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Cl, ^^

757 ■)0

HOMER.

TRANSLATED BT

ALEXANDER POPE, ESQ,

VOL. I.

LONDON :

PRINTED BY A. J. VALPY, M.A.

AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS.

1833.

Ck it -J^-L '10

7 U '(^ hATtc4.*^MJb ^U.^^^iuLAix,

k

K

CONTENTS

OP

THE FIRST VOLUME.

PAGE

Biographical

Sketch of Homer

V

Preface

« • • •

9

xi

•

THE ILIAD,

Book I.

1

II.

. 26

-'ill. .

. 58

- IV.

. 75

— V.

. 94

- VI. .

. 126

- VII. .

. 146

- VIII. .

. 163

- IX. ,

, 184

- X.

. 208

- XI. .

• 2-28

, ^ XII. .

. 257

- XIIL .

« % * 1

. ^4

I

' The translation of Homer by Pope will never cease to be
considered as a splendid monument of talent, which other
translators may laudably hope to rival, but which they can
never hope to surpass/— Gilbert Wakifield,

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

OF

HOMER.

No event has been recorded of the life of this
prince of poets, on which much reliance can be
placed. The period in which he. ilorished, the
place of his birth, the progress of his studies, and
even his name, have e&ercised the ingenuity^ and
excited the controversy, of the learned in every
age ; and the author of the Iliad and Odyssey,
like the architect of the pyramids of Egypt, while
he has excited the admiration, has also eluded the
research of all succeeding generations. Aristotle
Plutarch, and others, have employed their pens in
composing his biography : but the most formal ac-
count which we have of Homer is that which is
said to have been collected by Herodotus, of which
the following is an abstract : —

Homer was born at Smyrna about 168 years
after the siege of Troy^ and 622 years before the

VI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

expedition of Xerxes. His mother's name was
Crytheis, an orphan, who forfeited the protection
of her uncle residing at Cumae, by her inconti-
nency ; and in consequence of this discovery she
was committed to the custody of Ismenias, who
was leading a colony to Smyrna, at that time
building. Shortly after, while celebrating a festi-
val with other women on the banks of the river
Meles, she was delivered of Homer, whom she
therefore named Melesigenes. She now left Isme-
nias, and for some time supported herself by her
labor, till she became the wife of Phemius, a
schoolmaster in Smyrna. On the death of his
father-in-law, our poet undertook the management
of the school so successfully, that it soon became
the resort both of natives and foreigners. Among
the latter of these was one Mentes, a master of a
ship from Leucadia, by whose persuasions and pro*
mises he was induced to relinquish his situation,
and accompany him in his travels. With him he
visited Spain and Italy, but was left behind at
Ithaca, on account of a defluxion in his eyes.
During his stay in this place he was entertained by
one Mentor, a man of fortune, justice, and hospi-
tality ; and from him he learned the principal
incidents of the life of Ulysses. At the return of
his friend Mentes, he sailed tp CQlophon, where.

OF HOMBR. Vll

his defluzion recurring;, he became intirely blind«
No better expedient now suggested itself to his
mind, than immediately to return to Smyrna,
where he might reasonably expect the support of
his former friends and admirers, and have leisure to
cultivate his poetical talents : but here he found
his poverty increase, and his hopes of encourage-
ment fail : be therefore removed to Cumie, and on
his journey was for some time entertained at the
house of one Tychius, a leather-dresser. The Cu-
Viaeans professed to hold him in high veneration ;
but wJten he proposed to write a poem in praise of
Ihe city, if they would allow him a small annual
fusion in return, answer was made that there
«Miild be no end of maintaining all the .Someri,
<». Ufnd men ; and hence he got the name of
Homer. Mfom Guome he proceeded te Phocaea^
where one Thestorides, a schoolmaster, offered to
maintain him, if he would suffer him to transcribe
his verses. To these terms the necessities of the
poet were compelled to yield : but Thestorides had
no sooner gained his object, than he removed to
Chios, where the poems, which he had thus frau-
dulently obtained, procured him wealth and repu«
tation, while the author himself was scarcely able
to subsist by repeating them elsewhere. At length,
3pme travellers; arriving from Chios, informed the

viii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

inhabitants of Pfaoccea that the same verses were
already published ; and Homer resolved to lose no
time in seeking out and prosecuting the offender.
Having landed near Chios, he was received by
one Glaucus, a shepherd, who carried him to his
master at Bolissus, who, admiring his knowlege,
intrusted him with the education of his children.
Here the report of his genius soon began to
spread ;' and Thestorides, hearing of his approach,
fled from his presence. Homer soon after re-
moved to Chios, in which city he established a
school of poetry, gained a competent fortune, mar-
ried, and had two daughters ; one of whom died
young ; the other became the wife of his patron at
Bolissus. Here he inserted in his poems the names
of those to whom he had been under the greatest
obligations, such as Mentes, Phemius, Mentor,
and Tychius. Having now determined to visit
Athens, he made honorable mention of thajt city, in
order to prepare the minds of the Athenians for his
kind reception. The vessel in which he sailed be-
ing driven on the island of Samos, he continued,
during a whole winter, to obtain a precarious sub-
sistence by singing at the houses of the principal
inhabitants ; and, on the arrival of spring, again set
sail towards Athens; but, landing by the way at los,
he fell sick^ died, and was buried on the sea-shore.

•

OF HOMER. IX

The aDcients held the memory of Homer in so
much veneration, that they not only raised temples
and altars to him, but offered sacrifices, and wor-
shipped him as a divinity. The inhabitants of
Chios celebrated festivals in his honor every fifth
year, and medals were struck, which represented
him sitting on a throne, holding the Iliad and
Odyssey.

The poetry of Homer was so universally ad-
mired, in ancient times, that every man of learning
was able to repeat with facility any remarkable
passage in either of his celebrated poems ; and his
testimony was considered as of sufficient authority
to settle disputed boundaries, or to support any
argument. Alexander the Great was so fond of
Homer, that he generally placed his compositions
under his pillow ; and he carefully deposited the
Iliad in one of the most valuable caskets of Da-
rius, observing, that the most perfect work of hu-
man genius was well worthy of a receptacle the
most precious in the world.

Pisistratus, the tyrant of Athens, is reported to
have been the first who collected the Iliad and
Odyssey, and arranged them in the order which
they now exhibit. These incomparable relics of
antiquity, independent of their poetical excel-
lences, are evidently the productions of a man who

X BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HOMBR.

travelled, and examined with the most critical ac-
curacy whatever was most remarkable in nature or
art. Modern travellers are astonished to see the
different scenes which the pen of Homer described
about 3000 years ago still existing in the same
unvaried form; and the sailor, who steers his
course along the ^gean, sees all the promontories
and rocks, which appeared to the Greeks, when
they returned victorious from the Trojan war.

PREFACE.

Homer is nniveraally allowed to have bad the greatest inren*
tion of any writer whatever. The praise of judgment Virgil
has justly contested with him, and others may have their pre*
tensions as to particular excellences ; but his invention re-
mains unrivalled. Nor is it a wonder if he has ever been
acknowleged the greatest of poets, who most excelled in that
which is the very foundation of poetry. It is the invention
that in different degrees distinguishes all great geniuses :
the utmost stretch of human study, learning, and industry,
which masters every thing besides, can never attain to this*
It furnishes Art with all her materials, and without it Judg*
ment itself can at best but steal wisely : for Art is only like a
prudent steward, that lives on managing the riches of Nature.
Whatever praises may be given to works of judgment, there
is not even a single beauty in them to which the invention
must not contribute : as in the most regular gardens, Art can
only reduce the beauties of Nature to more regularity, and
such a figure, which the common eye may better take in, and
is therefore more entertained with. And perhaps the reason
why. common critics are inclined to prefer a judicious and
methodical genius to a great and fruitful one, is, because they
find it easier for themselves to pursue their observations
through an uniform and bounded walk of Art, than to compre*
hend the vast and various extent of Nature.

Our author's work is a wild paradise, where; if we cannot
see all the beauties so distinctly as in an ordered garden, it is
only because the number of them is infinitely greater. It is
like a copious nursery, which contains the seeds anMrst pro-
ductions of every kind, out of which those who followed him
have but selected some particular plants, each according to his
fancy, to cultivate and beautify. If some thmgs are too lux*
uriant, it is owing to the richness of the soil ; and if others
are not arrived to perfection or maturity, it is only because
they are overrun and oppressed by those of a stronger nature.

Xll PREFACE.

It is to the strength of this amazing invention we are to
attribute that unequalled fire and rapture which is so forcible
in Homer, that no man of a true poetical spirit is master of
himself while he reads him. What he writes, is of the most
animated nature imaginable ; every thing moves, every thing
lives, and is put in action. If a council be called, or a battle
fought, you are not coldly informed of what was said or done
as from a third person ; the reader is hurried out of himself
by the force of the poet's imagination, and turns in one place
to a hearer, in another to a spectator. The course of his
verses resembles that of the army he describes,

Ol 8* op* itraVy ixTfi re mtpi y^wv iraa-a vffMiro :

' They pour along like a fire that sweeps the whole earth be-
fore it.' It is, however, remarkable that his fancy, which is
every where vigorous, is not discovered immediately at the
beginning of his poem in its fullest splendor : it grows in the
progress both on himself and others, and becomes on fire, like
a chariot-wheel, by its own rapidity. Exact disposition, just
thought, correct elocution, polished numbers, may have been
found in a thousand ; but this poetic fire, this ' vivida vis
animi,' in a very few. Even in works where all those are
imperfect or neglected, this can overpower criticism, and
make us admire even while we disapprove. Nay, where this
appears, though attended with absurdities, it brightens all
the rubbish about it, till we see nothing but its own splendor.
This fire is discerned in Virgil, but discerned as through a
glasS) reflected from Homer, more shining than fierce, but
every where equal and constant: in Lucan and Statins it
bursts out in sudden, short, and interrupted flashes : in Milton
it glows like a furnace kept up to an uncommon ardor by the
force of art : in Shakspeare it strikes before we are aware,
like an accidental fire from heaven : but in Homer, and in
him only, it burns every where clearly^ and every where irre-
sistibly.

I shall here endeavor to show how this vast invention
exerts itself in a manner superior to that of any poet, through
all the main constituent parts of his work, as it is the great
and peculiar characteristic which distinguishes him from all
other authors.

This strong and ruling faculty was like a powerful star,
which, in the violence of its coarse, drew all things within

PREFACE. Xlll

its Yortez. It seemed not enough to have taken in the whole
circle of arts, and the whole compass of nature, to supply his
maxims and reflections ; all the inward passions and affec-
tions of mankind, to furnish his characters ; and all the out-
ward forms and images of things for his descriptions ; hut
wanting yet an ampler sphere to expatiate in, he opened a new
and boundless w^k for his imagination, and created a world
for himself in the invention of fable. That which Aristotle
calls * the soul of poetry,' was first breathed into it by Ho-
mer. I shall begin with considering him in this part, as it is
naturally the first ; and I speak of it both as it means the de-
sign of a poem, and as it is taken for fiction.

Fable may be divided into the Probable, the Allegorical,
and the Marvellous. The Probable Fable is the recital of
such actions as, though they did not happen, yet might, in the
common course of nature ; or of such as, though they did, be-
come fables by the additional episodes and manner of telling
them. Of this sort is the main story of an epic poem, the
return of Ulysses, the settlement of the Trojans in Italy, or
the like. That of the Iliad is the anger of Achilles, the most
short and single isubject that ever was chosen by any poet.
Yet this he has supplied with a vaster variety of incidents
and events, and crowded with a greater number of councils,
speeches, hattles, and episodes of all kinds, than are to he
found even in those poems whose schemes are of the utmost
latitude and irregularity. The action is hurried on with the
most vehement spirit, and its whole duration employs not so
much as fifty days. Virgil, for want of so warm a genius,
aided himself by taking in a more extensive subject, as well
as a greater length of time, and contracting the design of hoth
Homer*s poems into one, which is yet but a fourth part as
large as his. The other epic poets have used the same prac-
tice, but generally carried it so far as to superinduce a multi-
plicity of fables, destroy the unity of action, and lose their
readers in an unreasonable length of time. Nor is it only in
the main design that they have been unable to add to his in-
vention, but they have followed him in every episode and
part of story. If he has given a regular catalogue of an army,
they all draw up their forces in the same order. If he has
funeral games for Patroclus, Virgil has the same for Anchi-
ses ; and Statins, rather than omit them, destroys the unity of
his action for those of Archemorus. If Ulysses visit the

XIV PREFACE.

shades, the ^neas of Virgil, and $cipio of Silias, are sent
after him. If he be detained from his return by the allure-
ments of Calypso, so is i£neas by Dido, and Rinaldo by Ar-
mida. If Achilles be absent from the army on the score of a
quarrel through half the poem, Rinaldo must absent himself
just as long, on the like account. If he gives his hero a suit
of celestial armor, Virgil and Tasso make the same present to
theirs. Virgil has not only observed this close imitation of
Homer, but, where he had not led the way, supplied the want
from other Greek authors. Thus the story of Sinon and the
taking of Troy was copied, says Macrobius, almost word for
word from Pisander, as the lores of Dido and iEneas are
taken from those of Medea and Jason in ApoUonius, and seve-
ral others in the same manner.

'to proceed to the Allegorical Fable : if we reflect on those
innumerable knowleges, those secrets of nature and physical
philosophy, which Homer is generally supposed to have
wrapped up in his Allegories, what a new and ample scene
of wonder may this consideration afford us ! how fertile will
that imagination appear, which was able to clothe all the pro-
perties of elements, the qualifications of the mind, the vir-
tues and vices, in forms and persons ; and to introduce them
into actions agreeable to the nature of the things they sha-
dowed ! This is a field in which no succeeding poets could
dispute with Homer; and whatever commendations have been
allowed them on this head, are by no means for their inven>
tion in having enlarged his circle, but for their judgment in
having contracted it. For when the mode of learning changed
in following ages, and science was delivered in a plainer man-
ner, it then became as reasonable in the more modern poets
to lay it aside, as it was in Homer to make use of it. And
perhaps it was no unhappy circumstance for Virgil, that there
was not in his time that demand on him of so great an inven-
tion, as might be capttble of furnishing all those allegorical
parts of a poem.

The Marvellous Fable includes whatever is supernatural,
and especially the machines of the gods. He seems the first
who brought them into a system of machinery for poetry, and
such a one as makes its greatest importance and dignity : for
we find those authors who have been offended at the literal
notion of the gods, constantly laying their accusation against
Homer as the chief support of it. But whatever cause then

PREFACE. XV

might be to blame his machines in a philosophical or religious
▼iew, they are so perfect in the poetic, that mankind have
been ever since contented to follow them : none have been
able to enlarge the sphere of poetry beyond the limits he has
set : every attempt of this nature has proved unsuccessful ;
and after all the various changes of times and religions, his
gods continue to this day the gods of poetry.

We come now to the characters of his persons ; and here we
shall find no author has ever drawn so many, with so visible
and surprising a variety, or given us such lively and affecting
impressions of them. Every one has something so singularly
his own, that no painter could have distinguished them more
by their features than the poet has by their manners. Nothing
can be more exact than the distinctions he has observed in
the different degrees of virtues and vices. The single qua-
lity of courage is wonderfully diversified in the several cha-
racters of the niad. That of Achilles is furious and untract*
able ; that of Diomede forward, yet listening to advice and
subject to command; that of Ajax is heavy, and self-con-
fiding ; of Hector, active and vigilant: the courage of Aga*
memnon is inspirited by love of empire and ambition ; that of
Menelaus mixed with softness and tenderness for his people :
we find in Idomeneus a plain direct soldier ; in Sarpedon, a
gallant and generous one. Nor is this judicious and astonish-
ing diversity to be found only in the principal quality which
constitutes the main of each character, but even in the under
parts of it, to which he takes care to give a tincture of that
principal one. For example, the main characters of Ulysses
and Nestor consist in wisdom ; and they are distinct in this,
that the wisdom of one is artificial and various, of the other,
natural, open, and regular. But they have, besides, charac-
ters of courage ; and this quality also takes a different turn in
each from the difference of his prudence : for one in the wat
depends still on caution, the other on experience. It would
be endless to produce instances of these kinds. The charao*
ters of Virgil are far from striking us in this open manner ;
they lie in a great degree hidden and undistinguished, a&d,
where they are marked most evidently, affect us not in pro-
portion to those of Homer. His characters of valor are much
alike ; even that of Tumus seems no way peculiar, but as it
is in a superior degree ; and we see nothing that differences
the courage of Mnestheas from that of Sergesthus, Cloanthus,

XVI PREFACE.

or the rest. In like manner it may be remarked of Statius'
heroes, that an air of impetuosity runs through them all ; the
same horrid and savage courage appears in his Capaneus, Ty«
deus, Hippomedon, &c. They have a parity of character,
which makes them seem brothers of one family. I believe,
when the reader is led into this track of reflection, if he will
pursue it through the Epic and Tragic writers, he will be
convinced how infinitely superior in this point the invention
of Ff omer was to that of all others.

The speeches are to be considered as they flow from the
charactir ^, being perfect or defective as they agree or dis-
agree with the manners of those who utter them. As there is
more variety of characters in the Iliad, so there is of speeches,
than in any other poem. Every thing in it has manners, as
Aristotle expresses it ; that is, every thing is acted or spoken.
It is hardly credible, in a work of such length, bow small a
number of lines are employed in narration. In Virgil, the
dramatic part is less in proportion to the narrative ; and the
speeches often consist of general reflections or thoughts, which
might be equally just in any person's mouth on the same oc-
casion. As many of his persons have no apparent characters,
so many of his speeches escape being applied and judged by
the rule of propriety. We oftener think of the author himself
when we read Virgil, tl^an when we are engaged in Homer :
all which are the e£fects of a colder invention, that interests
us less in the action described : Homer makes us hearers, and
Virgil leaves us readers.

If in the next place we take a view of the sentiments, tbe
same presiding faculty is eminent in the sublimity and spiri
of his thoughts. Longinus has given his opinion, that it was
in this part Homer principally excelled. What were alone
sufficient to prove the grandeur and excellence of his senti-
ments in general, is, that they have so remarkable a parity
with those of the Scripture : Duport, in his Gnomologia Ho-
merica, has collected innumerable instances of this sort. And
it is witb justice an excellent modem writer allows, that if
Virgil has not so many thoughts that are low and vulgar, he
has not so many that are sublime and noble ; and that the
Roman author seldom rises into very astonishing sentiments,
where he is not fired by the Iliad.

If we observe his descriptions, images, and similes, we
shall find the invention still predominant. To what else can

PREFACE. XVll

we sscrlbe that vast comprehension of images of every sort,
where wa see each circumstance of art, and individual of na*
tare, summoned together, by the extent and fecnnoUty of hif
Imagination ; to which all things, in their various views, pre*
seated themselves in an instant, and had their impressions
taken off to perfection, at a heaf! Nay, he not only gives us
the full prospects of things, but several unexpected peculiari*
ties and side-views, unobserved by any painter but Hemer.
JNothing is so surprising as the descriptions of ^^s battles,
which take up no less than half the Iliad, and a. supplied
with so vast a variety of incidents, that no one bears a like-
ness to another ; such different kinds of deaths, that no two
heroes are wounded in the same manner ; and such a profu*
sion of noble ideas, that every battle rises above the last in
greatness, horror, and confusion. It is certain there is not
near that number of images and descriptions in any Epic
poet ; though every one has assisted himself with a great
quantity out of him : and it is evident of Virgil especially,
thaft he has scarce any comparisons which are not drawn from
his master.

If we descend from hence to the expression, we see the
bright imagination of Homer shining out in the most enli-
vened forms of it. We acknowlege him the father of poetical
diction, the first who taught that language of the gods to men.
His expression is like the coloring of some great masters,
which discovers itself to be laid on boldly, and executed with
japidity. It is indeed the strongest and most glowing ima-
l^able, and touched with the greatest spirit. Aristotle had
reason to say, He was the only poet who had found out
living words ; there are in him more daring figures and meta-
phors than in any good author' whatever. An arrow is impa-
tient to be on the wing, a weapon thirsts to drink the blood
of an enemy, and the like. Yet his expression is never too
Ing for the sense, but justly great in proportion to it. It i
the sentiment that swells and fills out the diction, which rises
with it, and' forms itself {ibout it : for in the same degree that
a thought is warmer, an expression will be brighter ; as that
IB more strong, this will become more perspicuous : like glass
in the furnace, which grows to a greater magnitude and re-
fines to ft greater clearness, only as the breath irlthin is more
pdwerfal, and the heat more intense.

HON. VOL. I. b

Xviii PREFACE.

. To throw his language more out of prose, Homer seeins to
hare affected the compound epithets. This was a sort of com*
position peculiarly proper to poetry, not only as it heightened
the diction, hut as it assisted and filled the numhers with
greater sound and pomp, and likewise conduced in some mea-
sure to thicken the images. On this last consideration I can-
not hut attribute these also to the fruitfulness of his invention,
since, as he has managed them, they are a sort of supernume-
rary pictures of the persons or things to which they a^e joined.
We see the motion of Hector's plumes in the epithet KOfntBcuo^
Xof , the landscape of Mount Neritus in that of uvoai^KKos,
and so of others ; which particular images could not have
been insisted on so long as to express them in a description,
though but of a single line, without diverting the reader too
much from the principal action or figure. As a metaphor is a
short simile, one of these epithets is a short description.

Lastly, if we consider his versification, we shall be sensible
what a share of praise is due to his invention in that. He
was not satisfied with his language as he found it settled in
any one part of Greece, but searched through its differing dia-
lects with this particular view, to beautify and perfect his
numbers : he considered these as they had a greater mixture
oi vowels or consonants, and accordingly employed them as
the verse required either a greater smoothness or strength.
What he most affected was the Ionic, which has a peculiar
sweetness from its never using contractions, and from its cus-
tom of resolving the diphthongs into two syllables, so as to
make the words open themselves with a more spreading and
sonorous fluency. With this he mingled the Attic contrac-
tions, the broader Doric, and the feebler iEolic, which often
rejects its aspirate, or takes off its accent ; and completed
this variety by altering some letters with the license of poetry.
Thus his measures, instead of being fetters to his sense, were
always in readiness to run along with the warmth of his rap-
ture, and even to give a farther representation of his notions,
in the correspondence of their sounds to what they signified.
Out of all these he has derived that harmony, which makes us
confess he had not only the richest head, but the finest ear in
the world. This is so great a truth, that whoever will but
consult the tune of his verses, even without understanding
them, with the same sort of diligence as we daily see prac-
tised in the case of Italian operas, will find more sweetness.

PREFACB. XIX

variety, and majesty of sound, than in any other language or
poetry. Tlie beauty of his numbers is allowed hy the critic9
to be copied but faintly by Virgil himself, though they are so
just as to ascribe it to the nature of the Latin tongue : indeed
the Greek has some advantages, both from the natural sound
of its words, and the turn and cadence of its verse, which
agree with the genius of no other language. Virgil was very
sensible of this, and used the utmost diligence in working up
a more intractable language to whatsoever graces it was capa-
,ble of; and, in particular, never failed to bring the sound of
•his line to a beautiful agreement with its sense. If the Gre-
cian poet has not been so frequently celebrated on this account
as the Roman, the only reason is, that fewer critics have un-
derstood one language than the other. Dionysius of Halicar-
.oassus has pointed out many of our author's beauties in this
kind, in his treatise of the Composition of Words. It suffices
at present to observe of his numbers, that they flow with so
much ease, as to make one imagine Homer had no other care
than to transcribe as fast as the Muses dictated ; and at the
same time with so much force and inspiriting vigor, that they
awaken and raise us like the sound of a trumpet. They roll
along as a plentiful river, always in motion, and always full ;
.while we are borne away by a tide of verse, the most rapid,
and yet the most smooth imaginable.

Thus, on whatever side we contemplate Homer, what prin-
cipally strikes us is his invention. It is that which forms the
character of each part of his work ; and accordingly we find it
to have made his fable more extensive and copious than any
other, his manners more lively and strongly marked, his
speeches more affecting and transported, his sentiments more
warm and sublime, his images and descriptions more full and
animated, his expression more raised and daring, and his
numbers more rapid and various. I hope, in what has been
said of Virgil, with regard to any of these heads, I have no
.way derogated from his character. Nothing is more absurd
or endless, than the common method of comparing eminent
writers by an opposition of particular passages in them, and
forming a judgment from thence of their merit on the whole.
We ought to have a certain knowlege of the principal charac-
ter and distinguishing excellence of each : it is in that we are
to consider him, and in proportion to his degree in that we
• are to admire h^. No author or man ever excelled all the

IKX f»REFACE.

world in more than «»ie faculty ; and as Homer has done this
in invention, Virgil has in judgment. Not that we are to
think Homer wanted judgment, hecanse Virgil had it in a
more eminent degree ; or that Virgil wanted invention, be-
cause Homer possessed a larger share of it : each of tJiese
^reat authors had more of both than perhaps any man besides,
and are only said to have less in comparison with one another.
Homer was the greater genius, Virgil the better artist. In
one we most admire the man,. in the other the work : Homer
hurries Imd transports us witJi a commanding impetuosity,
Virgil leads us with an attractive majesty : Homer scatters
with a generous profusion, Virgil bestows with a careful mag-
nificence : Homer, like the Nile, pours out his riches with a
boundless overflow ; Virgil, like a river in its banks, with a
gentle and constant stream. When we behold their battles,
methinks the two poets resemble the heroes they celebrate :
Homer, boundless and iiresistible as Achilles, bears all be-
fore him, and shines more and more as the tumult increases ;
Virgil, calmly daring like ^Eneas, appears undisturbed in the
midst of the action, disposes all about him, and conquers
with tranquillity. And when we look on their machines. Ho*-
mer seems like his own Jupiter in his terrors, shaking Olyn-
pus, scattering the lightnings, and firing the heavens ; Virgil,
like the same power in his benevolence, counselling with the
gods, laying plans for empires, and regularly ordering his
whole creation.

But after all, it is with great parts as with great virtues,
they naturally border on some imperfection ; and it is ofteti
hard to distinguish exactly where the virtue ends, or the fault
begins. As prudence may sometimes sink to suspicion, so
may a great judgment decline to coldness; and as magnani-
mity may run np to profusion or extravagance, so may a great
invention to redundancy or wildness. If we look on Homer
in this view, we shall perceive the chief objections against
him to pioeeed from so noble a cause as the ekcess iof this

faeulty.

Among these we may reckon some of his Marvellotis Fic-
tions, on which so much criticism has been spent, as surpass-
ing ail the bounds of probability. Perb«ps it ma^ be with
great and superior souk as with gigantic bodies, which, ex-
«rtiog Uiemselves with uo«s««l strength, exceed what is com-
monly thongbt the due proportion of parts, to become miiA-

phefacb, XXI

qlw in the whole ; and, like the old heroes of that make,
commit something near extravagance, amidst a series of glo-
rious and inimitable performances. Thus Homer has his
speaking horses, and Virgil his myrtles distilling blood, where
the latter has not so much as contrived the easy intervention
of a deity to save the probability.

It is owing to the same vast invention that his similes have
been thought too exuberant and full of circumstances. The
force of this faculty is seen in nothiog more than in its ina-
bility to confine itself to that single circamstance on which the
comparison is grounded : it runs out into embellishments of
additional images, which, however, are so managed as not to
overpower the main one. His similes are like pictures, where
the priocipal figure has not only its proportion given agreo'^
able to the original, but is also set off with occasional oma-*
ments and prospects. The same will account for his manner
of heaping a number of comparisons together in one breath,
when his fancy suggested to him at once so many various and
correspondent images. The reader will easily extend this ob-
servation to more objections of the same kind.
. If there are others which seem rather to charge him with a
defect or narrowness of genius than ap excess of it, those
seeming defects will be found on examination to proceed
wholly from the nature of the times he lived in. Such are
his grosser representations of the gods, and the vicious and
imperfect manners of his heroes. But I must here speak a
word of the latter, as«it is a point generally carried into ex*
tremes, both by the censurers and defenders of Homer. It
must be a strange partiality to antiquity, to think with Ma-
dame Dacier, ' that those times and manners are so much the
more excellent, as they are more contrary to ours.' * Who
can be so prejudiced in their favor as to magnify the felicity
of those ages, when a spirit of revenge and cruelty, joined
with the practice of rapine and robbery, reigned throiigh the
world ; when no mercy was shown, but tor the sake of lucre ;
when the greatest prinoes were put to the sword, and their
.wive^ and daughters made slaves and concubines 1 On the
Qther side* I would not be so delicate as those modem critics,
who are shooked at the servile ofiices and mean employments
in which we sometimes see the heroes of Homer engaged.

* Pr«|^ tQ her Homer.

XXII PREFACE.

There is a pleasure in taking a view of that simplicity in op-
position to the luxury of succeeding ages, in beholding mo-
narchs without their guards, princes tending their flocks, and
princesses drawing water from the springs. When we read
Homer, we ought to reflect that we are reading the most an-
cient author in the heathen world ; and those who consider
him in this light, will double their pleasure- in the perusal of
him. Let them think they are growing acquainted with na-
tions and people that are now no more ; that they are stepping
almost three thousand years back into the remotest antiquity,
and entertaining themselves with a clear and surprising vision
of things nowhere else to be found, the only true mirror of
that ancient world. By tbii^ means alone their greatest obsta-
cles will vanish ; and what usually creates their dislike will
become a satisfaction.

This consideration may farther serve to answer for the con-
stant use of the same epithets to his gods and heroes, such as
the far-darting Phoebus, the blue-eyed Pallas, the swift-footed
Achilles, &c., which some have censured as impertinent and
tediously repeated. Those of the gods depended on the pow-
ers and offices then believed to belong to them, and had con-
tracted a weight and veneration from the rites and solemn
devotions in which they were used : they were a sort of attri-
butes with which it was a matter of religion to salute them on
all occasions, and which it was an irreverence to omit. As
for the epithets of great men. Monsieur Boileau is of opinion
that they were in the nature of surnames, and repeated as
such ; for the Greeks, having no names derived from their
fathers, were obliged to add some other distinction of each
person ; either naming his parents expressly, or his place of
birth, profession, or the like : as Alexander the son of Philip,
Herodotus of Halicarnassus, Diogenes the Cynic, &c. Ho-
mer therefore, complying with the custom of his country,
used such distinctive additions as better agreed with poetry.
And indeed we have something parallel to these in, modem
times, such as the names of Harold Harefoot, £dmund Iron-
side, Edward Long- shanks, Edward the Black Prince, &c*
If yet this be thought to account better for the propriety than
for the repetition, I shall add a farther conjecture. Hesiod,
Uviding the world into its different ages, has placed a fourth
>e between the brazen and the iron one, of ' Heroes distinct
om other men^ « divine race who fought at Thebes and

PREFACE. Xxiil

Troy, are called demi-gods, and liv^e by the care of Jupiter in
the islands of the blessed.'* Now among the divine honors,
which were paid them, they might have this also in common
with the gods, not to be mentioned without the solemnity of
an epithet, and such as might be acceptable to them by its
celebrating their families, actions, or qualities.

'What other cavils have been raised against Homer are such
as hardly deserve a reply, but will yet be taken notice of as
they occur in the course of the work. Many have been occa-
sioned by an injudicious endeavor to exalt Virgil ; which is
much the same as if one should think to raise the superstruc-
ture by undermining the ibundation : one would imagine by
the whole course of their parallels, that these critics never so
much as heard of Homer's having written first ; a considera-
tion which whoever compares these two poets ought to have
always in his eye. Some accuse him for the same things
which they overlook or praise in the other; as when they
prefer the fable and moral of the iEneid to those of the Iliad,
for the same reason which might set the Odyssey above the
^neid : as that the hero is a wiser man ; and the action of
the one more beneficial to his country than that of the' other :
or else they blame him for not doing what he never designed ;
as because Achilles is not as good and perfect a prince as
^neas, when the very moral of his poem required a contrary
character : it is thus that Rapin judges in his comparison of
Homer and Virgil. Others select those particular passages
of Homer which are not so labored as some that Virgil drew
out of them : this is the whole management of Scaliger in his
Foetices. Others quaiTel with what they take for low and
mean expressions, sometimes through a false delicacy and
refinement, oftener from an ignorance of the graces of the
original; and then triumph in the awkwardness of their own
translations : this is the conduct of Perault in his Parallels.
Lastly, there are others, who, pretending to a fairer proceed-
ing, distinguish between the personal merit of Homer and
that of his work ; but when they come to assign the causes of
the great reputation of the Iliad, they found it on the igno-
rance of his times and the prejudice of those that followed :
and in pursuance of this principle, they make those accidents,
Buch as the contention of the cities, &c., to be the causes of

* Hesiod, i. 155, &c.

XXtV PRBFACB.

bis fame, wluch were in vealit)^ the eoofiequeiieei of his me-
rit. Hie same might ss well be said of Virgil or any great
author, whose general character will infallibly raise many
caaaal additions to their reputation. This is the method of
Monsieur de la Motte ; who yet confesses, on the whole, that
in whaterer age Homer had liyed, he must have been the
greatest poet of his nation, and that he may be said in this
sense to be the master even of those who surpassed him.

In all these objections we see nothing that contradicts his
title to the honor of the chief invention ; and as long as this,
which is indeed the characteristic of poetry itself* remains
unequalled by his followers, he still continues superior to
them. A cooler judgment may commit fewer faults, and be
more apj^'ored in the eyes of one sort of critics : but that
warmth of fancy will carry the loudest and most universal
applauses, which holds the heart of a reader under the strong-
est enchantment. Homer not only appears the inventor of
poetry, but excels all theinventors of other arts in this, that
he has swallowed up the honor of those who succeeded him.
What he has done admitted no increase, it only left room for
contraction or regulation. He showed all the stretch of fancy
at once ; and if he has failed in some of his flights, it was but
because he attempted every thing. A work of this kind seems
like a mighty tree which rises from the most vigorous seed,
is improved with industry, florishea and produces the finest
fruit ; nature and art conspire to raise it ; pleasure and profit
join to make it valuable : and they who find the justeat faults
have only said, that a few branches, which run luxuriant
through a richness of nature, might be lopped into form to
give it a more regular appearance.

Having now spoken of the beauties and defects of the ori-
ginal, it remains to treat of the translation, with the same
view to the chief characteristic. As far as that is seen in the
main parts of the poem, such as the fable, manners, and sen-
timents, no translator can prejudice it but by wilful omissions
or contractions. As it also breaks out in every particular
image, description* and simile ; whoever lessens or too much
softens those, takes off from this chief oharaoter. It is the first
grand duty of an interpreter to give his author intire and uii*
maimed ; and for the rest, the diction and versification only
are his proper province, since these must be his own ; but
the others, he is to tske as he finds them.

PREFACE, XXV

It ahovld tben he oonsidered wbat methods may afford some
•qmyalent ia oar language for the graces of these in the Greek,
It ia certain no literal translation can be just to an excellent
onginal in a superior language : but it is a great mistake to
imagine, as many have done, that a rash paraphrase can make
amends for this general defect ; which is no less in danger to
lose the spirit of an ancient, by deviating into the modem
manners of expression. If there be sometimes a darkness,
there is often a light in antiquity, which nothing better pre-
serves than a version almost literal. I know no liberties one
ought to take, but those which are necessary for transfusing
the spirit of the original, and supporting the poetical style of
the translation : and I will venture to say, there have not
been more men misled in former times by a servile dull adhe-
rence to the letter, than have been deluded in ours by a chi-
merical insolent hope of raising and improving their author.
It is not to be doubted that the fire of the poem is what a
translator should principally regard, as it is most likely to
expire in his managing : however, it is his safest way to be
content with preserving this to his utmost in the whole, with-
out endeavoring to be more than he finds his author iSj^ in any
particular place. It is a great secret in writing to know when
to be plain, and when poetical and figurative ', and it is what
Homer will teach us, if we will but follow modestly in hie
footsteps. Where his diction is bold and lofty, let us raise
ours as high as we can ; but where his is plain and humble,
we ought not to be deterred from imitating him by the fear of
incurring the censure of a mere English critic. Nothing that
belongs to Homer seems to have been more commonly mis-
taken than the just pitch of his style : some of his translators
having swelled into fustian in a proud confidence of the sub-*
lime y others sunk into flatness in a cold and timorous notion
of simplicity. Methinks I see these different followers of
Homer, some sweating and straining after him by violent
leaps and bounds, the certain signs of false mettle ; others
slowly and servilely creeping in his train, while the poet himt
self is all the time proceeding with an unaffected and equal
puyesty before them. However, of the two extremes, one
could sooner pardon frensy than frigidity ; no author is to bQ
envied for such commendations as he may gain by that chat
racter of style which his friends must agree together to call
impUcity, and the rest of the world will call dulness. There

XXVl PtlEPACK.

is a graceful and dignified simplicity, as well as a bald and
sordid one, which differ as much from each other as the air of
a plain man from that of a sloven : it is one thing to be tricked
up, and another not to be dressed at all. Simplicity is the
inean between ostentation and rusticity.

lliis pure and noble simplicity is nowhere in such perfec-
tion as in the Scripture and our author. One may affirm, with
all respect to the inspired writings, that the divine Spirit
made use of no other words but what were intelligible and
common to men at that time, and in that part of the world ;
and as Homer is the author nearest to those, his style must of
course bear a greater resemblance to the sacred books than
that of any other writer. This consideration, together with
what has been observed of the parity, of some of his thoughts,
may methinks induce a translator on the one hand to give into
several of those general phrases and manners of expression,
which have attained a veneration even in our language from
being used in the Old Testament ; as, on the other, to avoid
those which have been appropriated to the Divinity, and in a
manner consigned to mystery and religion.

For a farther preservation of this air of simplicity, a parti-'
cular care should be taken to express with all plainness those
moral sentences and proverbial speeches which are so nume-
rous in this poet. They have something venerable, and, as I
may say, oracular, in that unadorned gravity and shortness
with which they are delivered : a grace which would be ut-
terly lost by endeavoring to give them what we call a more
ingenious, that is, a more modern, turn in the paraphrase.

Perhaps the mixture of some Graecisms and old words after
the manner of Milton, if done without too much affectation,
might not have an ill effect in a version of this particular
work, which most of any other seems to require a venerable
antique cast. But certainly the use of modem terms of war
and government, such as platoon, campaign, junto, or the like,
into which some of his translators have fallen, cannot be al-
lowable ; those only excepted, without which it is impossible
to treat the subjects in any living language.

There are two peculiarities in Homer's diction which are a
sort of marks, or moles, by which every common eye distin-
S^iishes him at first sight : those who are not his greatest ad-
mirers look on them as defects, and those who are, seem
~^ ~.sed with them as beauties. I speak of his compound epi«

PREFACE. XXVlt

thets, and of his repetitions. Many of the fonner cannot be
done literally into English without destroying the purity of
our language. I believe such should be retained as slide ea-
sily of themselves into an English compound, without vio-
lence to the ear or to the received rules of composition ; as
well as those which have received a sanction from the autho-
rity of our best poets, and are become familiar through their
use of them ; such as the cloud-compelling Jove, &c. As for
the rest whenever any can be as fully and significantly ex-
pressed in a single word as in a compound one, the course to'
be taken is obvious.

Some that cannot be so turned as to preserve their full
image by one or two words, may have justice done them by
circumlocution ; as the epithet €ivocrt^v\\os to a mountain,
would appear little or ridiculous translated literally, 'leaf-
shaking,' but affords a majestic idea in the periphrasis : ' The
lofty mountain shakes his waving woods.' Others, that ad-
mit of differing significations, may receive an advantage by a
judicious variation according to the occasions on which they
are introduced. For example, the epithet of Apollo, ckt^/SoXos,
or * far- shooting,' is capable -of two explications ; one literal
in respect to tlie darts and bow, the ensigns of that god ; the
other allegorical with regard to the rays of the sun : there-
fore in such places where Apollo is represented as a god
in person, I would use the former interpretation ; and where
the effects of the sun are described, I would make choice' of
the latter. On the whole, it will be necessary to avoid that
perpetual repetition of the same epithets which we find in
Homer ; and which, though it might be accommodated, as
has been already shown, to the ear of those times, is by no
means so to ours : but one may wait for opportunities of
placing them, where they derive an additional beauty from
the occasions on which they are employed ; and in doing this
properly, a translator may at once show his fancy and his
judgment.

As for Homer's repetitions, we may divide them into three
sorts; of whole narrations and speeches, of single sentences,
and of one verse or hemistich. I hope it is not impossible to
have such a regard to these, as neither to lose so known a
mark of the author on the one hand, nor to offend the reader
too much on the other. The repetition is not ungraceful in
those speeches where the dignity of the speaker renders it a

XXVlll PREFACE^

sort of insolence to alter his words ; as in the messages from
gods to men, or from higher powers to inferiors in concerns of
State, or where the ceremonial of religion seems to require it»
in the solemn forms of prayers, oaths, or the like. In other
cases, I belieye, the best rule is, to be guided by the near-
ness, or distance, at which the repetitions are placed in the
original : when they follow too close, one may vary the ex-
pression ; but it is a question, whether a professed translator
be authorised to omit any : if they be tedious, the author is to
answer for it.

It only remains to speak of the Versificatioii. Homer, m
haa been said, is perpetually applying the sound to the sense,
and varying it on every new subject. This is indeed one of
the most exquisite beauties of poetry, and attainable by very
few : I know only of Homer eminent for it in the Greek, and
Virgil in Latin. I am sensible it is what may sometimes hap<«
pen by chance, when a writer is warm, and fully possessed of
bis image : however, it may be reasonably believed they de«
signed this, in whose verse it so manifestly appears in a su*
perior degree to all others. Few readers have the ear to be
judges of it ; but those who have, will see. I have endeavored
at this beauty.

On the whole, I must confess myself utterly incapable of
doing justice to Homer. I attempt him in no other hope but
that which one may entertain without much vanity, of giving
a more, tolerable copy of him than any intire translation in
verse has yet done. We have only those of Chapman, Hobbes,
and Ogilby. Chapman has taken the advantage of an immen-
aurable length of verse; notwithstandingwhich,there is scarce
any paraphrase more loose and rambling than bis. He has fre-
quent interpolations of four or six lines, and I remember one
in the thirteenth book of the Odyssey, v. 312, where he baa
spun twenty verses out of two. He is often mistaken in so
bold a manner, that one might think he deviated on purpose,
if he did not in other places of his notes insist so much oa
verbal trifles. He appears to have had a strong affectation of
extracting new meanings out of his author, insomuch, as to
promise, in his rhyming preface, a poem of the mysteries he
had revealed in Homer : and perhaps he endeavored to straiii
the obvious sense to this end. His expression is involved^
lustian, a fault for which he was remarkable in his original
writings, as in the tragedy of Busay d'Amboise, 6cq. Is a

PRBFAGB* XX)X

Irord, the nature of the man may account for his whole per*>
formance ; for he appears, from his preface and remarks, tb
hare been of an arrogant turn, and an enthusiast in poetrf.
His own'boast, of having finished half the Iliad in less thaa
fifteen weeks shows with what negligence his version wals
performed. But that which is to be allowed him, and which
very much contributed to cover his defects, is a daring fiery
spirit that animates his translation, which is something likb
what one might imagine Homer himself would have writ b^
fore he arrived at years of discretion.

Hobbes has given us a correct explanation of the selise in
general ; but for particulars and circumstances he continually
lops them, and often omits the most beautiful. As for its
being esteemed a close translation, I doubt not many have
been led into that error by the shortness of it, which proceeds
not from his following the original line by line, but from tho
contractions above mentioned. He sometimes omits wholb
similes and sentences, and is now and then guilty of mistakes,
into which no writer of his learning could have fallen but
through carelessness. His poetry, as well as Ogilb^y's, is too
mean for criticism.

It is a great loss to the poetical world that Mr. Dryden did
4bt live to translate the Iliad. He has left us only the first
book, and a small -part of the sixth : in which, if he has ]&
some places not truly interpreted the sense, or preserved tbo
antiquities, it ought to be excused on account of the haste he
was obliged to write in. He seems to have had too much re-
gard to Chapman, whose words he sometimes copies, and has
unhappily followed him in passages where he wanders from
the original. However, had he translated the Whole work, I
would no more have attempted Homer after him than Virgil ;
bis version of whom, notwithstanding some human errors, is
cfae most noble and spirited translation I know in any lan-
ptage. But the fate of great geniuses is like that of great
miiiiBters ; ^ough they are coiitessedly the first in the com-
m»n,w«aUh of lettoris, they must be enried and calumniated
only lot being at the head of it.

Thftt which in my opinion ought to be the endeavor of any
one who translates Homier, is above all things to kefep ttlive
tlMlFspirtt and iBre which makes his chief characlter : in parti-
evAiu places, where the sense can bear any doubt, to follow
tb« «t»»Bg^Bt and itton poetio«l, as mosrt agtfeeiqg with that

i

XXX PREFACE.

character ; to copy him in all the variations of his style, and
the different modulations of his numbers ; to preserve, in the
more active or descriptive parts, a warmth and elevation ; in
the more sedate or narrative, a plainness and solemnity ; in
.the speeches, a fulness and perspicuity ; in the sentences,
shortness and gravity : not to neglect even the little figures
and turns on the words, nor sometimes the very cast of the
periods ; neither to omit nor confound any rites or customs of
antiquity : perhaps, too, he ought to include the whole in a
shorter compass than has hitherto been done by any translator
:who has tolerably preserved either the sense or poetry. What
I would farther recommend to him, is to study his author ra-
.ther from his own text than from any commentaries, ho'w
. learned soever, or whatever figure they may make in the esti-
mation of the world ; to consider him attentively in compa-
rison with Virgil above all the ancients, and with Milton
above all the moderns. Next these, the archbishop of Cam-
bray's Telemachus may give him the truest idea of the spirit
and turn of our author, and Bossu's admirable treatise of the
Epic Poem the justest notion of his design and conduct. But
after all, with whatever judgment and study a man may pro-
ceed, or with whatever happiness he may perform such a
work, he must hope to please but a few ; those only who have
at once a taste of poetry, and competent learning. For to
satisfy such as want either, is not in the nature of this under-
taking ; since a mere modern wit can like nothing that is not
. modern, and a pedant nothing that is not Greek.

What I have done is submitted to the public, from whose

opinions I am prepared to learn ; though I fear no judges so

little as our best poets, who are most sensible of the weight

of this task. As for the worst, whatever they shall please to

, say, they may give me some concern as they are unhappy

.men, but none as they are malignant writers. I was guided

in this translation by judgments very different from theirs,

and by persons for whom they can have no kindness, if an old

observation be true, that the strongest antipathy in the world

is that of fools to men of wit. Mr. Addison was the first;

whose advice determined me to undertake this task, who was

. pleased to write to me on that occasion in such terms as I

. cannot repeat without vanity. I was obliged to Sir Riehard

Steele for a very early recommendation of my undertaking to

, the public. Dr. Swift promoted my interest with that warmth

PREFACE. XXXI

with which he always serves his friend. The humanity and
frankness of Sir Samuel Garth are what I never knew wanting
on any occasion. I must also acknowlege, with infinite plea-
sure, the many friendly offices, as well as sincere criticisms,
of Mr. Congreve, who had led me the way in translating some
parts of Homer ; as I wish, for the sake of the world, he had
prevented me in the rest. I must add the names of Mr. Kowe
and Dr. Pajnell, though I shall take a farther opportunity of
doing justice to the last, whose good-nature, to give it a great
panegyric, is no less extensive than his learning. I'he favor
of these gentlemen is not intirely undeserved hy one who
hears them so true an affection. But what can I say of the
honor so many of the great have done me, while the first
names of the age appear as my suhscrihers, and the most dis-
tinguished patrons- and ornaments of learning, as my chief
encouragers 1 Among these, it is a particular pleasure to me
to find, that my highest obligations are to such who have done
most honor to the name of poet : that His Grace the Duke of
Buckiifgham was not displeased I should undertake the au-
thor to whom he has given, in his excellent Essay, so com-
plete a praise :

' Read Homer once, and yon can read no more ;
For all hooks else appear so mean, so poor.
Verse will seem prose : but still persist to read.
And Homer will be all the hooks you need :'

That the Earl of Halifax was one of the first to favor me ; of
whom it is hard to say, whether the advancement of the polite
arts is more owing to his generosity or his example : that such
a genius as my Lord Bolingbroke, not more distinguished in
the great scenes of business than in all the useful and enter-
taining parts of learning, has not refused to be the critic of
these sheets, and the patron of their writer ; and that so ex-
cellent an imitator of Homer as the nohle author of the tra-
gedy of Heroic Love, has continued his partiality to me, from
my writing Pastorals to my attempting the Iliad. I cannot
deny myself the pride of confessing, that I have had the ad-
vantage not only of their advice for the conduct in general,
hut their correction of several particulars of this translation.

I could say a great deal of the pleasure of being distin^
goished hy the Earl of Carnarvon ; but it is almost ahsurd to
particularise any one generous action in a person whose whole

XXXll PREFACE. .

life is a continued series of them. Mr. Stanhope, the present
secretary of state, will pardon my desire of having it known
that he was pleased to promote this affair. The particular
2eal of Mr. Harcourt, the son of the late lord chancellor, gave
me a proof how much I am honored in a share of his friend*
ship. I mast attribute to the same motive that of several
others of my friends, to whom all acknowlegements are ren-
dered unnecessary by the privileges of a familiar correspond*
ence : and I am satisfied I can no way better oblige men c^
their turn than by my silence.

In short, I have found more patrons than ever Homer
wanted. He would have thought himself happy to have met
the same favor at Athens, that has been shown me by its
learned rival, the university of Oxford. If my author had the
wits of after-ages for his defenders, his translator has had the
beauties of the present for his advocates ; a pleasure too great
to be changed for any fame in reversion. And I can hardly
envy him those pompous honors he received after death, when
I reflect on the enjoyment of so many agreeable obligations,
and easy friendships, whicb make the satisfaction of life.
This distinction is the more to be acknowleged, as it is shown
to one whose pen has never gratified the prejudices of parti-
cular parties, or the vanities of particular men. Whatever
the success may prove, I shall never repent of an under-
taking in which I have experienced the candor and friendship
of so many persons of merit ; and in which I hope to pass
some of those years of youth that are generally lost in a circle
of follies, after a manner neither wholly unuseful to others
nor disagreeable to myself.

THE ILIAD.

IIOM.

VOL. I.

ILIAD.

BOOK I.

ARGUMENT.

The Contention ef AohUUs and Agamemnon.

In the war of Troy, the Greeks, having sacked some of the
neighboring towns, and taken from thence two beautiful
captives, Chryseis and Briseis, allotted the first to Aga*
memnon, and the last to Achilles. Ch«78%s, the father of
Chryseis, and priest of Apollo, comes to the Grecian camp
to ransom her ; with which the action of the poem opens,
in the tenth year of the siege. The priest being refused,
and insolently dismissed by Agamemnon, intreats for ven-
geance from his god, who inflicts a pestilence on the Greeks.
Achilles calls a council, and encourages Chalcas to declare
the cause of it, who attributes it to the refusal of Chryseis.
The king, being obliged to send back his captive, enters
into a furious contest with Achilles, which Nestor pacifies :
however, as he had the absolute command of the army, he
seizes on Briseis in revenge. Achilles in discontent with-
draws himself and his forces from the rest of the Greeks ;
and complaining to Thetis, she supplicates Jupiter to ren-
der them sensible of the wrong done to her son, by giving
victory to the Trojans. Jupiter granting her suit, incenses
Juno, between whom the debate runs high, till they are re-
conciled by the address of Vulcan. — [The time of two-and-
twenty days is taken up in this book : nine during the
plague, one in the council and quarrel of the princes, and
twelve for Jupiter's stay with the iCthiopians, at whose re-
turn Thetis prefers her petition. The scene lies in the

4 HOMER.

Grecian camp, then changes to Chrysa, and lastly to Olym-
pus.]

Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring

Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly goddess, sing !

That wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy reign

The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain ;

Whose limbs, unburied on the naked shore, 5

Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore ;

Since great Achilles and Atrides strove.

Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove !

Declare, O Muse ! in what ill-fated hour
Sprung the fierce strife, from what offended power? 10
Latona's son a dire contagion spread.
And heap'd the camp with mountains of the dead :
The king of men his reverend priest defied.
And for the king's offence the people died.

For Chryses sought with costly gifts to gain 15

His captive daughter from the victor's chain.
Suppliant the venerable father stands,
Apollo's awful ensigns grace his hands :
By these he begs ; and lowly bending down,
Extends the sceptre and the laurel crown. 20

He sued to all, but chief implored for grace
The brother-kings of Atreus' royal race.

* Ye kings and warriors! may your vows be crown *d,
And Troy's proud walls lie level with the ground !
May Jove restore you, when your toils are o'er, 25
Safe to the pleasures of your native shore ;
But, oh! relieve a wretched parent's pain.
And give Chryseis to these arms again ;
If mercy fail, yet let my presents move.
And dread avenging Phoebus, son of Jove.' 30

The Greeks in shouts their joint assent declare.
The priest to reverence, and release the fair.

ILIAD. — BOOK I. 5

Not 80 Atrides : he, with kingly pride,
Repulsed the sacred sire, and thus replied :

* Hence, on thy life, and fly these hostile plains, 35
Nor ask, presumptuous, what the king detains ;
Hence, with thy laurel crown, and golden rod.
Nor trust too far those ensigns of thy god.
Mine is thy daughter, priest, and shall remain ;
And prayers, and tears, and bribes, shall plead in
vain ; 40

Till time shall rifle every youthful grace.
And age dismiss her from. my cold embrace.
In daily labors of the loom employed,
Or doom'd to deck the bed she once enjoyed.
Hence then to Argos shall the maid retire, 45

Far from her native soil and weeping sire.'

The trembling priest along the shore retorn'd,
And in the anguish of a father mourn'd.
Disconsolate, not daring to complain.
Silent he wander'd by the sounding main : 50

Till, safe at distance, to his god he prays.
The god who darts around the world his rays.

' O Smintheus ! sprung from fair Latona's line,
Thou guardian power of Cilia the divine,
Thou source of light ! whom Tenedos adores, 55

And whose bright presence gilds thy Chrysa's shores :
If e'er with wreaths I hung thy sacred fane.
Or fed the flames with fat of oxen slain ;
God of the silver bow ! thy shafts employ.
Avenge thy servant, and the Greeks destroy.' 60

Thus Cbryses pray'd : the favoring power- attends,
And from Olympus' lofty tops descends.
Bent was his bow, the Grecian hearts to wound.
Fierce as he moved, his silver shafts resound.
Breathing revenge, a sudden night he spread, 65

And gloomy darkness rolled around his head.

6 HOMER.

The fleet in view, he twang'd his deadly bow,

And hissing fly the feather'd fates belovr.

On males and dogs th' infection first began ;

And last, the vengefal arrows fix'd in man. 70

For nine long nights through all the dnsky air

The pyres thick-flaming shot a dismal glare.

But ere the tenth reyoWing day was run,

Inspired by Juno, Thetis' godlike son

Convened to council all the Grecian train ; 75

For much the goddess monm'd her heroes slain.

Th' assembly seated, rising o'er the rest,
Achilles thus the 'king of men addressed :

' Why leave we not the fatal Trojan shore,
And measure back the seas we crossed before ? 80

The plague destroying whom the sword would

spare, %

^is time to save the few remains of war.
But let some prophet, or some sacred sage.
Explore the cause of great Apollo's rage :
Or learn the wasteful vengeance to remove, 85

By mystic dreams, for dreams descend from Jove.
If broken vows this heavy curse have laid,
Let altars smoke, and hecatombs be paid.
So Heaven atoned shall dying Greece restore.
And Phoebus dart his burning shafts no more.' 90

He said, and sat : when Chalcas thus replied ;
Chalcas the wise, the Grecian priest and guide,
That sacred seer, whose comprehensive view
The past, the present, and the future knew :
Uprising slow, the venerable sage 95

Thus spoke the prudence and the fears of age.

* Beloved of Jove, Achilles ! wouldst thou know
Why angry Phoebus bends his fatal bow 1
First give thy faith, and plight a prince's word
Of sure protection, by thy power and sword : 100

ILIAO.— BOOK I. 7

For I must speak what wisdom would conceal,

And truths, invidious to the great, reveal.

Bold is the task, whgii subjects, grown too wise,

Instruct a monarch where hift error lies ;

For though we deem the short-^lived fury pass'd, 106

'Tis sure, the mighty will reyenge at. last.'

To whom Pelide^ : * From thy inmost soul
Speak what thou know'st, and speak without con-
trol.
Ev'n by that god I swear, who rules the day,
To whom thy hands the yowa of Greece convey, 1 1
And whose bless'd oracles thy lips declare ;
Long as Achilles breathes this vital air.
No daring Greek of all the numerous band
Against his priept shall lift an impious hand :
Not ev'n the chief by whom our hosts are led, 115

The king of kings, shall touch that sacred bead*'

Encouraged thus, the blameless man replies :
' Nor vows unpaid, nor slighted sacrifice.
But he, our chief, provoked the raging pest,
Apollo's vengeance for his injured priest. 120

Nor will the god's awaken'd fury cease.
But plagues shall spread, and funeral fires increase,
Till the great king, without a ransom paid.
To her own Chrysa send the black-eyed maid.
Perhaps,. with added sacrifice and prayer, 125

The priest may pardon, and the god may spare.'

The prophet spoke ; when with a gloomy frown
The monarch started from his shining throne ;
Black choler fill'd his breast that,boird with ire,
And from his eye-balls flash'd the living fire. It30

* Augur accursed! denouncing Aischief still.
Prophet of plagues, for ever boding ill I
Still must that tongue some wounding message bring,
And still thy priestly pride provoke thy king ?

8 HOMER.

For this are Pboebus' oracles explored, 135

To teach the Greeks to murmur at their lord ?

For this with falsehoods is my honor stain'd,

Is Heaven offended, and a priest profaned ;

Because my prize, my beauteous maid, I hold.

And heavenly charms prefer to proffer'd gold ? 140

A maid, unmatch'd in manners as in face,

Skiird in each art, and crown'd with every grace.

