as you + require, that he shall pay you all the damages that are held reasonable among + the immortal gods." +"Do not," replied Hephaistos, "ask me to do + this; a bad man's bond is bad security; what remedy could I enforce against you + if Ares should go away and leave his debts behind him along with his + chains?" +"Hephaistos," said Poseidon, "if Ares goes away + without paying his damages, I will pay you myself." So Hephaistos answered, "In + this case I cannot and must not refuse you." +Thereon he loosed the bonds that bound them, + and as soon as they were free they scampered off, Ares to +Thrace + and laughter-loving Aphrodite to + +Cyprus + and to +Paphos +, where is her grove and her altar + fragrant with burnt offerings. Here the Graces bathed her, and anointed her + with oil of ambrosia such as the immortal gods make use of, and they clothed + her in raiment of the most enchanting beauty. +Thus sang the bard, and both Odysseus and the + seafaring Phaeacians were charmed as they heard him. +Then Alkinoos told Laodamas and Halios to dance + alone, for there was no one to compete with them. So they took a red ball which + Polybos had made for them, and one of them bent himself backwards and threw it + up towards the clouds, while the other jumped from off the ground and caught it + with ease before it came down again. When they had done throwing the ball + straight up into the air they began to dance, and at the same time kept on + throwing it backwards and forwards to one another, while all the young men in + the ring applauded and made a great stamping with their feet. Then Odysseus + said: +"King Alkinoos, you said your people were the + nimblest dancers in the world, and indeed they have proved themselves to be so. + I was astonished as I saw them." +The king was delighted at this, and exclaimed + to the Phaeacians "Aldermen and town councilors, our guest seems to be a person + of singular judgment; let us give him such proof of our hospitality as he may + reasonably expect. There are twelve chief men throughout the +dêmos +, and counting myself there are thirteen; + contribute, each of you, a clean cloak, a shirt, and a talent of fine gold; let + us give him all this in a lump down at once, so that when he gets his supper he + may do so with a light heart. As for Euryalos, he will have to make a formal + apology and a present too, for he has been rude." +Thus did he speak. The others all of them + applauded his saying, and sent their servants to fetch the presents. Then + Euryalos said, "King Alkinoos, I will give the stranger all the satisfaction + you require. He shall have sword, which is of bronze, all but the hilt, which + is of silver. I will also give him the scabbard of newly sawn ivory into which + it fits. It will be worth a great deal to him." +As he spoke he placed the sword in the hands of + Odysseus and said, "Good luck to you, father stranger; if anything has been + said amiss may the winds blow it away with them, and may heaven grant you a + safe return, for I understand you have been long away from home, and have gone + through much hardship." +To which Odysseus answered, "Good luck to you + too my friend, and may the gods grant you every happiness [ +olbos +]. I hope you will not miss the sword you have given me along + with your apology." +With these words he girded the sword about his + shoulders and towards sundown the presents began to make their appearance, as + the servants of the donors kept bringing them to the house of King Alkinoos; + here his sons received them, and placed them under their mother's charge. Then + Alkinoos led the way to the house and bade his guests take their seats. +"Wife," said he, turning to Queen Arete, "Go, + fetch the best chest we have, and put a clean cloak and shirt in it. Also, set + a copper on the fire and heat some water; our guest will take a warm bath; see + also to the careful packing of the presents that the noble Phaeacians have made + him; he will thus better enjoy both his supper and the singing that will + follow. I shall myself give him this golden goblet - which is of exquisite + workmanship - that he may be reminded of me for the rest of his life whenever + he makes a drink-offering to Zeus, or to any of the gods." +Then Arete told her maids to set a large tripod + upon the fire as fast as they could, whereon they set a tripod full of bath + water on to a clear fire; they threw on sticks to make it blaze, and the water + became hot as the flame played about the belly of the tripod. Meanwhile Arete + brought a magnificent chest her own room, and inside it she packed all the + beautiful presents of gold and raiment which the Phaeacians had brought. Lastly + she added a cloak and a good shirt from Alkinoos, and said to Odysseus: +"See to the lid yourself, and have the whole + bound round at once, for fear any one should rob you by the way when you are + asleep in your ship." +When Odysseus heard this he put the lid on the + chest and made it fast with a bond that Circe had taught him. He had done so + before an upper servant told him to come to the bath and wash himself. He was + very glad of a warm bath, for he had had no one to wait upon him ever since he + left the house of Calypso, who as long as he remained with her had taken as + good care of him as though he had been a god. When the servants had done + washing and anointing him with oil, and had given him a clean cloak and shirt, + he left the bath room and joined the guests who were sitting over their wine. + Lovely Nausicaa stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the + room, and admired him as she saw him pass. "Farewell stranger," said she, "do + not forget me when you are safe at home again, for it is to me first that you + owe a ransom for having saved your life." +And Odysseus said, "Nausicaa, daughter of great + Alkinoos, may Zeus the mighty husband of Hera, grant that I may reach my home + and see my day of +nostos +; so shall I bless you as a + goddess all my days, for it was you who saved me." +When he had said this, he seated himself beside + Alkinoos. Supper was then served, and the wine was mixed for drinking. A + servant led in the favorite bard Demodokos, and set him in the midst of the + company, near one of the bearing-posts supporting the room, that he might lean + against it. Then Odysseus cut off a piece of roast pork with plenty of fat (for + there was abundance left on the joint) and said to a servant, "Take this piece + of pork over to Demodokos and tell him to eat it; for all the pain his lays may + cause me I will salute him none the less; bards get honor and respect [ +aidôs +] throughout the world, for the Muse teaches them + their songs and loves them." +The servant carried the pork in his fingers + over to Demodokos, who took it and was very much pleased. They then laid their + hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had + enough to eat and drink, Odysseus said to Demodokos, "Demodokos, there is no + one in the world whom I praise with admiration more than I do you. You must + have studied under the Muse, Zeus’ daughter, and under Apollo, - with such a + sense of order [ +kosmos +] do you sing the return of + the Achaeans with all their sufferings and adventures. If you were not there + yourself, you must have heard it all from some one who was. Now, however, + change your song and tell us of the construction [ +kosmos +] of the wooden horse which Epeios made with the assistance of + Athena, and which Odysseus got by stratagem into the fort of +Troy + after freighting it with the men who + afterwards sacked the city. If you will sing this tale aright I will tell all + the world how magnificently heaven has endowed you." +The bard, inspired by a god, lit up the picture + of his story, starting at the point where some of the Argives set fire to their + tents and sailed away while others, hidden within the horse, were waiting with + Odysseus in the Trojan place of assembly. For the Trojans themselves had drawn + the horse into their fortress, and it stood there while they sat in council + round it, and were in three minds as to what they should do. Some were for + breaking it up then and there; others would have it dragged to the top of the + rock on which the fortress stood, and then thrown down the precipice; while yet + others were for letting it remain as an offering and propitiation for the gods. + And this was how they settled it in the end, for the city was doomed when it + took in that horse, within which were all the bravest of the Argives waiting to + bring death and destruction on the Trojans. Anon he sang how the sons of the + Achaeans issued from the horse, and sacked the town, breaking out from their + ambuscade. He sang how they overran the city here and there and ravaged it, and + how Odysseus went raging like Ares along with Menelaos to the house of + Deiphobos. It was there that the fight raged most furiously, nevertheless by + Athena's help he was victorious. +All this he told, but Odysseus was overcome as + he heard him, and his cheeks were wet with tears. He wept as a woman weeps when + she throws herself on the body of her husband who has fallen before his own + city and people, fighting bravely in defense of his home and children. She + screams aloud and flings her arms about him as he lies gasping for breath and + dying, but her enemies beat her from behind about the back and shoulders, and + carry her off into slavery, to a life of labor [ +ponos +] and sorrow, and the beauty fades from her cheeks - even so + piteously did Odysseus weep, but none of those present perceived his tears + except Alkinoos, who was sitting near him, and could hear the sobs and sighs + that he was heaving. The king, therefore, at once rose and said: +"Aldermen and town councilors of the + Phaeacians, let Demodokos cease his song, for there are those present who do + not seem to like it. From the moment that we had done supper and Demodokos + began to sing, our guest has been all the time groaning and lamenting. He is + evidently in great distress [ +akhos +], so let the + bard leave off, that we may all enjoy ourselves, hosts and guest alike. This + will be much more as it should be, for all these festivities, with the escort + and the presents that we are making with so much good will, are wholly in his + honor, and any one with even a moderate amount of right feeling knows that he + ought to treat a guest and a suppliant as though he were his own brother. +"Therefore, sir, do you on your part affect no + more concealment nor reserve in the matter about which I shall ask you; it will + be more polite in you to give me a plain answer; tell me the name by which your + father and mother over yonder used to call you, and by which you were known + among your neighbors and fellow-citizens. There is no one, neither rich nor + poor, who is absolutely without any name whatever, for people's fathers and + mothers give them names as soon as they are born. Tell me also your country, + nation +dêmos +, and city, that our ships may shape + their purpose accordingly and take you there. For the Phaeacians have no + pilots; their vessels have no rudders as those of other nations have, but the + ships themselves understand what it is that we are thinking about and want; + they know all the cities and countries in the whole world, and can traverse the + sea just as well even when it is covered with mist and cloud, so that there is + no danger of being wrecked or coming to any harm. Still I do remember hearing + my father say that Poseidon was angry with us for being too easy-going in the + matter of giving people escorts. He said that one of these days he should wreck + a ship of ours as it was returning from having escorted some one, and envelop + our city with a high mountain. This is what the old man used to say, but + whether the god will carry out his threat or no is a matter which he will + decide for himself. +And now, tell me and tell me true. Where have + you been wandering, and in what countries have you traveled? Tell us of the + peoples themselves, and of their cities - who were hostile, savage and + uncivilized [not +dikaios +], and who, on the other + hand, hospitable and endowed with a god-fearing +noos +. Tell us also why you are made unhappy on hearing about the + return of the Argive Danaans from +Troy +. The gods arranged all this, and sent them their + misfortunes in order that future generations might have something to sing + about. Did you lose some brave kinsman of your wife's when you were before + +Troy +? A son-in-law or + father-in-law - which are the nearest relations a man has outside his own flesh + and blood? Or was it some brave and kindly-natured comrade - for a good friend + is as dear to a man as his own brother?" +And Odysseus answered, "King Alkinoos, it is a + good thing to hear a bard with such a divine voice as this man has. There is + nothing better or more delightful than when merriment [ +euphrosunê +] prevails over a whole +dêmos +, + with the guests sitting orderly to listen, while the table is loaded with bread + and meats, and the cup-bearer draws wine and fills his cup for every man. This + is indeed as fair a sight as a man can see. Now, however, since you are + inclined to ask the story of my sorrows, and rekindle my own sad memories in + respect of them, I do not know how to begin, nor yet how to continue and + conclude my tale, for the hand of heaven has been laid heavily upon me. +"Firstly, then, I will tell you my name that you + too may know it, and that one day, if I outlive this time of sorrow, I may + become a guest-friend to you, though I live so far away from all of you. I am + Odysseus son of +Laertes +, renowned + among humankind for all manner of subtlety, so that my +kleos + ascends to heaven. I live in +Ithaca +, where there is a high mountain called Neritum, covered + with forests; and not far from it there is a group of islands very near to one + another - Dulichium, Same, and the wooded island of +Zacynthus +. It lies squat on the horizon, all + highest up in the sea towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it + towards dawn. It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave men, and my eyes know + none that they better love to look upon. The goddess Calypso kept me with her + in her cave, and wanted me to marry her, as did also the cunning Aeaean goddess + Circe; but they could neither of them persuade me, for there is nothing dearer + to a man than his own country and his parents, and however splendid a home he + may have in a foreign country, if it be far from father or mother, he does not + care about it. Now, however, I will tell you of the many hazardous adventures + which by Zeus’ will I met with on my return [ +nostos +] from +Troy +. +"When I had set sail thence the wind took me + first to Ismaros, which is the city of the Kikones. There I sacked the town and + put the people to the sword. We took their wives and also much booty, which we + divided equitably amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain. I + then said that we had better make off at once, but my men very foolishly would + not obey me, so they stayed there drinking much wine and killing great numbers + of sheep and oxen on the sea shore. Meanwhile the Kikones cried out for help to + other Kikones who lived inland. These were more in number, and stronger, and + they were more skilled in the art of war, for they could fight, either from + chariots or on foot as the occasion served; in the morning, therefore, they + came as thick as leaves and bloom in summertime [ +hôra +], and the hand of heaven was against us, so that we were hard + pressed. They set the battle in array near the ships, and the hosts aimed their + bronze-shod spears at one another. So long as the day waxed and it was still + morning, we held our own against them, though they were more in number than we; + but as the sun went down, towards the time when men loose their oxen, the + Kikones got the better of us, and we lost half a dozen men from every ship we + had; so we got away with those that were left. +"Thence we sailed onward with sorrow in our + hearts, but glad to have escaped death though we had lost our comrades, nor did + we leave till we had thrice invoked each one of the poor men who had perished + by the hands of the Kikones. Then Zeus raised the North wind against us till it + blew a blast of wind, so that land and sky were hidden in thick clouds, and + night sprang forth out of the heavens. We let the ships run before the gale, + but the force of the wind tore our sails to tatters, so we took them down for + fear of shipwreck, and rowed our hardest towards the land. There we lay two + days and two nights suffering much alike from toil and distress of mind, but on + the morning of the third day we again raised our masts, set sail, and took our + places, letting the wind and steersmen direct our ship. I should have got home + at that time unharmed had not the North wind and the currents been against me + as I was doubling Cape Malea, and set me off my course hard by the island of + +Cythera +. +"I was driven thence by foul winds for a space + of nine days upon the sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the + Lotus-eaters, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we + landed to take in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the + shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I chose [ +krinô +] two of my company to go see what manner of men + the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They + started at once, and went about among the Lotus-eaters, who did them no harm, + but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of + it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what + had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the + Lotus-eaters without thinking further of their +nostos +; nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back + to the ships and made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to go + on board at once, lest any of them should taste of the lotus and leave off + wanting to achieve a homecoming [ +nostos +], so they + took their places and smote the gray sea with their oars. +"We sailed hence, always in much distress, till + we came to the land of the lawless and inhuman Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes + neither plant nor plough, but trust in providence, and live on such wheat, + barley, and grapes as grow wild without any kind of tillage, and their wild + grapes yield them wine as the sun and the rain may grow them. They have no laws + nor assemblies of the people, but live in caves on the tops of high mountains; + each is lord and master in his family, and they take no account of their + neighbors. +"Now off their harbor there lies a wooded and + fertile island not quite close to the land of the Cyclopes, but still not far. + It is overrun with wild goats, that breed there in great numbers and are never + disturbed by foot of man; for sportsmen - who as a rule will suffer so much + hardship in forest or among mountain precipices - do not go there, nor yet + again is it ever ploughed or fed down, but it lies a wilderness untilled and + unsown from year to year, and has no living thing upon it but only goats. For + the Cyclopes have no ships, nor yet shipwrights who could make ships for them; + they cannot therefore go from city to city, or sail over the sea to one + another's country as people who have ships can do; if they had had these they + would have colonized the island, for it is a very good one, and would yield + everything in due season. There are meadows that in some places come right down + to the sea shore, well watered and full of luscious grass; grapes would do + there excellently; there is level land for ploughing, and it would always yield + heavily at harvest time [ +hôra +], for the soil is + deep. There is a good harbor where no cables are wanted, nor yet anchors, nor + need a ship be moored, but all one has to do is to beach one's vessel and stay + there till the wind becomes fair for putting out to sea again. At the head of + the harbor there is a spring of clear water coming out of a cave, and there are + poplars growing all round it. +"Here we entered, but so dark was the night + that some god must have brought us in, for there was nothing whatever to be + seen. A thick mist hung all round our ships; the moon was hidden behind a mass + of clouds so that no one could have seen the island if he had looked for it, + nor were there any breakers to tell us we were close in shore before we found + ourselves upon the land itself; when, however, we had beached the ships, we + took down the sails, went ashore and camped upon the beach till daybreak. +"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, + appeared, we admired the island and wandered all over it, while the nymphs, + Zeus’ daughters, roused the wild goats that we might get some meat for our + dinner. On this we fetched our spears and bows and arrows from the ships, and + dividing ourselves into three bands began to shoot the goats. Heaven sent us + excellent sport; I had twelve ships with me, and each ship got nine goats, + while my own ship had ten; thus through the livelong day to the going down of + the sun we ate and drank our fill, - and we had plenty of wine left, for each + one of us had taken many jars full when we sacked the city of the Kikones, and + this had not yet run out. While we were feasting we kept turning our eyes + towards the land of the Cyclopes, which was hard by, and saw the smoke of their + stubble fires. We could almost fancy we heard their voices and the bleating of + their sheep and goats, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we + camped down upon the beach, and next morning I called a council. +"‘Stay here, my brave men,’ said I, ‘all the + rest of you, while I go with my ship and make trial of these people myself: I + want to see if they are uncivilized [not +dikaios +] + savages, or a race hospitable and endowed with a god-fearing +noos +.’ +"I went on board, bidding my men to do so also + and loose the hawsers; so they took their places and smote the gray sea with + their oars. When we got to the land, which was not far, there, on the face of a + cliff near the sea, we saw a great cave overhung with laurels. It was a station + for a great many sheep and goats, and outside there was a large yard, with a + high wall round it made of stones built into the ground and of trees both pine + and oak. This was the abode of a huge monster who was then away from home + shepherding his flocks. He would have nothing to do with other people, but led + the life of an outlaw. He was a horrid creature, not like a human being at all, + but resembling rather some crag that stands out boldly against the sky on the + top of a high mountain. +"I told my men to draw the ship ashore, and + stay where they were, all but the twelve best [ +krînô +] among them, who were to go along with myself. I also took a + goatskin of sweet black wine which had been given me by Maron, Apollo son of + Euanthes, who was priest of Apollo the patron god of Ismaros, and lived within + the wooded precincts of the temple. When we were sacking the city we respected + him, and spared his life, as also his wife and child; so he made me some + presents of great value - seven talents of fine gold, and a bowl of silver, + with twelve jars of sweet wine, unblended, and of the most exquisite flavor. + Not a man nor maid in the house knew about it, but only himself, his wife, and + one housekeeper: when he drank it he mixed twenty parts of water to one of + wine, and yet the fragrance from the mixing-bowl was so exquisite that it was + impossible to refrain from drinking. I filled a large skin with this wine, and + took a wallet full of provisions with me, for my mind misgave me that I might + have to deal with some savage who would be of great strength, and would respect + neither right [ +dikê +] nor law. +"We soon reached his cave, but he was out + shepherding, so we went inside and took stock of all that we could see. His + cheese-racks were loaded with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his + pens could hold. They were kept in separate flocks; first there were the + hoggets, then the oldest of the younger lambs and lastly the very young ones + all kept apart from one another; as for his dairy, all the vessels, bowls, and + milk pails into which he milked, were swimming with whey. When they saw all + this, my men begged me to let them first steal some cheeses, and make off with + them to the ship; they would then return, drive down the lambs and kids, put + them on board and sail away with them. It would have been indeed better if we + had done so but I would not listen to them, for I wanted to see the owner + himself, in the hope that he might give me a present. When, however, we saw him + my poor men found him ill to deal with. +"We lit a fire, offered some of the cheeses in + sacrifice, ate others of them, and then sat waiting till the +Cyclops + should come in with his sheep. When he + came, he brought in with him a huge load of dry firewood to light the fire for + his supper, and this he flung with such a noise on to the floor of his cave + that we hid ourselves for fear at the far end of the cavern. Meanwhile he drove + all the ewes inside, as well as the she-goats that he was going to milk, + leaving the males, both rams and he-goats, outside in the yards. Then he rolled + a huge stone to the mouth of the cave - so huge that two and twenty strong + four-wheeled wagons would not be enough to draw it from its place against the + doorway. When he had so done he sat down and milked his ewes and goats, all in + due course, and then let each of them have her own young. He curdled half the + milk and set it aside in wicker strainers, but the other half he poured into + bowls that he might drink it for his supper. When he had got through with all + his work, he lit the fire, and then caught sight of us, whereon he said: +"‘Strangers, who are you? Where do sail from? + Are you traders, or do you sail the sea as rovers, with your hands against + every man, and every man's hand against you?’ +"We were frightened out of our senses by his + loud voice and monstrous form, but I managed to say, ‘We are Achaeans on our + way home from +Troy +, but by the will + of Zeus, and stress of weather, we have been driven far out of our course. We + are the people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, who has won infinite +kleos + throughout the whole world, by sacking so great + a city and killing so many people. We therefore humbly pray you to show us some + hospitality, and otherwise make us such presents as visitors may reasonably + expect. May your excellency give reverence [ +aidôs +] + to the gods, for we are your suppliants, and Zeus takes all respectable + travelers under his protection, for he is the avenger of all suppliants and + foreigners in distress.’ +"To this he gave me but a pitiless answer, + ‘Stranger,’ said he, ‘you are a fool, or else you know nothing of this country. + Talk to me, indeed, about fearing the gods or shunning their anger? We Cyclopes + do not care about Zeus or any of your blessed gods, for we are ever so much + stronger than they. I shall not spare either yourself or your companions out of + any regard for Zeus, unless I am in the humor for doing so. And now tell me + where you made your ship fast when you came on shore. Was it round the point, + or is she lying straight off the land?’ +"He said this to draw me out, but I was too + cunning to be caught in that way, so I answered with a lie; ‘Poseidon,’ said I, + ‘sent my ship on to the rocks at the far end of your country, and wrecked it. + We were driven on to them from the open sea, but I and those who are with me + escaped the jaws of death.’ +"The cruel wretch granted me not one word of + answer, but with a sudden clutch he gripped up two of my men at once and dashed + them down upon the ground as though they had been puppies. Their brains were + shed upon the ground, and the earth was wet with their blood. Then he tore them + limb from limb and supped upon them. He gobbled them up like a lion in the + wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow, and entrails, without leaving anything + uneaten. As for us, we wept and lifted up our hands to heaven on seeing such a + horrid sight, for we did not know what else to do; but when the +Cyclops + had filled his huge paunch, and had + washed down his meal of human flesh with a drink of neat milk, he stretched + himself full length upon the ground among his sheep, and went to sleep. I was + at first inclined to seize my sword, draw it, and drive it into his vitals, but + I reflected that if I did we should all certainly be lost, for we should never + be able to shift the stone which the monster had put in front of the door. So + we stayed sobbing and sighing where we were till morning came. +"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, + appeared, he again lit his fire, milked his goats and ewes, all quite rightly, + and then let each have her own young one; as soon as he had got through with + all his work, he clutched up two more of my men, and began eating them for his + morning's meal. Presently, with the utmost ease, he rolled the stone away from + the door and drove out his sheep, but he at once put it back again - as easily + as though he were merely clapping the lid on to a quiver full of arrows. As + soon as he had done so he shouted, and cried ‘Shoo, shoo,’ after his sheep to + drive them on to the mountain; so I was left to scheme some way of taking my + revenge and covering myself with glory. +"In the end I deemed it would be the best plan + to do as follows. The +Cyclops + had a + great club which was lying near one of the sheep pens; it was of green olive + wood, and he had cut it intending to use it for a staff as soon as it should be + dry. It was so huge that we could only compare it to the mast of a twenty-oared + merchant vessel of large burden, and able to venture out into open sea. I went + up to this club and cut off about six feet of it; I then gave this piece to the + men and told them to fine it evenly off at one end, which they proceeded to do, + and lastly I brought it to a point myself, charring the end in the fire to make + it harder. When I had done this I hid it under dung, which was lying about all + over the cave, and told the men to cast lots which of them should venture along + with myself to lift it and bore it into the monster's eye while he was asleep. + The lot fell upon the very four whom I should have chosen, and I myself made + five. In the evening the wretch came back from shepherding, and drove his + flocks into the cave - this time driving them all inside, and not leaving any + in the yards; I suppose some fancy must have taken him, or a god must have + prompted him to do so. As soon as he had put the stone back to its place + against the door, he sat down, milked his ewes and his goats all quite rightly, + and then let each have her own young one; when he had got through with all this + work, he gripped up two more of my men, and made his supper off them. So I went + up to him with an ivy-wood bowl of black wine in my hands: +"‘Look here, +Cyclops +,’ said I, 'you have been eating a great deal of man's + flesh, so take this and drink some wine, that you may see what kind of liquor + we had on board my ship. I was bringing it to you as a drink-offering, in the + hope that you would take compassion upon me and further me on my way home, + whereas all you do is to go on ramping and raving most intolerably. You ought + to be ashamed yourself; how can you expect people to come see you any more if + you treat them in this way?’ +"He then took the cup and drank. He was so + delighted with the taste of the wine that he begged me for another bowl full. + ‘Be so kind,’ he said, ‘as to give me some more, and tell me your name at once. + I want to make you a present that you will be glad to have. We have wine even + in this country, for our soil grows grapes and the sun ripens them, but this + drinks like nectar and ambrosia all in one.’ +"I then gave him some more; three times did I + fill the bowl for him, and three times did he drain it without thought or heed; + then, when I saw that the wine had got into his head, I said to him as + plausibly as I could: ‘ +Cyclops +, you + ask my name and I will tell it you; give me, therefore, the present you + promised me; my name is Noman; this is what my father and mother and my friends + have always called me.’ +"But the cruel wretch said, ‘Then I will eat + all Noman's comrades before Noman himself, and will keep Noman for the last. + This is the present that I will make him.’ +As he spoke he reeled, and fell sprawling face + upwards on the ground. His great neck hung heavily backwards and a deep sleep + took hold upon him. Presently he turned sick, and threw up both wine and the + gobbets of human flesh on which he had been gorging, for he was very drunk. + Then I thrust the beam of wood far into the embers to heat it, and encouraged + my men lest any of them should turn faint-hearted. When the wood, green though + it was, was about to blaze, I drew it out of the fire glowing with heat, and my + men gathered round me, for a +daimôn + had filled + their hearts with courage. We drove the sharp end of the beam into the + monster's eye, and bearing upon it with all my weight I kept turning it round + and round as though I were boring a hole in a ship's plank with an auger, which + two men with a wheel and strap can keep on turning as long as they choose. Even + thus did we bore the red hot beam into his eye, till the boiling blood bubbled + all over it as we worked it round and round, so that the steam from the burning + eyeball scalded his eyelids and eyebrows, and the roots of the eye sputtered in + the fire. As a blacksmith plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to temper + it - for it is this that gives strength to the iron - and it makes a great hiss + as he does so, even thus did the +Cyclops +’ eye hiss round the beam of olive wood, and his hideous + yells made the cave ring again. We ran away in a fright, but he plucked the + beam all besmirched with gore from his eye, and hurled it from him in a frenzy + of rage and pain, shouting as he did so to the other Cyclopes who lived on the + bleak headlands near him; so they gathered from all quarters round his cave + when they heard him crying, and asked what was the matter with him. +"‘What ails you, Polyphemus,’ said they, ‘that + you make such a noise, breaking the stillness of the night, and preventing us + from being able to sleep? Surely no man is carrying off your sheep? Surely no + man is trying to kill you either by fraud or by force [ +biê +]? +"But Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the + cave, ‘Noman is killing me by fraud! Noman is killing me by force [ +biê +]!’ +"‘Then,’ said they, ‘if no man is attacking + you, you must be ill; when Zeus makes people ill, there is no help for it, and + you had better pray to your father Poseidon.’ +"Then they went away, and I laughed inwardly at + the success of my clever stratagem, but the +Cyclops +, groaning and in an agony of pain, felt about with his + hands till he found the stone and took it from the door; then he sat in the + doorway and stretched his hands in front of it to catch anyone going out with + the sheep, for he thought I might be foolish enough to attempt this. +"As for myself I kept on puzzling to think how + I could best save my own life [ +psukhê +] and those of + my companions; I schemed and schemed, as one who knows that his life depends + upon it, for the danger was very great. In the end I deemed that this plan + would be the best. The male sheep were well grown, and carried a heavy black + fleece, so I bound them noiselessly in threes together, with some of the + withies on which the wicked monster used to sleep. There was to be a man under + the middle sheep, and the two on either side were to cover him, so that there + were three sheep to each man. As for myself there was a ram finer than any of + the others, so I caught hold of him by the back, ensconced myself in the thick + wool under his belly, and hung on patiently to his fleece, face upwards, + keeping a firm hold on it all the time. +"Thus, then, did we wait in great fear of mind + till morning came, but when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, + the male sheep hurried out to feed, while the ewes remained bleating about the + pens waiting to be milked, for their udders were full to bursting; but their + master in spite of all his pain felt the backs of all the sheep as they stood + upright, without being sharp enough to find out that the men were underneath + their bellies. As the ram was going out, last of all, heavy with its fleece and + with the weight of my crafty self; Polyphemus laid hold of it and said: +"‘My good ram, what is it that makes you the + last to leave my cave this morning? You are not wont to let the ewes go before + you, but lead the mob with a run whether to flowery mead or bubbling fountain, + and are the first to come home again at night; but now you lag last of all. Is + it because you know your master has lost his eye, and are sorry because that + wicked Noman and his horrid crew have got him down in his drink and blinded + him? But I will have his life yet. If you could understand and talk, you would + tell me where the wretch is hiding, and I would dash his brains upon the ground + till they flew all over the cave. I should thus have some satisfaction for the + harm this no-good Noman has done me.’ +"As spoke he drove the ram outside, but when we + were a little way out from the cave and yards, I first got from under the ram's + belly, and then freed my comrades; as for the sheep, which were very fat, by + constantly heading them in the right direction we managed to drive them down to + the ship. The crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of us who had escaped + death, but wept for the others whom the +Cyclops + had killed. However, I made signs to them by nodding + and frowning that they were to hush their crying, and told them to get all the + sheep on board at once and put out to sea; so they went aboard, took their + places, and smote the gray sea with their oars. Then, when I had got as far out + as my voice would reach, I began to jeer at the +Cyclops +. +"‘ +Cyclops +,’ said I, ‘you should have taken better measure of your + man before eating up his comrades in your cave. You wretch, do you intend by + violence [ +biê +] to eat up your visitors in your own + cave? You might have known that your derangement would find you out, and now + Zeus and the other gods have punished you.’ +"He got more and more furious as he heard me, + so he tore the top from off a high mountain, and flung it just in front of my + ship so that it was within a little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea + quaked as the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised carried us + back towards the mainland, and forced us towards the shore. But I snatched up a + long pole and kept the ship off, making signs to my men by nodding my head, + that they must row for their lives, whereon they laid out with a will. When we + had got twice as far as we were before, I was for jeering at the +Cyclops + again, but the men begged and prayed + of me to hold my tongue. +"‘Do not,’ they exclaimed, ‘be mad enough to + provoke this savage creature further; he has thrown one rock at us already + which drove us back again to the mainland, and we made sure it had been the + death of us; if he had then heard any further sound of voices he would have + pounded our heads and our ship's timbers into a jelly with the rugged rocks he + would have heaved at us, for he can throw them a long way.’ +"But I would not listen to them, and shouted + out to him in my rage, ‘ +Cyclops +, if + any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and spoiled your beauty, say + it was the valiant warrior Odysseus, son of Laertes, who lives in +Ithaca +.’ +"On this he groaned, and cried out, ‘Alas, + alas, then the old prophecy about me is coming true. There was a seer [ +mantis +] here, at one time, a man both brave and of + great stature, Telemos son of Eurymos, who was an excellent seer, and did all + the prophesying for the Cyclopes till he grew old; he told me that all this + would happen to me some day, and said I should lose my sight by the hand of + Odysseus. I have been all along expecting some one of imposing presence and + superhuman strength, whereas he turns out to be a little insignificant + weakling, who has managed to blind my eye by taking advantage of me in my + drink; come here, then, Odysseus, that I may make you presents to show my + hospitality, and urge Poseidon to help you forward on your journey - for + Poseidon and I are father and son. He, if he so will, shall heal me, which no + one else neither god nor man can do.’ +"Then I said, ‘I wish I could be as sure of + killing you outright and sending you down, bereft of your +psukhê +, to the house of Hades, as I am that it will take more than + Poseidon to cure that eye of yours.’ +"On this he lifted up his hands to the + firmament of heaven and prayed, saying, ‘Hear me, great Poseidon; if I am + indeed your own true-begotten son, grant that Odysseus may never reach his home + alive; or if he must get back to his friends at last, let him do so late and in + sore plight after losing all his men let him reach his home in another man's + ship and find trouble in his house.’ +"Thus did he pray, and Poseidon heard his + prayer. Then he picked up a rock much larger than the first, swung it aloft and + hurled it with prodigious force. It fell just short of the ship, but was within + a little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock fell into + it, and the wash of the wave it raised drove us onwards on our way towards the + shore of the island. +"When at last we got to the island where we had + left the rest of our ships, we found our comrades lamenting us, and anxiously + awaiting our return. We ran our vessel upon the sands and got out of her on to + the sea shore; we also landed the +Cyclops +’ sheep, and divided them equitably amongst us so that + none might have reason to complain. As for the ram, my companions agreed that I + should have it as an extra share; so I sacrificed it on the sea shore, and + burned its thigh bones to Zeus, who is the lord of all. But he heeded not my + sacrifice, and only thought how he might destroy my ships and my comrades. +"Thus through the livelong day to the going + down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and drink, but when the sun went + down and it came on dark, we camped upon the beach. When the child of morning, + rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I bade my men on board and loose the hawsers. + Then they took their places and smote the gray sea with their oars; so we + sailed on with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have escaped death though we + had lost our comrades. +Thence we went on to the Aeolian island where + lives Aeolus son of Hippotas, dear to the immortal gods. It is an island that + floats (as it were) upon the sea, iron bound with a wall that girds it. Now, + Aeolus has six daughters and six sons in the bloom of youth, so he made the + sons marry the daughters, and they all live with their dear father and mother, + feasting and enjoying every conceivable kind of luxury. All day long the + atmosphere of the house is loaded with the savor of roasting meats till it + groans again, yard and all; but by night they sleep on their well-made + bedsteads, each with his own wife between the blankets. These were the people + among whom we had now come. +"Aeolus entertained me for a whole month asking + me questions all the time about +Troy +, + the +Argive + fleet, and the return + [ +nostos +] of the Achaeans. I told him exactly how + everything had happened, and when I said I must go, and asked him to further me + on my way, he made no sort of difficulty, but set about doing so at once. + Moreover, he flayed me a prime ox-hide to hold the ways of the roaring winds, + which he shut up in the hide as in a sack - for Zeus had made him captain over + the winds, and he could stir or still each one of them according to his own + pleasure. He put the sack in the ship and bound the mouth so tightly with a + silver thread that not even a breath of a side-wind could blow from any + quarter. The West wind which was fair for us did he alone let blow as it chose; + but it all came to nothing, for we were lost through our own folly. +"Nine days and nine nights did we sail, and on + the tenth day our native land showed on the horizon. We got so close in that we + could see the stubble fires burning, and I, being then dead tired, fell into a + light sleep, for I had never let the rudder out of my own hands, that we might + get home the faster. On this the men fell to talking among themselves, and said + I was bringing back gold and silver in the sack that Aeolus had given me. + ‘Bless my heart,’ would one turn to his neighbor, saying, ‘how this man gets + honored and makes friends in whatever city or country he may go. See what fine + prizes he is taking home from +Troy +, + while we, who have traveled just as far as he has, come back with hands as + empty as we set out with - and now Aeolus has given him ever so much more. + Quick - let us see what it all is, and how much gold and silver there is in the + sack he gave him.’ +"Thus they talked and evil counsels prevailed. + They loosed the sack, whereupon the wind flew howling forth and raised a storm + that carried us weeping out to sea and away from our own country. Then I awoke, + and knew not whether to throw myself into the sea or to live on and make the + best of it; but I bore it, covered myself up, and lay down in the ship, while + the men lamented bitterly as the fierce winds bore our fleet back to the + Aeolian island. +"When we reached it we went ashore to take in + water, and dined hard by the ships. Immediately after dinner I took a herald + and one of my men and went straight to the house of Aeolus, where I found him + feasting with his wife and family; so we sat down as suppliants on the + threshold. They were astounded when they saw us and said, ‘Odysseus, what + brings you here? What +daimôn + has been ill-treating + you? We took great pains to further you on your way home to +Ithaca +, or wherever it was that you wanted to + go to.’ +"Thus did they speak, but I answered + sorrowfully, ‘My men have undone me; they, and cruel sleep, have ruined me. My + friends, mend me this mischief, for you can if you will.’ +"I spoke as movingly as I could, but they said + nothing, till their father answered, ‘Vilest of humankind, get you gone at once + out of the island; him whom heaven hates will I in no wise help. Be off, for + you come here as one abhorred of heaven.' And with these words he sent me + sorrowing from his door. +"Thence we sailed sadly on till the men were + worn out with long and fruitless rowing, for there was no longer any wind to + help them. Six days, night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day we + reached the rocky stronghold of +Lamos + - Telepylos, the city of the Laestrygonians, where the + shepherd who is driving in his sheep and goats [to be milked] salutes him who + is driving out his flock [to feed] and this last answers the salute. In that + country a man who could do without sleep might earn double wages, one as a + herdsman of cattle, and another as a shepherd, for they work much the same by + night as they do by day. +"When we reached the harbor we found it + land-locked under steep cliffs, with a narrow entrance between two headlands. + My captains took all their ships inside, and made them fast close to one + another, for there was never so much as a breath of wind inside, but it was + always dead calm. I kept my own ship outside, and moored it to a rock at the + very end of the point; then I climbed a high rock to reconnoiter, but could see + no sign neither of man nor cattle, only some smoke rising from the ground. So I + sent two of my company with an attendant to find out what sort of people the + inhabitants were. +"The men when they got on shore followed a + level road by which the people draw their firewood from the mountains into the + town, till presently they met a young woman who had come outside to fetch + water, and who was daughter to a Laestrygonian named Antiphates. She was going + to the fountain Artacia from which the people bring in their water, and when my + men had come close up to her, they asked her who the king of that country might + be, and over what kind of people he ruled; so she directed them to her father's + house, but when they got there they found his wife to be a giantess as huge as + a mountain, and they were horrified at the sight of her. +"She at once called her husband Antiphates from + the place of assembly, and forthwith he set about killing my men. He snatched + up one of them, and began to make his dinner of him then and there, whereon the + other two ran back to the ships as fast as ever they could. But Antiphates + raised a hue and cry after them, and thousands of sturdy Laestrygonians sprang + up from every quarter - ogres, not men. They threw vast rocks at us from the + cliffs as though they had been mere stones, and I heard the horrid sound of the + ships crunching up against one another, and the death cries of my men, as the + Laestrygonians speared them like fishes and took them home to eat them. While + they were thus killing my men within the harbor I drew my sword, cut the cable + of my own ship, and told my men to row with all their might if they too would + not fare like the rest; so they laid out for their lives, and we were thankful + enough when we got into open water out of reach of the rocks they hurled at us. + As for the others there was not one of them left. +"Thence we sailed sadly on, glad to have + escaped death, though we had lost our comrades, and came to the Aeaean island, + where Circe lives, a great and cunning goddess who is own sister to the + magician Aietes - for they are both children of the sun by Perse, who is + daughter to Okeanos. We brought our ship into a safe harbor without a word, for + some god guided us there, and having landed we stayed there for two days and + two nights, worn out in body and mind. When the morning of the third day came I + took my spear and my sword, and went away from the ship to reconnoiter, and see + if I could discover signs of human handiwork, or hear the sound of voices. + Climbing to the top of a high look-out I espied the smoke of Circe's house + rising upwards amid a dense forest of trees, and when I saw this I doubted + whether, having seen the smoke, I would not go on at once and find out more, + but in the end I deemed it best to go back to the ship, give the men their + dinners, and send some of them instead of going myself. +"When I had nearly got back to the ship some + god took pity upon my solitude, and sent a fine antlered stag right into the + middle of my path. He was coming down his pasture in the forest to drink of the + river, for the heat of the sun drove him, and as he passed I struck him in the + middle of the back; the bronze point of the spear went clean through him, and + he lay groaning in the dust until the life went out of him. Then I set my foot + upon him, drew my spear from the wound, and laid it down; I also gathered rough + grass and rushes and twisted them into a fathom or so of good stout rope, with + which I bound the four feet of the noble creature together; having so done I + hung him round my neck and walked back to the ship leaning upon my spear, for + the stag was much too big for me to be able to carry him on my shoulder, + steadying him with one hand. As I threw him down in front of the ship, I called + the men and spoke cheeringly man by man to each of them. ‘Look here my + friends,’ said I, ‘we are not going to die so much before our time after all, + and at any rate we will not starve so long as we have got something to eat and + drink on board.’ On this they uncovered their heads upon the sea shore and + admired the stag, for he was indeed a splendid man. Then, when they had feasted + their eyes upon him sufficiently, they washed their hands and began to cook him + for dinner. +"Thus through the livelong day to the going + down of the sun we stayed there eating and drinking our fill, but when the sun + went down and it came on dark, we camped upon the sea shore. When the child of + morning, fingered Dawn, appeared, I called a council and said, ‘My friends, we + are in very great difficulties; listen therefore to me. We have no idea where + the sun either sets or rises, so that we do not even know East from West. I see + no way out of it; nevertheless, we must try and find one. We are certainly on + an island, for I went as high as I could this morning, and saw the sea reaching + all round it to the horizon; it lies low, but towards the middle I saw smoke + rising from out of a thick forest of trees.’ +"Their hearts sank as they heard me, for they + remembered how they had been treated by the Laestrygonian Antiphates, and by + the savage ogre Polyphemus. They wept bitterly in their dismay, but there was + nothing to be got by crying, so I divided them into two companies and set a + leader over each; I gave one company to Eurylokhos, while I took command of the + other myself. Then we cast lots in a helmet, and the lot fell upon Eurylokhos; + so he set out with his twenty-two men, and they wept, as also did we who were + left behind. +"When they reached Circe's house they found it + built of cut stones, on a site that could be seen from far, in the middle of + the forest. There were wild mountain wolves and lions prowling all round it - + poor bewitched creatures whom she had tamed by her enchantments and drugged + into subjection. They did not attack my men, but wagged their great tails, + fawned upon them, and rubbed their noses lovingly against them. As hounds crowd + round their master when they see him coming from dinner - for they know he will + bring them something - even so did these wolves and lions with their great + claws fawn upon my men, but the men were terribly frightened at seeing such + strange creatures. Presently they reached the gates of the goddess’ house, and + as they stood there they could hear Circe within, singing most beautifully as + she worked at her loom, making a web so fine, so soft, and of such dazzling + colors as no one but a goddess could weave. On this Polites, whom I valued and + trusted more than any other of my men, said, ‘There is some one inside working + at a loom and singing most beautifully; the whole place resounds with it, let + us call her and see whether she is woman or goddess.’ +"They called her and she came down, unfastened + the door, and bade them enter. They, thinking no evil, followed her, all except + Eurylokhos, who suspected mischief and stayed outside. When she had got them + into her house, she set them upon benches and seats and mixed them a drink with + cheese, honey, meal, and Pramnian wine but she drugged it with wicked poisons + to make them forget their homes, and when they had drunk she turned them into + pigs by a stroke of her wand, and shut them up in her pigsties. They were like + pigs- head, hair, and all, and they grunted just as pigs do; but their senses + [ +noos +] were the same as before, and they + remembered everything. +"Thus then were they shut up squealing, and + Circe threw them some acorns and beech masts such as pigs eat, but Eurylokhos + hurried back to tell me about the sad fate of our comrades. He was so overcome + with dismay that though he tried to speak he could find no words to do so; his + eyes filled with tears and he could only sob and sigh, till at last we forced + his story out of him, and he told us what had happened to the others. +"‘We went,’ said he, ‘as you told us, through + the forest, and in the middle of it there was a fine house built with cut + stones in a place that could be seen from far. There we found a woman, or else + she was a goddess, working at her loom and singing sweetly; so the men shouted + to her and called her, whereon she at once came down, opened the door, and + invited us in. The others did not suspect any mischief so they followed her + into the house, but I stayed where I was, for I thought there might be some + treachery. From that moment I saw them no more, for not one of them ever came + out, though I sat a long time watching for them.’ +"Then I took my sword of bronze and slung it + over my shoulders; I also took my bow, and told Eurylokhos to come back with me + and show me the way. But he laid hold of me with both his hands and spoke + piteously, saying, ‘Sir, do not force me to go with you, but let me stay here, + for I know you will not bring one of them back with you, nor even return alive + yourself; let us rather see if we cannot escape at any rate with the few that + are left us, for we may still save our lives.’ +"‘Stay where you are, then,’ answered I, + ‘eating and drinking at the ship, but I must go, for I am most urgently bound + to do so.’ +"With this I left the ship and went up inland. + When I got through the charmed grove, and was near the great house of the + enchantress Circe, I met Hermes with his golden wand, disguised as a young man + in the hey-day of his youth and beauty with the down just coming upon his face. + He came up to me and took my hand within his own, saying, ‘My poor unhappy man, + whither are you going over this mountain top, alone and without knowing the + way? Your men are shut up in Circe's pigsties, like so many wild boars in their + lairs. You surely do not fancy that you can set them free? I can tell you that + you will never get back and will have to stay there with the rest of them. But + never mind, I will protect you and get you out of your difficulty. Take this + herb, which is one of great virtue, and keep it about you when you go to + Circe's house, it will be a talisman to you against every kind of mischief. +"‘And I will tell you of all the wicked + witchcraft that Circe will try to practice upon you. She will mix a potion for + you to drink, and she will drug the meal with which she makes it, but she will + not be able to charm you, for the virtue of the herb that I shall give you will + prevent her spells from working. I will tell you all about it. When Circe + strikes you with her wand, draw your sword and spring upon her as though you + were goings to kill her. She will then be frightened and will desire you to go + to bed with her; on this you must not point blank refuse her, for you want her + to set your companions free, and to take good care also of yourself, but you + make her swear solemnly by all the blessed that she will plot no further + mischief against you, or else when she has got you naked she will unman you and + make you fit for nothing.’ +"As he spoke he pulled the herb out of the + ground an showed me what it was like. The root was black, while the flower was + as white as milk; the gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it, but + the gods can do whatever they like. +"Then Hermes went back to high +Olympus + passing over the wooded island; but I + fared onward to the house of Circe, and my heart was clouded with care as I + walked along. When I got to the gates I stood there and called the goddess, and + as soon as she heard me she came down, opened the door, and asked me to come + in; so I followed her - much troubled in my mind. She set me on a richly + decorated seat inlaid with silver, there was a footstool also under my feet, + and she mixed a mess in a golden goblet for me to drink; but she drugged it, + for she meant me mischief. When she had given it me, and I had drunk it without + its charming me, she struck me with her wand. ‘There now,’ she cried, ‘be off + to the pigsty, and make your lair with the rest of them.’ +"But I rushed at her with my sword drawn as + though I would kill her, whereon she fell with a loud scream, clasped my knees, + and spoke piteously, saying, ‘Who and whence are you? From what place and + people have you come? How can it be that my drugs have no power to charm you? + Never yet was any man able to stand so much as a taste of the herb I gave you; + you must have some sort of spell-proof +noos +; surely + you can be none other than the bold hero Odysseus, who Hermes always said would + come here some day with his ship while on his way home from +Troy +; so be it then; sheathe your sword and + let us go to bed, that we may make friends and learn to trust each other.’ +"And I answered, ‘Circe, how can you expect me + to be friendly with you when you have just been turning all my men into pigs? + And now that you have got me here myself, you mean me mischief when you ask me + to go to bed with you, and will unman me and make me fit for nothing. I shall + certainly not consent to go to bed with you unless you will first take your + solemn oath to plot no further harm against me.’ +"So she swore at once as I had told her, and + when she had completed her oath then I went to bed with her. +"Meanwhile her four servants, who are her + housemaids, set about their work. They are the children of the groves and + fountains, and of the holy waters that run down into the sea. One of them + spread a fair purple cloth over a seat, and laid a carpet underneath it. + Another brought tables of silver up to the seats, and set them with baskets of + gold. A third mixed some sweet wine with water in a silver bowl and put golden + cups upon the tables, while the fourth brought in water and set it to boil in a + large cauldron over a good fire which she had lighted. When the water in the + cauldron was boiling, she poured cold into it till it was just as I liked it, + and then she set me in a bath and began washing me from the cauldron about the + head and shoulders, to take the tire and stiffness out of my limbs. As soon as + she had done washing me and anointing me with oil, she arrayed me in a good + cloak and shirt and led me to a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver; there + was a footstool also under my feet. A maid servant then brought me water in a + beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for me to wash my + hands, and she drew a clean table beside me; an upper servant brought me bread + and offered me many things of what there was in the house, and then Circe bade + me eat, but I would not, and sat without heeding what was before me, still + moody and suspicious. +"When Circe saw me sitting there without + eating, and in great grief [ +penthos +], she came to + me and said, ‘Odysseus, why do you sit like that as though you were dumb, + gnawing at your own heart, and refusing both meat and drink? Is it that you are + still suspicious? You ought not to be, for I have already sworn solemnly that I + will not hurt you.’ +"And I said, ‘Circe, no man with any sense of + what is right can think of either eating or drinking in your house until you + have set his friends free and let him see them. If you want me to eat and + drink, you must free my men and bring them to me that I may see them with my + own eyes.’ +"When I had said this she went straight through + the court with her wand in her hand and opened the pigsty doors. My men came + out like so many prime hogs and stood looking at her, but she went about among + them and anointed each with a second drug, whereon the bristles that the bad + drug had given them fell off, and they became men again, younger than they were + before, and much taller and better looking. They knew me at once, seized me + each of them by the hand, and wept for joy till the whole house was filled with + the sound of their wailing, and Circe herself was so sorry for them that she + came up to me and said, ‘Odysseus, noble son of +Laertes +, go back at once to the sea where + you have left your ship, and first draw it on to the land. Then, hide all your + ship's gear and property in some cave, and come back here with your men.’ +"I agreed to this, so I went back to the sea + shore, and found the men at the ship weeping and wailing most piteously. When + they saw me the silly blubbering men began frisking round me as calves break + out and gambol round their mothers, when they see them coming home to be milked + after they have been feeding all day, and the homestead resounds with their + lowing. They seemed as glad to see me as though they had got back to their own + rugged +Ithaca +, where they had been + born and bred. ‘Sir,’ said the affectionate creatures, ‘we are as glad to see + you back as though we had got safe home to +Ithaca +; but tell us all about the fate of our comrades.’ +"I spoke comfortingly to them and said, ‘We + must draw our ship on to the land, and hide the ship's gear with all our + property in some cave; then come with me all of you as fast as you can to + Circe's house, where you will find your comrades eating and drinking in the + midst of great abundance.’ +"On this the men would have come with me at + once, but Eurylokhos tried to hold them back and said, ‘Alas, poor wretches + that we are, what will become of us? Rush not on your ruin by going to the + house of Circe, who will turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions, and we shall + have to keep guard over her house. Remember how the +Cyclops + treated us when our comrades went + inside his cave, and Odysseus with them. It was all through his sheer folly + that those men lost their lives.’ +"When I heard him I was in two minds whether or + no to draw the keen blade that hung by my sturdy thigh and cut his head off in + spite of his being a near relation of my own; but the men interceded for him + and said, ‘Sir, if it may so be, let this man stay here and mind the ship, but + take the rest of us with you to Circe's house.’ +"On this we all went inland, and Eurylokhos was + not left behind after all, but came on too, for he was frightened by the severe + reprimand that I had given him. +"Meanwhile Circe had been seeing that the men + who had been left behind were washed and anointed with olive oil; she had also + given them woolen cloaks and shirts, and when we came we found them all + comfortably at dinner in her house. As soon as the men saw each other face to + face and knew one another, they wept for joy and cried aloud till the whole + palace rang again. Thereon Circe came up to me and said, ‘Odysseus, noble son + of +Laertes +, tell your men to leave + off crying; I know how much you have all of you suffered at sea, and how ill + you have fared among cruel savages on the mainland, but that is over now, so + stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and hearty as you + were when you left +Ithaca +; for at + present you are weakened both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinking + of the hardships - you have suffered during your travels, so that you have no + more cheerfulness left in you.’ +"Thus did she speak and we assented. We stayed + with Circe for a whole twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity both of + meat and wine. But when the year had passed, and the seasons [ +hôrai +] had turned round, and the waning of moons and + the long days had begun, my men called me apart and said, ‘Sir, it is time you + began to think about going home, if so be you are to be spared to see your + house and native country at all.’ +"Thus did they speak and I assented. Thereon + through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on + meat and wine, but when the sun went down and it came on dark the men laid + themselves down to sleep in the covered cloisters. I, however, after I had got + into bed with Circe, besought her by her knees, and the goddess listened to + what I had got to say. ‘Circe,’ said I, ‘please keep the promise you made me + about furthering me on my homeward voyage. I want to get back and so do my men, + they are always pestering me with their complaints as soon as ever your back is + turned.’ +"And the goddess answered, ‘Odysseus, noble son + of +Laertes +, you shall none of you + stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there is another journey which + you have got to take before you can sail homewards. You must go to the house of + Hades and of dread Persephone to consult the ghost [ +psukhê +] of the blind Theban seer [ +mantis +] Teiresias whose mind [ +phrenes +] is + still in place within him. To him alone has Persephone left his consciousness + [ +noos +] even in death, but the other ghosts flit + about aimlessly.’ +"I was dismayed when I heard this. I sat up in + bed and wept, and would gladly have lived no longer to see the light of the + sun, but presently when I was tired of weeping and tossing myself about, I + said, ‘And who shall guide me upon this voyage - for the house of Hades is a + port that no ship can reach.’ +"‘You will want no guide,’ she answered; ‘raise + you mast, set your white sails, sit quite still, and the North Wind will blow + you there of itself. When your ship has traversed the waters of Okeanos, you + will reach the fertile shore of Persephone's country with its groves of tall + poplars and willows that shed their fruit untimely; here beach your ship upon + the shore of Okeanos, and go straight on to the dark abode of Hades. You will + find it near the place where the rivers Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus (which is a + branch of the river Styx) flow into Acheron, and you will see a rock near it, + just where the two roaring rivers run into one another. +"‘When you have reached this spot, as I now + tell you, dig a trench a cubit or so in length, breadth, and depth, and pour + into it as a drink-offering to all the dead, first, honey mixed with milk, then + wine, and in the third place water-sprinkling white barley meal over the whole. + Moreover you must offer many prayers to the poor feeble ghosts, and promise + them that when you get back to +Ithaca + + you will sacrifice a barren heifer to them, the best you have, and will load + the pyre with good things. More particularly you must promise that Teiresias + shall have a black sheep all to himself, the finest in all your flocks. +"‘When you shall have thus besought the ghosts + with your prayers, offer them a ram and a black ewe, bending their heads + towards Erebus; but yourself turn away from them as though you would make + towards the river. On this, many dead men's ghosts [ +psukhai +] will come to you, and you must tell your men to skin the + two sheep that you have just killed, and offer them as a burnt sacrifice with + prayers to Hades and to Persephone. Then draw your sword and sit there, so as + to prevent any other poor ghost from coming near the spilt blood before + Teiresias shall have answered your questions. The seer [ +mantis +] will presently come to you, and will tell you about your + voyage - what stages you are to make, and how you are to sail the sea so as to + reach your home [ +nostos +].’ +"It was day-break by the time she had done + speaking, so she dressed me in my shirt and cloak. As for herself she threw a + beautiful light gossamer fabric over her shoulders, fastening it with a golden + girdle round her waist, and she covered her head with a mantle. Then I went + about among the men everywhere all over the house, and spoke kindly to each of + them man by man: ‘You must not lie sleeping here any longer,’ said I to them, + ‘we must be going, for Circe has told me all about it.’ And this they did as I + bade them. +"Even so, however, I did not get them away + without misadventure. We had with us a certain youth named Elpenor, not very + remarkable for sense or courage, who had got drunk and was lying on the + house-top away from the rest of the men, to sleep off his liquor in the cool. + When he heard the noise of the men bustling about, he jumped up on a sudden and + forgot all about coming down by the main staircase, so he tumbled right off the + roof and broke his neck, and his soul [ +psukhê +] went + down to the house of Hades. +"When I had got the men together I said to + them, ‘You think you are about to start home again, but Circe has explained to + me that instead of this, we have got to go to the house of Hades and Persephone + to consult the ghost of the Theban seer Teiresias.’ +"The men were broken-hearted as they heard me, + and threw themselves on the ground groaning and tearing their hair, but they + did not mend matters by crying. When we reached the sea shore, weeping and + lamenting our fate, Circe brought the ram and the ewe, and we made them fast + hard by the ship. She passed through the midst of us without our knowing it, + for who can see the comings and goings of a god, if the god does not wish to be + seen? +Then, when we had got down to the sea shore we + drew our ship into the water and got her mast and sails into her; we also put + the sheep on board and took our places, weeping and in great distress of mind. + Circe, that great and cunning goddess, sent us a fair wind that blew dead aft + and stayed steadily with us keeping our sails all the time well filled; so we + did whatever wanted doing to the ship's gear and let her go as the wind and + helmsman headed her. All day long her sails were full as she held her course + over the sea, but when the sun went down and darkness was over all the earth, + we got into the deep waters of the river Okeanos, where lie the +dêmos + and city of the Cimmerians who live enshrouded + in mist and darkness which the rays of the sun never pierce neither at his + rising nor as he goes down again out of the heavens, but the poor wretches live + in one long melancholy night. When we got there we beached the ship, took the + sheep out of her, and went along by the waters of Okeanos till we came to the + place of which Circe had told us. +"Here Perimedes and Eurylokhos held the victims, + while I drew my sword and dug the trench a cubit each way. I made a + drink-offering to all the dead, first with honey and milk, then with wine, and + thirdly with water, and I sprinkled white barley meal over the whole, praying + earnestly to the poor feckless ghosts, and promising them that when I got back + to +Ithaca + I would sacrifice a barren + heifer for them, the best I had, and would load the pyre with good things. I + also particularly promised that Teiresias should have a black sheep to himself, + the best in all my flocks. When I had prayed sufficiently to the dead, I cut + the throats of the two sheep and let the blood run into the trench, whereon the + ghosts [ +psukhai +] came trooping up from Erebus - + brides, young bachelors, old men worn out with toil, maids who had been crossed + in love, and brave men who had been killed in battle, with their armor still + smirched with blood; they came from every quarter and flitted round the trench + with a strange kind of screaming sound that made me turn pale with fear. When I + saw them coming I told the men to be quick and flay the carcasses of the two + dead sheep and make burnt offerings of them, and at the same time to repeat + prayers to Hades and to Persephone; but I sat where I was with my sword drawn + and would not let the poor feckless ghosts come near the blood till Teiresias + should have answered my questions. +"The first ghost [ +psukhê +] that came was that of my comrade Elpenor, for he had not yet + been laid beneath the earth. We had left his body unwaked and unburied in + Circe's house, for other labor [ +ponos +] was pressing + us. I was very sorry for him, and cried when I saw him: ‘Elpenor,’ said I, ‘how + did you come down here into this gloom and darkness? You have here on foot + quicker than I have with my ship.’ +"‘Sir,’ he answered with a groan, ‘it was all + bad luck of a +daimôn +, and my own unspeakable + drunkenness. I was lying asleep on the top of Circe's house, and never thought + of coming down again by the great staircase, but fell right off the roof and + broke my neck, so my soul [ +psukhê +] went down to the + house of Hades. And now I beseech you by all those whom you have left behind + you, though they are not here, by your wife, by the father who brought you up + when you were a child, and by Telemakhos who is the one hope of your house, do + what I shall now ask you. I know that when you leave this limbo you will again + hold your ship for the Aeaean island. Do not go thence leaving me unwaked and + unburied behind you, or I may bring the gods' anger upon you; but burn me with + whatever armor I have, build a grave marker [ +sêma +] + for me on the sea shore that may tell people in days to come what a poor + unlucky man I was, and plant over my grave the oar I used to row with when I + was yet alive and with my messmates.’ And I said, ‘My poor man, I will do all + that you have asked of me.’ +"Thus, then, did we sit and hold sad talk with + one another, I on the one side of the trench with my sword held over the blood, + and the ghost of my comrade saying all this to me from the other side. Then + came the ghost [ +psukhê +] of my dead mother + Antikleia, daughter to Autolykos. I had left her alive when I set out for + +Troy + and was moved to tears when I + saw her, but even so, for all my sorrow I would not let her come near the blood + till I had asked my questions of Teiresias. +"Then came also the ghost [ +psukhê +] of Theban Teiresias, with his golden scepter in his hand. He + knew me and said, ‘Odysseus, noble son of +Laertes +, why, poor man, have you left the light of day and come + down to visit the dead in this sad place? Stand back from the trench and + withdraw your sword that I may drink of the blood and answer your questions + truly.’ +"So I drew back, and sheathed my sword, whereon + when he had drank of the blood he began with his prophecy [ +mantis +]. +"You want to know,’ said he, ‘about your return + home [ +nostos +], but heaven will make this hard for + you. I do not think that you will escape the eye of Poseidon, who still nurses + his bitter grudge against you for having blinded his son. Still, after much + suffering you may get home if you can restrain yourself and your companions + when your ship reaches the Thrinacian island, where you will find the sheep and + cattle belonging to the sun, who sees and gives ear to everything. If you leave + these flocks unharmed and think of nothing but of getting home [ +nostos +], you may yet after much hardship reach + +Ithaca +; but if you harm them, then + I forewarn you of the destruction both of your ship and of your men. Even + though you may yourself escape, you will return in bad plight after losing all + your men, in another man's ship, and you will find trouble in your house, which + will be overrun by high-handed people, who are devouring your substance under + the pretext of paying court and making presents to your wife. +"‘When you get home you will take your revenge + on these suitors; and after you have killed them by force [ +biê +] or fraud in your own house, you must take a well-made oar and + carry it on and on, till you come to a country where the people have never + heard of the sea and do not even mix salt with their food, nor do they know + anything about ships, and oars that are as the wings of a ship. I will give you + this certain token [ +sêma +] which cannot escape your + notice. A wayfarer will meet you and will say it must be a winnowing shovel + that you have got upon your shoulder; on this you must fix the oar in the + ground and sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar to Poseidon. Then go home and + offer hecatombs to the gods in heaven one after the other. As for yourself, + death shall come to you from the sea, and your life shall ebb away very gently + when you are full of years and peace of mind, and your people shall be + prosperous [ +olbios +]. All that I have said will come + true.’ +"‘This,’ I answered, ‘must be as it may please + heaven, but tell me and tell me true, I see my poor mother's ghost [ +psukhê +] close by us; she is sitting by the blood + without saying a word, and though I am her own son she does not remember me and + speak to me; tell me, Sir, how I can make her know me.’ +"‘That,’ said he, ‘I can soon do. Any ghost + that you let taste of the blood will talk with you like a reasonable being, but + if you do not let them have any blood they will go away again.’ +"On this the ghost [ +psukhê +] of Teiresias went back to the house of Hades, for his + prophecies had now been spoken, but I sat still where I was until my mother + came up and tasted the blood. Then she knew me at once and spoke fondly to me, + saying, ‘My son, how did you come down to this abode of darkness while you are + still alive? It is a hard thing for the living to see these places, for between + us and them there are great and terrible waters, and there is Okeanos, which no + man can cross on foot, but he must have a good ship to take him. Are you all + this time trying to find your way home from +Troy +, and have you never yet got back to +Ithaca + nor seen your wife in your own + house?’ +"‘Mother,’ said I, ‘I was forced to come here + to consult the ghost [ +psukhê +] of the Theban seer + Teiresias. I have never yet been near the Achaean land nor set foot on my + native country, and I have had nothing but one long series of misfortunes from + the very first day that I set out with Agamemnon for +Ilion +, the land of noble steeds, to fight the + Trojans. But tell me, and tell me true, in what way did you die? Did you have a + long illness, or did heaven grant you a gentle easy passage to eternity? Tell + me also about my father, and the son whom I left behind me; is my property + still in their hands, or has some one else got hold of it, who thinks that I + shall not return to claim it? Tell me again what my wife intends doing, and in + what mind [ +noos +] she is; does she live with my son + and guard my estate securely, or has she made the best match she could and + married again?’ +"My mother answered, ‘Your wife still remains + in your house, but she is in great distress of mind and spends her whole time + in tears both night and day. No one as yet has got possession of your fine + property, and Telemakhos still holds your lands undisturbed. He has to + entertain largely, as of course he must, considering his position as a + magistrate, and how every one invites him; your father remains at his old place + in the country and never goes near the town. He has no comfortable bed nor + bedding; in the winter he sleeps on the floor in front of the fire with the men + and goes about all in rags, but in summer, when the warm weather comes on + again, he lies out in the vineyard on a bed of vine leaves thrown anyhow upon + the ground, in grief [ +akhos +]. He is in continual + distress [ +penthos +] about your never having achieved + a homecoming [ +nostos +], and suffers more and more as + he grows older. As for my own end it was in this wise: heaven did not take me + swiftly and painlessly in my own house, nor was I attacked by any illness such + as those that generally wear people out and kill them, but my longing to know + what you were doing and the force of my affection for you - this it was that + was the death of me.’ +"Then I tried to find some way of embracing my + mother's ghost [ +psukhê +]. Thrice I sprang towards + her and tried to clasp her in my arms, but each time she flitted from my + embrace as it were a dream or phantom, and being touched to the quick I said to + her, ‘Mother, why do you not stay still when I would embrace you? If we could + throw our arms around one another we might find sad comfort in the sharing of + our sorrows [ +akhos +] even in the house of Hades; + does Persephone want to lay a still further load of grief upon me by mocking me + with a phantom only?’ +"‘My son,’ she answered, ‘most ill-fated of all + humankind, it is not Persephone that is beguiling you, but all people are like + this when they are dead. The sinews no longer hold the flesh and bones + together; these perish in the fierceness of consuming fire as soon as life has + left the body, and the soul [ +psukhê +] flits away as + though it were a dream. Now, however, go back to the light of day as soon as + you can, and note all these things that you may tell them to your wife + hereafter.’ +"Thus did we converse, and anon Persephone sent + up the ghosts of the wives and daughters of all the most famous men. They + gathered in crowds about the blood, and I considered how I might question them + severally. In the end I deemed that it would be best to draw the keen blade + that hung by my sturdy thigh, and keep them from all drinking the blood at + once. So they came up one after the other, and each one as I questioned her + told me her race and lineage. +"The first I saw was Tyro. She was daughter of + Salmoneus and wife of Cretheus the son of Aeolus. She fell in love with the + river Enipeus who is much the most beautiful river in the whole world. Once + when she was taking a walk by his side as usual, Poseidon, disguised as her + lover, lay with her at the mouth of the river, and a huge seething wave arched + itself like a mountain over them to hide both woman and god, whereon he loosed + her virgin girdle and laid her in a deep slumber. When the god had accomplished + the deed of love, he took her hand in his own and said, ‘Tyro, rejoice in all + good will; the embraces of the gods are not fruitless, and you will have fine + twins about this time twelve months. Take great care of them. I am Poseidon, so + now go home, but hold your tongue and do not tell any one.’ +"Then he dived under the sea, and she in due + course bore Pelias and Neleus, who both of them served Zeus with all their + might. Pelias was a great breeder of sheep and lived in Iolkos, but the other + lived in +Pylos +. The rest of her + children were by Cretheus, namely, Aison, Pheres, and Amythaon, who was a + mighty warrior and charioteer. +"Next to her I saw Antiope, daughter to Asopos, + who could boast of having slept in the arms of even Zeus himself, and who bore + him two sons Amphion and Zethos. These founded +Thebes + with its seven gates, and built a wall all round it; for + strong though they were they could not hold +Thebes + till they had walled it. +"Then I saw Alkmene, the wife of Amphitryon, + who also bore to Zeus indomitable Herakles; and Megara who was daughter to + great King Kreon, and married the redoubtable son of Amphitryon. +"I also saw fair Epikaste mother of king + Oedipus whose awful lot it was to marry her own son without suspecting it in + her +noos +. He married her after having killed his + father, but the gods proclaimed the whole story to the world; whereon he + remained king of +Thebes +, in great + grief for the spite the gods had borne him; but Epikaste went to the house of + the mighty gatekeeper Hades, having hanged herself for grief, and the avenging + spirits haunted him as for an outraged mother - to his ruing bitterly + thereafter. +"Then I saw Chloris, whom Neleus married for + her beauty, having given priceless presents for her. She was youngest daughter + to Amphion son of +Iasos + and king of + Minyan Orkhomenos, and was Queen in +Pylos +. She bore Nestor, Chromios, and Periklymenos, and she + also bore that marvelously lovely woman Pero, who was wooed by all the country + round; but Neleus would only give her to him who should raid the cattle of + Iphikles from the grazing grounds of Phylake, and this was a hard task. The + only man who would undertake to raid them was a certain excellent seer [ +mantis +], but the will of heaven was against him, for + the rangers of the cattle caught him and put him in prison; nevertheless when a + full year had passed and the same season [ +hôra +] + came round again, Iphikles set him at liberty, after he had expounded all the + oracles of heaven. Thus, then, was the will of Zeus accomplished. +"And I saw Leda the wife of Tyndarus, who bore + him two famous sons, Castor breaker of horses, and Pollux the mighty boxer. + Both these heroes are lying under the earth, though they are still alive, for + by a special dispensation of Zeus, they die and come to life again, each one of + them every other day throughout all time, and they have the rank of gods. +"After her I saw Iphimedeia wife of Aloeus who + boasted the embrace of Poseidon. She bore two sons Otus and Ephialtes, but both + were short lived. They were the finest children that were ever born in this + world, and the best looking, Orion only excepted; for at nine years old they + were nine fathoms high, and measured nine cubits round the chest. They + threatened to make war with the gods in +Olympus +, and tried to set Mount Ossa on the top of +Mount Olympus +, and Mount Pelion on the top of + Ossa, that they might scale heaven itself, and they would have done it too if + they had been grown up, but Apollo, son of Leto, killed both of them, before + they had got so much as a sign of hair upon their cheeks or chin. +"Then I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair + Ariadne daughter of the magician Minos, whom Theseus was carrying off from + +Crete + to +Athens +, but he did not enjoy her, for + before he could do so Artemis killed her in the island of Dia on account of + what Bacchus had said against her. +"I also saw +Maira + and Klymene and hateful Eriphyle, who sold her own + husband for gold. But it would take me all night if I were to name every single + one of the wives and daughters of heroes whom I saw, and it is time [ +hôra +] for me to go to bed, either on board ship with + my crew, or here. As for my escort, heaven and yourselves will see to it." +Here he ended, and the guests sat all of them + enthralled and speechless throughout the covered room. Then Arete said to + them: +"What do you think of this man, O Phaeacians? + Is he not tall and good looking, and is he not clever? True, he is my own + guest, but all of you share in the distinction. Do not be in a hurry to send + him away, nor be withholding in the presents you make to one who is in such + great need, for heaven has blessed all of you with great abundance." +Then spoke the aged hero Echeneus who was one + of the oldest men among them, "My friends," said he, "what our august queen has + just said to us is both reasonable and to the purpose, therefore be persuaded + by it; but the decision whether in word or deed rests ultimately with King + Alkinoos." +"The thing shall be done," exclaimed Alkinoos, + "as surely as I still live and reign over the Phaeacians. Our guest is indeed + very anxious to get home [ +nostos +], still we must + persuade him to remain with us until tomorrow, by which time I shall be able to + get together the whole sum that I mean to give him. As regards his escort it + will be a matter for you all, and mine above all others as the chief person in + the +dêmos +." +And Odysseus answered, "King Alkinoos, if you + were to bid me to stay here for a whole twelve months, and then speed me on my + way, loaded with your noble gifts, I should obey you gladly and it would + redound greatly to my advantage, for I should return fuller-handed to my own + people, and should thus be more respected and beloved by all who see me when I + get back to +Ithaca +." +"Odysseus," replied Alkinoos, "not one of us + who sees you has any idea that you are a charlatan or a swindler. I know there + are many people going about who tell such plausible stories that it is very + hard to see through them, but there is a style about your language which + assures me of your good disposition. Moreover you have told the story of your + own misfortunes, and those of the Argives, as though you were a practiced bard; + but tell me, and tell me true, whether you saw any of the mighty heroes who + went to +Troy + at the same time with + yourself, and perished there. The evenings are still at their longest, and it + is not yet bed time [ +hôra +] - go on, therefore, with + your divine story, for I could stay here listening till tomorrow morning, so + long as you will continue to tell us of your adventures." +"Alkinoos," answered Odysseus, "there is a time + [ +hôra +] for making speeches, and a time [ +hôra +] for going to bed; nevertheless, since you so + desire, I will not refrain from telling you the still sadder tale of those of + my comrades who did not fall fighting with the Trojans, but perished on their + return [ +nostos +], through the treachery of a wicked + woman. +"When Persephone had dismissed the female + ghosts [ +psukhai +] in all directions, the ghost + [ +psukhê +] of Agamemnon son of Atreus came sadly + up to me, surrounded by those who had perished with him in the house of + Aigisthos. As soon as he had tasted the blood he knew me, and weeping bitterly + stretched out his arms towards me to embrace me; but he had no strength nor + substance any more, and I too wept and pitied him as I beheld him. ‘How did you + come by your death,’ said I, ‘King Agamemnon? Did Poseidon raise his winds and + waves against you when you were at sea, or did your enemies make an end of you + on the mainland when you were cattle-lifting or sheep-stealing, or while they + were fighting in defense of their wives and city?’ +"‘Odysseus,’ he answered, ‘noble son of + +Laertes +, I was not lost at sea + in any storm of Poseidon's raising, nor did my foes dispatch me upon the + mainland, but Aigisthos and my wicked wife were the death of me between them. + He asked me to his house, feasted me, and then butchered me most miserably as + though I were a fat beast in a slaughter house, while all around me my comrades + were slain like sheep or pigs for the wedding breakfast, or dinner-party, or + gourmet feast of some great nobleman. You must have seen numbers of men killed + either in a general engagement, or in single combat, but you never saw anything + so truly pitiable as the way in which we fell in that room, with the + mixing-bowl and the loaded tables lying all about, and the ground reeking with + our blood. I heard Priam's daughter Cassandra scream as Clytemnestra killed her + close beside me. I lay dying upon the earth with the sword in my body, and + raised my hands to kill the slut of a murderess, but she slipped away from me; + she would not even close my lips nor my eyes when I was dying, for there is + nothing in this world so cruel and so shameless as a woman when she has fallen + into such guilt as hers was. Fancy murdering her own husband! I thought I was + going to be welcomed home by my children and my servants, but her abominable + crime has brought disgrace on herself and all women who shall come after - even + on the good ones.’ +"And I said, ‘In truth Zeus has hated the house + of Atreus from first to last in the matter of their women's counsels. See how + many of us fell for Helen's sake, and now it seems that Clytemnestra hatched + mischief against you too during your absence.’ +"‘Be sure, therefore,’ continued Agamemnon, + ‘and not be too friendly even with your own wife. Do not tell her all that you + know perfectly well yourself. Tell her a part only, and keep your own counsel + about the rest. Not that your wife, Odysseus, is likely to murder you, for + Penelope is a very admirable woman, and has an excellent nature. We left her a + young bride with an infant at her breast when we set out for +Troy +. This child no doubt is now grown up + happily [ +olbios +] to man's estate, and he and his + father will have a joyful meeting and embrace one another as it is right they + should do, whereas my wicked wife did not even allow me the happiness of + looking upon my son, but killed me ere I could do so. Furthermore I say - and + lay my saying to your heart - do not tell people when you are bringing your + ship to +Ithaca +, but steal a march upon + them, for after all this there is no trusting women. But now tell me, and tell + me true, can you give me any news of my son Orestes? Is he in +Orkhomenos +, or at +Pylos +, or is he at +Sparta + with Menelaos - for I presume that + he is still living.’ +"And I said, ‘Agamemnon, why do you ask me? I + do not know whether your son is alive or dead, and it is not right to talk when + one does not know.’ +"As we two sat weeping and talking thus sadly + with one another the ghost [ +psukhê +] of Achilles + came up to us with Patroklos, Antilokhos, and Ajax who was the finest and + goodliest man of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus. The +psukhê +of the fleet descendant of Aiakos knew me and + spoke piteously, saying, ‘Odysseus, noble son of +Laertes +, what deed of daring will you + undertake next, that you venture down to the house of Hades among us silly + dead, who are but the ghosts of them that can labor no more?’ +"And I said, ‘Achilles, son of Peleus, foremost + champion of the Achaeans, I came to consult Teiresias, and see if he could + advise me about my return home to +Ithaca +, for I have never yet been able to get near the Achaean + land, nor to set foot in my own country, but have been in trouble all the time. + As for you, Achilles, no one was ever yet so fortunate as you have been, nor + ever will be, for you were adored by all us Argives as long as you were alive, + and now that you are here you are a great prince among the dead. Do not, + therefore, take it so much to heart even if you are dead.’ +"‘Say not a word,’ he answered, ‘in death's + favor; I would rather be a paid servant in a poor man's house and be above + ground than king of kings among the dead. But give me news about son; is he + gone to the wars and will he be a great warrior, or is this not so? Tell me + also if you have heard anything about my father Peleus - does he still rule + among the Myrmidons, or do they show him no respect throughout +Hellas + and +Phthia + now that he is old and his limbs fail him? Could I but + stand by his side, in the light of day, with the same strength that I had when + I killed the bravest of our foes upon the plain of +Troy + - could I but be as I then was and go + even for a short time to my father's house, any one who tried to do him + violence or supersede him would soon feel my strength and invincible + hands.’ +"‘I have heard nothing,’ I answered, ‘of + Peleus, but I can tell you the truth [ +alêtheia +] + about your son Neoptolemos, for I took him in my own ship from +Skyros + with the Achaeans. In our councils of + war before +Troy + he was always first + to speak, and his judgment was unerring. Nestor and I were the only two who + could surpass him; and when it came to fighting on the plain of +Troy +, he would never remain with the body of + his men, but would dash on far in front, foremost of them all in valor. Many a + man did he kill in battle - I cannot name every single one of those whom he + slew while fighting on the side of the Argives, but will only say how he killed + that valiant hero Eurypylos son of Telephus, who was the handsomest man I ever + saw except Memnon; many others also of the Ceteians fell around him by reason + of a woman's bribes. Moreover, when all the bravest of the Argives went inside + the horse that Epeios had made, and it was left to me to settle when we should + either open the door of our ambuscade, or close it, though all the other + leaders and chief men among the Danaans were drying their eyes and quaking in + every limb, I never once saw him turn pale nor wipe a tear from his cheek; he + was all the time urging me to break out from the horse - grasping the handle of + his sword and his bronze-shod spear, and breathing fury against the foe. Yet + when we had sacked the city of Priam he got his handsome share of the prize + wealth and went on board (such is the fortune of war) without a wound upon him, + neither from a thrown spear nor in close combat, for the rage of Ares is a + matter of great chance.’ +"When I had told him this, the ghost [ +psukhê +] of Achilles strode off across a meadow full of + asphodel, exulting over what I had said concerning the prowess of his son. +"The ghosts [ +psukhai +] of other dead men stood near me and told me each his own + melancholy tale; but the +psukhê + of Ajax son of + Telamon alone held aloof - still angry with me for having won the cause in our + dispute about the armor of Achilles. Thetis had offered it as a prize, but the + Trojan prisoners and Athena were the judges. Would that I had never gained the + day in such a contest [ +athlos +], for it cost the + life of Ajax, who was foremost of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus, + alike in stature and prowess. +"When I saw him I tried to pacify him and said, + ‘Ajax, will you not forget and forgive even in death, but must the judgment + about that hateful armor still rankle with you? It cost us Argives dear enough + to lose such a tower of strength as you were to us. We mourned you as much as + we mourned Achilles son of Peleus himself, nor can the blame [ +aitios +] be laid on anything but on the spite which + Zeus bore against the Danaans, for it was this that made him counsel your + destruction - come here, therefore, bring your proud spirit into subjection, + and hear what I can tell you.’ +"He would not answer, but turned away to Erebus + and to the other ghosts [ +psukhai +]; nevertheless, I + should have made him talk to me in spite of his being so angry, or I should + have gone talking to him, only that there were still others among the dead whom + I desired to see. +"Then I saw Minos son of Zeus with his golden + scepter in his hand sitting in judgment on the dead, and the ghosts were + gathered sitting and standing round him in the spacious house of Hades, to + learn his sentences [ +dikai +] upon them. +"After him I saw huge Orion in a meadow full of + asphodel driving the ghosts of the wild beasts that he had killed upon the + mountains, and he had a great bronze club in his hand, unbreakable for ever and + ever. +"And I saw Tityus son of Gaia stretched upon + the plain and covering some nine acres of ground. Two vultures on either side + of him were digging their beaks into his liver, and he kept on trying to beat + them off with his hands, but could not; for he had violated Zeus’ mistress Leto + as she was going through Panopeus on her way to +Pytho +. +"I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus, who + stood in a lake that reached his chin; he was dying to quench his thirst, but + could never reach the water, for whenever the poor creature stooped to drink, + it dried up and vanished, so that there was nothing but dry ground - parched by + a +daimôn +. There were tall trees, moreover, that + shed their fruit over his head - pears, pomegranates, apples, sweet figs and + juicy olives, but whenever the poor creature stretched out his hand to take + some, the wind tossed the branches back again to the clouds. +"And I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising + his prodigious stone with both his hands. With hands and feet he tried to roll + it up to the top of the hill, but always, just before he could roll it over on + to the other side, its weight would be too much for him, and the pitiless stone + would come thundering down again on to the plain. Then he would begin trying to + push it up hill again, and the sweat ran off him and the steam rose after + him. +"After him I saw mighty Herakles, but it was + his phantom only, for he is feasting ever with the immortal gods, and has + lovely Hebe to wife, who is daughter of Zeus and Hera. The ghosts were + screaming round him like scared birds flying in all directions. He looked black + as night with his bare bow in his hands and his arrow on the string, glaring + around as though ever on the point of taking aim. About his breast there was a + wondrous golden belt adorned in the most marvelous fashion with bears, wild + boars, and lions with gleaming eyes; there was also war, battle, and death. The + man who made that belt, do what he might, would never be able to make another + like it. Herakles knew me at once when he saw me, and spoke piteously, saying, + ‘My poor Odysseus, noble son of Laertes, are you too leading the same sorry + kind of life that I did when I was above ground? I was son of Zeus, but I went + through an infinity of suffering, for I became bondsman to one who was far + beneath me - a lowly man who set me all manner of labors [ +athloi +]. He once sent me here to fetch the hell-hound - for he did + not think he could find any +athlos + harder for me + than this, but I got the hound out of Hades and brought him to him, for Hermes + and Athena helped me.’ +"On this Herakles went down again into the + house of Hades, but I stayed where I was in case some other of the mighty dead + should come to me. And I should have seen still other of them that are gone + before, whom I would fain have seen - Theseus and Peirithoos glorious children + of the gods, but so many thousands of ghosts came round me and uttered such + appalling cries, that I was panic stricken lest Persephone should send up from + the house of Hades the head of that awful monster Gorgon. On this I hastened + back to my ship and ordered my men to go on board at once and loose the + hawsers; so they embarked and took their places, whereon the ship went down the + stream of the river Okeanos. We had to row at first, but presently a fair wind + sprang up. +"After we were clear of the river Okeanos, and + had got out into the open sea, we went on till we reached the Aeaean island + where there is dawn and sunrise as in other places. We then drew our ship on to + the sands and disembarked onto the shore, where we went to sleep and waited + till day should break. +"Then, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered + Dawn, appeared, I sent some men to Circe's house to fetch the body of Elpenor. + We cut firewood from a wood where the headland jutted out into the sea, and + after we had wept over him and lamented him we performed his funeral rites. + When his body and armor had been burned to ashes, we raised a cairn, set a + stone over it, and at the top of the cairn we fixed the oar that he had been + used to row with. +"While we were doing all this, Circe, who knew + that we had got back from the house of Hades, dressed herself and came to us as + fast as she could; and her maid servants came with her bringing us bread, meat, + and wine. Then she stood in the midst of us and said, ‘You have done a bold + thing in going down alive to the house of Hades, and you will have died twice, + to other people's once; now, then, stay here for the rest of the day, feast + your fill, and go on with your voyage at daybreak tomorrow morning. In the + meantime I will tell Odysseus about your course, and will explain everything to + him so as to prevent your suffering from misadventure either by land or + sea.’ +"We agreed to do as she had said, and feasted + through the livelong day to the going down of the sun, but when the sun had set + and it came on dark, the men laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables + of the ship. Then Circe took me by the hand and bade me be seated away from the + others, while she reclined by my side and asked me all about our + adventures. +"‘So far so good,’ said she, when I had ended my + story, ‘and now pay attention to what I am about to tell you - heaven itself, + indeed, will recall it to your recollection. First you will come to the Sirens + who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and + hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him + home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the + sweetness of their song. There is a great heap of dead men's bones lying all + around, with the flesh still rotting off them. Therefore pass these Sirens by, + and stop your men's ears with wax that none of them may hear; but if you like + you can listen yourself, for you may get the men to bind you as you stand + upright on a cross-piece half way up the mast, and they must lash the rope's + ends to the mast itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening. If you + beg and pray the men to unloose you, then they must bind you faster. +"‘When your crew have taken you past these + Sirens, I cannot give you coherent directions as to which of two courses you + are to take; I will lay the two alternatives before you, and you must consider + them for yourself. On the one hand there are some overhanging rocks against + which the seething deep waves of Amphitrite beat with terrific fury; the + blessed gods call these rocks the Wanderers. Here not even a bird may pass, no, + not even the timid doves that bring ambrosia to Father Zeus, but the sheer rock + always carries off one of them, and Father Zeus has to send another to make up + their number; no ship that ever yet came to these rocks has got away again, but + the waves and whirlwinds of fire are freighted with wreckage and with the + bodies of dead men. The only vessel that ever sailed and got through, was the + famous +Argo + on her way from the house + of Aietes, and she too would have gone against these great rocks, only that + Hera piloted her past them for the love she bore to Jason. +"‘Of these two rocks the one reaches heaven and + its peak is lost in a dark cloud. This never leaves it, so that the top is + never clear not even in summer and early autumn. No man though he had twenty + hands and twenty feet could get a foothold on it and climb it, for it runs + sheer up, as smooth as though it had been polished. In the middle of it there + is a large cavern, looking West and turned towards Erebus; you must take your + ship this way, but the cave is so high up that not even the stoutest archer + could send an arrow into it. Inside it Scylla sits and yelps with a voice that + you might take to be that of a young hound, but in truth she is a dreadful + monster and no one - not even a god - could face her without being + terror-struck. She has twelve misshapen feet, and six necks of the most + prodigious length; and at the end of each neck she has a frightful head with + three rows of teeth in each, all set very close together, so that they would + crunch any one to death in a moment, and she sits deep within her shady cell + thrusting out her heads and peering all round the rock, fishing for dolphins or + dogfish or any larger monster that she can catch, of the thousands with which + Amphitrite teems. No ship ever yet got past her without losing some men, for + she shoots out all her heads at once, and carries off a man in each mouth. +"‘You will find the other rocks lie lower, but + they are so close together that there is not more than a bowshot between them. + [A large fig tree in full leaf grows upon it], and under it lies the sucking + whirlpool of Charybdis. Three times in the day does she vomit forth her waters, + and three times she sucks them down again; see that you be not there when she + is sucking, for if you are, Poseidon himself could not save you; you must hug + the Scylla side and drive ship by as fast as you can, for you had better lose + six men than your whole crew.’ +"‘Is there no way,’ said I, ‘of escaping + Charybdis, and at the same time keeping Scylla off when she is trying to harm + my men?’ +"‘You dare-devil,’ replied the goddess, ‘you + are always wanting to fight somebody or something and to undergo an ordeal + [ +ponos +]; you will not let yourself be beaten + even by the immortals. For Scylla is not mortal; moreover she is savage, + extreme, rude, cruel and invincible. There is no help for it; your best chance + will be to get by her as fast as ever you can, for if you dawdle about her rock + while you are putting on your armor, she may catch you with a second cast of + her six heads, and snap up another half dozen of your men; so drive your ship + past her at full speed, and roar out lustily to Krataiis who is Scylla's dam, + bad luck to her; she will then stop her from making a second raid upon you. +"‘You will now come to the Thrinacian island, + and here you will see many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep belonging to the + sun-god - seven herds of cattle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in + each flock. They do not breed, nor do they become fewer in number, and they are + tended by the goddesses Phaethousa and Lampetie, who are children of the + sun-god Hyperion by Neaira. Their mother when she had borne them and had done + suckling them sent them to the Thrinacian island, which was a long way off, to + live there and look after their father's flocks and herds. If you leave these + flocks unharmed, and think of nothing but homecoming [ +nostos +], you may yet after much hardship reach +Ithaca +; but if you harm them, then I forewarn + you of the destruction both of your ship and of your comrades; and even though + you may yourself escape, you will return late, in bad plight, after losing all + your men.’ +"Here she ended, and dawn enthroned in gold + began to show in heaven, whereon she returned inland. I then went on board and + told my men to loose the ship from her moorings; so they at once got into her, + took their places, and began to smite the gray sea with their oars. Presently + the great and cunning goddess Circe befriended us with a fair wind that blew + dead aft, and stayed steadily with us, keeping our sails well filled, so we did + whatever wanted doing to the ship's gear, and let her go as wind and helmsman + headed her. +"Then, being much troubled in mind, I said to + my men, ‘My friends, it is not right that one or two of us alone should know + the prophecies that Circe has made me, I will therefore tell you about them, so + that whether we live or die we may do so with our eyes open. First she said we + were to keep clear of the Sirens, who sit and sing most beautifully in a field + of flowers; but she said I might hear them myself so long as no one else did. + Therefore, take me and bind me to the crosspiece half way up the mast; bind me + as I stand upright, with a bond so fast that I cannot possibly break away, and + lash the rope's ends to the mast itself. If I beg and pray you to set me free, + then bind me more tightly still.’ +"I had hardly finished telling everything to + the men before we reached the island of the two Sirens, for the wind had been + very favorable. Then all of a sudden it fell dead calm; there was not a breath + of wind nor a ripple upon the water, so the men furled the sails and stowed + them; then taking to their oars they whitened the water with the foam they + raised in rowing. Meanwhile I look a large wheel of wax and cut it up small + with my sword. Then I kneaded the wax in my strong hands till it became soft, + which it soon did between the kneading and the rays of the sun-god son of + Hyperion. Then I stopped the ears of all my men, and they bound me hands and + feet to the mast as I stood upright on the crosspiece; but they went on rowing + themselves. When we had got within earshot of the land, and the ship was going + at a good rate, the Sirens saw that we were getting in shore and began with + their singing. +"‘Come here,’ they sang, ‘renowned Odysseus, + honor to the Achaean name, and listen to our two voices. No one ever sailed + past us without staying to hear the enchanting sweetness of our song - and he + who listens will go on his way not only charmed, but wiser, for we know all the + ills that the gods laid upon the Argives and Trojans before +Troy +, and can tell you everything that is + going to happen over the whole world.’ +"They sang these words most musically, and as I + longed to hear them further I made by frowning to my men that they should set + me free; but they quickened their stroke, and Eurylokhos and Perimedes bound me + with still stronger bonds till we had got out of hearing of the Sirens’ voices. + Then my men took the wax from their ears and unbound me. +"Immediately after we had got past the island I + saw a great wave from which spray was rising, and I heard a loud roaring sound. + The men were so frightened that they loosed hold of their oars, for the whole + sea resounded with the rushing of the waters, but the ship stayed where it was, + for the men had left off rowing. I went round, therefore, and exhorted them man + by man not to lose heart. +"‘My friends,’ said I, ‘this is not the first + time that we have been in danger, and we are in nothing like so bad a case as + when the +Cyclops + shut us up in his + cave by forceful violence [ +biê +]; nevertheless, my + courage [ +aretê +] and wise counsel [ +noos +] saved us then, and we shall live to look back on + all this as well. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say, trust in +Zeus + and row on with might and main. As for + you, coxswain, these are your orders; attend to them, for the ship is in your + hands; turn her head away from these steaming rapids and hug the rock, or she + will give you the slip and be over yonder before you know where you are, and + you will be the death of us.’ +"So they did as I told them; but I said nothing + about the awful monster Scylla, for I knew the men would not go on rowing if I + did, but would huddle together in the hold. In one thing only did I disobey + Circe's strict instructions - I put on my armor. Then seizing two strong spears + I took my stand on the ship's bows, for it was there that I expected first to + see the monster of the rock, who was to do my men so much harm; but I could not + make her out anywhere, though I strained my eyes with looking the gloomy rock + all over and over. +"Then we entered the Straits in great fear of + mind, for on the one hand was Scylla, and on the other dread +Charybdis + kept sucking up the salt water. As + she vomited it up, it was like the water in a cauldron when it is boiling over + upon a great fire, and the spray reached the top of the rocks on either side. + When she began to suck again, we could see the water all inside whirling round + and round, and it made a deafening sound as it broke against the rocks. We + could see the bottom of the whirlpool all black with sand and mud, and the men + were at their wit's ends for fear. While we were taken up with this, and were + expecting each moment to be our last, Scylla pounced down suddenly upon us and + violently [ +biê +] + snatched up + my six best men. I was looking at once after both ship and men, and in a moment + I saw their hands and feet ever so high above me, struggling in the air as + Scylla was carrying them off, and I heard them call out my name in one last + despairing cry. As a fisherman, seated, spear in hand, upon some jutting rock + throws bait into the water to deceive the poor little fishes, and spears them + with the ox's horn with which his spear is shod, throwing them gasping on to + the land as he catches them one by one - even so did Scylla land these panting + creatures on her rock and munch them up at the mouth of her den, while they + screamed and stretched out their hands to me in their mortal agony. This was + the most sickening sight that I saw throughout all my voyages. +"When we had passed the Wandering rocks, with + Scylla and terrible +Charybdis +, we + reached the noble island of the sun-god, where were the goodly cattle and sheep + belonging to the sun Hyperion. While still at sea in my ship I could bear the + cattle lowing as they came home to the yards, and the sheep bleating. Then I + remembered what the blind Theban seer [ +mantis +] + Teiresias had told me, and how carefully Aeaean Circe had warned me to shun the + island of the blessed sun-god. So being much troubled I said to the men, ‘My + men, I know you are hard pressed, but listen while I tell you the prophecy that + Teiresias made me, and how carefully Aeaean Circe warned me to shun the island + of the blessed sun-god, for it was here, she said, that our worst danger would + lie. Head the ship, therefore, away from the island.’ +"The men were in despair at this, and + Eurylokhos at once gave me an insolent answer. ‘Odysseus,’ said he, ‘you are + cruel; you are very strong yourself and never get worn out; you seem to be made + of iron, and now, though your men are exhausted with toil and want of sleep, + you will not let them land and cook themselves a good supper upon this island, + but bid them put out to sea and go faring fruitlessly on through the watches of + the fleeing night. It is by night that the winds blow hardest and do so much + damage; how can we escape should one of those sudden squalls spring up from + South West or West, which so often wreck a vessel when our lords the gods are + unpropitious? Now, therefore, let us obey the call of night and prepare our + supper here hard by the ship; tomorrow morning we will go on board again and + put out to sea.’ +"Thus spoke Eurylokhos, and the men approved + his words. I saw that a +daimôn + meant us mischief + and said, ‘You force me to yield, for you are many against one, but at any rate + each one of you must take his solemn oath that if he meet with a herd of cattle + or a large flock of sheep, he will not be so mad as to kill a single head of + either, but will be satisfied with the food that Circe has given us.’ +"They all swore as I bade them, and when they + had completed their oath we made the ship fast in a harbor that was near a + stream of fresh water, and the men went ashore and cooked their suppers. As + soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, they began talking about their + poor comrades whom Scylla had snatched up and eaten; this set them weeping and + they went on crying till they fell off into a sound sleep. +"In the third watch of the night when the stars + had shifted their places, Zeus raised a great gale of wind that flew a gale so + that land and sea were covered with thick clouds, and night sprang forth out of + the heavens. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, we + brought the ship to land and drew her into a cave wherein the sea-nymphs hold + their courts and dances [ +khoros +], and I called the + men together in council. +"‘My friends,’ said I, ‘we have meat and drink + in the ship, let us mind, therefore, and not touch the cattle, or we shall + suffer for it; for these cattle and sheep belong to the mighty sun, who sees + and gives ear to everything. And again they promised that they would obey. +"For a whole month the wind blew steadily from + the South, and there was no other wind, but only South and East. As long as + grain and wine held out the men did not touch the cattle when they were hungry; + when, however, they had eaten all there was in the ship, they were forced to go + further afield, with hook and line, catching birds, and taking whatever they + could lay their hands on; for they were starving. One day, therefore, I went up + inland that I might pray heaven to show me some means of getting away. When I + had gone far enough to be clear of all my men, and had found a place that was + well sheltered from the wind, I washed my hands and prayed to all the gods in + +Olympus + till by and by they sent me + off into a sweet sleep. +"Meanwhile Eurylokhos had been giving evil + counsel to the men, ‘Listen to me,’ said he, ‘my poor comrades. All deaths are + bad enough but there is none so bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the + best of these cows and offer them in sacrifice to the immortal gods? If we ever + get back to +Ithaca +, we can build a + fine temple to the sun-god and enrich it with every kind of ornament; if, + however, he is determined to sink our ship out of revenge for these horned + cattle, and the other gods are of the same mind, I for one would rather drink + salt water once for all and have done with it, than be starved to death by + inches in such a desert island as this is.’ +"Thus spoke Eurylokhos, and the men approved + his words. Now the cattle, so fair and goodly, were feeding not far from the + ship; the men, therefore drove in the best of them, and they all stood round + them saying their prayers, and using young oak-shoots instead of barley-meal, + for there was no barley left. When they had done praying they killed the cows + and dressed their carcasses; they cut out the thigh bones, wrapped them round + in two layers of fat, and set some pieces of raw meat on top of them. They had + no wine with which to make drink-offerings over the sacrifice while it was + cooking, so they kept pouring on a little water from time to time while the + inward meats were being grilled; then, when the thigh bones were burned and + they had tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small and put the pieces + upon the spits. +"By this time my deep sleep had left me, and I + turned back to the ship and to the sea shore. As I drew near I began to smell + hot roast meat, so I groaned out a prayer to the immortal gods. ‘Father Zeus,’ + I exclaimed, ‘and all you other gods who live in everlasting bliss, you have + done me a cruel mischief [ +atê +] by the sleep into + which you have sent me; see what fine work these men of mine have been making + in my absence.’ +"Meanwhile Lampetie went straight off to the + sun and told him we had been killing his cows, whereon he flew into a great + rage, and said to the immortals, ‘Father Zeus, and all you other gods who live + in everlasting bliss, I must have vengeance on the crew of Odysseus’ ship: they + have had the insolence to kill my cows, which were the one thing I loved to + look upon, whether I was going up heaven or down again. If they do not square + accounts with me about my cows, I will go down to Hades and shine there among + the dead.’ +"‘Sun,’ said Zeus, ‘go on shining upon us gods + and upon humankind over the fruitful earth. I will shiver their ship into + little pieces with a bolt of white lightning as soon as they get out to + sea.’ +"I was told all this by Calypso, who said she + had heard it from the mouth of Hermes. +"As soon as I got down to my ship and to the + sea shore I rebuked each one of the men separately, but we could see no way out + of it, for the cows were dead already. And indeed the gods began at once to + show signs and wonders among us, for the hides of the cattle crawled about, and + the joints upon the spits began to low like cows, and the meat, whether cooked + or raw, kept on making a noise just as cows do. +"For six days my men kept driving in the best + cows and feasting upon them, but when Zeus the son of Kronos had added a + seventh day, the fury of the gale abated; we therefore went on board, raised + our masts, spread sail, and put out to sea. As soon as we were well away from + the island, and could see nothing but sky and sea, the son of Kronos raised a + black cloud over our ship, and the sea grew dark beneath it. We did not get on + much further, for in another moment we were caught by a terrific squall from + the West that snapped the forestays of the mast so that it fell aft, while all + the ship's gear tumbled about at the bottom of the vessel. The mast fell upon + the head of the helmsman in the ship's stern, so that the bones of his head + were crushed to pieces, and he fell overboard as though he were diving, with no + more life left in him. +"Then Zeus let fly with his thunderbolts, and + the ship went round and round, and was filled with fire and brimstone as the + lightning struck it. The men all fell into the sea; they were carried about in + the water round the ship, looking like so many sea-gulls, but the god presently + deprived them of all chance of getting home again [ +nostos +]. +"I stuck to the ship till the sea knocked her + sides from her keel (which drifted about by itself) and struck the mast out of + her in the direction of the keel; but there was a backstay of stout ox-thong + still hanging about it, and with this I lashed the mast and keel together, and + getting astride of them was carried wherever the winds chose to take me. +"The gale from the West had now spent its + force, and the wind got into the South again, which frightened me lest I should + be taken back to the terrible whirlpool of Charybdis. This indeed was what + actually happened, for I was borne along by the waves all night, and by sunrise + had reached the rock of Scylla, and the whirlpool. She was then sucking down + the salt sea water, but I was carried aloft toward the fig tree, which I caught + hold of and clung on to like a bat. I could not plant my feet anywhere so as to + stand securely, for the roots were a long way off and the boughs that + overshadowed the whole pool were too high, too vast, and too far apart for me + to reach them; so I hung patiently on, waiting till the pool should discharge + my mast and raft again - and a very long while it seemed. A juryman [ +krînô +] is not more glad to get home to supper, after + having been long detained in court by troublesome cases, than I was to see my + raft beginning to work its way out of the whirlpool again. At last I let go + with my hands and feet, and fell heavily into the sea, hard by my raft on to + which I then got, and began to row with my hands. As for Scylla, the father of + gods and men would not let her get further sight of me - otherwise I should + have certainly been lost. +"Hence I was carried along for nine days till + on the tenth night the gods stranded me on the Ogygian island, where dwells the + great and powerful goddess Calypso. She took me in and was kind to me, but I + need say no more about this, for I told you and your noble wife all about it + yesterday, and it is hateful [ +ekhthron +] for me to + say the same thing over and over again." +Thus did he speak, and they all held their peace + throughout the covered room, enthralled by the charm of his story, till + presently Alkinoos began to speak. +"Odysseus," said he, "now that you have reached + my house I doubt not you will get home without further misadventure no matter + how much you have suffered in the past. To you others, however, who come here + night after night to drink my choicest wine and listen to my bard, I would + insist as follows. Our guest has already packed up the clothes, wrought gold, + and other valuables which you have brought for his acceptance; let us now, + therefore, present him further, each one of us, with a large tripod and a + cauldron. We will recoup ourselves by the levy of a general rate throughout the + +dêmos +; for private individuals cannot be + expected to bear the burden of such a handsome present." +Every one approved of this, and then they went + home to bed each in his own abode. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered + Dawn, appeared, they hurried down to the ship and brought their cauldrons with + them. Alkinoos went on board and saw everything so securely stowed under the + ship's benches that nothing could break adrift and injure the rowers. Then they + went to the house of Alkinoos to get dinner, and he sacrificed a bull for them + in honor of Zeus who is the lord of all. They set the meats to grill and made + an excellent dinner, after which the inspired bard, Demodokos, who was a + favorite with every one, sang to them; but Odysseus kept on turning his eyes + towards the sun, as though to hasten his setting, for he was longing to be on + his way. As one who has been all day ploughing a fallow field with a couple of + oxen keeps thinking about his supper and is glad when night comes that he may + go and get it, for it is all his legs can do to carry him, even so did Odysseus + rejoice when the sun went down, and he at once said to the Phaeacians, + addressing himself more particularly to King Alkinoos: +"Sir, and all of you, farewell. Make your + drink-offerings and send me on my way rejoicing, for you have fulfilled my + heart's desire by giving me an escort, and making me presents, which heaven + grant that I may turn to good account [ +olbios +]; may + I find my admirable wife living in peace among friends, and may you whom I + leave behind me give satisfaction to your wives and children; may heaven grant + you every good grace [ +aretê +], and may no evil thing + come among your people." +Thus did he speak. His hearers all of them + approved his saying and agreed that he should have his escort inasmuch as he + had spoken reasonably. Alkinoos therefore said to his servant, "Pontonoos, mix + some wine and hand it round to everybody, that we may offer a prayer to father + Zeus, and speed our guest upon his way." +Pontonoos mixed the wine and handed it to every + one in turn; the others each from his own seat made a drink-offering to the + blessed gods that live in heaven, but Odysseus rose and placed the double cup + in the hands of queen Arete. +"Farewell, queen," said he, "henceforward and + for ever, till age and death, the common lot of humankind, lay their hands upon + you. I now take my leave; be happy in this house with your children, your + people, and with king Alkinoos." +As he spoke he crossed the threshold, and + Alkinoos sent a man to conduct him to his ship and to the sea shore. Arete also + sent some maid servants with him - one with a clean shirt and cloak, another to + carry his strong-box, and a third with grain and wine. When they got to the + water side the crew took these things and put them on board, with all the meat + and drink; but for Odysseus they spread a rug and a linen sheet on deck that he + might sleep soundly in the stern of the ship. Then he too went on board and lay + down without a word, but the crew took every man his place in order [ +kosmos +] and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone + to which it had been bound. Thereon, when they began rowing out to sea, + Odysseus fell into a deep, sweet, and almost deathlike slumber. +The ship bounded forward on her way as a four in + hand chariot flies over the course when the horses feel the whip. Her prow + curved as it were the neck of a stallion, and a great wave of dark seething + water boiled in her wake. She held steadily on her course, and even a falcon, + swiftest of all birds, could not have kept pace with her. Thus, then, she cut + her way through the water. carrying one who was as cunning as the gods, but who + was now sleeping peacefully, forgetful of all that he had suffered both on the + field of battle and by the waves of the weary sea. +When the bright star that heralds the approach + of dawn began to show. the ship drew near to land. Now there is in the +dêmos + of +Ithaca + a haven of the Old One of the Sea, Phorkys, which lies + between two points that break the line of the sea and shut the harbor in. These + shelter it from the storms of wind and sea that rage outside, so that, when + once within it, a ship may lie without being even moored. At the head of this + harbor there is a large olive tree, and at no distance a fine overarching + cavern sacred to the nymphs who are called Naiads. There are mixing-bowls + within it and wine-jars of stone, and the bees hive there. Moreover, there are + great looms of stone on which the nymphs weave their robes of sea purple - very + curious to see - and at all times there is water within it. It has two + entrances, one facing North by which mortals can go down into the cave, while + the other comes from the South and is more mysterious; mortals cannot possibly + get in by it, it is the way taken by the gods. +Into this harbor, then, they took their ship, + for they knew the place, She had so much way upon her that she ran half her own + length on to the shore; when, however, they had landed, the first thing they + did was to lift Odysseus with his rug and linen sheet out of the ship, and lay + him down upon the sand still fast asleep. Then they took out the presents which + Athena had persuaded the Phaeacians to give him when he was setting out on his + voyage homewards. They put these all together by the root of the olive tree, + away from the road, for fear some passer by might come and steal them before + Odysseus awoke; and then they made the best of their way home again. +But Poseidon did not forget the threats with + which he had already threatened Odysseus, so he took counsel with Zeus. "Father + Zeus," said he, "I shall no longer be held in any sort of respect among you + gods, if mortals like the Phaeacians, who are my own flesh and blood, show such + small regard for me. I said I would get Odysseus home when he had suffered + sufficiently. I did not say that he should never have a homecoming [ +nostos +] at all, for I knew you had already nodded your + head about it, and promised that he should do so; but now they have brought him + over the sea in a ship fast asleep and have landed him in +Ithaca + after loading him with more magnificent + presents of bronze, gold, and raiment than he would ever have brought back from + +Troy +, if he had had his share of + the spoil and got home without misadventure." +And Zeus answered, "What, O Lord of the + Earthquake, are you talking about? The gods are by no means wanting in respect + for you. It would be monstrous were they to insult one so old and honored as + you are. As regards mortals, however, if any of them is indulging in insolence + [ +biê +] and treating you disrespectfully, it will + always rest with yourself to deal with him as you may think proper, so do just + as you please." +"I should have done so at once," replied + Poseidon, "if I were not anxious to avoid anything that might displease you; + now, therefore, I should like to wreck the Phaeacian ship as it is returning + from its escort. This will stop them from escorting people in future; and I + should also like to envelop their city under a huge mountain." +"My good friend," answered Zeus, "I should + recommend you at the very moment when the people from the city are watching the + ship on her way, to turn it into a rock near the land and looking like a ship. + This will astonish everybody, and you can then envelop their city under the + mountain." +When earth-encircling Poseidon heard this he + went to +Scheria + where the Phaeacians + live, and stayed there till the ship, which was making rapid way, had got + close-in. Then he went up to it, turned it into stone, and drove it down with + the flat of his hand so as to root it in the ground. After this he went + away. +The Phaeacians then began talking among + themselves, and one would turn towards his neighbor, saying, "Who is it that + can have rooted the ship in the sea just as she was getting into port? We could + see the whole of her only a moment ago." +This was how they talked, but they knew nothing + about it; and Alkinoos said, "I remember now the old prophecy of my father. He + said that Poseidon would be angry with us for taking every one so safely over + the sea, and would one day wreck a Phaeacian ship as it was returning from an + escort, and envelop our city with a high mountain. This was what my old father + used to say, and now it is all coming true. Now therefore let us all do as I + say; in the first place we must leave off giving people escorts when they come + here, and in the next let us sacrifice twelve picked [ +krinô +] bulls to Poseidon that he may have mercy upon us, and not + envelop our city with the high mountain." When the people heard this they were + afraid and got ready the bulls. +Thus did the chiefs and rulers of the +dêmos + of the Phaeacians to king Poseidon, standing + round his altar; and at the same time Odysseus woke up once more upon his own + soil. He had been so long away that he did not know it again; moreover, Zeus’ + daughter Athena had made it a foggy day, so that people might not know of his + having come, and that she might tell him everything without either his wife or + his fellow citizens and friends recognizing him until he had taken his revenge + upon the wicked suitors. Everything, therefore, seemed quite different to him - + the long straight tracks, the harbors, the precipices, and the goodly trees, + appeared all changed as he started up and looked upon his native land. So he + smote his thighs with the flat of his hands and cried aloud despairingly. +"Alas," he exclaimed, "among what manner of + people am I fallen? Are they savage and uncivilized [not +dikaios +] or hospitable and endowed with god-fearing +noos +? Where shall I put all this treasure, and which + way shall I go? I wish I had stayed over there with the Phaeacians; or I could + have gone to some other great chief who would have been good to me and given me + an escort. As it is I do not know where to put my treasure, and I cannot leave + it here for fear somebody else should get hold of it. In good truth the chiefs + and rulers of the Phaeacians have not been dealing fairly [ +dikaios +] by me, and have left me in the wrong country; they said + they would take me back to +Ithaca + and + they have not done so: may Zeus the protector of suppliants chastise them, for + he watches over everybody and punishes those who do wrong. Still, I suppose I + must count my goods and see if the crew have gone off with any of them." +He counted his goodly coppers and cauldrons, + his gold and all his clothes, but there was nothing missing; still he kept + grieving about not being in his own country, and wandered up and down by the + shore of the sounding sea bewailing his hard fate. Then Athena came up to him + disguised as a young shepherd of delicate and princely mien, with a good cloak + folded double about her shoulders; she had sandals on her comely feet and held + a javelin in her hand. Odysseus was glad when he saw her, and went straight up + to her. +"My friend," said he, "you are the first person + whom I have met with in this country; I salute you, therefore, and beg you to + be well disposed in +noos + towards me. Protect these + my goods, and myself too, for I embrace your knees and pray to you as though + you were a god. Tell me, then, and tell me truly, what land and country [ +dêmos +] is this? Who are its inhabitants? Am I on an + island, or is this the sea board of some continent?" +Athena answered, "Stranger, you must be very + simple, or must have come from somewhere a long way off, not to know what + country this is. It is a very celebrated place, and everybody knows it East and + West. It is rugged and not a good driving country, but it is by no means a bad + island for what there is of it. It grows any quantity of grain and also wine, + for it is watered both by rain and dew; it breeds cattle also and goats; all + kinds of timber grow here, and there are watering places where the water never + runs dry; so, sir, the name of +Ithaca + + is known even as far as +Troy +, which I + understand to be a long way off from this Achaean country." +Odysseus was glad at finding himself, as Athena + told him, in his own country, and he began to answer, but he did not speak the + truth [ +alêthês +], and made up a lying story in the + instinctive wiliness of his +noos +. +"I heard of +Ithaca +," said he, "when I was in +Crete + beyond the seas, and now it seems I have reached it with + all these treasures. I have left as much more behind me for my children, but am + fleeing because I killed Orsilokhos son of Idomeneus, the fleetest runner in + +Crete +. I killed him because he + wanted to rob me of the spoils I had got from +Troy + with so much trouble and danger both on the field of + battle and by the waves of the weary sea; he said I had not served his father + loyally in the Trojan +dêmos + as vassal, but had set + myself up as an independent ruler, so I lay in wait for him and with one of my + followers by the road side, and speared him as he was coming into town from the + country. It was a very dark night and nobody saw us; it was not known, + therefore, that I had killed him, but as soon as I had done so I went to a ship + and besought the owners, who were Phoenicians, to take me on board and set me + in +Pylos + or in +Elis + where the Epeans rule, giving them as + much spoil as satisfied them. They meant no guile, but the wind drove them off + their course, and we sailed on till we came hither by night. It was all we + could do to get inside the harbor, and none of us said a word about supper + though we wanted it badly, but we all went on shore and lay down just as we + were. I was very tired and fell asleep directly, so they took my goods out of + the ship, and placed them beside me where I was lying upon the sand. Then they + sailed away to Sidonia, and I was left here in great distress of mind." +Such was his story, but Athena smiled and + caressed him with her hand. Then she took the form of a woman, fair, stately, + and wise, "He must be indeed a shifty and deceitful person," said she, "who + could surpass you in all manner of craft [ +kerdos +] + even though you had a god for your antagonist. Daring that you are, full of + guile, unwearying in deceit [ +apatê +], can you not + drop your tricks and your instinctive falsehood, even now that you are in your + own country again? We will say no more, however, about this, for we both of us + know craftiness [ +kerdos +] upon occasion - you are + the best counselor and orator among all humankind, while I for diplomacy and + crafty ways [ +kerdea +] have fame [ +kleos +] among the gods. Did you not know Zeus’ daughter + Athena - me, who have been ever with you, who kept watch over you in all your + ordeals [ +ponoi +], and who made the Phaeacians take + so great a liking to you? And now, again, I am come here to talk things over + with you, and help you to hide the treasure I made the Phaeacians give you; I + want to tell you about the troubles that await you in your own house; you have + got to face them, but tell no one, neither man nor woman, that you have come + home again. Bear everything, and put up with every man's violent insolence + [ +biê +], without a word." +And Odysseus answered, "A man, goddess, may + know a great deal, but you are so constantly changing your appearance that when + he meets you it is a hard matter for him to know whether it is you or not. This + much, however, I know exceedingly well; you were very kind to me as long as we + Achaeans were fighting before +Troy +, + but from the day on which we went on board ship after having sacked the city of + Priam, and heaven dispersed us - from that day, Athena, I saw no more of you, + and cannot ever remember your coming to my ship to help me in a difficulty; I + had to wander on sick and sorry till the gods delivered me from evil and I + reached the +dêmos + of the Phaeacians, where you + encouraged me and took me into the town. And now, I beseech you in your + father's name, tell me the truth, for I do not believe I am really back in + +Ithaca +. I am in some other country + and you are mocking me and deceiving me in all you have been saying. Tell me + then truly, have I really got back to my own country?" +"You are always taking something of that sort + into your head," replied Athena, "and that is why I cannot desert you in your + afflictions; you are so plausible, shrewd and shifty. Any one but yourself on + returning from so long a voyage would at once have gone home to see his wife + and children, but you do not seem to care about asking after them or hearing + any news about them till you have made trial of your wife, who remains at home + vainly grieving for you, and having no peace night or day for the tears she + sheds on your behalf. As for my not coming near you, I was never uneasy about + you, for I was certain you would get back safely though you would lose all your + men, and I did not wish to quarrel with my uncle Poseidon, who never forgave + you for having blinded his son. I will now, however, point out to you the lie + of the land, and you will then perhaps believe me. This is the haven of the Old + One of the Sea, Phorkys, and here is the olive tree that grows at the head of + it; [near it is the cave sacred to the Naiads;] here too is the overarching + cavern in which you have offered many an acceptable hecatomb to the nymphs, and + this is the wooded mountain Neritum." +As she spoke the goddess dispersed the mist and + the land appeared. Then Odysseus rejoiced at finding himself again in his own + land, and kissed the bounteous soil; he lifted up his hands and prayed to the + nymphs, saying, "Naiad nymphs, daughters of Zeus, I made sure that I was never + again to see you, now therefore I greet you with all loving salutations, and I + will bring you offerings as in the old days, if Zeus’ redoubtable daughter will + grant me life, and bring my son to manhood." +"Take heart, and do not trouble yourself about + that," rejoined Athena, "let us rather set about stowing your things at once in + the cave, where they will be quite safe. Let us see how we can best manage it + all." +Therewith she went down into the cave to look + for the safest hiding places, while Odysseus brought up all the treasure of + gold, bronze, and good clothing which the Phaeacians had given him. They stowed + everything carefully away, and Athena set a stone against the door of the cave. + Then the two sat down by the root of the great olive, and consulted how to + compass the destruction of the wicked suitors. +"Odysseus," said Athena, "noble son of + +Laertes +, think how you can lay + hands on these disreputable people who have been lording it in your house these + three years, courting your wife and making wedding presents to her, while she + does nothing but mourning your +nostos +, giving hope + and sending encouraging messages to every one of them, but meaning [in her + +noos +] the very opposite of all she says." +And Odysseus answered, "In good truth, goddess, + it seems I should have come to much the same bad end in my own house as + Agamemnon did, if you had not given me such timely information. Advise me how I + shall best avenge myself. Stand by my side and put your courage into my heart + as on the day when we loosed +Troy +'s + fair diadem from her brow. Help me now as you did then, and I will fight three + hundred men, if you, goddess, will be with me." +"Trust me for that," said she, "I will not lose + sight of you when once we set about it, and I would imagine that some of those + who are devouring your substance will then bespatter the pavement with their + blood and brains. I will begin by disguising you so that no human being shall + know you; I will cover your body with wrinkles; you shall lose all your yellow + hair; I will clothe you in a garment that shall fill all who see it with + loathing; I will blear your fine eyes for you, and make you an unseemly object + in the sight of the suitors, of your wife, and of the son whom you left behind + you. Then go at once to the swineherd who is in charge of your pigs; he has + been always well affected towards you, and is devoted to Penelope and your son; + you will find him feeding his pigs near the rock that is called Raven by the + fountain Arethusa, where they are fattening on beechmast and spring water after + their manner. Stay with him and find out how things are going, while I proceed + to +Sparta + and see your son, who is + with Menelaos at +Lacedaemon +, where he + has gone to try and find a report [ +kleos +] on + whether you are still alive." +"But why," said Odysseus, "did you not tell + him, for you knew all about it? Did you want him too to go sailing about amid + all kinds of hardship while others are eating up his estate?" +Athena answered, "Never mind about him, I sent + him that he might be well spoken [ +kleos +] of for + having gone. He is in no sort of difficulty [ +ponos +], but is staying quite comfortably with Menelaos, and is + surrounded with abundance of every kind. The suitors have put out to sea and + are lying in wait for him, for they mean to kill him before he can get home. I + do not much think they will succeed, but rather that some of those who are now + eating up your estate will first find a grave themselves." +As she spoke Athena touched him with her wand + and covered him with wrinkles, took away all his yellow hair, and withered the + flesh over his whole body; she bleared his eyes, which were naturally very fine + ones; she changed his clothes and threw an old rag of a wrap about him, and a + tunic, tattered, filthy, and begrimed with smoke; she also gave him an + undressed deer skin as an outer garment, and furnished him with a staff and a + wallet all in holes, with a twisted thong for him to sling it over his + shoulder. +When the pair had thus laid their plans they + parted, and the goddess went straight to +Lacedaemon + to fetch Telemakhos. +Odysseus now left the haven, and took the rough + track up through the wooded country and over the crest of the mountain till he + reached the place where Athena had said that he would find the swineherd, who + was the most thrifty servant he had. He found him sitting in front of his hut, + which was by the yards that he had built on a site which could be seen from + far. He had made them spacious and fair to see, with a free ran for the pigs + all round them; he had built them during his master's absence, of stones which + he had gathered out of the ground, without saying anything to Penelope or + +Laertes +, and he had fenced them + on top with thorn bushes. Outside the yard he had run a strong fence of oaken + posts, split, and set pretty close together, while inside lie had built twelve + sties near one another for the sows to lie in. There were fifty pigs wallowing + in each sty, all of them breeding sows; but the boars slept outside and were + much fewer in number, for the suitors kept on eating them, and the swineherd + had to send them the best he had continually. There were three hundred and + sixty boar pigs, and the herdsman's four hounds, which were as fierce as + wolves, slept always with them. The swineherd was at that moment cutting out a + pair of sandals from a good stout ox hide. Three of his men were out herding + the pigs in one place or another, and he had sent the fourth to town with a + boar that he had been forced to send the suitors that they might sacrifice it + and have their fill of meat. +When the hounds saw Odysseus they set up a + furious barking and flew at him, but Odysseus was cunning enough to sit down + and loose his hold of the stick that he had in his hand: still, he would have + been torn by them in his own homestead had not the swineherd dropped his ox + hide, rushed full speed through the gate of the yard and driven the dogs off by + shouting and throwing stones at them. Then he said to Odysseus, "Old man, the + dogs were likely to have made short work of you, and then you would have got me + into trouble. The gods have given me quite enough worries without that, for I + have lost the best of masters, and am in continual grief on his account. I have + to attend swine for other people to eat, while he, if he yet lives to see the + light of day, is starving in some distant +dêmos +. + But come inside, and when you have had your fill of bread and wine, tell me + where you come from, and all about your misfortunes." +On this the swineherd led the way into the hut + and bade him sit down. He strewed a good thick bed of rushes upon the floor, + and on the top of this he threw the shaggy chamois skin - a great thick one - + on which he used to sleep by night. Odysseus was pleased at being made thus + welcome, and said "May Zeus, sir, and the rest of the gods grant you your + heart's desire in return for the kind way in which you have received me." +To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaios, + "Stranger, though a still poorer man should come here, it would not be right + for me to insult him, for all strangers and beggars are from Zeus. You must + take what you can get and be thankful, for servants live in fear when they have + young lords for their masters; and this is my misfortune now, for heaven has + hindered the return [ +nostos +] of him who would have + been always good to me and given me something of my own - a house, a piece of + land, a good looking wife, and all else that a liberal master allows a servant + who has worked hard for him, and whose labor the gods have prospered as they + have mine in the situation which I hold. If my master had grown old here he + would have done great things by me, but he is gone, and I wish that Helen's + whole race were utterly destroyed, for she has been the death of many a good + man. It was this matter that took my master to +Ilion +, the land of noble steeds, to fight the Trojans in the + cause of king Agamemnon." +As he spoke he bound his belt round him and went + to the sties where the young sucking pigs were penned. He picked out two which + he brought back with him and sacrificed. He singed them, cut them up, and + spitted on them; when the meat was cooked he brought it all in and set it + before Odysseus, hot and still on the spit, whereon Odysseus sprinkled it over + with white barley meal. The swineherd then mixed wine in a bowl of ivy-wood, + and taking a seat opposite Odysseus told him to begin. +"Fall to, stranger," said he, "on a dish of + servant's pork. The fat pigs have to go to the suitors, who eat them up without + shame or scruple; but the blessed gods love not such shameful doings, and + respect those who do what is lawful and right [ +dikê +]. Even the fierce free-booters who go raiding on other people's + land, and Zeus gives them their spoil - even they, when they have filled their + ships and got home again live conscience-stricken, and look fearfully for + judgment; but some god seems to have told these people that Odysseus is dead + and gone; they will not, therefore, go back to their own homes and make their + offers of marriage in the proper way [ +dikaios +], but + waste his estate by force, without fear or stint. Not a day or night comes out + of heaven, but they sacrifice not one victim nor two only, and they take the + run of his wine, for he was exceedingly rich. No other great man either in + +Ithaca + or on the mainland is as + rich as he was; he had as much as twenty men put together. I will tell you what + he had. There are twelve herds of cattle upon the mainland, and as many flocks + of sheep, there are also twelve droves of pigs, while his own men and hired + strangers feed him twelve widely spreading herds of goats. Here in +Ithaca + he runs even large flocks of goats on + the far end of the island, and they are in the charge of excellent goatherds. + Each one of these sends the suitors the best goat in the flock every day. As + for myself, I am in charge of the pigs that you see here, and I have to keep + picking [ +krinô +] out the best I have and sending it + to them." +This was his story, but Odysseus went on eating + and drinking ravenously without a word, brooding his revenge. When he had eaten + enough and was satisfied, the swineherd took the bowl from which he usually + drank, filled it with wine, and gave it to Odysseus, who was pleased, and said + as he took it in his hands, "My friend, who was this master of yours that + bought you and paid for you, so rich and so powerful as you tell me? You say he + perished in the cause of King Agamemnon; tell me who he was, in case I may have + met with such a person. Zeus and the other gods know, but I may be able to give + you news of him, for I have traveled much." +Eumaios answered, "Old man, no traveler who + comes here with news will get Odysseus’ wife and son to believe his story. + Nevertheless, tramps in want of a lodging keep coming with their mouths full of + lies, and not a word of truth [ +alêthês +]; every one + who finds his way to the Ithacan +dêmos + goes to my + mistress and tells her falsehoods, whereon she takes them in, makes much of + them, and asks them all manner of questions, crying all the time as women will + when they have lost their husbands. And you too, old man, for a shirt and a + cloak would doubtless make up a very pretty story. But the wolves and birds of + prey have long since torn Odysseus to pieces, and his +psukhê + left him behind; or the fishes of the sea have eaten him, and + his bones are lying buried deep in sand upon some foreign shore; he is dead and + gone, and a bad business it is for all his friends - for me especially; go + where I may I shall never find so good a master, not even if I were to go home + to my mother and father where I was bred and born. I do not so much care, + however, about my parents now, though I should dearly like to see them again in + my own country; it is the loss of Odysseus that grieves me most; I cannot speak + of him without reverence though he is here no longer, for he was very fond of + me, and took such care of me that wherever he may be I shall always honor his + memory." +"My friend," replied Odysseus, "you are very + positive, and very hard of belief about your master's coming home again, + nevertheless I will not merely say, but will swear, that he is coming. Do not + give me anything for my news till he has actually come, you may then give me a + shirt and cloak of good wear if you will. I am in great want, but I will not + take anything at all till then, for hateful [ +ekhthros +] is the man, as hateful as Hades, who lets his poverty + tempt him into lying. I swear by king Zeus, by the rites of hospitality, and by + that hearth of Odysseus to which I have now come, that all will surely happen + as I have said it will. Odysseus will return in this self same year; with the + end of this moon and the beginning of the next he will be here to do vengeance + on all those who are ill treating his wife and son." +To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaios, "Old + man, you will neither get paid for bringing good news, nor will Odysseus ever + come home; drink you wine in peace, and let us talk about something else. Do + not keep on reminding me of all this; it always pains me when any one speaks + about my honored master. As for your oath we will let it alone, but I only wish + he may come, as do Penelope, his old father +Laertes +, and his son Telemakhos. I am terribly unhappy too + about this same boy of his; he was running up fast into manhood, and bade fare + to be no worse man, face and figure, than his father, but some one, either god + or man, has been unsettling his mind, so he has gone off to +Pylos + to try and get news of his father, and + the suitors are lying in wait for him as he is coming home, in the hope of + leaving the house of Arceisius without a name in +Ithaca +. But let us say no more about him, and leave him to be + taken, or else to escape if the son of Kronos holds his hand over him to + protect him. And now, old man, tell me your own story; tell me also, for I want + to know, who you are and where you come from. Tell me of your town and parents, + what manner of ship you came in, what crew brought you to +Ithaca +, and from what country they professed + to come - for you cannot have come by land." +And Odysseus answered, "I will tell you all + about it. If there were meat and wine enough, and we could stay here in the hut + with nothing to do but to eat and drink while the others go to their work, I + could easily talk on for a whole twelve months without ever finishing the story + of the sorrows with which it has pleased heaven to visit me. +"I am by birth a Cretan; my father was a + well-to-do man, who had many sons born in marriage, whereas I was the son of a + slave whom he had purchased for a concubine; nevertheless, my father Castor son + of Hylax (whose lineage I claim, and who was held in the highest honor in the + +dêmos + of the Cretans for his wealth, prosperity + [ +olbos +], and the valor of his sons) put me on + the same level with my brothers who had been