Not half so dear were Clytemnestra's charms,

When first her blooming beauties bless'd my arms.

Yet if the gods demand her, let her sail : 145

Our cares are only for the public weal :

Let me be deem'd the hateful cause of all,

And suffer, rather than my people fall.

The prize, the beauteous prize, I will resign,

So dearly valued, and so justly mine. 150

But since for common good I yield the fair,

My private loss let grateful Greece repair ;

Nor unrewarded let your prince complain.

That he alone has fought and bled in vain.*^

^ Insatiate king !' Achilles thus replies ; 155

* Fond of the power, but fonder of the prize !
Wouldst thou the Greeks their lawful prey should

yield.
The due reward of many a well-fought field ?
The spoils of cities razed, and warriors slain.
We share with justice, as with toil we gain : 160

But to resume whate'er thy avarice craves
(That trick of tyrants) may be borne by slaves.
Yet if our chief for pjunder only fight,
Tlie spoils of Ilion shall thy loss requite,
Whene'er by Jove's decree our conquering powers 165
Shall humble to the dust her lofty towers.*

Then thus the king : ' Shall I my prize resign
With tame content, and thou possess'd of thine ?

ILIAD. — BOOK I. 9

Great as thou art, and like a god in fight,
Think not to rob me of a soldier's right. 170

At thy demand shall I restore the niaid ?
First let the jnst equivalent be paid ;
Snch as a king might ask : and let it be
A treasure worthy her, and worthy me.
Or grant me this, or with a monarch's claim 175

This hand shall seize some other captive dame.
The mighty Ajax shall his prize resign,
Ulysses' spoils, or ev'n thy own be mine.
The roan who snffers, loudly may complain ;
And rage he may, but he shall rage in vain. 180

But this when time requires — It now remains
We launch a bark to plough the watery plains,
And waft the sacrifice to Chrysa's shores.
With chosen pilots and with laboring oars.
Soon shall the fair the sable ship ascend, 185

And some deputed prince the charge attend ;
This Greta's king, or Ajax shall fulfil.
Or wise Ulysses see perform'd our will ;
Or, if our royal pleasure shall ordain,
Achilles' self conduct her o'er the main : 190

Let fierce Achilles, dreadful in his rage.
The gods propitiate, and the pest assuage.'
At this, Pelides, frowning stern, replied :
' O tyrant, arm'd with insolence and pride !
Inglorious slave to interest, ever join'd 196

With fraud, unworthy of a royal mind !
What generous Greek, obedient to thy word.
Shall form an ambush, or shall lift the sword ?
What cause have I to war at thy decree ?
The distant Trojans never injured me ; 200

To Phthia's realms no hostile troops they led ;
Safe in her vales my warlike coursers fed ;
Far hence removed, the hoarse-resounding main,
And walls of rocks, secure my native reign,

to HOMER.

Whose fruitful soil luxuriant harvests grace, 205

Rich in her fruits, and in her martial race.

.Hither we sail'd, a voluntary throng,

T' avenge a private, not a public wrong :

What else to Troy the asuenihled natioBS draws.

But thine, ungrateful, and thy brother's cause? 210

Is this the pay our blood and toils deserve ;

Disgraced and iigured by the man we serve?

And darest thou threat to snatch my prize away.

Due to the deeds of many a dreadful day ?

A prize as small, O tyrant ! match'd with thine, 215

As thy own actions if compared to mine.

Thine in each conquest Is the wealthy prey,

Though mine the sweat and danger of the day.

Some trivial present to my ships I bear,

Or barren praises pay the wounds of war. 220

But know, proud monarch! I 'm thy slave no

more :
My fleet shall waft me to Thessalia's shore.
Left by Achilles on the Trojan plain.
What spoils, what conquests, shall Atrides gain V

To this the king : ' Fly, mighty warrior ! fly, 225
Thy aid we need not, and thy threats defy.
There want not chiefs in such a cause to fight.
And Jove himself shall guard a monarch's right.
Of all the kings (the god's distinguish'd care)
To power superior none such hatred bear ; 230

Strife and debate thy restless soul employ,
And wars and horrors are thy savage joy.
If thou hast strength, Hwas Heaven that strength be-

stow'd ;
For know, vain man ! thy valor is from God.
Haste, launch thy vessels, fly with speed away, 235
Rule thy own realms with arbitrary sway :
I heed thee not, but prize at equal rate
Thy short-lived friendship, and thy groundless hate.

ILIAD, — BOOK I. II

Go, threat thy eafth-born Myrmidons ; hut here

'Tia mine to threaten, prince, and thine to fear. 240

Know, if the god the beanteous dame demand.

My bark shall waft her to her native land ;

But then prepare, imperious prince ! prepare.

Fierce as thou art, to yield thy cap tire fair:

£v'n in thy tent I '11 seize the blooming prise, 245

Thy loved Briseis with the radiant eyes.

Hence shalt thou prove my might, and curse the

hour
Thou stood'st a rival of imperial pow€r ;
And hence to all our host it shall be known
That kings are subject to the gods alone. 250

Achilles heard, with grief and rage oppressed, ,

His heart swelled high, and labor'd in his breast. |

Distracting thoughts by turns his bosom ruled, /

Now fired by wrath, and now by reason cool'd : il

That prompts his hand to draw the deadly sword, 255
Force through the Greeks, and pierce their haughty

lord ;
This whispers soft, his vengeance to control.
And calm the rising tempest of his soul.
Just as in anguish of suspense he stayed, 259

While half-unsheathed appear'd the glittering blade,
Minerva swift descended from above.
Sent by the sister and the wife of Jove
(For both'the princes claimed her equal care) ;
Behind she stood, and by the golden hair
Achilles seized ; to him alone confessed ; 265

A sable cloud concealed her from the rest.
He sees, and sudden to the goddess cries
(Known by the flames that sparkle from her eyes) :

' Descends Minerva in her guardian care,
A heavenly witness of the wrongs 1 bear 270

From Atreus' son ! then let those eyes that view
The daring crime, behold the vengeance too.'

12 HOlfER.

* Forbear !' the progeny of Jove replies,
* To calm thy fury I forsake the skies :
Let great Achilles, to the gods resign'd, 275

To reason yield the empire o'er his mind.
By awful Juno this command is given ;
The king and you are both the care of heaven.
The force of keen reproaches let him feel,
But sheath, obedient, thy revenging steel. 280

For I pronounce (and trust a heavenly power)
Thy injured honor has its fated hour,
When the proud monarch shall thy arms implore.
And bribe thy friendship with a boundless store.
Then let revenge no longer bear the sway, 285

Commapd thy passions, and the gods obey.'

To her Pelides.: * With regardful ear,
'Tis just, O goddjSss ! I thy dictates hear.
Hard as it is, my vengeance I suppress :
Those who revere the gods, the gods will bless.' 290
He said, observant of the blue-eyed maid ;
Then in the sheath return'd the shining blade. .
The goddess swift to high Olympus flies,
And joins the sacred senate of the skies.

Nor yet the rage his boiling breast forsook, 295

Which thus redoubling on Atrides broke :
' O monster! mix'd of insolence and fear.
Thou dog in forehead, but in heart a deer !
When wert thou known in ambush'd fights to dare.
Or nobly face the horrid front of war ? 300

'Tis ours the chance of fighting fields to try.
Thine to look on, and bid the valiant die.
So much 'tis safer through the camp to go, .
And rob a subject, than despoil a foe.
Scourge of thy people, violent and base ! 305

Sent in Jove's anger on a slavish race.
Who, lost to sense of generous freedom past.
Are tamed to wrongs, or this had been thy last.

ILIAD. — BOOK I. 13

Now by this sacred sceptre hear me swear,

Which never more shall leaves or blossoms bear, 310

Which sever 'd from the trunk (as I from thee)

On the bare mountains left its parent tree ;

This sceptre, form'd by temper'd steel to prove

An ensign of the delegates of Jove,

From whom the power of laws and justice springs 315

(Tremendous oath ! inviolate to kings) :

By this I swear, when bleeding Greece again

Shall call Achilles, she shall call in vain.

When, flush'd with slaughter, Hector comes to spread

The purpled shore with mountains of the dead, 320

Then shalt thou mourn th' affront thy madness gave.

Forced to deplore, when impotent to save :

Then rage in bitterness of soul, to know .^

This act has made the bravest Greek thy foe/ 'V

He spoke ; and furious hurl'd against the ground 325
His sceptre starred with golden studs around.
Then sternly silent sat. With like disdain
The raging king returu'd his frowns again.

To calm their passions with the wordsof age,
Slow from his seat arose the Pylian sage,- 330

Experienced Nestor, in persuasion skilled.
Words sweet as honey from his lips distill'd ;
Two generations now had pass'd away,
Wise by his rules, and happy by his sway ;
Two ages o'er his native realm he reign'd, 335

And now th' example of the third remainM.
All view'd with awe the venerable man ;
Who thus with mild benevolence began :

* What shame, what wo is this to Greece ! what
joy
To Troy's proud monarch, and the friends of Troy !
That- adverse gods commit to stern debate 341

The best, the bravest of the Grecian state.

14 HOMER^

Young as ye are, this youihfal beat restrain,

Nor think your Nestor's years and wisdom vain.

A godlike race of heroes once I knew, 345

Such as no more these aged eyes shall view !

Lives there a chief to match Piritbous' fame,

Dryas the bold, or Ceneus' deathless name ;

Theseus, endued witb more than mortal might,

Or Polyphemns, like the gods in fight ? 350

With these of old to toils of battle bred,

In early youth my hardy days I led ;

Fired with the thirst which virtuous envy breeds.

And smit with love of honorable deeds.

Strongest of men, they pierced the mountain boar, 365

Ranged the wild deserts red witb monsters' gore.

And from their bills the shaggy Centaurs tore.

Yet these with soft persuasive arts I swayM ;

When Nestor spoke, they listened and obey'd.

If in ray youth ev'n these esteemed me wise, 360

Do you, young warriors, hear my age advise.

Atrides, seize not on the beauteous slave ;

That prize the Greeks by common suffrage gave :

Nor thou, Achilles, treat our prince with pride ;

Let kings be just, and sovereign power preside. 365

Thee, the first honors of the war adorn,

Like gods in strength, and of a goddess born ;

Him, awful majesty exalts above

The powers of earth, and scepter'd sons of Jove.

Let both unite, with well-consulting mind, 370

So shall authority with strength be joita'd.

Leave me, O king ! to calm Achilles' rage ;

Rule thou thyself, as more advanced in age.

Forbid it, gods ! Achilles should be lost.

The pride of Greece, and bulwark of our host.^ 375

This said, he ceased. Th9 king of men replies :
* Thy years are awful, and thy words are wise :

ILIAD.^BOOK I. ' 15

But that impefions, that uuconquer^d soul,

No laws can Hmit, nor respect control.

Before his pride mast his superiors fall, 360

His word the law, and he the lord of all ?

Him must our hodts, our chiefs, ourself obey ?

What king can bear a rival in his sway ?

Grant that the g^ods his matchless force have giv^ ;

Has foul reproach a privilege from beaven V 385

Here on the monarches speech Achilles brok^,
And furious thus, and intelrrnpting, spoke :
^ Tyrant! I Well deserved thy galling chain, j

To live thy slave, and still to serve in vain ;
Should 1 submit to each unjust decree : 390 |

Command thy vassals, but command not me. ^

Seize on Briseis, whom the Grecians doom'd ^

My prize of war, yet tamely see resumed ;
And seize secure ; no more Achilles draws
His conquering sword in any woman's cause. 395

The gods command me to forgive the past ;
But let this first invasion be the last :
For know, thy blood, when next thou darest invade.
Shall stream in vengeance on my reeking blade.'

At tfiis they ceased : the stern debate expired : 400
The chiefs in sullen majesty retired.
Achilles with Patroclus took his way.
Where near his tents his hollow vessels lay.
Meantime Atrides launch'd with numerous oars
A well-rigg'd ship for Chrysa's sacred shores : 405
High on the deck was fair Chryseis placed.
And sage Ulysses with the conduct graced :
Safe in her sides the hecatomb they stow'd.
Then swiftly sailing, cut the liquid road.

The host to expiate, next the king prepares, 410
With pure lustrations, and with solemn prayers.
Wash'd by the briny wave, the pious train
Are cleansed, and cast the ablutions in the main.

16 HOMER.

Along the shore whole hecatombs were laid,

And bulls and goats to Phoebus' altars paid. 415

The sable fumes in curling spires arise,

And waft their grateful odors to the skies.

The army thus in sacred rites engaged,
Atrides still with deep resentment raged.
To wait his will two sacred heralds stood, 420

Talthybius and Eurybates the good.
' Haste to the fierce Achilles' tent,' he cries ;
' Thence bear Briseis as our royal prize :
Submit he must ! or, if they will not part,
Ourself in arms shall tear her from his heart.' 425

The unwilling heralds act their lord's commands :
Pensive they walk along the barren sands :
Arrived, the hero in his tent they find,
With gloomy aspect, on his arm reclined.
At awful distance long they silent stand, 430

Loath to advance, or speak their hard command ;
Decent confusion ! This the godlike man
Perceived, and thus with accent mild began :

' With leave and honor enter our abodes,
Ye sacred ministers of men and gods ! 435

I know your message ; by constraint you came ;
Not you, but your imperious lord I blame.
Patroclus, haste, the fair Briseis bring;
Conduct my captive to the haughty king.
But witness, heralds, and proclaim my vow, 440

Witness to gods above, and men below !
But first, and loudest, to your prince declare.
That lawless tyrant whose commands ye bear ;
Unmoved as death Achilles shall remain.
Though prostrate Greece should bleed at every vein :
The raging chief in frantic passion lost, 446

Blind to himself, and useless to his host,
Unskill'd to judge the future by the past.
In blood and slaughter shall repent at last.'

ILIAD.->B00K I. 17

PatrocluB now the unwilling beauty brought ; 450
She, in soft sorrows and in pensive thought,
Pass'd silent, as the heralds held her hand,
And oft lookM back, slow moving o'er the strand.
Not so his loss the fierce Achilles bore ;
But sad retiring to the sounding shore, 455

O'er the wild margin of the deep he hang.
That kindred deep from whence his mother sprung ;
There, bathed in tears of anger and disdain,
Thus loud lamented to the stormy main :

' O parent goddess ! since in early bloom 460

Thy son must fall, by too severe a doom ;
Sure, to so short a race of glory bom,
Great Jove in justice should this span adorn :
Honor and fame at least the Thunderer ow'd,
And ill he pays the promise of a god ; 405 ^

If yon proud monarch thus thy son defies,
Obscures my glories, and resumes my prize.'

Far in the deep recesses of the main,
Where aged Ocean holds his watery reign.
The goddess-mother heard. The waves divide ; 470
And like a mist she rose above the tide ;
Beheld him mourning on the naked shores.
And thus the sorrbws of his soul explores :
* Why grieves my son ? Thy anguish let me share,
Reveal the cause, and trust a parent's care.' 475

He, deeply sighing, said : ' To tell my wo.
Is but to mention what too well you know.
From Thebe, sacred to Apollo's name
(Action's realm), oar conquering army came,
With treasure loaded and triumphant spoils, 480

Whose just division crown'd the soldier's toils ;
But bright Chryseis, heavenly prize ! was led.
By vote selected, to the general's bed.

HOM. VOL. I. B

18 HOMER.

The priest of PbcBbns sought by gifts to gain
His beauteous daughter from the victor's chain : 486
The fleet he reached, and lowly bending down.
Held forth the sceptre and the laurel crown,
Intreating all : but chief implored for grace
The brother-kings of Atreos' royal race :
The generous Greeks their joint consent declare, 490
The priest to rererence, and release the fair.
Not so Atrides : he, with wonted pride,
The sire insulted, and his gifts denied*
' The insulted sire (his god's peculiar care)
To Phoebus pray'd, and Phoebus heard the prayer ;
A dreadful plague ensues ; the avenging darts 406
Incessant fly, and pierce the Grecian hearts.
A prophet then, inspired by Heaven, arose,
And points the crime, and thence derives the

woes.
Myself the first the assembled chiefs incline 500

To avert the vengeance of the power divine ;
Then rising in his wrath, the monarch storm 'd ;
Incensed he threatened, and his threats perform'd :
The fair Chryseis to her sire was sent,
With offered gifts to make the god relent ; 605

But now he seized Briseis' heavenly char^ns,
And of my valor's prize defrauds my arms.
Defrauds the votes of all the Grecian train ;
And service, faith, and justice, plead in vain.
But, goddess I thou thy suppliant son attend, 610

To high Olympus' shining court ascend,
Urge all the ties to former service owed.
And sue for vengeance to the thundering god.
Oft hast thou triumphed in the glorious boast.
That thou stood'st forth of all the ethereal host, 615
When bold rebellion shook the realms above,
The undaunted guard of cloud-compelling Jove.

lLIAD«*--BOOK I. 10

When the bright partner of his awfal reig^.

The warlike maid, and monarch of the main.

The traitor-gods, by mad ambition driven, 520

Durst threat with chains the Omnipotence of Heaven,

Then call'd by thee, the monster Titan came

(Whom gods Briarens, men iEgeon name).

Through wandering skies enormous stalkM along ;

Not he that shakes the solid earth so strong : 625

With giant^pride at Jove's high throne he stands.

And brandished round him all his hundred hands ;

The affrighted gods confessed their awful lord.

They dropp'd the fetters, trembled, and adored.

This, goddess, this to his remembrance call, 530

Embrace his knees, at his tribunal fall ; '

Conjure him far to drive the Grecian train,

To hurl them headlong to their fleet and main, ti

To heap the shores with copious death, and bripg

The Greeks to know the curse of such a king : 535

Let Agamemnon lift his haUghty head

O'er all his wide dominion of the dead.

And mourn in blood, that e'er he durst disgrace

The boldest warrior of the Grecian race.'

* Unhappy son !' fair Thetis thus replies, 540

While tears celestial trickle from her eyes,
' Why have I borne thee with a mother's throes,
To fates averse, and nursed for future woes ?
So short a space the light of heaven to view !
So short a space ! and fiU'd with sorrow too ! 545

O might a parent's careful wish prevail,
Far, far from Ilion should thy vessels sail I
And thou, from camps remote, the danger shun,
Which now, alas I too nearly threats my son.
Yet (what I can) to move thy suit I '11 go 550

To great Olympus crown'd with fleecy snow.

595 Neptune.

20 HOtfER.

Meantime, secure within thy ships, from far

Behold the field, nor mingle in the war.

The sire of gods and all the ethereal train.

On the warm limits of the farthest main, 5do

Now mix with mortals, nor disdain to grace

The feasts of ^Ethiopia's hlameless race ;

Twelve days the powers indulge the genial rite,

Returning with the twelfth revolving light.

Then will I mount the brazen dome, and move 560

The high tribunal of immortal Jove.'

The goddess spoke : the rolling waves unclose :
Then down the deep she plunged from whence she rose.
And left him sorrowing on the lonely coast.
In wild resentment for the fair he lost. 565

In Chrysa's port now sage Ulysses rode ;
Beneath the deck the destined victims stow'd ;
The sails they furl'd, they lash'd the mast aside.
And dropped their anchors, and the pinnace tied.
Next on the shore their hecatomb they land, 570

Chryseis last descending on the strand.
Her, thus returning from the furrow'd main,
Ulysses led to Phoebus' sacred fane ;
Where at his solemn altar, as the maid
He gave to Chryses, thus the hero said : 575

' Hail, reverend priest ! To Phoebus' awful dome
A suppliant I from great Atrides come :
Unransom'd here receive the spotless fair ;
Accept the hecatomb the Greeks prepare ;
And may thy god who scatters darts around, 580

Atoned by sacrifice, desist to wound.'

At this, the sire embraced the maid again.
So sadly lost, so lately sought in vain.
Then near the altar of the darting king.
Disposed in rank their hecatomb they bring : 595

With water purify their hands, and take
The sacred offering of the salted cake ;

ILIAD. — BOOK I. 21

Whil« thus with arms devoutly raised in air,
And solemn voice, the priest directs his prayer :

' God of the silver bow, thy ear incline, 590

Whose power encircles Cilia the divine ;
Whose sacred eye thy Tenedos surveys,
And gilds fair Chrysa with distinguished rays !
If, fired to vengeance at thy priest's request,
Thy direful darts inflict the raging pest ; 595

Once more attend ! avert the wasteful wo.
And smile propitious, and unbend tby bow/

So Chryses prayM. Apollo heard his prayer ;
And now the Greeks their hecatomb prepare ;
Between their horns the salted barley threw, 600

And with their heads to heaven the victims slew :
The limbs they sever from the inclosing hide ;
The thighs, selected to the gods, divide : ^

On these, in double cauls involved with art,
The choicest morsels lay from every part. 605

The priest himself before his altar stands,
And burns the offering with his holy hands.
Pours the black wine, and sees the flames aspire ;
The youths with instruments surround the fire :
The thighs thus sacrificed, and entrails dressM, 610
The assistants part, transfix, and roast the rest ;
Then i^pread the tables, the repast prepare, ,

Each takes his seat, and each receives his share.
When now the rage of hunger was repressed.
With pure libations they conclude the feast ; 615

The youths with wine the copious goblets crown'd,
And pleased, dispense the flowing bowls around.
With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends.
The Ps&ans lengthen'd till the sun descends ;
The Greeks, restored, the grateful notes prolong ; 690
Apollo listens, and approves the song.

'Twas night ; the chiefs beside their vessel lie,
Till rosy morn had purpled o'er the sky :

22 HOMER.

Then launch, and hoist the mast ; indulgent gales^

Supplied by Phoebus, fill the swelling sails ; €25

The milk-white canvas bellying as they blow.

The parted ocean foams and roars below:

Above the bounding billows swift they flew,

Till now the Grecian camp appeared in view.

Far on the beach they haul their bark to land 690

(The crooked keel divides the yellow sand) ;

Then part, where stretchM along the winding bay

The ships and tents in mingled prospect lay.

But raging still, amidst his navy sat
The stern Achilles, steadfast in his hate ; 635

Nor mix'd in combat, nor in council joined ;
But wasting cares lay heavy on his mind :
In his black thoughts revenge and slaughter roll.
And scenes of blood rise dfeadful in his soul.

Twelve days were passed, and now the dawning light
The gods had summoned to the Olympian height; 641
Jove first ascending from the watery bowers,
Leads the long order of ethereal powers.
When like the morning mist in early day.
Rose from the flood the daughter of the sea ; 645

And to. the seats divine her flight address'd.
There, far apart, and high above the rest,
The Thunderer sat ; where old Olympus shrouds
His hundred heads in heaven, and props the clouds.
Suppliant the goddess stood : one hand she placed 660
Beneath his beard, and one his knees embraoe4«

* If e'er, O father of the gods !' she said,

* My words could please thee, or my actions aid ;
Some marks of honor on my son bestow,

And pay in glory what in life you owe. 655

Fame is at least by heavenly promise due
To life so short, and now dishonored too.
Avenge this wrong, oh ever just and wise !
TiCt Greece be btimbled^ and the Trojans rise ;.

ILIAD. — BOOK I. ^

Till the proud king, and all the Achaian race, 660
jShall heap with honors him they now disgrace.'

Thus Thetis spoke ; but Jove in silence held>
The sacred counsels of bis breast conoeaFd.
Not so repulsed, the goddess closer pressed,
Still g^asp'd his knees, and urged the dear request.
* O sire of gods and men ! thy suppliant hear ; 666
Refuse, or grant ; for what has Jove to fear ?
Or, oh ! declare, of all the powers above,
Is wretched Thetis least the care of Jove V

She said ; and sighing thus the god replies, 670

Who rolls the thunder o'er the vaulted skies :

* What hast thou ask'd ? Ah, why should Jove en-
gage
In foreign contests, and domestic rage.

The gods' complaints, and Juno's fierce alarms, ;

While I, too partial, aid the Trojan arms ? 675 1^

Go, lest the haughty partner of my sway
With jealous eyes thy close access survey :
But part in peace, secure thy prayer is sped ;
Witness the sacred honors of our head.
The nod that ratifies the will divine, 680

The faithful, fix'd, irrevocable sign ;
This seals thy suit, and this fulfils thy vows' —
He spoke, and awful bends his sable brows ;
Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod ;
The stamp of fate, and sanction of the god : 685

High heav'n with trembling the dread signal took.
And all Olympus to the centre shook.

Swift to the seas profound the goddess flies,
Jove to his starry mansion in the skies.
The shining synod of the immortals wait 690

The coming god, and from their thrones of state
Arising silent, rapt in holy fear,
Before the majesty of heaven appear.

24 HOMER.

Trembling they stand, while Jove assumes the throne^

All, hut the god's imperious queen alone : 695

Late had she view'd the silver-footed dame,

And all her passions kindled into flame.

' Say, artful manager of heaven,' she cries,

' Who now partakes the secrets of the skies ?

Thy Juno knows not the decrees of fate, 700

In vain the partner of imperial state.

What favorite goddess then those cares divides.

Which Jove in prudence from his consort hides V

To this the Thunderer : ' Seek not thou to find
The sacred counsels of almighty mind : 705

Involved in darkness lies the great decree,
Nor can the depths of fate he pierced by thee.
What fits thy knowlege, thou the first shalt know ;
The first of gods above and men below ;
But thou, nor they, shall search the thoughts that

roll
Deep in the close recesses of my soul.' 71 1

Full on the sire the goddess of the skies
Roll'd the large orbs of her majestic eyes,
And thus return'd : ' Austere Saturnius, say.
From whence this wrath, or who controls thy sway ?
Thy boundless will, for me, remains in force, 716

And all thy counsels take the destined course.
But His for Greece I fear : for late was seen
In close consult the silver-footed queen.
Jove to his Thetis nothing could deny, 720

Nor was the signal vain that shook the sky.
What fatal favor has the goddess won.
To grace her fierce inexorable son ?
Perhaps in Grecian blood to drench the plain.
And glut his vengeance with my people slain.' 725

Then thus the god : ' Oh restless fate of pride.
That strives to learn what heaven resolves to hide !

ILIAD. — BOOK I. 25

Vain is the search, presamptuous and abhorr'd.

Anxious to thee, and odious to thy lord.

Let this suffice, the immutable decree 7d0

No force can shake : what is, that ought to be.

Goddess, submit, nor dare our will withstand,

But dread the power of this avenging hand ;

The united strength of all the gods above

In vain resist the omnipotence of Jove.' 735

The Thunderer spoke, nor durst the queen reply ;
A reverend horror silenced all the sky.
The feast disturb^, with sorrow Vulcan saw
His mother menaced, and the gods in awe ;
Peace at his heart, and pleasure his design, 740

Thus interposed the architect divine :
' The wretched quarrels of the mortal state
Are far unworthy, gods, of your debate : ./

Let men their days in senseless strife employ ; ^

We, in eternal peace and constant joy. 745

Thou, goddess-mother, with our sire comply,
Nor break the sacred union of the sky ;
Lest, roused to rage, he shake the blessM abodes,
Launch the red lightning, and dethrone the gods.
If you submit, the Thunderer stands appeased ; 750
The gracious power is willing to be pleased.'

Thus Vulcan spoke ; and rising with a bound,
The double bowl with sparkling nectar crownM,
Which held to Juno in a cheerful way,
' Goddess,' he cried, * be patient, and obey ; 755

Dear as you are, if Jove his arm extend,
I can but grieve, unable to defend.
What god so daring in your aid to move,
Or lift his hand against the force of Jove ?
Once in your cause I felt his matchless might, 760
Hurl'd headlong downward from the ethereal height ;
Toss'd all the day in rapid circles rounds
Nor till the sun descended touched the ground :

26 HOMER.

Breathless I fell, in g^ddy motion lost ;

The Sinthians raised me on the Lemnian coast/ 765

He said, and to her hands the gohlet heaved.
Which, with a smile, the white-arm'd queen received.
Then to the rest he fill'd ; and in his turn,
Each to his lips applied the nectar'd urn.
Vulcan with awkward grace his office plies, 770

And unextinguished laughter shakes the skies.

Thus the blessed gods the genial day prolong.
In feasts ambrosial, and celestial song.
Apollo tuned the lyre ; the Muses round
With voice alternate aid the silver* sound. 775

Meantime the radiant sun, to mortal sight
Descending swift, roU'd down the rapid light.
Then to their starry domes the gods depart.
The shining monuments of Vulcan's art :
Jove on his couch reclined his awful head, 780

And Juno slumber 'd on the golden bed.

BOOK II.

ARGUMENT.
The Trial of the Army, and Catalogue of the Forces,

Jupiter, in pursuance of the request of Thetis, sends a de-
ceitful vision to Agamemnon, persuading him to lead the
army to battle ; in order to make the Greeks sensible of
their want of Achilles— The general, who is deluded with
the hopes of taking Troy without his assistance, but fears
the army was discouraged by his absence and the late
plague, as well as by the length of time, contrives to make
trial of their disposition by a stratagem— He first commu-
nicates his design to the princes in council, that he would
propose a return to the soldiers, and that they should put a
stop to them if the proposal was embraced. Then he as-
sembles the whole host, and upon moving for a return to

<

ILIAD. — BOOK II. 'd?

Greece, they unaiiimoasly agree to it, and mn to prepare
the ships — ^They are detained by the management of Ulys-
ses, who chastises the insolence of Thersites — The as-
sembly is recalled, several speeches made on the occasion,
and at length the advice of Nestor followed, which was to
make a general muster of the troops, and to divide them
into their several nations, before they proceeded to battle —
This gives occasion to the poet to enumerate all the forces
of the Greeks and Trojans, in a large catalogue. — [The time
employed in this book consists not intirely of one day. The
scene lies in the Grecian camp, and on the sea-shore ; to-
ward the end, it removes to Troy.]

Now pleasing sleep had seal'd each mortal eye,
Stretch'd in the tents the Grecian leaders lie,
The immortals slumber'd on their thrones above ;
All, but the ever-wakeful eyes of Jove.
To honor Thetis' son he bends his care, 5

And plunge the Greeks in all the woes of war:
Then bids an empty phantom rise to sight,
And thus commands the Vision of the night :

' Fly hence, deluding Dream I and, light as air^
To Agamemnon's ample tent repair, 10

Bid him in arms draw forth the embattled train.
Lead all his Grecians to the dusty plain.
Declare, ev'n now 'tis given him to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For, now no more the gods with fate contend, 15

At Juno's suit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Uion waits the impending fall.'

Swift as the word the vain illusion fled.
Descends, and hovers o'er Atrides' head ; 20

Clothed in the figure of the Pylian sage,
Renown'd for wisdom, and revered for age ;
Around his temples spreads his golden wing.
And thus the flattering Dream deceives the king :

36 HOMER.

' Canst thou, with all a monarch's cares oppressed,
O, Atreus' son ! canst thou indulge thy rest ? 26

111 fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war presides,
To whom its safety a whole people owes,
To waste long nights in indolent repose. 90

Monarch, awake ! 'tis Jove's command I hear.
Thou and thy glory claim his heavenly care.
In just array draw forth the emhattled train,
Lead all thy Grecians to the dusty plain ;
Ev'n now, O king ! 'tis given thee to destroy 36

The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For, now no more the gods with fate contend.
At Juno's suit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall.
And nodding Ilion waits the impending fall. 40

Awake, hut waking, this advice approve,
And trust the vision that descends from Jove.'

The phantom said ; then vanish'd from his sight.
Resolves to air, and mixes with the night.
A thousand schemes the monarch's mind employ ; 45
Elate in thought he sacks untaken Troy :
Vain as he was, and to the future hlind ;
Nor saw what Jov« and secret fate design'd ;
What mighty toils to either host remain,
What scenes of grief, and numbers of the slain ! 50
Eager he rises, and in fancy hears
The voice celestial murmuring in his ears.
First on his limbs a slender vest he drew,
Around him next the regal mantle threw.
The embroider'd sandals on his feet were tied ; 55

The starry falchion glitter'd at his side';
And last his arm the massy sceptre loads,
Unstain'd, immortal, and the gift of gods.
Now rosy Morn ascends the court of Jove,
Lifts up her light, and opens day above. oo

ILIAD.'^BOOK II. 29

The king despatcli'd his heralds with commands

To range the camp and summon all the bands :

The gathering hosts the monarch's word obey ;

While to the fleet Atrides bends his way.

In his black ship the Pylian prince he found ; 65.

There calls a senate of the peers around ;

The assembly placed, the king of men expressed

The counsels laboring in his artful breast.

' Friends and confederates ! with attentive ear
Receive my words, and credit what you hear. 70

Late as I slumber'd in the shades of night,
A dream divine appear'd before my sight;
Whose visionary form like Nestor came.
The same in habit, and in mien the same.
The heavenly phantom hover'd o'er my head, 75

And, ' Dost thou sleep, O Atreus' son V he said :
' 111 fits a chief who mighty nations guides.
Directs in council, and in war presides,
To whom its safety a whole people owes,
To waste long nights in indolent repose. 80

Monarch, awake I 'tis Jove's command I bear^
Thou and thy glory claim his heavenly care.
In just array draw forth the embattled train.
And lead the Grecians to the dusty plain ;
£v'n now, O king ! 'tis given thee to destroy 8d

The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For, now no more the gods with fate contend,
At Juno's suit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall.
And nodding Ilion waits the impending fall. 90

This hear observant, and the gods obey I'
The Vision spoke, and pass'd in air away.
Now, valiant chiefs ! since Heaven itself alarms.
Unite, and roose the sons of Greece to arms.
But first with caution try what yet they dare, 96

Worn with nine years of unsuccessful war.

90 HOMBR*.

To moye the troops to measure back tbe main,
Be mine ; and yours the prorince to detain/

He spoke, and sat ; when Nestor, rising, said
(Nestor, whom Pylos' sandy realms obey'd) : 100

' Princes of Greece, your faithful ears incline,
Nor doubt the vision of the powers dirine ;
Sent by great Jove to him who rules the host —
Forbid it. Heaven, this warning should be lost!
Then let us haste, obey the god's alarms, 105

And join to rouse the sons of Greece to arms/

Thus spoke the sage. The kings without delay
Dissolve the council, and their chief obey :
The sceptred rulers lead ; the following host,
Pour'd forth by thousands, darkens all the coast. 110
As from some rocky cliff the shepherd sees
Clustering in heaps on heaps the driving bees,
Rolling, and blackening, swarms succeeding swarms,
With deeper murmurs and more hoarse alarms ;
Dusky they spread, a close embodied crowd, 115

And o'er the vale descends the living cloud.
So, from the tents and ships, a lengthening train
Spreads all the beach, and wide o'ershades the plain :
Along the region runs a deafening sound ;
Beneath their. footsteps groans the trembling ground.
Fame flies before, the messenger of Jove, 121

And shining soars, and claps her wings above.
Nine sacred heralds now, proclaimiujg loud
The monarch's will, suspend the listening crowd.
Soon as the throngs in order ranged appear, 125

And fainter murmurs died upon the ear,
The king of kings his awf\il figure raised ;
High in his hand the golden sceptre blazed :
The golden sceptre, of celestial frame.
By Vulcan formed, from Jove to Hermes came : 130
To Pelops he the immortal gift resigned ;
The immortal gift great Pelops left behind,

ILIAD. — BOOK II. 31

In Atreus' hand, which not with Atreus enda^

To rich Thyestea next the prize descends ;

And now the mark of Agamemnon's reign, 135

Suhjects all Argos, and controls the main.

On this bright sceptre now the king reclined.
And artful thus pronounced the speech design'd :
' Ye sons of Mars ! partake your leader's care,
Heroes of Greece, and brothers of the war ! 140

Of partial Jove with justice I complain,
And heavenly oracles believed in vain.
A safe return was promised to our toils,
Renown'd, triumphant, and enrich'd with spoils.
Now shameful flight alone can save the host, 145

Our blood, our treasure, and our glory lost.
So Jove decrees, resistless lord of all 1

At whose command whole empires rise or fall : ^^

He shakes the feeble props of human trust.
And towns and armies humbles to the dust. 150

What shame to Greece a fruitless war to wage.
Oh, lasting shame in every future age !
Once great in arms, the common scorn we grow.
Repulsed and baffled by a feeble foe.
So small their number, that if wars were ceased, 155
And Greece triumphant held a general feast.
All rankM by tens ; whole decades when they dine
Must want a Trojan slave to pour the wine.
But other forces have our hopes overthrown.
And Troy prevails by armies not her own. 160

Now nine long years of mighty Jove are run
Since first the labors of this war begun :
Our cordage torn, decay'd our vessels lie,
And scarce insure the wretched power to fly.
Haste then, for ever leave the Trojan wall! 1^

Our weeping wives, our tender children, call :
Love, duty, safety, summon us away ;
'Tis nature's voice, and nature we obey.

3*2 HOHBH.

Our shatter'd barks may yet transport u^ o'er,
Safe and inglorious, to our native shore. 170

Fly, Grecians, fly ! your sails and oars employ,
And dream no more of heaven-defended Troy/

His deep design unknown, the hosts approve
Atrides' speech. The mighty numbers move.
So roll the billows to the Icarian shore, 175

From east and south when winds begin to roar.
Burst their dark mansions in the clouds, and sweep
The whitening surface of the ruffled deep.
And as on corn when western gusts descend.
Before the blasts the lofty harvests bend ; 180

Thus o'er the field the moving host appears,
With nodding plumes and groves of waving spears.
The gathering murmur spreads, their trampling feet
Beat the loose sands, and thicken to the fleet.
With long-resounding cries they urge the train 185
To fit the ships, and launch into the main.
They toil, they sweat, thick clouds of dust arise, i

The doubling clamors echo to the skies.
Ev'n then the Greeks had left the hostile plain,
And fate decreed the fall of Troy in vain ; 190

But Jove's imperial queen their flight surveyed,
And sighing thus bespoke the blue-eyed maid :

' Shall then the Grecians fly 7 O dire disgrace I
And leave unpunish'd this perfidious race ?
Shall Troy, shall Priam, and the adulterous spouse, |

In peace enjoy the fruits of broken vows? 196

And bravest chiefs, in Helen's quarrel slain^
Lie unrevenged on yon detested plain ? I

No : let my Greeks, unmoved by vain alarms.
Once more refulgent shine in brazen arms. 200

Haste, goddess, haste ! the flying host detain,
Nor let one sail be hoisted on the main.'

Pallas obeys, and from Olympus' height, I

Swift to the ships precipitates her flight.

ILIAD.-^BOOR 11. 33

UlyBseSy first in public cares, she found, 265

For prudent counsel like the gods renown'd :

Oppressed with generous grief the hero stood,

Nor drew his sable vessels to the food : —

' And is it thus, divine Laertes' son !

Thus fly the Greeks !' the martial maid begun, 210

* Thus to their country bear their own disgrace.

And fame eternal leave to Priam's race ?

Shall beauteous Helen still remain unfreed.

Still unrevenged a thousand heroes bleed ?

Haste, generous Ithacus ! prevent the shame, 215

Recall your armies, and your chiefs reclaim. i

Your own resistless eloquence employ,

And to the immortals trust the fall of Troy.' i

The voice divine confessed the warlike maid, /

Ulysses heard, nor uninspired obey'd : . 220 ^

Then meeting first Atrides, from his hand
Received the imperial sceptre of command.
Thus graced, attention and respect to gain,
He runs, he flies through all the Grecian train,
Each prince of name, or chief in arms approved, 225
He fired with praise, or with persuasion moved :

' Warriors like you, with strength and wisdom
bless'd,
By brave examples should confirm the rest.
The monarch's will not yet reveal'd appears ;
He tries our courage, but resents our fears. 230

The unwary Greeks his fury may provoke ;
Not thus the king in secret council spoke.
Jove loves our chief, from Jove his honor springs ;
Beware ! for dreadful is the wrath of kings.

' But if a clamorous vile plebeian rose, 235

Him with reproof he check'd, or tamed with blows.
Be still, thou slave, and to thy betters yield !
Unknown alike in council and in field !

HOM, VOL. I. c

34 HOMER.

Ye gods, what dastards would our host command ?
Swept to the war, the lumber of a land. 240

Be silent, wretch, and think not here allow'd
That worst of tyrants, a usurping crowd.
To one sole monarch Jove commits the sway ;
His are the laws, and him let all obey.'

With words like these the troops Ulysses ruled, 245
The loudest silenced, and the fiercest cool'd.
Back to the assembly roll the thronging train,
Desert the ships, and pour upon the plain.
Murmuring they move, as when old Ocean roars,
And heaves huge surges to the trembling shores : 250
The groaning banks are burst with bellowing sound,
The rocks remurmur and the deeps rebound.
At length the tumult sinks, the noises cease,
And a still silence lulls the camp to peace.
Thersites only clamored in the throng, 256

Loquacious, loud, and turbulent of tongue :
Awed by no shame, by no respect controlled,
In scandal busy, in reproaches bold :
With witty malice studious to defame ;
Scorn all his joy, and laughter all his aim. 260

But chief he gloried, with licentious style.
To lash the great, and monarchs to revile.
His figure such as might his soul proclaim ;
One eye was blinking, and one leg was lame :
His mountain-shoulders half his breast overspread,
Thin hairs bestrewM his long mis-shapen head. 266
Spleen to mankind his envious heart possessed.
And much he hated all, bwt most the best.
Ulysses or Achilles still his theme ;
But royal scandal his delight supreme. 270

Long had he lived the scorn of every Greek,
Yex'd when he spoke, yet still they heard him speak.
Sharp was his voice ; which, in the shrillest tone,
Thus with injurious taunts attacked the th rone:

ILIAD. — BOOK II. 35

* Amidst the glories of so bright a reign, 275

What moves the great Atrides to complain ?
'Tis thine whatever the warrior's breast inflames,
The golden spoil, and thine the lovely dames.
With all the wealth our wars and blood bestow,
Thy tents are crowded, and thy chests o'erflow. 280
Thus at full ease in heaps of riches roU'd,
What grieves the monarch ? Is it thirst of gold ?
Say, shall we march with our nuconquer'd powers
(The Greeks and I) to, Ilion's hostile towers,
And bring the race of royal bastards here, 285

For Troy to ransom at a price too dear ?
But safer plunder thy own ho'st supplies ;
Say, wouldst thou seize some valiant leader's prize ?
Or, if thy heart to generous love be led.

Some captive fair, to bless thy kingly bed ? 290 il,

Whatever our master craves, submit we must.
Plagued with his pride, or punish'd for his lust.
O women of Achaia ! men no more !
Hence let us fiy, and let him waste his store
In loves and pleasures on the Phrygian shore« 2d5
We may be wanted on some busy day.
When Hector comes : so great Achilles may :
From him he forced the prize we jointly gave.
From him, the fierce, the fearless, and the brave :
And durst he, as he ought, resent that wrong, 300

This mighty tyrant were no tyrant long,'

Fierce from his seat at this Ulysses springs,
In generous vengeance of the king of kings.
With indignation sparkling in his eyes,
He views the wretch, and sternly thus replies : 305

' Peace, factious monster ! born to vex the state.
With wrangling talents form'd for foul debate :
Curb that impetuous tongue, nor rashly vain
And singly mad, asperse the sovereign reign.

96 HOMER.

Have we not known tbee, slave ! of all our bost, 310
The man who acts the least, upbraids the most ?
Think not the Greeks to shameful flight to bring.
Nor let those lips profane the name of king.
For our return we trust the heavenly powers ;
Be that their care ; to fight like men be ours. 315

But grant the host with wealth the general load.
Except detraction, what hast thou bestowed?
Suppose some hero should his spoils resign,
Art thoii that hero ? could those spoils be thine ?
Gods ! let me perish on this hateful shore, 320

And let these eyes behold my son no more.
If, on thy next offence, this hand forbear
To strip those arms thou ill deservest to wear.
Expel the council where our princes meet.
And send thee scourged and howling through the
fleet.' 325

He said, and cowering as the dastard bends,
The weighty sceptre on his back descends :
On the round bunch the bloody tumors rise ;
The tears spring starting from his haggard eyes :
Trembling he sat, and shrunk in abject fears, 330

From his vile visage wiped the scalding tears.
While to his neighbor each express'd his thought :
*■ Ye gods ! what wonders has Ulysses wrought !
What fruits his conduct and his courage yield :
Great in the council, glorious in the field ! 335

Generous he rises in the crown's defence.
To curb the factious tongue of insolence.
Such just examples on offenders shown.
Sedition silence, and assert the throne.'

'Twas thus the general voice the hero praised, 340
Who, rising, high the imperial sceptre raised ;
The blue-eyed Pallas, his celestial friend,
(In form a herald) bade the crowds attend.

ILIAD. — BOOK II. 37

The expecting crowds in still attention hung,
To hear the wisdom of his heavenly tongue. 345

Then deeply thoughtful, pausing ere he spoke,
His silence thus the prudent hero broke :

* Unhappy monarch ! whom the Grecian race,
With shame deserting, heap with vile disgrace.
Not such at Argos was their generous vow, 360

Once all their voice, but, ah ! forgotten now :
Ne'er to return, was then the common cry.
Till Troy's proud structures should in ashes lie.
Behold them weeping for their native shore !
What could their wives or helpless children more?
What heart but melts to leave the tender train, 356
And, one short month, endure the wintry main? /

Few leagues removed, we wish our peaceful seat, u

When the ship tosses, and the tempests beat : '^

Then well may this long stay provoke their tears, 360
The tedious length of nine revolving years.
Not for their grief the Grecian host I blame ; i

But vanquish 'd ! baffled ! oh, eternal shame !
Expect the time to Troy's destruction given,
And try the faith of Chalcas and of heaven. 365

What pass'd at Aulis, Greece can witness bear,
And all who live to breathe this Phrygian air.
Beside a fountain's sacred brink we raised
Our verdant altars, and the victims blazed ; 369

('Twas where the plane-tree spread its shades

around)
The altars heaved, and from the crumbling ground
A mighty dragon shot, of dire portent ;
From Jove himself the dreadful sign was sent.
Straight to the tree his sanguine spires he roU'd,
And curl'd around in many a winding fold. 375

The topmost branch a mother-bird possess'd ;
Eight callow infants fiU'd the mossy nest ;

'39 HOHER.

Herself the ninth ; the serpent as he hung,

StretchM his black jaws, and crash'd the crying

young :
While hovering near, with miserable moan, 390

The drooping mother wail'd her children gone.
The mother last, as round the nest she flew.
Seized by the beating wing, the monster slew :
Nor long survived ; to marble turn'd he stands
A lasting prodigy on Aulis' sands. 385

Such was the will of Jove ; and hence we dare
Trust in his omen, and support the war.
For while around we gazed with wondering eyes,
And trembling sought the powers with sacrifice,
Full of his god, the reverend Chalcas cried : ;)90

* Ye Grecian warriors ! lay your fears aside.
This wondrous signal Jove himself displays.
Of long, long labors, but eternal praise.
As many birds as by the snake were slain.
So many years the toils of Greece remain ; 395

But wait the tenth, for Uion's fall decreed.'
Thus spoke the prophet, thus the fates succeed.
Obey, ye Grecians ! with submission wait,
Nor let your flight avert the Trojan fate.'

He said : the shore with loud applauses sound, 400
The hollow ships each deafening shout rebound.
Then Nestor thus : ' These vain debates forbear.
Ye talk like children, not like heroes dare.
Where now are all your high resolves at last ?
Your leagues concluded, your engagements past?
Vow'd with libations and with victims then, 406

Now vanished like their smoke : the faith of men !
While useless words consume the unactive hours,
No wonder Troy so long resists our powers.
Rise, great Atrides ! and with courage sway ; 410

We march to war if thou direct the way.

ILIAO. — BOOK II. 99

But leave the few that dare resist thy laws»

The mean deserters of the Grecian canse,

To grudge the conquests mighty Joye prepares,

And view with envy our successful wars. 415

On that great day when first the martial traio.

Big with the fate of Uion, ploughed the main ;

Jove, on the nght, a prosperous signal sent,

And thunder rolling shook the firmament.

Encouraged hence, maintain the glorious strife, 420

Till every soldier grasp a Phrygian wife,

Till Helen's woes at full revenged appear,

And Tro3/'s proud matrons render tear for tear.

Before that day, if any Greek invite

His country's troops to hase, inglorious flight; 425

Stand forth that Greek ! and hoist his sail to fiy^

And die the dastard first, who dreads to die. ^

But now, O monarch ! all thy chiefs advise :

Nor wliat they ofifer, thou thyself despise,

Among those counsels, let not mine he vain ; 430

In tribes and nations to divide thy train ;

His separate troops let every leader call,

Each strengthen each, and all encourage all.

What chief, or soldier, of the numerous band.

Or bravely fights, or ill obeys command, 435

When thus distinct they war, shall soon be known,

And what the cause of Ilion not o'erthrown ;

If fate resists, or if our arms are slow.

If gods above prevent, or men below.'
To him the king : * How much thy years excel 440

In arts of council, and in speaking well !

O, would the gods, in love to Greece, decree

But ten such sages as they grant in thee ;

Such wisdom soon should Priam's force destroy,

And soon should fall the haughty towers of Troy ! 445

But Jove forbids, who plunges those he hates

Jn fierce contention and in vain debates.

40 ' HOMER.

Now great Achilles from our aid Withdraws,

By me provoked ; a captive maid the cause i

If e'er as foes we join, the Trojan wall 450

Must shake^ and heavy will the vengeance fall !

But now, ye warriors, take a short repast ;

And, well refreshed, to bloody conflict haste.

His sharpened spear let every Grecian wield,

And every Grecian fix his brazen shield : 455

Let all excite the fiery steeds of war,

And all for combat fit the rattling car.

This day, this dreadful day, let each contend ;

No rest, no respite, till the shades descend.

Till darkness, or till death, shall cover all, 460

Let the war bleed, and let the mighty fall I

Till bathed in sweat be every manly breast.

With the huge shield each brawny arm depressed,

Each aching nerve refuse the lance to throw^

And each spent courser at the chariot blow. 465

Who dares inglorious, in his ships to stay,

Who dares to tremble on this signal day,

That wretch, too mean to fall by martial power,

The birds shall mangle, and the dogs devour.'

The monarch spoke : and straight a murmur rose.
Loud as the surges when the tempest blows, 471

That dash'd on broken rocks tumultuous roar,
And foam and thunder on the stony shore.
Straight to the tents the troops dispersing bend.
The fires are kindled, and the smokes ascend ; 475
With hasty feasts they sacrifice, and pray
T' avert the dangers of the doubtful day.
A steer of five years' age, large-limbM and fed,
To Jove's higb altars Agamemnon led :
There bade the noblest of the Grecian peers ; 480

And Nestor first, as most advanced in years.
Next came Idomeneus, and Tydeus' son,
Ajax the less, and Ajax Telamon ;

ILIADi^-^BOOK II. 41

Then wise Ulysses in his rank was placed ;

And Meoelaus carae unbid, the last. 486

The chiefs surroand the destined beast, and take

The sacred offering of the salted cake :

When thus the king prefers his solemn prayer :

O thou ! whose thunder rends the clouded air,

Who in the heaven of heavens hast fix*d thy throne.

Supreme of gods ! unbounded and alone ! 491

Hear! and before the burning sun descends,

Before the night her gloomy veil extends^

Low in the dust be laid yon hostile spires^

Be Priam's palace sunk in Grecian fires, 495

In Hector's breast be plunged this ishining sword,

And slaughtered heroes groan around their lord !'

Thus pray'd the chief: his unavailing prayer m

Great Jove refused^ and toss'd in empty air : ^

The god, averse, while yet the fumes arose, 500

Prepared new toils, and doubled woes on woes.
Their prayers performed, the chiefs the rite pursue,
The barley sprinkled^ and the victim slew.
The limbs they sever from the inclosing hide,
The thighs, selected to the gods, divide. 505

On these, in double cauls involved with art.
The choicest morsels lie from every part.
From the cleft wood the crackling flames aspire,
While the fat victim feeds the sacred fire.
The thighs thus sacrificed, and entrails dress'd, 510
The assistants part, transfix, and roast the rest ;
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare.
Each takes his seat, and each receives his share.
Soon as the rage of hunger was suppressed.
The generous Nestor thus the prince addressed : 515.

' Now bid thy heralds sound the loud alarms.
And call the squadrons sheathed in brazen arms :
Now seize the occasion, now the troops survey.
And lead to war when Heaven directs the way.'

42 HOMER.

He said : the monarch issued his commands ; 520
Straight the loud heralds call the gathering bands.
The chiefs inclose their king : the host divide,
In tribes and nations rank'd on either side.
High in the midst the blue-eyed virgin flies ;
From rank to rank she darts her ardent eyes : 525

The dreadful tegis, Jove's immortal shield.
Blazed on her arm, and lightened all the field :
Round the vast orb a hundred serpents roll'd,
Form'd the bright fringe, and seem'd to burn in

gold.
With this each Grecian's manly breast she warms, 530
Swells their bold hearts, and strings their nervous

arms ;
' No more they sigh, inglorious to return.
But breathe revenge, and for the combat burn.
As on some mountain, through the lofty grove.
The crackling flames- ascend, and blaze above ; 535
The fires expanding as the winds arise.
Shoot their long beams, and kindle half the skies :
So from the polish'd arms, and brazen shields,
A gleamy splendor flash'd along the fields.
Not less their number than the embodied cranes, 540
Or milk-white swans in Asius' watery plains.
That o'er the winding of Cayster's springs
Stretch their long necks, and clap their rustling wings,
Now tower aloft, and course in airy rounds;
Now light with noise : with noise the field resounds.
Thus numerous and confused, extending wide, 546
The legions crowd Scamander*s flowery side ;
With rushing troops the plains are cover'd o'er.
And thundering footsteps shake the sounding shore.
Along the river's level meads they stand, 550

Thick as in spring the flowers adorn the land.
Or leaves the trees ; or thick as insects play,
The wandering nation of a summer's day,

ILIAD. — BOOK II. * 43

That, drawn by milky streams, at evening hours.
In gathered swarms surround the rural bowers : 656
From pail to pail with busy murmur run
The gilded legions, glittering in the sun.
So throng'd, so close, the Grecian squadrons stood
In radiant arms, and thirst for Trojan blood.
Each leader now his scattered force conjoins 660

In close array, and forms the deepening lines.
Not ivith more ease the skilful shepherd swain
Collects his flock from thousands on the plain.
The king of kings, majestically tall,
Towers o'er his armies, and outshines them all : 565
Like some proud bull that round the pastures leads
His subject herds, the monarch of the meads.
Great as the gods, the exalted chief was seen,
His strength like Neptune, and like Mars his mien :
Jove o'er his eyes celestial glories spread, 670

And dawning conquest play'd around his head.
Say, virgins, seated round the throne divine,
All-knowing goddesses ! immortal Nine !
Since earth's wide regions, heaven's unmeasured

height.
And hell's abyss, hide nothing from your sight, 676
(We, wretched mortals! lost in doubts below.
But guess by rumor, and but boast we know,)
Oh say what heroes, fired by thirst of fame.
Or urged by wrongs, to Troy's destruction came ?
To count them aU, demands a thousand tongues, 680
A throat of brass, and adamantine lungs.
Daughters of Jove, assist! inspired by you,
The mighty labor dauntless I pursue :
What crowded armies, from what climes they bring.
Their names, their numbers, and their chiefs, I sing.

44 HOMER.

CATALOGUE OF THE SHIPS.

The hardy warriors whom Boeotia bred, 686

Penelius, Leitus, Prothoenor led :
With these Arcesilaus and Clonius stand,
Equal in arras, and equal in Command.
These head the troops that rocky Aulis yields, 590
And Eteon's hills, and Hyrie's watery fields,
And Schoenos, Scholos, Graea near the main,
And Mycalessia's^ample piny plain.
Those who in Peteon or Ilesion dwell.
Or Harma^ where Apollo's prophet fell ; 695

Heleon and Hyle, which the springs overflow ;
And Medeon lofty, and Ocalea low ;
Or in the meads of Haliartus stray.
Or Thespia, sacred to the god of day.
Onchestus, Neptune's celebrated groves ; 600

CopaB, and Thisbe, famed for silver doves.
For flocks Erythrse, Glissa for the vine ;
Platea green, and Nisa the divine.
And they whom Thebe's well-built walls inclose,
Where Myde, Eutresis, Corone rose ; 605

And Arne rich, with purple harvests crown'd ;
And Anthedon, Boeotians utmost bound.
Full fifty ships they send, and each conveys
Twice sixty warriors through the foaming seas.

To these succeed Aspledon's martial train, 610

Who plough the spacious Orchomenian plain.
Two valiant brothers rule the undaunted throng,
lalmen and Ascalaphus the strong.
Sons of Astyoche, the heavenly fair.
Whose virgin charms subdued the god of war : 615
(In Actor's court as she retired to rest.
The strength of Mars the blushing maid compress'd)
Their troops in thirty sable vessels sweep.
With equal oars, the hoarse-resounding deep.

ILIAD. — BOOK II. 45

The Phocians next in forty barks repair, 620

Epistrophus and Scbedius head the war.
From those rich regions where Cephissus leads
His silver current through the flowery meads ;
From Panopea, Chrysa the divine,.
Where Anemoria's stately turrets shine, 626

Where Pytho, Danlis, Cyparissus, stood,
And fair Lilaea views the rising flood.
These ranged in order on the floating tide,
Close, on the left, the bold Boeotians' side.

Fierce Ajax, led the Locrian squadrons on, 6t30

Ajax the less, Oileus' valiant son ;
Skiird to direct the flying dart aright;

Swift in pursuit, and active in the flght. w

Him, as their chief, the chosen troops attend, ^

Which Bessa, Thronus, and rich Cynos send : 635

Opus, Calliarus, and Scarphe's bands ;
And those who dwell where pleasing Augia stands,
And where Boagrius floats the lowly lands,
Or in fair Tarphe's sylvan seats reside,
In forty vessels cut the liquid tide. 640

Euboe next her martial sons prepares,
And sends the brave Abantes to the wars :
Breathing revenge, in arms they take their way
From Chalcis' walls, and strong Eretria ;
The Isteian fields, for generous vines renowned, 645
The fair Carystos, and the Styrian ground ;
Where Dies from her towers o'erlooks the plain.
And high Cerinthus views the neighboring main.
Down their broad shoulders falls a length of hair ;
Their hands dismiss not the long lance in air ; 650

Bat with protended spears, in fighting fields.
Pierce the tough corslets and the brazen shields.
Twice twenty ships transport the warlike bands.
Which bold Elphenor, fierce in arms, commands.

46 HOHBR.

Full fifty more from Athens stem the main, 655

Led hy Menestheus through the liquid plain,
(Athens the fair, where great Erecthens sway'd^
That owed his nurture to the hlue-eyed maid,
But from the teeming furrow took his hirth,
The mighty offspring of the foodful earth. 660

Him Pallas placed amidst her wealthy fane,
Adored with sacrifice and oxen slain ;
Where as the years revolve, her altars blase,
And all the tribes resound the goddess' praise).
No chief like thee, Menestheus ! Greece could yield.
To marshal armies in the dusty field, 666

The extended wings of battle to display,
Or close the embodied host in firm array.
Nestor alone, improved by length of days.
For martial conduct bore an equal praise. 670

With these appear the Salaminian bands,
Whom the gigantic Telamon commands ;
In twelve black ships to Troy they steer their course,
And with the great Athenians join their force.

Next move to war the generous Argive train, 675
From high Troezene, and Maseta's plain,
And fair iEgina circled by the main :
Whom strong Tyrinthe's lofty walls surround.
And Epidaure with viny harvests crown'd ;
And where fair Asinen and Hermion show 680

Their cliffs above, and ample bay below.
These by the brave Euryalus were led.
Great Sthenelus, and greater Diomed ;
But chief Tydides bore the sovereign sway ;
In fourscore barks they plough the watery way. 685

The proud Mycene arms her martial powers,
Cleone, Corinth, with imperial towers,
Fair Araethyrea, Ornia's fruitful plain.
And ifigioui and Adrastus' ancient reign :

ILIAD. — BOOK II. 47

And those who dwell along the sandy shore, 690

And where Pellene yields her fleecy store,

Where Helice and Hyperesia lie,

And Gonoessa's spires salute the sky,

Great Agamemnon rules the numerous band, '

A hundred vessels in long order stand, 695

And crowded nations wait his dread command.

High on the deck the king of men appears,

And his refulgent arms in triumph wears ;

Proud of his host, unrivall'd in his reign,

In silent pomp he moves along the main. 700

His brother follows, and to vengeance warms
The hardy Spartans, exercised in arms ;
Phares and Brysia's valiant troops, and those
Whom Lacedsemon's lofty hills inclose :
Or Messe's towers, for silver doves renown 'd, 705
A my else, Laas, Augia's happy ground,
And those whom GBtylos' low walls contain.
And Helos, on the margin of the main :
These, o'er the bending ocean, Helen's cause.
In sixty ships with Menelaus draws : 710

Eager and loud from man to man he flies.
Revenge and fury flaming in his eyes ;
While vainly fond, in fancy oft he hears
The fair one's grief, and sees her falling tears.

In ninety sail, from Pylos' sandy coast, 715

Nestor the sage conducts his chosen host:
From Amphigenia's ever- fruitful land ;
Where iEpy high, and little Pteleon stand ;
Where beauteous Arene her structures shows,
And Thyron's walls Alpheus' streams inclose : 720
And Dorion, famed for Thamyris' disgrace,
Superior once of all the tuneful race.
Till, vain of mortals' empty praise, he strove
To match the seed of cloud-compelling Jove!

48 HOMER.

Too daring bard ! whose unsuccessful pride 725

The immortal Muses in their art defied.

The avenging Muses of the light of day

Deprived his eyes, and snatch'd his voice away ;

No more his heavenly voice was* heard to sing,

His hand no more awaked the silver string. 730

Where under high Cyllene, crown'd with wood.
The shaded tomb of old iEgyptus stood ;
From Ripe, Stratie, Tegea's bordering towns.
The Phenean fields, and Orchomenian downs.
Where the fat herds in plenteous pasture rove ; 735
And Stymphelus with her surrounding grove,
Parrhasia, on her snowy cliff's reclined.
And high Enispe, shook by wintry wind.
And fair Mantinea's ever-pleasing site ;
In sixty sail the Arcadian bands unite. 740

Bold Agapenor, glorious at their head
(Ancseus' son), the mighty squadron led.
Their ships, supplied by Agamemnon's care.
Through roaring seas the wondering warriors bear ;
The first to battle on the appointed plain, 745

But new to all the dangers of the main.

Those, where fair Helis and Buprasium join ;
Whom Hyrmin, here, and Myrsinus confine.
And bounded there, where o'er the valleys rose
The Olenian rock ; and where Alisium flows ; 750

Beneath four chiefs (a numerous army) came :
The strength and glory of the Epean name.
In separate squadrons these their train divide,
Each leads ten vessels through the yielding tide.
One was Amphimachus, and Thalpius one 755

(Eurytus' this, and that Teatus' son) ;
Diores sprung from Amarynceus' line ;
And great Polyxenus, of force divine.

But those who view fair Elis o'er the seas
From the bless'd islands of the Echinades, 760

ILIAD. — BOOK II. 49

la forty vessels under Meges move.
Begot by Phylens^ the beloyed of Jove.
To strong Dulicbium from his sire he fled,
And thence to Troy his hardy warriors led.

Ulysses followed through the watery road, 766

A chief in wisdom equal to a god.
With those whom Cephalenia's isle inclosed,
Or till their fields along the coast opposed ;
Or where fair Ithaca overlooks the floods,
Where high Neritos shakes his waving woods, 770
Where iEgilipa's rugged sides are seen,
Crocylia rocky, and Zacyntbus green.
These in twelve galleys with vermilion prores,
Beneath his conduct sought the Phrygian shores.

Thoas came nex^t, Andrsemon's valiant son, 775

From Pleuron^s walls, and chalky Calydon,
And rough Pylene, and the Olenian steep.
And Chalcis, beaten by the rolling deep.
He led the ws^rriors from the Etolian shore.
For now the sons of (Eneus were no more. 780

The glories of the mighty race were fled ;
(Eneus himself, and Meleager dead.
To Thoas' care now trust the martial train.
His forty vessels follow through the main.

Next eighty barks the Cretan king commands, 785
Of Gnossus, Lyctus, and Gortyna's bands.
And those who dwell where Rhytion's domes arise,
Or white Lycastus glitters to the skies.
Or where by Phaestus silver Jardan runs ;
Crete's hundred cities pour forth all her sons. 790

These march'd, Idomenens, beneath thy care.
And Merion, dreadful as the god of war.

Tlepolemus, the son of Hercules,
Led nine swift vessels through the foamy seas ;
HOM, yoi«. I. P

From Rhodes, with eretltMwg tfttMbine bright, T96

Jalyssus, Lindiib, tmd Cfttnirtts White.

His captive mother fiefce Alcides bot«,

From fiphyr's waits, and Belle's Winding slitt^,

Where mighty ttiwns in mins bptead this plain.

And saw their blooming warriors early slaiti. 800

The hero, when to manly years he gf^w,

Alcides' um;le, old Licymnins, slew ;

For this, constraio'd to quit his native plitce.

And shun the vengeance of the Hercnlean racte,

A fleet he built, and witb a numerous train 805

Of willing exiles, wandered o'er the main ;

Where, many seas and many sulftetitegs psssM,

On happy Rhodes the chief arrived at last :

There in three tribes divides his native band,

And rules them peaceful in a foreign land ; 810

Increased and prospered in their new abodes,

By mighty Jove, the sire, of men and gods ;

With joy they saw the growing empire rise,

And showers of wealth descending from the skies.

Three ships with Nireus sought the Trojan shore,
Nireus, whom Aglae to Charopus bore ; 816

Nireus, in faultless shape and blooming grace,
The loveliest youth of all the Grecian race ;
Pelides only matcfaM his early charms ;
But few his troops, and small his streni^ in
arms. 8*20

Next thirty galleys cleave the liquid plain,
Of those Calydnse^s sea-girt isles contain ;
With them the youth of Nisyrus repair.
Casus the strong, and Crapathus the fair ;
Cos, where Eurypylus possessed the sway, 8^

Till great Alcides made the realms obey :
These Antipbus and bold Phidippus bring.
Sprung from the god by Thessalus the king.

ILIAD."— BOOR 1I» 61

Now, Muse, recount Pelasgic Argos' powers,
From Alos, Alope, and Trecfain's towers ; 830

From Phtbia's spacious vales ; and Hella, bless'd
With female beauty far beyond the rest,
Full fifty ships beneath Achilles' care,
The Acbaians, Myrmidons, Hellenians bear ;
Thessalians all, though various in their name ; 835
The same their nation, and their chief the same.
But now inglorious, stretch'd along the shore.
They hear the brazen voice of war no more ;
No more the foe they faoe in dire array :
Close in his fleet their angry leader lay ; 840

Since fair Briseis from his arms was torn.
The noblest spoil from sack'd Lyrnessus borne ; ^

Then, when the chief the Theban walls o'erthrew.
And the bold sons of great Evenus slew.
There mourn'd Achilles, plunged in depth of care, 845
But soon to rise in slaughter, blood, and war.

To these the youth of Phylace succeed,
Itona, famous for her fleecy breed.
And grassy Pteleion deck'd with cheerful greens.
The bowers of Ceres, and the sylvan scenes, 850

Sweet Pyrrhastts, with blooming flow'rets crown'd,
And Antron's watery dens and cavern'd ground.
These own'd as chief Protesilas the brave.
Who now lay silent in the gloomy grave :
The first who boldly touch'd the Trojan shore^ 855
And dyed a Phrygian lance with Grecian gore ;
There lies, far distant from his native .plain ;
Unfinished his proud palaces remain.
And his sad consort beats her breast in vain.
His troops in forty ships Podarces led, 090

Iphiclus' son, and brother to the dead ;
Nor he unworthy to command the host ;
Yet still they mourn'd their ancient leader lost.

52 HOMER.

The men wlib Glapbyra's fair soil partake.
Where hills encircle Boebe's lowly lake, 865

Where Phaere hears the neighboring waters fall.
Or prond lolous lifts her airy wall,
In ten black ships embark'd for Ilion's shore,
With bold Eumelus, whom Alceste bore :
All Pelias' race Alceste far outshined, 870

The grace and glory of the beauteous kind.

The troops Methone or Thaumacia yields,
Olizon's rocks, or Meliboea's fields.
With Philoctetes sail'd, whose matchless art
From the tough bow directs the feather'd dart. 875
Seven were his ships ; each vessel fifty row,
Skiird in his science of the dart and bow :
But he lay raging on the Lemnian ground,
A poisonous Hydra gave the burning wound ;
There groan'd the chief in agonizing pain, 880

Whom Greece at length shall wish, nor wish in vain.
His forces Medon led from Lemnos' shore,
Oileus' son, whom beauteous Rhena bore.

The GBchalian race, in those high towers con-
tained
Where once Eurytus in prond triumph reign 'd, 885
Or where her humbler turrets Tricca rears.
Or where Ithome, rough with rocks, appears ;
In thirty sail the sparkling waves divide.
Which Podalirius and Machaon guide.
To these his skill their parent-god imparts, 890

Divine professors of the healing arts.

The bold Ormenian and Asterian bands
In forty barks Eurypylus commands,
Where Titan hides his hoary head in snow.
And where Hyperia's siker fountains flow. 895

990 if^soulapius,

lLIAD.<i^fiOOK II. 53.

Thy troops, Argissa, Polypostes leads,
And EleoD, sheltered by Olympus' shades,
Gyrtone's warriors ; and where Orthe lies,
And Oleoson's chalky clififs arise.
Sprang from Pirithous of immortal race, 900

The fruit of fair Hippodame's embrace
(That day, when, hurl'd from Pelion's cloudy head,
To distant dens the shaggy Centaurs fled),
With Polypoetes join'd in equal sway
Leonteus leads, and forty ships obey. 905

In twenty sail the bold Perrhcebians came
From Cyphus, 6 uncus was their leader's^ name.
With these the Enians join'd, and those who freeze
Where cold Dodona lifts her holy trees ; d

Or where the pleasing Titaresius glides, 910

And into Peneus rolls his easy tides ;
Yet o'er the silver surface pure they flow,
The sacred stream unmix'd with streams below,
Sacred and awful ! From the dark abodes
StjTx pours them forth, the dreadful oath of gods ! 915

Last under Prothous the Magnesians stood,
Prothous the. swift, of old Tenthedron's blood ;
Who dwell where Pelion, crown'd with piny boughs,
Obscures the glade, and nods his shaggy brows ;
Or where through flowery Tempo Peneus strayM 920
(The region stretch'd beneath his mighty shade).
In forty sable barks they stemm'd the main ;
Such were the chiefs, and such the Grecian train*

Say next, O Muse! of all Achaia breeds.
Who brayest fought, or rein*d the noblest steeds ? 925
Eumelus' mares were foremost in the chase.
As eagles fleet, and of Pheretian race :
Bred where Pieria's fruitful fountains flow,
And train'd by him who bears the silver bow.
Fierce in the fight their nostrils breathe a flame, 930
Their height, their color, and their age the same i

H HOMER.

O'er fields of death tbey whirl the rapid car.

And break the ranks, and thunder thorough the wan

Ajax in arms the first renown acquired,

While stem Achilles in his wrath retired 935

(His was the strength thai mortid might exceedffy

And his the unriraird race of heavenly steeds).

But Thetis' son now shines in arms no more ;

His troops, neglected on the sandy shore.

In empty air their sportive javelins throw, 940

Or whirl the disk, or bend an idle bow :

UnstainM with blood bis covered chariots stand ;

The immortal coursers graze along the strand ;

But the brave chieis the inglorious life deplored.

And wandering o'er the camp, required their lord. 945

Now, like a deluge, covering all around.
The shining armies swept along the ground ;
Swift as a flood of fire, when storms arise,
Floats the wide field, and blazes to the skies.
Earth g^oan'd beneath them ; as when angry Jove 950
Hurls down the forky lightning from above,
On Arime when he the thunder throws.
And fires Typheeus with redoubled blows.
Where Typhon, press'd beneath the burning load.
Still feels the fury of the avenging god. 965

But various Iris, Jove's comnmnds to bear.
Speeds on the wings of winds through liquid air :
In Priam's porch the Trojan chiefs she found.
The old consulting, and the youths around.
Polites' shape, the monarch's son, she chose, 960

Who from JSsetes' tomb observed the foes,
High on the mound ; from whence in prospect lay
The fields, the tents, the navy, and the bay.
In this dissembled form, she hastes to bring
The unwelcome message to the Phrygian king. 965

* Cease to consult, the time for action calls,
War, horrid war, approaches to your walls!

Assembled arnuea pft have I behel4»

But ne'er till now «nch nnmbers charged a field.

Thick as autumnal leaves qr driving sand, d?9

The moving squadrons blacken all the strand*

Thoa, godlike Hector ! all thy force employ.

Assemble all the upi^d banda of Tfoy ;

In just array let every leader call

The foreign troops : thi^ day demanda them all*' 075

The voice divine the inighty chief alarma ;
The coanoil breaks, the warriors ri|fl|h to arina.
The gates unfolding pour forth aU their train.
Nations on nations fill the duaky plain-
Men, steeds, and chariots, shake the trembVing ground :
The tumalt thickens, and the skies resound. 981

Amidst the plaia in sight of Ilion i^tand#
A rising mount, the work of hi!|man hands
(This for Myrinne*a tomb the immortals know,
Though caird Bateia in the world b^low) ; 9^

Beneath their chiefs in martial order bere^
The auxiliar troops and Trojap hoata Appear-

The godlike Hector^ high above the rest,
Shakes his huge spear» and nods his plumy creat :
In throngs aroiind hJ9 native bands repair, 990

And grovea of lapces glitter in the air.

Divine iEneas brings the Pardan race,
Anchise^' son. by Vopna' stolen embrace,
Born in the shadaa of Ida's secret grove
(A mortal mixing with the queen of love). 995

Archilochu^ and Aoamas divide
The warrior's toi(s, and combat by his sid^«

Who fair Zeleia's wealthy vall^yp tiHf
Fast by the foot of |da'# sacred hill»
Or drink, iEsepus, of thy siable flood, 1000

Were led by paudaru^, of royal blood. )
To whom his art ApoUo deign'd to show.
Graced with the preaaiit Qf bi9 sbftftf and bpw.

56 HOMBR.

From rich Apaesus land Adrestia's towers.
High Terese's summits, and Pityea*s bowers ; 1005
From these the congregated troops obey
Young Amphius' and Adrastus* equal sway :
Old Merops' sons ; whom, skill'd in fates to come,
The sire forewarn*d, and prophesied their doom :
Fate urged them on ; the sire forewarn'd in Tain, 1010
They rushM to war, and perish'd on the plain.

From Practias' stream, Percote's pasture lands.
And iSestos and Abydos' neighboring strands,
From great Arisba's walls and Sellers coast,
Asius Hyrtacides conducts his host: 1015

High on his car he shakes the flowing reins,
His fiery coursers thunder o'er the plains.

The fierce Pelasgi next, in war renown'd, -
March from Larissa's ever-fertile ground :
In equal arms their brother leaders shine^ 1020

Hippothous bold, and Pyleus the divine.

Next Acamas and Pyrous lead their hosts.
In dread array, from Thracia^s wintry coasts ;
Round the bleak realms where Hellespontus roars.
And 'Boreas beats the hoarse-resounding shores. 1025

With great Euphemus the Ciconians move,
Sprung from Troezenian Ceus, loved by Jove.

Pyrsechmes the Pasonian troops attend,
Skiird in the fight their crooked bows to bend ;
From AxiuV aknple bed he leads them on^ 1090

Axius, that laves the distant Amydon ;
Axius, that swells with all his neighboring riUs^
And wide around the floating region fills.

The Paphlagonians Pyliemenes rules.
Where rich Henetia breeds her savage mules, 1036
Where Erythinus' rising cliffs are seen,
Thy groves of box, Cytorus ! ever green ;
And where iBgialus and Cromna lie^
And lofty Sesamus invades the sky 5

ILIAD.^-BOOK II. 57

And where PartheDius, roU'd through hanks of flowers.
Reflects her bordering palaces and bowers. 1041

Here march'd in arms the Halizonian band.
Whom Odius and Epistrophus command »
From those far regions where the sun refines
The ripening silver in Alybean mines. 1045

There, migdty Chromis led the Mysian train,
And augur Ennomus, inspired in vain,
For stem Achilles lopp'd his sacred head,
RoU'd down Scamander with the vulgar dead.

Phorcys and brave Ascanius here unite 1050

The Ascanian Phrygians, eager for the fight. j

Of those who round Maeonia's realms reside,
Or whom the vales in shade of Tmolus hide, ^

Mestles and Antiphus the charge partake ;
Bom on the banks of Gyges' silent lake. 1055

There, from the fields where wild Mceander flows,
High Mycale, and Latmos' shady brows,
And proud Miletus, came the Carian throngs,
With mingled clamors, and with barb'rous tongues. s

Amphimacus and Naustes guide the train, 1060

Naustes the bold, Amphimacus the vain.
Who, trick'd with gold, and glittering on his car,
Rode like a woman to the field of war ;
Fool that he was! by fierce Achilles slain,
The river swept him to the briny main : 1065

There whelm'd with waves the gaudy warrior lies ;
The valiant victor seized the golden prize.

The forces last in fair array succeed,
Which blameless Glaucus and Sarpedon lead ;
The warlike bands that distant Lycia yields, 1070

Where golfy Xanthus foams along the fields.

ttOIIER»

BOOK III.

The Duel of Menelaui and Paris,

Tbe armies being ready to engage, a singly combat ia a^greed
on between Menelaus and Paris (by the interyention of
Hector) for tbe determination of the war — Iris is sent to
call Helena to behold the fight ; she leads her to the walls
of Troy, where Priam sat with his counsellors, observing
the Grecian leaders on the plain below, to whom Helen
gives an account of the chief of them-^The kbga codi ekher
part take the solemn oath for the conditions of the comical
— The duel ensues, wherein Paria being oyercome, is
snatched away in a cloud by Venus, and transported to his
apartment — She then calls Helen from the walls, and brings
the lorera together — ^Agamemnon, on the part of the Gre-
cians, demand^ the restoration of Helen, and the perform*
ance of the articles. — [The three-and-twentieth day still
continues throughout this book. The scene ia sometimes
in the fields before Troy, and sometimes in Troy itself*]

Thus by their leader's car« e«eh iii«rtUl blind

Moves into ranks, and stretches o'er tb« land.

With shouts the Trojans rushing from>far.

Proclaim their motions, and provoke the w«r :

So when inclement winters rex the plain 6

With piercing frosts, or thick descending raiB»

1*0 warmer seas the cranes embodied fty,

With noise, and order* through the mid^way sky :

To pigmy. nations wounds and death they brings

And all the war descends upon the wing. 10

But silent, breathing rage, resolved and skill'd

By mutual aids to fix a doubtful field,

ILIAD.-^BOOK III. 60

Sfrift march the Greeks : the rapid dust around

Darkening arises from the labored groftDd.

Thus from his flaggy wings when Notus sheda 16

A night of vapors round the mountain-heads.

Swift-gliding mists the dusky fields in¥ade»

To thieves more grateful than the midnight shade ;

While scarce the swains their feeding flocks survey.

Lost and confused amidst the thicken'd day : 20

So wrapt in gathering dust, the Grecian train,

A moving cloud, swept on, and bid the plain.

Now front to front the hostile armies stand,
Eager of fight, and only wait command ;
When, to the van, before the sons of fame 25

Whom Troy sent forth, the beauteous Paris came,
In form a god ! the panther's speckled hide
Flow'd o'er his armor with an easy pride.
His bended bow across his shoulders flung,
His sword beiside him negligently hung ; 30

Two pointed spears be shook with gallant grace,
And dared the bravest ef the Grecian race.

As thus, with glorious air and proud disdain,
He boldly stalk'd, the foremost on the plain»
Him Menelaus, loved of Mara, espies, 3(^

With heart elated, and with joyful eyes :
So joys a lion, if the branching deer,
Or mountain goat, his bulky prise, appear ;
Eagfer he seizes and devours the slain.
Press' d by bold youths and baying dogs in vain. 40
Thus fond of vengeance, with a furious bound,
In clanging arms he leaps upon the ground
From his high chariot : htm, approaching near.
The beauteous champion views with marks of fear ;
Smit with a conscious sense, retires behind, 45

And shuns the fate he well deserved to find.
As when some shepherd, from the rustling trees,
Shot forth to view, a scaly serpent sees.

60 HOMBR.

Trembling and pale» he starts with wild affright,
And all confused, precipitates his flight : 50

So from the king the shining warrior flies.
And plunged amid the thickest Trojans lies.
As godlike Hector sees the prince retreat.
He thus upbraids him with a generous heat :
' Unhappy Paris ! but to women brave ! 55

So fairly form'd, and only to deceive!
Oh, hadst thou died when flrst thou saw'st the light.
Or died at least before thy nuptial rite I
A better fate than vainly thus to boast, .
And fly, the scandal of thy Trojan host. GO

Gods ! how the scornful Greeks exult to see
Their fears of danger undeceived in thee!
Thy figure promised with a martial air,
But ill thy soul supplies a form so fair*
In former days, in all thy gallant pride, 65

When thy tall ships triumphaut stemm'd the tide.
When Greece beheld thy painted canvas flow,
And crowds stood wondering at the passing show ;
Say, was it thus, with such a baflled mien.
You met the approaches of the Spartan queen, 70

Thus from her realm convey'd the beauteous prize,
And both her warlike lords outshiued in Helen's eyes?
This deed, thy foes' delight, thy own disgrace,
Thy father's grief, and ruin of thy race ;
This deed recalls thee to the proffer'd fight, 75

Or hast thou injured whom thou darest not right ?
Soon to thy cost the field would make thee know
Thou keep'st the consort of a braver foe.
Thy graceful form instilling soft desire,
Thy curling tresses, and thy silver lyre, 80

Beauty and youth ; in vain to these you trust,
When youth and beauty shall be laid in dust :

79 Theseus ^nd Menelaus,

ILIAD. — BOOK III. 61

Troy yet may wake, and one avenging blow^
Crash the dire author of his country's wo.'

His silence here, with blushes, Paris breaks : S5
' 'Tis just, my brother, what your anger speaks :
But who like thee can boast a soul sedate.
So firmly proof to all the shocks of fate ?
Thy force like steel a tempered hardness shows,
Still edged to wound, and still untired with blows ; 90
Like steel, uplifted by some strenuous swain.
With falling woods to strew the wasted plain.
Thy gifts I praise ; nor thou despise the charms
With which a lover golden Venus arms ;
Soft moving speech, and pleasing outward show, 95
No wish can gain them, but the gods bestow.
Tet, wouldst thou have the profferM combat stand, ^

The Greeks and Trojans seat on either hand ;
Then let a mid-way space our hosts divide.
And, on that stage of war, the cause be tried : 100

By Paris there the Spartan king be fought, ,
For beauteous Helen and the wealth she brought:
And who his rival can in arms subdue,
His be the fair, and his the treasure too.
Thus with a lasting league your toils may cease, 105 ,
And Troy possess her fertile fields in peace ;
Thus may the Greeks review their native shore.
Much famed for generous steeds, for beauty more.'

He said. The challenge Hector heard with joy,
Then with his spear restrained the youth of Troy, 110
Held by the midst, athwart, and near the foe
Advanced with steps majestically slow :
While round his dauntless head the Grecians pour
Their stones and arrowy in a mingled shower.

Then thus the monarch, gpreat Atrides, cried : 115
' Forbear, ye warriors ! lay the darts aside :
A parley Hector asks, a message bears ;
We know him by the various plume he wears,'

63 HOMER.

Awed by kis lii^ commaiid the Oreeki attend,

The tunralt nleBce, and the fight suspend. 120

While :firoiii the centre Hector rolls his eyes
On either host, and thus to both applies :
* Hear, all ye Trojan, all ye Grecian bands !
What Paris, author of the war, demands.
Your shining swords within the sheath restraiti, 125
And pitch your lances in the yielding plain.
Here in the midst, in either army's sight,
He dares the Spartan king to single fight ;
And wills, that Helen and the ravidi'd spoil
That caused the contest, shall reward the toil. 130

Let these the brave triumphant victor grace.
And differing nations part in leagues of peace.'

He speke : in still suspense on either side
Each array stood : — ^the Spartan chief replied :

* Me too, ye warriors 1 hear, whose fatal right 135
A world engages in the toils of fight.
To me the labor of the field resign ;
Me Paris injured ; all the war be mine.
Fall he that must beneath his rival's arms ;
And live the rest, secure of future harms. 140

Two lambs, devoted by your country's rite.
To Earth a sable, to the Sun a white.
Prepare, ye Trojans ! while a third we bring
Select to Jove, the inviolable king.
Let reverend Priam in the truce engage, 145

And add the sanction of considerate age.
His sons are faithless, headlong in debate.
And youth itself an empty wavering state :
Cool age advances venerably wise,
Thus on all hands its deep-discerning eyes ; 150

Sees what befell, and what may yet befall.
Concludes from both, and best provides for all/

The nations hear, with rising hopes possess 'd^
And peaceful prospects dawn in every breast.

ILIACU^BOOK III. OS

Within the ItnM they drew their steeds arovad, 155

And from their chariots iseued on the ground :

Next all uohuckling the rich mail they wore.

Laid their bright arms along the saUe shore.

On either side the meeting hosts are seen

With lances fix'd, and close the space between. I GO

Two heralds now despatch'd to Troy, inyite

The Phrygian monarch to the peaceful rite ;

Talthybins hastens to the fleet to bring

The lamb for Jove, the inyiolable king.

Meantime^ to beauteous Helen, from the skies \6b
The various goddess of the rainbow flies
(Like fair Laodice in form and face,
The loveliest nymph of Priam's royal race) :
Her in the palace, at her loom she found ; ^

The golden web her own sad story crown'd. 170

The Trojan wars she weaved (herself the prise),
And the dire triumphs of her fatal eyes.
To whom the goddess of the painted bow :
' Approach, and view the wondrous scene below !
Each hardy Greek, and valiant Trojan knight, * 176
So dreadful late, and furious for the fight.
Now rest their spears, or lean upon their shields ;
Ceased is the war, and silent all the fields.
Paris alone and Sparta's king advance.
In single fight to toss the beamy lance ; 160

Each met in anns, the fote of combat tries.
Thy love the motive, and thy charms the prize.'

This said, the many-color'd maid inspires
Her husband's love, and wakes her former fires :
Her country, parents, all that once were dear, 185
Rush to her thought, and force a tender tear.
O'er her fair face a snowy veil she threw.
And, softly sighing, from the loom withdrew :
Her handmaids Clymene and iEthra wait
Her silent footsteps to the Scsean gate. 190

04 HOMER.

There sat the seniors of the Trojan race
(Old Priam's chiefs, and most in Priam's grace):
The king the first : Thymoetes at his side ;
Lampus and Cly tins, long in counsel tried ;
Panthus and Hicetaon, once the strong ; 185

And next, the wisest of the reverend throng,
Antenor grave, and sage Ucalegon,
Lean'd on the walls, and hask'd before the sun.
Chiefs, who no more in bloody fights engage,
But wise through time, and narrative with age, 200
In summer days like grasshoppers rejoice,
A bloodless race, that send a feeble voice.
These, when the Spartan queen approach'd the tower,
In secret own'd resistless beauty's power :
They cried, ' No wonder, such celestial charms 205
For nine long years have set the world in arms !
What winning graces ! what majestic mien 1
She moves a goddess, and she looks a queen !
Yet hence, O Heaven ! convey that fatal face.
And from destruction save the Trojan race.' 210

The good old Priam welcomed her ; and cried,
' Approach, my child, and grace thy father's side.
See on the plain thy Grecian spouse appears.
The friends and kindred of thy former years.
No crime of thine our present sufferings draws, 215
Not thou, but Heaven's disposing will, the cause ;
The gods these armies and this force employ,
The hostile gods conspire the fate of Troy.
But lift thy eyes, and say, what Greek is he
(Far as from hence these aged orbs can see) 220

Around whose brow such martial graces shine.
So talU so awful, and almost divine ?
Though some of larger stature tread the g^een.
None match his grandeur and exalted mien :
He seems a monarch, and his country's pride.' 825
Thus ceased the king, and thus the fair replied :

ILIAD. — BOOK III. 65

^ Before thy presence, father, I appear,
With conscious shame and reverential fear.
Ah ! had I died, ere to these walls I fled,
False to my country, and my nuptial hed ; 230

My brothers, friends, and daughter, left behind.
False to them all, to Paris only kind !
For this I mourn, till grief or dire disease
Shall waste the form whose crime it was to please.
The king of kings, Atrides, you survey, 235

Great in the war, and great in arts of sway.
My brother once, before my days of shame ;
And oh, that still he bore a brother's name !'

With wonder Priam view'd the godlike man,
Bxtoird the happy prince, and thus began : 240

' O, bless'd Atrides ! born to prosperous fate.
Successful monarch of a mighty state !
How vast thy empire ! of yon matchless train
What numbers lost, what numbers yet remain !
In Phrygia once were gallant armies known, 245

In ancient time, when Otreus fiU'd the throne.
When godlike Mygdon led their troops of horse,
And I, to join them, raised the Trojan force :
Against the manlike Amazons we stood.
And Sangar's stream ran purple with their blood. 260
But far inferior those, in martial grace
And strength of numbers, to this Grecian race.'

This said, once more he view'd the warrior train :
* What 's he, whose arms lie scattered on tiie

plain ?
Broad is his breast, his shoulders larger spread, 2c5
Though great Atrides overtops his head. *
Nor yet appear his care and conduct small :
From rank to rank he moves, and orders all.
The stately ram thus measures o'er the ground.
And, master of the flock, surveys them round.' 2G0

liOH. VOL. 1. E

66 HOMEK.

Then Helen thus : * Whom your discerning eyes
Have singled out, is Ithacus the wise :
A barren island boasts his glorious birth :
His fame for wisdom fills the spacious earth.'

Antenor took the word, and thus began : 265

' Myself, O king ! have seen that wondrous man :
When, trusting Jove and hospitable laws.
To Troy he came, to plead the Grecian cause
(Great Menelaus urged the same request) ;
My bouse was honored with each royal guest : 270

I knew their persons, and admired their parts,
Both brave in arms, and both approved in arts. .
Erect, the Spartan most engaged our view :
Ulysses seated, greater reverence drew.
When Atreus' son harangued the listening train, 275
Just was his sense, and his expression plain.
His words, succinct, yet full, without a fault ;
He spoke no more than just the thing he ought.
But when Ulysses rose, in thought profound,
His modest eyes he fix'd upon the ground, 280

As one unskiird or dumb, he seem'd to stand,
Nor raised his head, nor stretch'd his sceptred band :
But, when he speaks, what elocution flows !
Soft as the fleeces of descending snows
The copious accents fall, with easy art ; 2S5

Melting they fall, and sink into the heart I
Wondering we hear, and, fix'd in deep surprise,
Our ears refute the censure of our eyes.'

The king then ask'd (as yet the camp he view'd), .
' What chief is that, with giant strength endued, 290
Whose brawtry shoulders, and whose swelling chest.
And lofty stature, far exceed the rest?'
* Ajax the great,' the beauteous queen replied,
' Himself a host : the Grecian strength and pride.
See ! bold Idomeiiens superior towers 295

Amidst you circle of his Cretan powers,

ILIAD. — BOOK III. 67

Great as a god ! I saw him once before,

With Menelaus, on the Spartan shore*.

The rest I know, and could in order name ;

All valiant chiefs, and men of mighty fame. 300

Yet two are wanting of the numerous trayi,

Whom long my eyes have sought, but sought in

vain :
Castor and Pollux, first in martial force.
One bold on foot, and one renown'd for horse.
My brothers these ; the same our native shore, 305
One house contain'd us, as one mother bore*
Perhaps the chiefs, from warlike toils at ease.
For distant Troy refused to sail the seas : ;

Perhaps their swords some nobler quarrel draws,
Ashamed to combat in their sister's cause.' 310 /

So spoke the fair, nor knew her brothers' doom, 1

Wrapped in the cold embraces of the tomb ; ^

Adorn'd with honors in their native shore.
Silent they slept, and heard of wars no more.

Meantime the heralds through the crowded town
Bring the rich wine and destined victims down. 316
Idseus' arms the golden goblets press'd,
Who thus the venerable king addressed :
' Arise, O father of the Trojan state!
The nations call, thy joyful people wait 320

To seal the truce and end the dire debate.
Paris thy son, and Sparta's king advance,
In measured lists to toss the weighty lance ;
And who his rival shall in arms subdue,
His be the dame, and his the treasure, too. 325

Thus with a lasting league our toils may cease,
And Troy possess her fertile fields in peace ;
So shall the Greeks review their native shore,
Much famed for generous steeds, for beauty more.'

With grief he heard, and bade the chiefs prepare
To join his milk-white coursers to the car : 331 «

68 HOMER.

He mounts the seat, Autenor at his side ;

The gentle steeds through Scaea's gate's they guide :

Next from the car descending on the plain,

Amid the Grecian host and Trojan train 335

Slow they proceed : the sage Ulysses then

Arose, and with him rose the king of men.

On either side a sacred herald stands,

The wine they mix, and on each monarch's hands

Pour the full urn ; then draws the Grecian lord 340

His cutlass, sheath'd beside his ponderous sword ;

From the sign'd victims crops the curling hair,

The heralds part it, and the princes share ;

Then loudly thus before the attentive bands

He calls the gods, and spreads his lifted hands: 345

* O first and greatest power ! whom all obey,
Who high on Ida's holy mountain sway.
Eternal Jove ! and you bright orb that roll
From east to west, and view from pole to pole !
Thou mother Earth ! and all ye living floods ! 350

Infernal Furies ! and Tartarean gods.
Who rule the dead, and horrid woes prepare
For perjured kings, and all who falsely swear !
Hear, and be witness. If by Paris slain,
Great Menelaus press the fatal plain, 355

The dame and treasures let the Trojan keep,
And Greece returning plough the watery deep.
If by my brother's lance the Trojan bleed.
Be his the wealth and beauteous dame decreed :
The appointed fine let Ilion justly pay, 360

And age to age record the signal day.
This if the Phrygians shall refuse to yield,
Arms must revenge, and Mars' decide the field.'

With that the chief the tender victims slew.
And in the dust their bleeding bodies threw : 865

Tl)e vital spirit issued at the wound.
And left the members quivering on the ground.

ILIAD. — BOOK III. 69

From the same urn they drink the mingled wine,

And add libations to the powers dirine.

While thus their prayers united mount the ^ky : 370

* Hear, mighty Jove ! and hear, ye gods on high !
And may their blood, who first the league confound.
Shed like this wine, distain the thirsty ground !
May all their consorts serve promiscuous lust,

And all their race be scattered as the dust !' 375

Thus either host their imprecations join'd,
Which Jove refused, and mingled with the wind.

The rites now finished, reverend Priam rose.
And thus expressed a heart overcharged with woes :

* Ye Greeks and Trojans, let the chiefs engage, 380
But spare the weakness of my feeble age :

In yonder walls that object let me shun^

Nor view the danger of so dear a son.

Whose arms shall conquer, and what prince shall

fall,
Heaven only knows, for Heaven disposes all.' 385

This said, the hoary king no longer stay'd,
But on his car the slaughtered victims laid ;
Then seized the reins his gentle steeds to guide.
And drove to Troy, Antenor at his side.

Bold Hector and Ulysses now dispose 390

The lists of combat, and the ground inclose ;
Next to decide by sacred lots prepare.
Who first shall launch his pointed spear in air.
The people pray with elevated hands.
And words like these are heard through all the bands :
' Immortal Jove, high heaven's superior lord, 396

On lofty Ida's holy mount adored !
Whoe'er involved us in this dire debate,
Oh, give that author of the war to fate
And shades eternal ! let division cease, 400

And joyful nations join in leagues of peace.'

i

70 HOMER.

With eyes averted Hector hastes to turn
The lots of fight and shakes the brazen urn.
Then, Paris, thine leap'd forth ; by fatal chance
Ordain 'd the first to whirl the weighty lance« 406

Both armies sat the combat to survey,
Beside each chief his azure armor lay.
And round the lists the generous coursers neigh.
The beauteous warrior now arrays for fight.
In gilded arms magnificently bright : 410

The purple cuishes clasp his thighs around,
With flowers adorn'd, with silver buckles bound :
Lycaon's corslet his fair body dressM,
Braced in, and fitted to his softer breast :
A radiant baldrick, o'er his shoulders tied, 415

Sustained the sword that glitter'd at his side :
His youthful face a polish'd helm overspread ;
The waving horsehair nodded on his head :
His figured shield, a shining orb, he takes.
And in his hand a pointed javelin shakes. 420

With equal speed, and fired by equal charms.
The Spartan hero sheaths his limbs in arms.

Now 'round the lists the admiring army stand.
With javelins fix'd, the Greek and Trojan band.
Amidst the dreadful vale the chiefs advance, 425

All pale with rage, and shake the threatening lance.
The Trojan first his shining javelin threw ;
Full on Atrides' ringing shield it flew ;
Nor pierced the brazen orb, but with a bound
Leap'd from the buckler blunted on the ground. 430
Atrides then his massy lance prepares.
In act to throw, but first prefers his prayers:

' Give me, great Jove ! to punish lawless lust,
And lay the Trojan gasping in the dust :
Destroy the aggressor, aid my righteous cause, 435
Avenge the breach of hospitable laws,

ILIAD. — BOOK III. 71

Let this example future times reclaim,

And guard from wrong fair friendship's holy name/

He said, and poised in air the javelin sent:

Through Paris' shield the forceful weapon went, 440

His corslet pierces, and his garment rends,

And, glancing downward, near his flank descends.

The wary Trojan, bending from the blow,

Eludes the death, and disappoints his foe :

But fierce Atrides waved his sword, and struck 446

Full on his casque ; the crested helmet shook ;

The brittle steel, unfaithful to his hand.

Broke short : the fragments glitter'd on the sand.

The raging warrior to the spacious skies

Raised his upbraiding voice and angry eyes : 460

' Then is it vain in Jove himself to trust ?

And is it thus the gods assist the just ?

When crimes provoke us. Heaven success denies :

The dart falls harmless, and the falchion flies.'

Furious he said, and tow'rd the Grecian crew 466

(Seized by the crest) the unhappy warrior drew :

Struggling he foUow'd, while the embroider'd thong,

That tied his helmet, dragged the chief along.

Then had his ruin crown'd Atrides' joy.

But Venus trembled for the prince of Troy : 460

Unseen she came, and -burst the golden band,

And left an empty helmet in his hand.

The casque, enraged, amidst the Greeks he threw ;

The Greeks with smiles the polish'd trophy view.

Then, as once more he lifts the deadly dart, 466

In thirst of vengeance, at his rival's heart.

The queen of love her favor'd champion shrouds

(For gods can all things) in a veil of clouds.

Raised from the field the panting youth she led,

And gently laid him on the bridal bed, 470

With pleasing sweets his fainting sense renews.

And all the 4ome perfumes with heavenly dews.

1

72 HOMER.

Meantime the brightest of the female kind,
The matchless Helen, o'er the walls reclined ;
To her, beset with Trojan beauties, came 475

In borrowed form the laaghter-loving dame.
(She seera'd an ancient maid, well skill'd to call
The snowy fleece, and wind the twisted wool.)
The goddess softly shook her silken vest,
That shed perfames, and whispering thus addressed :

* Haste, happy nymph ! for thee thy I^aris calls, 481
Safe from the fight in yonder lofty walls.
Fair as a god ! with odors round him spread
He lies, and waits thee on the well-known bed :
Not like a warrior parted from the foe, 485

But some gay dancer in the public show.'

She spoke, and Helen's secret soul was moved :
She scorn'd the champion, but the man she loved.
Fair Venus^ neck, her eyes that sparkled fire,
And breast, reveal'd the queen of soft desire. 490

Struck with her presence, straight the lively red
Forsook her cheek ; and, trembling, thus she said :
' Then is it still thy pleasure to deceive ?
And woman's frailty always to believe ?
Say, to new nations must I cross the main, 495

Or carry wars to some soft Asian plain ?
For whom must Helen break her second vow ?
What other Paris is thy darling now ?
Left to Atrides (victor in the strife)
An odious xsonquest, and a captive wife, 500

Hence let me sail ; and if thy Paris bear
My absence ill, let Venus ease his care.
A handmaid goddess at his side to wait,
Renounce the glories of thy heavenly state,
Be fix'd for ever to the Trojan shore, 505

His spouse, or slave ; and mount the skies no more.

476 Venus.

ILIAD, — BOOK III. 73

For me, to lawless love no longer led,

I scorn the coward, and detest his bed ;

Else should I merit everlasting shame.

And keen reproach from every Phrygian dame : 610

111 suits it now the joys of love to know,

Too deep my anguish, and too wild my wo.'

Then, thus incensed, the Paphian queen replies :
* Obey the power from whom thy glories rise :
Should Venus leave thee, every charm must fly, 615
Fade from thy cheek, and languish in thy eye.
Cease to provoke me, lest I make thee more
The world's aversion, than their love before ;
Now the bright prize for which mankind engage,
Then the sad victim of the public rage.' 620

At this, the fairest of her sex obey'd,
And veil'd her blushes in a silken shade ;
Unseen, and silent, from the train she moves,
Led by the goddess of the Smiles and Loves.

Arrived, and enter'd at the palace-gate, 625

The maids officious round their mistress wait:
Then all, dispersing, various tasks attend ;
The queen and goddess to the prince ascend.
Full in her Paris' sight the queen of love
Had placed the beauteous progeny of Jove ; 630

Where, as he view'd her charms, she turn'd away
Her glowing eyes, and thus began to say :

' Is this the chief, who, lost to sense of shame,
Late fled the field, and yet survives his fame ?
Oh, hadst thou died beneath the righteous sword 635
Of that brave man whom once I caird my lord !
The boaster Paris oft desired the day
With Sparta's king to meet in single fray :
Go now, once more thy rival's rage excite.
Provoke Atrides, and renew the fight : 640

Yet Helen bids thee stay, lest thou unskill'd
Shoal iist fall an easy conquest on the field.'

74 HOMER.

The prince replies : ' Ah ! cease, divinely fair,
Nor add reproaches to the wounds I bear :
This day the foe prevailed by Pallas' power ; 545

We yet may vanquish in a happier hour :
There want not gods to favor us above:
But let the business of our life be love :
These softer moments let delights employ,
And kind embraces snatch the hasty joy. 550

Not thus I loved thee when from Sparta's shore
My forced, my willing, heavenly prize I bore,
When first entranced in Cranae's isle I lay,
Mix'd with thy soul, and all dissolved away!'

While these to love's delicious rapture yield, 555
The stern Atrides rages round the field :
So sopoe fell lion, whom the woods obey.
Roars through the desert, and demands his prey.
Paris he seeks, impatient to destroy.
But seeks in vain along the troops of Troy ; 560

Even those had yielded to a foe so brave
The recreant warrior, hateful as the grave.
Then speaking thus, the king of kings arose :
' Ye Trojans, Dardans, all our generous foes !
Hear and attest ! from heaven with conquest crown'd,
Our brother's arms the just success have found : 566
Be therefore now the Spartan wealth restored.
Let Argive Helen own her lawful lord ;
The appointed fine let Ilion justly, pay.
And age to age record this signal day.' 570

He ceased ; his army's loud applauses rise.
And the long shout runs echoing through the skies.

J

ILIAD. — BOOK IV. 75

BOOK IV.

ARGUMENT.

T}ie Breach of the Trtice, and the first Battle*

The gods deliberate in council concerning the Trojan war :
they agree on the continuation of it, and Jupiter sends
down Minerva to break the truce — She persuades Fandarus
to aim an arrow at Menelaus, who is wounded, but cured
by Machaon — In the mean time some of the Trojan troops
attack the Greeks — Agamemnon is distinguished in all the
parts of a good general : he reviews the troops, and exhorts
the leaders, some by praises, and others by reproofs — Nes-
tor is particularly celebrated for his military discipline —
The battle joins, and great numbers are slain on both sides.— =
[The same day continues through this, as through the last
book (as it does also through the two following, and almost
to the end of the seventh book). The scene is wholly in
the field before Troy.]

ft

And now OlympDs' shining gates nnfold ;
The gods, with Jove, assume their thrones of gold :
Immortal Hebe, fresh with bloom divine,
The golden goblet crowns with purple wine :
While the full bowls flow round, the powers em-
ploy 6
Their careful eyes on long-contended Troy.

When Jove, disposed to tempt Saturnia's spleen.
Thus waked the fury of his partial queen.
Two powers divine the son of Atreus aid,
Imperial Juno, and the martial maid ; 10

But high in heaven they sit, and gaze from far,
The tame spectators of his deeds of war.
Not thus fair Venus helps her favor'd knight.
The queen of pleasures shares the toils of fight,

76 HOMER.

Each danger wards, and constant in her care 15

Saves in the moment of the last despair.

Her act has rescued Paris' forfeit life.

Though great Atrides gain'd the glorious strife.

Then say, ye powers ! what signal issue waits

To crown this deed, and finish all the Fates? 20

Shall heaven by peace the bleeding kingdoms spare,

Or rouse the Furies, and awake the war ?

Yet, would the gods for human good provide,

Atrides soon might gain his beauteous bride,

Still Priam's walls in peaceful honors grow, 25

And through his gates the crowding nations flow.

Thus while he spake, the queen of heaven en-
raged.
And queen of war, in close consult engaged :
Apart they sit, their deep designs employ,
And meditate the future woes of Troy. 30

Though secret anger swelled Minerva's breast.
The prudent goddess yet her wrath suppressed ;
But Juno, impotent of passion, broke
Her sullen silence, and with fury spoke.

* Shall then, O tyrant of the etherial reign ! 36

My schemes, my labors, and my hopes be vain ?
Have I, for this, shook Ilion with alarms,
Assembled nations, set two worlds in arms ?
To spread the war, I flew from shore to shore ;
The immortal coursers scarce the labor bore. 40

At length ripe vengeance o'er their heads impends,
But Jove himself the faithless race defends:
'Loth as thou art to punish lawless lust,
Not all the gods are partial and unjust.'

The sire, whose thunder shakes the cloudy skies.
Sighs from his inmost soul, and thus replies : 46

' O lasting rancor ! oh insatiate hate
To Phrygia's monarch, and the Phrygian state !

ILIAD. — BOOK IV. 77

What high offence has fired the wife of Jove ?
Can wretched mortals harm the powers ahoye, 50

That Troy and *Troy's whole race thou wouldst con-
found,
And yon fair structures level with the ground?
Haste, leave the skies, fulfil thy stern desire,
Burst all her gates, and wrap her walls in fire !
Let Priam hleed ! if yet thou thirst for more, 56

Bleed all his sons, and Ilion float with gore,
To houndless vengeance the wide realm be given.
Till vast destruction glut the queen of heaven !
So let it be, and Jove his peace enjoy.
When heaven no longer hears the name of Troy. 60
But should this arm prepare to wreak our hate
On thy loved realms, whose guilt demands their fate.
Presume not thou the lifted bolt (o stay ;
Remember Troy, and give the vengeance way.
For know, of all the numerous towns that rise 65

Beneath the rolling sun and starry skies.
Which gods have raised, or earth-born men enjoy ;
None stands so dear to Jove as sacred Troy.
No mortals merit more distinguished grace
Than godlike Priam, or than Priam's race ; 70

Still to our name their hecatombs expire.
And altars blaze with unextinguishM fire.'

At this the goddess rolVd her radiant eyes,
Then on the Thunderer fix'd them, and replies :
' Three towns are Juno's on the Grecian plains^ 75
More dear than all the extended earth contains,
•Mycenae, Argos, and the Spartan wall ;
These thou mayst raze, nor i forbid their fall :
'Tis not in me the vengeance to remove ;
The crime 's sufficient that they share my love. 80

Of power superior why should I complain?
Resent I may, but must resent in vain.

78 HOHER.

Yet some distinction Juno might require,

Sprung with thyself from one celestial sire,

A goddess born to share the realms above, 85

And styled the consort of the Thundering Jove :

Nor thou a wife and sister's right deny ;

Let both consent, and both by turns comply ;

So shall the gods our joint decrees obey,

And Heaven shall act as we direct the way. 90

See ready Pallas waits thy high commiands.

To raise in arms the Greek and Phrygian bands ;

Their sudden friendship by her arts may cease.

And the proud Trojans first infringe the peace/

The sire of men and monarch of the sky 95

The advice approved, and bade Minerva fly.
Dissolve the league, and all her arts employ
To make the breach the faithless act of Troy.

Fired with the charge, she headlong urged her
flight.
And shot like lightning from Olympus' height. 100
As the red comet, from Saturnius sent
To fright the nations with a dire portent
(A fatal sign to armies on the plain.
Or trembling sailors on the wintry main),
With sweeping glories glides along in air, 105

And shakes Jthe sparkles from its blazing hair :
Between both armies thus, in open sight,
Shot the bright goddess in a trail of light.
With eyes erect the gazing hosts admire
The power descending, and the heavens on fire ! 110
* The gods/ they cried, ' the gods this signal sent,
And fate now labors with some vast event :
Jove seals the league, or bloodier scenes prepares ;
Jove, the great arbiter of peace and wars!'

They said ; while. Pallas through the Trojan throng
(In shape a mortal) pass'd disguised along. 116

ILIAD. — BOOK IV. 79

Like bold Laodocus, her course she bent.

Who from An tenor traced his high descent.

Amidst the ranks Lycaon's son she found,

The warlike Pandarus, for strength renown'd ; 120

Whose squadrons, led from black ^sepus' flood,

With flaming shields in martial circle stood.

To him the goddess : * Phrygian ! canst thou hear
A well-timed counsel with a willing, ear?
What praise were thine, couldst thou direct thy dart,
Amidst his triumph, to the Spartan's heart! 126

What gifts from Troy, from Paris, wouldst thou gain.
Thy country'sfoe, the Grecian glory slain I
Then seize the occasion, dare the mighty deed,
Aim at his breast, and may that aim succeed ! 130

But first, to speed the shaft, address thy vow
To Lycian Phoebus with the silver bow.
And swear the firstlings of thy.flock to pay
On Zelia's altars, to the god of day.'

He heard, and madly, at the motion pleased, 135
His polish'd bow with hasty rashness seized.
'Twas form'd of horn, and smoothed with artful toil ;
A mountain goat resigned the shining spoil.
Who pierced long since beneath his arrows bled ;
The stately quarry oa the cliffs lay dead, 140

And sixteen palms his brow's large honors spread :
The workman join d, and shaped the bended horns,
And beaten gold each taper point adorns.
This, by the Greeks unseen, the warrior bends,
Screened by the shields of his surrounding f**iends. * 45
There meditates the mark ; and, couching low,
JFits the sharp arrow to the well-strung bow.
One from a hundred feather'd deaths he chose,
Fated to wound, and cause of future woes.
Then offers vows with hecatombs to crown >, 150
Apollo's altars in his native town.

80 HOMER.

Now with full force the yielding horn he bends,
Drawn to an arch, and joins the doubling ends ;
Close to his breast he strains the nerve below,
Till the barb*d point approach the circling bow ; 155
The impatient weapon whizzes on the wing :
Sounds the tough horn, and twangs the quivering
string.

But thee, Atrides ! in that dangerous hour
The gods forgot not, nor thy guardian power.
Pallas assists, and (weakened in its force) 160

Diverts the weapon from its destined course :
So from her babe, when slumber seals his eye,
The watchful mother wafts the envenom'd fly.
Ju^t where his belt with golden buckles join'd,
Where linen folds the double corslet lined, 165

She turn'd the shaft, which, hissing from above,
Pass*d the broad belt, and through the corslet drove ;
The folds it pierced, the (Plaited linen tore.
And razed the skin, and drew the purple gore.
As when some stately trappings are decreed 170

To grace a monarch on his bounding steed,
A nymph, in Caria or Msconia bred,
Stains the pure ivory with a lively red ;
With equal lustre various colors vie.
The shining whiteness, and the Tyrian dye : 175

So, great Atrides ! show'd thy sacred blood.
As down thy snowy thigh distill'd the streaming flood.
With horror seized, the king of men descried
The shaft infixed, and saw the gushing tide :
Nor less the Spartan fear'd, before he found 180

The shining barb appear above the wound.
Then, with a sigh, that heaved his manly breast.
The royal brother thus his grief expressed.
And grasp'd his hand ; while all the Greeks around
With answering sighs returned the plaintive sound. 185

ILIAD. — BOOR IV. 81

' Oh, dear as life ! did I for this agree
The solemn truce, a fatal truce to thee !
Wert thou exposed to all the hostile train,
To fight for Greece, and conquer to be slain ?
The race of Trojans in thy ruin join, 190

And faith is scorn'd by all the perjured line.
Not thus our vows, confirmed with wine and gore.
Those hands we plighted, and those oaths we swore.
Shall all be vain : when Heaven's revenge is slow,
Jove but prepares to strike the fiercer blow. 195

The day shall come, that great avenging day.
Which Troy's proud glories in the dust shall lay,
When Priam's powers and Priam's self shall fall,
And one prodigious ruin swallow all.
I see the god, already, from the pole 200

Bare his red arm, and bid the thunder roll ;
^ I see the Eternal all his fury shed.
And shake his a?gis o'er their guilty head.
Such mighty woes on perjured princes wait ;
But thou, alas ! deservest a happier fate. 205

Still must I mourn the period of thy days,
And only mourn, without my share of praise?
Deprived of thee, the heartless Greeks no more
Shall dream of conquests on the hostile shore ;
Troy seized of Helen, and our glory lost, ... 210

Thy bones shall moulder on a foreign coast :
While some proud Trojan thus insulting cries
(And spurns the dust where Menelaus lies),
* Such are the trophies Greece from Ilion brings.
And such the conquests of her king of kings ! 215

Lo, his proud vessels scatter'd o'er the main,
And unrevenged his mighty brother slain !'
Oh ! ere that dire disgrace shall blast my fame,
O'erwhelm me, earth I and hide a monarch's shame.'

HOM. VOL. I. F

82 HOMER.

He said : a leader's and a brother's fears 220

Possess his soul, which thus the Spartan cheers :
*• Let not thy words the warmth of Greece abate ;
The feeble dart is gailtless of my fate :
Stiff with the rich embroidered work around,
My Yaried belt repell'd the flying wound/ 225

To whom the king. ' My brother and my friend.
Thus, always thus, may Heaven thy life defend !
Now seek some skilful hand, whose powerful art
May stanch the effusion, and extract the dart.
Herald, be swift, and bid Machaon bring 2d0

His speedy succor to the Spartan king ;
Pierced with a winged shaft (the deed of Troy ),
The Grecian's sorrow, and the Dardan's joy,'

With hasty zeal the swift Talthybius flies ;
Through the thick files he darts his searching eyes, 235
And finds Machaon, where sublime he stands
In arms encircled with his native bands.
Then thus : * Machaon, to the king repair,
His wounded brother claims thy timely care ;
Pierced by some Lycian or Dardanian bow, 240

A grief to us, a triumph to the foe.'

The heavy tidings grieved the godlike man ;
Swift to his succor through the ranks he ran :
The dauntless king yet standing firm he found,
And all the chiefs in deep concern around. 245

Where to the steely point the reed was join'd,
The shaft he drew, but left the head behind.
Straight the broad belt, with gay embroidery graced.
He loosed ; the corslet from his breast unbraced ;
Then suck'd the blood, and sovereign balm infused.
Which Chiron gave, and iEsculapius used. 251

While round the prince the Greeks employ their
care,
The Trojans rush tumultuous to the war;

ILIAD.— BOOK IV. 83

Once more they glitter in refulgent arms,

Once more the fields are fill*d with dire alarms. 255

Nor had you seen the king of men appear

Confused, unactive, or surprised with fear;

But fond of glory, with severe delight,

His beating bosom claim'd the rising fight.