born in wedlock. When, however, + death took him to the house of Hades, his sons divided his estate and cast lots + for their shares, but to me they gave a holding and little else; nevertheless, + my valor [ +aretê +] enabled me to marry into a rich + family, for I was not given to bragging, or shirking on the field of battle. It + is all over now; still, if you look at the straw you can see what the ear was, + for I have had trouble enough and to spare. Ares and Athena made me doughty in + war; when I had picked [ +krinô +] my men to surprise + the enemy with an ambuscade I never gave death so much as a thought, but was + the first to leap forward and spear all whom I could overtake. Such was I in + battle, but I did not care about farm work, nor the frugal home life of those + who would bring up children. My delight was in ships, fighting, javelins, and + arrows - things that most men shudder to think of; but one man likes one thing + and another another, and this was what I was most naturally inclined to. Before + the Achaeans went to +Troy +, nine times + was I in command of men and ships on foreign service, and I amassed much + wealth. I had my pick of the spoil in the first instance, and much more was + allotted to me later on. +"My house grew apace and I became a great man + among the Cretans, but when Zeus counseled that terrible expedition, in which + so many perished, the people required me and Idomeneus to lead their ships to + +Troy +, and there was no way out of + it, for the judgment of the +dêmos + insisted on our + doing so. There we fought for nine whole years, but in the tenth we sacked the + city of Priam and sailed home again as heaven dispersed us. Then it was that + Zeus devised evil against me. I spent but one month happily with my children, + wife, and property, and then I conceived the idea of making a descent on + +Egypt +, so I fitted out a fine fleet + and manned it. I had nine ships, and the people flocked to fill them. For six + days I and my men made feast, and I found them many victims both for sacrifice + to the gods and for themselves, but on the seventh day we went on board and set + sail from +Crete + with a fair North wind + behind us though we were going down a river. Nothing went ill with any of our + ships, and we had no sickness on board, but sat where we were and let the ships + go as the wind and steersmen took them. On the fifth day we reached the river + Aigyptos; there I stationed my ships in the river, bidding my men stay by them + and keep guard over them while I sent out scouts to reconnoiter from every + point of vantage. +"But the men in their insolence [ +hubris +] disobeyed my orders, took to their own + devices, and ravaged the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking + their wives and children captive. The alarm was soon carried to the city, and + when they heard the war cry, the people came out at daybreak till the plain was + filled with horsemen and foot soldiers and with the gleam of armor. Then Zeus + spread panic among my men, and they would no longer face the enemy, for they + found themselves surrounded. The Egyptians killed many of us, and took the rest + alive to do forced labor for them. Zeus, however, put it in my mind to do thus + - and I wish I had died then and there in +Egypt + instead, for there was much sorrow in store for me - I + took off my helmet and shield and dropped my spear from my hand; then I went + straight up to the king's chariot, clasped his knees and kissed them, whereon + he spared my life, bade me get into his chariot, and took me weeping to his own + home. Many made at me with their ashen spears and tried to kill me in their + fury, but the king protected me, for he feared the +mênis + of Zeus the protector of strangers, who punishes those who do + evil. +"I stayed there for seven years and got + together much wealth among the Egyptians, for they all gave me something; but + when it was now going on for eight years there came a certain Phoenician, a + cunning rascal, who had already committed all sorts of villainy, and this man + talked me over into going with him to +Phoenicia +, where his house and his possessions lay. I stayed + there for a whole twelve months, but at the end of that time when months and + days had gone by till the same season [ +hôra +] had + come round again, he set me on board a ship bound for +Libya +, on a pretense that I was to take a + cargo along with him to that place, but really that he might sell me as a slave + and take the wealth I fetched. I suspected his intention, but went on board + with him, for I could not help it. +"The ship ran before a fresh North wind till we + had reached the sea that lies between +Crete + and +Libya +; + there, however, Zeus counseled their destruction, for as soon as we were well + out from +Crete + and could see nothing + but sea and sky, he raised a black cloud over our ship and the sea grew dark + beneath it. Then Zeus let fly with his thunderbolts and the ship went round and + round and was filled with fire and brimstone as the lightning struck it. The + men fell all into the sea; they were carried about in the water round the ship + looking like so many sea-gulls, but the god presently deprived them of all + chance of homecoming [ +nostos +] again. I was all + dismayed; Zeus, however, sent the ship's mast within my reach, which saved my + life, for I clung to it, and drifted before the fury of the gale. Nine days did + I drift but in the darkness of the tenth night a great wave bore me on to the + Thesprotian coast. There Pheidon king of the Thesprotians entertained me + hospitably without charging me anything at all, for his son found me when I was + nearly dead with cold and fatigue, whereon he raised me by the hand, took me to + his father's house and gave me clothes to wear. +"There it was that I heard news of Odysseus, + for the king told me he had entertained him, and shown him much hospitality + while he was on his homeward journey. He showed me also the treasure of gold, + and wrought iron that Odysseus had got together. There was enough to keep his + family for ten generations, so much had he left in the house of king Pheidon. + But the king said Odysseus had gone to +Dodona + that he might learn Zeus’ mind from the god's high oak + tree, and know whether after so long an absence he should return to the +dêmos + of +Ithaca + openly, or in secret. Moreover the king swore in my + presence, making drink-offerings in his own house as he did so, that the ship + was by the water side, and the crew found, that should take him to his own + country. He sent me off however before Odysseus returned, for there happened to + be a Thesprotian ship sailing for the wheat-growing island of Dulichium, and he + told those in charge of her to be sure and take me safely to King Akastos. +"These men hatched a plot against me that would + have reduced me to the very extreme of misery, for when the ship had got some + way out from land they resolved on selling me as a slave. They stripped me of + the shirt and cloak that I was wearing, and gave me instead the tattered old + clouts in which you now see me; then, towards nightfall, they reached the + tilled lands of +Ithaca +, and there they + bound me with a strong rope fast in the ship, while they went on shore to get + supper by the sea side. But the gods soon undid my bonds for me, and having + drawn my rags over my head I slid down the rudder into the sea, where I struck + out and swam till I was well clear of them, and came ashore near a thick wood + in which I lay concealed. They were very angry at my having escaped and went + searching about for me, till at last they thought it was no further use and + went back to their ship. The gods, having hidden me thus easily, then took me + to a good man's door - for it seems that I am not to die yet awhile." +To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaios, + "Poor unhappy stranger, I have found the story of your misfortunes extremely + interesting, but that part about Odysseus is not right [ +kosmos +]; and you will never get me to believe it. Why should a man + like you go about telling lies in this way? I know all about the return [ +nostos +] of my master. The gods one and all of them + detest him, or they would have taken him before +Troy +, or let him die with friends around him when the days of + his fighting were done; for then the Achaeans would have built a mound over his + ashes and his son would have been heir to his +kleos +, but now the storm winds have spirited him away we know not + where. +"As for me I live out of the way here with the + pigs, and never go to the town unless when Penelope sends for me on the arrival + of some news about Odysseus. Then they all sit round and ask questions, both + those who grieve over the king's absence, and those who rejoice at it because + they can eat up his property without paying for it. For my own part I have + never cared about asking anyone else since the time when I was taken in by an + Aetolian, who had killed a man and come a long way till at last he reached my + station, and I was very kind to him. He said he had seen Odysseus with + Idomeneus among the Cretans, refitting his ships which had been damaged in a + gale. He said Odysseus would return in the following summer or autumn with his + men, and that he would bring back much wealth. And now you, you unfortunate old + man, since a +daimôn + has brought you to my door, do + not try to flatter me in this way with vain hopes. It is not for any such + reason that I shall treat you kindly, but only out of respect for Zeus the god + of hospitality, as fearing him and pitying you." +Odysseus answered, "I see that you are of an + unbelieving mind; I have given you my oath, and yet you will not credit me; let + us then make a bargain, and call all the gods in heaven to witness it. If your + master comes home, give me a cloak and shirt of good wear, and send me to + Dulichium where I want to go; but if he does not come as I say he will, set + your men on to me, and tell them to throw me from yonder precipice, as a + warning to tramps not to go about the country telling lies." +"And +aretê + famed + among men would be mine + " replied Eumaios, "both now and + hereafter, if I were to kill you after receiving you into my hut and showing + you hospitality. I should have to say my prayers in good earnest if I did; but + it is just supper time [ +hôra +] and I hope my men + will come in directly, that we may cook something savory for supper." +Thus did they converse, and presently the + swineherds came up with the pigs, which were then shut up for the night in + their sties, and a tremendous squealing they made as they were being driven + into them. But Eumaios called to his men and said, "Bring in the best pig you + have, that I may sacrifice for this stranger, and we will take toll of him + ourselves. We have had trouble enough this long time feeding pigs, while others + reap the fruit of our labor." +On this he began chopping firewood, while the + others brought in a fine fat five year old boar pig, and set it at the altar. + Eumaios did not forget the gods, for he was a man of good principles, so the + first thing he did was to cut bristles from the pig's face and throw them into + the fire, praying to all the gods as he did so that Odysseus might return home + again. Then he clubbed the pig with a billet of oak which he had kept back when + he was chopping the firewood, and its +psukhê +left + it, while the others slaughtered and singed it. Then they cut it up, and + Eumaios began by putting raw pieces from each joint on to some of the fat; + these he sprinkled with barley meal, and laid upon the embers; they cut the + rest of the meat up small, put the pieces upon the spits and roasted them till + they were done; when they had taken them off the spits they threw them on to + the dresser in a heap. The swineherd, who was a most equitable man, then stood + up to give every one his share. He made seven portions; one of these he set + apart for Hermes the son of +Maia + and + the nymphs, praying to them as he did so; the others he dealt out to the men + man by man. He gave Odysseus some slices cut lengthways down the loin as a mark + of especial honor, and Odysseus was much pleased. "I hope, Eumaios," said he, + "that Zeus will be as well disposed towards you as I am, for the respect you + are showing to an outcast like myself." +To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaios, + "Eat, my good fellow, and enjoy your supper, such as it is. A god grants this, + and withholds that, just as he thinks right, for he can do whatever he + chooses." +As he spoke he cut off the first piece and + offered it as a burnt sacrifice to the immortal gods; then he made them a + drink-offering, put the cup in the hands of Odysseus, and sat down to his own + portion. Mesaulios brought them their bread; the swineherd had bought this man + on his own account from among the Taphians during his master's absence, and had + paid for him with his own wealth without saying anything either to his mistress + or +Laertes +. They then laid their + hands upon the good things that were before them, and when they had had enough + to eat and drink, Mesaulios took away what was left of the bread, and they all + went to bed after having made a hearty supper. +Now the night came on stormy and very dark, for + there was no moon. It poured without ceasing, and the wind blew strong from the + West, which is a wet quarter, so Odysseus thought he would see whether Eumaios, + in the excellent care he took of him, would take off his own cloak and give it + him, or make one of his men give him one. "Listen to me," said he, "Eumaios and + the rest of you; when I have said a prayer I will tell you something. It is the + wine that makes me talk in this way; wine will make even a wise man fall to + singing; it will make him chuckle and dance and say many a word that he had + better leave unspoken; still, as I have begun, I will go on. Would that I were + still young and strong [ +biê +] as when we got up an + ambuscade before +Troy +. Menelaos and + Odysseus were the leaders, but I was in command also, for the other two would + have it so. When we had come up to the wall of the city we crouched down + beneath our armor and lay there under cover of the reeds and thick brush-wood + that grew about the swamp. It came on to freeze with a North wind blowing; the + snow fell small and fine like hoar frost, and our shields were coated thick + with rime. The others had all got cloaks and shirts, and slept comfortably + enough with their shields about their shoulders, but I had carelessly left my + cloak behind me, not thinking that I should be too cold, and had gone off in + nothing but my shirt and shield. When the night was two-thirds through and the + stars had shifted their places, I nudged Odysseus who was close to me with my + elbow, and he at once gave me his ear. +"‘Odysseus,’ said I, ‘this cold will be the + death of me, for I have no cloak; some +daimôn + + fooled me into setting off with nothing on but my shirt, and I do not know what + to do.’ +"Odysseus, who was as crafty as he was valiant, + hit upon the following plan [ +noos +]: +"‘Keep still,’ said he in a low voice, ‘or the + others will hear you.’ Then he raised his head on his elbow. +"‘My friends,’ said he, ‘I have had a dream + from heaven in my sleep. We are a long way from the ships; I wish some one + would go down and tell Agamemnon to send us up more men at once.’ +"On this Thoas son of Andraimon threw off his + cloak and set out running to the ships, whereon I took the cloak and lay in it + comfortably enough till morning. Would that I were still young and strong + [ +biê +] as I was in those days, for then some one + of you swineherds would give me a cloak both out of good will and for the + respect [ +aidôs +] due to a brave warrior; but now + people look down upon me because my clothes are shabby." +And Eumaios answered, "Old man, you have told + us an excellent story [ +ainos +], and have said + nothing so far but what is quite satisfactory; for the present, therefore, you + shall want neither clothing nor anything else that a stranger in distress may + reasonably expect, but tomorrow morning you have to shake your own old rags + about your body again, for we have not many spare cloaks nor shirts up here, + but every man has only one. When Odysseus’ son comes home again he will give + you both cloak and shirt, and send you wherever you may want to go." +With this he got up and made a bed for Odysseus + by throwing some goatskins and sheepskins on the ground in front of the fire. + Here Odysseus lay down, and Eumaios covered him over with a great heavy cloak + that he kept for a change in case of extraordinarily bad weather. +Thus did Odysseus sleep, and the young men + slept beside him. But the swineherd did not like sleeping away from his pigs, + so he got ready to go and Odysseus was glad to see that he looked after his + property during his master's absence. First he slung his sword over his brawny + shoulders and put on a thick cloak to keep out the wind. He also took the skin + of a large and well fed goat, and a javelin in case of attack from men or dogs. + Thus equipped he went to his rest where the pigs were camping under an + overhanging rock that gave them shelter from the North wind. +But Athena went to the fair city of +Lacedaemon + to tell Odysseus’ son that he was + to return [ +nostos +] at once. She found him and + Peisistratos sleeping in the forecourt of Menelaos’ house; Peisistratos was + fast asleep, but Telemakhos could get no rest all night for thinking of his + unhappy father, so Athena went close up to him and said: +"Telemakhos, you should not remain so far away + from home any longer, nor leave your property with such dangerous people in + your house; they will eat up everything you have among them, and you will have + been on a fool's errand. Ask Menelaos to send you home at once if you wish to + find your excellent mother still there when you get back. Her father and + brothers are already urging her to marry Eurymakhos, who has given her more + than any of the others, and has been greatly increasing his wedding presents. I + hope nothing valuable may have been taken from the house in spite of you, but + you know what women are - they always want to do the best they can for the man + who marries them, and never give another thought to the children of their first + husband, nor to their father either when he is dead and done with. Go home, + therefore, and put everything in charge of the most respectable woman servant + that you have, until it shall please heaven to send you a wife of your own. Let + me tell you also of another matter which you had better attend to. The chief + men among the suitors are lying in wait for you in the Strait between + +Ithaca + and +Samos +, and they mean to kill you before you + can reach home. I do not much think they will succeed; it is more likely that + some of those who are now eating up your property will find a grave themselves. + Sail night and day, and keep your ship well away from the islands; the god who + watches over you and protects you will send you a fair wind. As soon as you get + to +Ithaca + send your ship and men on to + the town, but yourself go straight to the swineherd who has charge your pigs; + he is well disposed towards you, stay with him, therefore, for the night, and + then send him to Penelope to tell her that you have got back safe from + +Pylos +." +Then she went back to +Olympus +; but Telemakhos stirred Peisistratos + with his heel to rouse him, and said, "Wake up Peisistratos, and yoke the + horses to the chariot, for we must set off home." +But Peisistratos said, "No matter what hurry we + are in we cannot drive in the dark. It will be morning soon; wait till Menelaos + has brought his presents and put them in the chariot for us; and let him say + good-bye to us in the usual way. So long as he lives a guest should never + forget a host who has shown him kindness." +As he spoke day began to break, and Menelaos, + who had already risen, leaving Helen in bed, came towards them. When Telemakhos + saw him he put on his shirt as fast as he could, threw a great cloak over his + shoulders, and went out to meet him. "Menelaos," said he, "let me go back now + to my own country, for I want to get home [ +nostos +]." +And Menelaos answered, "Telemakhos, if you + insist on going I will not detain you. I do not like to see a host either too + fond of his guest or too rude to him. Moderation is best in all things, and not + letting a man go when he wants to do so is as bad as telling him to go if he + would like to stay. One should treat a guest well as long as he is in the house + and speed him when he wants to leave it. Wait, then, till I can get your + beautiful presents into your chariot, and till you have yourself seen them. I + will tell the women to prepare a sufficient dinner for you of what there may be + in the house; it will be at once more proper and cheaper for you to get your + dinner before setting out on such a long journey. If, moreover, you have a + fancy for making a tour in +Hellas + or + in the +Peloponnese +, I will yoke my + horses, and will conduct you myself through all our principal cities. No one + will send us away empty handed; every one will give us something - a bronze + tripod, a couple of mules, or a gold cup." +"Menelaos," replied Telemakhos, "I want to go + home at once, for when I came away I left my property without protection, and + fear that while looking for my father I shall come to ruin myself, or find that + something valuable has been stolen during my absence." +When Menelaos heard this he immediately told his + wife and servants to prepare a sufficient dinner from what there might be in + the house. At this moment Eteoneus joined him, for he lived close by and had + just got up; so Menelaos told him to light the fire and cook some meat, which + he at once did. Then Menelaos went down into his fragrant store room, not + alone, but Helen went too, with Megapenthes. When he reached the place where + the treasures of his house were kept, he selected a double cup, and told his + son Megapenthes to bring also a silver mixing-bowl. Meanwhile Helen went to the + chest where she kept the lovely dresses which she had made with her own hands, + and took out one that was largest and most beautifully enriched with + embroidery; it glittered like a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest. + Then they all came back through the house again till they got to Telemakhos, + and Menelaos said, "Telemakhos, may Zeus, the mighty husband of Hera, bring you + safely home [ +nostos +] according to your desire. I + will now present you with the finest and most precious piece of plate in all my + house. It is a mixing-bowl of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with + gold, and it is the work of Hephaistos. Phaidimos king of the Sidonians made me + a present of it in the course of a visit that I paid him while I was on my + return home. I should like to give it to you." +With these words he placed the double cup in + the hands of Telemakhos, while Megapenthes brought the beautiful mixing-bowl + and set it before him. Hard by stood lovely Helen with the robe ready in her + hand. +"I too, my son," said she, "have something for + you as a keepsake from the hand of Helen; it is for your bride to wear upon her + wedding day [ +hôra +]. Till then, get your dear mother + to keep it for you; thus may you go back rejoicing to your own country and to + your home." +So saying she gave the robe over to him and he + received it gladly. Then Peisistratos put the presents into the chariot, and + admired them all as he did so. Presently Menelaos took Telemakhos and + Peisistratos into the house, and they both of them sat down to table. A maid + servant brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer, and poured it into a + silver basin for them to wash their hands, and she drew a clean table beside + them; an upper servant brought them bread and offered them many good things of + what there was in the house. Eteoneus carved the meat and gave them each their + portions, while Megapenthes poured out the wine. Then they laid their hands + upon the good things that were before them, but as soon as they had had enough + to eat and drink Telemakhos and Peisistratos yoked the horses, and took their + places in the chariot. They drove out through the inner gateway and under the + echoing gatehouse of the outer court, and Menelaos came after them with a + golden goblet of wine in his right hand that they might make a drink-offering + before they set out. He stood in front of the horses and pledged them, saying, + "Farewell to both of you; see that you tell Nestor how I have treated you, for + he was as kind to me as any father could be while we Achaeans were fighting + before +Troy +." +"We will be sure, sir," answered Telemakhos, + "to tell him everything as soon as we see him. I wish I were as certain of + finding Odysseus returned when I get back to +Ithaca +, that I might tell him of the very great kindness you + have shown me and of the many beautiful presents I am taking with me." +As he was thus speaking a bird flew on his + right hand - an eagle with a great white goose in its talons which it had + carried off from the farm yard - and all the men and women were running after + it and shouting. It came quite close up to them and flew away on their right + hands in front of the horses. When they saw it they were glad, and their hearts + took comfort within them, whereon Peisistratos said, "Tell me, Menelaos, has + heaven sent this omen for us or for you?" +Menelaos was thinking what would be the most + proper answer for him to make, but Helen was too quick for him and said, "I + will read this matter as heaven has put it in my heart, and as I doubt not that + it will come to pass. The eagle came from the mountain where it was bred and + has its nest, and in like manner Odysseus, after having traveled far and + suffered much, will return to take his revenge - if indeed he is not back + already and hatching mischief for the suitors." +"May Zeus so grant it," replied Telemakhos; "if + it should prove to be so, I will make vows to you as though you were a god, + even when I am at home." +As he spoke he lashed his horses and they + started off at full speed through the town towards the open country. They + swayed the yoke upon their necks and traveled the whole day long till the sun + set and darkness was over all the land. Then they reached +Pherai +, where Diokles lived who was son of + Ortilokhos, the son of Alpheus. There they passed the night and were treated + hospitably. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, they again + yoked their horses and their places in the chariot. They drove out through the + inner gateway and under the echoing gatehouse of the outer court. Then + Peisistratos lashed his horses on and they flew forward nothing loath; ere long + they came to +Pylos +, and then + Telemakhos said: +"Peisistratos, I hope you will promise to do + what I am going to ask you. You know our fathers were old friends before us; + moreover, we are both of an age, and this journey has brought us together still + more closely; do not, therefore, take me past my ship, but leave me there, for + if I go to your father's house he will try to keep me in the warmth of his good + will towards me, and I must go home at once." +Peisistratos thought how he should do as he was + asked, and in the end he deemed it best to turn his horses towards the ship, + and put Menelaos’ beautiful presents of gold and raiment in the stern of the + vessel. Then he said, "Go on board at once and tell your men to do so also + before I can reach home to tell my father. I know how obstinate he is, and am + sure he will not let you go; he will come down here to fetch you, and he will + not go back without you. But he will be very angry." +With this he drove his goodly steeds back to + the city of the Pylians and soon reached his home, but Telemakhos called the + men together and gave his orders. "Now, my men," said he, "get everything in + order on board the ship, and let us set out home." +Thus did he speak, and they went on board even + as he had said. But as Telemakhos was thus busied, praying also and sacrificing + to Athena in the ship's stern, there came to him a man from a distant +dêmos +, a seer [ +mantis +], + who was fleeing from +Argos + because + he had killed a man. He was descended from Melampos, who used to live in + +Pylos +, the land of sheep; he was + rich and owned a great house, but he was driven into exile by the great and + powerful king Neleus. Neleus seized violently [ +biê +] + his goods and held them for a whole year, during which he was a close prisoner + in the house of king Phylakos, and in much distress of mind both on account of + the daughter of Neleus and because he was haunted by a great sorrow [ +atê +] that dread Erinyes had laid upon him. In the end, + however, he escaped with his life, drove the cattle from Phylake to +Pylos +, avenged the wrong that had been done + him, and gave the daughter of Neleus to his brother. Then he left the +dêmos + and went to +Argos +, where it was ordained that he should reign over many + people. There he married, established himself, and had two famous sons + Antiphates and Mantios. Antiphates became father of Oikleus, and Oikleus of + Amphiaraos, who was dearly loved both by Zeus and by Apollo, but he did not + live to old age, for he was killed in +Thebes + by reason of a woman's gifts. His sons were Alkmaion and + Amphilokhos. Mantios, the other son of Melampos, was father to Polypheides and + Kleitos. Aurora, throned in gold, carried off Kleitos for his beauty's sake, + that he might dwell among the immortals, but Apollo made Polypheides the + greatest seer [ +mantis +] in the whole world now that + Amphiaraos was dead. He quarreled with his father and went to live in + +Hyperesia +, where he remained + and prophesied for all men. +His son, Theoklymenos, it was who now came up + to Telemakhos as he was making drink-offerings and praying in his ship. + "Friend’" said he, "now that I find you sacrificing in this place, I beseech + you by your sacrifices themselves, and by the +daimôn + to whom you make them, I pray you also by your own head and + by those of your followers, tell me the truth and nothing but the truth. Who + and whence are you? Tell me also of your town and parents." +Telemakhos said, "I will answer you quite + truly. I am from +Ithaca +, and my father + is ‘Odysseus, as surely as that he ever lived. But he has come to some + miserable end. Therefore I have taken this ship and got my crew together to see + if I can hear any news of him, for he has been away a long time." +"I too," answered Theoklymenos, am an exile, + for I have killed a man of my own race. He has many brothers and kinsmen in + +Argos +, and they have great power + among the Argives. I am fleeing to escape death at their hands, and am thus + doomed to be a wanderer on the face of the earth. I am your suppliant; take me, + therefore, on board your ship that they may not kill me, for I know they are in + pursuit." +"I will not refuse you," replied Telemakhos, + "if you wish to join us. Come, therefore, and in +Ithaca + we will treat you hospitably according to what we + have." +On this he received Theoklymenos’ spear and + laid it down on the deck of the ship. He went on board and sat in the stern, + bidding Theoklymenos sit beside him; then the men let go the hawsers. + Telemakhos told them to catch hold of the ropes, and they made all haste to do + so. They set the mast in its socket in the cross plank, raised it and made it + fast with the forestays, and they hoisted their white sails with sheets of + twisted ox hide. Athena sent them a fair wind that blew fresh and strong to + take the ship on her course as fast as possible. Thus then they passed by + Krounoi and +Khalkis +. +Presently the sun set and darkness was over all + the land. The vessel made a quick passage to +Pherai + and thence on to +Elis +, where the Epeans rule. Telemakhos then headed her for the + flying islands, wondering within himself whether he should escape death or + should be taken prisoner. +Meanwhile Odysseus and the swineherd were + eating their supper in the hut, and the men supped with them. As soon as they + had had to eat and drink, Odysseus began trying to prove the swineherd and see + whether he would continue to treat him kindly, and ask him to stay on at the + station or pack him off to the city; so he said: +"Eumaios, and all of you, tomorrow I want to go + away and begin begging about the town, so as to be no more trouble to you or to + your men. Give me your advice therefore, and let me have a good guide to go + with me and show me the way. I will go the round of the city begging as I needs + must, to see if any one will give me a drink and a piece of bread. I should + like also to go to the house of Odysseus and bring news of her husband to queen + Penelope. I could then go about among the suitors and see if out of all their + abundance they will give me a dinner. I should soon make them an excellent + servant in all sorts of ways. Listen and believe when I tell you that by the + blessing of Hermes who gives grace [ +kharis +] and + good name to the works of all men, there is no one living who would make a more + handy servant than I should - to put fresh wood on the fire, chop fuel, carve, + cook, pour out wine, and do all those services that poor men have to do for + their betters." +The swineherd was very much disturbed when he + heard this. "Heaven help me," he exclaimed, "what ever can have put such a + notion as that into your head? If you go near the suitors you will be undone to + a certainty, for their overweening pride [ +hubris +] + and violent insolence [ +biê +] reach the very heavens. + They would never think of taking a man like you for a servant. Their servants + are all young men, well dressed, wearing good cloaks and shirts, with well + looking faces and their hair always tidy, the tables are kept quite clean and + are loaded with bread, meat, and wine. Stay where you are, then; you are not in + anybody's way; I do not mind your being here, no more do any of the others, and + when Telemakhos comes home he will give you a shirt and cloak and will send you + wherever you want to go." +Odysseus answered, "I hope you may be as dear + to the gods as you are to me, for having saved me from going about and getting + into trouble; there is nothing worse than being always ways on the tramp; + still, when men have once got low down in the world they will go through a + great deal on behalf of their miserable bellies. Since however you press me to + stay here and await the return of Telemakhos, tell about Odysseus’ mother, and + his father whom he left on the threshold of old age when he set out for + +Troy +. Are they still living or are + they already dead and in the house of Hades?" +"I will tell you all about them," replied + Eumaios, " +Laertes + is still living + and prays heaven to let him depart peacefully his own house, for he is terribly + distressed about the absence of his son, and also about the death of his wife, + which grieved him greatly and aged him more than anything else did. She came to + an unhappy end through sorrow for her son: may no friend or neighbor who has + dealt kindly by me come to such an end as she did. As long as she was still + living, though she was always grieving, I used to like seeing her and asking + her how she did, for she brought me up along with her daughter Ktimene, the + youngest of her children; we were boy and girl together, and she made little + difference between us. When, however, we both grew up, they sent Ktimene to + Same and received a splendid dowry for her. As for me, my mistress gave me a + good shirt and cloak with a pair of sandals for my feet, and sent me off into + the country, but she was just as fond of me as ever. This is all over now. + Still it has pleased heaven to prosper my work in the situation which I now + hold. I have enough to eat and drink, and can find something for any + respectable stranger who comes here; but there is no getting a kind word or + deed out of my mistress, for the house has fallen into the hands of wicked + people. Servants want sometimes to see their mistress and have a talk with her; + they like to have something to eat and drink at the house, and something too to + take back with them into the country. This is what will keep servants in a good + humor." +Odysseus answered, "Then you must have been a + very little fellow, Eumaios, when you were taken so far away from your home and + parents. Tell me, and tell me true, was the city in which your father and + mother lived sacked and pillaged, or did some enemies carry you off when you + were alone tending sheep or cattle, ship you off here, and sell you for + whatever your master gave them?" +"Stranger," replied Eumaios, "as regards your + question: sit still, make yourself comfortable, drink your wine, and listen to + me. The nights are now at their longest; there is plenty of time both for + sleeping and sitting up talking together; you ought not to go to bed till bed + time [ +hôra +], too much sleep is as bad as too + little; if any one of the others wishes to go to bed let him leave us and do + so; he can then take my master's pigs out when he has done breakfast in the + morning. We two will sit here eating and drinking in the hut, and telling one + another stories about our misfortunes; for when a man has suffered much, and + been buffeted about in the world, he takes pleasure in recalling the memory of + sorrows that have long gone by. As regards your question, then, my tale is as + follows: +"You may have heard of an island called + +Syra + that lies over above Ortygia, + where the land begins to turn round and look in another direction. It is not + very thickly peopled, but the soil is good, with much pasture fit for cattle + and sheep, and it abounds with wine and wheat. Dearth never comes there, nor + are the people [ +dêmos +] plagued by any sickness, but + when they grow old Apollo comes with Artemis and kills them with his painless + shafts. It contains two communities, and the whole country is divided between + these two. My father Ktesios son of Ormenus, a man comparable to the gods, + reigned over both. +"Now to this place there came some cunning + traders from +Phoenicia + (for the + Phoenicians are great mariners) in a ship which they had freighted with + trinkets of all kinds. There happened to be a Phoenician woman in my father's + house, very tall and comely, and an excellent servant; these scoundrels got + hold of her one day when she was washing near their ship, seduced her, and + cajoled her in ways that no woman can resist, no matter how good she may be by + nature. The man who had seduced her asked her who she was and where she came + from, and on this she told him her father's name. ‘I come from +Sidon +,’ said she, ‘and am daughter to Arybas, + a man rolling in wealth. One day as I was coming into the town from the country + some Taphian pirates seized me and took me here over the sea, where they sold + me to the man who owns this house, and he gave them their price for me.’ +"The man who had seduced her then said, ‘Would + you like to come along with us to see the house of your parents and your + parents themselves? They are both alive and are said to be well off.’ +"‘I will do so gladly,’ answered she, ‘if you + men will first swear me a solemn oath that you will do me no harm by the + way.’ +"They all swore as she told them, and when they + had completed their oath the woman said, ‘Hush; and if any of your men meets me + in the street or at the well, do not let him speak to me, for fear some one + should go and tell my master, in which case he would suspect something. He + would put me in prison, and would have all of you murdered; keep your own + counsel therefore; buy your merchandise as fast as you can, and send me word + when you have done loading. I will bring as much gold as I can lay my hands on, + and there is something else also that I can do towards paying my fare. I am + nurse to the son of the good man of the house, a funny little fellow just able + to run about. I will carry him off in your ship, and you will get a great deal + of wealth for him if you take him and sell him in foreign parts.’ +"On this she went back to the house. The + Phoenicians stayed a whole year till they had loaded their ship with much + precious merchandise, and then, when they had got freight enough, they sent to + tell the woman. Their messenger, a very cunning fellow, came to my father's + house bringing a necklace of gold with amber beads strung among it; and while + my mother and the servants had it in their hands admiring it and bargaining + about it, he made a sign quietly to the woman and then went back to the ship, + whereon she took me by the hand and led me out of the house. In the fore part + of the house she saw the tables set with the cups of guests who had been + feasting with my father, as being in attendance on him; these were now all gone + to a meeting of the population [ +dêmos +] assembly, so + she snatched up three cups and carried them off in the bosom of her dress, + while I followed her, for I knew no better. The sun was now set, and darkness + was over all the land, so we hurried on as fast as we could till we reached the + harbor, where the Phoenician ship was lying. When they had got on board they + sailed their ways over the sea, taking us with them, and Zeus sent then a fair + wind; six days did we sail both night and day, but on the seventh day Artemis + struck the woman and she fell heavily down into the ship's hold as though she + were a sea gull alighting on the water; so they threw her overboard to the + seals and fishes, and I was left all sorrowful and alone. Presently the winds + and waves took the ship to +Ithaca +, + where +Laertes + gave sundry of his + chattels for me, and thus it was that ever I came to set eyes upon this + country." +Odysseus answered, "Eumaios, I have heard the + story of your misfortunes with the most lively interest and pity, but Zeus has + given you good as well as evil, for in spite of everything you have a good + master, who sees that you always have enough to eat and drink; and you lead a + good life, whereas I am still going about begging my way from city to + city." +Thus did they converse, and they had only a + very little time left for sleep, for it was soon daybreak. In the meantime + Telemakhos and his crew were nearing land, so they loosed the sails, took down + the mast, and rowed the ship into the harbor. They cast out their mooring + stones and made fast the hawsers; they then got out upon the sea shore, mixed + their wine, and got dinner ready. As soon as they had had enough to eat and + drink Telemakhos said, "Take the ship on to the town, but leave me here, for I + want to look after the herdsmen on one of my farms. In the evening, when I have + seen all I want, I will come down to the city, and tomorrow morning in return + for your trouble I will give you all a good dinner with meat and wine." +Then Theoklymenos said, ‘And what, my dear + young friend, is to become of me? To whose house, among all your chief men, am + I to repair? Or shall I go straight to your own house and to your mother?" +"At any other time," replied Telemakhos, "I + should have bidden you go to my own house, for you would find no want of + hospitality; at the present moment, however, you would not be comfortable + there, for I shall be away, and my mother will not see you; she does not often + show herself even to the suitors, but sits at her loom weaving in an upper + chamber, out of their way; but I can tell you a man whose house you can go to - + I mean Eurymakhos the son of Polybos, who is held in the highest estimation by + every one in +Ithaca +. He is much the + best man and the most persistent wooer, of all those who are paying court to my + mother and trying to take Odysseus’ place. Zeus, however, in heaven alone knows + whether or not they will come to a bad end before the marriage takes + place." +As he was speaking a bird flew by upon his + right hand - a hawk, Apollo's messenger. It held a dove in its talons, and the + feathers, as it tore them off, fell to the ground midway between Telemakhos and + the ship. On this Theoklymenos called him apart and caught him by the hand. + "Telemakhos," said he, "that bird did not fly on your right hand without having + been sent there by some god. As soon as I saw it I knew it was an omen; it + means that you will remain powerful and that there will be no house in the + +dêmos + of +Ithaca + more royal than your own." +"I wish it may prove so," answered Telemakhos. + "If it does, I will show you so much good will and give you so many presents + that all who meet you will congratulate you." +Then he said to his friend Peiraios, "Peiraios, + son of Klytios, you have throughout shown yourself the most willing to serve me + of all those who have accompanied me to +Pylos +; I wish you would take this stranger to your own house + and entertain him hospitably till I can come for him." +And Peiraios answered, "Telemakhos, you may + stay away as long as you please, but I will look after him for you, and he + shall find no lack of hospitality." +As he spoke he went on board, and bade the + others do so also and loose the hawsers, so they took their places in the ship. + But Telemakhos bound on his sandals, and took a long and doughty spear with a + head of sharpened bronze from the deck of the ship. Then they loosed the + hawsers, thrust the ship off from land, and made on towards the city as they + had been told to do, while Telemakhos strode on as fast as he could, till he + reached the homestead where his countless herds of swine were feeding, and + where dwelt the excellent swineherd, who was so devoted a servant to his + master. +Meanwhile Odysseus and the swineherd had lit a + fire in the hut and were getting breakfast ready at daybreak for they had sent + the men out with the pigs. When Telemakhos came up, the dogs did not bark, but + fawned upon him, so Odysseus, hearing the sound of feet and noticing that the + dogs did not bark, said to Eumaios: +"Eumaios, I hear footsteps; I suppose one of your + men or some one of your acquaintance is coming here, for the dogs are fawning + upon him and not barking." +The words were hardly out of his mouth before + his son stood at the door. Eumaios sprang to his feet, and the bowls in which + he was mixing wine fell from his hands, as he made towards his master. He + kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes, and wept for joy. A father could + not be more delighted at the return of an only son, the child of his old age, + after ten years’ absence in a foreign country and after having gone through + much hardship. He embraced him, kissed him all over as though he had come back + from the dead, and spoke fondly to him saying: +"So you are come, Telemakhos, light of my eyes + that you are. When I heard you had gone to +Pylos + I made sure I was never going to see you any more. Come + in, my dear child, and sit down, that I may have a good look at you now you are + home again; it is not very often you come into the country to see us herdsmen; + you stick pretty close to the town generally. I suppose you think it better to + keep an eye on what the suitors are doing." +"So be it, old friend," answered Telemakhos, + "but I am come now because I want to see you, and to learn whether my mother is + still at her old home or whether some one else has married her, so that the bed + of Odysseus is without bedding and covered with cobwebs." +"She is still at the house," replied Eumaios, + "grieving and breaking her heart, and doing nothing but weep, both night and + day continually." +As spoke he took Telemakhos’ spear, whereon he + crossed the stone threshold and came inside. Odysseus rose from his seat to + give him place as he entered, but Telemakhos checked him; "Sit down, stranger." + said he, "I can easily find another seat, and there is one here who will lay it + for me." +Odysseus went back to his own place, and Eumaios + strewed some green brushwood on the floor and threw a sheepskin on top of it + for Telemakhos to sit upon. Then the swineherd brought them platters of cold + meat, the remains from what they had eaten the day before, and he filled the + bread baskets with bread as fast as he could. He mixed wine also in bowls of + ivy-wood, and took his seat facing Odysseus. Then they laid their hands on the + good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had enough to eat + and drink Telemakhos said to Eumaios, "Old friend, where does this stranger + come from? How did his crew bring him to +Ithaca +, and who were they?