No longer with his warlike steeds he stay'd, 2C0

Or press'd the car with polish'd brass inlaid ;

But left Eurymedon the reins to guide :

The fiery coursers snorted at his side.

On foot through all the martfal ranks he moves,

And these encourages, and those reproves. 265

* Brave men !' he cries, to such who boldly dare
Urge their swift steeds to face the coming war,

* Your ancient valor on the foes approve ;
Jove is with Greece, and let us trust in Jove.

'Tis not for us, but guilty Troy, to dread, 270

Whose crimes sit heavy on her perjured head ;
Her sons and matrons Greece shall lead in chains,
And her dead warriors strew the mournful plains.'

Thus with new ardor he the brave inspires ;
Or thus the fearful with reproaches fires : 275

' Shame to your country, scandal of your* kind !
Born to the fate ye well deserve to find !
Why stand ye gazing round the dreadful plain,
Prepared for flight, but doom'd to fly in vain ?
Confused and panting thus, the haunted deer 280

Falls as he flies, a victim to his fear.
Still must ye wait the foes, and still retire.
Till yon tall vessels blaze with Trojan fire ?
Or trust ye Jove a valiant foe shall chase.
To save a trembling, heartless, dastard race V 285

This said, he stalk'd with ample strides along.
To Crete's brave monarch and his martial throng :
High at their head he saw the chief appear^
And bold Meriones excite the rear.

84 HOMER.

At this the kipg his generous joy expressed, 290

And clasp'd the warrior to his armed breast.

' Divine Idomeneus ! what thanks we owe

To worth like thine ! what praise shall wo bestow ?

To thee the foremost honors are decreed,

First in the fight, and every graceful deed. 295

For, this, in banquets, when the generous bowls

Restore our blood, and raise the warriors' souls,

Though all the rest with stated rules we bound.

Unmixed, unmeasured, are thy goblets crown'd.

Be still thyself, in arms a mighty name ; 300

Maintain thy honors, and enlarge thy fame.'

To whom the Cretan thus his speech addressed :
' Secure of me, O king! exhort the rest:
Fix'd to thy side, in every toil I share,
Thy firm associate in the day of war. 305

But let the signal be this moment given ;
To mix in fight is all I ask of Heaven.
The field shall prove how perjuries succeed,
And chains or death avenge their impious deed.'

Charm 'd with this heat, the king his course pursues,
And next the troops of either Ajax views : 311

In one firm orb the bands were ranged around,
A cloud of heroes blacken'd all the ground.
Thus fr^m the lofty promontory's brow
A swain surveys the gathering storm below ; 315

Slow from the main the heavy vapors rise,
Spread in dim streams, and sail along the skies.
Till black as night the swelling tempest shows.
The cloud condensing as the west wind blows :
He dreads the impending storm, and drives his fiock
To the close covert of an arching rock. 321

Such, and so thick, the embattled squadrons stood,
With spears erect, a moving iron wood ;
A shady light was shot from glimmering shields,
And their brown arms obscured the dusky fields. 325

ILIAD. — BOOK IV. 85

' O heroes ! worthy such a dauntless train,
Whose godlike virtue we but urge in vain/
Exclaim'd the king ; ' who raise your eager bands
With great examples, more than loud commands.
Ah, wduld the gods but breathe in all the rest 330
Such souls as burn in your exalted breast !
Soon should our arms with just success be crowned.
And Troy's proud walls lie smoking on the ground.'

Then to the next the general bends his course,
His heart exults, and glories in his force ; 335

There reverend Nestor ranks his Pylian bands,
And with inspiring eloquence commands ;
With strictest order sets his train in a/ms.
The chiefs advises, and the soldiers warms.
Alastor, Chromius, Haemon, round him wait, 340

Bias the good, and Pelagon the great.
The horse and chariots to the front assigned.
The foot (the strength of war) he ranged behind ;
The middle space suspected troops supply.
Inclosed by both, nor left the power to fly ; 345

He gives command to curb the fiery steed,
Nor cause confusion, nor the ranks exceed ;
' Before the rest let none too rashly ride ;
No strength nor skill, but just in time, be tried :
The charge once made, no warrior turn the rein, 350
Bat fight, or fall ; a firm, embodied train.
He whom the fortune of the field shall cast
From forth his chariot, mount the next in haste ;
Nor seek unpractised to direct the car,
Content with javelins to provoke the war. 355

Our great forefathers held this prudent course.
Thus ruled their ardor, thus preserved their force,
By laws like these immortal conquests made,
And earth's proud tyrants low in ashes laid.'

So spoke the master of the martial art, 3G0

And touch'd with transport great Atrides' heart.

86 HOHER.

' Oh ! badst thou strength to match thy brare desires,
And nerves to second what thy soul inspires !
But wasting years, that wither human race.
Exhaust thy spirits, and thy arms unbrace. 365

What once thou wert, oh ever mightst thon be !
And age the lot of any chief but thee/

Thus to the experienced prince Atrides cried ;
He shook his hoary locks, and thus replied :
* Well might I wish, could mortal wish renew 370

That strength which once in boiling youth I knew ;
Such as I was, when Ereuthalion slain
Beneath this arm fell prostrate on the plain.
But Heaven its gifts not all at once bestows.
These years with wisdom crowns, with action those :
The field of combat fits the young and bold, 3/6

The solemn council best becomes the old :
To you the glorious conflict I resign.
Let sage advice, the palm of age, be mine/

He said. With joy the monarch march'd before.
And found Menesthens on the dusty shore, 381

With whom the firm Athenian phalanx stands ;
And next Ulysses, with his subject bands.
Remote their forces lay, nor knew so far
The peace infringed, nor heard the sounds of war ; 385
The tumult late begun, they stood intent.
To watch the motion, dubious of the event.
The king, who saw their squadrons yet unmdved,
With hasty ardor thus the chiefs reproved.

* Can Peleus' son forget a warrior's part, 390

And fears Ulysses, skill'd in every art ?
Why stand you distant, and the rest expect
To mix in combat which yourselves neglect?
From you 'twas hoped among the first to dare
The shock of armies, and commence the war. 395

For this your names are call'd, before the rest,
To share the pleasures of the genial fe^st ;

ILIAD. — BOOK IV. 87

And can you, chiefs ! without a blush survey
Whole troops before you laboring in the fray?
Say, is it thus those honors you requite ; 400

The first in banquets, but the last in fight V

Ulysses heard : the hero's warmth o'erspread
His cheek with blushes ; and, severe, he said :

* Take back the unjust reproach! Behold we sland
Sheathed in bright arms, and but expect command.

If glorious deeds afford thy soul delight, 406

Behold me plunging in the thickest fight.
Then give thy warrior chief a warrior's due.
Who dares to act whatever thou darest to view.'

Struck with his generous wrath, the king replies :
' Oh, great in action, and in council wise ! 411

With ours, thy care and ardor are the same.
Nor need I to commend, nor ought to blame.
Sage as thou art, and learn'd in human kind,
Forgive the transport of a martial mind. 415

Haste to the fight, secure of just amends;
The gods that make, shall keep the worthy, friends.'

He said, and pass'd where great Tydides lay.
His steeds and chariots wedged in firm array
(The warlike Sthenelus attends his side) ; 420

To whom with stern reproach the monarch cried :

* Oh, son of Tydeus!' he, whose strength could tame
The bounding steed, in arms a mighty name ;

' Canst thou, remote, the mingling hosts descry.
With hands unactive, and a careless eye ? 425

Not thus thy sire the fierce encounter fear'd ;
Still first in front the matchless prince appeared ;
What glorious toils, what wonders they recite.
Who view'd him laboring through the ranks of fight !
I saw him once, when, gathering martial powers, 430
A peaceful guest, he sought Mycenae's towers ;
Armies he ask'd, and armies had been given,
Not we denied, but Jove forbade from heaven ;

88 HOMER.

While dreadful comets glaring from afar

Forewarned the horrors of the Theban war. 435

Next, sent by Greece from where Asopus flows,

A fearless envoy, he approach'd the foes ;

Thebes' hostile walls, unguarded and alone,

Dauntless he enters, and demands the throne.

The tyrant feasting with his chiefs he founid, 440

And dared to combat all those chiefs around ;

Dared and subdued, before their haughty lord ;

For Pallas strung his arm, and edged his sword.

Stung with the shame, within the winding way,

To bar his passage fifty warriors lay ; 445

Two heroes led the secret squadron on,

Mceon the fierce, and hardy Lycophron ;

Those fifty slaughtered in the gloomy vale,

He spared but one to bear the dreadful tale.

Such Tydeus was, and such his martial fire. 450

Gods! how the son degenerates from the sire!'

No words the godlike Diomed return*d,
But heard respectful, and in secret burn'd ;
Not so fierce Capaneus' undaunted son.
Stern as his sire, the boaster thus begun : 455

' What needs, O monarch, this invidious praise,
Ourselves to lessen, while our sires you raise?
Dare to be just, Atrides ! and confess
Our valor equal, though our fury less.
With fewer troops we storm'd the Theban wall, 460
And happier saw the sevenfold city fall.
In impious acts the guilty fathers died ;
The sons subdued, for Heaven was on their side.
Far more than heirs of all our parents' fame.
Our glories darken their diminished name.'. 465

To him Tydides thus : * My friend, forbear,
Suppress thy passion, and the king revere ;
His high concern may well excuse this rage,
iVhose cause we follow, and whose war we wage;

ILIAD. — BOOK IV. 89

His the first praise, were Ilion's towers o'erthrow<D,
And, if we fail, the chief disgrace his own. 471

Let him the Greeks to hardy toils excite,
'Tis ours to labor in the glorious fight.'

He spoke, and, ardent, on the trembling ground
Sprung from his car ; his ringing arms resound. 475
Dire was the clang, and dreadful from afar,
Of arm'd Tydides rushing to the war.
As when the winds, ascending by degrees.
First move the whitening surface of the seas,
The billows float in order to the shore, 480

The wave behind rolls on the wave before ;
Till, with the growing storm, the deeps arise,
Foam o'er the rocks, and thunder to the skies.
So to the fight the thick battalions throng.
Shields urged on shields, and men drove men along.
Sedate and silent move the numerous bands ; 486

No sound, no whisper, but their chiefs commands,
Those only heard ; with awe the rest obey,
As if some god had snatch'd their voice away.
Not so the Trojans ; from their host ascends 490

A general shout that all the region rends.
As when the fleecy flocks unnumbered stand
In wealthy folds, and wait the milker's hand,
The hollow vales incessant bleating fills,
The lambs reply from all the neighboring hills : 495
Such clamors rose from various uations round,
Mix'd was the murmur, and confused the sound.
Each host now joins, and each a god inspires,
These Mars incites, and those Minerva fires.
Pale Flight around, and dreadful Terror reign ; 500
And Discord raging bathes the purple plain ; ,

Discord ! dire sister of the slaughtering power, |

Small at her birth, but rising every hour, I

While scarce the skies her horrid head can bound.
She stalks on earth and shakes the world around ;

00 HOMER.

The nations bleed, where'er ber steps she turns.
The g^roan still deepens, and the combat burns.

Now shield with shield, with helmet helmet closed,
To armor armor, lance to lance opposed.
Host against host with shadowy squadrons drew, 510
The sounding darts in iron tempests flew,
Victors and yanquish'd join promiscuous cries.
And thrilling shouts and dying groans arise ;
With streaming blood the slippery fields are dyed,
And slaughtered heroes swell the dreadful tide. 515

As torrents roll, increased by numerous rills,
With rage impetuous down their echoing hills ;
Rush to the vales, and, pour'd along the plain.
Roar through a thousand channels to the main ;
The distant shepherd trembling hears the sound : 520
So mix both hosts, and so their cries rebound.

The bold Antilochus the slaughter led.
The. first who struck a valiant Trojan dead:
At great Echepolus the lance arrives.
Raised his high crest, and through his helmet drives ;
Warm'd in the brain tlie brazen weapon lies, 526

And shades eternal settle o'er his eyes.
So sinks a tower that long assaults had stood
'Of force and fire ; its walls besmear'd with blood.
Him the bold leader of the Abantian throng 530

Seized to despoil, and dragged the corpse along:
But wdile he strove to tug the inserted dart,
Agenor^s javelin reach'd the hero's heart.
His fiank, unguarded by his ample shield.
Admits the lance : he falls, and spurns the field ; 535
The nerves, unbraced, support his limbs no more ;
The soul comes floating in a tide of gore.
Trojans and Greeks now gather round the slain ;
The war renews, the warriors bleed again ;

530 Elphenor.

ILIAP. — BOOK IV. 91'

As o'er their prey rapacious wolves engage, 540

Man dies on roan, and all is blood and rage.

In blooming youth fair Simoisius fell,
Sent by great Ajax to the shades of hell:
Fair Simoisius, whom his mother bore,
Amid the flocks, on silver Simois' shore : 545

The nymph descending from the hills of Ide,
To seek her parents on his flowery side,
Brought forth the babe, their common care and joy,
And thence from Simois named the lovely boy.
Short was his date : by dreadful Ajax slain 550

He falls, and renders all their cares in vain !
So falls a poplar, that in wa'tery ground
Raised high the head, with stately branches crown'd,
(Fell'd by some artist with his shining steel,
To shape the circle of the bending wheel ;) 555

Cut down it lies, tall, smooth, and largely spread,
With all its beauteous honors on its head;
There, left a subject to the wind and rain.
And scorch'd by suns, it withers on the plain.
Thus pierced by Ajax, Simoisius lies 560

Stretch'd on the shore, and thus neglected dies.

At Ajax Antiphus his javelin threw;
The pointed lance with erring fury flew.
And Leucus, loved by wise Ulysses, slew.
He drops the corpse of Simoisius slain, 565

And sinks a breathless carcass on the plain.
This saw Ulysses, and with grief enraged
Strode where the foremost of the foes engaged ;
Arm'd with his spear, he meditates the wound.
In act to throw ; but cautious look'd around. 570

Sruck at his sight the Trojans backward drew.
And trembling heard the javelin as it flew.
A chief stood nigh, who from Abydos came,
Old Priam's son, Democoon was his name ;

92 HOMER.

The weapon entered close above his ear, 575

Cold through his temples glides the whizzing spear ;
With piercing shrieks the youth resigns his breath,
His eyeballs darken with the shades of death ;
Ponderous he falls ; his clanging arms resound ;
And his broad buckler rings against the ground. 580

Seized with affright the boldest foes appear ;
Ev'n godlike Hector seems himself to fear ;
Slow he gave way, the rest tumultuous fled ;
The Greeks with shouts press on, and spoil the dead.
But Phoebus now from Ilion's towering height 585
Shines forth reveaFd, and animates the flght.
Trojans, be bold, and force with force oppose ;
Your foaming steeds urge headlong on the foes !
Nor are their bodies rocks, nor ribVd with steel ;
Your weapons enter, and your strokes they feel. 590
Have ye forgot what seem'd your dread before?
The great, the fierce Achilles flghts no more.

Apollo thus from Ilion*s lofty towers,
ArrayM in te1*rors, roused the Trojan powers :
While War's fierce goddess fires the Grecian foe, 505
And shouts and thunders in the fields below.
Then great Diores fell, by doom divine,
In vain his valor, and illustrious line.
A broken rock the force of Pirus threw
(Who from cold iEnus led the Thracian crew) ; * 600
Full on his ankle dropt the ponderous stone.
Burst the strong nerves, and crashM the solid bone :
Supine he tumbles on the crimson sands.
Before his helpless friends and native bands,
And spreads for aid his unavailing hands. 605

The foe rush'd furious as he pants for breath.
And through his navel drove the pointed death :
His gushing entrails smoked upon the ground.
And the warm life came issuing from the wound.

ILIAD.— BOOK IV. 93

His lance bold Thoas at the conqueror sent, 610
Deep in his breast above the pap it went.
Amid the lungs was fix'd the winged wood,
And quivering in his heaving bosom stood :
Till from the dying chief, approaching near,
The iEtoliau warrior tugg'd his weighty spear : 615
Then sudden waved his flaming falchion round,
And gash'd his belly with a ghastly wound.
The corpse now breathless on the bloody plain.
To spoil his arms the victor strove in vain ;
The Thracian bands against the victor pressed ; 620
A grove of lances glittered at his breast.
Stern Thoas, glaring with revengeful eyes.
In sullen fury slowly quits the prize.

Thus fell two heroes ; one the pride of Thrace,
And one the leader of the Epeian race : 625

Death's sable shade at once o'ercast their eyes,
In dust the vanquished and the victor lies.
With copious slaughter all the fields are red.
And heap'd with growing mountains of the dead.

Had some brave chief this martial scene beheld, 630
By Pallas guarded through the dreadful field ;
Might darts be bid to turn their points away,
And swords around him innocently play ;
The war's whole art with wonder had he seen,
And counted heroes where he counted men. 635

So fought each host with thirst of glory fired.
And crowds on crowds triumphantly expired.

94 HOMER.

BOOK V.

ARGUMENT.

* The Acts of Diomed,

DioMRD, assisted by Pallas, performs wonders in this day's
battle — Pandaras wounds him with an arrow, but the god-
dess cures him, enables him to discern gods from mortals,
and prohibits him from contending with any of the former,
excepting Venus — ^neas joins Pandarus to oppose him ;
Pandarus is killed, and JEneaa in great danger, but for the
assistance of Venus ; whd, as she is removing^ her son from
the fight, is wounded on the hand by Diomed— Apollo se-
conds her in his rescue, and at length carries off -iEneas to
Troy, where he is healed in the temple of Pergamus — Mars
rallies the Trojans, and assists Hector to make a stand — In
the mean time ^neas is restored to the field, and they over-
throw several of the Greeks ; among the rest Tlepolemus is
slain by Sarpedon — Juno and Minerva descend to resist
Mars i the latter incites Diomed to go against that god ;
he wounds him, and sends him groaning to heaven. — [The
first battle continues through this book. The scene is the
same as in the former.]

But Pallas now Tydides' soul inspires,

Fills with her force, and warms with all her fires,

Above the Greeks bis deathless fame to raise,

And crown her hero with distinguish *d praise.

High on his helm celestial lightnings play, 5

His beamy shield emits a living ray ;

The unwearied blaze incessant streams supplies.

Like the red star that fires the autumnal skies,

When fresh he rears his radiant orb to sight.

And bathed in Ocean shoots a keener light. lo

Such glories Pallas on the chief bestow'd.

Such, from his arms, the fierce effulgence flow'd :

ILIAD. — BOOK V. 95

Onward she drives him, furious to engage,
Where the fight hums, and where the thickest rage.

The sons of Dares first the comhat sought, 15

A wealthy priest, but rich without a fault ;
In Vulcan's fane the father's days were led,
The sons to toils of glorious battle bred :
These singled from their troops the fight maintain,
These from their steeds, Tydides on the plain. 20

Fierce for renown the brother chiefs draw near,
And first bold Phegeus cast his sounding spear.
Which o'er the warrior's shoulder took its course,
And spent in empty air its erring force.
Not so, Tydides, flew thy lance in vain, 25

But pierced his breast, and stretch'd him on the plain.
Seized with unusual fear, Idseus fled,
Left the rich chariot, and his brother dead ;
And had not Vulcan lent celestial aid,
He too had sunk to death's eternal shade : 30

But in a smoky cloud the god of fire
Preserved the son, in pity to the sire.
The steeds and chariot, to the navy led.
Increased the spoils of gallant Dioroed.

Struck with amaze and shame, the Trojan crew 35
Or slain, or fled, the sons of Dares view ;
When by the blood-stain'd hand Minerva press'd
The god of battles, and this speech addressed : ^

* Stem power of war ! by whom the mighty fall,
Who bathe in blood, and shake the.lofty wall ! 40

Let the brave chiefs their glorious toils divide ;
And whose the conquest mighty Jove decide ;
While we from interdicted fields retire.
Nor tempt the wrath of heaven's avenging sire.'

Her words allay 'd the impetuous warrior's heat ; 45
The god of arms and martial maid retreat ;
Removed from fight, on Xanthus' flowery bounds
They sat, and listeu'd to the dying sounds.

96 HOMER.

Meantime, the Greeks the Trojan race pursue,
And some bold chieftain every leader slew. 50

First Odins falls, and bites the bloody sand,
His death ennobled by Atrides' hand :
As he to flight his wheeling car addressed.
The speedy javelin drove from back to breast.
In dust the mighty Halizonian lay, 55

His arms resound, the spirit wings its way.

Thy fate was next, O Phaestus ! doom'd to feel
The great Idomeneus' protended steel ;
Whom Borus sent (his son and only joy)
From fruitful Tame to the fields of Troy. 60

The Cretan javelin reach'd him from afar.
And pierced his shoulder as he mounts his car ;
Back from the car he tumbles to the ground,
And everlasting shades his eyes surround.

Then died Scamandrius, expert in th^ chase, 65
In woods and wilds to wound the savage race ;
Diana taught him all her sylvan arts,
To bend the bow, and aim unerring darts :
But vainly here Diana's arts he tries,
The fatal lance arrests him as he flies ; 70

From Menelaus' arm the weapon sent.
Through his broad back and heaving bosom went :
Down sinks the warrior with a thundering sound,
His brazen armor rings against the ground.

Next artful Phereclus untimely fell ; 75

Bold Merion sent him to the realms of hell.
Thy father's skill, O Phereclus, was thine,
The graceful fabric and the fair design ;
For, loved by Pallas, Pallas did impart
To him the shipf^right's and the builder's art. 80

Beneath his hand the fleet of Paris rose,
The fatal cause of all his country's woes ;
But he, the mystic will of heaven unknown,
Nor saw his country's peril, nor his own.

ILIAD. — BOOK V. 97

The hapless artist, while confused he fled, 85

The spear of Merion mingled with the dead.
Through his right hip with forceful fury cast,
Between the bladder and the bone it pass'd :
Prone on his knees he falls with fruitless cries,
And death in lasting slumber seals his eyes. 90

From Meges' force the swift Pedaeus fled,
Autenor's ofiispring from a foreign bed.
Whose generous spouse, Theano, heavenly fair,
Nursed the young stranger with a mother's care.
How vain those cares ! when Meges in the rear 95
Full in his nape infix'd the fatal spear ;
8wift through his crackling jaws the weapon glides,
And the cold tongue the grinning teeth divides.

Then died Hypsenor, generous and divine.
Sprung from the brave Dolopian's mighty line, 100
Who near adored Scamander made abode,
Priest of the stream, and honor'd as a god.
On him, amidst the flying numbers found,
Erypylus inflicts a deadly wound ;
On his broad shoulder fell the forceful brand, 105

Then glancing downward loppM his holy hand,
Which stainM with sacred blood the blushing sand.
Down sunk the priest ; the purple hand of death
Closed his dim eye, and fate suppressed his breath.

Thus toil'd the chiefs, in different parts engaged,
In every quarter fierce Tydides raged. 111

Amid the Greek, amid the Trojan train.
Rapt through the ranks he thunders o'er th« plain ;
Now here, now there, he darts from place to place.
Pours on the rear, or lightens in their face. 115

Thus from high hills the torrents swift and strong
Deluge whole fields, and sweep the trees along.
Through ruin'd moles the rushing wave resounds,
O'erwhelms the bridge, and bursts the lofty bounds.

HOM. VOL. I. «

98 HOMER.

The yellow harvests of the ripen'd year, 120

And flatted vineyards, one sad waste appear !
While Jove descends in sluicy sheets of rain,
And all the labors of mankind are vain.

So raged Tydides, boundless in his ire,
Drove armies back, and made ail Troy retire. 125

With grief the leader of the Lycian band
Saw the wide waste of his destructive hand :
His bended bow against the chief he drew ;
Swift to the mark the thirsty arrow flew.
Whose forky point the hollow breastplate tore, 130
Deep in his shoulder pierced, and drank tlie gore :
The rushing stream his brazen armor dyed.
While the proud archer thus exulting cried.
* Hither, ye Trojans, hither drive your steeds !
Lo ! by our hand the bravest Grecian bleeds. 136

Not long the dreadful dart he can sustain ;
Or Phoebus urged me to these fields in vain.'

So spoke he, boastful ; but the winged dart
Stopp'd short of life, and mock'd the shooter's art.
The wounded chief behind his car retired, 140

The helping hand of Sthenelus required :
Swift from his seat he leap'd upon the ground,
And tugg'd the weapon from the gushing wound ;
When thus the king his guardian power addressed,
The purple current wandering o'er his vest: 145

* O progeny of Jove! unconquer'd maid!
If e'er my godlike sire deserved thy aid.
If e'er I felt thee in the flghting field ;
Now, goddess, now thy sacred succor yield.
Oh give my lance to reach the Trojan knight, 150

Whose arrow wounds the chief thou guard 'st in flght;
Vnd lay the boaster groveling on the shore,
'hat vaunts these eyes shall view the light no more!'

> lis Pandarus.

ILIAD. — BOOK V. 99

Thas pray'd Tydides, and Minerva heard ;
His nerves confirmed, his languid spirits cheer'd, 155
He feels each limb with wonted vigor light ;
His beating bosom claims the promised fight.
' Be bold/ she cried, * in every combat shine ;
War be thy province, thy protection mine ;
Rush to the fight, and every foe control ; 160

Wake each paternal virtue in thy soul :
Strength swells thy boiling breast, infused by me,
And all thy godlike father breathes in thee !
Yet more, from mortal mists I purge thy eyes,
And set to view the warring deities. 165

These see thou shun, through all the embattled plain,
Nor rashly strive where human force is vain.
If Venus mingle in the martial band,
Her shalt thou wound : so Pallas gives command.*

With that, the blue-eyed virgin wing'd her flight ;
The hero rush'd impetuous to the fight ; 171

With tenfold ardor now invades the plain,
Wild with delay, and more enraged by pain*
As on the fleecy flocks, when hunger calls,
Amidst the field a brindled lion falls ; 175

If chance some shepherd with a distant dart
The savage wound, he rouses at the smart,
He foams, he roars ; the shepherd dares not stay,
But trembling leaves the scattering flocks a prey ;
Heaps fall on heaps ; he bathes with blood the ground^
Then leaps victorious o'er the lofty mound. 181

Not with less fury stern Tydides flew ;
And two brave leaders at an instant slew :
Astynous breathless fell, and by his side
His people's pastor, good Hypenor, died ; 185

Astynous' breast the deadly lance receives,
Hypenor's shoulder his broad falchion cleaves.
Those slain he left ; and sprung with noble rage
Abas and Poly id us to engage ;

100 HOMER.

Sons of Eurydamas, who, wise and old, 1^

Gould fates foresee, and mystic dreams unfold :
The youths returned not from the doubtful plain.
And the sad father tried his arts in vain ;
No mystic dream could make their fates appear.
Though now determined by Tydides' spear. 195

Young Xanthus next, and Thoon felt his rage ;
The joy and hope of Phaenops' feeble age ;
Vast was his wealth, and these the only heirs
Of all his labors and a life of cares.
Cold death overtakes them in their blooming years.
And leaves the father unavailing tears : 201

To strangers now descends his heapy store,
The race forgotten, and the name no more.

Two sons of Priam in one chariot ride.
Glittering in arms, and combat side by side. 205

As when the lordly lion seeks his food
Where grazing heifers range the lonely wood,
He leaps amidst them with a furious bound,
Bends their strong necks, and tears them to the ground :
So from their seats the brother chiefs are torn, 210
Their steeds and chariot to the navy borne.

With deep concern divine ^neas view'd
The foe prevailing, and his friends pursued.
Through the thick storm of singing spears he flies.
Exploring Pandarus with careful eyes. 215

At length he found Lycaon's mighty son ;
To whom the chief of Venus' race begun :

' Where, Pandarus, are all thy honors now,
Thy winged arrows and unerring bow.
Thy matchless skill, thy yet unrivallM fame, 220

And boasted glory of the Lycian name ?
Oh pierce that mortal ! if we mortal cajl
That wondrous force by which whole armies fall ;
Or god incensed, who quits the distant skies
To punish Troy for slighted sacrifice ; 325

ILIAD.— BOOK V, 101

(Which oh avert from our unhappy state !
For what so dreadful as celestial hate 7)
Whoe'er he be, propitiate Jove with prayer ;
If man, destroy ; if god, intreat to spare.'

To him the Lycian. ' Whom your eyes behold,
If right I judge, is Diomed the bold : 231

Such coursers whirl him o'er the dusty field,
So towers his helmet, and so flames his shield.
If 'tis a god, he wears that chief's disguise;
Or if that chief, some guardian of the skies, 235 *

Involved in clouds, protects him in the fray, j

And turns unseen the frustrate dart away. '^

I wing'd an arrow, which not idly fell, ff

The stroke had fix'd him to the gates of hell ; ^

And, but some god, some angry god, withstands, 240 •
His fate was due to these unerring hands*
Skill'd in the bow, on foot I sought the war,
Nor join'd swift horses to the rapid car.
Ten polish'd chariots I possess'd at home.
And still they grace Lycaon's princely dome : 245

There veil'd in spacious coverlets they stand ;
And twice ten coursers wait their lord's command.
The good old warrior bade me trust to these,
When first for Troy I sail'd the sacred seas ;
In fields, aloft, the whirling car to guide, 250

And through the ranks of death triumphant ride.
But vain with youth, and yet to thrift inclined,
I heard his counsels with unbeedful mind,
And thought the steeds (your large supplies unknown)
Might fail of forage in the straiten'^d town ; 255

So took my bow and pointed darts in hand,
And left the chariots in my native land.

' Too late, O friend ! my rashness I deplore ;
These shafts, once fatal, carry death no more.
Tydeus' and Atreus' sons their points have found.
And undissembled gore pursued the wound. !^6l

ILIAD. — BOOK V. 103

And now both heroes mount the glittering car ;
The bounding coursers rush amidst the war.
Their fierce approach bold Sthenelus espied, 300

Who thus, alarm'd, to great Tydides cried :

' O friend I two chiefs of force immense I see.
Dreadful they oome, and bend their rage on thee:
Lo, the brave heir of old Lycaon's line,
And great ^neas, sprung from race divine ! 306

Enough is given to fame. Ascend thy car,
And save a life, the bulwark of our war.'

At this the hero cast a gloomy look,
Fix'd on the chief with scorn ; and thus he spoke :

* Me dost thou bid to shun the coming fight ? 310
Me wouldst thou move to base, inglorious flight ?
Know, 'tis not honest in my soul to fear.
Nor was Tydides born to tremble here.
I hate the cumbrous chariot's slow advance,
And the long distance of the flying lance ; 316

But while my nerves are strong, my force intire,
Thus front the foe, and emulate my sire.
Nor shall yon steeds that fierce to fight convey
Those threatening heroes, bear them both away ;
One chief at least beneath this arm shall die ; 320

So Pallas tells me, and forbids to fly.
But if she dooms, and if no god withstand.
That both shall fall by one victorious hand.
Then heed my words : my horses here detain,
Fix'd to the chariot by the straiten'd rein ; 326

Swift to iEneas' empty seat proceed.
And seize the coursers of ethereal breed :
The race of those which once the thund'ring god
For ravish 'd G-anymede on Tros bestow'd.
The best that e'er on earth's broad surface run, 330
Beneath the rising or the setting sun.
Hence great Anchises stole a breed, unknown
By mortal mares, from fierce Laomedon i

i

J04 HOMER.

Four of this race his ample stalls conf ain^
And two transport ^Eueas o'er the plain. 335

These, were the rich immortal prize our own,
Through the wide world should make our glory known.'

Thus while they spoke, the foe came furious on.
And stern Lycaon's warlike race begun :

* Prince, thou art met. Though late in vain assail'd.
The spear may enter where the arrow fail'd/ 341

He said, then shook the ponderous lance, and
flung;
On his broad shield the sounding weapon rung.
Pierced the tough orb, and in his cuirass hung.
' He bleeds 1 the pride of Greece !' the boaster cries,

* Our triumph now, the mighty warrior lies !' 346

* Mistaken vaunter !' Diomed replied ;

* Thy dart has err'd, and now my spear be tried :
Ye 'scape not both ; one, headlong from his car,
With hostile blood shall glut the god of war.' 350

He spoke, and rising hurl'd his forceful dart.
Which, driven by Pallas, pierced a vital part ;
Full in his face it entered, and betwixt
The nose and eyeball the proud Lycian fix'd ;
Crash 'd all his jaws, and cleft the tongue within, 356
Till the bright point look*d out beneath the chin.
Headlong he falls, his helmet knocks the ground ;
Earth groans beneath him, and his arms resound ;
The starting coursers tremble with affright ;
The soul indignant seeks the realms of night. 360

To guard his slaughtered friend ^Eneas flies,
His spear extending where the carcass lies ;
Watchful he w^heels, protects it every way.
As the grim lion stalks around his prey.
O'er the fall'n trunk his ample shield display 'd, 365
He hides the hero with his mighty shade,
And threats aloud : the Greeks with longing eyes
Behold at distance, but forbear the prize.

ILIAD. — BOOK V. 105

Then fierce Tydides stoops ; and from the fields,

Heaved with vast force, a rocky fragment wields : 370

Not two strong men the enormous weight could raise,

Such men as live in these degenerate days.

He swung it round ; and gathering strength to throw,

Discharged the ponderous ruin at the foe.

Where to the hip the inserted thigh unites, 375

Full on the bone (be pointed marble lights ;

Through both the tendons broke the rugged stone.

And stripped the skin, and crack'd the solid bone.

Sunk on his knees, and staggering with his pains.

His falling bulk his bended arm sustains ; 380

Lost in a dizzy mist the warrior lies,

A sudden cloud comes swimming o'er his eyes.

There the brave chief, who mighty numbers swayed,

Oppressed had sunk to Death's eternal shade ;

But heavenly Venus, mindful of the love 385

She bore Anchises in the Idaean grove,

His danger views with anguish and despair,

And guards her offspring with a mother's care :

About her much-loved son her arms she throws.

Her arms whose whiteness match the falling snows.

Screen'd from the foe behind her shining veil, 391

The swords wave harmless, and the javelins fail :

Safe through the rushing horse, and feather'd fiight

Of sounding shafts, she bears him from the fight.

Nor Sthenelus, with unassisting hands, 3d5

Remain'd unheedful of his lord's commands :
His panting steeds, removed from out the war,
He fix'd with straitenM traces to the car.
Next rushing to the Dardan spoil, detains
The heavenly coursers with the flowing manes : 400
These, in proud triumph to the fleet convey 'd^
No longer now a Trojan lord obey'd.
That charge to bold Deipylus he gave
(Whom moat he loved, as brave men love the brave) ;

106 HOMER.

Then mounting on his car, resumed the rein, 405

And followed where Tydides swept the plain.

Meanwhile (his conquest ravish'd from his eyes)
The raging chief in chase of Venus flies :
No goddess she commissioned to the field.
Like Pallas dreadful with her sable shield, 410

Orfierce Bellona thundering at the wall.
While flames ascend, and mighty ruins fall ;
He knew soft combats suit the tender dame,
New to the field, and still a foe to fame.
Through breaking ranks his furious course he bends.
And at the goddess his broad lance extends ; 416

Through her bright veil the daring weapon drove,
The ambrosial veil which all the Graces wove ;
Her snowy hand the razing steel profaned.
And the transpai'ent skin with crimson stain 'd. 420
From the clear vein a stream immortal flow'd,
Such stream as issues from a wounded god :
Pure emanation ; uncorrupted flood ;
Unlike our gross, diseased, terrestrial blood :
(For not the bread of man their life sustains, 425

Nor wine's inflaming juice supplies their veins).
With tender shrieks the goddess fill'd the place.
And dropped her offspring from her weak embrace.
Him Phoebus took ; he casts a cloud around
The fainting chief, and wards the mortal wound. 430

Then, with a voice that shook the vaulted skies,
The king insults the goddess as she flies:
* 111 with Jove's daughter bloody fights agree,
The field of combat is no scene for thee ;
Go, let thy own soft sex employ thy care, 435

Go, lull the coward, or delude the fair :
Taught by this stroke, renounce the war's alarms.
And learn to tremble at the name of arms.'

Tydides thus. The goddess, seized with dread,
Confused, distracted, from the conflict fled. 440

ILIAD. — ^BOOK V. 107

To aid ber, swift the winged Iris few.

Wrapt in a mist above the warring crew :

The qoeen of love with faded charms she found,

Pale was her cheek, and livid look'd the wound.

To Mars, who sat remote, they bent their way, 445

Far on the left, with clouds involved he lay ;

Beside him stood his lance, distain'd with gore,

And, rein'd with gold, his foaming steeds before.

Low at bis knee she begg'd, with streaming eyes

Her brother's car, to mount the distant skies, 450

And show'd the wound by iierce Tydides given,

A mortal man, who dares encounter Heaven.

Stern Mars attentive hears the queen complain.

And to her hand commits the golden rein ;

She mounts the seat, oppressed with silent wo, 455

Driven by the goddess of the painted bow.

The lash resounds, the rapid chariot flies,

And in a moment scales the lofty skies :

There stopped the car, and there the coursers stood,

Fed by fair Iris with ambrosial food. 460

Before her mother Love's bright queen appears,

O'erwhelm'd with anguish, and dissolved in tears ;

She raised her in her arms, beheld her bleed,

And ask'd what god had wrought this guilty deed.

Then she : * This insult from no god I found, 465
An impious mortal gave the daring wound !
Behold the deed of haughty Diomed !
'Twas in the son's defence the mother bled.
The war with Troy no more the Grecians wage.
But with the gods, the immortal gods, engage.' 470

Dione then : * Thy wrongs with patience bear,
And share those griefs inferior powers must share :
Unnumber'd woes mankind from us sustain,
And men with woes afflict the gods again.
The mighty Mars in mortal fetters bound, 476

And lodged in brazen dungeons under ground,

i

108 HOMER.

Full thirteen moons imprison'd roar'd in vain^

Otns and Epbialtes held the chain :

Perhaps had perished, had not Hermes' care

Restored the groaning god to upper air. 480

Great Juno's self has borne her weight of pain,

The imperial partner of the heavenly reign ;

Amphitryon's sons infix'd the deadly dart,

And fill'd with anguish her immortal heart.

Ev'n hell's grim king Alcides' power confess'd, 486

The shaft foun^ entrance in his iron breast ;

To Jove's high palace for a cure he fled,

Pierced in his own dominions of the dead,

Where Phaeon, sprinkling heavenly balm around,

Assuaged the glowing pangs, and closed the wound.

Rash, impious man ! to stain the bless'd abodes, 491

And drench his arrows in the blood of gods!

But thou (though Pallas urged thy frantic deed)

Whose spear ill-fated makes a goddess bleed,

Know thou, whoe'er with heavenly power contends.

Short is his date, and soon his^lory ends ; 496

From fields of death when late he shall retire,

No infant on his knees shall call him sire.

Strong as thou art, some god may yet be found

To stretch thee pale and gasping on the ground ; 501

Thy distant wife, iEgiale the fair.

Starting from sleep with a distracted air.

Shall rouse thy slaves, and her lost lord deplore.

The brave, the great, the glorious, now no more !'

This said, she wiped from Venus' wounded palm 505
The sacred ichor, and infused the balm.
Juno and Pallas with a smile survey'd.
And thus to Jove began the blue-eyed maid :

* Permit thy daughter, gracious Jove ! to tell
How this mischance the Cyprian queen befell* 510
As late she tried with passion to inflame
The tender bosom of a Grecian dame>

ILIAD, — BOOK V. 109

i

Allured the fair with moving thoughta of joy,

To quit her country for some youth of Troy ;

The clasping zone, with golden buckles bound, 515

Razed her soft hand with this lamented wound/

The sire of gods and men superior smiled,
And, calling Venus, thus addressed his child :
* Not these, O daughter, are thy proper cares.
Thee milder arts befit, and softer wars ; 520

Sweet smiles are thine, and kind endearing charms ;
To Mars and Pallas leave the deeds of arms.'

Thus they in heaven : while on the plain below
The fierce Tydides charged his Dardan foe.
Flush 'd with celestial blood pursued his way, 525

And fearless dared the threatening god of day ;
Already in his hopes he saw him kilFd,

Though screen'd behind Apollo's mighty shield. -.

Thrice rushing furious, at the chief he struck ; ^

His blazing buckler thrice Apollo shook : 530

He tried the fourth : when, breaking from the cloud,
A more than mortal voice was heard aloud :

* O son of Tydeus, cease ! be wise, and see
How vast the difference of the gods and thee ;
Distance immense I between the powers that shine 535
Above, eternal, deathless, and divine.
And mortal man ! a wretch of humble birth,
A short-lived reptile in the dust of earth.'

So spoke the god who darts celestial fires ;
He dreads his fury, and some steps retires. 540

Then Phoebus bore the chief of Venus' race
To Troy's high fane, and to his holy place ;
Latona there and Phoebe heal'd the wound,
With vigor arm'd him, and with glory crown'd.
This done, the patron of the silver bow 545

A phantom raised, the same in shape and show
With great Mneaa ; such the form he bore.
And such in fight the radiant arms he wore.

liO HOMER.

Around the spectre bloody wars are waged,
And Greece and Troy with clashing shields engaged.
Meantime on IHon's tower Apollo stood, 551

And, calling Mars, thus urged the raging god :

* Stern power of arms, by whom the mighty fall ;
Who bathest in blood, and shakest the embattled wall,
Rise in thy wrath ; to helFs abhorr*d abodes 555

Despatch yon Greek, and vindicate the gods.
First rosy Venus felt his brutal rage ;
Me next he charged, and dares all heaven engage :
The wretch would brave high heaven's immortal sire.
His triple thunder, and his bolts of fire.' 560

The god of battle issues on the plain,
Stirs all the ranks, and fires the Trojan train ;
In form like Acamas, the Thracian guide,
Enraged, to Troy's retiring chiefs he cried :

' How long, ye sons of Priam, will ye fly, 565

And unrevenged see Priam's peopledie?
Still unresisted shall the foe destroy.
And stretch the slaughter to the gates of Troy ?
Lo ! brave iEneas sinks beneath his wound.
Not godlike Hector more in arms renown'd : 570

Haste all, and take the generous warrior's part.'
He said : new courage swelKd each hero's heart.
Sarpedon first his ardent soul express'd.
And, turu'd to Hector, these bold words address'd :

*■ Say, chief, is all thy ancient valor lost ? 575

Where are thy threats, and where thy glorious boast,
That propp'd alone by Priam's race should stand
Troy's sacred walls, nor need a foreign hand ?
Now, now thy country calls her wanted friends.
And the proud vaunt in just derision ends : 580

Remote they stand, while alien troops engage,
Like trembling hounds before the lion's rage.
Far distant hence I held my wide command.
Where foaming Xanthus laves the Lycian land.

ILIAD. — BOOK V. Ill

With ample wealth, the wish of mortals, hiess'd, 585

A beauteous wife, and infant at her breast ;

With those I left whatever dear could be ;

Greece, if she conquers, nothing wins from me.

Yet first in fight my Lycian bands I cheer,

And long to meet this mighty man ye fear ; 590

While Hector idle stands, nor bids the brave

Their wives, their infants, and their altars save.

Haste, warrior, haste ! preserve thy threaten'd state ;

Or one vast burst of all-involving fate

Full o'er your towers shall fall, and sweep away 595

Sons, sires, and wives, an undistinguished prey.

Rouse all thy Trojans, urge thy aids to fight ;

These claim thy thougbts by day, thy watch by night :

With force incessant the brave Greeks oppose ;

Such cares thy friends deserve, and such thy foes.'

Stung to the heart the generous Hector hears, 601
But just reproof with decent silence bears.
From his proud car the prince impetuous springs,
On earth he leaps ; his brazen armor rings.
Two shining spears are brandished in his hands ; 605
Thus arm'd, he animates his drooping bands,
Revives their ardor, turns their steps from flight.
And wakes anew the dying flames of fight.
They turn, they stand, the Greeks their fury dare.
Condense their powers, and wait the growing war. 610

As when, on Ceres' sacred floor, the swain
Spreads the wide fan to clear the golden grain,
And the light chafl^, before the breezes borne,
Ascends in clouds from off" the heapy corn ;
The gray dust, rising with collected winds, 615

0rives o'er the barn, and whitens all the hinds:
So white with dust the Grecian host appears.
From trampling steeds, and thundering charioteers ;
The dusky clouds from labored earth arise,
And roll in smoking volumes to the skies, 620

M2 HOMER,

Mars borers o'er them with his sable shield , '

And adds new horrors to tbe darkened field :

Pleased with bis charge, and ardent to fulfil,

In Troy's defence, Apollo's heavenly will :

Soon as from fight the blue-eyed maid retires, 625

£!ach Trojan bosom with new warmth he fires.

And now the god, from forth his sacred fane,

Produced ^Eneas to tbe shouting train ;

Alive, unharm'd, with all his peers around.

Erect he stood, and vig'rous from bis wound : 630

Inquiries none they made ; the dreadful day

No pause of words admits, no dull delay ;

Fierce Discord storms, Apollo loud exclaims.

Fame calls, Mars thunders, and tbe field's in flames.

Stern Diomed with eitber Ajax stood, 635

And great Ulysses, bathed in hostile blood.
Embodied close, the lab'ring Grecian train
Tbe fiercest shock of charging hosts s.ustain.
Unmoved and silent, the whole war they wait,.
Serenely dreadful, and as fix'd as fate. 640

So when the embattled clouds in dark array,
Along the skies their gloomy lines display :
When now the north his boist'rous rage has spent,
And peaceful sleeps the liquid element ;
The low-hung vapors, motionless and still, 645

Rest on the summits of tbe shaded bill ;
Till tbe mass scatters as the winds arise.
Dispersed and broken through tbe ruffled skies.

Nor was tbe general wanting to his train,
From troop to troop be toils through all the plain. 650
' Ye Greeks, be men ! the charge of battle bear ;
Your brave associates and yourselves revere !
Let glorious acts more glorious acts inspire,
And catch from breast to breast the noble fire !
On valor's side tbe odds of combat lie, 655

The brave live glorious, or lamented die ;

ILIAD. — BOOK V. 113

The wretch who trembles in the field of fame,
Meets death, and worse than death , eternal shame/

These words he seconds with his flying lance,
To meet whose point was strong Deicoon's chance ;
Eneas' friend, and in his native place 661

Honored and loved like Priam's royal race :
Long had he fought the foremost in the field,
Bat now the monarch's lance transpierced his shield :
His shield too weak the furious dart to stay, 665

Through his broad belt the weapon forced its way ;
The grisly wound dismissed his soul to hell.
His arms around him rattled as he fell.

Then fierce ^neas, brandishing his blade.
In dust Orsilochus and Crethon laid, 670

Whose sire Diocleus, wealthy, brave, and great,
In well-built Pherae held his lofty seat ;
Sprung from Alpheus' plenteous stream that yields
Increase' of harvests to the Pylian fields.
He got Orsilochus, Diocleus he, 675

And these descended in the third degree.
Too early expert in the martial toil.
In sable ships they left their native soil,
T' avenge Atrides : now, untimely slain.
They fell with glory on the Phrygian plain. 680

So two youDg mountain lions, nursed with blood
In deep recesses of the gloomy wood.
Rush fearless to the plains, and uncontrolled
Depopulate the stalls, and waste the fold ;
Till pierced at distance from their native den, 685

O'erpower'd they fall beneath the force of men.
Prostrate on earth their beauteous bodies lay.
Like mountain firs, as tall and straight as they.
Great Menelaus views with pitying eyes.
Lifts his bright lance, and at the victor flies ; 690^

HOM. VOL. I. H

114 ao«Ba.

Mars urged bhtt on ; yet» mthleas in his liate.

The god but urged him (o provoke his fate.

He thus ftdTancing, Nestor's valiant son

Shakes for his danger, and neglects his own :

Sirack with the thought, should Helen's lord be slain^

And all his country's glorious labors vain. 696

Already met, the threatening heroes, stand ;

The spears already tremble in their hand :

In rush'd Antilocbus, his aid to bring.

And fall or eonqtier by the Spartan king. 700

These seen, the Dardan backward tura'd his course.

Brave as he was, and shunn'd unequal force.

The breathless bodies to the Greeks they drew,

Then mix in combat, and their toils renew*

First, PylseaaeneSy great in battle, bled, 705

Who sheath'd in brass the Paphlagonions ledl
Atrides mark'd him where sublime he stood ;
Fix'd in his throat, the javelin drank his blood.
The faithful Mydon, as be turn'd from ^gKt
His flying coursers, sunk to endless night: 710

A broken rock by Nestor's son was thrown ;
His bended arm received the falling stone.
From his numb'd hand the ivory-«tudded reins,
Dropp'd in the dust, are trailed along the plains :
Meanwhile his temples ieel a deadly wound ; 715

He groans in death, and pond'rous sinks to ground ;
Deep drove his helmet in the sands, and there
The head stood fix'd, the quivering legs in air.
Till trampled flat beneath the coursers' feet:
The youthful victor meunts the empty seat, 720

And bears the prize in triumph to the fleet.

Great Hector saw, and raging at the view.
Pours on the Greeks ; the Trojan troops pursue :
He flres his host with animating crtea.
And brings along the furies of the skies. 725

iLIAlV^ftOOK V. 115

Mars, stern destroyer ! and Bellona dread,
Flame in the front, and thunder at tfaeir head :
This swells the tunanlt and the rage of fight ;
That shakes a spear that casts a dreadful light.
Where Hector n»arch'd the god of battle shined, 730
Now storm'd before him, and now raged behind.

Tydides paused amidst his full career ;
Then first the hero's manly breast knew fear.
As when some simple swain his cot forsakes,
And wide through fens an unknown journey takes ;
If chance a swelling brook his passage stay, 7QQ

And foam impervious cross the wanderer's way.
Confused he stops, a length of country pass'd,
Eyes the rough wares, and, tired, returns at last ;
Amazed no less the great Tydides stands ; 740

He stay'd, and, turning, thus addressed his bands :
* No wonder, Greeks, that all to Hector yield :
Secure of favoring gods, he takes the field :
His strokes they second, and avert our spears :
Behold where Mars in mortal arms appears ! 746

Retire then, warriors, but sedate and slow ;
Retire, but with your faces to the foe.
Trust not too much your unavailing might ;
'Tis not with Troy, but with the gods, ye fight.*

Now near the Greeks the black battalions drew ;
And first two leaders valiant Hector slew : 751

His force Ancliialus and Mnesthes found.
In every art of glorious war renowu'd ;
In the same car the chiefs to combat ride,
And fought united, and united died. 755

Struck at the sight, the mighty Ajax glows
With thirst of vengeance, and assaults the foes.
His massy spear with matchless fury sent.
Through Amphius' belt and heaving belly went :
Amphius Apaesus' happy soil possessed, 760

With herds abounding, and with treasure bless'd ;

(

116 HOMER.

But fate resistless from his country led

The chief, to perish at his people's head.

Shook with his fall, his brazen armor rung ;

And fierce, to seize it, conquering Ajax sprung : 765

Around his bead an iron tempest rain'd ;

A wood of spears his ample shield sustained :

Beneath one foot the yet warm corse he press'd.

And drew his javelin from the bleeding breast:

He could no more ; the showering darts denied 770

To spoil his glittering arms and plumy pride.

Now foes on foes came pouring on the fields.

With bristling lances, and compacted shields ;

Till, in the steely circle straitened round,

Forced he gives way, and sternly quits the ground.

While thus they strive, Tlepolemus the great, 776
Urged by the force of unresisted fate,
Burns with desire Sarpedon's strength to prove ;
Alcides' ofispring meets the son of Jove.
Sheath'd in bright arms each adverse chief came on,
Jove's great descendant, and his greater son. 781

Prepared for combat, ere the lance he toss'd.
The daring Rhodian vents his haughty boast :

' What brings this Lycian counsellor so far,
To tremble at our arms, not mix in war ? 785

Know thy vain self; nor let their flattery move
Who style thee son of cloud-compelling Jove.
How far unlike those chiefs of race divine !
How vast the difference of their deeds and thine \
Jove got such heroes as my sire, whose soul 790

No fear could daunt, nor earth nor hell control :
Troy felt his arm, and yon proud ramparts stand
Raised on the ruins of his vengeful hand :
With six small ships, and but a slender train,
He left the town a wide deserted plain. 796

But what art thou, who deedless look'st around.
While unrevenged thy Lycians bite the ground ?

ILIAD.— BOOK V. 117

Small aid to Troy tliy feeble force can be ;
But wert thou greater, ithou must yield to me.
Pierced by my spear to endless darkness go ! 800

I make this present to the shades below.'

The son of Hercoles, the Rhodian guide,
Thus haughty spoke. The Lycian king replied :

* Thy sire, O prince ! o'erturn'd the Trojan state,
Whose perjured monarch well deserved his fate ; 805
Those heavenly steeds the hero sought so far,
False he detained, the just reward of war.
Nor so content, the gen'rous chief defied.
With base reproaches and unmanly pride.
But you, unworthy the high race you boast, 810

Shall raise my glory when thy own is lost :
Now meet thy fate, and by Sarpedon slain,
Add one more ghost to Pluto's gloomy reign.'

He said : both javelins at an instant flew ;
Both struck, both wounded ; but Sarpedon's slew :
Full in the boaster's neck the weapon stood, 816

Transfix'd his throat, and drank the vital blood ;
The soul disdainful seeks the caves of night,
And his seal'd eyes for ever lose the light.

Yet not in vain, Tlepolemus, was thrown 820

Thy angry lance ; which, piercing to the bone
Sarpedon's thigh, had robb'd the chief of breath ;
But Jove was present, and forbade the death.
Borne from the conflict by his Lycian throng.
The wounded hero dragged the lance along 825

(His friends, each busied in his several part,
Through haste, or danger, had not drawn the dart).
The Greeks with slain Tlepolemus retired ;
Whose fall Ulysses view'd, with fury fired ;
Doubtful if Jove's great son he should pursue, 830
Or pour his vengeance on the Lycian crew.
But Heaven and Fate the first design withstand,
Nor this great death must grace Ulysses' hand*

118 HOMCR.

Minerva driret him on the Lycian train ;

Alastor, Cromios, Halius, strew'd the plain, 896

Alcander, Prytanis, Noemon, fell ;

And numbers more his sword had sent to hell ;

But Hector saw» and, furious at the sight,

Rush'd terrible amidst the ranks of fight.

With joy Sarpedon view'd the wish'd relief, 840

And, faint, lamenting, thus implored the chief:

' Oh, suffer not the foe to bear away
My helpless corpse, an unassisted prey !
If I, unbless'd, must see my son no more]
My much-loved consort, and my native shore, 845
Yet let me die in Uion's sacred wall ;
Troy, in whose cause I fell, shall mourn my fall/

He said ; nor Hector to the chief replies.
But shakes his plume, and fierce to combat flies ;
Swift as a whirlwind, drives the scattering foes, 8d0
And dyes the ground with purple as he goes.

Beneath a beech, Jove's consecrated shade,
His mournful friends divine Sarpedon laid :
Brave Pelagon his fav'rite chief was nigh,
Who wrench'd the javelin from his sinewy thigh. 855
The fainting soul stood ready wing'd for flight,
And o'er his eyeballs swam the shades of night;
But Boreas rising fresh, with gentle breath,
Recaird his spirit from the gates of death.

Tbe generous Greeks recede with tardy pace, 8G0
Though Mars and Hector thunder in their face :
None turn their backs to mean ignoble flight,
Slow they retreat, and ev'n retreating fight.
Who first, who last, by Mars' and Hector's hand,
Stretch'd in their blood, lay gasping on the sand? 865
Teuthras the great, Orestes the renown'd
For managed steeds, and Trechus press'd the ground;
Next CEnomaus, and CEnops' offspring died ;
Oresbius last fell groaning at their side ;

ILIAD, — BOOK V. 119

Oresbius ui hia painted mitM gay, 870

In fat Boeotia lield hig wealthy sway,
Where lakes surround low Hyle's watery plain,
A prince and people studiona of their gain.

The carnage Juno from the skies survey 'd,
And, tottch'd with grief, bespoke the blue-eyed maid :
' Oh, sight accursed ! shall faithless Troy prevail, 876
And shall our promise to our people fail ?
How vain the word to Menelaus given,
By Jove's great daughter and the queen of heaven.
Beneath his arms that Priam's towers should fall ; 880
If warring gods for ever guard the wall!
Mars, red with slaughter, aids our hated foes :
Haste, let us arm, and force with force oppose/

She spoke : Minerva barns to meet the war :
And now heaven's empress calls her blazing oar. 886
At her command rush fotth the steeds divine ;
Rich with immortal gold their trappings shine.
Bright Hebe waits ; by Hebe, ever young.
The whirling wheels are to the chariot hung.
On the bright axle turns the bidden wheel 800

Of sounding brass ; the polish'd axle steel.
Eight brazen spokes in radiant order flame ;
The circles gold, of uncorrupted frame.
Such as the heavens produce : and round the gold
Two brazen rings of work divine were roll'd. 895

The bossy naves of solid silver shone ;
Braces of gold suspend the moving throne :
The t;ar behind an arching figure bore ;
The bending concave fonn*d an arch before $
Silver the beam, the extended yoke was gold, 900

And golden reins the immortal coursers hold.
Herself, impatient, to the ready car
The coursers joins, and breathes revenge and war.

Pallas disrobes ; her radiant veil untied,
With flowers adorn'd, with art diversified 906

J20 HOMER«

(The labor'd veil her heavenly fingers wove),

Flows on the pavement of the court of Jove.

Now heaven's dread arms her mighty limbs invest,

Jove's cuirass blazes on her ample breast ;

Deck'd in sad triumph for the mournful field, 910

O'er her broad shoulders hangs his horrid shield,

}>ire, black, tremendous I Round the margin roU'd,

A fringe of serpents hissing guards the gold :

Here all the terrors of grim war appear,

Here rages Force, here trembling Flight and Fear, 915

Here storm'd Contention, and here Fury frown'd.

And the dire orb portentous Gorgon crown'd.

The massy golden helm she next assumes,

That dreadful nods with four o'ershading plumes.

So vast, the broad circumference contains 920

A hundred armies on a hundred plains.

The goddess thus the imperial car ascends,

Shook by her arm her mighty javelin bends,

Ponderous and huge ; that, when her fury burns.

Proud tyrants humbles, and whole hosts overturns. 925

Swift at the scourge, the etherial coursers fly,
While the smooth chariot cuts the liquid sky.
Heaven's gates spontaneous open to the powers.
Heaven's golden gates, kept by the winged Hours ;
Commission'd in alternate watch they stand, 930

The sun's bright portals and the skies command.
Involve in clouds the eternal gates of day,
Or the dark barrier roll with ease away.
The sounding hinges ring : on either side
The gloomy volumes, pierced with light, divide. 935
The chariot mounts, where deep in ambient skies,
Confused, Olympus' hundred heads arise ;
Where far apart the Thunderer fills his throne ;
O'er all the gods superior and alone.
There with her snowy hand the queen restrains 940
7^9 fiery steeds, and thus to Jove complains ;

ILIAD.— BOOK V. 121

' O sire I can no resentment touch thy soul ?
Can Mars rebel, and does no thunder roll ?
What la.wless rage on yon forbidden plain !
What rash destruction ! and what heroes slain ! 945
Yenusy and Phoebus with the dreadful bow.
Smile on the slaughter, and enjoy my wo.
Mad, furious power ! whose unrelenting mind
No god can govern, and no justice bind.
Say, mighty father ! shall we scourge his pride, 950
And drive from fight the impetuous homicide V

To whom assenting, thus the Thunderer said :
' Go ! and. the great Minerva be thy aid ;
To tame the monster-god Minerva knows.
And oft afflicts his brutal breast with woes.' 955

He said : Saturnia, ardent to obey,
Lash'd her white steeds along the aerial way.
Swift down the steep of heaven the chariot rolls,
Between the expanded earth and starry poles.
Far as a shepherd, from some point on high, 960

O'er the wide main extends his boundless eye ;
Through such a space of air, with thund'ring sound.
At every leap, the immortal coursers bound:
Troy now they reach'd, and touched those banks divine
Where silver Simois and Scamander join. 965

There Juno stopp'd, and her fair steeds unloosed.
Of air condensed a vapor circumfused :
For these, impregnate with celestial dew.
On Simois' brink ambrosial herbage grew.
Thence to relieve the fainting Argive throng, 970

Smooth as the sailing doves, they glide along.

The best and bravest of the Grecian band,
A warlike circle, round Tydides stand ;
Such was their look as lions bathed in blood,.
Or foaming boars, the terror of the wood. 975

Heaven's empress mingles with the mortal crowd.
And shouts, in Stentor's sounding voice, aloud i

123 HOMER.

It

Stentor the stroog, endued with hrazen hrogs.
Whose throat surpassed the force of fifty tongues :

' Inglorious Argives 1 to your race a shame, 080
And only men in figure and in name !
Once from the walls your timorous foes engaged.
While fierce in war divine Achilles raged ;
Now issuing fearless they possess the plain,
Now win the shores, and scarce the seas remain/ 985

Her speech new fury to their hearts conyey'd ;
While near Tydides stood the Athenian maid ;
The king beside his panting steed she found,
O'erspent with toil, reposing on the ground :
To cool his glowing wound he sat apart 990

(The wound infiicted by the Lycian dart) ;
Large drops of sweat from all his limbs descend.
Beneath his ponderous shield his sinews bend.
Whose ample belt, that o'er his shoulder lay,
He eased, and wash'd the clotted gore away. 996

The goddess leaning o'er the bending yoke.
Beside his coursers, thus her silence broke :

* Degenerate prince ! and not of Tydeus' kind,
Whose little body lodged a mighty mind ;
Foremost he press'd in glorious toils to share, 1000
And scarce refrain'd when I forbade the war.
Alone, unguarded, once he dared to go
And feast, encircled by the Theban foe ;
There braved, and vanquish'd many a hardy knight ;
Such nerves I gave him, and such force in fight. 1005
Thou too no less hast been my constant care ;
Thy hands I arm'd, and sent thee forth to war :
But thee or fear deters or sloth detains ;
No drop of all thy father warms thy veins/

The chief thus answer'd mild : * Immortal maid !
I own thy presence, and confess thy aid. 101 1

Not fear, thou know'st, withholds me from the plains.
Nor sloth hath seized me, but thy word restrains :

ILIAD. — BOOK ¥• 123

From warring gods thou badest me turn my spear.
And Venus only found resistance here. 1016

Hence, ^ddess ! heedful of thy high commands,
Loath I gave way, and warn*d our Argive bands :
For Mars, the homicide, these eyes beheld.
With slaughter red, and raging round the field.'

Then thus Minerya : ' Brave Tydides, hear ! 1020
Not Mars himself, nor aught immortal, fear.
Full on the god impel thy foaming horse:
Pallas commands, and Pallas lends thee force.
Rash, furious, blind, from these to those he flies.
And every side of wavering combat tries ; 1025

Large promise makes, and breaks the promise made ;
Now gives the Grecians, now the Trojans aid.'

She said ; and to the steeds approaching near.
Drew from his seat the martial charioteer.
The vigorous power the trembling car ascends, 1030
Fierce for revenge ; and Diomed attends.
The groaning axle bent beneath the load ;
So great a hero, and so great a god.
She snatch'd the reins, she lash'd with all her force.
And full on Mars impell'd the foaming horse : 1035
But first to hide her heavenly visage spread
Black Orcus' helmet o'er her radiant head.

Just then gigantic Periphas lay slain.
The strongest warrior of the iEtolian train ;
The god, who slew him, leaves his prostrate prize 1040
Stretch'd where he fell, and at Tydides flies.
Now, rushing fierce, in equal arms appear
The daring Greek, the dreadful god of war!
Full at the chief, above his courser's head,
From Mars's arm the enormous weapon fled : 1045
Pallas opposed her hand, and caused to glance
Far from the car, the strong immortal lance.
Then threw the force of Tydeus' warlike son ;
The javelin faiss'd ; the goddess urged it on :

ILIAD. — BOOK V. 125

Vanquish'd I fled : "ev'n I, the god of fight, .
From mortal madness scarce was saved by flight.
Else hadst thou seen me sink on yonder plain,
Heap'd round, and heaving under loads of slain !
Or, pierced with Grecian darts, for ages lie, 1090

Condemn'd to pain, though fated not to die.'

Him thus upbraiding, with a wrathful look
The lord of thunders view'd, and stern bespoke :
* To me, perfidious ! this lamenting strain !
Of lawless force shall lawless Mars complain ? 1095
Of all the gods who tread the spangled skies.
Thou most unjust, most odious in our eyes !
Inhuman discord is thy dire delight,
The waste of slaughter, and the rage of fight.
No bound, no law, thy fiery temper quells, 1100

And all thy mother in thy soul rebels.
In vain our threats, in vain our power we use ;
She gives the example, and her son pursues.
Yet long the inflicted pangs thou shalt not mourn.
Sprung since thou art from Jove, and heavenly born ;
Else, singed with lightning hadst thou hence been thrown,
Where chain'd on burning rocks the Titans groan.'

Thus he who shakes Olympus with his nod ;
Then gave to Paeon's care the bleeding god.
With gentle hand the balm he pour'd around, 11 10
And heal'd the immortal flesh, and closed the wound.
As when the fig's press'd juice, infused in cream.
To curds coagulates the liquid stream,
Sudden the fluids fix, the parts combined ;
Such, and so soon, the ethereal texture join'd. 1115
Cleansed from the dust and gore, fair Hebe dress'd
His mighty limbs in an immortal vest.
Glorious he sat, in majesty restored,
Fast by the throne of heaven's superior lord.
Juno and Pallas mount the bless'd abodes, 1 120

Their task performed, and mix among the gods.

126 HOHEiU .

BOOK VI.

ARGUMENT.

The Epitodes of Glaueiu and Diomed, and of Hector and Andro'

mache.

The gods haviog left the field, the Grecians prevail — Hele-
nus, the chief augur of Troy, commuids Hector to retani to
the city, in order to appoint a solemn procession of the
qneen and the Trojan matrons to the temple of Minerva, to
intreat her to remove Diomed from the fight — The battle
relaxes during the absence of Hector — Glaucns and Dio-
med have an interview between the two armies ; where,
coming to the knowlege of the friendship and hospitality
passed between their ancestors, they make exchange of their
arms — Hector, having performed the orders of Helenas,
prevails on Paris to return to the battle ; and, taking a ten-
der leave of his wife Andromache, hastens again to the
field.— [The scene is first in the field of battle, between the
river Simois and Scamander, and then changes to Troy.}

Now Heaveo forsakes the fight, the immortab yield,
To human force and human skill, the field :
Dark showers of javelins fly from ices to foes :
Now here, now there, the tide of combat flows ;
While Troy's famed streams, that bouod the dreadful
plain, 5

On either side run purple to the main.

Great Ajax first to conquest led the way,.
Broke the thick ranks, and turned the doubtful day.
The Thracian Acamas his falchion found.
And hew'd the enormous giant to the ground : 10

His thundering arm a deadly stroke impiess'd
Where the black horse-hair nodded o'er his crest :

$ Scamandw and Simois.

ILIAD. — BOOK VI. 1*27

FixM in his front the brazen weapon lies,

And seals io endless shades his swimming eyes.

Next Teuthras' son distain'd the sands with blood, 15^

Axylus, hospitable, rich, and good :

In fair Arisba's walls, his native place.

He held his seat : a friend to human race,

Fast by the road, his ever-open door

Obliged the' wealthy, and relieved the poor. 20

To stern Tydides now he ^Etils a prey,

No friend to guard him in the dreadful day !

Breathless the good man fell, and by his side

His faithful servant, old Calesius, died.

By great Euryalus was Dresus slain, 25

And next he laid Opheltius on the plain.
Two twins were near, bold, beautiful, and young,
From a fair naiad and BEieolion sprung
(Laomedon's white flocks Bucolion fed.
That monarch's first-born by a foreign bed ; 30

In secret woods be won the naiad's grace.

And two fair infants crown'd his strong embrace).

Here dead they lay in all their youthful charms ;

The ruthless victor stripped their shining arms.

Astyalus by Polypeetes fell ; S5

Ulysses' spear Pidytes s^nt to hell ;

By Teucer's shaft brave Aretaon bled.

And Nestor's son laid stern Ablerus dead ;

Great Agamemnon, leader of the brave.

The mortal wound of rich Elatns gave, 40

Who held in Pedasne his proud abode.

And till'd the banks where silver Satnio flowM.

Melanthius by Eurypylus was slain ;

And Phylacus from Leitos flies in vain.

Unbless'd Adrastns next at mercy lies 45

Beneath the Spartan spear a living prize.

Scared with the din and tumult of the fight,

His headlong steeds, precipitate in flight,

138 HOMER.

Rash'd on a tamarisk's strong^ tmnk, and broke

The sbatfer'd chariot from the crooked yoke ; 50

Wide o'er the field, resistless as the wind.

For Troy they fly, and leare their lord behind.

Prone on his face he sinks beside the wheel ;

Atrides o'er him shakes his Yengefol steel ;

The fallen chief in suppliant postnre pressed 55

The rictor's knees, and thus his prayer addressed :

' Oh, spare my youth ! and for the life I owe
hstrge gifts of price my father shall bestow.
When fame shall tell, that, not in battle slain.
Thy hollow, ships his captire son detain : 60

Rich heaps of brass 'shall in thy tent be told.
And steel well temper'd, and persnasiTC gold.'

He said : compassion touch 'd the hero's heart ;
He stood, suspended, with the lifted dart :
As pity pleaded for his vanquished prize, 65

Stern Agamemnon swift to vengeance flies.
And furious thus : ' Oh, impotent of mind !
Shall these, shall these Atrides' mercy find ?
Well hast thou kaown proud Troy's perfidious land.
And well her natives merit at thy hand ! 70

'^ot one of all the race, nor sex, nor age,

%11 save a Trojan from our boundless rage :

)n shall perish whole, and bury all ;

r babes, her infants at the breast, shall fall ;

Ireadful lesson of exampled fate, 75

. warn the nations, and to curb the great !'

The monarch spoke; the words with warmth ad-
dress'd
To rigid justice steel'd his brother's breast.
Fierce from his knees the hapless chief he thrust :
The monarch's javelin stretch 'd him in the dust. 80
Then pressing with his foot his panting heart,
Forth from the slain he tugg'd the reeking dart.

ILIAD.^— BOOR VI. 129

Old Nestor saw, and roused the warrior's rage :

' Thus, heroes ! thus the rig'rous combat wage !

No SOD of Mars descend, for servile gains, 85

To touch the booty, while a foe remains.

Behold yon glitt'ring host, your future spoil !

First gain the conq.uest, then reward the toil.'

And now had Greece eternal fame acquired,
And frighten'd Troy within her walls retired, 90

Had not sage Helen us her state redress'd.
Taught by the gods that moved his sacred breast.
Where Hector stood, with great ^neas join'd,
The seer reveal'd the counsels of his mind :

* Ye generous chiefs ! on whom the immortals
lay 95

The cares and glories of this doubtful day ;
On whom your aids, your country's hopes depend ;
Wise to consult, and active to defend !
Here, at our gates, your brave efforts unite.
Turn back the routed, and forbid J^e flight ; 100

Ere yet their wives' soft arms the cowards gain.
The sport and insult of the hostile train.
When your commands have hearten'd every band,
Ourselves, here fix'd, will make the dangerous stand ;
Press'd as we are, and sore of former fight, 105

These straits demand our last remains of might.
Meanwhile, thou, Hector, to the town retire.
And teach our mother what the gods require :
Direct the queen to lead the assembled train
Of Troy's chief matrons to Minerva's fane ; 110

Unbar the sacred gates, and seek the power
With offer'd vows, in Ilion's topmost tower.
The largest mantle her rich wardrobes hold.
Most prized for art, and labor'd o'er with gold,
Before the goddess' honor'd knees be spread ; 1 15

And twelve young heifers to her altars led :

HOM. VOL. I. I

ILIAD. — BOOK VI. 131

Our eyes, till now, that aspect ne'er beheld,

Where fame is reapM amid th' embattled field ;

Yet far before the troops thou darest appear, 155

And meet a lance the fiercest heroes fear.

Unhappy they, and born of luckless sires,

Who tempt our fury when Minerya fires !

But if from heaven, celestial, thou descend,

Know, with immortals we no more contend. 160

N ot long Lycnrgns riewM the golden light.

That daring man, who mtxM with gods in fight.

Bacchus, and Bacchus' votaries, he drove.

With brandish'd steel, from Nyssa's sacred grove :

Their consecrated spears lay scattered round, }66

With curling vines and twisted ivy bound ;

While Bacchus headlong sought the briny flood.

And Thetis* arms received the trembling god.

Nor fail'd the crime the immortals' wrath to move

(The immortals bless'd with endless ease above) ; 170

Deprived of sight by their avenging doom,

Cheerless he breathed, and wander'd in the gloom :

Then sunk unpitied to the dire abodes,

A wretch accursed, and hated by the gods !

I brave not Heaven : but if the fruits of earth 176

Sustain thy life, and human be thy birth.

Bold as thou art, too prodigal of breath.

Approach, and enter the dark gates of death.'

* What, or from whence I am, or who ray sire,^
Replied the chief, * can Ty dens' son inquire? 180

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground ;
Another race the following spring supplies ;
They fall successive, and successive rise ;
So generations in their course decay ; ] 85

So florish these, when those are pass'd away.
But if thou stiU persist to search my birth,
Then hear a tale that fills the spacious earth ;

132 HOMER.

' A city stands on Argos' utmost bound
( Argos the fair, for warlike steeds renownM) ; 190

^olian Sisyphus, with wisdom bless'd,
In ancient time the happy walls possessed.
Then call'd Ephyre : Glaucus was his son ;
Great Glaucus, father of Bellerophon,
Who o'er the sons of men in beauty shined, 195

Loved for that valor which preserves mankind.
' Then mighty Praetus Argos' sceptre sway'd.
Whose hard commands Bellerophon obey'd.
With direful jealousy the monarch raged.
And the brave prince in numerous toils engaged. 200
For him Antaea burn'd with lawless flame.
And strove to tempt him from the pathis of fame :
In vain she tempted the relentless youth,
I Endued with wisdom, sacred fear, and truth.

Fired at his scorn, the queen to Praetus fled, 205

And begg'd revenge for her insulted bed :

Incensed he heard, resolvfng on his fate ;

But hospitable laws restrained his hate ;

To Lycia the devoted youth he sent.

With tablets seal'd, that told his dire intent. 210

Now, bless'd by every power who guards the good.

The chief arrived at Xanthus' silver flood :

There Lycia's nionarch paid him honors due.

Nine days he feasted, and nine bulls he slew.

But when the tenth bright morning orient glow'd, 215

The faithful youth his monarch's mandate show'd :

The fatal tablets, till that instant seal'd.

The deathful secret to the king reveal'd.

First, dire Chimaera's conquest was enjoin'd :

A mingled monster, of no mortal kind ; 220

Behind, a dragon's flery tail was spread ;

A goat's rough body bore a lion's head ;

Her pitchy nostrils flaky flames expire ;

Her gaping throat emits infernal fire.

ILIAD. — BOOK VI. 133

' This pest he slaughtered (for he read the skies.
And trusted Heaven's informing prodigies) ; 226

Then met in arms the Solymaean crew,
Fiercest of men, and those the warrior slew.
Next the bold Amazons' whole force defied,
And conquered still, for Heaven was on his side. 230

*■ Nor ended here his toils : his Lycian foes^
At his return, a treacherous ambush rose,
With levell'd spears along the winding shore ;
There fell they breathless, and returned no more.

' At length the monarch with repentant grief 235
Confessed the gods, and god-descended chief;
His daughter gave, the stranger to detain.
With half the honors of his ample reign :
The Lycians grant a chosen space of ground,
With woods, with vineyards, and with harvests

crown'd.
There long the chief his happy lot possess'd, 241

With two brave sons and one fair daughter bless'd,
Fair ev'n in heavenly eyes ; her fruitful love
Crown'd with Sarpedon's birth th' embrace of Jove.
But when at last, distracted in his mind, 245

Forsook by Heaven, forsaking human kind.
Wide o'er th' Aleian field he chose to stray,
A long, forlorn, uncomfortable way !
Woes heap'd on woes consunled his wasted heart ;
His beauteous daughter fell by Phoebe's dart ; 250
His eldest-bom by raging Mars was slain.
In combat on the Solymaean plain.
Hippolochus survived ; from him I came,
The honor 'd author of my birth and name ;
By his decree I sought the Trojan town, 255

By his instructions learn to win renown.
To stand the first in worth as in command,
To add new honors to my native laud ;

134 HOMER.

Before my ejei my mighty sires to place,

And emulate the glories of our race/ 5260

He spoke, and transport fill'd Tydides' heart ;
In earth the generous warrior fix'd his dart.
Then friendly, thus, the Lycian prince address'd :
' Welcome, my brave hereditary guest !
Thus ever let us meet, with kind embrace, 265

Nor stain the sacred friendship of bur race.
Know, chief, our grandsires hare been guests of old,
CEneus the strong, Bellerophon the bold :
Our ancient seait his honored presence graced.
Where twenty days in genial rites he passed. 270

The parting heroes mutttal presents left ;
A golden goblet was tby grandsire^s gift :
QSneus a belt of matchless work bestowM,
That rich with Tyrian die refulgent glow'd.
This from his pledge I learnM, which safely stored
Among my treasures, still adorns my board : 276

For Tydeus left me young, when Thebe's wall
Beheld the sons of Greece untimely foil.
Mindful of this, in friendship let us join ;
If Heaven our steps to foreign lands incline, 280

My guest in Argos thou, and I in Lycia thine.
Enough of Trojans to this lance shall yield,
In the full harvest of yon ample field;
Enough of Greeks shall dye thy spear with gore ;
But thou and Diomed be foes no more. 285

Now change we arms, and prove to either host
We guard the friendship of the line we boast/

Thus having said, the gallant chiefs alight,
Their hands they join, their mutual faith they plight ;
Brave Glaucus then each narrow thought resigned 290
(Jove warm'd his bosom and enlarged his mind) :
For Diomed's brass arms, of mean device.
For which nine oxen pai4 (9 vplgar pme),

ILIAD.^-BOOK VI. ' 135

He gaye hts own, of gold divinely wrought ;

A hundred beeres the shining purchase bought. 295

Meantime the guardian of the Trojan state,
Great Heetor, entered at the Sca&aa gate.
Beneath the beech-trees' consecrated shades,
The Trojan matrons and the Trojan maids
Around him flock'd, all press'd with pious care 300
For husbands, brothers, sons, engsged in war.
He bids the train in long procession go,
And seek the gods to avert the impending wo.
And now to Priam's stately courts he came.
Raised on arch columns of stupendous frame ; 306
O'er these a range of marble structure runs,
The rich pavilions of his fifty sons,
In fifty chambers lodged : and rooms of state
Opposed to those, where Priam's daughters sate ;
Twelve domes for them and their loved spouses shone,
Of equal beauty, and of polisb'd stone. 31 1

Hither great Hector pass'd, nor pass'd unseen
Of royal Hecuba, his mother queen
(With her Laodice, whose beauteous face
Surpass'd the nymphs of Troy's illustrious race). 315
Long in a strict enibrace she held her son,
And press'd his hand, and tender thus begun :

* O Hector ! say, what great occasion calls
My son from fight, when Greece surrounds our walls ?
Comest thou to supplicate the almighty power, 320
With lifted hands from Ilion's lofty tower ?
Stay, till I bring the cup with Bacchus erown'd.
In Jove's high name, to sprinkle on the ground,
And pay due vows to all the gods around.
Then with a plenteous draught refresh thy soul, 325
And draw new spirits from the generous bowl.
Spent as thou art with long laborious fight.
The brave ^fender of thy country's right.'

136 HOMER.

' Far hence be Bacchus' gifts/ the chief rejoin'd :
' Inflaming wine, pernicious to mankind, 390

Unnerves the limbs, and dulls the noble mind.
Let chiefs abstain, and spare the sacred juice
To sprinkle to the gods, its better use.
By me that holy office were profaned ;
III fits it me, with human gore distain'd, 335

To the pure skies these horrid hands to raise,
Or offer Heaven's great sire polluted praise.
You with your matrons go, a spotless train,
And burn rich odors in Minerva's fane.
The largest mantle your full wardrobes hold, 340

Most prized for art, and labor'd o'er with gold,
Before the goddess', honor'd knees be spread.
And twelve young heifers to her altar led.
So may the power, atoned by fervent prayer.
Our wives, our infants, and our city spare, 345

Ind far avert Tydides' wasteful ire,

liVho mows whole troops, and makes all Troy retire.

3e this, O mother, your religious care ;
1 go to rouse soft Paris to the war ;
If yet, not lost to all the sense of shame, 350

The recreant warrior hear the voice of fame.
Oh, would kind earth the hateful wretch embrace,
That pest of Troy, that ruin of our race !
Deep to the dark abyss might he descend,
Troy yet should flbrish, and my sorrows end.' 355

This heard, she gave command ; and summon'd came
Each noble matron and illustrious dame.
The Phrygian queen to her rich wardrobe went,
Where treasured odors breathed a costly scent.
There lay the vestures of no vulgar art, 360

Sidonian maids embroider'd every part,
Whom from soft Sidon youthful Paris bore.
With Helen touching on the Tyrian shore.

ILIAD. — BOOK VI. 137

Here as the queen revolved with careful eyes

The various textures and the various dies, 365

She chose a veil that shone superior far,

And glow'd refulgent as the morning star.

Herself with this the long procession leads ;

The train majestically slow proceeds.

Soon as to Ilion's topmost tower they come, 370

And awful reach the high Palladian dome,

Antenor's consort, fair Theano, waits

As Pallas' priestess, and unhars the gates.

With hands uplifted, and imploring eyes.

They fill the dome with supplicating cries. 375

The priestess then the shining veil displays,

Placed on Minerva's knees, and thus she prays :

' Oh, awful goddess ! ever-dreadful maid,
Troy's strong defence, unconquer'd Pallas, aid !
Break thou Tydides' spear, and let him fall 380

Prone on the dust hefore the Trojan wall.
So twelve young heifers, guiltless of the yoke.
Shall fill thy temple with a grateful smoke.
But thou, atoned hy penitence and prayer.
Ourselves, our infants, and our city spare !' 385

So pray'd the priestess in her holy fane ;
So vow'd the matrons, but they vow'd in vain.

While these appear before the power with prayers,
Hector to Paris' lofty dome repairs.
Himself the mansion raised, from every part 390

Assembling architects of matchless art.
Near Priam's court and Hector's palace stands
The pompous structure, and the town commands.
A spear the hero bore of wondrous strength.
Of full ten cubits was the lance's length, 395

The steely point with golden ringlets join'd.
Before him brandish'd, at each motion shined.
Thus entering, in the glittering rooms he found
His brother- chief, whose useless arms lay round,

138 HOMER.

His eyes deliglitiDg with their splendid show, 400

Brightening the shield, and polishing the how.
Beside him Helen with her virgins stands,
Guides their rich lahors, and instructs their hands.

Him thus inactive, with an ardent look
The prince heheld^ and high resenting spoke : 405

' Thy hate to Troy, is this the time to show ?
(O wretch ill fated, and thy country's foe !)
Paris and Greece against us hoth conspire ;
Thy close resentment, and their vengeful ire.
For thee great Ilion's guardian heroes fall, 410

Till heaps of dead alone defend her wall ;
For thee the soldier hleed», the matron mourns.
And wasteful war in all its fury hums.
Ungrateful man ! deserves not this thy care,
Our troops to hearten, and our toils to share ? 415

Rise, or hehold the conquering flames ascend,
And all the Phrygian glories at an end.'

' Brother, 'tis just,' replied the heauteous youth ;
* Thy free remonstrance proves thy worth and truth :
Yet charge my absence less, O generous chief! 420
On hate to Troy, than conscious shame and grief;
Here, hid from human eyes, thy brother sat,
And mourn'd, in secret, his and Ilion's fate.
'Tis now enough : now glory spreads her charms.
And heauteous Helen calls her chief to arms. 425

Conquest to-day my happier sword may bless,
'Tis man's to fight, but Heaven's to give success.
But while I arm, contain thy ardent mind ;
Or go, and Paris shall not lag behind.'

He said, nor answer'd Priam's warlike son ; 490
When Helen thus with lowly grace begun :

< Oh generous brother ! if the guilty dame
That caused these woes deserve a sister's name !
Would Heaven, ere all these dreadful deeds were done,
The day, that show'd me to the golden sun, 4S6

ILIAD. — BOOK VI. 139

Had seen my death ! Why did not whirlwinds bear

The fatal infant to the fowls of air ?

Why sunk I not beneath the whelming tide.

And midst the roarings of the waters died?

Heaven fill'd up all my ills, and I accursed 440

Bore ail, and Paris, of those ills the worst.

Helen at least a braver spouse might claim,

Warm'd with some virtue, some regard of fame !

Now, tired with toils, thy fainting limbs recline,

With toils, sustained for Paris' sake and mine : 445

The gods have linked our miserable doom.

Our present wo, and infamy to come :

Wide shall it spread, and last through ages long,

Example sad I and theme of future song.'

The chief repUed : * This time forbids to rest : 450
The Trojan bands, by hostile fnry press'd,
Demand their Hector, and his arm require ;
The combat urges, and my soul '» on fire.
Urge thou thy knight to march where glory calls.
And timely join roe, ere I leave the walls. 455

Ere yet I mingle in the direful fray.
My wife, my infant, claim a moment's stay ;
This day, perhaps the last that sees me here.
Demands a partidg word, a tender tear :
This day some god who hates oar Trojan land 400
May vanquish Hector by a Grecian hand/

He said, and pass'd with sad presaging heart
To seek bis spouse, his sonl's far dearer part ;
At home he sought her, but he sought in vain :
She, with one maid of all her menial train, 465

Had thence retired ; and with her second joy,
The young Astyanax, the hope of Troy :
Pensive she stood on Ilion's towery height.
Beheld the war, and sicken'd at the sight ;
There her sad eyes in vain her lord explore, 470

Or weep the wounds her bleeding country bore.

i

140 HOMER.

But he who fonnd not whom his soul desired.
Whose virtue charm'd him as her beauty fired.
Stood in the gates, and ask'd what way she bent
Her parting step. If to the fane she went, 475

Where late the mourning matrons made resort ;
Or sought her sisters in the Trojan court?
*■ Not to the court,' replied the attendant train,
' Nor roix'd with matrons to Minerya's fane :
To Uion's steepy tower she bent her way, 480

To mark the fortunes of the doubtful day.
Troy fled, she heard, before the Grecian sword ;
She heard, and trembled for her absent lord :
Distracted with surprise, she seem'd to fly,
Fear on her cheek, and sorrow in her eye. 485

The nurse attended with her infant boy.
The young Astyanax, the hope of Troy.'

Hector, this heard, return'd without delay ;
Swift througb the town he trod his former way.
Through streets of palaces, and li^alks of state ; 490
And met the mourner at the Scsean gate.
With haste to meet him sprung the joyful fair,
His blameless wife. Action's wealthy heir.
(Cilician Thebe great Aetion sway'd.
And Hippoplacus' wide-extended shade.) 495

The nurse stood near, in whose embraces press'd,
His only hope hung smiling at her breast,
Whom each soft charm and early grace adorn,
Fair as the new-born star that gilds the morn.
To this loved infant Hector gave the name 500

Scamandrius, from Scamander's honor'd stream ;
Astyanax the Trojans call'd the boy.
From his great father, the defence of Troy.
Silent the warrior smiled, and pleased resigned
To tender passions all his mighty mind ; 505

His beauteous princess cast a mournful look.
Hung on his hand, and then dejected spoke ;

ILIAD. — BOOK VI. 141

Her bosom labored with a boding sigh,
And the big tear stood trembling in her eye.

' Too daring prince ! ah, whither dost thou run? 510
Ab, too forgetful of thy wife and son !
And think'st thou not how wretched we shall be,
A widow I, a helpless or||^han he !
For sure such courage length of life denies ;
And thou must fall, thy virtue's sacrifice. 515

Greece in her single heroes strove in vain ;
Now hosts oppose thee, and thou must be slain !
Oh gp'ant me, gods! ere Hector meets his doom,
All I can ask of Heaven, an early tomb !
So shall my days in one sad tenor run, 520

And end with sorrows as they first begun.
No parent now remains my griefs to share,
No father's aid, no mother's tender care.
The fierce Achilles wrappM our walls in fire,
Laid Thebe waste, and slew my warlike sire ! 525

His fate compassion in the victor bred ;
Stern as he was, he yet revered the dead ;
His radiant arms preserved from hostile spoil.
And laid him decent on the funeral pile ;
Then raised a mountain where his bones were

bum'd :
The mountain-nymphs the rural tomb adorn 'd : 531
Jove's sylvan daughters bade their elms bestow
A barren shade, and in his honor grow.

' By the same arm my seven brave brothers fell ;
In one sad day beheld the gates of hell : 535

While the fat herds and snowy flocks they fed,
Amid their fields the hapless heroes bled !
My mother lived to bear the victor's bands.
The queen of Hippoplacia's sylvan lands :
Redeemed too late, she scarce beheld again 540

Her pleasing empire and her native plain.

142 HOMER.

When, ah ! oppress'd by life-consuming wo.
She fell a victim to Diana's bow.

* Yet, while my Hector still survives, I see
My father, mother, brethren, all in thee ; 645

Alas ! my parents, brothers, kindred, all
Once more will perish, if my Hector fall.
Thy wife, thy infant, in thy danger share :
O prove a husband's and a father's care !
That quarter most the skilful Greeks annoy, 550

Where yon wild fig-trees join the wall of Troy ;
Thou from this tower defend the important post ;
There Agamemnon points his dreadful host,
That pass Tydides, Ajax, strive to gain.
And there the vengeful Spartan fires his train. 565
Thrice our bold foes the fierce attack have given,
Or led by hopes, or dictated from heaven.
Let others in the field their arms employ.
But stay my Hector here, and guard his Troy.'

The chief replied : ' That post shall be my care, 5C0
Not that alone, but all the works of war.
How would the sons of Troy, in arms renown'd,
And Troy's proud dames, whose garments sweep the

ground,
Attaint the lustre of my former name.
Should Hector basely quit the field of fame ! 565

My early youth was bred to martial pains.
My soul impels me to the embattled plains :
Let me be foremost to defend the throne.
And guard my father's glories, and my own.
Yet come it will, the day decreed by fates : 670

(How my heart trembles while my tongue relates !)
The day when thou, imperial Troy ! must bend,
And see thy warriors fall, thy glories end.
And yet no dire presage so wounds my mind.
My mother's death, the ruin of my kind, 575

ILIAD.*--BOOK VIr 143

Not Priam's hoary hairs defiled with gore,

Not all my brothers gasping on the shore ;

As thine, Andromache I thy griefs I dread ;

I see thee trembling, weeping, captive led !

In Argive looms our battles to design, 580

And woes, of which so large a part was thine !

To bear the victor's hard commands, or bring

The weight of waters from Hyperia's spring.

There, while you groan beneath the load of life,

They cry, < Behold the mighty Hector's wife !' 585

Some haughty Greek* who lives thy tears to see, '

Embitters all thy woes, by naming me.

The thoughts of glory past, and present shame,

A thousand griefs shall waken at the name I

May I lie cold before that dreadful day, 590

Pressed with a load of monumental clay !

Thy Hector, wrapped in eyerlasting sleep,

Shall neither hear thee sigh, nor see thee weep.' /

Thus haying spoke, the illustrious chief of Troy m

Stretched his fond arms to clasp the lovely boy. 595 ff

The babe clung crying to his nurse's breast.
Scared at the dazzling helm and nodding crest.
With secret pleasure each fond parent smiled,
And Hector hasted to relieve his child ;
The glittering terrors from his brows unbound, 600
And placed the beaming helmet on the ground,
Then kiss'd the child, and, lifting high in air.
Thus to the gods preferred a father's prayer :

' O thou ! whose glory fills the ethereal throne,
And all ye deathless powers, protect my son ! 605

Grant him, like me, to purchase just renown,
To guard the Trojans, to defend the crown.
Against his country's foes the war to wage.
And rise the Hector of the future age !
So when triumphant from successful toils 610

Of heroes slain he bears the reeking spoils,

144 HOMER.

Whole hosts may hail him with deserved acclaim.
And say, ' This chief transcends bis father's fame ;
While pleased amidst the general shouts of Troy,
His mother's conscious heart overflows with joy.* 615

He spoke, and fondly gazing on her charms.
Restored the pleasing burden to her arms ;
Soft on her fragrant breast the babe she laid,
Hush'd to repose, and with a smile surveyed.
The troubled pleasure soon chastised by fear, 620

She mingled with the smile a tender tear.
The soften'd chief with kind compassion Tiew'd,
And dried the falling drops, and thus pursued :

' Andromache ! my soul's far better part !
Why with untimely sorrows heaves thy heart ? 626
No hostile hand can antedate my doom,
Till fate condemns me to the silent tomb.
Fix'd is the term to all the race of earth ;
And such the hard condition of our birth.
No force can then resist, no flight can save ; 630

All sink alike, the fearful and the brave.
No more — but hasten to thy tasks at home,
There guide the spindle, and direct the loom :
Me glory summons to the martial scene ;
The field of combat is the sphere for men : 635

Where heroes war, the foremost place I claim.
The first in danger, as the first in fame.'

Thus having said, the glorious chief resumes
His towery helmet, black with shading plumeli.
His princess parts with a prophetic sigh, 640

Unwilling parts, and oft reverts her eye,
That streamed at every look : then, moving slow.
Sought her own palace, and indulged her wo.
There, while her tears deplored the godlike roan.
Through all her train the soft infection ran, 646

The pious maids their mingled sorrows shed,
And mourn the living Hector as the dead.

ILIAD. — BOOK VI. 145

But now, no longer deaf to honor's call.
Forth issues Paris from the palace wall.
In brazen arms that cast a gleamy ray, 650

Swift through the town the warrior bends his way.
The wanton courser thus, with reins unbound.
Breaks from his stall, and beats the trembling ground ;
Pamper'd and proud, he seeks the wonted tides, '
And laves, in height of blood, his shining sides ; 655
His head now freed he tosses to the skies ;
His mane disheveird o'er his shoulders flies ;
He snuffs the females in the distant plain.
And springs, exulting, to his fields again.
With equal triumph, sprightly, bold, and gay, ^0
In arms refulgent as the god of day.
The son of Priam, glorying in his might,
Aush'd forth with Hector to the fields of fight.

And now the warriors passing on the way,
The graceful Paris first excused his stay. 665

To whom the noble Hector thus replied :
* O chief! in blood, and now in arms, allied!
Thy power in war with justice none contest ;
Known is thy courage, and thy strength confessed.
What pity sloth should seize a soul so brave, 670

Or godlike Paris live a woman's slave !
My heart weeps blood at what the Trojans say.
And hopes thy deeds shall wipe the stain away.
Haste then, in all their glorious labors share ;
For much they suffer, for thy sake, in war. 675

These ills shall cease, whene'er by Jove's decree
We crown the bowl to Heaven and Liberty ;
While the proud foe his frustrate triumphs mourns.
And Greece indignant through her seas returns.'

HOU. VOL. t.

146 HOMER.

BOOK VII.

ARGUMENT.

The single Combat of Hector and Ajax.

The battle renewing with double ardor on the return of Hec-
tor, Minerva is under apprehensions for the Greeks — Apollo,
seeing her descend from Olympus, joins her near the Scaean
gate : they agree to put off the general engagement for that
day, and incite Hector to challenge the Greeks to a single
combat — Nine of the princes accepting the challenge, the
lot is cast, and falls on Ajax — These heroes, after several
attacks, are parted by the night — The Trojans calling a
council, Antenor proposes the delivery of Helen to the
Greeks, to which Paris will not consent, but offers to re-
store them her riches — Priam sends a herald to make this
offer, and to demand a truce for burning the dead, the last
of which only is agreed to by Agamemnon — When the fune-
rals are performed, tlie Greeks, pursuant to the advice of
Nestor, erect a fortification to protect their fleet and camp,
flanked with towers, and defended by a ditch and palisades
— Neptune testifies his jealousy at this work, but is pacified
by a promise from Jupiter — Both armies pass the night in
feasting, but Jupiter disheartens the Trojans with thunder
and other signs of his wrath.— [The three-and-twentieth
day ends with the duel of Hector and Ajax : the next day
the truce is agreed on : another is taken up in the funeral
rites of the slain ; and one more in building the fortification
before the ships. So that somewhat above three days is
employed in this book. The scene lies wholly in the field.]

So spoke the guardian of the Trojan state.
Then rushM impetuous through the Scaean gate.
Him Paris followed to the dire alarms ;
Both breathing slaughter, both resolved in arras.
As when to sailors laboring through the main,
That long had heaved the weary oar in vain,

ILIAD.— -BOOK VII. 147

Jove bids at length the expected gales arise ;

The gales blow grateful, and the vessel flies :

So welcome these to Troy's desiring train :

The bands are cheer'd, the war awakes again. 10

Bold Paris first the work of death begun
On great Menestheus, Areithous' son :
Sprang from the fair Philomela's embrace, .
The pleasing Arne was his native place.
'Then sunk Eioneus to the shades below : 15

Beneath his steely casque he felt the blow,
Full on his neck, from Hector's weighty hand.
And roU'd, with limbs relax'd, along the land.
By Glaucus' spear the bold Iphinous bleeds.
Fix'd in the sbovlder as he mounts his steeds ; 20

Headlong he tumbles: his slack nerves, unbound.
Drop the cold useless members on the ground.
-When now Minerva saw her Argives slain,
From vast Olympus to the gleaming plain
Fierce she descends : Apollo roarkM her flight, 25

Nor shot less swift from Ilion's towery height :
Radiant they met beneath the beechen shade ;
When thus Apollo to the blue-eyed maid :

* What cause, O daughter of almighty Jove,
Thus wings thy progress from the realms above ? 30
Once more impetuous dost thou bend thy way.
To give to Greece the long-divided day ?
Too much has Troy already felt thy hate.
Now breathe thy rage, and hush the stern debate :
This day the business of the field suspend ; 35

War soon shall kindle and great Ilion bend ;
Since vengeful goddesses confederate join
To raze her walls, though built by hands divine.'

To whom the progeny of Jove replies :
' I left, for this, the council of the skies : 40

But who shall bid conflicting hosts forbear.
What art shall calm the furious sons of war?'

148 HOMER*

To her the god : ' Great Hector's soul incite
To dare the boldest Greek to single fight,
Till Greece, provoked, from all her numbers show 45
A warrior worthy to be Hector's foe/

At this agreed, the heavenly powers withdrew ;
Sage Helenus their secret counsels knew :
Hector, inspired, he sought : to him address'd.
Thus told the dictates of his sacred breast : 50

O, son of Priam ! let thy faithful ear
Receive my words ; thj friend and brother hear !
Go forth persuasive, and awhile engage
The warring nations to suspend their rage ;
Then dare the boldest of the hostile train bo

To mortal combat on the listed plain ;
For not this day shall end thy glorious date ;
The gods have spoke it, and their voice is fate.'

He said : the warrior heard the word with joy ;
Then with his spear restrain'd the youth of Troy, 60
Held by the midst athwart. On either hand
The squadrons part ; the expecting Trojans stand :
Great Agamemnon bids the Greeks forbear ;
They breathe, and hush the tumult of the war.
The Athenian maid, and glorious god of day, 65

With silent joy the settling hosts survey :
In form of vultures, on the beech's height
They sit conceal'd, and wait the future fight.

The thronging troops obscure the dusky fields.
Horrid with bristling spears, and gleaming shields. 70
As when a general darkness veils the main
(Soft Zephyr curling the wide watery plain).
The waves scarce heave, the face of ocean sleeps,
And a still horror saddens all the deeps :
Thus in thick orders settling wide around, 75

At length composed they sit, and shake the ground.
Great Hector first amidst both armies broke
The solemn silence, and their powers bespoke :

ILIAD.— BOOK VII. 149

' Hear, all ye Trojan, all ye Grecian bands,
What my soul prompts, and what some god com-
mands: 80
Great Jove, averse our warfare to compose,
O'erwhelms the nations with new toils and woes :
War with a fiercer tide once more returns,
Till Ilion falls, or till yon navy burns.
You then, O princes of the Greeks, appear ; 85
'Tis Hector speaks, and calls the gods to hear :
From all your troops select the boldest knight,
And him, the boldest, H«ctor dares to fight.
Here, if I fall, by chan6e of battle slain.
Be his my spoil, and his these arms remain ; 90
But let my body, to my friends returned.
By Trojan hands and Trojan flames be burn'd.
And if Apollo, in whose aid I trust.
Shall stretch your daring champion in the dust ;
If mine the glory to despoil the foe, 95
On Phoebus' temple I '11 his arms bestow ;
The breathless carcass to your navy sent,
Greece on the shore shall raise a monument j
Which when some future mariner surveys,
Wash'd by broad Hellespont's resounding seas, 100
Thus shall he say : ' A valiant Greek lies there,
By Hector slain, the mighty man of war.'
The stone shall tell your vanquish'd hero's name.
And distant ages learn the victor's fame.'

Thi« fierce defiance Greece astonishM heard, 105
Blush'd to refuse, and to accept it fear'd.
Stern Menelaus first the silence broke.
And, inly groaning, thus opprobrious spoke :

* Women of Greece ! oh, scandal of your race.
Whose coward souls your manly form disgrace, 110
How great the shame, when every age shall know
That not a Grecian met this noble foe !

I

ILIAD. — BOOK VII. 151

How shall, alas !. her hoary heroes moum
Their sons degenerate, and their race a scorn !
What tears shall down thy silver beard be roH'd,

Peleus, old in arms, in wisdom old ! 160
Once with what joy the generous {Mrince would hear
Of every chief who fought this glorious war ;
Participate their fame, and pleased inquire

Each name, each action, and each hero's sire !
Gods ! should he see our warriors trembling stand,
And trembling all before one hostile hand, 156

How would he lift his aged arms on high.
Lament inglorious Greece, and beg to die !
Ob! would to all the immortal powers above,
Minerva, Phoebus, and almighty Jove ! 160

Years might again roll back, my youth renew,
And give this arm the spring which once it knew:
When, fierce iirwar, where Jardan's waters fall

1 led my troops to Phea's trembling wall.

And with the Arcadian spears my prowess tried, 165

Where Celadon rolls down his rapid tide.

There Ereuthalion braved us in the field.

Proud Areithous' dreadful arms to wield :

Great Areithous, known from shore to shore

By the huge knotted iron mace he bore ; 170

No lance he shook, nor bent the twanging bow,

But broke, with this, the battle of the foe.

Him not by manly force Lycurgus slew.

Whose guileful javelin from the thicket fiew :.

Deep in a winding way his breast assail'd, 175

Nor aught the warrior's thundering mace avail'd :

Supine he fell : those arms which Mars before

Had given the vanquished, now the victor bore :

But when old age had dimm'd Lycurgus' eyes,

To Ereuthalion he consign'd the prize. * 180

Furious with this he crush'd our levell'd bands.

And dared the trial of the strongest hands ;

LtJIJ!

i|:^|M|t(i|

:]is>a»a|HI^|£
:e|c£:luiuP"

ILIAD. — BOOK VII. 153

Old Nestor shook the casque. By Heaven inspired,
Leap'd forth the lot, of every Greek desired. 220

This from the right to left the herald bears,
Held out in order to the Grecian peers ;
Each to his rival yields the mark unknown,
Till godlike Ajax finds the lot his own ;
Surveys the inscription with rejoicing eyes, 225

Then casts before him, and with transport cries :

* Warriors ! I claim the lot, and arm with joy ;
Be mine the conquest of this chief of Troy.
Now, while my brightest arms my limbs invest.
To Saturn's son be all your vows addressed : 230

But pray in secret, lest the foes should hear.
And deem your prayers the mean effect of fear.
Said I in secret ? No, your vows declare
In such a voice as fills the earth and air.
Lives there a chief whom Ajax ought to dread, 235
Ajax, in all the toils of battle bred ?
From warlike Salamis I drew my birth.
And, born to combats, fear no force on earth.'

He said. The troops with elevated eyes
Implore the god whose thunder rends the skies : 240
* O father of mankind, superior lord !
On lofty Ida's holy hill adored ;
Who in the highest heaven hast fix'd thy throne,
Supreme of gods ! unbounded and alone ;
Grant thou, that Telamon may bear away 245

The praise and conquest of this doubtful day ;
Or if illustrious Hector be thy care.
That both may claim it, and that both may share.'

Now Ajax braced his dazzling armor on ;
Sheathed in bright steel the giant-warrior shone : 250
He moves to combat with majestic pace ;
So stalks in arms the grisly god of Thrace,
When Jove to punish faithless men prepares.
And gives whole nations to the waste of wars.

154 HOMER.

Thus march'd the chief, tremendous as a god : 255

Grimly he smiled ; earth trembled as he strode :
His massy javelin quivering in his hand,
He stood, the bulwark of the Grecian band.
Through ev«ry Argive heart new transport ran ;
All Troy stood trembling at the mighty man : 260

Fv'n Hector paused ; and, with new doubts oppress'd,
Felt his great heart suspended in his breast :
'Twas vain to seek retreat, and vain to fear ;
Himself had challenged, and tlie foe drew near.

Stern Telamon behind his ample shield, 2^

As from a brazen tower, o'eriook'd the field :
Huge was its orb, with seven thick folds o'ercast
Of tough bull -hides ; of solid brass the last
(The work of Tychius, who in Hyle dwell'd.
And in all arts of armory excelled). 270

This Ajax bore before his manly breast,
And, threatening, thus his adverse chief ad dress'd :

* Hector ! approach ray arm, and singly know
What strength thou hast, and what the Grecian foe.
Achilles shuns the fight ; yet some there are 275
Not void of soul, and not unskilled in war.

Let him, unactive on the sea-beat shore.

Indulge his wrath, and aid our arms no more ;

Whole troops of heroes Greece has yet to boast,

And sends thee one, a sample of her host. 280

Such as I am, I come to prove thy might ;

No more — be sudden, and begin the fight.'

* O son of Telamon, thy country's pride !'
To Ajax thus the Trojan prince replied :

* Me, as a boy or woman, wouldst thou fright, 286

New to the field, and trembling at.the fight?

Thou meet'st a chief deserving of thy arms,

To combat born, and bred amidst alarms :

I know to shift iny ground, remount the car,

Turn, charge, and answer every call of war ; 2290

ILIAD.^-BOOK VII. 155

To right, to left, the dextrous lanc^ I wield,
And bear thick battle on my sounding shield.
But open be our fight, and bold each blow ;
I steal no conquest from a noble foe.'

He said, and, rising, high above the field 295

Whirl'd the long lance against the sevenfold shield.
Full on the brass descending from above
Through six bull-hides the furious weapon drove,
Till in the seventh it fix'd. Theh Ajax threw ;
Through Hector's shield the forceful javelin flew, 300
His corslet enters, and his garment rends.
And glancing downwards, near his flank descends.
The wa^y Trojan shrinks, and, bending low
Beneath his buckler, disappoints the blow.
From their bored shields the chiefs their javelins drew,
Then close impetuous, and the charge renew : 306

Fierce as the mountain-lions bathed in blood,
Or foaming boars, the terror of the wood,
At Ajax, Heetor his long lance extends ;
The blunted point against the buckler bends : 310

But Ajax, watchful as his foe drew near.
Drove through the Trojan targe the knotty spear ;
It reach'd his neck, with matchless strength impell'd.
Spouts the black gore, and dims his shining shield.
Yet ceased not Hector thus ; but, stooping down, 315
In his strong hand upheaved a flinty stone.
Black, craggy, vast : to this his force he bends ;
Full on the brazen boss the stone descends ;
The hollow brass resounded with the shock.
Then Ajax seized the fragment of a rock, 320

Applied each nerve, and swinging round on high,
With force tempestuous let the ruin fly :
The huge stone thundering through his buckler broke,
His slacken'd knees received the numbing stroke,
Great Hector falls extended on the field, 325

His bulk supporting on the shattered shield :

166 HOMER.

Nor wanted heavenly aid : Apollo's might

Confirm'd his sinews, and restored to fight.

And now both heroes their broad falchions drew:

In flaming circles round their heads they flew ; 330

But then by heralds' voice the word was given,

The sacred ministers of earth and heaven :

Divine Talthybius whom the Greeks employ,

And sage Idaeus on the part of Troy.

Between the swords (heir peaceful sceptres rear'd ; 336

And first Ida;us' awful voice was heard :

* Forbear, my sons ! your farther force to prove,
Both dear to men, and both beloved of Jove.
To either host your matchless worth is known,*
Each sounds your praise, and war is all your
own. 340

But now the night extends her awful shade ;
The goddess parts you : be the night obey'd.'

To whom great Ajax his high soul expressed :
* O sage ! to Hector be these words addressed.
Let him who first provoked our chiefs to fight, 345

Let him demand the sanction of the night ;
If first he ask it, I content obey.
And cease the strife when Hector shows the way.'

' Oh first of Greeks !' his noble foe rejoin'd,
' Whom Heaven adorns, superior to thy kind, 350
With strength of body, and with worth of mind !
Now martial law commands us to forbear ;
Hereafter we shall meet in glorious war ;
Some future day shall lengthen out the strife.
And let the gods decide of death or life ! 355

Since then the night extends her gloomy shade,
And Heaven enjoins it, be the night obey'd.
Return, brave Ajax, to thy Grecian friends.
And joy the nations whom thy arm defends ;
As I shall glad each chief, and Trojan wife, 360

Who wearies Heaven with vows for Hector's life.

ILIAD.^-BOOK VII. 167

But let us, on this memorable day,

Exchange some gift ; that Greece and Troy may say,

Not hate, but glory, made these chiefs contend;

And each brave foe was in his soul a friend/ 365

With that, a sword with stars of silver graced,
The baldric studded, and the sheath enchased,
He gave the Greek. The generous Greek bestowed
A radiant belt that rich with purple glow'd.
Then with majestic grace they quit the plain ; 370

This seeks the Grecian, that the Phrygian train.

The Trojan bands returning Hector wait,
And hail with joy the champion of their state :
Escaped great Ajax, they surveyed him round.
Alive, unharm'd, and vigorous from his wound. 375
To Troy's high gates the godlike man they bear,
Their present triumph, as their late despair.

But Ajax, glorying in his hardy deed,
The well-armM Greeks to Agamemnon lead.
A steer for sacrifice the king designed, 380

Of full five years, and of the nobler kind.
The victim falls ; they strip the smoking hide,
The beast they quarter, and the joints divide ;
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his seat, and each receives his share. 385
The king himself, an honorary sign.
Before great Ajax placed the mighty chine.
When ribw the rage of hunger was removed,
Nestor, in each persuasive art approved.
The sage whose counsels long had sway'd the rest, 390
In words like these his prudent thought expressM :

* How dear, O kings, this fatal day has cost !
What Greeks are perish 'd ! what a people lost i
What tides of blood have drench'd Scamander's shore !
What crowds of heroes sunk, to rise no more ! 395
Then hear me, chief! nor let the morrow's light
Awake thy squadrons to new toils of fight :

158 HOMER.

Some space at least permit the war to breathe,

While we to flames our 8laug:hter'd friends bequeath.

From the red field their scattered bodies bear, 400

And nigh the fleet a funeral structure rear ;

So decent urns thoir snowy bones may keep,

And pious children o'er their ashes weep.

Here, where on one promiscuous pile they blaised.

High o'er them all a general tomb be raised ; 40.5

Next, to secure our camp and naval powers,

Raise an embattled wall with lofty towers ;

From space to space be ample gates around,

For passing chariots, and a trench profound.

So Greece to combat shall in safety go, 410

Nor fear the fierce incursions of the foe.'

'Twas thus the sage his wholesome counsel moved ;

The sceptred kings of Greece his words approved.

Meanwhile, convened at Priam's palace-gate,
The Trojan peers in nightly council sat : 415

A senate void of order, as of choice ;
Their hearts were fearful, and confused their voice.
Antenor rising, thus demands their ear :
' Ye Trojans, Dardans, and auxiliars, hear !
'Tis Heaven the counsel of my breast inspires, 420
And I but move what every god requires :
Let Sparta's treasures be this hour restored.
And Argive Helen own her ancient lord.
The ties of faith, the sworn alliance broke, '
Our impious battles the just gods provoke. 425

As this advice ye practise, or reject.
So hop^ success, or dread the dire eflect.'

The senior spoke, and sat. To whom replied
The graceful husband of the Spartan bride :
' Gold counsels, Trojan, may become thy years, 430
But sound ungrateful in a warrior's ears.
Old man, if void of fallacy or art
Thy words express the purpose of thy heart,

ILIAD. — BOaK VII. 169

Thou, in thy time, more soand advice ha&t given ;
But wisdom bas its date assigned by Heaven. 435

Then bear me, princes of the Trojan name !
Their treasures I '11 restore, but not the dame ;
My treasures, too, for peace, I will resign ;
But be this bright possession ever mine.'

'Twas then, the growing discord to compose, 440
Slow from his seat the reverend Priam rose :
His godlike aspect deep attention drew :
He paused, and these pacific words ensue :

* Ye Trojans, Dardans, and auxiliar bands !
Now take refreshment as the hour demands : 445

Guard well the walls, relieve the watch of night,
Till the new sun restores the cheerful light :
Then shall our herald, to tV Atrides sent,
Before their ships proclaim my son's intent.
Next let a truce be ask'd, that Troy may burn 450
Her slaughter 'd heroes, and their bones in urn;
That done, once more the fate of war be tried.
And whose the conquest, mighty Jove decide !'

The monarch spoke : the warriors snatch'd with
haste.
Each at his post in arms, a short repast. 455

Soon as the rosy morn had waked the day,
To the black ships Id»us bent his way ;
There, to the sons of Mars, in council found.
He raised his voice ; the host stood listening round :

' Ye sons of Atreus, and ye Greeks, give ear ! 460
The words of Troy, and Troy's great monarch, hear.
Pleased may ye hear, so Heaven succeed my prayers !
What Paris, author of the war, declares.
The spoils and treasures he to Ilion bore.
Oh had he perish'd. ere they touch 'd our shore ! 465
He proffers injured Greece ; with large^ increase .
Of added Trojan wealth to buy the peace ;

160 HOMER.

But to restore the beauteoas bride again,
This Greece demands, and Troy requests, in vain.
Next, O ye chiefs ! we ask a truce to burn 470

Our slaughtered heroes, and their bones inurn.
That donie, once more the fate of war be tried.
And whose the conquest, mighty Jove decide !'

The Greeks gave ear, but none the silence broke ;
At length Tydides rose, and rising spoke : 475

* Oh, take not, friends ! defrauded of your fame.
Their proffer'd wealth, nor ev'n the Spartan dame :
Let conquest make them ours : fate shakes their

wall,
And Troy already totters to her fall.'

Th' admiring chiefs, and all the Grecian name, 480
With general shouts return'd him loud acclaim.
Then thus the king of kings rejects the peace :

* Herald ! in him thou hear'st the voice of Greece.
For what remains ; let funeral flames be fed

With heroes' corps ; I war not with the dead : 485

Go search your slaughtered chiefs on yonder plain,
And gratify the manes of the slain.
Be witness, Jove, whose thunder rolls on high I*
He said, and rear'd his sceptre to the sky.

To sacred Troy, where all her princes lay 490

To wait th' event, the herald bent his way.
He canfe, and, standing in the midst, explained
The peace rejected, but the truce obtained.
Straight to their several cares the Trojans move.
Some search the plain, some fell the sounding grove :
Nor less the Greeks, descending on the shore, 496

Hew'd the green forests, and the bodies bore.
And now from forth the chambers of the main,
To shed his sacred light on earth again.
Arose the golden chariot of the day, 500

And tipp'd the mountains with a purple ray.