-for assuredly he did not come here + by land"’ +To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaios, "My + son, I will tell you the real truth [ +alêthês +]. He + says he is a Cretan, and that he has been a great traveler. At this moment he + is running away from a Thesprotian ship, and has refuge at my station, so I + will put him into your hands. Do whatever you like with him, only remember that + he is your suppliant." +"I am very much distressed," said Telemakhos, + "by what you have just told me. How can I take this stranger into my house? I + am as yet young, and am not strong enough to hold my own if any man attacks me. + My mother cannot make up her mind whether to stay where she is and look after + the house out of respect for public [ +dêmos +] opinion + and the memory of her husband, or whether the time is now come for her to take + the best man of those who are wooing her, and the one who will make her the + most advantageous offer; still, as the stranger has come to your station I will + find him a cloak and shirt of good wear, with a sword and sandals, and will + send him wherever he wants to go. Or if you like you can keep him here at the + station, and I will send him clothes and food that he may be no burden on you + and on your men; but I will not have him go near the suitors, for they are very + insolent [ +hubris +], and are sure to ill-treat him in + a way that would greatly grieve [ +akhos +] me; no + matter how valiant a man may be he can do nothing against numbers, for they + will be too strong for him." +Then Odysseus said, "Sir, it is right that I + should say something myself. I am much shocked about what you have said about + the insolent way in which the suitors are behaving in despite of such a man as + you are. Tell me, do you submit to such treatment tamely, or do the people of + your +dêmos +, following the voice of some god, hate + [ +ekhthros +] you? May you not complain of your + brothers - for it is to these that a man may look for support, however great + his quarrel may be? I wish I were as young as you are and in my present mind; + if I were son to Odysseus, or, indeed, Odysseus himself, I would rather some + one came and cut my head off, but I would go to the house and be the bane of + every one of these men. If they were too many for me - I being single-handed - + I would rather die fighting in my own house than see such disgraceful sights + day after day, strangers grossly maltreated, and men dragging the women + servants about the house in an unseemly way, wine drawn recklessly, and bread + wasted all to no purpose for an end that shall never be accomplished." +And Telemakhos answered, "I will tell you truly + everything. There is no enmity between me and my +dêmos +, nor can I complain of brothers, to whom a man may look for + support however great his quarrel may be. Zeus has made us a race of only sons. + +Laertes + was the only son of + Arceisius, and Odysseus only son of +Laertes +. I am myself the only son of Odysseus who left me + behind him when he went away, so that I have never been of any use to him. + Hence it comes that my house is in the hands of numberless marauders; for the + chiefs from all the neighboring islands, Dulichium, Same, +Zacynthus +, as also all the principal men of + +Ithaca + itself, are eating up my + house under the pretext of paying court to my mother, who will neither say + point blank that she will not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end, so they + are making havoc of my estate, and before long will do so with myself into the + bargain. The issue, however, rests with heaven. But do you, old friend Eumaios, + go at once and tell Penelope that I am safe and have returned from +Pylos +. Tell it to herself alone, and then + come back here without letting any one else know, for there are many who are + plotting mischief against me." +"I understand and heed you," replied Eumaios; + "you need instruct me no further, only I am going that way say whether I had + not better let poor +Laertes + know + that you are returned. He used to superintend the work on his farm in spite of + his bitter sorrow about Odysseus, and he would eat and drink at will along with + his servants; but they tell me that from the day on which you set out for + +Pylos + he has neither eaten nor + drunk as he ought to do, nor does he look after his farm, but sits weeping and + wasting the flesh from off his bones." +"More's the pity," answered Telemakhos, "I am + sorry for him, but we must leave him to himself just now. If people could have + everything their own way, the first thing I should choose would be the return + of my father; but go, and give your message; then make haste back again, and do + not turn out of your way to tell +Laertes +. Tell my mother to send one of her women secretly with + the news at once, and let him hear it from her." +Thus did he urge the swineherd; Eumaios, + therefore, took his sandals, bound them to his feet, and started for the town. + Athena watched him well off the station, and then came up to it in the form of + a woman - fair, stately, and wise. She stood against the side of the entry, and + revealed herself to Odysseus, but Telemakhos could not see her, and knew not + that she was there, for the gods do not let themselves be seen by everybody. + Odysseus saw her, and so did the dogs, for they did not bark, but went scared + and whining off to the other side of the yards. She nodded her head and + motioned to Odysseus with her eyebrows; whereon he left the hut and stood + before her outside the main wall of the yards. Then she said to him: +"Odysseus, noble son of +Laertes +, it is now time for you to tell + your son: do not keep him in the dark any longer, but lay your plans for the + destruction of the suitors, and then make for the town. I will not be long in + joining you, for I too am eager for the fray." +As she spoke she touched him with her golden + wand. First she threw a fair clean shirt and cloak about his shoulders; then + she made him younger and of more imposing presence; she gave him back his + color, filled out his cheeks, and let his beard become dark again. Then she + went away and Odysseus came back inside the hut. His son was astounded when he + saw him, and turned his eyes away for fear he might be looking upon a god. +"Stranger," said he, "how suddenly you have + changed from what you were a moment or two ago. You are dressed differently and + your color is not the same. Are you some one or other of the gods that live in + heaven? If so, be propitious to me till I can make you due sacrifice and + offerings of wrought gold. Have mercy upon me." +And Odysseus said, "I am no god, why should you + take me for one? I am your father, on whose account you grieve and suffer so + much at the hands of violent [ +biê +] men." +As he spoke he kissed his son, and a tear fell + from his cheek on to the ground, for he had restrained all tears till now. but + Telemakhos could not yet believe that it was his father, and said: +"You are not my father, but some +daimôn + is flattering me with vain hopes that I may + grieve the more hereafter; no mortal man could of himself contrive with his + +noos + to do as you have been doing, and make + yourself old and young at a moment's notice, unless a god were with him. A + second ago you were old and all in rags, and now you are like some god come + down from heaven." +Odysseus answered, "Telemakhos, you ought not + to be so immeasurably astonished at my being really here. There is no other + Odysseus who will come hereafter. Such as I am, it is I, who after long + wandering and much hardship have got home in the twentieth year to my own + country. What you wonder at is the work of the redoubtable goddess Athena, who + does with me whatever she will, for she can do what she pleases. At one moment + she makes me like a beggar, and the next I am a young man with good clothes on + my back; it is an easy matter for the gods who live in heaven to make any man + look either rich or poor." +As he spoke he sat down, and Telemakhos threw + his arms about his father and wept. They were both so much moved that they + cried aloud like eagles or vultures with crooked talons that have been robbed + of their half fledged young by peasants. Thus piteously did they weep, and the + sun would have gone down upon their mourning if Telemakhos had not suddenly + said, "In what ship, my dear father, did your crew bring you to +Ithaca +? Of what nation did they declare + themselves to be - for you cannot have come by land?" +"I will tell you the truth [ +alêtheia +], my son," replied Odysseus. "It was the + Phaeacians who brought me here. They are great sailors, and are in the habit of + giving escorts to any one who reaches their coasts. They took me over the sea + while I was fast asleep, and landed me in +Ithaca +, after giving me many presents in bronze, gold, and + raiment. These things by heaven's mercy are lying concealed in a cave, and I am + now come here on the suggestion of Athena that we may consult about killing our + enemies. First, therefore, give me a list of the suitors, with their number, + that I may learn who, and how many, they are. I can then turn the matter over + in my mind, and see whether we two can fight the whole body of them ourselves, + or whether we must find others to help us." +To this Telemakhos answered, "Father, I have + always heard of your renown [ +kleos +] both in the + field and in council, but the task you talk of is a very great one: I am awed + at the mere thought of it; two men cannot stand against many and brave ones. + There are not ten suitors only, nor twice ten, but ten many times over; you + shall learn their number at once. There are fifty-two chosen [ +krînô +] youths from Dulichium, and they have six + servants; from Same there are twenty-four; twenty young Achaeans from + +Zacynthus +, and twelve from + +Ithaca + itself, all of them well + born. They have with them a servant Medon, a bard, and two men who can carve at + table. If we face such numbers as this, you may have bitter cause to rue your + coming, and your violent revenge [ +biê +]. See whether + you cannot think of some one who would be willing to come and help us." +"Listen to me," replied Odysseus, "and think + whether Athena and her father Zeus may seem sufficient, or whether I am to try + and find some one else as well." +"Those whom you have named," answered + Telemakhos, "are a couple of good allies, for though they dwell high up among + the clouds they have power over both gods and men." +"These two," continued Odysseus, "will not keep + long out of the fray, when the suitors and we join fight in my house. Now, + therefore, return home early tomorrow morning, and go about among the suitors + as before. Later on the swineherd will bring me to the city disguised as a + miserable old beggar. If you see them ill-treating me, steel your heart against + my sufferings; even though they drag me feet foremost out of the house, or + throw things at me, look on and do nothing beyond gently trying to make them + behave more reasonably; but they will not listen to you, for the day of their + reckoning is at hand. Furthermore I say, and lay my saying to your heart, when + Athena shall put it in my mind, I will nod my head to you, and on seeing me do + this you must collect all the armor that is in the house and hide it in the + strong store room. Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you are + removing it; say that you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, + inasmuch as it is no longer what it was when Odysseus went away, but has become + soiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly that you are + afraid Zeus may set them on to quarrel over their wine, and that they may do + each other some harm which may disgrace both banquet and wooing, for the sight + of arms sometimes tempts people to use them. But leave a sword and a spear + apiece for yourself and me, and a couple oxhide shields so that we can snatch + them up at any moment; Zeus and Athena will then soon quiet these people. There + is also another matter; if you are indeed my son and my blood runs in your + veins, let no one know that Odysseus is within the house - neither +Laertes +, nor yet the swineherd, nor any of + the servants, nor even Penelope herself. Let you and me make trial the women + alone, and let us also make trial of some other of the men servants, to see who + is on our side and whose hand is against us." +"Father," replied Telemakhos, "you will come to + know me by and by, and when you do you will find that I can keep your counsel. + I do not think, however, the plan you propose will be a gain [ +kerdos +] for either of us. Think it over. It will take + us a long time to go the round of the farms and exploit the men, and all the + time the suitors will be wasting your estate with impunity and without + compunction. Prove the women by all means, to see who are disloyal and who + guiltless, but I am not in favor of going round and trying the men. We can + attend to that later on, if you really have some sign from Zeus that he will + support you." +Thus did they converse, and meanwhile the ship + which had brought Telemakhos and his crew from +Pylos + had reached the town of +Ithaca +. When they had come inside the harbor they drew the ship + on to the land; their servants came and took their armor from them, and they + left all the presents at the house of Klytios. Then they sent a servant to tell + Penelope that Telemakhos had gone into the country, but had sent the ship to + the town to prevent her from being alarmed and made unhappy. This servant and + Eumaios happened to meet when they were both on the same errand of going to + tell Penelope. When they reached the House, the servant stood up and said to + the queen in the presence of the waiting women, "Your son, my lady, is now + returned from +Pylos +"; but Eumaios + went close up to Penelope, and said privately that her son had given bidden him + tell her. When he had given his message he left the house with its outbuildings + and went back to his pigs again. +The suitors were surprised and angry at what + had happened, so they went outside the great wall that ran round the outer + court, and held a council near the main entrance. Eurymakhos, son of Polybos, + was the first to speak. +"My friends," said he, "this voyage of + Telemakhos’ is a very serious matter; we had made sure that it would come to + nothing. Now, however, let us draw a ship into the water, and get a crew + together to send after the others and tell them to come back as fast as they + can." +He had hardly done speaking when Amphinomos + turned in his place and saw the ship inside the harbor, with the crew lowering + her sails, and putting by their oars; so he laughed, and said to the others, + "We need not send them any message, for they are here. Some god must have told + them, or else they saw the ship go by, and could not overtake her. +On this they rose and went to the water side. + The crew then drew the ship on shore; their servants took their armor from + them, and they went up in a body to the place of assembly, but they would not + let any one old or young sit along with them, and Antinoos, son of Eupeithes, + spoke first. +"Good heavens," said he, "see how the gods have + saved this man from destruction. We kept a succession of scouts upon the + headlands all day long, and when the sun was down we never went on shore to + sleep, but waited in the ship all night till morning in the hope of capturing + and killing him; but some +daimôn + has conveyed him + home in spite of us. Let us consider how we can make an end of him. He must not + escape us; our affair is never likely to come off while is alive, for he is + very shrewd in +noos +, and public feeling is by no + means all on our side. We must make haste before he can call the Achaeans in + assembly; he will lose no time in doing so, for he will be furious with us, and + will tell all the world how we plotted to kill him, but failed to take him. The + people will not like this when they come to know of it; we must see that they + do us no hurt, nor drive us from our own +dêmos + into + exile. Let us try and lay hold of him either on his farm away from the town, or + on the road hither. Then we can divide up his property amongst us, and let his + mother and the man who marries her have the house. If this does not please you, + and you wish Telemakhos to live on and hold his father's property, then we must + not gather here and eat up his goods in this way, but must make our offers to + Penelope each from his own house, and she can marry the man who will give the + most for her, and whose lot it is to win her." +They all held their peace until Amphinomos rose + to speak. He was the son of Nisus, who was son to king Aretias, and he was + foremost among all the suitors from the wheat-growing and well grassed island + of Dulichium; his conversation, moreover, was more agreeable to Penelope than + that of any of the other for he was a man of good natural disposition. "My + friends," said he, speaking to them plainly and in all honestly, "I am not in + favor of killing Telemakhos. It is a heinous thing to kill one who is of noble + blood. Let us first take counsel of the gods, and if the oracles of Zeus advise + it, I will both help to kill him myself, and will urge everyone else to do so; + but if they dissuade us, I would have you hold your hands." +Thus did he speak, and his words pleased them + well, so they rose forthwith and went to the house of Odysseus where they took + their accustomed seats. +Then Penelope resolved that she would show + herself to the outrageous [ +hubris +] suitors. She + knew of the plot against Telemakhos, for the servant Medon had overheard their + counsels and had told her; she went down therefore to the court attended by her + maidens, and when she reached the suitors she stood by one of the bearing-posts + supporting the roof of the room holding a veil before her face, and rebuked + Antinoos saying: +"Antinoos, insolent [ +hubris +] and wicked schemer, they say you are the best speaker and + counselor of any man your own age in the +dêmos + of + +Ithaca +, but you are nothing of the + kind. Madman, why should you try to compass the death of Telemakhos, and take + no heed of suppliants, whose witness is Zeus himself? It is not right for you + to plot thus against one another. Do you not remember how your father fled to + this house in fear of the people [ +dêmos +], who were + enraged against him for having gone with some Taphian pirates and plundered the + Thesprotians who were at peace with us? They wanted to tear him in pieces and + eat up everything he had, but Odysseus stayed their hands although they were + infuriated, and now you devour his property without paying for it, and break my + heart by wooing his wife and trying to kill his son. Leave off doing so, and + stop the others also." +To this Eurymakhos son of Polybos answered, + "Take heart, Queen Penelope daughter of Ikarios, and do not trouble yourself + about these matters. The man is not yet born, nor never will be, who shall lay + hands upon your son Telemakhos, while I yet live to look upon the face of the + earth. I say - and it shall surely be - that my spear shall be reddened with + his blood; for many a time has Odysseus taken me on his knees, held wine up to + my lips to drink, and put pieces of meat into my hands. Therefore Telemakhos is + much the dearest friend I have, and has nothing to fear from the hands of us + suitors. Of course, if death comes to him from the gods, he cannot escape it." + He said this to quiet her, but in reality he was plotting against + Telemakhos. +Then Penelope went upstairs again and mourned + her husband till Athena shed sleep over her eyes. In the evening Eumaios got + back to Odysseus and his son, who had just sacrificed a young pig of a year old + and were ready; helping one another to get supper ready; Athena therefore came + up to Odysseus, turned him into an old man with a stroke of her wand, and clad + him in his old clothes again, for fear that the swineherd might recognize him + and not keep the secret, but go and tell Penelope. +Telemakhos was the first to speak. "So you have + got back, Eumaios," said he. "What is the news [ +kleos +] of the town? Have the suitors returned, or are they still + waiting over yonder, to take me on my way home?" +"I did not think of asking about that," replied + Eumaios, "when I was in the town. I thought I would give my message and come + back as soon as I could. I met a man sent by those who had gone with you to + +Pylos +, and he was the first to + tell the new your mother, but I can say what I saw with my own eyes; I had just + got on to the crest of the hill of Hermes above the town when I saw a ship + coming into harbor with a number of men in her. They had many shields and + spears, and I thought it was the suitors, but I cannot be sure." +On hearing this Telemakhos smiled to his + father, but so that Eumaios could not see him. +Then, when they had finished their labor [ +ponos +] and the meal was ready, they ate it, and every + man had his full share so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had + enough to eat and drink, they laid down to rest and enjoyed the boon of sleep. + +When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, + appeared, Telemakhos bound on his sandals and took a strong spear that suited + his hands, for he wanted to go into the city. "Old friend," said he to the + swineherd, "I will now go to the town and show myself to my mother, for she + will never leave off grieving till she has seen me. As for this unfortunate + stranger, take him to the town and let him beg there of any one who will give + him a drink and a piece of bread. I have trouble enough of my own, and cannot + be burdened with other people. If this makes him angry so much the worse for + him, but I like to tell the truth [ +alêthês +]." +Then Odysseus said, "Sir, I do not want to stay + here; a beggar can always do better in town than country, for any one who likes + can give him something. I am too old to care about remaining here at the beck + and call of a master. Therefore let this man do as you have just told him, and + take me to the town as soon as I have had a warm by the fire, and the day has + got a little heat in it. My clothes are wretchedly thin, and this frosty + morning I shall be perished with cold, for you say the city is some way + off." +On this Telemakhos strode off through the yards, + brooding his revenge upon the When he reached home he stood his spear against a + bearing-post of the room, crossed the stone floor of the room itself, and went + inside. +Nurse Eurykleia saw him long before any one else + did. She was putting the fleeces on to the seats, and she burst out crying as + she ran up to him; all the other maids came up too, and covered his head and + shoulders with their kisses. Penelope came out of her room looking like Artemis + or Aphrodite, and wept as she flung her arms about her son. She kissed his + forehead and both his beautiful eyes, "Light of my eyes," she cried as she + spoke fondly to him, "so you are come home again; I made sure I was never going + to see you any more. To think of your having gone off to +Pylos + without saying anything about it or + obtaining my consent. But come, tell me what you saw." +"Do not scold me, mother,’ answered Telemakhos, + "nor vex me, seeing what a narrow escape I have had, but wash your face, change + your dress, go upstairs with your maids, and promise full and sufficient + hecatombs to all the gods if Zeus will only grant us our revenge upon the + suitors. I must now go to the place of assembly to invite a stranger who has + come back with me from +Pylos +. I sent + him on with my crew, and told Peiraios to take him home and look after him till + I could come for him myself." +She heeded her son's words, washed her face, + changed her dress, and vowed full and sufficient hecatombs to all the gods if + they would only grant her revenge upon the suitors. +Telemakhos went through, and out of, the + cloisters spear in hand - not alone, for his two fleet dogs went with him. + Athena endowed him with a presence of such divine comeliness [ +kharis +] that all marveled at him as he went by, and + the suitors gathered round him with fair words in their mouths and malice in + their hearts; but he avoided them, and went to sit with Mentor, Antiphos, and + Halitherses, old friends of his father's house, and they made him tell them all + that had happened to him. Then Peiraios came up with Theoklymenos, whom he had + escorted through the town to the place of assembly, whereon Telemakhos at once + joined them. Peiraios was first to speak: "Telemakhos," said he, "I wish you + would send some of your women to my house to take away the presents Menelaos + gave you." +"We do not know, Peiraios," answered Telemakhos, + "what may happen. If the suitors kill me in my own house and divide my property + among them, I would rather you had the presents than that any of those people + should get hold of them. If on the other hand I manage to kill them, I shall be + much obliged if you will kindly bring me my presents." +With these words he took Theoklymenos to his own + house. When they got there they laid their cloaks on the benches and seats, + went into the baths, and washed themselves. When the maids had washed and + anointed them, and had given them cloaks and shirts, they took their seats at + table. A maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer, and + poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands; and she drew a + clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them bread and offered them + many good things of what there was in the house. Opposite them sat Penelope, + reclining on a couch by one of the bearing-posts of the room, and spinning. + Then they laid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as + soon as they had had enough to eat and drink Penelope said: +"Telemakhos, I shall go upstairs and lie down + on that sad couch, which I have not ceased to water with my tears, from the day + Odysseus set out for +Troy + with the + sons of Atreus. You failed, however, to make it clear to me before the suitors + came back to the house, whether or not you had been able to hear anything about + the return [ +nostos +] of your father." +"I will tell you then truth [ +alêtheia +]," replied her son. "We went to +Pylos + and saw Nestor, who took me to his + house and treated me as hospitably as though I were a son of his own who had + just returned after a long absence; so also did his sons; but he said he had + not heard a word from any human being about Odysseus, whether he was alive or + dead. He sent me, therefore, with a chariot and horses to Menelaos. There I saw + Helen, for whose sake so many, both Argives and Trojans, were in heaven's + wisdom doomed to suffer. Menelaos asked me what it was that had brought me to + +Lacedaemon +, and I told him the + whole truth [ +alêtheia +], whereon he said, ‘So, then, + these cowards would usurp a brave man's bed? A hind might as well lay her + new-born young in the lair of a lion, and then go off to feed in the forest or + in some grassy dell. The lion, when he comes back to his lair, will make short + work with the pair of them, and so will Odysseus with these suitors. By father + Zeus, Athena, and Apollo, if Odysseus is still the man that he was when he + wrestled with Philomeleides in +Lesbos +, + and threw him so heavily that all the Greeks cheered him - if he is still such, + and were to come near these suitors, they would have a swift doom and a sorry + wedding. As regards your question, however, I will not prevaricate nor deceive + you, but what the old man of the sea told me, so much will I tell you in full. + He said he could see Odysseus on an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of + the nymph Calypso, who was keeping him prisoner, and he could not reach his + home, for he had no ships nor sailors to take him over the sea.’ This was what + Menelaos told me, and when I had heard his story I came away; the gods then + gave me a fair wind and soon brought me safe home again." +With these words he moved the heart of + Penelope. Then Theoklymenos said to her: +"My lady, wife of Odysseus, Telemakhos does not + understand these things; listen therefore to me, for I can divine them surely, + and will hide nothing from you. May Zeus the king of heaven be my witness, and + the rites of hospitality, with that hearth of Odysseus to which I now come, + that Odysseus himself is even now in +Ithaca +, and, either going about the country or staying in one + place, is inquiring into all these evil deeds and preparing a day of reckoning + for the suitors. I saw an omen when I was on the ship which meant this, and I + told Telemakhos about it." +"May it be even so," answered Penelope; "if + your words come true, you shall have such gifts and such good will from me that + all who see you shall congratulate you." +Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors + were throwing discs, or aiming with spears at a mark on the leveled ground in + front of the house, and behaving with all their old insolence [ +hubris +]. But when it was now time for dinner, and the + flock of sheep and goats had come into the town from all the country round, + with their shepherds as usual, then Medon, who was their favorite servant, and + who waited upon them at table, said, "Now then, my young masters, you have had + enough sport [ +athlos +], so come inside that we may + get dinner ready. Dinner is not a bad thing, at dinner time [ +hôra +]." +They left their sports as he told them, and + when they were within the house, they laid their cloaks on the benches and + seats inside, and then sacrificed some sheep, goats, pigs, and a heifer, all of + them fat and well grown. Thus they made ready for their meal. In the meantime + Odysseus and the swineherd were about starting for the town, and the swineherd + said, "Stranger, I suppose you still want to go to town to-day, as my master + said you were to do; for my own part I should have liked you to stay here as a + station hand, but I must do as my master tells me, or he will scold me later + on, and a scolding from one's master is a very serious thing. Let us then be + off, for it is now broad day; it will be night again directly and then you will + find it colder." +"I know, and understand you," replied Odysseus; + "you need say no more. Let us be going, but if you have a stick ready cut, let + me have it to walk with, for you say the road is a very rough one." +As he spoke he threw his shabby old tattered + wallet over his shoulders, by the cord from which it hung, and Eumaios gave him + a stick to his liking. The two then started, leaving the station in charge of + the dogs and herdsmen who remained behind; the swineherd led the way and his + master followed after, looking like some broken-down old tramp as he leaned + upon his staff, and his clothes were all in rags. When they had got over the + rough steep ground and were nearing the city, they reached the fountain from + which the citizens drew their water. This had been made by Ithacus, Neritus, + and Polyktor. There was a grove of water-loving poplars planted in a circle all + round it, and the clear cold water came down to it from a rock high up, while + above the fountain there was an altar to the nymphs, at which all wayfarers + used to sacrifice. Here Melanthios son of Dolios overtook them as he was + driving down some goats, the best in his flock, for the suitors’ dinner, and + there were two shepherds with him. When he saw Eumaios and Odysseus he reviled + them with outrageous and unseemly language, which made Odysseus very angry. +"There you go," cried he, "and a precious pair + you are. See how heaven brings birds of the same feather to one another. Where, + pray, master swineherd, are you taking this poor miserable object? It would + make any one sick to see such a creature at table. A fellow like this never won + a prize for anything in his life, but will go about rubbing his shoulders + against every man's door post, and begging, not for swords and cauldrons like a + man, but only for a few scraps not worth begging for. If you would give him to + me for a hand on my station, he might do to clean out the folds, or bring a bit + of sweet feed to the kids, and he could fatten his thighs as much as he pleased + on whey; but he has taken to bad ways and will not go about any kind of work; + he will do nothing but beg victuals all the +dêmos + + over, to feed his insatiable belly. I say, therefore and it shall surely be - + if he goes near Odysseus’ house he will get his head broken by the stools they + will fling at him, till they turn him out." +On this, as he passed, he gave Odysseus a kick + on the hip out of pure wantonness, but Odysseus stood firm, and did not budge + from the path. For a moment he doubted whether or not to fly at Melanthios and + kill him with his staff, or fling him to the ground and beat his brains out; he + resolved, however, to endure it and keep himself in check, but the swineherd + looked straight at Melanthios and rebuked him, lifting up his hands and praying + to heaven as he did so. +"Fountain nymphs," he cried, "children of Zeus, + if ever Odysseus burned you thigh bones covered with fat whether of lambs or + kids, grant my prayer that a +daimôn + may send him + home. He would soon put an end to the swaggering threats with which such men as + you go about insulting people- gadding all over the town while your flocks are + going to ruin through bad shepherding." +Then Melanthios the goatherd answered, "You + ill-conditioned cur, what are you talking about? Some day or other I will put + you on board ship and take you to a foreign country, where I can sell you and + keep the wealth you will fetch. I wish I were as sure that Apollo would strike + Telemakhos dead this very day, or that the suitors would kill him, as I am that + Odysseus will never come home again." +With this he left them to come on at their + leisure, while he went quickly forward and soon reached the house of his + master. When he got there he went in and took his seat among the suitors + opposite Eurymakhos, who liked him better than any of the others. The servants + brought him a portion of meat, and an upper woman servant set bread before him + that he might eat. Presently Odysseus and the swineherd came up to the house + and stood by it, amid a sound of music, for Phemios was just beginning to sing + to the suitors. Then Odysseus took hold of the swineherd's hand, and said: +"Eumaios, this house of Odysseus is a very fine + place. No matter how far you go you will find few like it. One building keeps + following on after another. The outer court has a wall with battlements all + round it; the doors are double folding, and of good workmanship; it would be a + hard matter to take it by force of arms. I perceive, too, that there are many + people banqueting within it, for there is a smell of roast meat, and I hear a + sound of music, which the gods have made to go along with feasting." +Then Eumaios said, "You have perceived aright, + as indeed you generally do; but let us think what will be our best course. Will + you go inside first and join the suitors, leaving me here behind you, or will + you wait here and let me go in first? But do not wait long, or some one may you + loitering about outside, and throw something at you. Consider this matter I + pray you." +And Odysseus answered, "I understand and heed. + Go in first and leave me here where I am. I am quite used to being beaten and + having things thrown at me. I have been so much buffeted about in war and by + sea that I am case-hardened, and this too may go with the rest. But a man + cannot hide away the cravings of a hungry belly; this is an enemy which gives + much trouble to all men; it is because of this that ships are fitted out to + sail the seas, and to make war upon other people." +As they were thus talking, a dog that had been + lying asleep raised his head and pricked up his ears. This was Argos, whom + Odysseus had bred before setting out for +Troy +, but he had never had any work out of him. In the old days + he used to be taken out by the young men when they went hunting wild goats, or + deer, or hares, but now that his master was gone he was lying neglected on the + heaps of mule and cow dung that lay in front of the stable doors till the men + should come and draw it away to manure the great field; and he was full of + fleas. As soon as he saw Odysseus standing there, he dropped his ears and + wagged his tail, but he could not get close up to his master. When Odysseus saw + the dog on the other side of the yard, dashed a tear from his eyes without + Eumaios seeing it, and said: +"Eumaios, what a noble hound that is over + yonder on the manure heap: his build is splendid; is he as fine a fellow as he + looks, or is he only one of those dogs that come begging about a table, and are + kept merely for show?" +"This hound," answered Eumaios, "belonged to + him who has died in a far country. If he were what he was when Odysseus left + for +Troy +, he would soon show you what + he could do. There was not a wild beast in the forest that could get away from + him when he was once on its tracks. But now he has fallen on evil times, for + his master is dead and gone, and the women take no care of him. Servants never + do their work when their master's hand is no longer over them, for Zeus takes + half the goodness [ +aretê +] out of a man when he + makes a slave of him." +As he spoke he went inside the buildings to the + room where the suitors were, but +Argos + died as soon as he had recognized his master. +Telemakhos saw Eumaios long before any one else + did, and beckoned him to come and sit beside him; so he looked about and saw a + seat lying near where the carver sat serving out their portions to the suitors; + he picked it up, brought it to Telemakhos’ table, and sat down opposite him. + Then the servant brought him his portion, and gave him bread from the + bread-basket. +Immediately afterwards Odysseus came inside, + looking like a poor miserable old beggar, leaning on his staff and with his + clothes all in rags. He sat down upon the threshold of ash-wood just inside the + doors leading from the outer to the inner court, and against a bearing-post of + cypress-wood which the carpenter had skillfully planed, and had made to join + truly with rule and line. Telemakhos took a whole loaf from the bread-basket, + with as much meat as he could hold in his two hands, and said to Eumaios, "Take + this to the stranger, and tell him to go the round of the suitors, and beg from + them; a beggar must not be shamefaced [ +aidôs +]." +So Eumaios went up to him and said, "Stranger, + Telemakhos sends you this, and says you are to go the round of the suitors + begging, for beggars must not be shamefaced [ +aidôs +]." +Odysseus answered, "May lord Zeus grant all + happiness [ +olbos +] to Telemakhos, and fulfill the + desire of his heart." +Then with both hands he took what Telemakhos + had sent him, and laid it on the dirty old wallet at his feet. He went on + eating it while the bard was singing, and had just finished his dinner as he + left off. The suitors applauded the bard, whereon Athena went up to Odysseus + and prompted him to beg pieces of bread from each one of the suitors, that he + might see what kind of people they were, and tell the good from the bad; but + come what might she was not going to save a single one of them. Odysseus, + therefore, went on his round, going from left to right, and stretched out his + hands to beg as though he were a real beggar. Some of them pitied him, and were + curious about him, asking one another who he was and where he came from; + whereon the goatherd Melanthios said, "Suitors of my noble mistress, I can tell + you something about him, for I have seen him before. The swineherd brought him + here, but I know nothing about the man himself, nor where he comes from." +On this Antinoos began to abuse the swineherd. + "You precious idiot," he cried, "what have you brought this man to town for? + Have we not tramps and beggars enough already to pester us as we sit at meat? + Do you think it a small thing that such people gather here to waste your + master's property and must you needs bring this man as well?" +And Eumaios answered, "Antinoos, your birth is + good but your words evil. It was no doing of mine that he came here. Who is + likely to invite a stranger from a foreign country, unless it be one of those + who can do public service as a seer [ +mantis +], a + healer of hurts, a carpenter, or a bard who can delight us with his singing. + Such men are welcome all the world over, but no one is likely to ask a beggar + who will only worry him. You are always harder on Odysseus’ servants than any + of the other suitors are, and above all on me, but I do not care so long as + Telemakhos and Penelope are alive and here." +But Telemakhos said, "Hush, do not answer him; + Antinoos has the bitterest tongue of all the suitors, and he makes the others + worse." +Then turning to Antinoos he said, "Antinoos, + you take as much care of my interests as though I were your son. Why should you + want to see this stranger turned out of the house? Heaven forbid; take + something and give it him yourself; I do not grudge it; I bid you take it. + Never mind my mother, nor any of the other servants in the house; but I know + you will not do what I say, for you are more fond of eating things yourself + than of giving them to other people." +"What do you mean, Telemakhos," replied + Antinoos, "by this swaggering talk? If all the suitors were to give him as much + as I will, he would not come here again for another three months." +As he spoke he drew the stool on which he + rested his dainty feet from under the table, and made as though he would throw + it at Odysseus, but the other suitors all gave him something, and filled his + wallet with bread and meat; he was about, therefore, to go back to the + threshold and eat what the suitors had given him, but he first went up to + Antinoos and said: +"Sir, give me something; you are not, surely, + the poorest man here; you seem to be a chief, foremost among them all; + therefore you should be the better giver, and I will tell far and wide of your + bounty. I too was a rich [ +olbios +] man once, and had + a fine house of my own; in those days I gave to many a tramp such as I now am, + no matter who he might be nor what he wanted. I had any number of servants, and + all the other things which people have who live well and are accounted wealthy, + but it pleased Zeus to take all away from me. He sent me with a band of roving + robbers to +Egypt +; it was a long voyage + and I was undone by it. I stationed my ships in the river Aigyptos, and bade my + men stay by them and keep guard over them, while I sent out scouts to + reconnoiter from every point of vantage. +"But the men insolently disobeyed [ +hubris +] my orders, took to their own devices, and + ravaged the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking their wives and + children captives. The alarm was soon carried to the city, and when they heard + the war-cry, the people came out at daybreak till the plain was filled with + soldiers horse and foot, and with the gleam of armor. Then Zeus spread panic + among my men, and they would no longer face the enemy, for they found + themselves surrounded. The Egyptians killed many of us, and took the rest alive + to do forced labor for them; as for myself, they gave me to a friend who met + them, to take to +Cyprus +, Dmetor by + name, son of Iasos, who was a great man in +Cyprus +. Thence I am come hither in a state of great + misery." +Then Antinoos said, "What +daimôn + can have sent such a pestilence to plague us during our + dinner? Get out, into the open part of the court, or I will give you +Egypt + and +Cyprus + over again for your insolence and importunity; you have + begged of all the others, and they have given you lavishly, for they have + abundance round them, and it is easy to be free with other people's property + when there is plenty of it." +On this Odysseus began to move off, and said, + "Your looks, my fine sir, are better than your breeding; if you were in your + own house you would not spare a poor man so much as a pinch of salt, for though + you are in another man's, and surrounded with abundance, you cannot find it in + you to give him even a piece of bread." +This made Antinoos very angry, and he scowled + at him saying, "You shall pay for this before you get clear of the court." With + these words he threw a footstool at him, and hit him on the right + shoulder-blade near the top of his back. Odysseus stood firm as a rock and the + blow did not even stagger him, but he shook his head in silence as he brooded + on his revenge. Then he went back to the threshold and sat down there, laying + his well-filled wallet at his feet. +"Listen to me," he cried, "you suitors of Queen + Penelope, that I may speak even as I am minded. A man knows neither ache [ +akhos +] nor pain [ +penthos +] + if he gets hit while fighting for his wealth, or for his sheep or his cattle; + and even so Antinoos has hit me while in the service of my miserable belly, + which is always getting people into trouble. Still, if the poor have gods and + avenging deities at all, I pray them that Antinoos may come to a bad end before + his marriage." +"Sit where you are, and eat your victuals in + silence, or be off elsewhere," shouted Antinoos. "If you say more I will have + you dragged hand and foot through the courts, and the servants shall flay you + alive." +The other suitors were much displeased at this, + and one of the young men said, "Antinoos, you did ill in striking that poor + wretch of a tramp: it will be worse for you if he should turn out to be some + god - and we know the gods go about disguised in all sorts of ways as people + from foreign countries, and travel about the world to see who do amiss [ +hubris +] and who righteously." +Thus said the suitors, but Antinoos paid them + no heed. Meanwhile Telemakhos was greatly distressed [ +penthos +] about the blow that had been given to his father, and + though no tear fell from him, he shook his head in silence and brooded on his + revenge. +Now when Penelope heard that the beggar had + been struck in the banqueting-room, she said before her maids, "Would that + Apollo would so strike you, Antinoos," and her waiting woman Eurynome answered, + "If our prayers were answered not one of the suitors would ever again see the + sun rise." Then Penelope said, "Nurse, every single one of them is hateful + [ +ekhthroi +] to me, for they mean nothing but + mischief, but I hate Antinoos like the darkness of death itself. A poor + unfortunate tramp has come begging about the house for sheer want. Every one + else has given him something to put in his wallet, but Antinoos has hit him on + the right shoulder-blade with a footstool." +Thus did she talk with her maids as she sat in + her own room, and in the meantime Odysseus was getting his dinner. Then she + called for the swineherd and said, "Eumaios, go and tell the stranger to come + here, I want to see him and ask him some questions. He seems to have traveled + much, and he may have seen or heard something of my unhappy husband." +To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaios, "If + these Achaeans, my lady, would only keep quiet, you would be charmed with the + history of his adventures. I had him three days and three nights with me in my + hut, which was the first place he reached after running away from his ship, and + he has not yet completed the story of his misfortunes. If he had been the most + heaven-taught minstrel in the whole world, on whose lips all hearers hang + entranced, I could not have been more charmed as I sat in my hut and listened + to him. He says there is an old friendship between his house and that of + Odysseus, and that he comes from +Crete + + where the descendants of Minos live, after having been driven here and there by + every kind of misfortune; he also declares that he has heard of Odysseus as + being alive and near at hand among the Thesprotians [ +dêmos +], and that he is bringing great wealth home with him." +"Call him here, then," said Penelope, "that I + too may hear his story. As for the suitors, let them take their pleasure + indoors or out as they will, for they have nothing to fret about. Their grain + and wine remain unwasted in their houses with none but servants to consume + them, while they keep hanging about our house day after day sacrificing our + oxen, sheep, and fat goats for their banquets, and never giving so much as a + thought to the quantity of wine they drink. No estate can stand such + recklessness, for we have now no Odysseus to protect us. If he were to come + again, he and his son would soon have their violent revenge [ +biê +]." +As she spoke Telemakhos sneezed so loudly that + the whole house resounded with it. Penelope laughed when she heard this, and + said to Eumaios, "Go and call the stranger; did you not hear how my son sneezed + just as I was speaking? This can only mean that all the suitors are going to be + killed, and that not one of them shall escape. Furthermore I say, and lay my + saying to your heart: if I am satisfied that the stranger is speaking the truth + I shall give him a shirt and cloak of good wear." +When Eumaios heard this he went straight to + Odysseus and said, "Father stranger, my mistress Penelope, mother of + Telemakhos, has sent for you; she is in great grief, but she wishes to hear + anything you can tell her about her husband, and if she is satisfied that you + are speaking the truth, she will give you a shirt and cloak, which are the very + things that you are most in want of. As for bread, you can get enough of that + to fill your belly, by begging about the +dêmos +, and + letting those give that will." +"I will tell Penelope," answered Odysseus, + "nothing but what is strictly true. I know all about her husband, and have been + partner with him in affliction, but I am afraid of passing through this crowd + of cruel suitors, for their overweening pride [ +hubris +] and violent insolence [ +biê +] + reach heaven. Just now, moreover, as I was going about the house without doing + any harm, a man gave me a blow that hurt me very much, but neither Telemakhos + nor any one else defended me. Tell Penelope, therefore, to be patient and wait + till sundown. Let her give me a seat close up to the fire, for my clothes are + worn very thin - you know they are, for you have seen them ever since I first + asked you to help me - she can then ask me about the return of her + husband." +The swineherd went back when he heard this, and + Penelope said as she saw him cross the threshold, "Why do you not bring him + here, Eumaios? Is he afraid that some one will ill-treat him, or is he shy of + coming inside the house at all? Beggars should not be shamefaced." +To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaios, "The + stranger is quite reasonable. He is avoiding the outrageous [ +hubris +] suitors, and is only doing what any one else + would do. He asks you to wait till sundown, and it will be much better, my + lady, that you should have him all to yourself, when you can hear him and talk + to him as you will." +"The man is no fool," answered Penelope, "it + would very likely be as he says, for there are no such abominable people in the + whole world as these men are." +When she had done speaking Eumaios went back to + the suitors, for he had explained everything. Then he went up to Telemakhos and + said in his ear so that none could overhear him, "My dear sir, I will now go + back to the pigs, to see after your property and my own business. You will look + to what is going on here, but above all be careful to keep out of danger, for + there are many who bear you ill will. May Zeus bring them to a bad end before + they do us a mischief." +"Very well," replied Telemakhos, "go home when + you have had your dinner, and in the morning come here with the victims we are + to sacrifice for the day. Leave the rest to heaven and me." +On this Eumaios took his seat again, and when + he had finished his dinner he left the courts and the room with the men at + table, and went back to his pigs. As for the suitors, they presently began to + amuse themselves with singing and dancing, for it was now getting on towards + evening. +Now there came a certain common tramp who used to + go begging all over the city of +Ithaca +, and was notorious as an incorrigible glutton and drunkard. + This man had no strength [ +biê +] nor stay in him, but + he was a great hulking fellow to look at; his real name, the one his mother + gave him, was Arnaios, but the young men of the place called him Iros, because + he used to run errands for any one who would send him. As soon as he came he + began to insult Odysseus, and to try and drive him out of his own house. +"Be off, old man," he cried, "from the doorway, + or you shall be dragged out neck and heels. Do you not see that they are all + giving me the wink, and wanting me to turn you out by force, only I do not like + to do so? Get up then, and go of yourself, or we shall come to blows." +Odysseus frowned on him and said, "My friend, I + do you no manner of harm; people give you a great deal, but I am not jealous. + There is room enough in this doorway for the pair of us, and you need not + grudge me things that are not yours to give. You seem to be just such another + tramp as myself, but perhaps the gods will give us better luck [ +olbos +] by and by. Do not, however, talk too much about + fighting or you will incense me, and old though I am, I shall cover your mouth + and chest with blood. I shall have more peace tomorrow if I do, for you will + not come to the house of Odysseus any more." +Iros was very angry and answered, "You filthy + glutton, you run on trippingly like an old fish-fag. I have a good mind to lay + both hands about you, and knock your teeth out of your head like so many boar's + tusks. Get ready, therefore, and let these people here stand by and look on. + You will never be able to fight one who is so much younger than yourself." +Thus roundly did they rate one another on the + smooth pavement in front of the doorway, and when Antinoos saw what was going + on he laughed heartily and said to the others, "This is the finest sport that + you ever saw; heaven never yet sent anything like it into this house. The + stranger and Iros have quarreled and are going to fight, let us set them on to + do so at once." +The suitors all came up laughing, and gathered + round the two ragged tramps. "Listen to me," said Antinoos, "there are some + goats’ paunches down at the fire, which we have filled with blood and fat, and + set aside for supper; he who is victorious and proves himself to be the better + man shall have his pick of the lot; he shall be free of our table and we will + not allow any other beggar about the house at all." +The others all agreed, but Odysseus, to throw + them off the scent, said, "Sirs, an old man like myself, worn out with + suffering, cannot hold his own against a young one; but my irrepressible belly + urges me on, though I know it can only end in my getting a drubbing. You must + swear, however that none of you will give me a foul blow to favor Iros and + secure him the victory." +They swore as he told them, and when they had + completed their oath Telemakhos put in a word and said, "Stranger, if you have + a mind to settle with this fellow, you need not be afraid of any one here. + Whoever strikes you will have to fight more than one. I am host, and the other + chiefs, Antinoos and Eurymakhos, both of them men of understanding, are of the + same mind as I am." +Every one assented, and Odysseus girded his old + rags about his loins, thus baring his stalwart thighs, his broad chest and + shoulders, and his mighty arms; but Athena came up to him and made his limbs + even stronger still. The suitors were beyond measure astonished, and one would + turn towards his neighbor saying, "The stranger has brought such a thigh out of + his old rags that there will soon be nothing left of Iros." +Iros began to be very uneasy as he heard them, + but the servants girded him by force, and brought him into the open part of the + court in such a fright that his limbs were all of a tremble. Antinoos scolded + him and said, "You swaggering bully, you ought never to have been born at all + if you are afraid of such an old broken-down creature as this tramp is. I say, + therefore - and it shall surely be - if he beats you and proves himself the + better man, I shall pack you off on board ship to the mainland and send you to + king Echetos, who kills every one that comes near him. He will cut off your + nose and ears, and draw out your entrails for the dogs to eat." +This frightened Iros still more, but they + brought him into the middle of the court, and the two men raised their hands to + fight. Then Odysseus considered whether he should let drive so hard at Iros as + to make his +psukhê +leave him there and then as he + fell, or whether he should give him a lighter blow that should only knock him + down; in the end he deemed it best to give the lighter blow for fear the + Achaeans should begin to suspect who he was. Then they began to fight, and Iros + hit Odysseus on the right shoulder; but Odysseus gave Iros a blow on the neck + under the ear that broke in the bones of his skull, and the blood came gushing + out of his mouth; he fell groaning in the dust, gnashing his teeth and kicking + on the ground, but the suitors threw up their hands and nearly died of + laughter, as Odysseus caught hold of him by the foot and dragged him into the + outer court as far as the gate-house. There he propped him up against the wall + and put his staff in his hands. "Sit here," said he, "and keep the dogs and + pigs off; you are a pitiful creature, and if you try to make yourself king of + the beggars any more you shall fare still worse." +Then he threw his dirty old wallet, all + tattered and torn, over his shoulder with the cord by which it hung, and went + back to sit down upon the threshold; but the suitors went within the cloisters, + laughing and saluting him, "May Zeus, and all the other gods," said they, + ‘grant you whatever you want for having put an end to the importunity of this + insatiable tramp. We will take him over to the mainland presently, to king + Echetos, who kills every one that comes near him." +Odysseus hailed this as of good omen, and + Antinoos set a great goat's paunch before him filled with blood and fat. + Amphinomos took two loaves out of the bread-basket and brought them to him, + pledging him as he did so in a golden goblet of wine. "Good luck to you," he + said, "father stranger, you are very badly off at present, but I hope you will + have better times [ +olbos +] by and by." +To this Odysseus answered, "Amphinomos, you + seem to be a man of good understanding, as indeed you may well be, seeing whose + son you are. I have heard your father well spoken of [ +kleos +]; he is Nisus of Dulichium, a man both brave and wealthy. They + tell me you are his son, and you appear to be a considerable person; listen, + therefore, and take heed to what I am saying. Man is the vainest of all + creatures that have their being upon earth. As long as the gods grant him +aretê +and his knees are steady, he thinks that he + shall come to no harm hereafter, and even when the blessed gods bring sorrow + upon him, he bears it as he needs must, and makes the best of it; for the + father of gods and men gives men their daily minds [ +noos +] day by day. I know all about it, for I was a rich [ +olbios +] man once, and did much wrong in the + stubbornness [ +biâ +] of my pride, and in the + confidence that my father and my brothers would