ILIAD.-^BOOK VII. 161

In mingled throngs the Greek and Trojan train
Through heaps of carnage searched the mournful plain.
Scarce could the friend his slaughter'd friend ex-
plore.
With dust dishonored, and deform'd with gore. 505
The wounds they wash'd, their pious tears they shed,
And, laid along their cars, deplored the dead.
Sage Priam checks their grief: with silent haste
The hodies decent on their piles were placed :
With melting hearts the cold remains they barn'd ;
And sadly slow to sacred Troy returned. 51 1

Nor less the Greeks their pious sorrows shed,
And decent on the pile dispose the dead ;
The cold remains consume with equal care ;
And slowly, sadly, to their fleet repair. 515

Now, ere the mom had streakM with redd'ning light
The doubtful confines of the day and night.
About the dying flames the Greeks appeared.
And round the pile a general tomb they reared.
Then, to secure the camp and naval powers, 630

They raised embattled walls with lofty towers:
From space to space were ample gates around.
For passing chariots ; and a trench profound.
Of large extent ; and deep in earth, below.
Strong piles, infix'd, stood adverse to the foe. 525

So toil'd the Greeks : meanwhile the gods above,
In shining circle round their father Jove,
Amazed beheld the wondrous works of man ;
Then he whose trident shakeis the earth began :

* What mortals henceforth shall our power adore,
Our fanes frequent, our oracles implore, 531

If the proud Grecians thus successful boast
Their rising bulwarks on the sea-beat coast ?
See the long walls extending to the main,
No god consultedi and no victim slain I 535

UOM4 VOL. I. L

(

168 HOMER.

Their fame aball fill the world's remotest ends, I

Wide as the mom her golden beam extends ;

While old Laomedon's divine abodes,

Those radiant structures raised by laboring gods.

Shall, razed and lost, in long oblivion sleep/ MO

Thus spoke the hoary monarch of the deep.

Th' almighty Thunderer with a frown replies.
That clouds the world, and blackens half the skies :
* Strong god'of oisean ! thou, whose rage can make
The solid earth's eternal basis shake ! 545

What cause of fear from mortal works could move
The meanest subject of our realms above ?
Where'er the sun's refulgent rays are cast,
Thy power is honor'd, and thy fame shall last :
But yon proud work no future age shall view, 550
No trace remain where once the glory grew.
The sapp'd foundations by thy force shall fall,
And, whelm'd beiftath thy waves, drop the huge wall :
Vast drifts of sand shall change the former shore ;
The ruin vanish'd, and the name no more.' 555

Thus they in heaven ; while o'er the Grecian train,
The rolling sun descending to the main
Beheld the finish'd work. Their bulls they slew :
Black from the tents the savoury vapors flew.
And now the fleet, arrived from Lemnos' strands, 560
With Bacchus' blessings cheer'd the generous bands.
Of fragrant wines the rich Eanaeus sent
A thousand measures to' the royal tent
(Eunffius, whom Hypsipyle of yore
To Jason, shepherd of his people, bore). 565

The rest they purchased at their proper cdst.
And well the plenteous freight supplied the host :
Each, in exchange, proportion'd treasures gave :
Some brass, or iron ; some an ox or slave. 569

All night they feast, the Greek and Trojan powers ;
Those on the fields^ and these within their towers.

ILIAD>«— BOOK VIII. 163

Bat Jove averse the signs of wrath display'd,
And shot red lightnings through the gloomy shade :
Humbled they stood ; pale horror seized on all,
While the deep thunder shook the aerial hall. 575
Each pour'd to Jove, before the bowl was crown 'd ;
And large libations drench'd the thirsty ground :
Then late, refreshed with sleep from toils of figbt,
Enjoy'd the balmy blessings of the night.

BOOK VIII.

ARGUMENT.

The second Battle, and the Distress qf the Greeks,

Jupiter assembleB a council of the deities, and threatens
them with the pains of Tartarus if they assist either side :
Minerva only obtains of him that she may direct the Greeks
by her counsels-^The armies join battle : Jupiter on Mount
Ida weighs in his balances the fates of both, and affrights
the Greeks- with his thunders and lightnings — Nestor alone
continues in the field in great danger ; Diomed relieves
him ; whose exploits, and those of Hector, 'are excellently
described — Juno endeavors to animate Neptune to the as-
sistance of the Greeks, but in vain— The acts of Teucer,
who is at length wounded by Hector, and carried off— Juno
and Minerva prepare to aid the Grecians ; but are re-
strained by IriS) sent from Jupiter— The night puts an end
to the battle — ^Hector continues in the field (the Greeks
being driven to their fortifications before the ships), and
gives orders to keep the watch all night in the camp, to
prevent the enemy from re-embarking and escaping by
flight— They kindle fires through all the field, and pass the
night under arms. — [The time of seven-and-twenly days is
employed from the opining of the poem to the end of this

'►«

164 HOHER#

book. The scene here (except of the celestial macfaines)
lies in the field toward the sea-shore.]

Aui^ORA now, fair daughter of the dawn,
Sprinkled with rosy light the dewy lawn ;
When Jore convened the senate of the skies,
Where high Olympus' cloudy tops arise«
The sire of gods his awful silence broke, 5

The heavens attentive trembled as he spoke :
* Celestial states, immortal gods ! give ear ;
Hear our decree, and reverence what ye hear :
The fix'd decree, which not all heaven can move ;
Thou, Fate ! fulfil it ;' and, ye powers ! approve ! 10
What god but enters yon forbidden field,
Who yields assistance, or but wills to yield,
Back to the skies with shame he shall be driven,
Gash'd with dishonest wounds, the scorn of heaven :
Or far, oh far from steep Olympus thrown, 15

Low in the dark Tartarean gulf shall groan.
With burning chains fix'd to the brazen floors^
And lockM by hell's inexorable doors ;
As deep beneath the infernal centre hurPd,
As from that centre to the ethereal world. 20

Let him who tempts me dread those dire abodes ;
And know, the Almighty is the god of gods.
League all your forces then, ye powers above.
Join all, and try the omnipotence of Jove :
Let down our golden everlasting chain, 25

Whose strong embrace holds heaven, and earth, and

main:
Strive all, of mortal and immortal birth.
To drag, by this, tlie Thunderer down to earth :
Ye strive in vain ! If I but stretch this hand,
I heave the gods, the ocean, and the land r 30

ILIAD.— BOOK VIII. 166

I fix the chain to ^eat Olympus' height,

And the vast world hangs trembling in my sight !

For such I reign, unbounded and above ;

And such are men, and gods, compared to Jove.

The Almighty spoke ; nor durst the powers reply, 35

A reverend horror silenced all the sky ;

Trembling they stood before their sovereign's look ;

At length his best beloved, the power of wisdom, spoke :

* O first and greatest ! god, by gods adored !
We own thy might, our father and our lord ! 40

But, ah I permit to pity human state ;
If not to help, at least lament their fate.
From fields forbidden we submiss refrain.
With arms unaiding mourn our Argives slain ;
Yet grant my counsels still their breasts may move.
Or all must perish in the wrath of Jove/ 46

The cloud-compelling god her suit approved,
And smiled superior on his best beloved :
Then call'd his coursers, and his chariot took ;
The stedfast firmament beneath them shook : 50

Rapt by the ethereal steeds the chariot roll'd ;
Brass were their hoofs, their curling manes of gold.
Of heaven's undrossy gold the god's array.
Refulgent, fiash'd intolerable day«
High on the throne he shines : his coursers fly 55

Between the extended earth and starry sky.
But when to Ida's topmost height he came
(Fair nurse of fountains, and of savage game),
Where, o'er her pointed summits proudly raised^
His fane breath'd odors, and his altar blazed ; 60

There, from his radiant car the sacred sire
Of gods and men released the steeds of fire :
Blue ambient mists the immortal steeds embraced ;
High on the cloudy point his seat he placed ;
Thence his broad eye the subject world surveys, ^ 65
The town, and tents, and navigable seas.

166 HOMER.

Now had the Grecians snatch'd a short repast^
And buckled on their shining arms with haste.
Troy roused as soon ; for on this dreadful day
The fate of fathers, wives, and infants, lay. . 70

The gates unfolding pour forth all their train ;
Squadrons on squadrons cloud the dusky plain :
Men, steeds, and chariots, shake the trembling ground ;
The tumult thickens, and the skies resound.
And now with shouts the shocking armies closed, 76
To lances lances, shields to shields opposed ;
Host against host with shadowy legions drew^
Xhe sounding darts in iron tempests flew ;
Victors and vanquished join promiscuous cries,
Triumphant shouts and dying groans arise : 80

With streaming blood the slippery fields are dyed,
And slaughtered heroes swell the dreadful tide.
Long as the morning beams increasing bright,
O'er heaven's clear azure spread the sacred light ;
Commutual death the fate of war confounds, 85

Each adverse battle gored with equal wounds.
But when the sun the height of heavon ascends,
The sire of gods his golden scales suspends.
With equal hand : in these explored the fate
Of Greece and Troy, and poised the mighty weight.
Pressed with its load, the Grecian balance lies 91

Low sunk on earth, the Trojan strikes the skies.
Then Jove from Ida's top his horror spreads ;
The clouds burst dreadful o'er the Grecian heads :
Thick lightnings flash ; the muttering thunder rolls, 95
Their strength he withers, and unmans their souls.
Before his wrath the trembling hosts retire ;
The gods in terrors, and the skies on fire.
Nor great Idomeueus that sight could bear,
Nor each stern Ajax, thunderbolts of war : 100

Nor he, the king of men, the alarm sustain'd ;
Nestor alone amidst the storm remain'di

ILIAD. — BOOK VIII. 167

Unwilling be remained, for Paris' dart

Had pierced his courser in a mortal part :

Fix'd in the forehead where the springing mane 105

Curl'd o*er the brow, it stung him to the brain :

Mad with his anguish, he begins to rear,

Paw with bis hoofs aloft, and ]asb the air.

Scarce had his falchion cut the reins, and freed

The incumbered chariot from the dying steed, 110

When dreadful Hector, thundering through the war,

Pour'd to the tumult on his whirling car.

That day had stretch'd beneath his matchless hand

The hoary monarch of the Pylian band.

But Diomed beheld ; from forth the crowd jt^^

He msh'd, and on Ulysses chWd aloud : 'J

* Whither, O whither does Ulysses run ?
O flight unworthy great Laertes' son !
Mix'd with the vulgar shall thy fate be found,
Pierced in the back, a vile dishonest wound I 120

O turn, and save from Hector's direful rage
The glory of the Greeks, the Pylian sage.'
His fruitless words are lost unheard in air,
Ulysses seeks the ships, and shelters there.
But bold Tydides to the rescue goes, 125 . '

A single warrior midst a host of foes : v

Before the coursers with a sudden spring *^

He leap'd, and anxious thus bespoke the king :

' Great perils, father] wait the unequal fight ;
These younger champions will oppress thy might. 130
Thy veins no more with ancient vigOr glow,
Weak is thy servant, and thy coursers slow.
Then haste, ascend my seat, and from the car
Observe the steeds of Tros, renown'd in war,
Practised alike to turn, to stop, to chase, lf)5

To dare the. fight, or urge the rapid race :
.These late obe/d iEneas' guiding rein ;
Leave thou thy chariot to our.faithful train :

168 HOMER*

With these against yon Trojans will we go^

Nor shall great Hector want an equal foe ; 140

Fierce as he is, ev'n he may learn to fear

The thirsty fury of my flying spear/ ,

Thus said the chief; and Nestor, skill'd in war,
Approves his counsel, and ascends the car :
The steeds he left, their trusty servants hold ; 145

Eurymedon, and Sthenelus the bold :
The reverend charioteer directs the course,
And strains his aged arm to lash the horse.
Hector they face ; unknowing how to fear,
Fierce he drove on ; Tydides whirl'd his spear* IdO
The spear with erring haste mistook its way,
But pluiiged in Eniopeus' bosom lay.
His opening hand in death forsakes the rein ;
The steeds fly back : he falls, and spurns the plain.
Great Hector sorrows for his servant kill'd, , 155

Yet unrevenged permits to press the fleld ;
Till to supply his place, and rule the car,
Rose Archeptolemus, the flerce in war.
And now had death and horror cover'd all :
Like timorous flocks the Trojans in their wall IGO

Inclosed had bled : but Jove with awful sound
Rolled the big thunder o'er the vastprofound ;
Full in Tydides' face the lightning flew ;
The ground before him flamed with sulphur blue ;
The quivering steeds fell prostrate at the sight ; 165
And Nestor's trembling hand confess'd his fright ;
He dropped the reins ; and, shook with sacred dread,
Thus, turning, warnM the intrepid Diomed :

^ O chief] too daring in thy friend's defence.
Retire, advised, and urge the chariot hence* 170

This day, averse, the sovereign of the skies
Assists great. Hector, and our palm denies.
Some other sun may see the happier hour.
When Greece shall conquer by his heavenly power.

ILIAD.*«BOOK VIII. 169

'Tifl not In man his fix'd decree to move : 175

The great will glory to submit to JoVe/

' O reverend prince !' Tydides thus replies,
' Thy years are awful, and thy words are wise.
But ah, what grief I should haughty Hector boast,
I fled inglorious to the guarded coast* 180

Before that dire disgrace shall blast my fame,
O'erwhelm me, earth 1 and hide a warrior's shame.'

To whom Oerenian Nestor thus replied :
* Gods ! can thy courage fear the Phrygian's pride?
Hector may vaunt, but who shall heed the boast ? 185
Not those who felt thy arm, the Dardan host,
Nor Troy, yet bleeding in her heroes lost ;
Not ev'n a Phrygian dame, who dreads the sword
That laid in dust her loved lamented lord.'
He said, and hasty o'er the gasping throng 190

Drives the swift steeds ; the chariot smokes along.
The shouts of Trojans thicken in the wind.
The storm of hissing javelins pour behind.
Then, with a voice that shakes the solid skies.
Pleased Hector braves the warrior as he flies : 195
Go, mighty hero, graced above the rest
In seats of council and the sumptuous feast !
Now hope no more those honors from thy train ;
Go, less than woman, in the form of man !
To scale our walls, to wrap our towers in flames, 200
To lead in exile the fair Phrygian dames,
Thy once proud hopes, presumptuous prince! are

fled;
This arm shall reach thy heart, and stretch thee dead.'

Now fears dissuade him, and now hopes invite,
To stop his coursers, and to stand the fight : 205

Thrice turn'd the chief, and thrice imperial Jove
On Ida's summits thunder'd from above :
Great Hector heard ; he saw the flashing light,
^The sig^ of conquest) and thus urged the fight :

(

170 HOMBR«

* Hear, every Trojan, Lycian, Dardan band, 210
All famed in war, and dreadful band to band.
Be mindful of the wreatbs your arms bave wod.
Your great forefatbers' glories and your own.
Heard ye tbe voice of Jove ? Success and fame
Await on Troy, on Greece eternal sbame. 215

In vain tbey skulk bebtn^l tbeir boasted wall,
Weak bulwarks ! destined by this arm to falL
Higb o'er tbeir sligbted trencb our steeds sball bound.
And pass victorious o'er tbe levelled mound.
Soon as before yon boUow sbips we stand, 220

Figbt eacb witb flames, and toss the blazing brand ;
Till tbeir proud navy wrapp'd in smoke and fires,
AH Greece, encompassed, in one blaze expires.'

Furious he said ; then, bending o'er the yoke, 224
Encouraged bis proud steeds, while thus be spoke :
* Now Xantbus, ^Ethon, Lampus 1 urge the chase,
And thou, Podargus ! prove thy generous race :
Be fleet, be fearless, this important day.
And all your master's well-spent care repay.
For this, high-fed in plenteous stalls ye stand, 230
Served with pure wheat, and by a princess' band ;
For this my spouse, of great Action's line, "
So oft has steep'd the strengtbening g^ain in wine.
Now swift pursue, now thunder uncontroU'd ;
Give me to seize rich Nestor's sbield of gold, 236

From Tydeus' shoulders strip tbe costly load,
Vulcan ian arms, the labor of a god :
These if we gain, then victory, ye powers ! «
This night, this glorious night, tbe fleet is ours.'

That heard, deep anguish stung Saturnia's soul: 240
She shook, her throne tbat shook tbe starry pole :
And thus to Neptune : ' Thou, whose force can make
The stedfast earth from her foundations shake,
Seest thou the Greeks by fates unjust oppress'd.
Nor swells thy heart in that immortal breast ? 2M5

ILIAD. — BOOK VIII. 171

Yet i£ga, Heliee, thy power obey,

And gifts QDceasiDg on thine altars lay.

Would all the deities of Greece combine.

In vain the gloomy Thunderer might repine :

Sole should be sit, with scarce a god to friend, --250

And see his Trojans to the shades descend :

Such be the scene from his Idaean bower ;

Ungrateful prospect to the sullen power!'

Neptune with wrath rejects the rash design :
' What rage, what madness, furious queen, is thine?
I war not with the highest. All above 256

Submit and tremble at the hand of Jove.'

Now godlike Hector, to whose matchless might
Jove gave the glory of the destined fight.
Squadrons on squadrons drives, and fills the fields 260
With close-ranged chariots, and with thickenM shields.
Where the deep trench in length extended lay,
Compacted troops stand wedged in firm array,
A dreadful front ! they shake the brands, and threat
With long-destroying flames the hostile fleet. . 265
The king of men, by Juno's self inspired,
Toil'd. through the tents, and all his army fired.
Swift as he moved, he lifted in his hand
His purple robe, bright ensign of command.
High on the midmost bark the king appeared ; 270
There, from Ulysses' deck his voice was heard:
To Ajax and Achilles reach'd the sound.
Whose distant ships the guarded navy bound.
* O Argives! shame of human race !' he cried,
(The hollow vessels to his voice replied,) 275

Where now are all your glorious boasts of yore,
Your hasty triumphs on the Lemnian shore ?
Each fearless hero dares a hundred foes, *

While the feast lasts, and while the goblet flows ;
But who to meet one martial man is found, 280

When the fight rages, and the flames surround?

172 HOMER.

O mighty Jove ! O sire of the distressed !
Was ever king like me, like me oppressed ?
With ppwer immense, with justice arroM in vain ;
My glory ravish'd, and my people slain ? 285

To thee my vows were breathed from every shore 5
What altar smoked not with our Victim's gore 7
With fat of bulls I fed the constant flame,
And ask'd destruction to the Trojan name.
Now, gracious God ! far humbler our demand ; 290
Give these at least to escape from Hector's hand^
And save the relics of the Grecian land !'
Thus pray'd the king; and heaven's g^eat father
heard
His vows, in bitterness of soul preferred ;
The wrath appeased, by happy signs declares, 295

And gives the people to their monarch's prayers*
His eagle, sacred bird of heaven ! he sent,
A fawn his talons truss'd (divine portent !) :
High o'er the wondering hosts he soar'd above,
Who paid their vows to Panomphsean Jove ; 300

Then let the prey before his altar fall :
The Greeks beheld, and transport seized on all :
Encouraged by the sign, the troops revive,
And fierce on Troy with double fury drive*
Tydides, first, of all the Grecian force, d05

O'er the broad ditch impell'd his foaming horse,
Pierced the deep ranks, their strongest battle tore.
And dyed his javelin red with Trojan gore*
Young Agelaus (Phradmon was his sire)
With flying coursers ^hunn'd his dreadful ire i 310
Struck through the, back, the Phrygian fell oppressed ;
The dart drove on, and issued at his breast:
Headlong he quits the car; his arms resound :
His ponderous buckler thunders on the ground.
Forth r,u8h a tide of Greeks, the passage freed : 315
The Atridce first, the Ajaces next succeed ;

ILIAD. — BOOK VIII. 173

Meriones, like Mars in arms renown'd,

And godlike Idomen, now pass'd the monnd :

Evaeroon's son next issues to the foe.

And last, young Teucer with his bended bow. 320

Secure behind the Telamonian shield

The skilful archer wide suryey'd the field.

With every shaft some hostile victim slew,

Then close beneath the sevenfold orb withdrew :

The conscious infant so, when fear alarms, 325

Retires for safety to the mother's arms.

Thus Ajax guards his brother in the field,

Moves as he moves, and turns the shining shield.

Who first by Teucer's mortal arrows bled?
Orsilochus ; then fell Ormenus dead : 330

The godlike Lycophron next pressed the plain,
With Chromius, Dastor, Ophelestes slain :
Bold Hamopaon breathless sunk to ground ;
The bloody pile great Melanippus crown'd.
Heaps fell on heaps, sad trophies of his art ; 335

A Trojan ghost attended every dart.
Great Agamemnon views with joyful eye
The ranks grow thianer as his arrows fiy :
' O youth for ever dear !' the monarch cried,
' Thus, always thus, thy early worth be tried ; 340
Thy brave example shall retrieve our host.
Thy country's saviour, and thy father's boast !
Sprung from an alien's bed thy sire to grace.
The vigorous offspring of a stol'n embrace.^
Proud of his boy, he own'd the generous flame, 345
And the brave son repays his cares with fame.
Now hear a monarch's vow: * If Heaven's high powers
Give me to raze Troy's long-defended towers ;
Whatever treasures Greece for me design,
The next rich honorary gift be thine : 350

Some golden tripod, or distingnish'd car.
With coursers dreadful in the ranks of war;

*i

174 ttOMER.

Or some fair captive wbom thy eyes approve,

Shall recompense the warrior's toils with love.' 354

To this the chief: ' With praise the rest inspire,
Nor urge a soul already fiU'd with fire.
What strength I have, be now in battle tried,
Till every shaft in Phrygian blood be dyed.
Since rallying from our wall we forced the foe,
Still aim'd at Hector have I bent my bow : 360^

Eight forky arrows from this hand have fied.
And eight bold heroes by their points lie dead :
But sure some god denies me to destroy
This fury of the field, this dog of Troy.'

He said, and twang'd the string. The weapon fiies
At Hector's breast, and sings along the skies : 366
He miss'd the mark, but pierced Gorgythio's heart,
And drench'd in royal blood the thirsty dart.
(Fair Castianira, nymph of form divine.
This offspring added to king Priam's line.) 370

As full-blown poppies, overcharged with rain.
Decline the head, and drooping kiss the plain ;
So sinks the youth : his beauteous head, depress'd
Beneath his helmet, drops upon his breast.
Another shaft the raging archer drew : 375

That other shaft with erring fury flew
(From Hector Phoebus turn'd the flying wound),
Yet fell not dry or guiltless to the ground :
Thy bteast, brave Archeptolemus ! it tore.
And dipp'd its feathers in no vulgar gore. 3S0

Headlong he falls : his sudden fall alarms
The steeds, that startle at his sounding arms.
Hector with grief his charioteer beheld
All pale and breathless on the sanguine field.
Then bids Cebriones direct the rein, 385

Quits his bright car, and issues on the plain.
Dreadful he shouts : from earth a stone he took,
And rush'd on Teucer with the lifted rock.

ILIAD. — BOOK VIII. 175.

The youth already strain'd the forcefal yew ;

The iUiaft already to his shoulder drew ; 390

The feather in his hand, just wing'd for flight,

Touched where the neck and hollow chest unite ;

There, where the juncture knits the channel bone.

The furious chief discharged the craggy stone ;

The bow-string burst beneath the ponderous blow, 395

And his numVd hand dismissed his useless bow.

He fell ; but Ajax his broad shield display'd.

And screen^ his brother with a mighty shade ;

Till great Alastor and Mecistheus bore

The battered archer groaning to the shore. 400

Troy yet found grace before the Olympian' sire ;
He arm'd their hands, and fiU'd their breasts with fire.
The Greeks, repulsed, retreat behind their wall,
Or in the treach on heaps confusedly fall.
First of the foe, great Hector march'd along, 405

With terror clothed, and more than mortal strong.
As the bold hound, that gives the lion chase.
With beating bosom, and with eager pace.
Hangs on his haunch, or fastens on his heels, -'

Guards as he turns, and circles as he wheels : 410 A

Thus oft the Grecians turn'd, but still they flew ;
Thus following Hector still the hindmost slew.
When flying they had pass'd the trench profound.
And many a chief lay gasping on the ground ;
Before the ships a desperate stand they made, 415
And fired the troops, and call'd the gods to aid.
Fierce on his rattling chariot Hector came ;
His eyes like Gorgon shot a sanguine flame
That withered all their host : like Mars he stood ;
Dire as the monster, dreadful as the god I 420

Their strong distress the wife of Jove surveyed ;
Then pensive thus to war's triumphant maid :

' O daughter of that god whose arm can wield
The avenging bolt, and shake the sable shield !

176 bOMER.

Now, in this moment of ber last despair, 425

Shall wretched Greece no more confess our care.

Condemned to- suffer the full force of fate,

And drain the dregs of Hearen's relentless hate ? •

Gods ! shall one raging hand thus level all ?

What numbers fell ! what numbers yet shall fall ! 430

What power divine shall Hector's wrath assuage ?

Still swells the slaughter, and still grows the rage V

So spake the imperial regent of the skies ;
To whom the goddess with the azure eyes :
' Long since had Hector stain 'd these fields with gore,
Stretch'd by some Argive on his native shore : 436
But He above, the sire of Heaven, withstands.
Mocks our attempts, and slights our just demands.
The stubborn god, inflexible and hard,
Forgets my service and deserved reward : 440

Saved I, for this, his favorite son distressed.
By stern Eurystheus with long labors press'd ?
He begg'd, with tears he begged, in deep dismay ;
I shot from heaven, and gave his arm the day.
Oh, had my wisdom known this dire event, 445

When to grim Pluto's gloomy gates he went ;
The triple dog had never felt his chain,
Nor Styx been cross'd, nor hell explored in vain.
Averse to me of all his heaven of gods,
At Thetis' suit the partial Thunderer nods. 450

To grace her gloomy, fierce, resenting son^
My hopes are frustrate, and my Greeks undone*
Some future day^ perhaps, he may be moved
To call his blue-eyed maid his best-beloved.
Haste, launch thy chariot, through yon ranks to ride ;
Myself will arm, and thunder at thy side. 456

Then, goddess ! say, shall Hector glory then
(That terror of the Greeks, that man of men),

441 Hercules.

ILIAD.'-BOOR VIII. 177

When Juno's self/ and Pallas shall appear,
All-dreadful in the crimson walks of war I 460

What mighty Trojan then, on yonder shore,
Expiring, pale, and terrible no more.
Shall feast the fowls, and glnt the dogs with gore V

She ceased, and Juno rein'd the steeds with care
(Heaven's awful empress, Saturn's other hdr). 465
Pallas, meanwhile, her various veil unbound.
With flowers adom'd, with art immortal crown'd ;
The radiant robe her sacred fingers wove.
Floats in rich waves, and spreads the court of Jove.
Her father's arms her mighty limbs invest, 470

His cuirass blazes on her ample breast.
The vigorous power the trembling car ascends ;
Shook by her arm, the massy javelin bends ;
Huge, ponderous, strong ! that, when her fury burns,
Proud tyrants humbles, and whole hosts overturns.

Saturnia lends the lash ; the coursers fly ; 476

Smooth glides tlie chariot through the liquid sky.
Heaven's gates spontaneous open to the powers.
Heaven's golden gates, kept by the winged Hours. J

Commission'd in alternate watch they stand, 480 ■

The sun's bright portals and the skies command ; ^

Close or unfold the eternal gates of day.
Bar heaven with clouds, or roll those clouds away.
The sounding hinges ring, the clouds divide ;
Prone down the steep of heaven their course they
guide. 486

But Jove incensed, from Ida's top survey 'd.
And thus enjoin'd the many-color'd maid :

' Thaumantia ! mount the winds, and stop their
car;
Against the highest who shall wage the war ?
If furious yet they dare the vain debate, 490

Thus have I spoke, and what I speak is fate :

HOM. VOL. I. M

C1

178 HOMfeR.

Their coursers crush'd beneath the wheels shall lie.

Their car in fragments scatter'd o'er the sky ;

My lightning^ these rebellions shall confound.

And hurl them flaming, headlong to the ground, 4d5

Condemned for ten revolving years to weep

The wounds impressed by burning thunder deep.

So shall Minerva learn to fear our ire,

Nor dare to combat her's and nature's sire.

For Juno, headstrong and imperious still, .^00

She claims some title to transgress our will.'

Swift as the wind, the various-color/d maid
From Ida's top her gol4eu wings display'd ;
To great Olympus' shining gates she flies,
There meets the chariot rushing down the skies, h05
Restrains their progress from the bright abodes,
And speaks the mandate of the sire of gods :

* What frensy, goddesses ! what rage can move
Celestial minds to tempt the wrath of Jove !

•Desist, obedient to his high command ; 510

This is his word ; and know, his word shall stand.

His lightning your rebellion shall confound,

And hurl you headlong, flaming to the ground :

Your horses crush 'd beneath the wheels shall lie.

Your car in fragments scatter'd o'er the sky : 515

Yourselves condemn'd ten rolling years to weep

The wounds impressed by burning thunder deep.

So shall Minerva learn to fear his ire.

Nor dare to combat her's and nature's sire.

For Juno, headstrong and imperious still, 520

She claims some title to transgress his will :

But thee what desperate insolence has driven.

To lift thy lance against the king of heaven ?

Then, mounting on the pinions of the wind.

She flew ; and Juno thus her rage resign'd : 525

* O daughter of that god, whose arm can wield
The avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield !

ILIAD.— BOOK VIII. 179

No more let beings of superior birth
Contend with Jove for this low race of earth :
Triamphant now, now miserably slain, 530

They breathe or perish as the Fates ordain.
But Jove's high counsels full effect shall find ;
And, ever constant, ever rule mankind.'

She spoke, and backward turn'd her steeds of
light.
Adorned with manes of gold, and heavenly bright. 535
The Hours unloosed them, panting as they stood.
And heap'd their mangers with ambrosial food.
There tied, they rest in high celestial stalls ;
The chariot propped against the crystal walls.
The pensive goddesses, abash'd, controlled, 540

Mix with the gods, and fill their seats of gold.

And now the Thunderer meditates his flight
From Ida's summits to the Olympian height.
Swifter than thought the wheels instinctive fly.
Flame through the vast of air, and reach the sky. 545
'Twas Neptune's charge his coursers to unbrace.
And fix the car on its immortal base ;
There stood the chariot beaming forth its rays,
Till with a snowy veil he screened the blaze.
He, whose all-conscious eyes the world behold, 550
The eternal Thunderer, sat throned in gold.
High heaven the footstool of his feet he makes,
And wide beneath him all Olympus shakes;
Trembling afar the offending powers appeared,
Confused and silent, for his frown they fear'd. 556
He saw their soul, and thus his word imparts :
Pallas and Juno ! say, why heave your hearts ?
Soon was your battle o'er : proud Troy retired
Before your face, and in your wrath expired.
Bat know, whoe'er almighty power withstand, 560
Unmatched our force, unconquer'd is our hand :

180 HOMER.

Who shall the sovereign of the skies control ?

Not all the gods that crown the starry pole.

Your hearts shall tremhle, if oar arms we take^

'And each immortal nerve with horror shake. 565

For thus I speak, and what I speak shall stand ;

What power soe'er provokes our lifted hand,

On this our hill no more shall hold his place ;

Cut off, and exiled from the ethereal race.

Juno and Pallas grieving hear the doom, 570

But feast their souls on Ilion's woes to come,
Though secret anger swelled Minerva's breast.
The prudent goddess yet her wrath repressed :
But Juno, impotent of rage, replies :

* What hast thou said, O tyrant of the skies ? 576
Strength and omnipotence invest thy throne ;

'Tis thine to punish ; ours to grieve alone.

For Greece we grieve, abandoned by her fate.

To drink the dregs of thy unmeasured hate ;

From fields forbidden we submiss refrain, 580

With arms unaiding see our Argives slain ;

Yet grant our counsels still their breasts may move.

Lest all should perish in the rage of Jove.'

The goddess thus : and thus the god replies.
Who swells the clouds, and blackens all the skies :

* The morning sun, awaked by loud alarms, 586
Shall see the almighty Thunderer in arms.

What heaps of Argives then shall load the plain.

Those radiant eyes shall view, and view in vain.

Nor shall great Hector cease the rage of fight, 590

The navy flaming, and thy Greeks in flight,

Ev'n till the day, when certain fates ordain

That stern Achilles (his Patroclus slain)

Shall rise in vengeance, and lay waste the plain.

For such is fate, nor canst thou turn its course 505

With all thy rage, with all thy rebel force.

ILIAD.^-BOOR VIII. 181

Fly, if thou wilt, to earth's remotest bound.
Where on her utmost verge the seas resound ;
Where cursed lapetus and Saturn dwell,
Fast by the brink, within the streams of hell ; 600

No sun e'er gilds the gloomy horrors there;
No cheerful gales refresh the lazy air ;
There arm once more the bold Titanian band ;
And arm in vain ; for what I will shall stand/

Now deep in ocean sunk the lamp of light, 605

And drew behind the cloudy veil of night :
The conquering Trojans mourn his beams decay'd ;
The Greeks rejoicing bless the friendly shade.

The victors keep the field ; and Hector calls
A martial council near the navy walls : 610

These to Scamander's bank apart he led.
Where thinly scatter'd lay the heaps of dead.
The assembled chiefs, descending on the ground,
Attend his order, and their prince surround.
A massy spear he bore of mighty strength, 615

Of full ten cubits was the lance's length ;
The point was brass, refulgent to behold,
Fix'd to the wood with circling rings of gold :
The noble Hector on this lance reclined,
And bending forward, thus reveal'd his mind : 620

' Ye valiant Trojans, with attention hear !
Ye Dardan bands, and generous aids, give ear I
This day, we hoped, would wrap in conquering

flame
Greece with her ships, and crown our toils with fame.
But darkness noW| to save the cowards, falls, 625

And guards them trembling in their wooden walls.
Obey the Night, and use her peaceful hours
Our steeds to forage, and refresh our powers.
Straight from the town be sheep and oxen sought,
And strengthening bread ftnd generous wine be
brought. 630

(

182 HOlfER.

Wide o'er the field, high hlazing to the sky,

Let numerous fires the absent sun supply,

The flaming piles with plenteous fuel raise.

Till the bright morn her purple beam displays ;

Lest, in the silence and the shades of night, 635

Greece in her sable ships attempt her flight.

Not unmolested let the wretches gain

Their lofty decks, or safely cleave the main ;

Some hostile wound let every dart bestow.

Some lasting token of the Phrygian foe, 640

Wounds, that long hence may ask their spouses' care.

And warn their children from a Trojan war.

Now through the circuit of our Ilion wall

Let sacred heralds sound the solemn call ;

To bid the sires with hoary honors crown'd, 645

And beardless youths, our battlements surround.

Firm be the guard, while distant lie our powers.

And let the matrons hang with lights the towers ;

Lest, under covert of the midnight shade,

The insidious foe the naked town invade. 650

Suffice, to-night, these orders to obey ;

A nobler charge shall rouse the dawning day. .

The gods, I trust, shall give to Hector's hand,

From these detested foes to free the land.

Who plough'd, with fates averse, the wat'ry way, 655

For Trojan vultures a predestined prey.

Our common safety must be now the care ;

But soon as morning paints the fields of air,

Sheathed in bright arms let every troop engage.

And the fired fleet behold the battle rage. 660

Then, then shall Hector and Tydides prove

Whose fates are heaviest in the scale of Jove.

To-morrow's light (O haste the glorious morn !)

Shall see his bloody spoils in triumph borne.

With this keen javelin shall his breast be gored, 665

And prostrate heroes bleed around their lord.

ILIAD. — BOOK VllK 183

Certain as this, oh ! might my days endure,

From age inglorious, ami black death secure ;

So might my life and glory know no bound,

Like Pallas worshipped, like the sun renown'd ; 670

As the next dawn, the last they shall enjoy,

Shall crush the Greeks, and end the woes of Troy,'

The leader spoke. From all his host around
Shouts of applause along the shores resound.
Each from the yoke the smoking steeds untied, 675
And fix'd their headstalls to his chariot-side.
Fat sheep and oxen from the town are led
With generous wine, and all-sustaining bread.
Full hecatombs lay burning on the shore ;
The winds to heaven the curling vapors bore. 680

Ungrateful offering to the immortal powers.
Whose wrath hung heavy o'er the Trojan towers ;
Nor Priam nor his sons obtained their grace ;
Proud Troy they hated, and her guilty race.

The troops exulting sat in order round, 685

And beaming fires illumined all the ground.
As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night I
O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light.
When not a breath disturbs the deep serene.
And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene ; 690

Around her throne the vivid planets roll.
And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole.
O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed.
And tip with silver every mountain's head ;
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise, 695
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies :
The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight.
Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light.
So many flames before proud Ilion blaze,
And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays : 700
The long reflections of the distant fires
Gleam on the walls, and tremble on the spires.

L

184 HOMER.

A thousand piles the dnsky horrors gild,

And shoot a shady lustre o'er the field.

Full fifty guards each flaming pile attend, 705

Whose umber'd arms, by fits, thick flashes send ;

Loud neigh the coursers o'er their heaps of com,

And ardent warriors wait the rising morn.

BOOK IX.

ARGUMENT.

Th.% Embiusy to Achilles,

Agamemnon, after the last day's defeat, proposes to the
Greeks to quit the siege, and return to their country — Dio-
med opposes this, and Nestor seconds him, praising his
wisdom and resolution — He orders the guard to be strength-
ened, and a council summoned to deliberate what mea-
sures are to be followed in this emergency — Agamemnon
pursues this adrice, and Nestor farther prevails on him to
send ambassadors to Achilles, in order to move him to a
reconciliation — Ulysses and Ajax are made choice of, who
are accompanied by old Phceniz — ^They make, each of them,
very moving and pressing speeches, but are rejected with
roughness by Achilles, who notwithstanding retains PhoB-
niz in his tent — ^The ambassadors return unsuccessfully to
the camp, and the troops betake themselves to sleep. —
[This book, and the next following, take up the space of
one night, which is the twenty-seventh from the beginning
of the poem. The scene lies on the sea-shore, the station
of the Grecian ships.]

'hus joyful Troy maintain'd the watch of night :
KThile f^ar, pale comrade of the inglorious flight,
ind heaven-bred horror, on the Grecian part,
Sat on each face, and sadden'd erery hearty

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. 185

As, from its cloudy dangeon issuing forth^ . 5

A double tempest of the west and north

Swells o'er the sea, from Thracia's frozen shore,

Heaps waves on waves, and hids the iEgean roar ;

This way and that the boiling deeps are toss'd ;

Such various passions urged the troubled host. 10

Great Agamemnon grieved above the rest ;

Superior sorrows swell'd his royal breast ;

Himself his orders to the heralds bears,

To bid to council all the Grecian peers.

But bid in whispers : these surround their chief, 15

In solemn sadness, and majestic grief.

The king amidst the mournful circle rose ;

Down his wan cheek a briny torrent flows :

So silent fountains, from a rock's tall head,

In sable streams soft-trickling waters shed. 20

With more than vulgar grief he stood oppress'd ;

Words, mix'd with sighs, thus bursting from his breast:

' Te sons of Greece ! partake your leader's care ;
Fellows in arms, and princes of the war !
Of partial Jove too justly we complain, 25

And heavenly oracles believed in vain.
A safe return was promised to our toils.
With conquest honor'd, and enrich'd with spoils :
Now shameful flight alone can -save the host ;
Our wealth, our people, and our glory lost. SO

So Jove decrees, almighty lord of all !
Jove, at whose nod whole empires rise or fall,
Who shakes the feeble props of human trust.
And towers and armies humbles to the dust.
Haste then, for ever quit these fatal fields, 35

Haste to the joys our native country yields ;
Spread all your canvass, all your oars employ.
Nor hope the fall of Heaven-defended Troy.'

He said: deep silence held the Grecian band;
Silent, unmoved, in dire dismay they stand, 40

186 HOMER.

A pensive scene ! till Tydeus' warlike son
Roird on the king his eyes, and thus begun :

* When kings advise us to renounce our fame.
First let him speak, who first has suffered shame.
If I oppose thee, prince, thy wrath withhold, 45

The laws of council bid my tongue be bold.
Thou first, and thou alone, in fields of fight.
Durst brand my courage, and defame my might :
Nor from a friend the unkind reproach appeared.
The Greeks stood witness, all our army heard. 50

The gods, O chief! from whom our honors spring.
The gods have made thee but by halves a king.
They gave thee sceptres, and a wide command.
They gave dominion o'er the seas and land ;
The noblest power that might the world control 55
They gave thee not — a brave and virtuous soul.
Is this a general's voice, that would suggest
Fears like his own to every Grecian breast ?
Confiding in our want of worth, he stands ;
And if we fly, 'tis what our king commands. 60

Go thou, inglorious, from the embattled plain ;
Ships thou hast store, and nearest to the main ;
A nobler care the Grecians shall employ,
To combat, conquer, and extirpate Troy.
Here Greece shall stay ; or if all Greece retire, 65

Myself will stay, till Troy or I expire ;
Myself and Sthenelus will fight for fame ;
God bade us fight, and 'twas with god we came.*

He ceased ; the Greeks loud acclamations raise.
And voice to voice resounds Tydides' praise, 70

Wise Nestor then bis reverend figure rear'd ;
He spoke ; the host in still attention heard :

' O, truly great ! in whom the gods have join'd
Such strength of body with such force of mind ;
In conduct, as in courage, you excel, 75

Still first to act what you advise so well.

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. 187

Those wholesome counsels which thy wisdom moves,
Applanding Greece with common voice approves.
Kings thou canst hlame ; a hold but prudent youth ;
And blame ev'n kings with praise, because with truth.
And yet those years that since thy birth have run 81
Would hardly style thee Nestor's youngest son.
Then let me add what yet remains behind,
A thought unfinished in that generous mind ;
Age bids me speak ; nor shall the advice I bring 85
Distaste the people or offend the king :

' Cursed is the man, and void of law and right,
Unworthy property, unworthy light.
Unfit for public rule, or private care ;
That wretch, that monster, who delights in war : 90
Whose lust is murder, and whose horrid joy,
To tear his country, and his kind destroy !
This night, refresh and fortify thy train ;
Between the trench and wall let guards remain :
Be that the duty of the young and bold ; d5

But thou, O king! to council call the old :
Great is thy sway, and weighty are thy cares ;
Thy high commands must spirit all our wars.
With Thracian wines recruit thy honor'd gnesls,
For happy counsels flow from sober feasts. 100

Wise, weighty counsels aid a state distress'd,
And such a monarch as can choose the best.
See ! what a blaze from hostile tents aspires,
How near our fleet approach the Trojan fires I
Who can, unmoved, behold the dreadful light? 105
What eye beholds them, and can close to-night?
This dreadful interval determines all ;
To-morrow Troy must flame, or Greece must fall.'

Thus spoke the hoary sage : the rest obey ;
Swift through the gates the guards direct their way.
His son was first to pass the lofty mound. 111

The generous Thrasymed, in arms renown'd ;

i

188 HOMER.

Next him, Ascalaphas, lalmen, stood,

The double offspring of the warrior-god.

Deipyrus, Apharens, Merion join, 115

And Lycomed, of Creon's noble line.

Seven were the leaders of the nightly bands.

And each bold chief a hundred spears commands.

The fires they light, to short repasts they fall.

Some line the trench, and others man the wall. 120

The king of men, on public counsels bent.
Convened the princes in his ample tent ;
Each sei2sed a portion of the kingly feast.
But stajr'd his hand when thirst and hunger ceased.
Then Nestor spoke, for wisdom long approved, 125
And, slowly rising, thus the council moved :

* Monarch of nations 1 whose superior sway
Assembled states and lords of earth obey.
The laws and sceptres to thy hand are ^ven,
And millions own the care of thee and Heaven. 190

king! the counsels of my age attend ;
With thee my cares begin, in thee must end ;
Thee, prince ! it fits alike to speak and hear,
Pronounce with judgement, with regard give ear,

To see no wholesome motion be withstood, 135

And ratify the best for public good.

Nor, though a meaner give advice, repine.

But follow it, and make the wisdom thine.

Hear then a thought, not now conceived in haste,

At once my present judgment, and my past. 140

When from Pelides' tent you forced the mfiid,

1 first opposed, and faithful durst dissuade ;
But bold of soul,- when headlong fury fired.
You wrong'd the man by men and gods admired :
Now seek some means his fatal wrath to end, 145
With prayers to move him, or with gifts to bend.'

To whom the king: ' With justice hast thoa showu
A prince's faults, and I with reason own.

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. 180

That happy man, whom Jore still honors most,
Is more than armies, and himself a host. 150

Bless'd in his love, this wondroas hero stands,
Heayen fights his war, and hnmhles all our hands.
Fain would my heart, which err'd through frantic rage,
The wrathful chief and angry gods assuage.
If gifts immense his mighty soul can how, 155

Hear, all ye Greeks, and witness what I yow :
Ten weighty talents of the purest gold.
And twice ten vases of refulgent mould ;
Seven sacred tripods, whose unsullied frame
Tet knows no office, nor has felt the flame : 160

Twelve steeds unmatched in fleetness and in force.
And still victorious in the dusty course
(Rich were the man whose ample stores exceed
The prizes purchased hy their winged speed) :
Seven lovely captives of the Leshian line, 165

Skill'd in each art, unmatched in form divine ;
The same I chose for more than vulgar charms.
When Lesbos sunk beneath the hero's arms :
All these, to buy his friendship shall be paid,
.And join'd with these, the long-contested maid; 170 <

With all her charms, Briseis I resign, I

And solemn swear those charms were never mine ; Ql

Untouched she stay'd, uninjured she removes.
Pure from my arms, and guiltless of my loves.
These instant shall be his : and if the powers 175

dive to our arms proud Ilion's hostile towers.
Then shall he store (when Greece the spoil divides)
With gold and brass his loaded navy's sides.
Besides, full twenty nymphs of Trojan race
With copious love shall crown his warm embrace, 180
Such as himself will choose ; who yield to none,
Or yield to Helen's heavenly charms alone.
Tet hear me farther : when our wars are o'er,
If safe we land on Argos' fruitful shore,

190 HOMER.

There shall he live my sod, our honors share, 185

And with Orestes' self divide my care.

Yet more — three daughters in my court are bred.

And each well worthy of a rOyal bed ;

Laodice and Iphigenia fair.

And bright Chrysothemis with golden hair ; 190

Her let him choose, whom most his eyes approve ;

I ask no presents, no reward for love :

Myself will give the dower ; so vast a store.

As never father gave a child before.

Seven ample cities shall confess his sway, 195

Him Enope, and Pherae him obey, ,

Cardamyle, with ample turrets crown'd,

And sacred Pedasus, for vines renown'd ;

iEpea fair, the pastures Hira yields.

And rich Antheia, with her flowery fields : 200

The whole extent to Pylos' sandy plain,

Along the verdant margin of the main :

There heifers graze, and laboring oxen toil ;

Bold are the men, and gen'rous is the soil ;

There shall he reign with power and justice crown'd.

And rule the tributary realms around. 206

All this I give, his vengeance to control.

And sure all this may move his mighty soul.

Pluto, the grisly god, who never spares,
^ho feels no mercy, and who hears no prayers, 210
iives dark and dreadful in deep hell's abodes,
Lnd mortals hate him as the worst of gods,
rreat though he be, it fits him to obey ;

Since more than his my years, and more my sway.'
The monarch thus : the reverend Nestor then :

' Great Agamemnon ! glorious king of men ! 216

Such are thy offers as a prince may take.

And such as fits a geu'rous king to make.

Let chosen delegates this hour be sent

(Myself will name them) to Pelides' tent : 230

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. 191

Let Phoenix lead, reyered for hoary age,

Great Ajax next, and Ithacus the sage.

Yet more to sanctify the word you send,

Let Hodius and Eury bates attend.

Now pray to Jove to grant what Greece demands ;

Pray in deep silence, and with purest hands.' 226

He said, and all approved. The heralds bring
The cleansing water from the living spring.
The youth with wine the sacred goblets crown'd.
And large libations drench'd the sands around. • 230
The rite performed, the chiefs their thirst allay.
Then from the royal tent they take their way :
Wise Nestor turns on each his careful eye.
Forbids to offend, instructs them to apply :
Much he advised them all, Ulysses most, 235

To deprecate the chief, and save the host.
Through the still night they march, and hear the roar
Of murmuring billows on the sounding shore.
To Neptune, ruler of the seas profound.
Whose liquid arms the mighty globe surround, 240
They pour forth vows, their embassy to bless,
And calm the rage of stern ^Eacides.
And now arrived, where, on the sandy bay
The Myrmidenian tents and vessels lay ;
Amused at ease, the godlike man they found, 246

Pleased with the solemn harp's harmonious sound.
(The well- wrought harp from conquered Thebse came,
Of polish'd silver was its costly frame :)
With this he soothes his angry soul, and sings
The immortal deeds of heroes and of kings. 250

Patroclus only of the royal train,
Placed in his tent, attends the lofty strain :
Full opposite he sat, and listened long,
In silence waiting till he ceased the song.
Unseen the Grecian embassy proceeds 255

To his high tent ; the great Ulysses leads.

i

192 HOMER. I

Achilles starting, as the chiefs he spied, |

Leap'd from his seat, and laid the harp aside.

With like surprise arose Meneetius' son :

Pelides grasp'd their hands, and thus hegun : 260

* Princes, all hail ! whatever brought you here,
Or strong, necessity, or urgent fear ;
Welcome, though Greeks ! for not as foes ye came ;
To me more dear than all that bear the name.'

With that, the chiefs beneath his roof he led, 265
And placed in seats with purple carpets spread.
Then thus : ' Patroclns, crown a larger bowl,
Mix purer wine, and open every soul«
Of all the warriors yonder host can send.
Thy friend most honors these, and these thy friend.'

He said : Patroclus o'er the blazing fire 271 .

Heaps in a brazen vase three chines entire :
The brazen vase Automedon sustains.
Which flesh of porket, sheep, and goat contains :
Achilles at the genial feast presides, 275

The parts transfixes, and with skill divides.
Meanwhile Patroclus sweats the fire to raise ;
The tent is brighten'd with the rising blaze :
Then, when the languid flames at length subside,
He strews a bed of glowing embers wide, 280

Above the coals the smoking fragments turns,
And sprinkles sacred salt from lifted urns ;
With bread the glittering canisters they load,
Which round the board Menoetius' son bestow'd :
Himself, opposed to Ulysses, full in sight, 285

Each portion parts, and orders every rite.
The first fat oflerings, to the immortals due,
Amidst the greedy flames Patroclus threw ;
Then each, indulging in the social feast.
His thirst and hunger soberly repress'd. 290

That done, to Phoenix Ajax gave the sign ;
Not unperceived ; Ulysses crown'd with wine «

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. 103

The foaming bowl, and instant thns began, *
His speech addressing to the godlike man :

* Health to Achilles I happy are thy gaests ! 295
Not those more honor'd whom Atrides feasts :
Though generous plenty crown your loaded boards,
That Agamemnon's regal tent affords ;
But greater cares sit heavy on our souls.
Not eased by banquets or by flowing bowls. 300

What scenes of slaughter in your fields appear !
The dead we mourn, and for the living fear ;
Greece on the brink of fate all doubtful stands, •
And owns no help but from thy saving hands :
Troy and her aids for ready vengeance call ; 305

Their threatening tents already shade our wall :
Hear how with shouts their conquest they proclaim,
And point at every ship their vengeful flame !
For them the father of the gods declares,
Theirs are his omens, and his thunder theirs. 310

See, full of Jove, avenging Hector rise !
See ! Heaven and earth the raging chief defies ;
What fury in his breast, what lightning in his eyes !
He waits but for the mom, to sink in flame
The ships, the Greeks, and all the Grecian name. 315
Heavens ! how my country's woes distract my mind.
Lest fate accomplish all his rage designed.
And must we, gods ! our heads inglorious lay
In Trojan dust, and this the fatal day?
Return, Achilles! O return, though late, 320

To save thy Greeks, and stop the course of fate ;
If in that heart or grief or courage lies.
Rise to redeem ; ah yet, to conquer, rise !
The day may come, when all our warriors slain.
That heart shall melt, that courage rise in vain. 325
Regard in time, O prince divinely brave !
Those wholesome counsels which thy father gave.

HOM. VOL. I. . N

104 HOMER.

When Peleus in his aged arms embraced

His parting son, these accents were his last :

' My child ! with strength, with glory, and success,

Thy arms may Juno and Minerva bless ! 331

Trust that to Heaven ; but thou, thy cares engage

To calm thy passions and subdue thy rage :

From gentler manners let thy glory grow.

And shun contention, the sure source of wo ; 335

That young and old may in thy praise combine.

The virtues of humanity be thine/ — ;—

This, now despised, advice thy father gave ;

Ah ! check thy anger, and be truly brave.

If thou wilt yield to great Atrides' prayers, 340

Gifts worthy thee his royal hands prepares ;

If not but. hear me, while I number o'er

The proffer*d presents, and exhaustless store.

Ten weighty talents of the purest gold.

And twice ten vases of refulgent mould : 345

Seven sacred tripods, whose unsullied frame

Yet knows no office, nor has felt the flame ;

Twelve steeds unmatched in fleetness and in force.

And still victorious in the dusty course

(Rich were the man wbose ample stores exceed 350

The prizes purchased by their winged speed) :

Seven lovely oaptives of the Lesbian line,

Skiird in each art, unmatched in form divine :

The same he chose for more than vulgar charms.

When Lesbos sunk beneath thy conquering arms. 356

All these, to buy thy friendship shall be paid,

And join'd with these, the long-contested maid ;

With all her charms, Briseis he '11 resign.

And solemn swear those charms were only thine ;

Untouch'd she stayed, uninjured she removes, 360

Pure from his arms, and guiltless of his loves.

These instant shall be thine ; and if the powers

Give to our arms proud Uiou's hostile towers,

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. Id5

Then shalt thou store, when Greece the spoil divides,
With gold and brass th^ loaded navy's sides. 365

Besides, full twenty nymphs of Trojan race
With copious lore shall crown thy warm embrace ;
Such as thyself shalt'choose ; who yield to none.
Or yield to Helen's heavenly charms alone.
Tet hear me farther : when our wars are o'er, 370
If safe we land on Argos' fruitful shore,
There shalt thou live his son, his honors share,
And with Orestes' self divide his care.
Yet more — three daughters in his court are bred,
And each well worthy of a royal bed ; 375

Laodice and Iphigenia fair.
And bright Chrysothemis with golden hair ;
Her shalt thou wed whom most thy eyes approve,
He asks no presents, no reward for love :
Himself will give the dower ; so vast a store, 380

A« never father gave a child before.
Seven ample cities shall confess thy sway,
Thee Enope, and Pherae thee obey,
Cardamyle, with ample turrets crown'd.
And sacred Pedasus for vines renowu'd ; 385

iEpea fair, the pastures Hira yields.
And rich Antheia, with her flowery fields :
The whole extent to Pylos' sandy plain,
' Along the verdant margin of the main :
There heifers graze, and lab'ring oxen toil ; 390

Bold are the men, and gen'rons is the soil :
There shalt thou reign, with power and justice crown'd.
And rule the tributary realms around.
Such are the proffers which this day we bring,
Such the repentance of a suppliant king. 395

But if all this, relentless, thou disdain,
If honor, and if interest plead in vain.
Yet some redress to suppliant Greece afford.
And be amongst her guardian gods adored.

i

196 HOMER.

If no regard thy suffering country claim, 400

Hear thy own glory, and the voice of fame :

For now that chief, whose unresisted ire

Made nations tremhle, and whole hosts retire.

Proud Hector, now, the unequal fight demands.

And only triumphs to deserve thy hands/ 405

Then thus the goddess-born : * Ulysses hear
A faithful speech, that knows nor art nor fear ;
What in my secret soul is understood,
My tongue shall utter, and my deeds make good.
Let Greece then know, my purpose I retain : 410

Nor with new treaties vex my peace in vain.
Who dares think one thing, and another tel>.
My heart detests him as the gates of hell.

* Then thus in short my fix'd resolves attend.
Which nor Atrides nor his Greeks can bend ; 415

Long toils, long perils, in their cause I bore.
But now the unfruitful glories charm no more.
Fight or not fight, a like reward we claim.
The wretch and hero find their prize the same ;
Alike regretted in the dust he lies, 420

Who yields ignobly, or who bravely dies.
Of all my dangers, all my glorious pains,
A life of labors, lo ! what fruit remains?
As the bold bird her helpless young attends,
From danger guards them, and from want defends :
In search of prey she wings the spacious air, 426

And with the untasted food supplies her care :
For thankless Greece such hardships have I braved.
Her wives, her infants, by my labors saved ;
Long sleepless nights in heavy arms I stood, 430

And sweat laborious days in dust and blood.
I sack'd twelve ample cities on the main.
And twelve lay smoking on the Trojan plain :
Then at Atrides' haughty feet were laid
The wealth I gathered, and the spoils I made. 435

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. 197

Your mighty monarch these in peace possess'd ;

Some few my soldiers had, himself the rest.

Some present too to every prince was paid ;

And every prince enjoys the gift be made ;

I only must refund, of all his train ; 440

See what pre-eminence our merits gain !

My spoil alone his greedy soul delights ;

My spouse alone must bless his happy nights :

The woman let him (as he may) enjoy;

But what 's the quarrel then of Greece to Troy ? 445

What to these shores the assembled nations draws ;

What calls for vengeance but a woman's cause ?

Ar^ fair endowments and a beauteous face

Beloved by none but those of Atreus' race ?

The wife whom choice and passion both approve, 450

Sure every wise and worthy man will love.

Nor did my fair one less distinction claim ;

Slave as she was, my soul adored the dame.

Wrong'd in my love, all proffers I disdain ;

Deceived for once, I trust not kings again. 455

Ye have my answer — what remains to do,

Your king, Ulysses, may consult with you.

What needs he the defence this arm can make ?

Has he not walls no human force can shake?

Has he not fenced bis guarded navy round 460

With piles, with ramparts, and a trench profound ?

And will not these (the wonders he has done)

Repel the rage of Priam's single son ?

There was a time ('twas when for Greece I fought)

When Hector's prowess no such wonders wrought ;

He kept the verge of Troy, nor dared to wait 466

Achilles' fury at the Scsean gate ;

He tried it once, and scarce was saved by fate.

But now those ancient enmities are o'er ;

To-morrow we the fav'ring gods implore ; 470

198 HOMER.

Then shall you see our parting^ vessels crown'd,

And hear with oars the Hellespont resound.

The third day hence shall Phthia greet our sails,

If mighty Neptune send propitious gales ;

Phthia to her Achilles shall restore 475

The wealth he left for this detested shore :

Thither the spoils of this long war shall pass,

The ruddy gold, the steel, and shining brass ;

My beauteous captives thither I '11 convey.

And all that rests of my unravish'd prey. 480

One only valued gift your tyrant gave.

And that resumed, the fair Lyrnessian slave.

Then tell him, loud, that all the Greeks may hear.

And learn to scorn the wretch they basely fear ;

(For, arm'd in impudence, mankind he braves, 485

And meditates new cheats on all his slaves ;

Though, shameless as he is, to face these eyes

Is what he dares not ; if be dares, he dies,)

Tell him, all terms, all commerce I decline,

Nor share his council, nor his battle join ; 490

For once deceived, was his ; but twice, were mine.

No — let the stupid prince, whom Jove deprives

Of sense and justice, run where frensy drives ;

His gifts are hateful : kings of such a kind

Stand but as slaves before a noble mind. 495

Not though he proffered all himself possessed.

And all his rapine could from others wrest ;

Not all the golden tides of wealth that crown

The many-peopled Orcbomenian town ;

Not all proud Thebes' unrivall'd walls contain, 500

The world's great empress on the Egyptian pl^in

(That spreads her conquests o'er a thousand states,

And pours her heroes through a hundred gates.

Two hundred horsemen, and two hundred cars

From each wide portal issuing to the wars) ; 505

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. 199

Tbougb bribes were beap'd on bribesi in number more

Than dust in fields, or sands along the shore ;

Should all these offers for iny friendship call ;

^Tis he that offers, and I scorn them all.

Atrides* daughter never shall be led 510

(An ill-match'd consort) to Achilles' bed ;

Like golden Vemis though she charm'd the heart,

And vied with Pallas in the works of art.

Some greater Greek let those high nuptials grace,

I hate alliance with a tyrant's race. 515

If Heaven restore me to my realms with life,

The reverend Peleus shall elect my wife.

Thessalian nymphs there are, of form divine,

And kings that sue to mix their blood with mine.

Bless'd in kind love, my years shall glide away, 520

Content with just hereditary sway ;

There, deaf for ever to the inartial strife,

Enjoy the dear prerogative of life.

Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold ;

Not all Apollo's Pythian treasures hold, 525

Or Troy once held, in peace and pride of sway.

Can bribe the poor possession of a day !

Lost herds and treasures we by arms regain.

And steeds unrivall'd on the dusty plain :

But from our lips the vital spirit fled, 530

Returns no more to wake the silent dead.

My fates long since by Thetis were disclosed.

And each alternate, life or fame, proposed ;

Here if I stay, before the Trojan town.

Short is my date, but deathless my renown : 535

If I return, I quit immortal praise

For years on years, and long-extended days.

Convinced, though late, I find my fond mistake.

And warn the Greeks the wiser choice to make :

To quit these shores, their native seats enjoy, 540

I^or hope the fall of heaven-defended Troy.

200 HOMER.

Jove's arm displayed asserts her from the skies ;

Her hearts are strengthened, and her glories rise.

Go then^ to Greece report our fix'd design ;

Bid all your councils, all your armies join, 545

Let all your forces, all your arts, conspire

To save the ships, the troops, the chiefs, from fire.

One stratagem has fail'd, and4>thers will :

Ye find Achilles is unconquer'd still.

Go then, digest my message as you may ; 550

But here this night let reverend Phoenix stay :

His tedious toils and hoary hairs demand

A peaceful death in Phthia's friendly land.

But whether he remain, or sail with me.

His age he sacred, and his will be free/ 555

The son of Peleus ceased : the chiefs around
In silence wrapp'd, in consternation drown'd,
Attend the stern reply. Then Phoenix rose .
(Down his white beard a stream of sorrow fiows) ;
And while the fate of suffering Greece he mourn'd.
With accent weak these tender words returned: 561

' Divine Achilles ! wilt thou then retire.
And leave our hosts in blood, our. fleets on fire?
If wrath so dreadful fill thy ruthless mind.
How shall thy friend, thy Phoenix, stay behind ? «^65
The royal Peleus, when from Phthia's coast
He sent thee early to the Achaian host,
Thy youth as then in sage debates unskilled.
And new to perils of the direful field,
He bade me teach thee all the ways of war; 570

To shine in councils, and in camps to dare.
Never, ah never, let me leave thy side !
No time shall part us, and no fate divide.
Not though the God, that breathed my life, restore
The bloom I boasted, and the port I bore, 575

When Greece of old beheld my youthful flames.
(Delightful Greece, the land of lovely dames !)

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. 201

My father, faithlesd to my mother's arms,

Old as he was, adored a stranger's charms.

I tried what youth could do, at her desire, 680

To win the damsel, and prevent my sire.

My sire with curses loads my hated head.

And cries, 'Ye Furies! barren be his bed.'

Infernal Jov<e, the vengeful fiends below.

And ruthless Proserpine confirm bis vow. 586

I>espair and grief distract my lab'riiig mind !

Gods ! what a crime my impious heart design'd !

I thought (but some kind god that thought suppress'd)

To plunge the poniard in my father's breast :

Then meditate my flight : my friends in vain 690

With prayers intreat me, and with force detain.

On fat of rams, black bulls, and brawny swine.

They daily feast, with draughts of fragrant wine :

Strong guards they placed, and watch'd nine nights

intire ;
The roofs and porches flamed with constant fire. 696
The tenth, I forced the gates unseen of all ;
And, favor'd by the night, o'erleap'd the wall.
My travels thence through spacious Greece extend ;
In Phthia's court at last my labors end.
Your sire received me, as his son caress'd, 600

With gifts eurich'd, and with possessions blesa'd.
The strong Dolopians thenceforth own'd my reign.
And all the coast that runs along the main.
By love to thee his bounties I repaid,
And early wisdom to thy soul convey'd : 606

Great as thou art, my lessons made thee brave,
A child I took thee, but a hero gave.
Thy infant breast a like affection show'd ;
Still in my arms (an ever-pleasing load),
Or at my knee, by Phoenix wouldst thou stand ; 610
No food was grateful but from Phoenix' hand.

202 HOUER,

J pass my watcbings o'er thy helpless years,

The tender labors, the compliant cares ;

The gods, I thought, reversed their hard decree.

And Phoenix felt a father's joys in thee : 615

Thy growing virtues justified roy cares.

And promised comfort to my silver hairs.

Now be thy rage, thy fatal rage, resigned ;

A cruel heart ill suits a manly mind :

The gods, the only great, and only wise, 620

Are moved by offerings, vows, and sacrifice ;

Offending man their high compassion wins.

And daily prayers atone for daily sins.

Prayers are Jove's daughters, of celestial race.

Lame are their feet, and wrinkled is their face ; 625

With humble mien and with dejected eyes.

Constant they follow where Injustice flies :

Injustice, swift, erect, and unconfined.

Sweeps the wide earth, and tramples o'er mankind.

While prayers, to heal her wrongs, move slow behind.

Who hears these daughters of almighty Jove, 631

For him they mediate to the throne above :

When man rejects the humble suit they make.

The sire revenges for the daughters' sake ;

From Jove commission'd, fierce Injustice then 635

Descends, to punish unrelenting men.

Oh, let not headlong passion bear the sway ;

These reconciling goddesses obey :

Due honors to the seed of Jove belong :

Due honors calm the fierce, and bend the strong. 640

Were these not paid thee by the terms we bring,

Were rage still harbor'd in the haughty king ;

Nor Greece, nor all her fortunes should engage

Thy friend to plead against so just a rage.

But since what honor asks, the general sends, 645

And sends by those whom most thy heart commends,

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. 203

The best and noblest of the Grecian train ;

Permit not these to sue, and sue in vain !

Let me, my son, an ancient fact unfold,'

A great example drawn from times of old ; 650

Hear what our fathers were, and what tlieir praise

Who conquered their revenge in former days.

* Where Calydon on rocky mountains stands.
Once fought the i£tolian and Curetian bands;
To guard it those, to conquer these advance ; 055

Aod mutual deaths were dealt with mutual chance.
The silver Cynthia bade Contention rise.
In vengeance of neglected sacrifice ;
On QBneus' fields she sent a monstrous boar,
That leveird harvests, and whole forests tore ; 000
This beast (when many a chief his tusks had slain)
Great Meleager stretch'd along the plain.
Then, for his spoils a new debate arose,
The neighbor nations thence commencing foes.
Strong as they were, the bold Curetes fail'd, 066

While Meleager's thundering arm prevaird :
Till rage at length inflamed his lofty breast
(For rage invades the wisest and the best).
Cursed by Althsa, to his wrath he yields.
And in his wife's embrace forgets the fields^' ^70

' She from Marpessa sprung, divinely faii^'
And matchless Idas, more than man in war ;
The god of day adored thejnother's charms:
Against the god the father bent his arms :
The afilicted pair, their sorrows to proclaim, 075

From Cleopatra changed this daughter's name.
And call'd Alcyone ; a name to show
The father's grief, the mourning mother's wo.'
To her the chief retired from stern debate.
But found no peace from fierce Althaea's hate : 080
Althaea's hate the unhappy warrior drew.
Whose luckless hand his royal uncle slew ;

204 HOMER.

She beat the ground, and call'd the powers beneath
On her own son to wreak her brother's death :
Hell heard her curses from the realms profound, 685
And the red fiends that walk the nightly round.
In vain iEtolia her deliverer waits,
War shakes her walls, and thunders at her gates.
She sent ambassadors, a chosen band,
Priests of the gods, and elders of the land ; 690

Besought the chief to save the sinking state :
Their prayers were urgent, and their proflfers great :
'(Full fi^fty acres of the richest ground,
Half pasture green, and half with vineyards crown'd.)
His suppliant father, aged CEneus, came ; 6d5

His sisters followM ; ev'n the vengeful dame,
Althasa, sues ; his friends before him fall :
He stands relentless, and rejects them all.
Meanwhile the victors' shouts ascend the skies ;
The walls are scaled ; the rolling flames arise : 700
At length iiis wife, a form divine, appears.
With piercing cries and supplicating tears ;
She paints the horrors of a conquered town,
The heroes slain, the palaces overthrown.
The matrons ravish'd, the whole race enslaved : 705
The warrior heard, he vanquished, and he saved.
The iEtolians, long disdained, now took their turn,
And left the chief their broken faith to mourn.
Learn hence, betimes to curb pernicious ire,
Nor stay till yonder fleets ascend in fire ; 710

Accept the presents ; draw thy conquering sword.
And be amongst our guardian gods adored.'

Thus he. The stern Achilles thus replied :
* My second father, and my reverend guide !
Thy friend, believe me, no such gifts demands, 715
And asks no honors from a mortal's hands :
Jove honors me, and favors my designs ;
His pleasure guides me, and his will confines :

ILIAD.— BOOK IX. 205

And here I stay, if such bis high behest,

While life's warm spirit beats within my breast. 720

Yet hear one word, and lodge it in thy heart :

No more molest roe on Atrides' part :

Is it for him these tears are taught to flow.

For him these sorrows? for my mortal foe?

A generous friendship no cold medium knows, 725

Burns with one love, with one resentment glows ;

One should our interests and our passions be ;

My friend must hate the man that injures me.

Do this, my Phoenix, 'tis a generous part.

And share my realms, my honors, and my heart. 730

Let these return : our voyage, or our stay,

Rest undetermined till the dawning day.'

He ceased : then order'd for the sage's bed
A warmer couch with numerous carpets spread.
With that stem Ajax his long silence broke, 735

And thus, impatient, to Ulysses spoke :

* Hence let us go — why waste we time in vain ?
See what effect our low submissions gain !
Liked or not liked, his words we must relate,
The Greeks expect them, and our heroes wait. 740
Proud as he is, that iron heart retains
Its stubborn purpose, and his friends disdains.
Stern, and unpitying! If a brother bleed,
On just atonement, we remit the deed ;
A sire the slaughter of his son forgives ; 745

The price of blood discharged, the murderer lives :
The haughtiest hearts at length their rage resign.
And gifts can conquer every soul but thine.
The gods that unrelenting breast have steel'd.
And cursed thee with a mind that cannot yield. 750
One woman-slave was ravish'd from thy arms :
Lo, seven are offer'd, and of equal charms.
Then hear, Achilles ! be of better mind ;
Revere thy roof, and to thy guests be kind ;

206 HOMER.

And know the men, of all the Grecian host, 755

Who honor worth, and prize thy valor most/

* Oh, soul of battles, and thy people's guide !'
(To Ajax thus the first of Greeks replied)
* Well hast thou spoke 1 but at the tyrant's name
My rage rekindles, and my soul 's on flame : 760

^Tis just resentment, and becomes the brave ;
Disgraced, dishonored, like the vilest slave !
Return then, heroes I and our answer bear :
The glorious combat is no more my care ;
Not till, amidst yon sinking navy slain, * 765

The blood of Greeks shall die the sable main ;
Not till the flames, by Hector's fury thrown,
Consume your vessels, and approach my own ;
Just there, the impetuous homicide shall stand.
There cease his battle, and there feel our hand/ 770

This said, each prince a double goblet crownM,
And cast a large libation on the ground ;
Then to their vessels, through the gloomy shades.
The chiefs return ; divine Ulysses leads.
Meantime Achilles' slaves prepared a bed, 775

With fleeces, carpets, and soft linen spread :
There, till the sacred mom restored the day,
In slumbers sweet the reverend Phosuix lay.
But in his inner tent, an ampler space,
Achilles slept ; and in his warm embrace 780

Fair Diomede of the Lesbian race.
Last, for Patroclus was the couch prepared.
Whose nightly joys the beauteous Iphis shared ;
Achilles to his friend consigned her charms,
When Scyros fell before his conquering arms. 785

And now ,the elected chiefs, whom Greece had
sent,
Pass'd through the hosts, and reach'd the royal tent.
Then rising all, with goblets in their hands.
The peers, and leaders of the Achaian bands

ILIAD. — BOOK IX. 207

Hail'd their return : Atrides first began : 790

' Say, what success? divine Laertes' son !
Achilles' high resolves declare to all ;
Returns the chief, or must our navy fall V
' * Great king of nations!' Ithacus replied,
' Fix'd is his wrath, unconquer'd is his pride ; 795
He slights thy friendship, thy proposals scorns,
And thus implored, with fiercer fury burns.
To save our army, and our fleets to free,
Is not his care ; but left to Greece and thee.
Your eyes shall view, when morning paints the sky,
Beneath his oars the whitening billows fiy : 801

Us too he bids our oars and sails employ,
Nor hope the fall of heaven-protected Troy;
For Jove o'ershades her with his arm divine.
Inspires her war, and bids her glory shine. 805

Such was his word : what farther he declared,
These sacred heralds and great Ajax heard.
But Phoenix in his tent the chief retains,
Safe to transport him to his native plains,
When morning dawns : if other he decree, 810 /

His age is sacred, and his choice is free.^ A

Ulysses ceased : the great Achaian host, 1L

With sorrow seized, in consternation lost,
Attend the stern reply. Tydides broke
The general silence, and undaunted spoke : 815

' Why should we gifts to proud Achilles send ?
Or strive with prayers his haughty soul to bend ?
His country's woes he glories to deride,
And prayers will burst that swelling heart with pride.
Be the fierce impulse of his rage obey'd ; 820

Our battles let him or desert or aid ;
Then let him arm when Jove or he think fit;
That, to his madness, or to heaven commit :
What for ourselves we can, is always ours ;
lliis night let due repast refresh our powers 825

208

HOMER.

(For strength consists in spirits and in blood,
And those are owed to generous wine and food) ;
But when the rosy messenger of day
Strikes the blue mountains with her golden ray.
Ranged at the ships, let all our squadrons shine.
In flaming arms, a long extended line :
In the dread front let great Atrides stand.
The first in danger, as in high command.'

Shouts of acclaim the listening heroes raise.
Then each to Heaven the due libations pays ;
Till sleep, descending o'er the tents, bestows
The grateful blessings of desired repose.

831

835

BOOK X.

ARGUMENT.

The Night Adventure of Diomed and Ulysses,

On the refusal of Achilles to return to the army, the distress
of Agamemnon is described in the most lively manner — He
takes no rest that night, but passes through the camp, awaking
the leaders, and contriving all possible methods for the
public safety — M enelaus, Nestor, Ulysses, and Diomed, are
employed in raising the rest of the captains^They call a
council of war, and determine to send scouts into the
enemy's camp, to learn their posture, and discover their in-
tentions — Diomed undertakes this hazardous enterprise,
and makes choice of Ulysses for his companion — In their
passage* they surprise Dolon, whom Hector had sent on a
like design to the camp of the Grecians— From him thisy
are informed of the situation of the Trojan and auxili-
ary forces, and particularly of Rhesus, and the Thracians
who were lately arrived — They pass on with success ; kill
Rhesus, with several of his officers, and seize the famous
horses of that prince, with which they return in triumph to

ILIAD. — BOOK X. 209

the camp. — [The same night continues. The scene lies in
the two camps.]

All night the chiefs before the vessels lay.

And lost in sleep the labors of the day :

All but the king ; with various thoughts oppressM,

His country's cares lay rolling in his breast.

As when, by lightnings, Jove's ethereal power 5

Foretells the rattling hail or weighty shower,

Or sends soft snows to whiten all the shore,

Or bids the brazen throat of war to roar ; •

By fits one flash succeeds as one expires,

And heaven flames thick with momentary fires : 10

So bursting frequent from Atrides' breast,

Sigbs following sighs his inward fears confessed.

Now o'er the fields, dejected he surveys

From thousand Trojan fires the moiKtain blaze ;

Hears in the passing wind their music blow, 15

And marks distinct the voices of the foe.

Now looking backwards to the fleet and coast,

Anxious he sorrows for the endangered host.

He rends his hairs in sacrifice to Jove,

And sues to him that ever lives above : 20

Inly he groans ; while glory and despair

Divide his heart, and wage a doubtful war.

A thousand cares his laboring breast revolves ;

To seek sage Nestor now the chief resolves,

With him, in wholesome counsels to debate 25

What yet remains to save the afflicted state.

He rose ; and first he cast his mantle round,

Next on his feet the shining sandals bound ;

A lion's yellow spoils his back conceal'd ;

His warlike hand a pointed javelin held. 30

Meanwhile his brother, press'd with equal woes,

Alike denied the gifts of soft repose,

HOM. VOL. I. o

210 HOJIER»

Laments for Greece; tbftt ki his cause before

So much had suffered, and must suffer more.

A leopard's spotted bide his shoulders spread ; 35

A brazen helmet glitter'd on his bead :

Thus, with a javelin in his band, he went

To wake Atrides in the royal tent.

Already waked, Atrides he descried,

His armor buckling at his yessers side. 40

Joyful they met ; the Spartan thu^s begun :

* Why puts my brother his bright armor on ?

Sends l\je some spy, amidst these silent hours.

To try yon camp, and watch the Trojan powers ?

But say, what hero shall sustain tbat task, 45

Such bold exploits uncommon courage ask ;

Guideless, alone, through night's dark shade to go,

And midst a hostile camp explore the foe.'

To whom the king : * In such distress we stand..
No vulgar counsels our affairs demand : 50

Greece to preserve is now no easy part.
But asks higb wisdom, deep design, and art.
For Jove averse our bumble prayer denies,
And bows his head to Hector's sacrifice.
What eye has witness'd, or what ear believed, 55

In one great day, by one great arm achieved.
Such wondrous deeds as Hector's hand has done.
And we beheld, the last revolving sun?
What honors the beloved of Jove adorn !
Sprung from no god, and of no goddess born, 60

Yet such his acts, as Greeks unborn shall tell,
And curse the brittle where their fathers fell.

' Now speed thy hasty course along the fleet,
There call great Ajax, and the prinee of Crete :
Ourself to hoary Nestor will repair ; 65

To keep the guards on duty, be his care
(For Nestor's influence best that quarter guides.
Whose son with Merion. o*er the watch presidofl)/

ILIAD.--^BOOK X. 211

To whom the Spartan : * These tby orders borne,
Say shall I stay, or with despatch return V 70

* There shalt thou stay/ the king of men replied,
' Else may we miss to meet, without a guide,
The paths so many, and the camp so wide.
Still, with your voice, the slothful soldiers raise.
Urge, by their fathers' fame, their future praise. 75*
Forget we now our state and lofty birth ;

Not titles here, but works, must prove our worth.

To labor is the lot of man below ;

And when Jave gave us life, he gave us wo.'

This said, each parted to his several cares ; 80

The king to Nestor's sable ship repairs :
The sage protector of the Greeks he found
Stretch'd in his bed, with all his arms around ;
The various-color'd scarf^ the shield he rears.
The shining helmetj and the pointed spears : 86

The dreadful weapons of the warrior's rage,
That, old in arms, disdain'd the peace of age.
Then leaning on his hand his watchful head.
The hoary monarch raised his eyes, and said :

' What art thou ? speak, that on designs unknown^
While others sleep, thus range the camp alone ? 9 1
Seek'st thou some friend, or nightly sentinel ?
Stand off, approach not, but thy purpose tell.'

* O son of Neleus !* thus the king rejoin'd,

* Pride of the Greeks, and glory of thy kind ! 95
Lo here the wretched Agamemnon stands,

The unhappy general of the Grecian bands ;
Whom Jove decrees with daily cares to bend.
And woes, that only with his life shall end !
Scarce can my knees these trembling limbs sus-
tain.
And scarce my heart support its load of pain. 101

No tasttj of sleep these heavy eyes have known ;
Confused, and sad, I wander thus alone.

212 HOHER^

With fears distracted, with no fix'd design ;

And all my people's miseries are mine. 105

If aught of use thy waking thoughts suggest,

(Since cares, like mine, deprive thy soul of rest,)

Impart thy counsel, and assist thy friend ;

Now let us jointly to the trench descend.

At every gate the fainting guard excite, 110

Tired with the toils of day and watch of night :

Else may the sudden foe our works invade.

So near, and favor'd by the gloomy shade/

To him thus Nestor : * Trust the powers above.
Nor think proud Hector's hopes confirm'd by Jove :
How ill agree the views of vain mankind, 1 16

And the wise counsels of the eternal mind ?
Audacious Hector, if the gods ordain.
That great Achilles rise and rage again.
What toils attend thee, and what woes remain ! 120
Lo, faithful Nestor thy command obeys ;
The care is next our other chiefs to raise :
Ulysses, Diomed, we chiefly need ;
Meges for strength, Oileus famed for speed.
Some other be despatch'd of nimbler feet^ \2o

To those tall ships, remotest of the fleet.
Where lie great Ajax, and the king of Crete.
To rouse the Spartan 1 myself decree ;
Dear as he is to us, and dear to thee.
Yet must I tax his sloth, that claims no share 130

With his great brother in his martial care :
Him it behoved to every chief to sue,
Preventing every part perform'd by you ;
For strong necessity our toils demands,
Claims all our hearts, and urges all our hands.' 135

To Mrhom the king : * With reverence we allow
Thy just rebukes, yet learn to spare them now.
My generous brother is of gentle kind,
He seems remiss, but bears a valiant mind ;

ILIAD. — BOOK X. 213

Throagh too much deference to o«r sovereign sway.
Content to follow when we lead the way. 141

But now, our ills indastrioiis to preTent,
Long ere the rest, he rose, and sought my tent.
The chiefs you named, already at his call.
Prepare to meet us near the nary wall ; 145

Assembling there, between the trench and gates.
Near the night-guards, our chosen council waits.'

' Then none/ said Nestor, ' shall his rule with-
stand.
For great examples justify command/

With that the venerable warrior rose ; laO

The shining greaves his manly legs inclose ;
His purple mantle golden buckles joinM,
Warm with the softest wool, and doubly lined.
Then, rushing fronoi his tent, he snatch'd in haste
His steely lance, that lighteii'd as he pass'd. 155

The camp he traversed through the sleeping crowd,
Stopp'd at Ulysses' tent, and call'd aloud.
Ulysses, sud(fen as the voice was sent.
Awakes, starts up, and issues from his tent.

' What new distress, what sudden cause of fright,
Thus leads you wandering in the silent night?' 161

* O, prudent chief!' the Pylian sage replied,
* Wise as thou art, be now thy wisdom tried :
Whatever means of safety can be sought,
Whatever counsels can inspire our thought, 165

Whatever methods, or to fly or fight ;
All, all depend on this important night !'

He heard, returned, and took his painted shield ;
Then join'd the chiefs, and follow'd through the field.
Without his tent, bold Diomed they found, 170

All sheath 'd in arms, his brave companions round :
Each sunk in sleep, extended on the field,
His head reclining on his bossy shield.

214 HOMER.

A wood of spears stood by, that, fix'd upright.

Shot from their flashing points a quivering light. 175

A bull's black hide composed the hero's bed ;

A splendid carpet roll'd beneath his head.

Then, with his foot, old Nestor gently shakes

The slumbering chief, and in these words awakes :

' Rise, son of Tydeus ! to the brave and strong 180
Rest seems inglorious, and the night too long.
But sleep'st thou now ? when from you hill the foe
Hangs o'er the fleet, and shades our walls below V

At this, soft slumber from his eyelids fled ;
The warrior saw the hoary chief, and said : 185

* Wondrous old man ! whose soul no respite knows,
Though years and honors bid thee seek repose.
Let younger Greeks our sleeping warriors wake ;
111 fits thy age these toils to undertake.

*■ My friend,' he answer'd, ' generous is thy care.
These toils, my subjects and my sons might bear ; 191
Their loyal thoughts and pious love conspire
To ease a sovereign, and relieve k sire.
But now the last despair surrounds our host:
No hour must pass, no moment must be lost ; 19.5

Each single Greek in this conclusive strife,
Stands on the sharpest edge of death or life :
Yet, if my years thy kind regard engage,
Employ thy youth as I employ my age ;
Succeed to. these my cares, and rouse the rest ; 200
He serves me most, who serves his country best.'

This said, the hero o'er his shoulders flung
A lion's spoils, that to his ankles hung ;
Then seized his ponderous lance, and strode along.
Meges the bold, with Ajax famed for speed, 205

The warrior roused, and to the intrenchments led.

And now the cliiefs approach the nightly guard ;
A wakeful squadron, each in arms prepared :

ILIAD.-^BOOK X. 2\S

The unwearied vratcli tfaesr listening leaders keep,
And, couchiDf^ close, repel invuliug sleep* 210

So faithful dogs their fleecy charge maiDtain,
With toil protected from the prowiing train ;
When the gaunt lioness, with hanger boikd.
Springs from the mountains towards the guarded fi>ld ;
Through breaking woods her rustling course they
hear ; 215

Loud, and more loud, the clamors strike tiieir ear
Of hounds and men ; they start, they gaie around,
Watch every side, and turn to every sound.
Thus watch'd the Grecians, cautious of surprise,
£ach voice, «ach motion, drew their ears and eyes ;
Each step of passing feet increased the affright ; 221
And hostile Troy was ever full in sight.
Nestor with joy the wakeful band surveyM,
And thus accosted through the gloomy shade:
' 'Tis well, my sons ! your nightly cares employ ; 225
JSlse must our host become the scorn of Troy.
Watch thus, and Greece shall live.^ The hero said ;
Then o'er the trench the following chieftains led.
His son, and god-like Merion, march'd behind
(For these the princes to their council join'd). 230
The trenches pass'd, the assembled kings around
In silent state the consistory crown'd*
A place there was yet undefiled with gore,
The spot where Hector stopped his rage before ;
When night descending, from his vengeful hand 235
Reprieved the relics of the Grecian band :
(The plain beside with mangled corps was spread,
And all his progress markM by heaps of dead.)
There sat the mournful kings ; when Neleus* son
The council opening, in these words begun : 240

* Is there,' said he, * a chief so greatly brave,
His life to hazard, and his country save ?

216 HOMER.

Lives there a man, who singly dares to go

To yonder camp, or seize some straggling foe ?

Or, favor'd by the mght, approach so near, 245

Their speech, their counsels, and designs to hear?

If to besiege our navies they prepare.

Or Troy once more must be the seat of war ?

This could he learn, and to our peers recite.

And pass unharm'd the dangers of the night ; 2«50

What fame were his through all succeeding days.

While Phoebus shines, or men have tongues to praise !

What gifts his grateful country would bestow !

What must not Greece to her deliverer owe !

A sable ewe each leader should provide, 265

With' each a sable lambkin by her side ;

At every rite his share should be increased.

And his the foremost honors of the feast/

Fear held them mute : alone untaught to fear,
Tydides spoke : * The man you seek is here. 260

Through yon black camps to bend my dangerous

way.
Some god within commands, and I obey.
But let some other chosen warrior join.
To raise my hopes, and second my design.
By mutual confidence, and mutual aid, 265

Great deeds are done, and great discoveries made ;
The wise new prudence from the wise acquire.
And one brave hero fans another's fire.'

Contending leaders at the word arose ;
Each generous breast with emulation glows : 270

So brave a task each Ajax strove to share.
Bold M erion strove, and Nestor's valiant heir ;
The Spartan wish'd the second place to gain.
And great Ulysses wish'd, nor wish'd in vain.
Then thus the king of men the contest ends : 275

* Thou first of warriors, and thou best of friends,

ILIAD.— BOOK X. 217

Undaunted Diomed ! what chief to join

In this great enterprise, is only thine.

Just be thy choice, without affection made ;

To birth or office no respect be paid ; 280

Let worth determine here.' The monarch spake.

And inly trembled for his brother's sake.

' Then thus,' the godlike Diomed rejoin*d,
' My choice declares the impulse of my mind.
How can I doubt while great Ulysses stands 285

To lend his counsels, and assist our hands ?
A chief, whose safety is Minerva's care ;
So famed, so dreadful, in the works of war :
Bless'd in his conduct, I no aid require ;
Wisdom like his might pass through flames of fire.'

* It fits thee not, before these chiefs of fame,' 291
Replied the sage, ' to praise me, oc to blame :
Praise from a friend, or censure from a foe,
Are lost on hearers that our merits know.
But let us haste — Night rolls the hours away, 295
The redd'ning orient shows the coming day.
The stars shine fainter on the ethereal plains,
And of Night's empire but a third remains.'

Thus having spoke, with generous ardor press'd,
In arras terrific their huge limbs they dress'd. 300

A two-edged falchion Thrasymed the brave,
And ample buckler, to Tydides gave :
Then in a leathern helm he cased his head.
Short of its crest, and with no plume o'erspread :
(Such as by youths unused to arms are worn ; 305

No spoils enrich it, and no studs adorn.)
Next him Ulysses took a shining sword,
A bow, and quiver with bright arrows stored t
A well-proved casque, with leather braces bound, '
(Thy gift, Meriunes) his temples crown'd : 310

Soft wool within ; without, in order spread,
A boar's white teeth grinn'd horrid o'er bis head.

218 HOMER.

This from Amyntor, rich Ormenus' son,

Autolycus by fraudful rapine won,

And gave Arophidamus ; from him the prise 315

Molus received, the pledge of social ties ;

The helmet next by Merion was possess'd,

And now Ulysses' thoughtful temples press'd.

Thus sheath'd in arms, the council they forsake.

And dark through paths oblique their progress take.

Just then, in sign she favor'd their intent, 321

A long-winged heron great Minerva sent :

This, though surrounding shades obscured their view.

By the shrill clang and whistling wings, they knew.

As from the right she soar'd, Ulysses pray'd, 3125

Haird the glad omen, and address'd the maid :

* O daughter of that god, whose arm can wield
The avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield !
O thou ! for ever present in my way.
Who all my motions, all my toils survey ! 330

Safe may we pass beneath the gloomy shade.
Safe by thy succor to our ships convey 'd i
And let some deed this signal night adorn.
To claim the tears of Trojans yet unborn.'

Then godlike Diomed preferred his prayer : 335
' Daughter of Jove, unconquer'd Pallas! hear.
Great queen of arms, whose favor Tydeas won.
As thou defend'st the sire, defend the son.
When on iEsopus' banks the banded powers
Of Greece he left, and sought the Theban towers, 340
Peace was his charge ; received with peaceful show.
He went a legate, but retura'd a foe :
Then help'd by thee, and cover'd by thy ahield*
He fought with numbers, and made numbers yield.
So now be present, O celestial maid ! 345

So still continue to the race thine aid !
A youthful steer shall fall beneath the stroke,
Untamed, unconscious of the galling yoke.

ILI/TD. — BOOK X. 219

With ample forehead, and with spread ing horns,
Whose taper tops refulgent gold adorns/ 360

The heroes pray'd, and Pallas from the skies
Accords their vow, succeeds their enterprise.
Now, like two lions panting for the prey.
With deathful thoughts they trace the dreary way.
Through the hlack horrors of the ensanguined plain.
Through dust, through blood, o'er arms and hills of
slain. 356

Nor less bold Hector, and the sons of Troy,
On high designs the wakeful hours employ ;
The assembled peers their lofty chief inclosed,
Who thus the counsels of his breast proposed : 360

* What glorious man, for high attempts prepared,
Dares greatly venture for a rich reward ?
Of yonder fleet a bold discovery make.
What watch they keep, and what resolves they take ?
If now subdued they meditate their flight, 365

And, spent with toil, neglect the watch of night ?
His be the chariot that shall please him most.
Of all the plunder of the vanquished host ;
His the fair steeds that all the rest excel.
And his the glory to have seryed so well. 370

' A youth there was among the tribes of Troy,
Dolon his name, Eumedes' only boy :
(Five girls beside the reverend herald told :)
Rich was the son in brass, and rich in g^ld ;
Not blessM by nature with the charms of face, 375
But swift of foot, and matchless in the race.
Hector,' he said, ' my courage bids me meet
This high achievement, and explore the fleet :
But first exalt thy sceptre to the skies.
And swear to grant me the demanded prize ; . 380
The immortal coursers, and the glittering car,
That bear Pelides through the ranks of war, J

2-20 " HOMERi*

Encouraged tbns, no idle scout I go.

Fulfil thy wish, their whole intention know,

Ev'n to the royal tent pursue my way, 385

And all their counsels, all their aims betray/

The chief then heaved the golden sceptre high.
Attesting thus the monarch of the sky :
' Be witness thou ! immortal lord of all !
Whose thunder shakes the dark aerial hall : 390

By none but Dolon shall this prize be borne,
And him alone the immortal steeds adorn.'

Thus Hector swore: the gods were call'd in vain,
But tbe rash youth prepares to scour the plain :
Across his back the bended bow he flung, 395

A wolf's gray hide around his shoulders hung ;
A ferret's downy fur his helmet lined,
And in his hand a pointed javelin shined.
Then, never to return, he sought the shore.
And trod the path his feet must tread no more. 400
Scarce had he pass*d the steeds and Trojan throng
(Still bending forward as he coursed along).
When, on the hollow way, the approaching tread
Ulysses mark'd, and thus to Diomed :

* O friend ! I hear some step of hostile feet 405

Moving this way, or hastening to the fleet ;
Some spy perhaps, to lurk beside the main,
Or nightly pillager that strips the slain.
Yet let him pass, and win a little space ;
Then rush behind him, and prevent his pace. 410

But if too swift of foot he flies before,
Confine his course along the fleet and shore^
Betwixt the camp and him our spears employ,
And intercept his hoped return to Troy.'

With that they stepp'd aside, and stoop'd their
head,
As Dolon pass'dy behind a heap of dead : 416

ILIAD. — BOOK X. 221

Along the pfttb the spy nnwary flew ;

Soft, at just distance, both the chiefs porsne.

So distant they, and snch the space between.

As when two teams of males divide the green 420

(To whom the hind like shares of land allows).

When now few furrows part the approaching ploughs.

Now Dolon listening heard them as they pass'd ;

Hector, he thought, had sent, and checked his haste.

Till, scarce at distance of a javelin's throw, 425

No voice succeeding, he perceived the foe.

As when two skilful hounds the leveret wind ;

Or chase through woods obscure the trembling hind :

Now' lost, now seen, they intercept his way.

And from the herd still turn the flying prey : 430

So fast, and with such fears, the Trojan flew ;

So close, so constant, the bold Greeks pursue.

Now almost on the fleet the dastard falls.

And mingles with the guards that watch the walls ;

When brave Tydides stopp'd ; a generous thought.

Inspired by Pallas, >n his bosom wrought, 436

Lest on the foe some forward Greek advance,

And snatch the glory from his lifted lance.

Then thus aloud : * Whoe'er thou art, remain ;

This javelin else shall fix thee to the plain.' 440

He said, and high in air the weapon cast,

Which wilful err'd, and o'er his shoulder pass'd ;

Then fix'd in earth. Against the trembling wood

The wretch stood propp'd, and quiver'd as he stood :

A sudden palsy seized his turning head ; 445

His loose teeth chattered, and his color fled.

The panting warriors seize him as he stands.

And with unmanly tears his life demands.

* O spare my youth, and for the breath I owe.
Large gifts of price my father shall bestow. 460

Vast heaps of brass shall in your ships be told,
And steel well-temper'd, and refulgent gold.'

222 HOMER.

To whom Ulysses made this wise reply :
' Whoe'er thou art, be bold, nor fear to die.
What moves thee, say, when sleep has closed the

sight.
To roam the silent fields in dead of night ? 456

Cam'st thou the secrets of our camp to find,
By Hector prompted, or thy daring mind ?
Or art some wretch by hopes of plunder led
Through heaps of carnage to despoil the dead V 460

Then thus pale Dolon with a fearful look
(Still as he spoke his limbs with horror shook) :
' Hither I came, by Hector's words deceived ;
Much did he promise, rashly I believed :
No less a bribe than great Achillea' car, 465

And those swift steeds that sweep the ranks of war.
Urged me, unwilling, this attempt to make ;
To learn what counsels, what resolves you take :
If, now subdued, you fix your hopes on flight.
And tired with toils, neglect the watch of night/ 470

* Bold was thy aim, and glorious was the prize !'
Ulysses with a scornful smile replies.

* Far other rulers those proud steeds demand.
And scorn the guidance of a vulgar hand ;

Ev'n great Achilles scarce their rage can tame, 475
Achilles, sprung from an immortal dame.
But say, be faithful, and the truth recite ;
Where liesencampM the Trojan chief to-night f
Where stand his coursers ? in what quarter sleep
Their other princes ? tell what watch they keep : 480
Say, since their conquest, what their counsels are ;
Or here to combat, from their city far.
Or back to Uion's walls transfer the war.'
Ulysses thus, and thus Eumedes' son :

* What Dolon knows, his faithful tongue shall own.
Hector, the peers assembling in his tent, 486
A council holds at Ilus' monument.

ILIAD.-r>BOOK X. 2^

No certain gnards the nigbdy wmtcb partake ;
Where'er yon fires aseeml, the Trojans wake :
Anxious for Troy, the gnard the nktives keep ; 490
Safe in their cares, the anxiliar forces sleep,
Whose wives and infants, from the danger Hbut,
Discharge their souls of half the fears of war/

* Then sleep tiiose aids among the Trojan train'
Inquired the chief, * or scatter'd o'er the plain ?" 4ji5

To whom the spy : * Their powers they thus dispose :
The Pssons, dreadful with their bended hows,
The Carians, Caucons, the Pelasgian host.
And Leleges, encamp along the coast.
Not distant for, lie higher on the land 500

The Lycian, Mysian, and Mseonian band.
And Phrygians horse, by Thymbras' ancient wall ;
The Thracians utmost, and apart from all.
These Troy but lately to her succor won,
Led on by Rhesus, great Eioneus' son : 505

I saw bis coursers in proud triumph go,
Swift as the wind, and white as winter snow :
Rich silver plates his shining car infold ;
His solid arms, refulgent, flame with gold ;
No mortal shoulders suit the glorious load, 510

Celestial panoply, to grace a god !•
Let me, unhappy^ to your fleet be borne,
Or leave me here, a captive's fate to mourn.
In cruel chains ; till your return reveal
The truth or falsehood of the news I tell.' 515

To this Tydides, with a gloomy frown :
* Think not to live, though all the truth be shown :
Shall we dismiss thee, in some future strife
To risk more bravely thy now forfeit life ?
Or that again our camps thou may'st explore ? 520
No — once a traitor, thou betray'st no more.'
. Sternly he spoke ; and as the wretch prepared
With humble blandishment to stroke his beard,

224 HOMER.

Like lightning swift the wrathful falchion flew.
Divides the neck, and cuts the nerves in two ; 525

One instant snatch'd his trembling soul to hell.
The head, yet speaking, mutter'd as it fell.
The furry helmet from his brow they tear,
The wolfs gray hide, the unbended bow and spear ;
These great Ulysses lifted to the skies, 530

To fav'ring Pallas dedicates the prize.

* Great queen of arms I receive this hostile spoil.
And let the Thracian steeds reward our toil :
Thee first of all the heavenly host we praise ;
O speed our labors, and direct our ways !' 535

This said, the spoils, with dropping gore defaced,
High on a spreading tamarisk he placed :
Then heaped with reeds and gathered boughs the plain.
To guide their footsteps to the place again. 539

Through the still night they cross the devious fields.
Slippery with blood, o'er arms and heaps of shields.
Arriving where the Thracian squadrons lay.
And eased in sleep the labors of the day,
Ranged in three lines they view the prostrate band :
The horses yoked beside each warrior stand ; 545

Their arms in order on the ground reclined, •
Through the brown shade the fulgid weapons shined ;
Amidst lay Rhesus, stretch'd in sleep profound,
And the white steeds behind his chariot bound.
The welcome sight Ulysses first descries, 550

And points to Diomed the tempting prize.
The man, the coursers, and the car behold !
Described by Dolon, with the arms of gold.
* Now, brave Tydides ! now thy courage try.
Approach the chariot, and the steeds uutie ; 555

Or if thy soul aspire to fiercer deeds.
Urge thou the slaughter, while I seize the steeds.'

Pallas, this said, her hero's bosom warms.
Breathed in his heart, and strung his nervous arms ;

ILIAD.-^BOOK X. 226

Where'er he pass'd, a purple stream pursued : 5G0
His thirsty falchion, fat with hostile blood,
Bathed all his footsteps, died the fields with gore,
And a low groan remurmur'd through the shore.
So the grim lion, from his nightly den,
O'erleaps thie fences, and invades the pen ; 565

On sheep or goats, resistless in his way.
He falls, and foaming rends the guardless prey.
Nor stopp'd the fury of his vengeful hand.
Till twelve lay breathless of the Tbracian band.
Ulysses following, as his partner slew, 570

Back by the foot each slaughtered warrior drew ;
The milk-white coursers studious to convey
Safe to the ships, he wisely clear'd the way.
Lest the fierce steeds, not yet to battles bred.
Should start, and tremble at the heaps of dead. 576
Now twelve despatched, the monarch last they

found ; ^

Tydides' falchion fix'd him to the ground.
Just then a deathful dream Minerva sent ;
A warlike form appeared before his tent,
Whose visionary steel his bosom tore : 580

So dream'd the monarch, and awaked no more.

Ulysses now the snowy steeds detains.
And leads them, fastened by the silver reins j
These with his bow unbent, he lash'd along, .
(The scourge, forgot, on Rhesus', chariot hung). 585
Then gave his friend the signal to retire ;
But him, new dangess, new achievements fire :
Doubtful he stood, or with his reeking blade
To send more heroes to the infernal shade.
Drag off the car where Rhesus' armor lay, 590

Or heave with manly force, and lift away.
While unresolved the son of Tydeus stands,
Pallas appears, and thus her chief commands :

HOM. VOL. u p

216 HOMER.

Lives there a man, who singly dares to go

To yonder camp, or seize some straggling foe ?

Or, favor'd hy the night, approach so near, 245

Their speech, their counsels, and designs to hear?

If to besiege our navies they prepare,

Or Troy once more must be the seat of war?

This could he learn, and to our peers recite.

And pass unharm'd the dangers of the night ; 250

What fame were his through all succeeding days.

While Phoebus shines, or men have tongues to praise !

What gifts his grateful country would bestow !

What must not Greece to her deliverer owe !

A sable ewe each leader should provide, 255

With' each a sable lambkin by her side ;

At every rite his share should be increased.

And his the foremost honors of the feast.*

Fear held them mute : alone untaught to fear,
Tydides spoke : ' The man you seek is here. 260

Through yon black camps to bend my dangerous

way,
Some god within commands, and I obey.
But let some other chosen warrior join.
To raise my hopes, and second my design.
By mutual confidence, and mutual aid, 265

Great deeds are done, and great discoveries made ;
The wise new prudence from the wise acquire,
And one brave hero fans another's fire.'

Contending leaders at the word arose *,
Each generous breast with emulation glows : 270

So brave a task each Ajax strove to share.
Bold Merion strove, and Nestor's valiant heir ;
The Spartan wish'd the second place to gain.
And great Ulysses wish'd, nor wish'd in vain.
Then thus the king of men the contest ends : 275

* Thou first of warriors, and thou best of friends^

ILIAD.— BOOK X. 217

Undaunted Diomed ! what chief to join

In this great enterprise, is only thine.

Jost be thy choice, without affection made ;

To birth or office no respect be paid ; 2S0

Let worth determine here.' The monarch spake,

And inly trembled for his brother's sake.

* Then thus,' the godlike Diomed rejoin*d,

' My choice declares the impulse of my mind.

How can I doubt while great Ulysses stands 285

To lend his counsels, and assist our bands ?

A chief, whose safety is Minerva's care ;

So famed, so dreadful, in the works of war :

Bless'd in his conduct, I no aid require ;

Wisdom like his might pass through flames of fire.'

* It fits thee not, before these chiefs of fame,' 291
Replied the sage, * to praise me, oi: to blame :
Praise from a friend, or censure from a foe,

Are lost on hearers that our merits know.

But let us haste — Night rolls the hours away, 295

The redd'ning orient shows the coming day.

The stars shine fainter on the ethereal plains.

And of Night's empire but a third remains.'

Thus having spoke, with generous ardor press'd,
In arms terrific their huge limbs they dress'd. 300

A two-edged falchion Thrasymed the brave.
And ample buckler, to Tydides gave :
Then in a leathern helm he cased his head.
Short of its crest, and with no plume o'erspread :
(Such as by youths unused to arms are worn ; 305

No spoils enrich it, and no studs adorn.)
Next him Ulysses took a shining sword,
A bow, and quiver with bright arrows stored t
A well-proved casque, with leather braces bound, '
(Thy gift, Meriones) his temples crown'd : 310

Soft wool within ; without, in order spread,
A boar's white teeth grinn'd horrid o'er his head.

228 HOMER.

Then o'er the trench the bounding conrsefs fiew ;
The joyful Greeks with loud acclaim pursue. €6d

Straight to Tydides' high pavilion borne,
The matchless steeds his ample stalls adorn :
The neighing coursers their new fellows greet,
And the full racks are heap'd with generous wheat.
But Dolon's armor to his ships convey 'd, 670

High on the painted stern Ulysses laid,
A trophy destined to the blue-eyed maid.

Now from nocturnal sweat, and sanguine stain,
Tbey cleanse their bodies in the neighboring main :
Then in t)ie polish'd bath, refreshed from toil» 675

Their joints they supple with dissolving oil.
In due repast indulge the genial hour,
And first to Pallas the libations pour:
They sit rejoicing in her aid divine,
And the crown'd goblet foams with floods of wine. 680

BOOK XI.

ARGUMENT.

The third Battle, and the Acts of Agamemnon,

Agambmnon, having armed himself, leads the Grecians to
battle : Hector prepares the Trojans to receive them ; while
Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, give the (Signals of war — Aga-
memnon bears nil before him; and Hector is commanded by
Jupiter, ^ho sends Iris for that purpose, to decline the
engageicreBi 4ill the king shall be wounded and retire from
the field— He then makes a great slaughter of the enemy ;
Ulysses and Diomed put a stop to him for a time ; but the
latter, being wounded by Paris, is obliged to desert his
companion, who is encompassed by the Trojans, wounded,
and Hin the utmost danger, till Menelaus and Ajaz rescue

ILIAD. — BOOK XI. 229

•

him — Hector comes against Ajaz ; but that hero alone op*
poses multitudes, and rallies the Greeks — In the mean time
Machaon, in the other wing of the army, is pierced with an
arrow by Paris, and carried from the fight in Nestor's cha-
riot — Achilles, who overlooked the action from his ship,
sends Fatroclus to inquire which of the Greeks was
wounded in that manner — Nestor entertains him in his
tent with an account of the accidents of the day, and a long
recital of some former wars which he remembered, tending
to put Fatroclus on persuading Achilles to fight for his
countrymen, or at leasjt permit him to do it, clad in Achil*
les' armor — Fatroclus in his return meets Eurypylus also
wounded, and assists him in that distress.— [This book
opens with the eigfat-and-twentieth day of the poem ; and
the same day, with its various actions and adventures, is
extended through the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fif-
teenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and part of the eighteenth
books. The scene lies in the field, near the monument of
llus.]

Thb saffron morn, nvith early blushes spread,

Now rose refulgent from Tithonus' bed ;

With new-born day to gladden mortal sight,

And gild the courts of heaven with sacred light :

When baleful Eris, sent by Jove's command, 5

The torch of discord blazing in her hand,

Through the red skies her bloody sign extends,

And wrapt in tempests, o'er the fleet descends.

High on Ulysses' bark, her horrid stand

She took, and thunder'd through the seas and land. lOt

Ev'n Ajax and Achilles heard the sound,

Whose ships, remote, the guarded navy bound.

Thence the black Fury through the Grecian throng

With horror sounds the loud Orthian song :

The navy shakes, and at the dire alarms 15

Each bosom boils, each warrior starts to arms.

Mo more they sigh inglorious to return.

Bat breathe revenge, and for the combat burn.

290 HOMER.

The king of men his hardy host inspires
With loud command, with great example fires; 20
Himself first rose, himself before the rest
His mighty limbs in radiant armor dress'd.
And first he cased his manly legs around
In shining greayes, with silver buckles bound:
The beaming cuirass next adom'd his breast, 25

The same which once king Cinyras possessed.
(The fame of Greece and her assembled host
Had reach'd that monarch on the Cyprian coast ;
'Twas then, the friendship of the chief to gain,
This glorious gift he sent, nor sent in vain.) 90

Ten rows of azure steel the work infold.
Twice ten of tin, and twelve of ductile gold;
Three glittering dragons to the gorget rise,
Whose imitated scales against the skies
Refiected various light, and arching bowM, 36

Like colored rainbows o'er a showery cloud
(Jove's wondrous bow, of three celestial dyes.
Placed as a sign to man amid the skies).
A radiant baldric, o'er his shoulder tied,
Sustain'd the sword that gUtter'd at his side : 40

Gold was .the hilt, a silver sheath incased
The shining blade, and golden hangers graced.
His buckler's mighty orb was next display'd,
That round the warrior cast a dreadful shade ;
Ten zones of brass its ample brim surround, 45

And twice ten bosses the bright convex crownM ;
Tremendous Gorgon frown'd upon its field.
And circling terrors fiU'd the expressive shield :
Within its concave hung a silver thong.
On which a mimic serpent creeps along, 60

His azure length in easy waves extends.
Till in three heads the embroider'd monster ends.
Last o'er his brows his fourfold helm he placed,
With nodding horse-hair formidably graced ;

ILIAD.--BOOK XI. 231

And in his hands two steely javelins wields, 56

That blaze to heaven, and lighten all the fields.

That instant Juno and the martial maid
In happy thunders promised Greece their aid ;
High o'er the chief they clash'd their arms in air,
And, leaning from the clouds, expect the war. 60

Close to the limits of the trench and mound.
The fiery coursers to their chariots bound
The squires restrain'd : the foot, with those who^wield
The lighter arms, rush forward to the field.
To second these, in close array combined, 65

The squadrons spread their sable wings behind.
Now shouts and tumults wake the tardy sun,
As with the light the- warriors' toils begun.
Ev'n Jove, whose thunders spoke his wrath, distill'd
Red drops of blood o'er all the fatal field ; 70

The woes of men unwilling to survey,
And all the slaughters that must stain the day.

Near Ilus' tomb in order ranged around.
The Trojan lines possess'd the rising ground.
There wise Polydamas and Hector stood ; 75

i£neas, honor'd as a guardian god ;
Bold Poly bus, Agenor the divine ;
The brother warriors of Antenor's line ;
With youthful Acamas, whose beauteous face
And fair proportion match'd the ethereal race. 80

Great Hector, cover'd with his spacious shield,
Plies all the troops, and orders all the field.
As the red star now shows his sanguine' fires
Through the dark clouds, and now in night retires ;
Thus through the ranks appeared the godlike man, 85
Plunged in the rear, or blazing in the van ;
While streamy sparkles, restless as he fiies.
Flash from his arms as lightning from the skies.
As sweating reapers in some wealthy field.
Ranged in two hands, their crooked weapons wield^ 9'

ILIAD. — BOOK XI. 233

Great Agamemnon then the slaughter led,

And slew Bienor at liis people's head :

Whose squire Oileus, with a sadden spring,

Leap'd from the chariot to revenge his king ; 130

But in his front he felt the fatal wound,

Which pierced his brain, and stretch'd him on the

ground.
Atrides spoil'd, and left them on the plain :
Vain was their youth, their glittering armor vain :
Now soil'd with dust, and naked to the sky, 135

Their snowy limbs and beauteous bodies lie.

Two sons of Priam next to battle more,
The product one of marriage, one of love ;
In the same car the brother warriors ride.
This took the charge to combat, that to guide : 140
Far other task, than when they wont to keep,
On Ida's tops their father's fleecy sheep.
These on the mountains once Achilles found.
And captive led, with pliant osiers bound ;
Then to the sire for ample sums restored ; 145

But now to perish by Atrides' sword :
Pierced in the breast, the base-born Isus bleeds ;
Cleft through the head, his brother's fate suc-
ceeds.
Swift to the spoil the hasty victor falls.
And stripped, their features to his mind recalls. 150
The Trojans see the youths untimely die,
But helpless tremble for themselves, and fly.
So when a lion, ranging o'er the lawns.
Finds, on some grassy lair, the couching fawns.
Their bones he cracks, their reeking vitals draws, 155
And grinds the quivering flesh with bloody jaws ;
The frighted hind beholds, and dares not stay.
But swift through rustling thickets bursts her way ;
All drown'd in sweat the panting mother flies.
And the big tears roll trickling from her eyes. 100

234 HOMER.

Amidst the tumult of the routed train,
The SODS of false Antimachtis were slain ;
He, who for bribes his faithless^counsels sold.
And voted Helen's stay for Paris' gold.
Atrides mark'd, as these their safety sought, 165

And slew the children for the father's fault ;
Their headstrong horse unable to restrain,
They shook with fear, and dropp'd the silken rein ;
Then in their chariot on their knees they fall,
And thus with lifted hands for mercy call : 170

' Oh spare our youth, and for the life we owe
Antimachus shall copious gifts bestow ;
Soon as he hears that, not in battle slain.
The Grecian ships his captive sons detain.
Large heaps of brass in ransom shall be told, 175

And steel well tempered, and persuasive gold/

These words, attended with a flood of tears,
The youths address'd to unrelenting ears :
The vengeful monarch gave this stern reply :
* If from Antimachus ye spring, ye die ; 180

The daring wretch who once in council stood
To shed Ulysses' and my brother's blood.
For proffer'd peace ! and sues his seed for grace ?
No, die, and pay the forfeit of your race/

This said, Pisander from the car he cast, 185

And pierced his breast : supine he breathed his last.
His brother leap'd to earth ; but as he lay.
The trenchant falchion lopp'd his bands away ;
His sever'd head was toss'd among the throng.
And, rolling, drew a bloody trail along. 190

Then, where the thickest fought, the victor flew ;
The king's example all his Greeks pursue.
Now by the foot the flying foot were slain.
Horse trod by horse lay foaming on the plain.
From the dry fields thick clouds of dust arise, ld5

Shade the black host, and intercept the skies.

ILIAD. — BOOK XI. 235

The brass-board steeds tnmaltuoas plunge and bound,

And the thick thunder beats the laboring ground.

Still slaughtering on, the king of men proceeds ;

The distanced army wonders at his deeds. 200

As when the winds with raging flames conspire,

And o'er the forests roll the flood of fire.

In blazing heaps the grove's old honors fall,

And one refulgent ruin levels all ;

Before Atrides' rage so sinks the foe, 205

Whole squadrons vanish, and proud heads lie low :

The steeds fly trembling from bis waving sword ;

And many a car, now lighted of its lord.

Wide o'er the field with guideless fury rolls, 200

Breaking their ranks, and crushing out their souls ;

While his keen falchion drinks the warriors' lives ;

More grateful, now, to vultures than their wives !

Perhaps great Hector then had found his fate,
But Jove and Destiny prolong'd his date.
Safe from the darts, the care of heaven he stood, 215
Amidst alarms, and death, and dust, and blood.

Now pass'd the tomb where ancient Ilus lay,
Through the mid field the routed urge their way.
Where the wild figs the adjoining summit crown,
That path they take, and speed to reach the town. 220
As swift Atrides with loud shouts pursued,
Hot with his toil, and bathed in hostile blood.
Now near the beech-tree, and the Sc»an gates,
The hero halts, and his associates waits.
Meanwhile, on every side, around the plain, 225

Dispersed, disorder'd, fly the Trojan train.
So flies a herd of beeves, that hear dismay'd
The lion's roaring through the midnight shade ;
On heaps they tumble with successless haste :
The savage seizes, draws, and rends the last : 290

Not with less fury stern Atrides flew.
Still pressed the rout, and still the hindmost slew ;

236 HOMBR.

Hurl'd from their cars the bravest chiefs are kill'd,
And rage, and death, and carnage, load the field.