support me; therefore let a man + be pious in all things always, and take the good that the gods may see fit to + send him without vainglory. Consider the infamy of what these suitors are + doing; see how they are wasting the estate, and doing dishonor to the wife, of + one who is certain to return some day, and that, too, not long hence. Nay, he + will be here soon; may a +daimôn + send you home + quietly first that you may not meet with him in the day of his coming, for once + he is here the suitors and he will not part bloodlessly." +With these words he made a drink-offering, and + when he had drunk he put the gold cup again into the hands of Amphinomos, who + walked away serious and bowing his head, for he foreboded evil. But even so he + did not escape destruction, for Athena had doomed him fall by the hand of + Telemakhos. So he took his seat again at the place from which he had come. +Then Athena put it into the mind of Penelope to + show herself to the suitors, that she might make them still more enamored of + her, and win still further honor from her son and husband. So she feigned a + mocking laugh and said, "Eurynome, I have changed my and have a fancy to show + myself to the suitors although I detest them. I should like also to give my son + a hint that he had better not have anything more to do with them. They speak + fairly enough but they mean mischief." +"My dear child," answered Eurynome, "all that + you have said is true, go and tell your son about it, but first wash yourself + and anoint your face. Do not go about with your cheeks all covered with tears; + it is not right that you should grieve so incessantly; for Telemakhos, whom you + always prayed that you might live to see with a beard, is already grown + up." +"I know, Eurynome," replied Penelope, "that you + mean well, but do not try and persuade me to wash and to anoint myself, for + heaven robbed me of all my beauty on the day my husband sailed; nevertheless, + tell Autonoe and Hippodameia that I want them. They must be with me when I am + in the room; I am not going among the men alone; it would not be proper for me + to do so." +On this the old woman went out of the room to + bid the maids go to their mistress. In the meantime Athena bethought her of + another matter, and sent Penelope off into a sweet slumber; so she lay down on + her couch and her limbs became heavy with sleep. Then the goddess shed grace + and beauty over her that all the Achaeans might admire her. She washed her face + with the ambrosial loveliness that Aphrodite wears when she goes dancing [ +khoros +] with the Graces; she made her taller and of a + more commanding figure, while as for her complexion it was whiter than sawn + ivory. When Athena had done all this she went away, whereon the maids came in + from the women's room and woke Penelope with the sound of their talking. +"What an exquisitely delicious sleep I have + been having," said she, as she passed her hands over her face, "in spite of all + my misery. I wish Artemis would let me die so sweetly now at this very moment, + that I might no longer waste in despair for the loss of my dear husband, who + possessed every kind of good quality [ +aretê +] and + was the most distinguished man among the Achaeans." +With these words she came down from her upper + room, not alone but attended by two of her maidens, and when she reached the + suitors she stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the room, + holding a veil before her face, and with a staid maid servant on either side of + her. As they beheld her the suitors were so overpowered and became so + desperately enamored of her, that each one prayed he might win her for his own + bed fellow. +"Telemakhos," said she, addressing her son, "I + fear you are no longer so discreet and well conducted as you used to be. When + you were younger you had a subtler thoughtfulness [ +kerdos +]; now, however, that you are grown up, though a stranger to + look at you would take you for the son of a well-to-do [ +olbios +] father as far as size and good looks go, your conduct is by + no means what it should be. What is all this disturbance that has been going + on, and how came you to allow a stranger to be so disgracefully ill-treated? + What would have happened if he had suffered serious injury while a suppliant in + our house? Surely this would have been very discreditable to you." +"I am not surprised, my dear mother, at your + displeasure," replied Telemakhos, "I understand all about it and know when + things are not as they should be, which I could not do when I was younger; I + cannot, however, behave with perfect propriety at all times. First one and then + another of these wicked people here keeps driving me out of my mind, and I have + no one to stand by me. After all, however, this fight between Iros and the + stranger did not turn out as the suitors meant it to do, for the stranger got + the best of it. I wish Father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo would break the neck of + every one of these wooers of yours, some inside the house and some out; and I + wish they might all be as limp as Iros is over yonder in the gate of the outer + court. See how he nods his head like a drunken man; he has had such a thrashing + that he cannot stand on his feet nor get back to his home [ +nostos +], wherever that may be, for has no strength left in him." +Thus did they converse. Eurymakhos then came up + and said, "Queen Penelope, daughter of Ikarios, if all the Achaeans in Iasian + Argos could see you at this moment, you would have still more suitors in your + house by tomorrow morning, for you are the most admirable woman in the whole + world both as regards personal beauty and strength of understanding." +To this Penelope replied, "Eurymakhos, heaven + robbed me of all my beauty [ +aretê +] whether of face + or figure when the Argives set sail for +Troy + and my dear husband with them. If he were to return and + look after my affairs, I should both be more respected [ +kleos +] and show a better presence to the world. As it is, I am + oppressed with care, and with the afflictions which a +daimôn + has seen fit to heap upon me. My husband foresaw it all, and + when he was leaving home he took my right wrist in his hand - ‘Wife, ‘he said, + ‘we shall not all of us come safe home from +Troy +, for the Trojans fight well both with bow and spear. They + are excellent also at fighting from chariots, and nothing decides [ +krînô +] the issue of a fight sooner than this. I know + not, therefore, whether heaven will send me back to you, or whether I may not + fall over there at +Troy +. In the + meantime do you look after things here. Take care of my father and mother as at + present, and even more so during my absence, but when you see our son growing a + beard, then marry whom you will, and leave this your present home. This is what + he said and now it is all coming true. A night will come when I shall have to + yield myself to a marriage which I detest, for Zeus has taken from me all hope + of happiness [ +olbos +]. This further grief [ +akhos +], moreover, cuts me to the very heart. You + suitors are not wooing me after the custom [ +dikê +] + of my country. When men are courting a woman who they think will be a good wife + to them and who is of noble birth, and when they are each trying to win her for + himself, they usually bring oxen and sheep to feast the friends of the lady, + and they make her magnificent presents, instead of eating up other people's + property without paying for it." +This was what she said, and Odysseus was glad + when he heard her trying to get presents out of the suitors, and flattering + them with fair words which he knew she did not mean in her +noos +. +Then Antinoos said, "Queen Penelope, daughter + of Ikarios, take as many presents as you please from any one who will give them + to you; it is not well to refuse a present; but we will not go about our + business nor stir from where we are, till you have married the best man among + us whoever he may be." +The others applauded what Antinoos had said, + and each one sent his servant to bring his present. Antinoos’ man returned with + a large and lovely dress most exquisitely embroidered. It had twelve + beautifully made brooch pins of pure gold with which to fasten it. Eurymakhos + immediately brought her a magnificent chain of gold and amber beads that + gleamed like sunlight. Eurydamas’ two men returned with some earrings fashioned + into three brilliant pendants which glistened most beautifully [ +kharis +]; while king Peisandros son of Polyktor gave + her a necklace of the rarest workmanship, and every one else brought her a + beautiful present of some kind. +Then the queen went back to her room upstairs, + and her maids brought the presents after her. Meanwhile the suitors took to + singing and dancing, and stayed till evening came. They danced and sang till it + grew dark; they then brought in three braziers to give light, and piled them up + with chopped firewood very and dry, and they lit torches from them, which the + maids held up turn and turn about. Then Odysseus said: +"Maids, servants of Odysseus who has so long + been absent, go to the queen inside the house; sit with her and amuse her, or + spin, and pick wool. I will hold the light for all these people. They may stay + till morning, but shall not beat me, for I can stand a great deal." +The maids looked at one another and laughed, + while pretty Melantho began to gibe at him contemptuously. She was daughter to + Dolios, but had been brought up by Penelope, who used to give her toys to play + with, and looked after her when she was a child; but in spite of all this she + showed no consideration for the sorrows [ +penthos +] + of her mistress, and used to misconduct herself with Eurymakhos, with whom she + was in love. +"Poor wretch," said she, "are you gone clean + out of your mind? Go and sleep in some smithy, or place of public gossips, + instead of chattering here. Are you not ashamed of opening your mouth before + your betters - so many of them too? Has the wine been getting into your head, + or do you always babble in this way? You seem to have lost your wits because + you beat the tramp Iros; take care that a better man than he does not come and + cudgel you about the head till he pack you bleeding out of the house." +"Vixen," replied Odysseus, scowling at her, "I + will go and tell Telemakhos what you have been saying, and he will have you + torn limb from limb." +With these words he scared the women, and they + went off into the body of the house. They trembled all aver, for they thought + he would do what he said was true [ +alêthês +]. But + Odysseus took his stand near the burning braziers, holding up torches and + looking at the people - brooding the while on things that should surely come to + pass. +But Athena would not let the suitors for one + moment cease their insolence, for she wanted Odysseus to become even more + bitter against them in his grief [ +akhos +]; she + therefore set Eurymakhos son of Polybos on to gibe at him, which made the + others laugh. "Listen to me," said he, "you suitors of Queen Penelope, that I + may speak even as I am minded. It is not for nothing that this man has come to + the house of Odysseus; I believe the light has not been coming from the + torches, but from his own head - for his hair is all gone, every bit of + it." +Then turning to Odysseus he said, "Stranger, + will you work as a servant, if I send you to the outer limits of the field and + see that you are well paid? Can you build a stone fence, or plant trees? I will + have you fed all the year round, and will find you in shoes and clothing. Will + you go, then? Not you; for you have got into bad ways, and do not want to work; + you had rather fill your belly by going round the +dêmos + begging." +"Eurymakhos," answered Odysseus, "if you and I + were to work one against the other in early summer [ +hôra +] when the days are at their longest - give me a good scythe, + and take another yourself, and let us see which will fast the longer or mow the + stronger, from dawn till dark when the mowing grass is about. Or if you will + plough against me, let us each take a yoke of tawny oxen, well-mated and of + great strength and endurance: turn me into a four acre field, and see whether + you or I can drive the straighter furrow. If, again, war were to break out this + day, give me a shield, a couple of spears and a helmet fitting well upon my + temples - you would find me foremost in the fray, and would cease your gibes + about my belly. You are insolent and your +noos + is + cruel, and you think yourself a great man because you live in a little world, + and that a bad one. If Odysseus comes to his own again, the doors of his house + are wide, but you will find them narrow when you try to flee through them." +Eurymakhos was furious at all this. He scowled + at him and cried, "You wretch, I will soon pay you out for daring to say such + things to me, and in public too. Has the wine been getting into your head or do + you always babble in this way? You seem to have lost your wits because you beat + the tramp Iros. With this he caught hold of a footstool, but Odysseus sought + protection at the knees of Amphinomos of Dulichium, for he was afraid. The + stool hit the cupbearer on his right hand and knocked him down: the man fell + with a cry flat on his back, and his wine-jug fell ringing to the ground. The + suitors in the covered room were now in an uproar, and one would turn towards + his neighbor, saying, "I wish the stranger had gone somewhere else, bad luck to + hide, for all the trouble he gives us. We cannot permit such disturbance about + a beggar; if such ill counsels are to prevail we shall have no more pleasure at + our banquet." +On this Telemakhos came forward and said, + "Sirs, are you mad? Can you not carry your meat and your liquor decently? Some + evil spirit has possessed you. I do not wish to drive any of you away, but you + have had your suppers, and the sooner you all go home to bed the better." +The suitors bit their lips and marveled at the + boldness of his speech; but Amphinomos the son of Nisus, who was son to + Aretias, said, "Do not let us take offense; it is reasonable [ +dikaios +], so let us make no answer. Neither let us do + violence to the stranger nor to any of Odysseus’ servants. Let the cupbearer go + round with the drink-offerings, that we may make them and go home to our rest. + As for the stranger, let us leave Telemakhos to deal with him, for it is to his + house that he has come." +Thus did he speak, and his saying pleased them + well, so Moulios of Dulichium, servant to Amphinomos, mixed them a bowl of wine + and water and handed it round to each of them man by man, whereon they made + their drink-offerings to the blessed gods: Then, when they had made their + drink-offerings and had drunk each one as he was minded, they took their + several ways each of them to his own abode. +Odysseus was left in the room, pondering on the + means whereby with Athena's help he might be able to kill the suitors. + Presently he said to Telemakhos, "Telemakhos, we must get the armor together + and take it down inside. Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you have + removed it. Say that you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, + inasmuch as it is no longer what it was when Odysseus went away, but has become + soiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly that you are + afraid a +daimôn + may set them on to quarrel over + their wine, and that they may do each other some harm which may disgrace both + banquet and wooing, for the sight of arms sometimes tempts people to use + them." +Telemakhos approved of what his father had said, + so he called nurse Eurykleia and said, "Nurse, shut the women up in their room, + while I take the armor that my father left behind him down into the store room. + No one looks after it now my father is gone, and it has got all smirched with + soot during my own boyhood. I want to take it down where the smoke cannot reach + it." +"I wish, child," answered Eurykleia, "that you + would take the management of the house into your own hands altogether, and look + after all the property yourself. But who is to go with you and light you to the + store room? The maids would have so, but you would not let them. +"The stranger," said Telemakhos, "shall show me + a light; when people eat my bread they must earn it, no matter where they come + from." +Eurykleia did as she was told, and bolted the + women inside their room. Then Odysseus and his son made all haste to take the + helmets, shields, and spears inside; and Athena went before them with a gold + lamp in her hand that shed a soft and brilliant radiance, whereon Telemakhos + said, "Father, my eyes behold a great marvel: the walls, with the rafters, + crossbeams, and the supports on which they rest are all aglow as with a flaming + fire. Surely there is some god here who has come down from heaven." +"Hush," answered Odysseus, "hold your +noos + in peace and ask no questions, for this is the + manner [ +dikê +] of the gods. Get you to your bed, and + leave me here to talk with your mother and the maids. Your mother in her grief + will ask me all sorts of questions." +On this Telemakhos went by torch-light to the + other side of the inner court, to the room in which he always slept. There he + lay in his bed till morning, while Odysseus was left in the room pondering on + the means whereby with Athena's help he might be able to kill the suitors. +Then Penelope came down from her room looking + like Aphrodite or Artemis, and they set her a seat inlaid with scrolls of + silver and ivory near the fire in her accustomed place. It had been made by + Ikmalios and had a footstool all in one piece with the seat itself; and it was + covered with a thick fleece: on this she now sat, and the maids came from the + women's room to join her. They set about removing the tables at which the + wicked suitors had been dining, and took away the bread that was left, with the + cups from which they had drunk. They emptied the embers out of the braziers, + and heaped much wood upon them to give both light and heat; but Melantho began + to rail at Odysseus a second time and said, "Stranger, do you mean to plague us + by hanging about the house all night and spying upon the women? Be off, you + wretch, outside, and eat your supper there, or you shall be driven out with a + firebrand." +Odysseus scowled at her and answered, "My good + woman, why should you be so angry with me? Is it because I am not clean, and my + clothes are all in rags, and because I am obliged to go begging about the +dêmos + after the manner of tramps and beggars general? + I too was a rich [ +olbios +] man once, and had a fine + house of my own; in those days I gave to many a tramp such as I now am, no + matter who he might be nor what he wanted. I had any number of servants, and + all the other things which people have who live well and are accounted wealthy, + but it pleased Zeus to take all away from me; therefore, woman, beware lest you + too come to lose that pride and place in which you now wanton above your + fellows; have a care lest you get out of favor with your mistress, and lest + Odysseus should come home, for there is still a chance that he may do so. + Moreover, though he be dead as you think he is, yet by Apollo's will he has + left a son behind him, Telemakhos, who will note anything done amiss by the + maids in the house, for he is now no longer in his boyhood." +Penelope heard what he was saying and scolded + the maid, "Impudent baggage," said she, "I see how abominably you are behaving, + and you shall smart for it. You knew perfectly well, for I told you myself, + that I was going to see the stranger and ask him about my husband, for whose + sake I am in such continual sorrow." +Then she said to her head waiting woman + Eurynome, "Bring a seat with a fleece upon it, for the stranger to sit upon + while he tells his story, and listens to what I have to say. I wish to ask him + some questions." +Eurynome brought the seat at once and set a + fleece upon it, and as soon as Odysseus had sat down Penelope began by saying, + "Stranger, I shall first ask you who and whence are you? Tell me of your town + and parents." +"Lady;" answered Odysseus, "who on the face of + the whole earth can dare to chide with you? Your fame [ +kleos +] reaches the firmament of heaven itself; you are like some + blameless king, who upholds righteousness, as the monarch over a great and + valiant nation: the earth yields its wheat and barley, the trees are loaded + with fruit, the ewes bring forth lambs, and the sea abounds with fish by reason + of his virtues, and his people do good deeds under him. Nevertheless, as I sit + here in your house, ask me some other question and do not seek to know my race + and family, or you will recall memories that will yet more increase my sorrow. + I am full of heaviness, but I ought not to sit weeping and wailing in another + person's house, nor is it well to be thus grieving continually. I shall have + one of the servants or even yourself complaining of me, and saying that my eyes + swim with tears because I am heavy with wine." +Then Penelope answered, "Stranger, the immortal + gods robbed me of all +aretê +, whether of face or + figure, when the Argives set sail for +Troy + and my dear husband with them. If he were to return and + look after my affairs I should be both more respected [ +kleos +] and should show a better presence to the world. As it is, I + am oppressed with care, and with the afflictions which a +daimôn + has seen fit to heap upon me. The chiefs from all our islands + - Dulichium, Same, and +Zacynthus +, as + also from +Ithaca + itself, are wooing me + against my will and are wasting my estate. I can therefore show no attention to + strangers, nor suppliants, nor to people who say that they are skilled + artisans, but am all the time brokenhearted about Odysseus. They want me to + marry again at once, and I have to invent stratagems in order to deceive them. + In the first place a +daimôn + put it in my mind to + set up a great tambour-frame in my room, and to begin working upon an enormous + piece of fine needlework. Then I said to them, ‘Sweethearts, Odysseus is indeed + dead, still, do not press me to marry again immediately; wait - for I would not + have my skill in needlework perish unrecorded - till I have finished making a + shroud for the hero +Laertes +, to be + ready against the time when death shall take him. He is very rich, and the + women of the +dêmos + will talk if he is laid out + without a shroud.’ This was what I said, and they assented; whereon I used to + keep working at my great web all day long, but at night I would unpick the + stitches again by torch light. I fooled them in this way for three years + without their finding it out, but as time [ +hôra +] + wore on and I was now in my fourth year, in the waning of moons, and many days + had been accomplished, those good-for-nothing hussies my maids betrayed me to + the suitors, who broke in upon me and caught me; they were very angry with me, + so I was forced to finish my work whether I would or no. And now I do not see + how I can find any further shift for getting out of this marriage. My parents + are putting great pressure upon me, and my son chafes at the ravages the + suitors are making upon his estate, for he is now old enough to understand all + about it and is perfectly able to look after his own affairs, for heaven has + blessed him with an excellent disposition. Still, notwithstanding all this, + tell me who you are and where you come from - for you must have had father and + mother of some sort; you cannot be the son of an oak or of a rock." +Then Odysseus answered, "Lady, wife of + Odysseus, since you persist in asking me about my family, I will answer, no + matter what it costs me: people must expect to be pained [ +akhos +] when they have been exiles as long as I have, and suffered as + much among as many peoples. Nevertheless, as regards your question I will tell + you all you ask. There is a fair and fruitful island in mid-ocean called + +Crete +; it is thickly peopled and + there are ninety cities in it: the people speak many different languages which + overlap one another, for there are Achaeans, brave Eteocretans, Dorians of + three-fold race, and noble Pelasgi. There is a great town there, +Knossos +, where Minos reigned who every + nine years had a conference with Zeus himself. Minos was father to Deukalion, + whose son I am, for Deukalion had two sons Idomeneus and myself. Idomeneus + sailed for +Troy +, and I, who am the + younger, am called Aithon; my brother, however, was at once the older and the + more valiant of the two; hence it was in +Crete + that I saw Odysseus and showed him hospitality, for the + winds took him there as he was on his way to +Troy +, carrying him out of his course from cape Malea and + leaving him in +Amnisos + off the + cave of Eileithuia, where the harbors are difficult to enter and he could + hardly find shelter from the winds that were then raging. As soon as he got + there he went into the town and asked for Idomeneus, claiming to be his old and + valued friend, but Idomeneus had already set sail for +Troy + some ten or twelve days earlier, so I + took him to my own house and showed him every kind of hospitality, for I had + abundance of everything. Moreover, I fed the men who were with him with barley + meal from the public store, and got subscriptions of wine and oxen for them to + sacrifice to their heart's content. They stayed with me twelve days, for there + was a gale blowing from the North so strong that one could hardly keep one's + feet on land. I suppose some unfriendly +daimôn + had + raised it for them, but on the thirteenth day the wind dropped, and they got + away." +Many a plausible tale did Odysseus further tell + her, and Penelope wept as she listened, for her heart was melted. As the snow + wastes upon the mountain tops when the winds from South East and West have + breathed upon it and thawed it till the rivers run bank full with water, even + so did her cheeks overflow with tears for the husband who was all the time + sitting by her side. Odysseus felt for her and was for her, but he kept his + eyes as hard as or iron without letting them so much as quiver, so cunningly + did he restrain his tears. Then, when she had relieved herself by weeping, she + turned to him again and said: "Now, stranger, I shall put you to the test and + see whether or not you really did entertain my husband and his men, as you say + you did. Tell me, then, how he was dressed, what kind of a man he was to look + at, and so also with his companions." +"Lady," answered Odysseus, "it is such a long + time ago that I can hardly say. Twenty years are come and gone since he left my + home, and went elsewhere; but I will tell you as well as I can recollect. + Odysseus wore a mantle of purple wool, double lined, and it was fastened by a + gold brooch with two catches for the pin. On the face of this there was a + device that showed a dog holding a spotted fawn between his fore paws, and + watching it as it lay panting upon the ground. Every one marveled at the way in + which these things had been done in gold, the dog looking at the fawn, and + strangling it, while the fawn was struggling convulsively to escape. As for the + shirt that he wore next his skin, it was so soft that it fitted him like the + skin of an onion, and glistened in the sunlight to the admiration of all the + women who beheld it. Furthermore I say, and lay my saying to your heart, that I + do not know whether Odysseus wore these clothes when he left home, or whether + one of his companions had given them to him while he was on his voyage; or + possibly some one at whose house he was staying made him a present of them, for + he was a man of many friends and had few equals among the Achaeans. I myself + gave him a sword of bronze and a beautiful purple mantle, double lined, with a + shirt that went down to his feet, and I sent him on board his ship with every + mark of honor. He had a servant with him, a little older than himself, and I + can tell you what he was like; his shoulders were hunched, he was dark, and he + had thick curly hair. His name was Eurybates, and Odysseus treated him with + greater familiarity than he did any of the others, as being the most + like-minded with himself." +Penelope was moved still more deeply as she + heard the indisputable proofs [ +sêmata +] that + Odysseus laid before her; and when she had again found relief in tears she said + to him, "Stranger, I was already disposed to pity you, but henceforth you shall + be honored and made welcome in my house. It was I who gave Odysseus the clothes + you speak of. I took them out of the store room and folded them up myself, and + I gave him also the gold brooch to wear as an ornament. Alas! I shall never + welcome him home again. It was by an ill fate that he ever set out for that + detested city whose very name I cannot bring myself even to mention." +Then Odysseus answered, "Lady, wife of + Odysseus, do not disfigure yourself further by grieving thus bitterly for your + loss, though I can hardly blame you for doing so. A woman who has loved her + husband and borne him children, would naturally be grieved at losing him, even + though he were a worse man than Odysseus, who they say was like a god. Still, + cease your tears and listen to what I can tell. I will hide nothing from you, + and can say with perfect truth that I have lately heard of Odysseus as being + alive and on his way home [ +nostos +]; he is in the + district [ +dêmos +] of the Thesprotians, and is + bringing back much valuable treasure that he has begged from one and another of + them; but his ship and all his crew were lost as they were leaving the + Thrinacian island, for Zeus and the sun-god were angry with him because his men + had slaughtered the sun-god's cattle, and they were all drowned to a man. But + Odysseus stuck to the keel of the ship and was drifted on to the land of the + Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the immortals, and who treated him as though + he had been a god, giving him many presents, and wishing to escort him home + safe and sound. In fact Odysseus would have been here long ago, had he not + thought better to go from land to land gathering wealth; for there is no man + living who is so wily [ +kerdos +] as he is; there is + no one can compare with him. Pheidon king of the Thesprotians told me all this, + and he swore to me - making drink-offerings in his house as he did so - that + the ship was by the water side and the crew found who would take Odysseus to + his own country. He sent me off first, for there happened to be a Thesprotian + ship sailing for the wheat-growing island of Dulichium, but he showed me all + the treasure Odysseus had got together, and he had enough lying in the house of + king Pheidon to keep his family for ten generations; but the king said Odysseus + had gone to +Dodona + that he might + learn Zeus’ mind from the high oak tree, and know whether after so long an + absence he should return to +Ithaca + + openly or in secret. So you may know he is safe and will be here shortly; he is + close at hand and cannot remain away from home much longer; nevertheless I will + confirm my words with an oath, and call Zeus who is the first and mightiest of + all gods to witness, as also that hearth of Odysseus to which I have now come, + that all I have spoken shall surely come to pass. Odysseus will return in this + self same year; with the end of this moon and the beginning of the next he will + be here." +"May it be even so," answered Penelope; "if + your words come true you shall have such gifts and such good will from me that + all who see you shall congratulate you; but I know very well how it will be. + Odysseus will not return, neither will you get your escort hence, for so surely + as that Odysseus ever was, there are now no longer any such masters in the + house as he was, to receive honorable strangers or to further them on their way + home. And now, you maids, wash his feet for him, and make him a bed on a couch + with rugs and blankets, that he may be warm and quiet till morning. Then, at + day break wash him and anoint him again, that he may sit in the room and take + his meals with Telemakhos. It shall be the worse for any one of these hateful + people who is uncivil to him; like it or not, he shall have no more to do in + this house. For how, sir, shall you be able to learn whether or no I am + superior to others of my sex both in goodness of heart and understanding [ +noos +], if I let you dine in my cloisters squalid and + ill clad? Men live but for a little season; if they are hard, and deal hardly, + people wish them ill so long as they are alive, and speak contemptuously of + them when they are dead, but he that is righteous and deals righteously, the + people tell of his praise [ +kleos +] among all lands, + and many shall call him blessed." +Odysseus answered, "Lady, I have foresworn rugs + and blankets from the day that I left the snowy ranges of +Crete + to go on shipboard. I will lie as I have + lain on many a sleepless night hitherto. Night after night have I passed in any + rough sleeping place, and waited for morning. Nor, again, do I like having my + feet washed; I shall not let any of the young hussies about your house touch my + feet; but, if you have any old and respectable woman who has gone through as + much trouble as I have, I will allow her to wash them." +To this Penelope said, "My dear sir, of all the + guests who ever yet came to my house there never was one who spoke in all + things with such admirable propriety as you do. There happens to be in the + house a most respectable old woman - the same who received my poor dear husband + in her arms the night he was born, and nursed him in infancy. She is very + feeble now, but she shall wash your feet. Come here," said she, "Eurykleia, and + wash your master's age-mate; I suppose Odysseus’ hands and feet are very much + the same now as his are, for trouble ages all of us dreadfully fast." +On these words the old woman covered her face + with her hands; she began to weep and made lamentation saying, "My dear child, + I cannot think whatever I am to do with you. I am certain no one was ever more + god-fearing than yourself, and yet Zeus hates you. No one in the whole world + ever burned him more thigh bones, nor gave him finer hecatombs when you prayed + you might come to a green old age yourself and see your son grow up to take + after you; yet see how he has prevented you alone from ever getting back to + your own home. I have no doubt the women in some foreign palace which Odysseus + has got to are gibing at him as all these sluts here have been gibing you. I do + not wonder at your not choosing to let them wash you after the manner in which + they have insulted you; I will wash your feet myself gladly enough, as Penelope + has said that I am to do so; I will wash them both for Penelope's sake and for + your own, for you have raised the most lively feelings of compassion in my + mind; and let me say this moreover, which pray attend to; we have had all kinds + of strangers in distress come here before now, but I make bold to say that no + one ever yet came who was so like Odysseus in figure, voice, and feet as you + are." +"Those who have seen us both," answered + Odysseus, "have always said we were wonderfully like each other, and now you + have noticed it too. +Then the old woman took the cauldron in which + she was going to wash his feet, and poured plenty of cold water into it, adding + hot till the bath was warm enough. Odysseus sat by the fire, but ere long he + turned away from the light, for it occurred to him that when the old woman had + hold of his leg she would recognize a certain scar which it bore, whereon the + whole truth would come out. And indeed as soon as she began washing her master, + she at once knew the scar as one that had been given him by a wild boar when he + was hunting on Mount Parnassus with his excellent grandfather Autolykos - who + was the most accomplished thief and perjurer in the whole world - and with the + sons of Autolykos. Hermes himself had endowed him with this gift, for he used + to burn the thigh bones of goats and kids to him, so he took pleasure in his + companionship. It happened once that Autolykos had gone to the +dêmos + of +Ithaca + and had found the child of his daughter just born. As + soon as he had done supper Eurykleia set the infant upon his knees and said, + "You must find a name for your grandson; you greatly wished that you might have + one." +‘Son-in-law and daughter," replied Autolykos, + "call the child thus: I am highly displeased with a large number of people in + one place and another, both men and women; so name the child ‘Odysseus,’ or the + child of anger. When he grows up and comes to visit his mother's family on + Mount +Parnassus +, where my possessions + lie, I will make him a present and will send him on his way rejoicing." +Odysseus, therefore, went to +Parnassus + to get the presents from Autolykos, + who with his sons shook hands with him and gave him welcome. His grandmother + Amphithea threw her arms about him, and kissed his head, and both his beautiful + eyes, while Autolykos desired his sons to get dinner ready, and they did as he + told them. They brought in a five year old bull, flayed it, made it ready and + divided it into joints; these they then cut carefully up into smaller pieces + and spitted them; they roasted them sufficiently and served the portions round. + Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun they feasted, and + every man had his full share so that all were satisfied; but when the sun set + and it came on dark, they went to bed and enjoyed the boon of sleep. +When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, + appeared, the sons of Autolykos went out with their hounds hunting, and + Odysseus went too. They climbed the wooded slopes of Parnassus and soon reached + its breezy upland valleys; but as the sun was beginning to beat upon the + fields, fresh-risen from the slow still currents of Okeanos, they came to a + mountain dell. The dogs were in front searching for the tracks of the beast + they were chasing, and after them came the sons of Autolykos, among whom was + Odysseus, close behind the dogs, and he had a long spear in his hand. Here was + the lair of a huge boar among some thick brushwood, so dense that the wind and + rain could not get through it, nor could the sun's rays pierce it, and the + ground underneath lay thick with fallen leaves. The boar heard the noise of the + men's feet, and the hounds baying on every side as the huntsmen came up to him, + so rushed from his lair, raised the bristles on his neck, and stood at bay with + fire flashing from his eyes. Odysseus was the first to raise his spear and try + to drive it into the brute, but the boar was too quick for him, and charged him + sideways, ripping him above the knee with a gash that tore deep though it did + not reach the bone. As for the boar, Odysseus hit him on the right shoulder, + and the point of the spear went right through him, so that he fell groaning in + the dust until the life went out of him. The sons of Autolykos busied + themselves with the carcass of the boar, and bound Odysseus’ wound; then, after + saying a spell to stop the bleeding, they went home as fast as they could. But + when Autolykos and his sons had thoroughly healed Odysseus, they made him some + splendid presents, and sent him back to +Ithaca + with much mutual good will. When he got back, his father + and mother were rejoiced to see him, and asked him all about it, and how he had + hurt himself to get the scar; so he told them how the boar had ripped him when + he was out hunting with Autolykos and his sons on Mount Parnassus. +As soon as Eurykleia had got the scarred limb + in her hands and had well hold of it, she recognized it and dropped the foot at + once. The leg fell into the bath, which rang out and was overturned, so that + all the water was spilt on the ground; Eurykleia's eyes between her joy and her + grief filled with tears, and she could not speak, but she caught Odysseus by + the beard and said, "My dear child, I am sure you must be Odysseus himself, + only I did not know you till I had actually touched and handled you." +As she spoke she looked towards Penelope, as + though wanting to tell her that her dear husband was in the house, but Penelope + was unable to look in that direction and observe what was going on, for Athena + had diverted her attention [ +noos +]; so Odysseus + caught Eurykleia by the throat with his right hand and with his left drew her + close to him, and said, "Nurse, do you wish to be the ruin of me, you who + nursed me at your own breast, now that after twenty years of wandering I am at + last come to my own home again? Since it has been borne in upon you by heaven + to recognize me, hold your tongue, and do not say a word about it any one else + in the house, for if you do I tell you - and it shall surely be - that if + heaven grants me to take the lives of these suitors, I will not spare you, + though you are my own nurse, when I am killing the other women." +"My child," answered Eurykleia, "what are you + talking about? You know very well that nothing can either bend or break me. I + will hold my tongue like a stone or a piece of iron; furthermore let me say, + and lay my saying to your heart, when heaven has delivered the suitors into + your hand, I will give you a list of the women in the house who have been + ill-behaved, and of those who are guiltless." +And Odysseus answered, "Nurse, you ought not to + speak in that way; I am well able to form my own opinion about one and all of + them; hold your tongue and leave everything to heaven." +As he said this Eurykleia left the room to + fetch some more water, for the first had been all spilt; and when she had + washed him and anointed him with oil, Odysseus drew his seat nearer to the fire + to warm himself, and hid the scar under his rags. Then Penelope began talking + to him and said: +"Stranger, I should like to speak with you + briefly about another matter. It is indeed nearly bed time - for those, at + least, who can sleep in spite of sorrow. As for myself, a +daimôn + has given me a life of such unmeasurable woe [ +penthos +], that even by day when I am attending to my + duties and looking after the servants, I am still weeping and lamenting during + the whole time; then, when night comes, and we all of us go to bed, I lie awake + thinking, and my heart becomes prey to the most incessant and cruel tortures. + As the dun nightingale, daughter of Pandareus, sings in the early spring from + her seat in shadiest covert hid, and with many a plaintive trill pours out the + tale how by mishap she killed her own child Itylos, son of king Zethos, even so + does my mind toss and turn in its uncertainty whether I ought to stay with my + son here, and safeguard my substance, my bondsmen, and the greatness of my + house, out of regard to the opinion of the +dêmos + + and the memory of my late husband, or whether it is not now time for me to go + with the best of these suitors who are wooing me and making me such magnificent + presents. As long as my son was still young, and unable to understand, he would + not hear of my leaving my husband's house, but now that he is full grown he + begs and prays me to do so, being incensed at the way in which the suitors are + eating up his property. Listen, then, to a dream that I have had and interpret + it for me if you can. I have twenty geese about the house that eat mash out of + a trough, and of which I am exceedingly fond. I dreamed that a great eagle came + swooping down from a mountain, and dug his curved beak into the neck of each of + them till he had killed them all. Presently he soared off into the sky, and + left them lying dead about the yard; whereon I wept in my room till all my + maids gathered round me, so piteously was I grieving because the eagle had + killed my geese. Then he came back again, and perching on a projecting rafter + spoke to me with human voice, and told me to leave off crying. ‘Be of good + courage,’ he said, ‘daughter of Ikarios; this is no dream, but a vision of good + omen that shall surely come to pass. The geese are the suitors, and I am no + longer an eagle, but your own husband, who am come back to you, and who will + bring these suitors to a disgraceful end.’ On this I woke, and when I looked + out I saw my geese at the trough eating their mash as usual." +"This dream, lady," replied Odysseus, "can + admit but of one interpretation, for had not Odysseus himself told you how it + shall be fulfilled? The death of the suitors is portended, and not one single + one of them will escape." +And Penelope answered, "Stranger, dreams are + very curious and unaccountable things, and they do not by any means invariably + come true. There are two gates through which these insubstantial fancies + proceed; the one is of horn, and the other ivory. Those that come through the + gate of ivory are fatuous, but those from the gate of horn mean something to + those that see them. I do not think, however, that my own dream came through + the gate of horn, though I and my son should be most thankful if it proves to + have done so. Furthermore I say - and lay my saying to your heart - the coming + dawn will usher in the ill-omened day that is to sever me from the house of + Odysseus, for I am about to hold a tournament [ +athlos +] of axes. My husband used to set up twelve axes in the court, + one in front of the other, like the stays upon which a ship is built; he would + then go back from them and shoot an arrow through the whole twelve. I shall + make the suitors try to perform the same feat [ +athlos +], and whichever of them can string the bow most easily, and + send his arrow through all the twelve axes, him will I follow, and quit this + house of my lawful husband, so goodly and so abounding in wealth. But even so, + I doubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams." +Then Odysseus answered, "my lady wife of + Odysseus, you need not defer your tournament [ +athlos +], for Odysseus will return ere ever they can string the bow, + handle it how they will, and send their arrows through the iron." +To this Penelope said, "As long, sir, as you + will sit here and talk to me, I can have no desire to go to bed. Still, people + cannot do permanently without sleep, and heaven has appointed us dwellers on + earth a time for all things. I will therefore go upstairs and recline upon that + couch which I have never ceased to flood with my tears from the day Odysseus + set out for the city with a hateful name." +She then went upstairs to her own room, not + alone, but attended by her maidens, and when there, she lamented her dear + husband till Athena shed sweet sleep over her eyelids. +Odysseus slept in the room upon an undressed + bullock's hide, on the top of which he threw several skins of the sheep the + suitors had eaten, and Eurynome threw a cloak over him after he had laid + himself down. There, then, Odysseus lay wakefully brooding upon the way in + which he should kill the suitors; and by and by, the women who had been in the + habit of misconducting themselves with them, left the house giggling and + laughing with one another. This made Odysseus very angry, and he doubted + whether to get up and kill every single one of them then and there, or to let + them sleep one more and last time with the suitors. His heart growled within + him, and as a bitch with puppies growls and shows her teeth when she sees a + stranger, so did his heart growl with anger at the evil deeds that were being + done: but he beat his breast and said, "Heart, be still, you had worse than + this to bear on the day when the terrible +Cyclops + ate your brave companions; yet you bore it in silence + till your cunning got you safe out of the cave, though you made sure of being + killed." +Thus he chided with his heart, and checked it + into endurance, but he tossed about as one who turns a paunch full of blood and + fat in front of a hot fire, doing it first on one side and then on the other, + that he may get it cooked as soon as possible, even so did he turn himself + about from side to side, thinking all the time how, single handed as he was, he + should contrive to kill so large a body of men as the wicked suitors. But by + and by Athena came down from heaven in the likeness of a woman, and hovered + over his head saying, "My poor unhappy man, why do you lie awake in this way? + This is your house: your wife is safe inside it, and so is your son who is just + such a young man as any father may be proud of." +"Goddess," answered Odysseus, "all that you have + said is true, but I am in some doubt as to how I shall be able to kill these + wicked suitors single handed, seeing what a number of them there always are. + And there is this further difficulty, which is still more considerable. + Supposing that with Zeus’ and your assistance I succeed in killing them, I must + ask you to consider where I am to escape to from their avengers when it is all + over." +"For shame," replied Athena, "why, any one else + would trust a worse ally than myself, even though that ally were only a mortal + and less wise than I am. Am I not a goddess, and have I not protected you + throughout in all your ordeals [ +ponos +]? I tell you + plainly that even though there were fifty bands of men surrounding us and eager + to kill us, you should take all their sheep and cattle, and drive them away + with you. But go to sleep; it is a very bad thing to lie awake all night, and + you shall be out of your troubles before long." +As she spoke she shed sleep over his eyes, and + then went back to +Olympus +. +While Odysseus was thus yielding himself to a + very deep slumber that eased the burden of his sorrows, his admirable wife + awoke, and sitting up in her bed began to cry. When she had relieved herself by + weeping she prayed to Artemis saying, "Great Goddess Artemis, daughter of Zeus, + drive an arrow into my heart and slay me; or let some whirlwind snatch me up + and bear me through paths of darkness till it drop me into the mouths of + overflowing Okeanos, as it did the daughters of Pandareus. The daughters of + Pandareus lost their father and mother, for the gods killed them, so they were + left orphans. But Aphrodite took care of them, and fed them on cheese, honey, + and sweet wine. Hera taught them to excel all women in beauty of form and + understanding; Artemis gave them an imposing presence, and Athena endowed them + with every kind of accomplishment; but one day when Aphrodite had gone up to + +Olympus + to see Zeus about getting + them married (for well does he know both what shall happen and what not happen + to every one) the storm winds came and spirited them away to become handmaids + to the dread Erinyes. Even so I wish that the gods who live in heaven would + hide me from mortal sight, or that fair Artemis might strike me, for I would + fain go even beneath the sad earth if I might do so still looking towards + Odysseus only, and without having to yield myself to a worse man than he was. + Besides, no matter how many people may grieve by day, they can put up with it + so long as they can sleep at night, for when the eyes are closed in slumber + people forget good and ill alike; whereas my miserable +daimôn + haunts me even in my dreams. This very night I thought there + was one lying by my side who was like Odysseus as he was when he went away with + his host, and I rejoiced, for I believed that it was no dream, but the very + truth itself." +On this the day broke, but Odysseus heard the + sound of her weeping, and it puzzled him, for it seemed as though she already + knew him and was by his side. Then he gathered up the cloak and the fleeces on + which he had lain, and set them on a seat in the room, but he took the + bullock's hide out into the open. He lifted up his hands to heaven, and prayed, + saying "Father Zeus, since you have seen fit to bring me over land and sea to + my own home after all the afflictions you have laid upon me, give me a sign out + of the mouth of some one or other of those who are now waking within the house, + and let me have another sign of some kind from outside." +Thus did he pray. Zeus heard his prayer and + forthwith thundered high up among the from the splendor of +Olympus +, and Odysseus was glad when he heard + it. At the same time within the house, a miller-woman from hard by in the mill + room lifted up her voice and gave him another sign. There were twelve + miller-women whose business it was to grind wheat and barley which are the + staff of life. The others had ground their task and had gone to take their + rest, but this one had not yet finished, for she was not so strong as they + were, and when she heard the thunder she stopped grinding and gave the sign + [ +sêma +] to her master. "Father Zeus," said she, + "you who rule over heaven and earth, you have thundered from a clear sky + without so much as a cloud in it, and this means something for somebody; answer + the prayer, then, of me your poor servant who calls upon you, and let this be + the very last day that the suitors dine in the house of Odysseus. They have + worn me out with the labor of grinding meal for them, and I hope they may never + have another dinner anywhere at all." +Odysseus was glad when he heard the omens + conveyed to him by the woman's speech, and by the thunder, for he knew they + meant that he should avenge himself on the suitors. +Then the other maids in the house rose and lit + the fire on the hearth; Telemakhos also rose and put on his clothes. He girded + his sword about his shoulder, bound his sandals on his comely feet, and took a + doughty spear with a point of sharpened bronze; then he went to the threshold + of the room and said to Eurykleia, "Nurse, did you make the stranger + comfortable both as regards bed and board, or did you let him shift for + himself? - for my mother, good woman though she is, has a way of paying great + attention to second-rate people, and of neglecting others who are in reality + much better men." +"Do not find fault, child," said Eurykleia, + "when there is no one to find fault with. The stranger sat and drank his wine + as long as he liked: your mother did ask him if he would take any more bread + and he said he would not. When he wanted to go to bed she told the servants to + make one for him, but he said he was such a wretched outcast that he would not + sleep on a bed and under blankets; he insisted on having an undressed bullock's + hide and some sheepskins put for him in the room and I threw a cloak over him + myself." +Then Telemakhos went out of the court to the + place where the Achaeans were meeting in assembly; he had his spear in his + hand, and he was not alone, for his two dogs went with him. But Eurykleia + called the maids and said, "Come, wake up; set about sweeping the cloisters and + sprinkling them with water to lay the dust; put the covers on the seats; wipe + down the tables, some of you, with a wet sponge; clean out the mixing-jugs and + the cups, and for water from the fountain at once; the suitors will be here + directly; they will be here early, for it is a feast day." +Thus did she speak, and they did even as she + had said: twenty of them went to the fountain for water, and the others set + themselves busily to work about the house. The men who were in attendance on + the suitors also came up and began chopping firewood. By and by the women + returned from the fountain, and the swineherd came after them with the three + best pigs he could pick out. These he let feed about the premises, and then he + said with good humor to Odysseus, "Stranger, are the suitors treating you any + better now, or are they as insolent as ever?" +"May heaven," answered Odysseus, "requite to + them the wickedness with which they deal high-handedly in another man's house + without any sense of shame [ +aidôs +]." +Thus did they converse; meanwhile Melanthios + the goatherd came up, for he too was bringing in his best goats for the + suitors’ dinner; and he had two shepherds with him. They tied the goats up + under the gatehouse, and then Melanthios began gibing at Odysseus. "Are you + still here, stranger," said he, "to pester people by begging about the house? + Why can you not go elsewhere? You and I shall not come to an understanding + before we have given each other a taste of our fists. You beg without any sense + of decency [ +kosmos +]: are there not feasts elsewhere + among the Achaeans, as well as here?" +Odysseus made no answer, but bowed his head and + brooded. Then a third man, Philoitios, joined them, who was bringing in a + barren heifer and some goats. These were brought over by the boatmen who are + there to take people over when any one comes to them. So Philoitios made his + heifer and his goats secure under the gatehouse, and then went up to the + swineherd. "Who, Swineherd," said he, "is this stranger that is lately come + here? Is he one of your men? What is his family? Where does he come from? Poor + fellow, he looks as if he had been some great man, but the gods give sorrow to + whom they will - even to kings if it so pleases them +As he spoke he went up to Odysseus and saluted + him with his right hand; "Good day to you, father stranger," said he, "you seem + to be very poorly off now, but I hope you will have better times [ +olbos +] by and by. Father Zeus, of all gods you are the + most malicious. We are your own children, yet you show us no mercy in all our + misery and afflictions. A sweat came over me when I saw this man, and my eyes + filled with tears, for he reminds me of Odysseus, who I fear is going about in + just such rags as this man's are, if indeed he is still among the living. If he + is already dead and in the house of Hades, then, alas! for my good master, who + made me his stockman when I was quite young in the +dêmos + of the Cephallênians, and now his cattle are countless; no one + could have done better with them than I have, for they have bred like ears of + wheat; nevertheless I have to keep bringing them in for others to eat, who take + no heed of his son though he is in the house, and fear not the wrath of heaven, + but are already eager to divide Odysseus’ property among them because he has + been away so long. I have often thought - only it would not be right while his + son is living - of going off with the cattle to some foreign +dêmos +; bad as this would be, it is still harder to + stay here and be ill-treated about other people's herds. My position is + intolerable, and I should long since have run away and put myself under the + protection of some other chief, only that I believe my poor master will yet + return, and send all these suitors fleeing out of the house." +"Stockman," answered Odysseus, "you seem to be + a very well-disposed person, and I can see that you are a man of sense. + Therefore I will tell you, and will confirm my words with an oath: by Zeus, the + chief of all gods, and by that hearth of Odysseus to which I am now come, + Odysseus shall return before you leave this place, and if you are so minded you + shall see him killing the suitors who are now masters here." +"If Zeus were to bring this to pass," replied + the stockman, "you should see how I would do my very utmost to help him." +And in like manner Eumaios prayed that Odysseus + might return home. +Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors + were hatching a plot to murder Telemakhos: but a bird flew near them on their + left hand - an eagle with a dove in its talons. On this Amphinomos said, "My + friends, this plot of ours to murder Telemakhos will not succeed; let us go to + dinner instead." +The others assented, so they went inside and + laid their cloaks on the benches and seats. They sacrificed the sheep, goats, + pigs, and the heifer, and when the inward meats were cooked they served them + round. They mixed the wine in the mixing-bowls, and the swineherd gave every + man his cup, while Philoitios handed round the bread in the breadbaskets, and + Melanthios poured them out their wine. Then they laid their hands upon the good + things that were before them. +Telemakhos deliberately [ +kerdos +] made Odysseus sit in the part of the room that was paved + with stone; he gave him a shabby-looking seat at a little table to himself, and + had his portion of the inward meats brought to him, with his wine in a gold + cup. "Sit there," said he, "and drink your wine among the great people. I will + put a stop to the gibes and blows of the suitors, for this is no public house, + but belongs to Odysseus, and has passed from him to me. Therefore, suitors, + keep your hands and your tongues to yourselves, or there will be trouble." +The suitors bit their lips, and marveled at the + boldness of his speech; then Antinoos said, "We do not like such language but + we will put up with it, for Telemakhos is threatening us in good earnest. If + Zeus had let us we should have put a stop to his brave talk ere now." +Thus spoke Antinoos, but Telemakhos heeded him + not. Meanwhile the heralds were bringing the holy hecatomb through the city, + and the Achaeans gathered under the shady grove of Apollo. +Then they roasted the outer meat, drew it off + the spits, gave every man his portion, and feasted to their hearts’ content; + those who waited at table gave Odysseus exactly the same portion as the others + had, for Telemakhos had told them to do so. +But Athena would not let the suitors for one + moment drop their insolence, for she wanted Odysseus to become still more + bitter [ +akhos +] against them. Now there happened to + be among them a ribald fellow, whose name was Ktesippos, and who came from + Same. This man, confident in his great wealth, was paying court to the wife of + Odysseus, and said to the suitors, "Hear what I have to say. The stranger has + already had as large a portion as any one else; this is well, for it is not + right nor reasonable [ +dikaios +] to ill-treat any + guest of Telemakhos who comes here. I will, however, make him a present on my + own account, that he may have something to give to the bath-woman, or to some + other of Odysseus’ servants." +As he spoke he picked up a heifer's foot from + the meat-basket in which it lay, and threw it at Odysseus, but Odysseus turned + his head a little aside, and avoided it, smiling sardonically as he did so, and + it hit the wall, not him. On this Telemakhos spoke fiercely to Ktesippos, "It + is a good thing for you," said he, "that the stranger turned his head so that + you missed him. If you had hit him I should have run you through with my spear, + and your father would have had to see about getting you buried rather than + married in this house. So let me have no more unseemly behavior from any of + you, for I am grown up now to the knowledge of good and evil and understand + what is going on, instead of being the child that I have been heretofore. I + have long seen you killing my sheep and making free with my grain and wine: I + have put up with this, for one man is no match for many, but do me no further + violence. Still, if you wish to kill me, kill me; I would far rather die than + see such disgraceful scenes day after day - guests insulted, and men dragging + the women servants about the house in an unseemly way." +They all held their peace till at last Agelaos + son of Damastor said, "No one should take offense at what has just been said, + nor gainsay it, for it is quite reasonable [ +dikaios +]. Leave off, therefore, ill-treating the stranger, or any one + else of the servants who are about the house; I would say, however, a friendly + word to Telemakhos and his mother, which I trust may commend itself to both. + ‘As long,’ I would say, ‘as you had ground for hoping that Odysseus would one + day come home, there will be no +nemesis + as a result + of your waiting and suffering the suitors to be in your house. It would have + been better that he should have returned, but it is now sufficiently clear that + he will never do so; therefore talk all this quietly over with your mother, and + tell her to marry the best man, and the one who makes her the most advantageous + offer. Thus you will yourself be able to manage your own inheritance, and to + eat and drink in peace, while your mother will look after some other man's + house, not yours."’ +To this Telemakhos answered, "By Zeus, Agelaos, + and by the sorrows of my unhappy father, who has either perished far from + +Ithaca +, or is wandering in some + distant land, I throw no obstacles in the way of my mother's marriage; on the + contrary I urge her to choose whomsoever she will, and I will give her + numberless gifts into the bargain, but I dare not insist point blank that she + shall leave the house against her own wishes. Heaven forbid that I should do + this." +Athena now made the suitors fall to laughing + immoderately, and set their wits wandering; but they were laughing with a + forced laughter. Their meat became smeared with blood; their eyes filled with + tears, and their hearts were heavy with forebodings. Theoklymenos saw this and + said, "Unhappy men, what is it that ails you? There is a shroud of darkness + drawn over you from head to foot, your cheeks are wet with tears; the air is + alive with wailing voices; the walls and roof-beams drip blood; the gate of the + cloisters and the court beyond them are full of ghosts trooping down into the + night of Hades; the sun is blotted out of heaven, and a blighting gloom is over + all the land." +Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed + heartily. Eurymakhos then said, "This stranger who has lately come here has + lost his senses. Servants, turn him out into the streets, since he finds it so + dark here." +But Theoklymenos said, "Eurymakhos, you need + not send any one with me. I have eyes, ears, and a pair of feet of my own, to + say nothing of an understanding mind [ +noos +]. I will + take these out of the house with me, for I see mischief overhanging you, from + which not one of you men who are insulting people and plotting ill deeds in the + house of Odysseus will be able to escape." +He left the house as he spoke, and went back to + Peiraios who gave him welcome, but the suitors kept looking at one another and + provoking Telemakhos by laughing at the strangers. One insolent fellow said to + him, "Telemakhos, you are not happy in your guests; first you have this + importunate tramp, who comes begging bread and wine and has no skill for work + or for hard fighting [ +biê +], but is perfectly + useless, and now here is another fellow who is setting himself up as a seer. + Let me persuade you, for it will be much better, to put them on board ship and + send them off to the Sicels to sell for what they will bring." +Telemakhos gave him no heed, but sat silently + watching his father, expecting every moment that he would begin his attack upon + the suitors. +Meanwhile the daughter of Ikarios, wise + Penelope, had had a rich seat placed for her facing the court and cloisters, so + that she could hear what every one was saying. The dinner indeed had been + prepared amid merriment; it had been both good and abundant, for they had + sacrificed many victims; but the supper was yet to come, and nothing can be + conceived more gruesome than the meal which a goddess and a brave man were soon + to lay before them - for they had brought their doom upon themselves. + +Athena now put it in Penelope's mind to make the + suitors try their skill with the bow and with the iron axes, in contest among + themselves, as a means of bringing about their destruction. She went upstairs + and got the store room key, which was made of bronze and had a handle of ivory; + she then went with her maidens into the store room at the end of the house, + where her husband's treasures of gold, bronze, and wrought iron were kept, and + where was also his bow, and the quiver full of deadly arrows that had been + given him by a friend whom he had met in +Lacedaemon + - Iphitos the son of Eurytos. The two fell in with + one another in +Messene + at the + house of Ortilokhos, where Odysseus was staying in order to recover a debt that + was owing from the whole +dêmos +; for the Messenians + had carried off three hundred sheep from +Ithaca +, and had sailed away with them and with their shepherds. + In quest of these Odysseus took a long journey while still quite young, for his + father and the other chieftains sent him on a mission to recover them. Iphitos + had gone there also to try and get back twelve brood mares that he had lost, + and the mule foals that were running with them. These mares were the death of + him in the end, for when he went to the house of Zeus’ son, mighty Herakles, + who performed such prodigies of valor, Herakles to his shame killed him, though + he was his guest, for he feared not heaven's vengeance, nor yet respected his + own table which he had set before Iphitos, but killed him in spite of + everything, and kept the mares himself. It was when claiming these that Iphitos + met Odysseus, and gave him the bow which mighty Eurytos had been used to carry, + and which on his death had been left by him to his son. Odysseus gave him in + return a sword and a spear, and this was the beginning of a fast friendship, + although they never visited at one another's houses, for Zeus’ son Herakles + killed Iphitos ere they could do so. This bow, then, given him by Iphitos, had + not been taken with him by Odysseus when he sailed for +Troy +; he had used it so long as he had been + at home, but had left it behind as having been a keepsake from a valued + friend. +Penelope presently reached the oak threshold of + the store room; the carpenter had planed this duly, and had drawn a line on it + so as to get it quite straight; he had then set the door posts into it and hung + the doors. She loosed the strap from the handle of the door, put in the key, + and drove it straight home to shoot back the bolts that held the doors; these + flew open with a noise like a bull bellowing in a meadow, and Penelope stepped + upon the raised platform, where the chests stood in which the fair linen and + clothes were laid by along with fragrant herbs: reaching thence, she took down + the bow with its bow case from the peg on which it hung. She sat down with it + on her knees, weeping bitterly as she took the bow out of its case, and when + her tears had relieved her, she went to the room where the suitors were, + carrying the bow and the quiver, with the many deadly arrows that were inside + it. Along with her came her maidens, bearing a chest that contained much iron + and bronze which her husband had won as prizes. When she reached the suitors, + she stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the room, holding + a veil before her face, and with a maid on either side of her. Then she + said: +"Listen to me you suitors, who persist in + abusing the hospitality of this house because its owner has been long absent, + and without other pretext than that you want to marry me; this, then, being the + prize that you are contending for, I will bring out the mighty bow of Odysseus, + and whomsoever of you shall string it most easily and send his arrow through + each one of twelve axes, him will I follow and quit this house of my lawful + husband, so goodly, and so abounding in wealth. But even so I doubt not that I + shall remember it in my dreams." +As she spoke, she told Eumaios to set the bow + and the pieces of iron before the suitors, and Eumaios wept as he took them to + do as she had bidden him. Hard by, the stockman wept also when he saw his + master's bow, but Antinoos scolded them. "You country louts," said he, "silly + simpletons; why should you add to the sorrows of your mistress by crying in + this way? She has enough to grieve her in the loss of her husband; sit still, + therefore, and eat your dinners in silence, or go outside if you want to cry, + and leave the bow behind you. We suitors shall have to contend [ +athlos +] for it with might and main, for we shall find + it no light matter to string such a bow as this is. There is not a man of us + all who is such another as Odysseus; for I have seen him and remember him, + though I was then only a child." +This was what he said, but all the time he was + expecting to be able to string the bow and shoot through the iron, whereas in + fact he was to be the first that should taste of the arrows from the hands of + Odysseus, whom he was dishonoring in his own house - egging the others on to do + so also. +Then Telemakhos spoke. "Great heavens!" he + exclaimed, "Zeus must have robbed me of my senses. Here is my dear and + excellent mother saying she will quit this house and marry again, yet I am + laughing and enjoying myself as though there were nothing happening. But, + suitors, as the contest [ +athlos +] has been agreed + upon, let it go forward. It is for a woman whose peer is not to be found in + +Pylos +, +Argos +, or +Mycenae +, nor yet in +Ithaca + nor on the mainland. You know this as well as I do; what + need have I to speak in praise [ +ainos +] of my + mother? Come on, then, make no excuses for delay, but let us see whether you + can string the bow or no. I too will make trial of it, for if I can string it + and shoot through the iron, I shall not suffer my mother to quit this house + with a stranger, not if I can win the prizes which my father won before + me." +As he spoke he sprang from his seat, threw his + crimson cloak from him, and took his sword from his shoulder. First he set the + axes in a row, in a long groove which he had dug for them, and had made + straight by line. Then he stamped the earth tight round them, and everyone was + surprised when they saw him set up so orderly, though he had never seen + anything of the kind before. This done, he went on to the pavement to make + trial of the bow; thrice did he tug at it, trying with all his might to draw + the string, and thrice he had to rest his strength [ +biê +], though he had hoped to string the bow and shoot through the + iron. He was trying forcefully [ +biê +] for the fourth + time, and would have strung it had not Odysseus made a sign to check him in + spite of all his eagerness. So he said: +"Alas! I shall either be always feeble and of + no prowess, or I am too young, and have not yet reached my full strength so as + to be able to hold my own if any one attacks me. You others, therefore, who are + stronger [ +biê +] than I, make trial of the bow and + get this contest [ +athlos +] settled." +On this he put the bow down, letting it lean + against the door [that led into the house] with the arrow standing against the + top of the bow. Then he sat down on the seat from which he had risen, and + Antinoos said: +"Come on each of you in his turn, going towards + the right from the place at which the cupbearer begins when he is handing round + the wine." +The rest agreed, and Leiodes son of Oinops was + the first to rise. He was sacrificial priest to the suitors, and sat in the + corner near the mixing-bowl. He was the only man to whom their evil deeds were + hateful [ +ekhthra +]and was indignant with the others. + He was now the first to take the bow and arrow, so he went on to the pavement + to make his trial, but he could not string the bow, for his hands were weak and + unused to hard work, they therefore soon grew tired, and he said to the + suitors, "My friends, I cannot string it; let another have it; this bow shall + take the life and soul [ +psukhê +] out of many a chief + among us, for it is better to die than to live after having missed the prize + that we have so long striven for, and which has brought us so long together. + Some one of us is even now hoping and praying that he may marry Penelope, but + when he has seen this bow and tried it, let him woo and make bridal offerings + to some other woman, and let Penelope marry whoever makes her the best offer + and whose lot it is to win her." +On this he put the bow down, letting it lean + against the door, with the arrow standing against the tip of the bow. Then he + took his seat again on the seat from which he had risen; and Antinoos rebuked + him saying: +"Leiodes, what are you talking about? Your + words are monstrous and intolerable; it makes me angry to listen to you. Shall, + then, this bow take the life [ +psukhê +] of many a + chief among us, merely because you cannot bend it yourself? True, you were not + born to be an archer, but there are others who will soon string it." +Then he said to Melanthios the goatherd, "Look + sharp, light a fire in the court, and set a seat hard by with a sheep skin on + it; bring us also a large ball of lard, from what they have in the house. Let + us warm the bow and grease it; we will then make trial of it again, and bring + the contest [ +athlos +] to an end." +Melanthios lit the fire, and set a seat covered + with sheep skins beside it. He also brought a great ball of lard from what they + had in the house, and the suitors warmed the bow and again made trial of it, + but they were none of them nearly strong [ +biê +] + enough to string it. Nevertheless there still remained Antinoos and Eurymakhos, + who were the ringleaders among the suitors and much the foremost in +aretê + among them all. +Then the swineherd and the stockman left the + cloisters together, and Odysseus followed them. When they had got outside the + gates and the outer yard, Odysseus said to them quietly: +"Stockman, and you swineherd, I have something + in my mind which I am in doubt whether to say or no; but I think I will say it. + What manner of men would you be to stand by Odysseus, if some god should bring + him back here all of a sudden? Say which you are disposed to do - to side with + the suitors, or with Odysseus?" +"Father Zeus," answered the stockman, "would + indeed that you might so ordain it. If some +daimôn + + were but to bring Odysseus back, you should see with what might and main I + would fight for him." +In like words Eumaios prayed to all the gods + that Odysseus might return; when, therefore, he saw for certain what mind + [ +noos +] they were of, Odysseus said, "It is I, + Odysseus, who am here. I have suffered much, but at last, in the twentieth + year, I am come back to my own country. I find that you two alone of all my + servants are glad that I should do so, for I have not heard any of the others + praying for my return. To you two, therefore, will I unfold the truth [ +alêtheia +] as it shall be. If heaven shall deliver the + suitors into my hands, I will find wives for both of you, will give you house + and holding close to my own, and you shall be to me as though you were brothers + and friends of Telemakhos. I will now give you a convincing proof [ +sêma +] that you may know me and be assured. See, here + is the scar from the boar's tooth that ripped me when I was out hunting on + Mount Parnassus with the sons of Autolykos." +As he spoke he drew his rags aside from the + great scar, and when they had examined it thoroughly, they both of them wept + about Odysseus, threw their arms round him and kissed his head and shoulders, + while Odysseus kissed their hands and faces in return. The sun would have gone + down upon their mourning if Odysseus had not checked them and said: +"Cease your weeping, lest some one should come + outside and see us, and tell those who are within. When you go in, do so + separately, not both together; I will go first, and do you follow afterwards; + Let this moreover be the sign [ +sêma +] between us; + the suitors will all of them try to prevent me from getting hold of the bow and + quiver; do you, therefore, Eumaios, place it in my hands when you are carrying + it about, and tell the women to close the doors of their apartment. If they + hear any groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house, they must not + come out; they must keep quiet, and stay where they are at their work. And I + charge you, Philoitios, to make fast the doors of the outer court, and to bind + them securely at once." +When he had thus spoken, he went back to the + house and took the seat that he had left. Presently, his two servants followed + him inside. +At this moment the bow was in the hands of + Eurymakhos, who was warming it by the fire, but even so he could not string it, + and he was greatly grieved. He heaved a deep sigh and said, "I grieve [ +akhos +] for myself and for us all; I grieve that I + shall have to forgo the marriage, but I do not care nearly so much about this, + for there are plenty of other women in +Ithaca + and elsewhere; what I feel most is the fact of our being + so inferior to Odysseus in strength [ +biê +] that we + cannot string his bow. This will disgrace us in the eyes of those who are yet + unborn." +"It shall not be so, Eurymakhos," said + Antinoos, "and you know it yourself. To-day is the feast of Apollo throughout + all the +dêmos +; who can string a bow on such a day + as this? Put it on one side - as for the axes they can stay where they are, for + no one is likely to come to the house and take them away: let the cupbearer go + round with his cups, that we may make our drink-offerings and drop this matter + of the bow; we will tell Melanthios to bring us in some goats tomorrow - the + best he has; we can then offer thigh bones to Apollo the mighty archer, and + again make trial of the bow, so as to bring the contest [ +athlos +] to an end." +The rest approved his words, and thereon men + servants poured water over the hands of the guests, while pages filled the + mixing-bowls with wine and water and handed it round after giving every man his + drink-offering. Then, when they had made their offerings and had drunk each as + much as he desired, Odysseus craftily said: +"Suitors of the illustrious queen, listen that + I may speak even as I am minded. I appeal more especially to Eurymakhos, and to + Antinoos who has just spoken with so much reason. Cease shooting for the + present and leave the matter to the gods, but in the morning let heaven give + victory to whom it will. For the moment, however, give me the bow that I may + prove the power of my hands among you all, and see whether I still have as much + strength as I used to have, or whether travel and neglect have made an end of + it." +This made them all very angry, for they feared + he might string the bow; Antinoos therefore rebuked him fiercely saying, + "Wretched creature, you have not so much as a grain of sense in your whole + body; you ought to think yourself lucky in being allowed to dine unharmed among + your betters, without having any smaller portion served you than we others have + had, and in being allowed to hear our conversation. No other beggar or stranger + has been allowed to hear what we say among ourselves; the wine must have been + doing you a mischief, as it does with all those drink immoderately. It was wine + that inflamed the Centaur Eurytion when he was staying with Peirithoos among + the Lapiths. When the wine had got into his head he went mad and did ill deeds + about the house of Peirithoos; this grieved [ +akhos +] + the heroes who were there assembled, so they rushed at him and cut off his ears + and nostrils; then they dragged him through the doorway out of the house, so he + went away crazed, and bore the burden [ +atê +] of his + crime, bereft of understanding. Henceforth, therefore, there was war between + humankind and the centaurs, but he brought it upon himself through his own + drunkenness. In like manner I can tell you that it will go hardly with you if + you string the bow: you will find no mercy from any one in our +dêmos +, for we shall at once ship you off to king + Echetos, who kills every one that comes near him: you will never get away + alive, so drink and keep quiet without getting into a quarrel with men younger + than yourself." +Penelope then spoke to him. "Antinoos," said + she, "it is not right [ +dikaios +] that you should + ill-treat any guest of Telemakhos who comes to this house. If the stranger + should prove strong [ +biê +] enough to string the + mighty bow of Odysseus, can you suppose that he would take me home with him and + make me his wife? Even the man himself can have no such idea in his mind: none + of you need let that disturb his feasting; it would be out of all reason." +"Queen Penelope," answered Eurymakhos, "we do + not suppose that this man will take you away with him; it is impossible; but we + are afraid lest some of the baser sort, men or women among the Achaeans, should + go gossiping about and say, ‘These suitors are a feeble folk; they are paying + court to the wife of a brave man whose bow not one of them was able to string, + and yet a beggarly tramp who came to the house strung it at once and sent an + arrow through the iron.’ This is what will be said, and it will be a scandal + against us." +"Eurymakhos," Penelope answered, "people who + persist in eating up the estate of a great chieftain and dishonoring his house + must not expect others in the +dêmos +to think well + of them. Why then should you mind if men talk as you think they will? This + stranger is strong and well-built, he says moreover that he is of noble birth. + Give him the bow, and let us see whether he can string it or no. I say - and it + shall surely be - that if Apollo grants him the glory of stringing it, I will + give him a cloak and shirt of good wear, with a javelin to keep off dogs and + robbers, and a sharp sword. I will also give him sandals, and will see him sent + safely wherever he wants to go." +Then Telemakhos said, "Mother, I am the only + man either in +Ithaca + or in the islands + that are over against Elis who has the right to let any one have the bow or to + refuse it. No one shall force me one way or the other, not even though I choose + to make the stranger a present of the bow outright, and let him take it away + with him. Go, then, within the house and busy yourself with your daily duties, + your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants. This bow is a man's + matter, and mine above all others, for it is I who am master here." +She went wondering back into the house, and + laid her son's saying in her heart. Then going upstairs with her handmaids into + her room, she mourned her dear husband till Athena sent sweet sleep over her + eyelids. +The swineherd now took up the bow and was for + taking it to Odysseus, but the suitors clamored at him from all parts of the + cloisters, and one of them said, "You idiot, where are you taking the bow to? + Are you out of your wits? If Apollo and the other gods will answer our prayer, + your own boarhounds shall get you into some quiet little place, and worry you + to death." +Eumaios was frightened at the outcry they all + raised, so he put the bow down then and there, but Telemakhos shouted out at + him from the other side of the cloisters, and threatened him saying, "Father + Eumaios, bring the bow on in spite of them, or young as I am I will pelt you + with stones back to the country, for I am the stronger [ +biê +] man of the two. I wish I was as much stronger than all the + other suitors in the house as I am than you, I would soon send some of them off + sick and sorry, for they mean mischief." +Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed + heartily, which put them in a better humor with Telemakhos; so Eumaios brought + the bow on and placed it in the hands of Odysseus. When he had done this, he + called Eurykleia apart and said to her, "Eurykleia, Telemakhos says you are to + close the doors of the women's apartments. If they hear any groaning or uproar + as of men fighting about the house, they are not to come out, but are to keep + quiet and stay where they are at their work." +Eurykleia did as she was told and closed the + doors of the women's apartments. +Meanwhile Philoitios slipped quietly out and + made fast the gates of the outer court. There was a ship's cable of papyrus + fiber lying in the gatehouse, so he made the gates fast with it and then came + in again, resuming the seat that he had left, and keeping an eye on Odysseus, + who had now got the bow in his hands, and was turning it every way about, and + proving it all over to see whether the worms had been eating into its two horns + during his absence. Then would one turn towards his neighbor saying, "This is + some tricky old bow-fancier; either he has got one like it at home, or he wants + to make one, in such workmanlike style does the old vagabond handle it." +Another said, "I hope he may be no more + successful in other things than he is likely to be in stringing this bow." +But Odysseus, when he had taken it up and + examined it all over, strung it as easily as a skilled bard strings a new peg + of his lyre and makes the twisted gut fast at both ends. Then he took it in his + right hand to prove the string, and it sang sweetly under his touch like the + twittering of a swallow. The suitors were dismayed [ +akhos +], and turned color as they heard it; at that moment, moreover, + Zeus thundered loudly as a sign [ +sêma +], and the + heart of Odysseus rejoiced as he heard the omen that the son of scheming Kronos + had sent him. +He took an arrow that was lying upon the table + - for those which the Achaeans were so shortly about to taste were all inside + the quiver - he laid it on the center-piece of the bow, and drew the notch of + the arrow and the string toward him, still seated on his seat. When he had + taken aim he let fly, and his arrow pierced every one of the handle-holes of + the axes from the first onwards till it had gone right through them, and into + the outer courtyard. Then he said to Telemakhos: +"Your guest has not disgraced you, Telemakhos. + I did not miss what I aimed at, and I was not long in stringing my bow. I am + still strong, and not as the suitors mock me for being. Now, however, it is + time [ +hôra +] for the Achaeans to prepare supper + while there is still daylight, and then otherwise to disport themselves with + song and dance which are the crowning ornaments of a banquet." +As he spoke he made a sign with his eyebrows, + and Telemakhos girded on his sword, grasped his spear, and stood armed beside + his father's seat. +Then Odysseus tore off his rags, and sprang on to + the broad pavement with his bow and his quiver full of arrows. He shed the + arrows on to the ground at his feet and said, "The mighty contest [ +athlos +] is at an end. I will now see whether Apollo + will grant it to me to hit another mark which no man has yet hit." +On this he aimed a deadly arrow at Antinoos, who + was about to take up a two-handled gold cup to drink his wine and already had + it in his hands. He had no thought of death - who amongst all the revelers + would think that one man, however brave, would stand alone among so many and + kill him? The arrow struck Antinoos in the throat, and the point went clean + through his neck, so that he fell over and the cup dropped from his hand, while + a thick stream of blood gushed from his nostrils. He kicked the table from him + and upset the things on it, so that the bread and roasted meats were all soiled + as they fell over on to the ground. The suitors were in an uproar when they saw + that a man had been hit; they sprang in dismay one and all of them from their + seats and looked everywhere towards the walls, but there was neither shield nor + spear, and they rebuked Odysseus very angrily. "Stranger," said they, "you + shall pay for shooting people in this way: you shall see no other contest + [ +athlos +]; you are a doomed man; he whom you have + slain was the foremost youth in +Ithaca +, and the vultures shall devour you for having killed + him." +Thus they spoke, for they thought that he had + killed Antinoos by mistake, and did not perceive that death was hanging over + the head of every one of them. But Odysseus glared at them and said: +"Dogs, did you think that I should not come back + from the +dêmos + of the Trojans? You have wasted my + substance, have forced my women servants to lie with you, and have wooed my + wife while I was still living. You have feared neither the gods nor that there + would be future +nemesis + from men, and now you shall + die." +They turned pale with fear as he spoke, and + every man looked round about to see whither he might flee for safety, but + Eurymakhos alone spoke. +"If you are Odysseus," said he, "then what you + have said is just. We have done much wrong on your lands and in your house. But + Antinoos, who was the head and front of the offending [ +aitios +], lies low already. It was all his doing. It was not that he + wanted to marry Penelope; he did not so much care about that; what he wanted + was something quite different, and Zeus has not granted it to him; he wanted to + kill your son and to be chief man in +Ithaca +. Now, therefore, that he has met the death which was his + due, spare the lives of your people. We will make everything good among + ourselves in this district [ +dêmos +], and pay you in + full for all that we have eaten and drunk. Each one of us shall pay you a fine + worth twenty oxen, and we will keep on giving you gold and bronze till your + heart is softened. Until we have done this no one can complain of your being + enraged against us." +Odysseus again glared at him and said, "Though + you should give me all that you have in the world both now and all that you + ever shall have, I will not stay my hand till I have paid all of you in full. + You must fight, or flee for your lives; and flee, not a man of you shall." +Their hearts sank as they heard him, but + Eurymakhos again spoke saying: +"My friends, this man will give us no quarter. + He will stand where he is and shoot us down till he has killed every man among + us. Let us then show fight; draw your swords, and hold up the tables to shield + you from his arrows. Let us have at him with a rush, to drive him from the + pavement and doorway: we can then get through into the town, and raise such an + alarm as shall soon stay his shooting." +As he spoke he drew his keen blade of bronze, + sharpened on both sides, and with a loud cry sprang towards Odysseus, but + Odysseus instantly shot an arrow into his breast that caught him by the nipple + and fixed itself in his liver. He dropped his sword and fell doubled up over + his table. The cup and all the meats went over on to the ground as he smote the + earth with his forehead in the agonies of death, and he kicked the stool with + his feet until his eyes were closed in darkness. +Then Amphinomos drew his sword and made straight + at Odysseus to try and get him away from the door; but Telemakhos was too quick + for him, and struck him from behind; the spear caught him between the shoulders + and went right through his chest, so that he fell heavily to the ground and + struck the earth with his forehead. Then Telemakhos sprang away from him, + leaving his spear still in the body, for he feared that if he stayed to draw it + out, some one of the Achaeans might come up and hack at him with his sword, or + knock him down, so he set off at a run, and immediately was at his father's + side. Then he said: +"Father, let me bring you a shield, two spears, + and a brass helmet for your temples. I will arm myself as well, and will bring + other armor for the swineherd and the stockman, for we had better be + armed." +"Run and fetch them," answered Odysseus, "while + my arrows hold out, or when I am alone they may get me away from the door." +Telemakhos did as his father said, and went off + to the store room where the armor was kept. He chose four shields, eight + spears, and four brass helmets with horse-hair plumes. He brought them with all + speed to his father, and armed himself first, while the stockman and the + swineherd also put on their armor, and took their places near Odysseus. + Meanwhile Odysseus, as long as his arrows lasted, had been shooting the suitors + one by one, and they fell thick on one another: when his arrows gave out, he + set the bow to stand against the end wall of the house by the door post, and + hung a shield four hides thick about his shoulders; on his comely head he set + his helmet, well wrought with a crest of horse-hair that nodded menacingly + above it, and he grasped two redoubtable bronze-shod spears. +Now there was a trap door on the wall, while at + one end of the pavement there was an exit leading to a narrow passage, and this + exit was closed by a well-made door. Odysseus told Philoitios to stand by this + door and guard it, for only one person could attack it at a time. But Agelaos + shouted out, "Cannot some one go up to the trap door and tell the people what + is going on? Help would come at once, and we should soon make an end of this + man and his shooting." +"This may not be, Agelaos," answered + Melanthios, "the mouth of the narrow passage is dangerously near the entrance + to the outer court. One brave man could prevent any number from getting in. But + I know what I will do, I will bring you arms from the store room, for I am sure + it is there that Odysseus and his son have put them." +On this the goatherd Melanthios went by back + passages to the store room of Odysseus, house. There he chose twelve shields, + with as many helmets and spears, and brought them back as fast as he could to + give them to the suitors. Odysseus’ heart began to fail him when he saw the + suitors putting on their armor and brandishing their spears. He saw the + greatness of the danger, and said to Telemakhos, "Some one of the women inside + is helping the suitors against us, or it may be Melanthios." +Telemakhos answered, "The fault [ +aitios +], father, is mine, and mine only; I left the + store room door open, and they have kept a sharper look out than I have. Go, + Eumaios, put the door to, and see whether it is one of the women who is doing + this, or whether, as I suspect, it is Melanthios the son of Dolios." +Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Melanthios + was again going to the store room to fetch more armor, but the swineherd saw + him and said to Odysseus who was beside him, "Odysseus, noble son of +Laertes +, it is that scoundrel Melanthios, + just as we suspected, who is going to the store room. Say, shall I kill him, if + I can get the better of him, or shall I bring him here that you may take your + own revenge for all the many wrongs that he has done in your house?" +Odysseus answered, "Telemakhos and I will hold + these suitors in check, no matter what they do; go back both of you and bind + Melanthios’ hands and feet behind him. Throw him into the store room and make + the door fast behind you; then fasten a noose about his body, and string him + close up to the rafters from a high bearing-post, that he may linger on in an + agony." +Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had + said; they went to the store room, which they entered before Melanthios saw + them, for he was busy searching for arms in the innermost part of the room, so + the two took their stand on either side of the door and waited. By and by + Melanthios came out with a helmet in one hand, and an old dry-rotted shield in + the other, which had been borne by +Laertes + when he was young, but which had been long since thrown + aside, and the straps had become unsewn; on this the two seized him, dragged + him back by the hair, and threw him struggling to the ground. They bent his + hands and feet well behind his back, and bound them tight with a painful bond + as Odysseus had told them; then they fastened a noose about his body and strung + him up from a high pillar till he was close up to the rafters, and over him did + you then vaunt, O swineherd Eumaios, saying, "Melanthios, you will pass the + night on a soft bed as you deserve. You will know very well when morning comes + from the streams of Okeanos, and it is time for you to be driving in your goats + for the suitors to feast on." +There, then, they left him in very cruel + bondage, and having put on their armor they closed the door behind them and + went back to take their places by the side of Odysseus; whereon the four men + stood in the room, fierce and full of fury; nevertheless, those who were in the + body of the court were still both brave and many. Then Zeus’ daughter Athena + came up to them, having assumed the voice and form of Mentor. Odysseus was glad + when he saw her and said, "Mentor, lend me your help, and forget not your old + comrade, nor the many good turns he has done you. Besides, you are my + age-mate." +But all the time he felt sure it was Athena, + and the suitors from the other side raised an uproar when they saw her. Agelaos + was the first to reproach her. "Mentor," he cried, "do not let Odysseus beguile + you into siding with him and fighting the suitors. This is what will be our + plan [ +noos +]: when we have killed these people, + father and son, we will kill you too. You shall pay for it with your head, and + when we have killed you, we will take all you have, in doors or out, and merge + it with Odysseus’ property; we will not let your sons live in your house, nor + your daughters, nor shall your widow continue to live in the city of +Ithaca +." +This made Athena still more furious, so she + scolded Odysseus very angrily. "Odysseus," said she, "your strength and prowess + are no longer what they were when you fought for nine long years among the + Trojans about the noble lady Helen. You killed many a man in those days, and it + was through your stratagem that Priam's city was taken. How comes it that you + are so lamentably less valiant now that you are on your own ground, face to + face with the suitors in your own house? Come on, my good fellow, stand by my + side and see how Mentor, son of Alkinoos shall fight your foes and requite your + kindnesses conferred upon him." +But she would not give him full victory as yet, + for she wished still further to prove his own prowess and that of his brave + son, so she flew up to one of the rafters in the roof of the room and sat upon + it in the form of a swallow. +Meanwhile Agelaos son of Damastor, Eurynomos, + Amphimedon, Demoptolemos, Peisandros, and Polybos son of Polyktor bore the + brunt of the fight upon the suitors’ side; of all those who were still fighting + for their lives [ +psukhai +], they were by far the + most excellent in +aretê +, for the others had already + fallen under the arrows of Odysseus. Agelaos shouted to them and said, "My + friends, he will soon have to leave off, for Mentor has gone away after having + done nothing for him but brag. They are standing at the doors unsupported. Do + not aim at him all at once, but six of you throw your spears first, and see if + you cannot cover yourselves with glory by killing him. When he has fallen we + need not be uneasy about the others." +They threw their spears as he bade them, but + Athena made them all of no effect. One hit the door post; another went against + the door; the pointed shaft of another struck the wall; and as soon as they had + avoided all the spears of the suitors Odysseus said to his own men, "My + friends, I should say we too had better let drive into the middle of them, or + they will crown all the harm they have done us by killing us outright." +They therefore aimed straight in front of them + and threw their spears. Odysseus killed Demoptolemos, Telemakhos Euryades, + Eumaios Elatus, while the stockman killed Peisandros. These all bit the dust, + and as the others drew back into a corner Odysseus and his men rushed forward + and regained their spears by drawing them from the bodies of the dead. +The suitors now aimed a second time, but again + Athena made their weapons for the most part without effect. One hit a + bearing-post of the room; another went against the door; while the pointed + shaft of another struck the wall. Still, Amphimedon just took a piece of the + top skin from off Telemakhos’ wrist, and Ktesippos managed to graze Eumaios’ + shoulder above his shield; but the spear went on and fell to the ground. Then + Odysseus and his men let drive into the crowd of suitors. Odysseus hit + Eurydamas, Telemakhos Amphimedon, and Eumaios Polybos. After this the stockman + hit Ktesippos in the breast, and taunted him saying, "Foul-mouthed son of + Polytherses, do not be so foolish as to talk wickedly another time, but let + heaven direct your speech, for the gods are far stronger than men. I make you a + present of this advice to repay you for the foot which you gave Odysseus when + he was begging about in his own house." +Thus spoke the stockman, and Odysseus struck + the son of Damastor with a spear in close fight, while Telemakhos hit + Leiokritos son of Euenor in the belly, and the dart went clean through him, so + that he fell forward full on his face upon the ground. Then Athena from her + seat on the rafter held up her deadly aegis, and the hearts of the suitors + quailed. They fled to the other end of the court like a herd of cattle maddened + by the gadfly in early summer [ +hôra +] when the days + are at their longest. As eagle-beaked, crook-taloned vultures from the + mountains swoop down on the smaller birds that cower in flocks upon the ground, + and kill them, for they cannot either fight or flee, and lookers on enjoy the + sport - even so did Odysseus and his men fall upon the suitors and smite them + on every side. They made a horrible groaning as their brains were being + battered in, and the ground seethed with their blood. +Leiodes then caught the knees of Odysseus and + said, "Odysseus I beseech you have mercy upon me and spare me. I never wronged + any of the women in your house either in word or deed, and I tried to stop the + others. I saw them, but they would not listen, and now they are paying for + their folly. I was their sacrificing priest; if you kill me, I shall die + without having done anything to deserve it, and shall have got no thanks [ +kharis +] for all the good that I did." +Odysseus looked sternly at him and answered, + "If you were their sacrificing priest, you must have prayed many a time that it + might be long before I got home again [ +nostos +], and + that you might marry my wife and have children by her. Therefore you shall + die." +With these words he picked up the sword that + Agelaos had dropped when he was being killed, and which was lying upon the + ground. Then he struck Leiodes on the back of his neck, so that his head fell + rolling in the dust while he was yet speaking. +The minstrel Phemios son of Terpes - he who had + been forced by the suitors to sing to them - now tried to save his life. He was + standing near towards the trap door, and held his lyre in his hand. He did not + know whether to flee out of the room and sit down by the altar of Zeus that was + in the outer court, and on which both +Laertes + and Odysseus had offered up the thigh bones of many an + ox, or whether to go straight up to Odysseus and embrace his knees, but in the + end he deemed it best to embrace Odysseus’ knees. So he laid his lyre on the + ground the ground between the mixing-bowl and the silver-studded seat; then + going up to Odysseus he caught hold of his knees and said, "Odysseus, I beseech + you have mercy on me and spare me. You will be sorry [ +akhos +] for it afterwards if you kill a bard who can sing both for + gods and men as I can. I make all my lays myself, and heaven visits me with + every kind of inspiration. I would sing to you as though you were a god, do not + therefore be in such a hurry to cut my head off. Your own son Telemakhos will + tell you that I did not want to frequent your house and sing to the suitors + after their meals, but they were too many and too strong for me, so they made + me." +Telemakhos heard him, and at once went up to + his father. "Hold!" he cried, "the man is guiltless, do him no hurt; and we + will spare Medon too, who was always good to me when I was a boy, unless + Philoitios or Eumaios has already killed him, or he has fallen in your way when + you were raging about the court." +Medon caught these words of Telemakhos, for he + was crouching under a seat beneath which he had hidden by covering himself up + with a freshly flayed heifer's hide, so he threw off the hide, went up to + Telemakhos, and laid hold of his knees. +"Here I am, my dear sir," said he, "stay your + hand therefore, and tell your father, or he will kill me in his rage against + the suitors for having wasted his substance and been so foolishly disrespectful + to yourself." +Odysseus smiled at him and answered, "Fear not; + Telemakhos has saved your life, that you may know in future, and tell other + people, how greatly better good deeds prosper than evil ones. Go, therefore, + outside the cloisters into the outer court, and be out of the way of the + slaughter - you and the bard - while I finish my work here inside." +The pair went into the outer court as fast as + they could, and sat down by Zeus’ great altar, looking fearfully round, and + still expecting that they would be killed. Then Odysseus searched the whole + court carefully over, to see if anyone had managed to hide himself and was + still living, but he found them all lying in the dust and weltering in their + blood. They were like fishes which fishermen have netted out of the sea, and + thrown upon the beach to lie gasping for water till the heat of the sun makes + an end of them. Even so were the suitors lying all huddled up one against the + other. +Then Odysseus said to Telemakhos, "Call nurse + Eurykleia; I have something to say to her." +Telemakhos went and knocked at the door of the + women's room. "Make haste," said he, "you old woman who have been set over all + the other women in the house. Come outside; my father wishes to speak to + you." +When Eurykleia heard this she unfastened the + door of the women's room and came out, following Telemakhos. She found Odysseus + among the corpses bespattered with blood and filth like a lion that has just + been devouring an ox, and his breast and both his cheeks are all bloody, so + that he is a fearful sight; even so was Odysseus besmirched from head to foot + with gore. When she saw all the corpses and such a quantity of blood, she was + beginning to cry out for joy, for she saw that a great deed had been done; but + Odysseus checked her, "Old woman," said he, "rejoice in silence; restrain + yourself, and do not make any noise about it; it is an unholy thing to vaunt + over dead men. Heaven's doom and their own evil deeds have brought these men to + destruction, for they respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor + poor, who came near them, and they have come to a bad end as a punishment for + their wickedness and folly. Now, however, tell me which of the women in the + house have misconducted themselves, and who are innocent." +"I will tell you the truth [ +alêtheia +], my son," answered Eurykleia. "There are + fifty women in the house whom we teach to do things, such as carding wool, and + all kinds of household work. Of these, twelve in all have misbehaved, and have + been wanting in respect to me, and also to Penelope. They showed no disrespect + to Telemakhos, for he has only lately grown and his mother never permitted him + to give orders to the female servants; but let me go upstairs and tell your + wife all that has happened, for some god has been sending her to sleep." +"Do not wake her yet," answered Odysseus, "but + tell the women who have misconducted themselves to come to me." +Eurykleia left the room to tell the women, and + make them come to Odysseus; in the meantime he called Telemakhos, the stockman, + and the swineherd. "Begin," said he, "to remove the dead, and make the women + help you. Then, get sponges and clean water to swill down the tables and seats. + When you have thoroughly cleansed the whole cloisters, take the women into the + space between the domed room and the wall of the outer court, and run them + through with your swords till they are quite dead, and have forgotten all about + love and the way in which they used to lie in secret with the suitors." +On this the women came down in a body, weeping + and wailing bitterly. First they carried the dead bodies out, and propped them + up against one another in the gatehouse. Odysseus ordered them about and made + them do their work quickly, so they had to carry the bodies out. When they had + done this, they cleaned all the tables and seats with sponges and water, while + Telemakhos and the two others shoveled up the blood and dirt from the ground, + and the women carried it all away and put it out of doors. Then when they had + made the whole place quite clean and orderly, they took the women out and + hemmed them in the narrow space between the wall of the domed room and that of + the yard, so that they could not get away: and Telemakhos said to the other + two, "I shall not let these women die a clean death, for they were insolent to + me and my mother, and used to sleep with the suitors." +So saying he made a ship's cable fast to one of + the bearing-posts that supported the roof of the domed room, and secured it all + around the building, at a good height, lest any of the women's feet should + touch the ground; and as thrushes or doves beat against a net that has been set + for them in a thicket just as they were getting to their nest, and a terrible + fate awaits them, even so did the women have to put their heads in nooses one + after the other and die most miserably. Their feet moved convulsively for a + while, but not for very long. +As for Melanthios, they took him through the + room into the inner court. There they cut off his nose and his ears; they drew + out his vitals and gave them to the dogs raw, and then in their fury they cut + off his hands and his feet. +When they had done this they washed their hands + and feet and went back into the house, for all was now over; and Odysseus said + to the dear old nurse Eurykleia, "Bring me sulfur, which cleanses all + pollution, and fetch fire also that I may burn it, and purify the cloisters. + Go, moreover, and tell Penelope to come here with her attendants, and also all + the maid servants that are in the house." +"All that you have said is true," answered + Eurykleia, "but let me bring you some clean clothes - a shirt and cloak. Do not + keep these rags on your back any longer. It is not right." +"First light me a fire," replied Odysseus. +She brought the fire and sulfur, as he had + bidden her, and Odysseus thoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner + and outer courts. Then she went inside to call the women and tell them what had + happened; whereon they came from their apartment with torches in their hands, + and pressed round Odysseus to embrace him, kissing his head and shoulders and + taking hold of his hands. It made him feel as if he should like to weep, for he + remembered every one of them. +Eurykleia now went upstairs laughing to tell her + mistress that her dear husband had come home. Her aged knees became young again + and her feet were nimble for joy as she went up to her mistress and bent over + her head to speak to her. "Wake up Penelope, my dear child," she exclaimed, + "and see with your own eyes something that you have been wanting this long time + past. Odysseus has at last indeed come home again, and has killed the suitors + who were giving so much trouble in his house, eating up his estate and + ill-treating his son." +"My good nurse," answered Penelope, "you must be + mad. The gods sometimes send some very sensible people out of their minds, and + make foolish people become sensible. This is what they must have been doing to + you; for you always used to be a reasonable person. Why should you thus mock me + when I have trouble enough already - talking such nonsense, and waking me up + out of a sweet sleep that had taken possession of my eyes and closed them? I + have never slept so soundly from the day my poor husband went to that city with + the ill-omened name. Go back again into the women's room; if it had been any + one else, who had woke me up to bring me such absurd news I should have sent + her away with a severe scolding. As it is, your age shall protect you." +"My dear child," answered Eurykleia, "I am not + mocking you. It is quite true as I tell you that Odysseus is come home again. + He was the stranger whom they all kept on treating so badly in the room. + Telemakhos knew all the time that he was come back, but kept his father's + secret that he might have his revenge on all these wicked people. +Then Penelope sprang up from her couch, threw + her arms round Eurykleia, and wept for joy. "But my dear nurse," said she, + "explain this to me; if he has really come home as you say, how did he manage + to overcome the wicked suitors single handed, seeing what a number of them + there always were?" +"I was not there," answered Eurykleia, "and do + not know; I only heard them groaning while they were being killed. We sat + crouching and huddled up in a corner of the women's room with the doors closed, + till your son came to fetch me because his father sent him. Then I found + Odysseus standing over the corpses that were lying on the ground all round him, + one on top of the other. You would have enjoyed it if you could have seen him + standing there all bespattered with blood and filth, and looking just like a + lion. But the corpses are now all piled up in the gatehouse that is in the + outer court, and Odysseus has lit a great fire to purify the house with sulfur. + He has sent me to call you, so come with me that you may both be happy together + after all; for now at last the desire of your heart has been fulfilled; your + husband is come home to find both wife and son alive and well, and to take his + revenge in his own house on the suitors who behaved so badly to him." +"‘My dear nurse," said Penelope, "do not exult + too confidently over all this. You know how delighted every one would be to see + Odysseus come home - more particularly myself, and the son who has been born to + both of us; but what you tell me cannot be really true. It is some god who is + angry with the suitors for their great wickedness [ +hubris +], and has made an end of them; for they respected no man in + the whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came near them, who came near them, + and they have come to a bad end in consequence of their iniquity. Odysseus is + dead far away from the Achaean land; he will never return home again [ +nostos +]." +Then nurse Eurykleia said, "My child, what are + you talking about? But you were all hard of belief and have made up your mind + that your husband is never coming, although he is in the house and by his own + fire side at this very moment. Besides I can give you another proof [ +sêma +]; when I was washing him I perceived the scar + which the wild boar gave him, and I wanted to tell you about it, but in his + wisdom [ +noos +] he would not let me, and clapped his + hands over my mouth; so come with me and I will make this bargain with you - if + I am deceiving you, you may have me killed by the cruelest death you can think + of." +"My dear nurse," said Penelope, "however wise + you may be you can hardly fathom the counsels of the gods. Nevertheless, we + will go in search of my son, that I may see the corpses of the suitors, and the + man who has killed them." +On this she came down from her upper room, and + while doing so she considered whether she should keep at a distance from her + husband and question him, or whether she should at once go up to him and + embrace him. When, however, she had crossed the stone floor of the room, she + sat down opposite Odysseus by the fire, against the wall at right angles to + that by which she had entered, while Odysseus sat near one of the + bearing-posts, looking upon the ground, and waiting to see what his wife would + say to him when she saw him. For a long time she sat silent and as one lost in + amazement. At one moment she looked him full in the face, but then again + directly, she was misled by his shabby clothes and failed to recognize him, + till Telemakhos began to reproach her and said: +"Mother - but you are so hard that I cannot call + you by such a name - why do you keep away from my father in this way? Why do + you not sit by his side and begin talking to him and asking him questions? No + other woman could bear to keep away from her husband when he had come back to + her after twenty years of absence, and after having gone through so much; but + your heart always was as hard as a stone." +Penelope answered, "My son, I am so lost in + astonishment that I can find no words in which either to ask questions or to + answer them. I cannot even look him straight in the face. Still, if he really + is Odysseus come back to his own home again, we shall get to understand one + another better by and by, for there are tokens [ +sêmata +] with which we two are alone acquainted, and which are hidden + from all others." +Odysseus smiled at this, and said to + Telemakhos, "Let your mother put me to any proof she likes; she will make up + her mind about it presently. She rejects me for the moment and believes me to + be somebody else, because I am covered with dirt and have such bad clothes on; + let us, however, consider what we had better do next. When one man has killed + another in a +dêmos +, even though he was not one who + would leave many friends to take up his quarrel, the man who has killed him + must still say good bye to his friends and flee the country; whereas we have + been killing the stay of a whole city, and all the picked youth of +Ithaca +. I would have you consider this + matter." +"Look to it yourself, father," answered + Telemakhos, "for they say you are the wisest counselor in the world, and that + there is no other mortal man who can compare with you. We will follow you with + right good will, nor shall you find us fail you in so far as our strength holds + out." +"I will say what I think will be best," + answered Odysseus. "First wash and put your shirts on; tell the maids also to + go to their own room and dress; Phemios shall then strike up a dance tune on + his lyre, so that if people outside hear, or any of the neighbors, or some one + going along the street happens to notice it, they may think there is a wedding + in the house, and no rumors [ +kleos +] about the death + of the suitors will get about in the town, before we can escape to the woods + upon my own land. Once there, we will settle which of the courses of action + [ +kerdos +] heaven grants us shall seem + wisest." +Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had + said. First they washed and put their shirts on, while the women got ready. + Then Phemios took his lyre and set them all longing for sweet song and stately + dance. The house re-echoed with the sound of men and women dancing, and the + people outside said, "I suppose the queen has been getting married at last. She + ought to be ashamed of herself for not continuing to protect her husband's + property until he comes home." +This was what they said, but they did not know + what it was that had been happening. The upper servant Eurynome washed and + anointed Odysseus in his own house and gave him a shirt and cloak, while Athena + made him look taller and stronger than before; she also made the hair grow + thick on the top of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms; + she shed +kharis + about his head and shoulders just + as a skillful workman who has studied art of all kinds under Hephaistos or + Athena - and his work is full of +kharis + - enriches + a piece of silver plate by gilding it. He came from the bath looking like one + of the immortals, and sat down opposite his wife on the seat he had left. "My + dear," said he, "heaven has endowed you with a heart more unyielding than woman + ever yet had. No other woman could bear to keep away from her husband when he + had come back to her after twenty years of absence, and after having gone + through so much. But come, nurse, get a bed ready for me; I will sleep alone, + for this woman has a heart as hard as iron." +"My dear," answered Penelope, "I have no wish + to set myself up, nor to depreciate you; but I am not struck by your + appearance, for I very well remember what kind of a man you were when you set + sail from +Ithaca +. Nevertheless, + Eurykleia, take his bed outside the bed chamber that he himself built. Bring + the bed outside this room, and put bedding upon it with fleeces, good + coverlets, and blankets." +She said this to try him, but Odysseus was very + angry and said, "Wife, I am much displeased at what you have just been saying. + Who has been taking my bed from the place in which I left it? He must have + found it a hard task, no matter how skilled a workman he was, unless some god + came and helped him to shift it. There is no man living, however strong and in + his prime, who could move it from its place. For it was wrought to be a great + sign [ +sêma +]; it is a marvelous curiosity which I + made with my very own hands. There was a young olive growing within the + precincts of the house, in full vigor, and about as thick as a bearing-post. I + built my room round this with strong walls of stone and a roof to cover them, + and I made the doors strong and well-fitting. Then I cut off the top boughs of + the olive tree and left the stump standing. This I dressed roughly from the + root upwards and then worked with carpenter's tools well and skillfully, + straightening my work by drawing a line on the wood, and making it into a + bed-prop. I then bored a hole down the middle, and made it the center-post of + my bed, at which I worked till I had finished it, inlaying it with gold and + silver; after this I stretched a hide of crimson leather from one side of it to + the other. So you see I know all about this sign [ +sêma +], and I desire to learn whether it is still there, or whether + any one has been removing it by cutting down the olive tree at its roots." +When she heard the sure proofs [ +sêmata +] Odysseus now gave her, she fairly broke down. + She flew weeping to his side, flung her arms about his neck, and kissed him. + "Do not be angry with me Odysseus," she cried, "you, who are the wisest of + humankind. We have suffered, both of us. Heaven has denied us the happiness of + spending our youth, and of growing old, together; do not then be aggrieved or + take it amiss that I did not embrace you thus as soon as I saw you. I have been + shuddering all the time through fear that someone might come here and deceive + me with a lying story; for there are many people who plan wicked schemes [ +kerdea +]. Zeus’ daughter Helen would never have yielded + herself to a man from a foreign country, if she had known that the sons of + Achaeans would come after her and bring her back. Heaven put it in her heart to + do wrong, and she gave no thought to that transgression [ +atê +], which has been the source of all our sorrows [ +penthos +]. Now, however, that you have convinced me by + showing that you know all the proofs [ +sêmata +] of + our bed (which no human being has ever seen but you and I and a single maid + servant, the daughter of Aktor, who was given me by my father on my marriage, + and who keeps the doors of our room), hard of belief though I have been, I can + mistrust no longer." +Then Odysseus in his turn melted, and wept as + he clasped his dear and faithful wife to his bosom. As the sight of land is + welcome to men who are swimming towards the shore, when Poseidon has wrecked + their ship with the fury of his winds and waves - a few alone reach the land, + and these, covered with brine, are thankful when they find themselves on firm + ground and out of danger - even so was her husband welcome to her as she looked + upon him, and she could not tear her two fair arms from about his neck. Indeed + they would have gone on indulging their sorrow till rosy-fingered morn + appeared, had not Athena determined otherwise, and held night back in the far + west, while she would not suffer Dawn to leave Okeanos, nor to yoke the two + steeds Lampos and Phaethon that bear her onward to break the day upon + humankind. +At last, however, Odysseus said, "Wife, we have + not yet reached the end of our trials [ +athloi +]. I + have an unknown amount of toil [ +ponos +] still to + undergo. It is long and difficult, but I must go through with it, for thus the + shade [ +psukhê +] of Teiresias prophesied concerning + me, on the day when I went down into Hades to ask about my return [ +nostos +] and that of my companions. But now let us go + to bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon of sleep." +"You shall go to bed as soon as you please," + replied Penelope, "now that the gods have sent you home to your own good house + and to your country. But as heaven has put it in your mind to speak of it, tell + me about the task [ +athlos +] that lies before you. I + shall have to hear about it later, so it is better that I should be told at + once." +"My dear," answered Odysseus, "why should you + press me to tell you? Still, I will not conceal it from you, though you will + not like it. I do not like it myself, for Teiresias bade me travel far and + wide, carrying an oar, till I came to a country where the people have never + heard of the sea, and do not even mix salt with their food. They know nothing + about ships, nor oars that are as the wings of a ship. He gave me this certain + token [ +sêma +] which I will not hide from you. He + said that a wayfarer should meet me and ask me whether it was a winnowing + shovel that I had on my shoulder. On this, I was to fix my oar in the ground + and sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar to Poseidon; after which I was to go + home and offer hecatombs to all the gods in heaven, one after the other. As for + myself, he said that death should come to me from the sea, and that my life + should ebb away very gently when I was full of years and peace of mind, and my + people should be prosperous [ +olbios +]. All this, he + said, should surely come to pass." +And Penelope said, "If the gods are going to + grant you a happier time in your old age, you may hope then to have some + respite from misfortune." +Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Eurynome and + the nurse took torches and made the bed ready with soft coverlets; as soon as + they had laid them, the nurse went back into the house to go to her rest, + leaving the bed chamber woman Eurynome to show Odysseus and Penelope to bed by + torch light. When she had conducted them to their room she went back, and they + then came joyfully to the rites of their own old bed. Telemakhos, Philoitios, + and the swineherd now left off dancing, and made the women leave off also. They + then laid themselves down to sleep in the cloisters. +When Odysseus and Penelope had had their fill + of love they fell talking with one another. She told him how much she had to + bear in seeing the house filled with a crowd of wicked suitors who had killed + so many sheep and oxen on her account, and had drunk so many casks of wine. + Odysseus in his turn told her what he had suffered, and how much trouble he had + himself given to other people. He told her everything, and she was so delighted + to listen that she never went to sleep till he had ended his whole story. +He began with his victory over the Kikones, and + how he thence reached the fertile land of the Lotus-eaters. He told her all + about the +Cyclops + and how he had + punished him for having so ruthlessly eaten his brave comrades; how he then + went on to Aeolus, who received him hospitably and furthered him on his way, + but even so he was not to reach home, for to his great grief a gale carried him + out to sea again; how he went on to the Laestrygonian city Telepylos, where the + people destroyed all his ships with their crews, save himself and his own ship + only. Then he told of cunning Circe and her craft, and how he sailed to the + chill house of Hades, to consult the ghost [ +psukhê +] + of the Theban seer Teiresias, and how he saw his old comrades in arms, and his + mother who bore him and brought him up when he was a child; how he then heard + the wondrous singing of the Sirens, and went on to the wandering rocks and + terrible Charybdis and to Scylla, whom no man had ever yet passed in safety; + how his men then ate the cattle of the sun-god, and how Zeus therefore struck + the ship with his thunderbolts, so that all his men perished together, himself + alone being left alive; how at last he reached the Ogygian island and the nymph + Calypso, who kept him there in a cave, and fed him, and wanted him to marry + her, in which case she intended making him immortal so that he should never + grow old, but she could not persuade him to let her do so; and how after much + suffering he had found his way to the Phaeacians, who had treated him as though + he had been a god, and sent him back in a ship to his own country after having + given him gold, bronze, and raiment in great abundance. This was the last thing + about which he told her, for here a deep sleep took hold upon him and eased the + burden of his sorrows. +Then Athena thought of another matter. When she + deemed that Odysseus had had enough both of his wife and of repose, she bade + gold-enthroned Dawn rise out of Okeanos that she might shed light upon + humankind. On this, Odysseus rose from his comfortable bed and said to + Penelope, "Wife, we have both of us had our full share of trials [ +athlos +], you, here, in lamenting my absence, and I in + being prevented from getting home [ +nostos +] though I + was longing all the time to do so. Now, however, that we have at last come + together, take care of the property that is in the house. As for the sheep and + goats which the wicked suitors have eaten, I will take many myself by force + from other people, and will compel the Achaeans to make good the rest till they + shall have filled all my yards. I am now going to the wooded lands out in the + country to see my father who has so long been grieved on my account, and to + yourself I will give these instructions, though you have little need of them. + At sunrise it will at once get abroad that I have been killing the suitors; go + upstairs, therefore, and stay there with your women. See nobody and ask no + questions." +As he spoke he girded on his armor. Then he + roused Telemakhos, Philoitios, and Eumaios, and told them all to put on their + armor also. This they did, and armed themselves. When they had done so, they + opened the gates and sallied forth, Odysseus leading the way. It was now + daylight, but Athena nevertheless concealed them in darkness and led them + quickly out of the town. +Then Hermes of Cyllene summoned the ghosts [ +psukhai +] of the suitors, and in his hand he held the + fair golden wand with which he seals men's eyes in sleep or wakes them just as + he pleases; with this he roused the ghosts and led them, while they followed + whining and gibbering behind him. As bats fly squealing in the hollow of some + great cave, when one of them has fallen out of the cluster in which they hang, + even so did the ghosts whine and squeal as Hermes the healer of sorrow led them + down into the dark abode of death. When they had passed the waters of Okeanos + and the rock +Leukas +, they came to the + gates of the sun and the +dêmos + of dreams, whereon + they reached the meadow of asphodel where dwell the souls and shadows of them + that can labor no more. +Here they found the ghost [ +psukhê +] of Achilles son of Peleus, with those of Patroklos, + Antilokhos, and Ajax, who was the finest and handsomest man of all the Danaans + after the son of Peleus himself. +They gathered round the ghost of the son of + Peleus, and the ghost [ +psukhê +] of Agamemnon joined + them, sorrowing bitterly. Round him were gathered also the ghosts of those who + had perished with him in the house of Aigisthos; and the ghost [ +psukhê +] of Achilles spoke first. +"Son of Atreus," it said, "we used to say that + Zeus had loved you better from first to last than any other hero, for you were + leader over many and brave men, when we were all fighting together in the +dêmos + of the Trojans; yet the hand of death, which no + mortal can escape, was laid upon you all too early. Better for you had you + fallen in the Trojan +dêmos + in the hey-day of your + renown, for the Achaeans would have built a mound over your ashes, and your son + would have been heir to your +kleos +, whereas it has + now been your lot to come to a most miserable end." +"Happy [ +olbios +] son + of Peleus," answered the ghost [ +psukhê +] of + Agamemnon, "for having died at +Troy + + far from +Argos +, while the bravest of + the Trojans and the Achaeans fell round you fighting for your body. There you + lay in the whirling clouds of dust, all huge and hugely, heedless now of your + chivalry. We fought the whole of the livelong day, nor should we ever have left + off if Zeus had not sent a gale to stay us. Then, when we had borne you to the + ships out of the fray, we laid you on your bed and cleansed your fair skin with + warm water and with ointments. The Danaans tore their hair and wept bitterly + round about you. Your mother, when she heard, came with her immortal nymphs + from out of the sea, and the sound of a great wailing went forth over the + waters so that the Achaeans quaked for fear. They would have fled + panic-stricken to their ships had not wise old Nestor whose counsel was ever + truest checked them saying, ‘Hold, Argives, flee not sons of the Achaeans, this + is his mother coming from the sea with her immortal nymphs to view the body of + her son.’ +"Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans feared no more. + The daughters of the old man of the sea stood round you weeping bitterly, and + clothed you in immortal raiment. The nine muses also came and lifted up their + sweet voices in lament - calling and answering one another; there was not an + +Argive + but wept for pity of the + dirge they chanted. Days and nights seven and ten we mourned you, mortals and + immortals, but on the eighteenth day we gave you to the flames, and many a fat + sheep with many an ox did we slay in sacrifice around you. You were burnt in + raiment of the gods, with rich resins and with honey, while heroes, horse and + foot, clashed their armor round the pile as you were burning, with the tramp as + of a great multitude. But when the flames of heaven had done their work, we + gathered your white bones at daybreak and laid them in ointments and in pure + wine. Your mother brought us a golden vase to hold them - gift of Bacchus, and + work of Hephaistos himself; in this we mingled your bleached bones with those + of Patroklos who had gone before you, and separate we enclosed also those of + Antilokhos, who had been closer to you than any other of your comrades now that + Patroklos was no more. +"Over these the host of the Argives built a + noble tomb, on a point jutting out over the open +Hellespont +, that it might be seen from far out upon the sea by + those now living and by them that shall be born hereafter. Your mother begged + prizes from the gods, and offered them to be contended for [ +agôn +] by the noblest of the Achaeans. You must have + been present at the funeral of many a hero, when the young men gird themselves + and make ready to contend for prizes on the death of some great chieftain, but + you never saw such prizes as silver-footed Thetis offered in your honor; for + the gods loved you well. Thus even in death your +kleos +, Achilles, has not been lost, and your name lives evermore + among all humankind. But as for me, what solace had I when the days of my + fighting were done? For Zeus willed my destruction on my return [ +nostos +], by the hands of Aigisthos and those of my + wicked wife." +Thus did they converse, and presently Hermes + came up to them with the ghosts of the suitors who had been killed by Odysseus. + The ghosts [ +psukhai +] of Agamemnon and Achilles were + astonished at seeing them, and went up to them at once. The ghost [ +psukhê +] of Agamemnon recognized Amphimedon son of + Melaneus, who lived in +Ithaca + and had + been his host, so it began to talk to him. +"Amphimedon," it said, "what has happened to + all you choice [ +krînô +] young men - all of an age + too - that you are come down here under the ground? One could select [ +krînô +] no finer body of men from any city. Did + Poseidon raise his winds and waves against you when you were at sea, or did + your enemies make an end of you on the mainland when you were cattle-lifting or + sheep-stealing, or while fighting in defense of their wives and city? Answer my + question, for I have been your guest. Do you not remember how I came to your + house with Menelaos, to persuade Odysseus to join us with his ships against + +Troy +? It was a whole month ere we + could resume our voyage, for we had hard work to persuade Odysseus to come with + us." +And the ghost [ +psukhê +] of Amphimedon answered, "Agamemnon, son of Atreus, king of + men, I remember everything that you have said, and will tell you fully and + accurately about the way in which our end was brought about. Odysseus had been + long gone, and we were courting his wife, who did not say point blank that she + would not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end, for she meant to compass our + destruction: this, then, was the trick she played us. She set up a great + tambour frame in her room and began to work on an enormous piece of fine + needlework. ‘Sweethearts,’ said she, ‘Odysseus is indeed dead, still, do not + press me to marry again immediately; wait - for I would not have my skill in + needlework perish unrecorded - till I have completed a shroud for the hero + +Laertes +, against the time when + death shall take him. He is very rich, and the women of the +dêmos + will talk if he is laid out without a shroud.’ + This is what she said, and we assented; whereupon we could see her working upon + her great web all day long, but at night she would unpick the stitches again by + torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three years without our finding it + out, but as time [ +hôra +] wore on and she was now in + her fourth year, and the waning of moons and many days had been accomplished, + one of her maids who knew what she was doing told us, and we caught her in the + act of undoing her work, so she had to finish it whether she would or not; and + when she showed us the robe she had made, after she had had it washed, its + splendor was as that of the sun or moon. +"Then some malicious +daimôn + conveyed Odysseus to the upland farm where his swineherd + lives. Thither presently came also his son, returning from a voyage to + +Pylos +, and the two came to the + town when they had hatched their plot for our destruction. Telemakhos came + first, and then after him, accompanied by the swineherd, came Odysseus, clad in + rags and leaning on a staff as though he were some miserable old beggar. He + came so unexpectedly that none of us knew him, not even the older ones among + us, and we reviled him and threw things at him. He endured both being struck + and insulted without a word, though he was in his own house; but when the will + [ +noos +] of Aegis-bearing Zeus inspired him, he + and Telemakhos took the armor and hid it in an inner chamber, bolting the doors + behind them. Then he cunningly made his wife offer his bow and a quantity of + iron to be contended for by us ill-fated suitors; and this was the beginning of + our end, for not one of us could string the bow - nor nearly do so. When it was + about to reach the hands of Odysseus, we all of us shouted out that it should + not be given him, no matter what he might say, but Telemakhos insisted on his + having it. When he had got it in his hands he strung it with ease and sent his + arrow through the iron. Then he stood on the floor of the room and poured his + arrows on the ground, glaring fiercely about him. First he killed Antinoos, and + then, aiming straight before him, he let fly his deadly darts and they fell + thick on one another. It was plain that some one of the gods was helping them, + for they fell upon us with might and main throughout the cloisters, and there + was a hideous sound of groaning as our brains were being battered in, and the + ground seethed with our blood. This, Agamemnon, is how we came by our end, and + our bodies are lying still un-cared for in the house of Odysseus, for our + friends at home do not yet know what has happened, so that they cannot lay us + out and wash the black blood from our wounds, making moan over us according to + the offices due to the departed." +"Happy Odysseus, son of +Laertes +," replied the ghost [ +psukhê +] of Agamemnon, "you are indeed blessed [ +olbios +] in the possession of a wife endowed with such + rare excellence [ +aretê +] of understanding, and so + faithful to her wedded lord as Penelope the daughter of Ikarios. The +kleos +, therefore, of her excellence [ +aretê +] shall never die, and the immortals shall + compose a song that shall be welcome to all humankind in honor of the constancy + of Penelope. How far otherwise was the wickedness of the daughter of Tyndareus + who killed her lawful husband; her song shall be hateful among men, for she has + brought disgrace on all womankind even on the good ones." +Thus did they converse in the house of Hades + deep down within the bowels of the earth. Meanwhile Odysseus and the others + passed out of the town and soon reached the fair and well-tilled farm of + +Laertes +, which he had reclaimed + with infinite labor. Here was his house, with a lean-to running all round it, + where the slaves who worked for him slept and sat and ate, while inside the + house there was an old Sicel woman, who looked after him in this his + country-farm. When Odysseus got there, he said to his son and to the other + two: +"Go to the house, and kill the best pig that + you can find for dinner. Meanwhile I want to see whether my father will know + me, or fail to recognize me after so long an absence." +He then took off his armor and gave it to + Eumaios and Philoitios, who went straight on to the house, while he turned off + into the vineyard to make trial of his father. As he went down into the great + orchard, he did not see Dolios, nor any of his sons nor of the other bondsmen, + for they were all gathering thorns to make a fence for the vineyard, at the + place where the old man had told them; he therefore found his father alone, + hoeing a vine. He had on a dirty old shirt, patched and very shabby; his legs + were bound round with thongs of oxhide to save him from the brambles, and he + also wore sleeves of leather; he had a goat skin cap on his head, and was + looking very woe-begone [ +penthos +]. When Odysseus + saw him so worn, so old and full of sorrow [ +penthos +], he stood still under a tall pear tree and began to weep. He + doubted whether to embrace him, kiss him, and tell him all about his having + come home, or whether he should first question him and see what he would say. + In the end he deemed it best to be crafty with him, so in this mind he went up + to his father, who was bending down and digging about a plant. +"I see, sir," said Odysseus, "that you are an + excellent gardener - what pains you take with it, to be sure. There is not a + single plant, not a fig tree, vine, olive, pear, nor flower bed, but bears the + trace of your attention. I trust, however, that you will not be offended if I + say that you take better care of your garden than of yourself. You are old, + unsavory, and very meanly clad. It cannot be because you are idle that your + master takes such poor care of you, indeed your face and figure have nothing of + the slave about them, and proclaim you of noble birth. I should have said that + you were one of those who should wash well, eat well, and lie soft at night as + old men have a right [ +dikê +] to do; but tell me, and + tell me true, whose laborer are you, and in whose garden are you working? Tell + me also about another matter. Is this place that I have come to really + +Ithaca +? I met a man just now who + said so, but he was a dull fellow, and had not the patience to hear my story + out when I was asking him about an old friend of mine, whether he was still + living, or was already dead and in the house of Hades. Believe me when I tell + you that this man came to my house once when I was in my own country and never + yet did any stranger come to me whom I liked better. He said that his family + came from +Ithaca + and that his father + was +Laertes +, son of Arceisius. I + received him hospitably, making him welcome to all the abundance of my house, + and when he went away I gave him all customary presents. I gave him seven + talents of fine gold, and a cup of solid silver with flowers chased upon it. I + gave him twelve light cloaks, and as many pieces of tapestry; I also gave him + twelve cloaks of single fold, twelve rugs, twelve fair mantles, and an equal + number of shirts. To all this I added four good looking women skilled in all + useful arts, and I let him take his choice." +His father shed tears and answered, "Sir, you + have indeed come to the country that you have named, but it is fallen into the + hands of wicked people. All this wealth of presents has been given to no + purpose. If you could have found your friend here alive in the +dêmos + of +Ithaca +, he would have entertained you hospitably and would have + required your presents amply when you left him - as would have been only right + considering what you have already given him. But tell me, and tell me true, how + many years is it since you entertained this guest - my unhappy son, as ever + was? Alas! He has perished far from his own country; the fishes of the sea have + eaten him, or he has fallen a prey to the birds and wild beasts of some + continent. Neither his mother, nor I his father, who were his parents, could + throw our arms about him and wrap him in his shroud, nor could his excellent + and richly dowered wife Penelope bewail her husband as was natural upon his + death bed, and close his eyes according to the offices due to the departed. But + now, tell me truly for I want to know. Who and whence are you - tell me of your + town and parents? Where is the ship lying that has brought you and your men to + +Ithaca +? Or were you a passenger on + some other man's ship, and those who brought you here have gone on their way + and left you?" +"I will tell you everything," answered + Odysseus, "quite truly. I come from Alybas, where I have a fine house. I am son + of king Apheidas, who is the son of Polypemon. My own name is Eperitus; a +daimôn + drove me off my course as I was leaving + Sicania, and I have been carried here against my will. As for my ship it is + lying over yonder, off the open country outside the town, and this is the fifth + year since Odysseus left my country. Poor fellow, yet the omens were good for + him when he left me. The birds all flew on our right hands, and both he and I + rejoiced to see them as we parted, for we had every hope that we should have + another friendly meeting and exchange presents." +A dark cloud of sorrow [ +akhos +] fell upon +Laertes + as he listened. He filled both hands with the dust from + off the ground and poured it over his gray head, groaning heavily as he did so. + The heart of Odysseus was touched, and his nostrils quivered as he looked upon + his father; then he sprang towards him, flung his arms about him and kissed + him, saying, "I am he, father, about whom you are asking - I have returned + after having been away for twenty years. But cease your sighing and lamentation + - we have no time to lose, for I should tell you that I have been killing the + suitors in my house, to punish them for their insolence and crimes." +"If you really are my son Odysseus," replied + +Laertes +, "and have come back + again, you must give me such manifest proof [ +sêma +] + of your identity as shall convince me." +"First observe this scar," answered Odysseus, + "which I got from a boar's tusk when I was hunting on Mount Parnassus. You and + my mother had sent me to Autolykos, my mother's father, to receive the presents + which when he was over here he had promised to give me. Furthermore I will + point out to you the trees in the vineyard which you gave me, and I asked you + all about them as I followed you round the garden. We went over them all, and + you told me their names and what they all were. You gave me thirteen pear + trees, ten apple trees, and forty fig trees; you also said you would give me + fifty rows of vines; there was wheat planted between each row, and they yield + grapes of every kind when the seasons [ +hôrai +] of + Zeus have been laid heavy upon them." +Laertes +’ strength failed him when + he heard the convincing proofs [ +sêmata +] which his + son had given him. He threw his arms about him, and Odysseus had to support + him, or he would have gone off into a swoon; but as soon as he came to, and was + beginning to recover his senses, he said, "O father Zeus, then you gods are + still in +Olympus + after all, if the + suitors have really been punished for their insolence [ +hubris +] and folly. Nevertheless, I am much afraid that I shall have + all the townspeople of +Ithaca + up here + directly, and they will be sending messengers everywhere throughout the cities + of the Cephallênians." +Odysseus answered, "Take heart and do not + trouble yourself about that, but let us go into the house hard by your garden. + I have already told Telemakhos, Philoitios, and Eumaios to go on there and get + dinner ready as soon as possible." +Thus conversing the two made their way towards + the house. When they got there they found Telemakhos with the stockman and the + swineherd cutting up meat and mixing wine with water. Then the old Sicel woman + took +Laertes + inside and washed him + and anointed him with oil. She put him on a good cloak, and Athena came up to + him and gave him a more imposing presence, making him taller and stouter than + before. When he came back his son was surprised to see him looking so like an + immortal, and said to him, "My dear father, some one of the gods has been + making you much taller and better-looking." +Laertes + answered, "Would, by + Father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo, that I were the man I was when I ruled among + the Cephallênians, and took Nericum, that strong fortress on the foreland. If I + were still what I then was and had been in our house yesterday with my armor + on, I should have been able to stand by you and help you against the suitors. I + should have killed a great many of them, and you would have rejoiced to see + it." +Thus did they converse; but the others, when + they had finished their work and the feast was ready, left off working [ +ponos +], and took each his proper place on the benches + and seats. Then they began eating; by and by old Dolios and his sons left their + work and came up, for their mother, the Sicel woman who looked after Laertes + now that he was growing old, had been to fetch them. When they saw Odysseus and + were certain it was he, they stood there lost in astonishment; but Odysseus + scolded them good-naturedly and said, "Sit down to your dinner, old man, and + never mind about your surprise; we have been wanting to begin for some time and + have been waiting for you." +Then Dolios put out both his hands and went up + to Odysseus. "Sir," said he, seizing his master's hand and kissing it at the + wrist, "we have long been wishing you home: and now heaven has restored you to + us after we had given up hoping. All hail, therefore, and may the gods prosper + you [ +olbios +]. But tell me, does Penelope already + know of your return, or shall we send some one to tell her?" +"Old man," answered Odysseus, "she knows + already, so you need not trouble about that." On this he took his seat, and the + sons of Dolios gathered round Odysseus to give him greeting and embrace him one + after the other; then they took their seats in due order near Dolios their + father. +While they were thus busy getting their dinner + ready, Rumor went round the town, and noised abroad the terrible fate that had + befallen the suitors; as soon, therefore, as the people heard of it they + gathered from every quarter, groaning and hooting before the house of Odysseus. + They took the dead away, buried every man his own, and put the bodies of those + who came from elsewhere on board the fishing vessels, for the fishermen to take + each of them to his own place. They then met angrily in the place of assembly, + and when they were got together Eupeithes rose to speak. He was overwhelmed + with grief [ +penthos +] for the death of his son + Antinoos, who had been the first man killed by Odysseus, so he said, weeping + bitterly, "My friend, this man has done the Achaeans great wrong. He took many + of our best men away with him in his fleet, and he has lost both ships and men; + now, moreover, on his return he has been killing all the foremost men among the + Cephallênians. Let us be up and doing before he can get away to +Pylos + or to +Elis + where the Epeans rule, or we shall be ashamed of ourselves + for ever afterwards. It will be an everlasting disgrace to us if we do not + avenge the murder of our sons and brothers. For my own part I should have no + more pleasure in life, but had rather die at once. Let us be up, then, and + after them, before they can cross over to the mainland." +He wept as he spoke and every one pitied him. + But Medon and the bard Phemios had now woke up, and came to them from the house + of Odysseus. Every one was astonished at seeing them, but they stood in the + middle of the assembly, and Medon said, "Hear me, men of +Ithaca +. Odysseus did not do these things + against the will of heaven. I myself saw an immortal god take the form of + Mentor and stand beside him. This god appeared, now in front of him encouraging + him, and now going furiously about the court and attacking the suitors whereon + they fell thick on one another." +On this pale fear laid hold of them, and old + Halitherses, son of Mastor, rose to speak, for he was the only man among them + who knew both past and future; so he spoke to them plainly and in all honesty, + saying, +"Men of +Ithaca +, it is all your own fault that things have turned out as + they have; you would not listen to me, nor yet to Mentor, when we bade you + check the folly of your sons who were doing much wrong in the wantonness of + their hearts - wasting the substance and dishonoring the wife of a chieftain + who they thought would not return. Now, however, let it be as I say, and do as + I tell you. Do not go out against Odysseus, or you may find that you have been + drawing down evil on your own heads." +This was what he said, and more than half + raised a loud shout, and at once left the assembly. But the rest stayed where + they were, for the speech of Halitherses displeased them, and they sided with + Eupeithes; they therefore hurried off for their armor, and when they had armed + themselves, they met together in front of the city, and Eupeithes led them on + in their folly. He thought he was going to avenge the murder of his son, + whereas in truth he was never to return, but was himself to perish in his + attempt. +Then Athena said to Zeus, "Father, son of + Kronos, king of kings, answer me this question - What does your +noos + bid you? Will you set them fighting still + further, or will you make peace between them?" +And Zeus answered, "My child, why should you + ask me? Was it not by your own arrangement [ +noos +] + that Odysseus came home and took his revenge upon the suitors? Do whatever you + like, but I will tell you what I think will be the most reasonable arrangement. + Now that Odysseus is revenged, let them swear to a solemn covenant, in virtue + of which he shall continue to rule, while we cause the others to forgive and + forget the massacre of their sons and brothers. Let them then all become + friends as heretofore, and let peace and plenty reign." +This was what Athena was already eager to bring + about, so down she darted from off the topmost summits of +Olympus +. +Now when +Laertes + and the others had done dinner, Odysseus began by + saying, "Some of you go out and see if they are not getting close up to us." So + one of Dolios’ sons went as he was bid. Standing on the threshold he could see + them all quite near, and said to Odysseus, "Here they are, let us put on our + armor at once." +They put on their armor as fast as they could - + that is to say Odysseus, his three men, and the six sons of Dolios. +Laertes + also and Dolios did the same - + warriors by necessity in spite of their gray hair. When they had all put on + their armor, they opened the gate and sallied forth, Odysseus leading the + way. +Then Zeus’ daughter Athena came up to them, + having assumed the form and voice of Mentor. Odysseus was glad when he saw her, + and said to his son Telemakhos, "Telemakhos, now that you are about to fight in + an engagement, which will show every man's mettle, be sure not to disgrace your + ancestors, who were eminent for their strength and courage all the world + over." +"You say truly, my dear father," answered + Telemakhos, "and you shall see, if you will, that I am in no mind to disgrace + your family." +Laertes + was delighted when he + heard this. "Good heavens, he exclaimed, "what a day I am enjoying: I do indeed + rejoice at it. My son and grandson are vying with one another in the matter of + valor [ +aretê +]." +On this Athena came close up to him and said, + "Son of Arceisius - best friend I have in the world - pray to the gray-eyed + damsel, and to Zeus her father; then poise your spear and hurl it." +As she spoke she infused fresh vigor into him, + and when he had prayed to her he poised his spear and hurled it. He hit + Eupeithes’ helmet, and the spear went right through it, for the helmet stayed + it not, and his armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. + Meantime Odysseus and his son fell the front line of the foe and smote them + with their swords and spears; indeed, they would have killed every one of them, + and prevented them from ever getting home again, only Athena raised her voice + aloud, and made every one pause. "Men of +Ithaca +," she cried, "cease this dreadful war, and settle the + matter at once without further bloodshed." +On this pale fear seized every one; they were + so frightened that their arms dropped from their hands and fell upon the ground + at the sound of the goddess’ voice, and they fled back to the city for their + lives. But Odysseus gave a great cry, and gathering himself together swooped + down like a soaring eagle. Then the son of Kronos sent a thunderbolt of fire + that fell just in front of Athena, so she said to Odysseus, "Odysseus, noble + son of Laertes, stop this warful strife, or Zeus will be angry with you." +Thus spoke Athena, and Odysseus obeyed her + gladly. Then Athena assumed the form and voice of Mentor, and presently made a + covenant of peace between the two contending parties. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.txt b/tlg0012.tlg003.perseus-eng1.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e69de29..0000000