Now storms the victor at the Trojan wall ; 23d

Surveys the towers, and meditates their fall.
Bat Jove descending shook the Id»an hills.
And down their summits pour'd a hundred rills:
The unkindled lightnings in his hand he took,
And thus the many-color'd maid bespoke : 240

' Iris, with haste thy golden wings display,
To godlike Hector this our word convey :
While Agamemnon wastes the ranks around.
Fights in the front, and bathes with blood the ground.
Bid him give way ; but issue forth commands, 245
And trust the war to less important hands :
But when, or wounded by the spear or dart.
That chief shall mount his chariot, and depart.
Then Jove shall string his arm, and fire his breast.
Then to her ships shall flying Greece be press'd, 250
Till to the main the burning sun descend,
And sacred Night her awful shade extend.'

He spoke, and Iris at his word obey'd ;
On wings of winds descends the various maid.
The chief she found amidst the ranks of war, 255

Close to the -bulwarks, on his glittering car.
The goddess then : ' O son of Priam, hear !
From Jove I come, and his high mandate bear.
While Agamemnon wastes the ranks around.
Fights in the front, and bathes with blood the ground.
Abstain from fight, yet issue forth commands, 261
And trust the war to less important hands.
But when, or wounded by the spear or dart.
The chief shall mount his chariot, and depart ;
Then Jove shall string thy arm, and fire thy breast.
Then to her ships shall fiying Greece be press'd, 266
Till to the main the burning sun descend,
Ind sacred Night her awful shade extend.'

ILIAD. — BOOK XI. 237

She said, and yanish'd : Hector with a bound,
Springs from his chariot on the trembling ground, 270
In clanging arms : he grasps in either hand
A pointed lance, and iBpeeds from band to band ;
ReTives their ardor, turns their steps from flight,
And wakes anew the dying flames of 6ght.
They stand to arms : the Greeks their onset dare, 275
Condense their powers, and wait the coming war.
New force, new spirit, to each breast returns :
The flght, renewed, with fiercer fury bums :
The king leads on ; all Gx on him their eye,
And learn from him to conquer, or to die. 280

Ye sacred nine, celestial Muses ! tell.
Who faced him first, and by his prowess fell ?
The great Iphidamas, the bold and young.
From sage Antenor and Theano sprung ;
Whom from his youth his grandsire Cisseus bred, 285
And nursed in Thrace, where snowy flocks are fed.
Scarce did the down his rosy cheeks invest,
And early honor warm his generous breast.
When the kind sire consigned his daughter's charms,
(Theano's sister) to his youthful arms. 290

But call'd by glory to the wars of Troy,
He leaves untasted the first fruits of joy ;
From his loved bride departs with melting eyes,
And swift to aid his dearer country flies.
With twelve black ships he reach'd Percope's strand,
Thence took the long laborious march by land. 296
Now fierce for fame before the ranks he springs.
Towering in arms, and braves the king of kings.
Atrides first discharged the missive spear ;
The Trojan stoopfd, the javelin passed in air. OOO

Then near the corslet, at the monarch's heart.
With all his strength the youth directs his dart :
But the broad belt, with plates of silver bound.
The point rebated, and repelFd the wound.

238 HOHER.

Incumber'd with the dart, Atrides stands, 305

Till, gjasp'd with force, he wrench'd it from his

hauds.
At once his weighty sword discharged a wound
Full on his neck, that felFd him to the ground.
Stretch 'd in the dust the unhappy warrior lies.
And sleep eternal seals his swimming eyes. 310

Oh worthy better fate I oh early slain !
Thy country's friend ; and virtuous, though in vain!
No more the youth shall join his consort's side.
At once a virgin, and at once a bride !
No more with presents her embraces meet, 315

Or lay the spoils of conquest at her feet,
On whom his passion, lavish of his store,
Bestow'd so much, and vainly promised more !
Unwept, nncover'd, On the plain he lay.
While the proud victor bore his arms away. 320

Coon, Antenor's eldest hope, was nigh :
Tears, at the sight, came starting from his eye.
While pierced with grief the much-loved youth he

view'd.
And the pale features now deform'd with blood.
Then with his spear, unseen, his time he took, 325
Aim'd at the king, and near his elbow struck.
The thrilling steel transpierced the brawny part.
And through his arm stood forth the barbed dart.
Surprised the monarch feels, yet void of fear
On Coon rushes with his lifted spear : 330

His brother's corpse the pious Trojan draws.
And calls his country to assert his cause.
Defends him breathless on the sanguine field,
And o'er the body spreads his ample shield.
Atrides, marking an unguarded part, 335

Transfix'd the warrior with the brazen dart ;
Prone on his brother's bleeding breast he lay,
The monarch's falchion lopp'd his head away :

ILIAD.— BOOK XI. 239

The social shades the same dark journey go.

And Join each other in the realms helow. 340

The vengeful victor rages round the fields,
With every weapon art or fury yields :
By the long lance, the sword, or ponderous stone,
Whole ranks are broken, and whole troops o'er-

thrown.
This, while yet warm, distill'd the purple flood ; 345
But when the wound grew stiff with clotted blood,
Then grinding tortures bis strong bosom rend.
Less keen those darts the fierce Ilythiae send —
(The powers that cause the teeming matrons' throes,
Sad mothers of unutterable woes !) 350

Stung with the smart, all panting with the pain.
He mounts the car, and gives his squire the rein :
Then with a voice which fury made more strong.
And pain augmented, thus exhorts the throng :

' O friends ! O Greeks ! assert your honors won ;
Proceed, and finish what this arm begun : 356

Lo ! angry Jove forbids your chief to stay.
And envies half the glories of the day/

He said : the driver whirls his lengthful thong ;
The horses fly ; the chariot smokes along. 360

Clouds from their nostrils the fierce coursers blow,
And from their sides the foam descends in snow ;
Shot through the battle in a moment's space.
The wounded monarch at his tent they place.

No sooner Hector saw the king retired, * 365
But thus his Trojans and his aids he fired :
' Hear, all ye Dardan, all ye Lycian race !
Famed in close fight, and dreadful face to face.
Now call to mind your ancient trophies won.
Your great forefathers' virtues, and your own. 370
Behold, the general fiiesl deserts his powers !
Lo, Jove himself declares the conquest ours !

340 HOMER*

Now on yon ranks impel your foaming steeds ;
And, sure of glory, dare immortal deeds.'

With words like these the fiery chief alarms 375
His fainting host, and every bosom warms.
As the bold hunter cheers his hounds^ to tear
The brindled lion, or the tusky bear ;
With voice and hand provokes their doubting heart,
And springs the foremost with his lifted dart : 380

So godlike Hector prompts his troops to dare ;
Nor prompts alone, but leads himself the war.
On the black body of the foes he pours ;
As from the cloud's deep bosom, swell'd with show-
ers,
A sudden storm the purple ocean sweeps, 386

Drives the wild waves, and tosses all the deeps.
Say, Muse! when Jove the Trojan's glory crown'd,
Beneath his arm what heroes bit the ground ?
Assaeus, Dolops, and Autonous died,
Opites next was added to their side ; 390

Then brave Hipponous, famed in many a fight,
Opheltius, Orus, sunk to endless night ;
^symnus, Agelaus, all chiefs of name ;
The rest were vulgar deaths, unknown to fame.
As when a western whirlwind, charged with storms.
Dispels the gathered clouds that Notus forms ; 396
The gust continued, violent, and strong,
Rolls sable clouds in heaps on heaps along ;
Now to the skies the foaming billows rears,
Now breaks the surge, and wide the bottom bares :
Thus raging Hector, with resistless hands, 401

Overturns, confounds, and scatters all their bands.
Now the last ruin the whole host appals ;
Now Greece had trembled in her wooden walls :
But wise Ulysses call'd Tydides forth, 406

His soul rekindled, and awaked his worth.

ILIAD.'-^BOOK XI. 241

' And stand we deedless, O eternal shame !
Till Hector's arm involve the ships in flame ?
Haste, let us join, and combat side by side/
The warrior thus, and thus the friend replied : 410

' No martial toil I shun, no danger fear ;
Let Hector come ; I wait his fury here.
But Jove with conquest crowns the Trojan train ;
And, Jove our foe, all human force is vain.'

He sigh'd ; but, sighing, raised his vengeful
steel.
And from his car the proud Thymbraeus fell : 416

Molion, the charioteer, pursued his lord.
His death ennobled by Ulysses' sword.
There slain, they left them in eternal night,
Then plunged amidst the thickest ranks of fight. 420
So two wild boars outstrip the following hounds,
Then awift revert, and wounds return for wounds.
Stern Hector's .conquests in the middle plain
Stood check'd av^hile, and Greece respired again.

The sons of Merops shone amidst the war ; 425

Towering they rode in one refulgent car :
In deep prophetic arts their father skill'd.
Had warn'd his children from the Trojan .field :
Fate urged them on, the father warn'd in vain ;
They rusb'd to fight, and perish'd on the plain ! 430
Their breasts no more the vital spirit warms :
The stem Tydides strips their shining arms.
Hypirochus by great Ulysses dies.
And rich Hippodamus becomes his prize.
Great Jove from Ide with slaughter fills his sight, 435
And level hangs the doubtful scale of fight.
By Tydeus' lance Agastrophus was slain.
The far-famed hero of Paeonian strain ;
Wing'd with his fears, on foot he strove to fly.
His steeds too distant, and the foe too nigh ; 440

HOM. VOL. I. Q

$42 HOHBR»

Through broken orders, swifter than the wind,

He fled, but flying, left his life behind.

This Hector sees, as his experienced eyes

Traverse the files, and to the rescue flies ;

Shouts, as he pass'd, the crystal regions rend, 445

And moving armies on his march attend.

Great Diomed himself was seized with fear,

And thus bespoke his brother of the war :

* Mark how this way yon bending squadrons yield !
The storm rolls on, and Hector rules the field : 450
Here stand his utmost force.' The warrior said ;
Swift at the word his ponderous javelin fled ;
Nor miss'd its aim, but where the plumage danced.
Razed the smooth cone, and thence obliquely glanced.
Safe in his helm (the gift of Phoebus' hands) 455

Without a wound the Trojan bero stands :
But yet so stunn'd, that, staggering on the plain.
His arm and knee his sinking bulk sustain ;
O'er his dim sight the misty vapors rise,
And a short darkness shades his swimming eyes. 460
Tydides follow*d to regain his lance ;
While Hector rose, recovered from the trance ;
Remounts his car, and herds amidst the crowd ;
The Greek pursues him, and exults aloud.

^ Once more thank Phosbus for thy forfeit breath.
Or thank that swiftness which outstrips the death. 4€6
Well by Apollo are thy prayers repaid.
And oft that partial power has lent his aid.
Thou shalt not long the death deserved withstand.
If any god assist Tydides' hand. 470

Fly then, inglorious ! but thy flight, this day.
Whole hecatombs of Trojan ghosts shall pay.'

Him, while he triumph*d, Paris eyed from far
(The sponse of Helen, the fair cause of war) :
Around the fields his feather'd shafts be sent, 476

From ancient II us' ruin'd monument ;

ILIAD.— BOOK XI. 243

Bebind tbe colaimi placed, he bent his bow.

And wing'd an arrove at the unwary foe ;

JuBt as he stoop'd, Agastrophus's crest

To seize, and drew the corslet from his breast, 480

The bow-string twang'd : nor flew the shaft in rain,

But pierced his foot, and nail'd it to the plain.

The laughing Trojan, with a joyful spring.

Leaps from his ambush, and insults the king.

' He bleeda!' he cries, ' some god has sped my dart ;
Would the same god had flx'd it in his heart ! 486

So Troy, relieved from that wide-wasting hand,
Should breathe from slaughter, and in combat stand ;
Whose sons now tremble at his darted spear,
As scatter'd lambs the rushing lion fear.' 490

He dauntless thus : ' Thou conqueror of the fair.
Thou woman -warrior with the curling hair ;
Vain archer ! trusting to the distant dart,
Unskill'd in arms to act a manly part !
Thou hast but done what boys or women can ; 495
Such hands may wound, but not incense a man.
Nor boast the scratch thy feeble arrow gare ;
A coward's weapon never hurts the brave.
Not so this dart, which thou mayst one day feel ;
Fate wings its flight, and death is on the steel. 600
Where this but lights, some noble life expires :
Its touch makes orphans, bathes the eheeks of sires,
Steeps earth in purple, gluts the birds of air.
And leaves such objects as distract the fair.'
Ulysses hastens with a trembling heart, 505

Before him steps, and, bending, draws the dart :
Forth flows the blood ; an eager pang succeeds :
Tydides mounts, and to the navy speeds.
Now on the field Ulysses stands alone,
The Greeks all fled, the Trojans pouring on : 510

But stands collected in himself, and whole,
And questions thus his own unconquer'd soul.

244 HOMfift.

' What farther subterfuge, what hopes remaia ?
What shame, inglorious, if I quit the plain !
What danger, singly if I stand the ground, 515

My friends all scattered, all the foes around I
Yet wherefore doubtful? let this truth suffice :
The brave meets danger, and the coward flies :
To die or conquer, proves a hero's heart ;
And knowing this, I know a soldier^s part/ 520

Such thoughts revolving in his careful breast.
Near, and more near, the shady cohorts pressed :
These, in the warrior, their own fate inclose ;
And round him deep the steely circle grows.
So fares a boar whom all the troop surrounds 525

Of shouting huntsmen, and of clamorous hounds ;
He grinds his ivory tusks ; he foams with ire ;
His sanguine eye-balls glare with living fire :
By these, by those, on every part is plied ;
And the red slaughter spreads on every side. 530

Pierced through the shoulder, first Deiopis fell ;
Next Ennomus and Thoon sunk to hell ;
Chersidamus, beneath the navel thrust,
Falls prone to. earth, and grasps the bloody dust.
Charops, the son of Hippasus, was near ; 535

Ulysses reacVd him with the fatal spear :
But to his aid his brother Socus flies,
Socus, the brave, the generous, and the wise :
Near as he drew, the warrior thus began :

* O great Ulysses, much-enduring man ! 540

Not deeper skilled in every martial sleight,
Than worn to toils, and active in the fight !.
This day two brothers shall thy conquest grace.
And end at once the great Hippasian race,
Or thou beneath this lance must press the field.' 545
He said, and forceful pierced his spacious shield :
Through the strong brass the ringing javelin thrown,
Ploughed half his side, and bared it to the bone.

IMAD. — BOOK XI. 245

By Pallas' care, the spear, though deep infix'd,
StOpp'd short of life, nor with his entrails mix'd. 550

The wound not mortal wise Ulysses knew,
Then furious thus (but first some steps withdrew) :
' Unhappy man ! whose death our hands shall grace !
Fate calls thee hence, and finished is thy race.
No longer check my conquests on the foe ; 555

But, pierced by this, to endless darkness go,
And add one spectre to the realms below V

He spoke ; while Socus, seized with sudden fright.
Trembling gave way, and turn 'd his back to flight ;
Between his shoulders pierced the following dart, 560
And held its passage through the panting heart.
Wide in his breast appeared the grisly wound ;
He falls ; his armor rings against the ground.
Then thus Ulysses, gazing on the slain :
' Famed son of Hippasus ! there press the plain ; 565
There ends thy narrow span assigned by fate,
Heaven owes Ulysses yet a longer date.
Ah, wretch ! no father shall thy corpse compose.
Thy dying eyes no tender mother close ;
But hungry birds shall tear those balls away, 570

And hovering vultures scream around their prey.
Me Greece shall honor, when I meet my doom,
With solemn funerals and a lasting tomb.'

Then, raging with intolerable smart,
He writhes his body, and extracts the dart. 575

The dart a tide of spouting gore pursued.
And gladdened Troy with sight of hostile blood.
Now troops on troops the fainting chief invade.
Forced he recedes, and loudly calls for aid.
Thrice to its pitch his lofty voice he rears ; « 580

The well-known voice thrice Menelaus hears :
Alarm'd, to Ajax Telamon he cried.
Who shares his labors, and defends his side :

^6 HOMER. »

* O friettd ! Ul5'sse8' shouts invade my ear ;
Bistress'd he seems, and no assistance near : 585

Strong as. he is, yet, one opposed to all.
Oppressed by multitudes, the best may fall.
Greece, robb'd of him, must bid her host despair,
And feel, a loss not ages can repair.'

Then, where the cry directs, his course he
bends ;
Great Ajax, like the god of war, attends. 591

The prudent chief in sore distress they found,
With bands of furious Trojans compass'd round.
As when some huntsman, with a flying spear.
From the blind thicket wounds a stately deer, 5d6
Down his cleft side while fresh the blood distills.
He bounds aloft, and scuds from hills to hills ;
Till life's warm vapor issuing through the wound, .
Wild mountain-wolves the fainting beast surround ;
Just as their jaws his prostrate limbs invade, 600

The lion rushes through the woodland shade,
The wolves, though hungry, scour dispersed away ;
The lordly savage vindicates his prey.
Ulysses thus, unconquer'd by his pains,
A single warrior, half an host sustains : 605

But soon as Ajax heaves his tower-like shield.
The scattered crowds fly frighted o'er the field ;
Atrides' arm the sinking hero stays,
And, saved from numbers, to his car conveys*

Victorious Ajax piles the routed crew ; 610

And first Dory cl us, Priam's son, he slew ;
On strong Pandocus next inflicts a wound.
And lays Lysander bleeding on the ground.
As when a torrent, swelled with wintry rains.
Pours from the mountains o'er the deluged plains, 615
And pines and oaks, from their foundations torn,
A country's ruius ! to the seas are borne :

ILIAD. — BOOK XI. 247

Fierce Ajax tbus o'erwfaelms the yielding tbrong ;
Men, fiteedfl, and chariots, roll in heaps along.

But Hector, from this scene of slaughter far, 620
Raged on the left, and ruled the tide of war :
Loud groans proclaim his progress through the plain.
And deep Scamander swells with heaps of slain.
There Nestor and Idomeneus oppose
The warrior's fury, there the battle glows ; 625

There fierce on foot, or from the chariot's height.
His sword deforms the beauteous ranks of fight.
The spouse of Helen dealing darts around,
Had pierced li][achaon with a distant wound ;
In his right shoulder the broad shaft appeared, 630
And trembling Greece for her physician fear'd.
To Nestor then Idomeneus begun :

* Glory of Greece, old Neleus' valiant son !
Ascend thy chariot, haste with speed away,

And great Machaon to the ships convey. 635

A wise physician, skill'd our wounds to heal,

Is more than armies to the public weal.

Old Nestor mounts the seat : beside him rode

The wounded offspring of the healing god.

He lends the lash ; the steeds with sounding feet 640

Shake the dry field, and thunder toward the fleet.'

But now Cebriones, from Hector's car.
Surveyed the various fortune of the war.

* While here,' he cried, * the flying Greeks are slain,
Trojans on Trojans yonder load the plain. 645
Before great Ajax see the mingled throng

Of men and chariots driven in heaps along !
I know, him well, distinguish'd o'er the field
By the broad glittering of the sevenfold shield.
Thither, Q Hector, thither urge thy steeds, 650

There danger. calls, and there the combat.bleeds ;
There horse and foot in mingled deaths unite.
And groans of slaughter mix with shouts of fight/

248 HOMER.

Thus having spoke, the driver's lash resounds ;
Swift through the ranks the rapid chariot hounds ; 655
Stung by the stroke, the coursers scour the fields.
O'er heaps of carcasses, and hills of shields.
The horses' hoofs are bathed in heroes' gore,
And, dashing, purple all the car before ;
The groaning axle sable drops distills, 660

And mangled carnage clogs the rapid wheels.
Here Hector, plunging through the thickest fight.
Broke the dark phalanx, and let in the light.
(By the long lance, the sword, or pond'rous stone.
The ranks lie scatter'd, and the troops o'erthrown.)
Ajax he shuns, through all the dire debate, 666

And fears that arm, whose force he felt so late.
But partial Jove, espousing Hector's part.
Shot heaven-bred horror through the Grecian's heart ;
Confused, unnerved in Hector's presence grown, 670
Amazed he stood, with terrors not his own.
O'er his broad back his moony shield he threw.
And, glaring rouud, with tardy steps withdrew.
Thus the grim lion his retreat maintains.
Beset with watchful dogs, and shouting swains ; 675
Repulsed by numbers from the nightly stalls.
Though rage impels him, and though hunger calls,
Long stands the showering darts, and missile fires ;
Then sourly slow the indignant beast retires :
So turn'd stern Ajax, by whole hosts repell'd, 680
While his swoin heart at every step rebell'd.

As the slow beast with heavy strength endued
In some wide field by troops of boys pursued,
Though round his sides a wooden tempest rain,
Crops the tall harvest, and lays waste the plain ; 686
Thick on his hide the hollow blows resound.
The patient animal maintains his ground.
Scarce from the field with all their efforts chased,
Vnd stirs but slowly when he stirs at last.

ILIAD. --BOOK XI. 249

On Ajax thus a weight of Trojans hung, 090

The strokes redoubled on his buckler rung ;

Confiding now in bulky strength he stands'.

Now turns, and backward bears the yielding bands ;

Now stiff recedes, yet hardly seems to fly,

And threats his followers with retorted eye. 695

Fix'd as the bar between two warring powers.

While hissing darts descend in iron showers ;

In his broad buckler many a weapon stood.

Its surface bristled with a quivering wood ;

And man^ a javelin, guiltless on the plain, 700

Marks the dry dust, and thirsts for blood in yain.

But bold Eurypylus his aid imparts,

And dauntless springs beneath a cloud of darts ;

Whose eager javelin launched against the foe,

Great Apisaon felt the fatal blow ; 705

From his torn liver the red current flow'd,

And his slack knees desert their dying load.

The victor rushing to despoil the dead,

From Paris' bow a vengeful arrow fled :

Fix'd in his nervous thigh the weapon stood, 7i0

Fix'd was the point, but broken was the wood.

Back to the lines the wounded Greek retired,

Yet thus, retreating, his associates fired :

' What god, O Grecians I has your hearts dismayed ?
Oh, turn to arms ; 'tis Ajax claims your aid. 715

This hour he stands the mark of hostile rage,
And this the last brave battle he shall wage ;
Haste, join your forces ; from the gloomy grave
The warrior rescue, and your country save.' • 719

Thus urged the chief; a generous troop appears,
Who spread their bucklers, and advance their spears.
To guard their wounded friend : while thus they stand
With pious care, great Ajax joins the band :
Each takes new courage at the hero's sight ;
The hero rallies and renews the fight. 72f

250 HOMER.

Thus raged both armies like conflicting fires,
While Nestor's chariot far from fight retires :
His coursers steep'd in sweat, and stain'd with gore,
The Greeks' preserver, great Machaon, bore.
That hour, Achilles from the topmost height 730

Of his proud fleet, o'erlook'd the fields of fight ;
His feasted eyes behold around the plain
The Grecian rout, the slaying, and the slain.
His friend Machaon singled from the rest,
A transient pity touch'd his vengeful breast. 7S)5

Straight to Menoetius' much-loved son he se^jt ;
Graceful as Mars, Patroclus quits his tent :
In evil hour ! Then fate decreed his doom,
And fix*d the date of all his woes to come.

* Why calls my friend ? Thy loved injunctions lay ;
Whate'er thy will, Patroclus shall obey.' 741

' O first of friends !' Pelides thus replied,
* Still at my heart, and ever at my side !
The time is come, when yon despairing host
Shall learn the value of the man they lost : 745

Now at my knees the Greeks shall pour their moan.
And proud Atrides tremble on his throne.
Go now to Nestor, and from him be taught
What wounded warrior late his chariot brought :
For, seen at distance^ and but seen behind, 750

His form recalled Machaon to my mind ;
Nor could I, through yon cloud, discern his face,
The coursers pass'd me with so swift a pace.'

The hero said. His friend obey'd with haste.
Through- intermingled ships and tents he pass'd ; 755
The chiefs descending from their car he found ;
The panting steeds Eurymedon unbound.
The warriors standing on the breezy shore,
To dry their sweat, and wash away the gore.
Here paused a moment, while the gentle gale 700

Convey'd that freshness the cool seas exhale ;

ILIAD.-- BOOK XI. 251

Then to consult od farther methods went,
And took their seats beneath the shady tent.
The draught prescribed, fair Hecamede prepares,
Arsinous' daughter, graced with golden hairs 7^

(Whom to his aged arms, a royal siare,
Greece, as the prize of Nestor's wisdom, g^ve) :
A table first. with azure feet she placed ;
Whose ample orb a brazen charger graced :
Honey new press'd, the sacred flower of wheat, 770
And wholesome garlic crown'd the savory treat.
Next her white hand a spacious goblet brings,
A goblet sacred to the Pylian kings
From eldest times : the massive sculptured vase.
Glittering with golden studs, four handles grace ; 775
And curling^ vines around each handle roU'd
Support two turtle-doves emboss'd in gold.
A massy weight, yet heaved with ease by him,
When the brisk nectar overlooked the brim.
Tempered in this, the nymph of form divine 780

Pours a large portion of the Pramnian wine ;
With goat's-milk cheese a flavorous taste bestows.
And last with flour the smiling surface strews.
This for the wounded prince the dame prepares ;
The cordial beverage reverend Nestor shares : 785
Salubrious .draughts the warrior's thirst allay,
And pleasing conference beguiles the day.

Meantime Patroclus, by Achilles sent.
Unheard approached, and stood before the tent.
Old Nestor rising then, the hero led 790

To his high seat ; the chief refused, and said :

^ 'Tis now no season for these kind delays ;
The great Achilles with impatience stays.
To great Achilles this respect I owe ;
Who asks what hero, wounded by the foe, 7d5

Was borne from combat by thy foaming steeds.
With grief I see the great Machaon bleeds:

252 HOMER.

This to report, my hasty course I bend ;
Thoa know'st the fiery temper of my friend/

' Can then the sons of Greece/ the sage rejoin'd,
' Excite compassion in Achilles' mind ? 801

Seeks he the sorrows of our host to know ?
This is not half the story of our woe.
Tell him, not great Machaon bleeds alone.
Our bravest heroes in the navy groan, 805

Ulysses, Agamemnon, Diomed,
And stern Eurypylus, already bleed.
But, ah ! what flattering hopes I entertain !
Achilles heeds not, but derides our pain :
Ev'n till the flames consume our fleet he stays, 810
And waits the rising of the fatal blaze.
Chief after chief the raging foe deistroys ;
Calm he looks on, and every death enjoys.
Now the slow coiirse of all-impairing time
Unstrings my nerves, and ends my manly prime ; 815
Oh ! had I still that strength my youth possessed.
When this bold arm the Epeian powers oppressed,
The bulls of Elis in glad triumph led,
And stretch'd the great Itymonaeus dead !
Then from my fury fled the trembling swains, 820

And ours was all the plunder of the plains :
Fifty white flocks, full fifty herds of swine,
As many goats, as many lowing kine ;
And thrice the number of unrivall'd steeds.
All teeming females, and of generous breeds. 826

These, as my first essay of arms, I won ;
Old N eleus gloried in his conquering son.
Thus Elis forced, her long arrears restored.
And shares were parted to each Pylian lord.
The state of Pyle was sunk to last despair, 830

When tbe proud Elians first commenced the war,
For Neleus' sons Alcides' rage had slain ;
Of twelve bold brothers, I alone remain !

ILIAD. — BOOK XI. 253

Oppressed, we arm'd ; and now this conquest gain'd,

My sire three hundred chosen sheep obtained. 835

(That large reprisal he might justly claim,

For prize defrauded, and insulted fame,

When Eiis' monarch at the public course

Detained his chariot and victorious horse.)

The rest the people shared ; myself surveyed 840

The just partition, and due victims paid.

Three days were pass'd, when Elis rose to war,

With many a courser, and with many a car ;

The sons of Actor at their army's head,

Young as they were, the vengeful squadrons led. 845

High on a rock fair Thryoessa stands.

Our utmost frontier on the Pylian lands ;

Not far the streams of famed Alpheeus flow ;

The stream they pass*d, and pitched their tents below.

Pallas, descending in the shades of night, 850

Alarms the Pylians, and commands the iight.

Each burns for fame, and swells with martial pride*;

Myself the foremost ; but my sire denied ;

Fear'd for my youth, exposed to stern alarms.

And stopped my chariot, and detained my arms. 855

My sire denied in vain ; on foot I fled

Amidst our chariots : for the goddess led.

Along fair Arene's delightful plain
Soft Minyas rolls his waters to the main.
There, horse and foot, the Pylian troops unite, 800
And, sheathed in arms, expect the dawning light.
Thence, ere the sun advanced his noonday flame,
To great Alphseus' sacred source we came.
There first to Jove our solemn rites were paid ;
An untamed heifer pleased the blue-eyed maid ; 865
A bull Alphseus ; and a bull was slain
To the blue monarch of the watery main.
In arms we slept, beside the winding flood.
While round the town the fierce Epeians stood.

2M HOMBR.

Soon as the smi, with all-revealing ray, 870

Flamed in the front of heaven, and gave the day.

Bright scenes of arms, and works of war appear ;

The nations meet ; there Pylos, Ells here.

The first who fell, heneath ray javelin hied ;

King Angias' son, and sponse of Agamede : 875

(She that all simples' healing virtues knew,

And every herh that drinks the morning dew :)

I seized his car, the van of battle led ;

The Epeiana saw, they trembled, and they fled.

The foe dispersed, the bravest warrior kill'd, 880

Fierce as a whirlwind now I swept the field :

Full fifty captive chariots graced my train ;

Two chiefs from each fell breathless to the plain.

Then Actor's sons had died, but Neptune shrouds

The youthful heroes in a veil of clouds. 685

O'er heapy shields, and o'er the prostrate throng.

Collecting spoils, and slaughtering all along,

Through wide Buprasian fields we forced the foes.

Where o'er the vales the Olenian rocks arose ;

Till Pallas stopp'd us where Alisium flows. ^90

Ev'n there the hindmost of their rear I slay.

And the same arm that led, concludes the day.

Then back to Pyle triumphant take my way.

There to high Jove were public thanks assign'd.

As first of gods ; to Nestor, of mankind. 895

Such then I was, impell'd by youthful blood ;

So proved my valor for my country's good.

Achilles with unactive fury glows.

And gives to passion what to Greece he owes.

How shall he grieve, when to the eternal shade 900

Her hosts shall sink, nor his the power to aid?

O friend ! my memory recalls tlie day,

When, gathering aids along the Grecian sea,

I, and Ulysses, touch'd at Phthia's port.

And enter'd Peleus' hoapitable court. 905

ILIAD. — BOOK XI. 256

A bull to Jove he ilew in saorifice.

And pour'd libations on the flaming thighs.

Thyself, Achilles, and thy reverend sire

Men(£tius, turnM the fragments on the fire.

Achilles sees us, to the feast invites ; 910

Social we sit, and share the genial rites.

We then explained the cause on which we came.

Urged you to arms, and found you fierce for fame.

Your ancient fathers generous precepts gave ; '

Peleus said only this : * My son ! be brave.' 915

Menoetius thus : * Though great Achilles shine

In strength superior, and of race divine.

Yet cooler thoughts thy elder years attend ;

Let thy just counsels aid, and rule thy friend.'

Thus spoke your father at Thessalia's court ; 920

Words now forgot, though now of vast import.

Ah ! try the utmost that a friend can say ;

Such gentle force the fiercest minds obey.

Some favoring god Achilles' heart may move ;

Though deaf to glory, he may yield to love. 925

If some dire oracle his breast alarm.

If aught from heaven withhold his saving arm ;

Some beam of comfort yet on Greece may shine.

If thou but lead the Myrmidonian line ;

Clad in Achilles' arms, if thou appear, 930

Proud Troy may tremble, and desist from war ;

Press'd by fresh forces, her o'erlabor'd train

Shall seek their walls, and Greece respire again.'

This touch'd his generous heart, and from the tent
Along the shore with hasty strides he went ; 935

Soon as he came, where, on the crowded strand.
The public mart and courts of justice stand.
Where the tall fleet of great Ulysses lies.
And altars to the guardian gods arise ;
There sad he met the brave Evsemon's son, 940

Large painful drops from all his members run ;

ILIAD* — BOOK Xlf. 257

The slaves their master's slow approach survey'd,

And hides of oxen on the floor displayed ;

There stretch'd at length the wounded hero lay, 980

Patroclus cut the forky steel away*

Then in his hands a bitter root he bruised ;

The wound he wash'd, the styptic juice infused.

The closing flesh that instant ceased to glow,

The wound to torture, and the blood to flow. 985

BOOK XII.

ARGUMENT,

The Battle at the Grecian Wall,

The Greeks having retired into their intrenchments, Hector
attempts to force them ; but it proving impossible to pass
the ditch, Polydamas advises to quit their chariots, and
manage the attack on foot — The Trojans follow his counsel,
and, having divided their army into five bodies of foot, be-
gin the assault — But on the signal of an eagle with a serpent
in his talons, which appeared on the left hand of the Tro-
jans, Polydamas endeavors to withdraw them again — This
Hector opposes, and continues. the. attack; in which, after
many actions, Sarpedon makes the first breach in the wall :
Hector also, casting a stone of a vast size, forces open one
of the gates,, and enters at the head of his troops, who vic-
toriously pursue the Grecians even to their ships.

While thus the hero's pioas cares attend
The cure and safety of his wounded friend,
Trojans and Greeks with clashing shields engage.
And mutual deaths are dealt with mutual rage.
Nor long the trench or lofty walls oppose ;
With gods averse the ill-fated works arose ;

HOM. VOL. I. R

258 HOMER.

Their powers neglected, and no victim slain,
The walls were raised, the trenches snnk in vain.

Without the gods, how short a period stands
The proudest monument of mortal hands ! 10

This stood, while Hector and Achilles raged.
While sacred Troy the warring hosts engaged ;
-But when her sons were slain, her city huru'd,
And what survived of Greece to Greece retnrn'd ;
Then Neptune' and Apollo shook the shore, 15

Then Ida's summits pour'd their watery store ;
Rhesus and Rhodius then unite tlieir rills,
Caresus roaring down the stony hills,
^sepus, Granicus, with mingled force.
And Xanthus foaming from his fruitful source ; 20
And gulfy Simois, rolling to the main
Helmets, and shields, and godlike heroes slain :
These turn'd by Phoebus from their wonted ways.
Deluged the rampire nine continual days ;
The weight of waters saps the yielding wall, 25

And to the sea the floatii;;|g bulwarks fall.
Incessant cataracts the Tkunderer pours,
And half the skies descend in sluicy showers.
The god of ocean, marching stern before.
With his huge trident wounds the trembling shore, 30
Vast stones and piles from their foundation heaves,
And whelms the smoky ruin in the waves.
Now smoothed with sand, and leveU'd by the flood.
No fragment tells where once the wonder stood ;
In their old bounds the rivers roll again, 35

Shine 'twixt the hills, or wander o'er the plain.

But this the gods in later times perform :
As yet the bulwark stood, and braved the storm ;
The strokes yet echo'd of contending powers ;
War thunder'd at the gates, and blood distainM the
towers. 40

ILIAD.— BOOR XII. 269

Smote by the arm of Jove, with dire dismay,
Close by (heir hollow ships the Grecians lay :
Hector's approach in erery wind they hear.
And Hector's fury every moment fear.
He, like a whirlwind, toss'd the scattering throng, 45
Mingled the troops, and drove the field along.
So midst the dogs and banter's daring bands,
Fierce of bis might, a boar or lion stands ;
Arm'd foes around a dreadful circle form,
And hissing javelins rain an iron storm : 60

His powers untamed their bold assault defy,
And where he turns, the rout disperse, or die :
He foams, he glares, he bounds against them all,
And if he falls, his courage makes him fall.
With equal rage encompass'd Hector glows ; 56

Exhorts his armies, and the trenches shows.
The panting steeds impatient fury breathe,
But snort and tremble at the gulf beneath ;
Just on the brink they neigh, and paw' the ground,
And the turf trembles, and the skies resound. 60

Eager they view'd the prospect dark and deep.
Vast was the leap, and headlong hung the steep ;
The bottom bare, (a formidable show !)
And bristled thick with sharpened stakes below.
The foot alone this strong defence could force, 65

And try the pass impervious to the horse.
This saw Polydamas ; who, wisely brave.
Restrained great Hector, and this counsel gave :
* Oh, thou ! bold leader of the Trojan bands.
And you, confederate chiefs from foreign lands ! 70
What entrance here can cumbrous chariots find.
The stakes beneath, the Grecian walls behind?
No pass through those, without a thousand wounds,
No space for combat in yon narrow bounds.
Proud of the favors mighty Jove has shown, 75

Ob certain dangers we too rashly run :

260 HOMER*

If 'tis his will our haughty foes to tame^

Oh, may this instant end the Grecian name I

Here, far from Argos, let their heroes fall.

And one great day destroy and bury all ! 80

But should they turn, and here oppress our train,

What hopes, what methods, of retreat remain ?

Wedged in the trench, by our own troops confused,

In one promiscuous carnage crush 'd and bruised ;

All Troy must perish if their arms prevail, 85

Nor shall a Trojan live to tell the tale.

Hear then, ye warriors ! and obey with speed ;

Back from the trenches let your steeds be led,

Then all alighting, wedged in firm array.

Proceed on foot, and Hector lead the way* 90

So Greece shall stoop before our conquering power,

And this, if Jove consent, her fatal hour/

This counsel pleased; the godlike Hector sprung
Swift from his seat ; his clanging armor rung.
The chief's example followed by his train, 95

Each quits his car, and issues on the plain.
By orders strict the charioteers enjoin'd,
Compel the coursers to their ranks behind.
The forces part in five distinguished bands,
And all obey their several chiefs', commands* 100

The best and bravest in the first conspire.
Pant for the fight, and threat the fleet with fire :
Great Hector glorious in the van of these,
Polydamas, and brave Cebriones.
Before the next the graceful Paris shines, 105

And bold Alcathous, and Agenor joins.
The sons of Priam with the third appear,
Deiphobus, and Helenus the seer ;
^n arms with these the mighty Asius stood,
Vho drew from Hyrtaous his noble blood, 110

knd whom Arisba's yellow coursers bore,
'he coursers fed on Selle's winding shore*

lUAD.-^BOOK XII. 261.

Antenor's sons the fourth battalion guide,

And great JSneas, born on fouutful Ide.

Divine Sarpedon the last band obey'd, 116

Whom Glaucus and Asteropaeus aid,

Next him, the bravest at their army's head,

But he more brave than all the hosts he led.

Now with compacted shields, in close array.
The moving legions speed their headlong way ; 120
Already in their hopes they fire the fleet,
And see the Grecians gasping at their feet.

While every Trojan thus, and every aid,
The advice of wise Polydamas obey'd ;
Asius alone, confiding in his car, 125

His vaunted coursers urged to meet the war.
Unhappy hero ! and advised in vain !
Those wheels returning ne'er shall mark the plain ;
No more those coursers with, triumphant joy
Restore their master to the gates of Troy ! 130

Black death attends behind the Grecian wall,
And great Idomeneus shall boast thy fall.
Fierce to the left he drives, where from the plain
The flying Grecians strove their ships to gain ;
Swift through the wall their horse and chariots pass'd,.
The gates half open'd to receive the last. 13<$

Thither, exulting in his force, he flies :
His following host with clamors rend the skies ;
To plunge the Grecians headlong in the main.
Such their proud hopes, but all their hopes were vain»

To guard the gates, two mighty chiefs attend, 141
Who from the Lapiths' warlike race descend ;
This Poly poetes, great Pirithous' heir.
And that Leonteus, like the god of war.
As two tall oaks, before the wall they rise ; , 145

Their roots in earth, their heads amidst the skies :
Whose spreading arms with leafy honors crown 'd^
Forbid the tempest, and protect the ground \

26% ^ HOMER.

High on the lull appears their stately form.

And their deep roots for ever hrare the storm. 150

So graceful these, and so the shock they stand

Of raging Asius, and his furious band.

Orestes, Acamas, in front appear,

And CEnomaus and Thoon close the rear.

In vain the clamors shake the ambient fields, 155

In vain around them beat their hollow shields ;

The fearless brothers on the Grecians call,

To guard their navies, and defend the wall.

Ev'n when they saw Troy's sable troops impend.

And Greece tumultuous from her towers descend, 160

Forth from the portals rushed the intrepid pair,

Opposed their breasts, and stood themselves the war.

So two wild boars spring furious from their den,

Roused with the cries of dogs and voice of men ;

On every side the crackling trees they tear, 165

And root the shrubs, and lay the forest bare ;

They gnash their tusks, with fire their eyeballs roll.

Till some wide wound lets out their mighty soul.

Around their heads the whistling javelins sung.

With sounding strokes their brazen targets rung ; 1?0

Fierce was the fight, while yet the Grecian powers

Maintained the walls, and mann'd the lofty towers :

To save their fleet, the last efforts they try.

And stones and darts in mingled tempests fly.

As when sharp Boreas blows abroad, and brings 175
The dreary winter on his frozen wings ;
Beneath the low hung clouds the sheets of snow
Descend, and whiten all the fields below :
So fast the darts on either army ponr,
3o down the rampires rolls the rocky shower ; 180
Heavy and thick, resound the batter'd shields,
Ind the deaf echo rattles round the fields.

With shame repulsed, with grief and fury driven.
The frantic Asius thus accuses HeaveQ i

ILIAD^ — BOOK XII. ^3

* In powers immortal who sliall now beliere? 185

Can tjiose too flatter, and can Jove deceive 1
What man could doubt but Troy's victorious power
Should humble Greece, and this her fatal hour?
But like when wasps from hollow crannies drive,
To guard the entrance of their common hive, 190

Darkening the rock, while with unwearied wings
They strike the assailants, and infix their stings ;
A race determined, that to death contend :
So fierce these Greeks their last retreats defend.
Gods ! shall two warriors only guard their gates, 195
Repel an army, and defraud the fates V

These empty accents mingled with the wind,
Nor moved great Jove's unalterable mind ;
To godlike Hector and his matchless might
Was owed the glory of the destined fight. 200

Like deeds of arms through all the forts were tried, •
And all the gates sustain'd an equal tide ;
Through the long walls the stony showers Were heard,
The blaze of flames, the flash of arms appear'd.
The spirit of a god my breast inspire, 205

To raise each act to life, and sing with Are !
While Greece unconqner'd kept alive the war,
Secure of death, confiding in despair ;
And all her guardian gods, in deep dismay,
With unassisting arms deplored the day. 210

Ev'n yet the dauntless Lapithae maintain
The dreadful paSs, and round thent heap the slain.
First Damasus, by PolypOBtes' steel
Pierced through his helmet's brazen visor, fell ;
The- weapon drank the mingled brains and gore ; 215
The warrior sinks, tremendous now no more !
Next Ormenus and Pylon yield their breath.
Nor less Leonteus strews the field with death :
First through the belt Hippomachus he gored,
Then sudden waved his unresisted sword ; 22r

264 HOMER.

Antiphatefi, as through the ranks he broke,

The falchion struck, and fate pursued the stroke ;

lamenus, Orestes, Menon, bled ;

And round him rose a monument of dead.

Meantime, the bravest of the Trojan crenr, 225

Bold Hector and Polydamas, pursue ;
Fierce with impatience on the works to fall,
And wrap in rolling flames the fleet and wall.
These on the farther bank now stood and gazed,
By heaven alarm'd, by prodigies amazed : 230

A signal omen stopp'd the passing host.
Their martial fury in their wonder lost.
Joye's bird on sounding pinions beat the skies,
A bleeding serpent of enormous size
His talons truss'd ; alive, and curling round, 235

He stung the bird, whose throat received the wound :
Mad with the smart he drops the fatal prey,
In airy circles wings his painful way,
Floats on the winds, and rends the heavens with cries :
Amidst the host the fallen serpent lies. 240

Th^y, pale with terror, mark its spires unroll'd.
And Jove's portent with beating hearts behold.
Then first Polydamas the silence broke.
Long weigh'd the signal, and to Hector spoke.

' How oft, my brother, thy reproach I bear, 245
For words well meant, and sentiments sincere !
True to those counsels which I judge the best,
I tell the faithful dictates of my breast.
To speak his thoughts, is every freeman's rights
In peace and war, in council and in fight : 250

And all I move, deferring to thy sway,
But tends to raise that power which I obey.
Then hear my words, nor may my words be vain :

J Seek not, this day, the Grecian ships to gain ;

) For sure to warn us Jove his omen sent, 255

And thus my mind explains its clear event«

(

ILIADt — BOOK XII. 265

The victor eagle, whose sinister flight
Retards our host, and fills oar hearts with fright,
Dismissed his conquest in the middle skies,
Allow'd to seize, but not possess the prize ; 260

Thus though we gird with fires the Grecian fleet,
Though these proud bulwarks tumble at our feet,
Toils unforeseen, and fiercer, are decreed ;
More woes shall follpw, and more heroes bleed.
So bodes my soul, and bids roe thus advise : 265

For thus a skilful seer would read the skies.'
To him then Hector with disdain returned
(Fierce as he spoke, his eyes with fury burn'd) :
* Are these the faithful counsels of thy tongue ?
Thy will is partial, not thy reason wrong : 270

Or, if the purpose of thy heart thou vent.
Sure heaven resumes the little sense it lent.
What coward counsels would thy madness move,
Against the word, the will reveal'd of Jove t
The leading sign, the irrevocable nod, 275

And happy thunders of the favoring god.
These shall I slight? and guide my wavering mind
By wandering birds, that flit with every wind ? .
Ye vagrants of the sky ! your wings extend,
Or where the suns arise, or where descend ; 280

To right, to left, unheeded take your way.
While I the dictates of high Heaven obey.
Without a sign his sword the brave man draws,
And asks no omen but his country's cause.
But wfiy shouldst thou suspect the war's success ? 285
None fears it more, as none promotes it less :
Though all our chiefs amid yon ships expire,
Trust thy own cowardice to escape their fire.
Troy and her sons may find a general grave.
But thou canst live, for thou canst be a slave. 290

Yet should the fears that wary mind suggests
Spread theiic cold poison through our soldiers' breasts

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' ILIAD. — BOOK XII. 267

Their ardor kindles all the Grecian powers ;
And now the stones descend in heavier showers. 330
As when high Jove his sharp artillery forms,
And opes his cloudy magazine of storms ;
In winter's bleak) uncomfortable reign,
A snowy inundation bides the plain ;
He stills the winds, and bids the skies to sleep ; 335
Then pours the silent tempest thick and deep :
And first the mountain tops are covered o'er,
Then the green fields, and then the sandy shore ;
Bent with the weight the nodding woods are seen.
And one bright waste hides all the works of men : 340
The circling seas alone absorbing all.
Drink the dissolving fleeces as they fall.
So from each side increased the stony rain,
And the white ruin rises o'er the plain.

Thus godlike Hector and his troops contend 345
To force the ramparts, and the gates to rend ;
Nor Troy could conquer, nor the Greeks would yield.
Till great Sarpedon tower'd amid the field :
For mighty Jove inspired with martial flame
His matchless son, and urged him on to fame, 350
In arms he shines, conspicuous from afar,
And bears aloft his ample shield in air ;
Within whose orb the thick bull-hides were roU'd,
Ponderous with brass, and bound with ductile gold :
And while two pointed javelins arm his hands, 355
Majestic moves along, and leads his Lycian bands.

So, pressed with hunger, from the mountain's brow
Descends a lion on the flocks below ;
So stalks the lordly savage o'er the plain,
In sullen majesty, and stern disdain : 360

In vain loud mastiffs bay him from afar.
And shepherds gall him with an iron war ;
Regardless, furious, he pursues his way ;
He foams, he roars, he rends the panting prey.

268 HOMER.

Resolved alike, divine Sarpedon glows 365

With generous rage that drives him on the foest
He views the towers, and meditates their fall,
To sure destruction dooms the aspiring wall ;
Then, casting on his friend an ardent look,
Fired with the thirst of glory, thus he spoke : 370

* Why hoast we, Glaucus ! our extended reign,
Where Xanthus' streams enrich the Lycian plain,
Our numerous herds that range the fruitful field.
And hills where vines their purple harvest yield,
Our foaming bowls with purer nectar crown'd, 375
Our feasts enhanced with music's sprightly sound ?
Why on those shores are we with joy surveyed,
Admired as heroes, and as gods obey'd ,*
Unless great acts superior merit prove, .
And vindicate the bounteous powers above? 380.

'Tis ours; the dignity they give to grace ;
The first in valor, as the first in place ;
That when with wondering eyes our martial bands
Behold our deeds transcending our commands,
Such, they may cry, deserve the sovereign state, 385
Whom thpse that envy dare not imitate I
Could all our care elude the gloomy grave,
'Which claims no less the fearful than the brave,
For lust of fame I should not vainly dare
In fighting fields, nor urge thy soul to war* 390

But since, alas ! ignoble age must come,
Disease, and death's inexorable doom ;
The life which others pay, let us bestow,
And give to fame what we to nature owe ;
Brave though we fall, and honored if we livCi ^395

Or let us glory gain, or glory give !'

He said : his words the listening chief inspire
¥ith equal warmth, and rouse the warrior's fire ;
*he troops pursue their leaders with delight,
lush, to the foe, and claim the promised fight* 400

ILIAD.— BOOK XII. 2dd

Menestbens from on high the storm beheld
Threatening, the fort, and blackening in the field :
Around the walls he gazed, to view from far
What aid appeared to avert the approaching war,
And saw where Teucer with the Ajaces stood, 405
Of fight insatiate, prodigal of blood.
In vain he calls ; the din of helms and shields
Rings to the skies, and echoes through the fields;
The brazen hinges fly, the walls resound,
Heaven trembles, roar the mountains^ thunders all the
ground. 410

Then thus to Thoos : ' Hence with speed,' he said,
' And. urge the bold Ajaces to our aid :
Their strength united best may help to bear
The bloody labors of the doubtful war :
Hither the Lycian princes bend their course, 415

The best and bravest of the hostile force.
But if too fiercely there the foes contend.
Let Telaipon at least our towers defend.
And Teucer haste with his unerring bow.
To share the danger, and repel the foe.' 420

Swift at the word, the herald speeds along
The lofty ramparts, through the martial throng ;
And finds the heroes bathed in sweat and gore.
Opposed in combat on the dusty shore.
' Ye valiant leaders of our warlike bands ! 425

Your aid,' said Thoos, ' Peteus* son demands.
Your strength, united, best may help to bear
The bloody labors of the doubtful war :
Thither the Lycian princes bend their course.
The best and> bravest of the hostile force. 430

But if too fiercely here the foes contend.
At least let Telamon those towers defend.
And Teucer haste with his unerring bow,
To share the danger, and repel the foe.'

S70 HOMER.

Straight id tlie fort great Ajax tnrn'd his care, 435
And thus bespoke his brothers of the war.
* Now, valiant Lycomede ! exert your might.
And, brave Oileus, prove your force in fight :
To vou I trust the fortune of the field,'
Till by this arm the foe shall be repell'd ; 440

That done, expect me to complete the day i*
Then, with his sevenfold shield he strode away.
With equal steps bold Teucer press'd the shore,
Whose fatal bow the strong Pandion bore.

High on the walls appeared the Lycian powers, 445
Like some black tempest gathering round the towers ;
The Greeks, oppressed, their utmost force unite.
Prepared to labor in the unequal fight ;
The war renews, mixM shouts and groans arise ;
Tumultuous clamor mounts, and thickens in the skies.
Fierce Ajax first the advancing host invades, 451

And sends the brave Epicles to the shades,
Sarpedon's friend; across the warrior's way,
Rent from the walls,, a rocky fragment lay ;
In modern ages not the strongest swain 455

Could heave the unwieldy burden from the plain.
He poised, and swung it round; then, toss'd on

high,
It flew with force, and labor'd up the sky ;
Full on the Lycian's helmet thundering down,
The ponderous ruin crushM his batter'd crown. 400
As skilful divers from some airy steep
Headlong descend, and shoot into the deep,
So falls Epicles ; then in groans expires.
And murmuring to the shades the soul retires.

While to the ramparts daring Glaucns drew, 465
From Teucer's hand a winged arrow flew :
The bearded shaft the destined passage found,
And on- his naked arm inflicts a wound.

IL1AD,*-B00K XU* ^1

The chief, who fear'd some foe's insulting boast

Might stop the progress of bis warlike host, 470

Conceard the wound, and, leaping from his height.

Retired reluctant from the unfinished fight.

Divine Sarpedon with regret beheld

Disabled Glaucus slowly quit the field ;

His beating breast with generous ardor glows, 475

He springs to flight, and flies upon the foes.

Alcmaon first was doom'd his force to feel ;

Deep in his breast he plunged the pointed steel ;

Then, from the yawning wound with fury tore

The spear, pursued by gushing streams of gore ; 480

Down sinks the warrior with a thundering sound,

His brazen armor rings against the ground.

Swift to the battlement the victor flies.
Tugs with full force, and every nerve applies ;
It shakes ; the ponderous stones disjointed yield ; 486
The rolling ruins smoke along the field.
A mighty breach appears, the walls lie bare ;
And, like a deluge, rushes in the war.
At once bold Teucer draws the twanging bow,
And Ajax sends his javelin at the foe : 490

Fix'd in his belt the feather'd weapon stood.
And through his buckler drove the trembling wood ;
But Jove was present in the -dire debate.
To shield his offspring, and avert his fate*
The prince gave back, not meditating flight, 496

But urging vengeance, and severer fight ;
Then, raised with hope, and fired with glory's charms,
His fainting squadrons to new fury warms.
' O where, ye Lycians ! is the strength you boast ?
Your former fame and ancient virtue lost ! 600

The breach lies open, but your chief in vain
Attempts alone the guarded pass to gain :
Unite, and soon that hostile fleet shall fall ;
The force of powerful union conquers all.'

272 HOMER.

This just rebuke inflamed the Lycian crew, 505

They join, they thicken, and the assault renew;
Unmoved the embodied Greeks their fury dare.
And fix'd support the weight of all the war;
Nor could the Greeks repel the Lycian powers,
Nor the bold Lycians force the Grecian towers. 510
As, on the confines of adjoining grounds,
Two stubborn swains with blows dispute their bounds ;
They tug, they sweat ; but neither gain nor yield,
One foot, one inch, of the contended field :
Thus obstinate to death they fight, they fall ; 515

Nor these can keep, nor those can win the wall.
Their manly breasts are pierced with many a wound,
Loud strokes are heard, and rattling arms resound ;
The copious slaughter covers all the shore.
And the high ramparts drop with human gore. 520

As when two scales are charged with doubtful loads,
From side to side the trembling balance nods
(While some laborious matron, just and poor.
With nice exactness weighs her woolly store),
Till, poised aloft, the resting beam suspends 525

Each equal weight ; nor this, nor that descends :
So stood the war, till Hector's matchless might
With fates prevailing, turn'd the scale of fight.
Fierce as a whirlwind up the walls he flies,
And fires his host with loud repeated cries. 530

Advance, ye Trojans ! lend your valiant hands.
Haste to the fleet, and toss the blazing brands !
They hear, they run ; and gathering at his call.
Raise scaling engines, and ascend the wall :
Around the works a wood of glittering spears 535

Shoots up, and all the rising host appears.
A ponderous stone bold Hector heaved to throw.
Pointed above, and rough and gross below :
Not two strong men the enormous weight could raise.
Such men as live in these degenerate days. 540

ILIAD. — BOOK XII. 273

Yet this, as easy as a swain could bear

The snowy fleece, he toss'd, apd shook in air :

For Jove upheld, and lightened of its load

The unwieldy rock, the labor of a god.

Thus arm'd before the folded gates he came, 545

Of massy substance, and stupendous frame ;

With iron bars and brazen hinges strong.

On lofty beams of solid timber hung :

Then, thundering through the plnnks with forceful

sway.
Drives the sharp rock ; the solid beams give way,
The folds are shattered ; from the crackling door 551
Leap the resounding bars, the flying hinges roar.
Now rushing in, the furious chief appears.
Gloomy as night ! and shakes two shining spears:
A dreadful gleam from his bright armor came, 555
And from his eyeballs flashed the living flame.
He moves a god, resistless in his course.
And seems a match for more than mortal force.
Then pouring after, through the gaping space,
A tide of Trojans flows, and Alls the place ; 160

The Greeks behold, they tremble, and they fly ;
The shore is heap'd with death, and tumult rends the

sky.

HOM. VOL. I. s

274 HO|MER.

BOOK XIII.

ARGUMENT.

The fourth Battle continued, in which Neptune assists the Greeks:

the Acts of Idomeneus,

Neptune, concerned for the loss of the Grecians, oo seeing
the fortification forced hy Hector, who had entered the gate
near the station of the Ajaxes, assumes the shape of Cal-
chas, and inspires those heroes to oppose him : then, in
the form of one of the generals, encourages the other
Greeks, who had retired to their vessels — The Ajazes form
their troops in a close phalanx, and put a stop to Hector
and the Trojans — Several deeds of valor are performed ;
Merioncs losing his spear in the encounter, repairs to seek
another at the tent of Idomeneus : this occasions a conversa-
tion hetween those two warriors, who return together to the
battle — Idomeneus signalises his courage ahove the rest ;
he kills Othryoneus, Asius, and Alcathous : Deiphobus and
^neas march against him, and at length Idomeneus retires
— Menelaus wounds Helenus and Fisander — The Trojans
are repulsed in the left wing ; Hector still keeps his ground
against the Ajaxes, till, being galled by the Locrian slingers
and archers, Polydamas advises to call a council of war :
Hector approves his advice, but goes first to rally the Tro-
jans ; upbraids Paris, rejoins Polydamas, meets Ajax again,
and renews the attack.— [The eight-and-twentieth day still
continues. The scene is between the Grecian wall and the
sea-shore.]

When now the Thunderer on the sea-beat coast
Had fixM great Hector and his conquering host,
He left them to the fates, in bloody fray
"^o toil and struggle through the well-fought day.
len turn'd to Thracia from the field of fight
ose eyes that shed insufferable light,
where the Mysians prove their martial force,
I hardy Thracians tame the savage horse ;

ILIAD. — BOOK Xlll. 275

And where the far-famed Hippemolgian strays,
R^nownM for justice and for length of days ; 10

Thrice happy race ! that, innocent of blood,
From milk, innoxious, seek their simple food:
Jove sees delighted ; and avoids the sceno
Of guilty Troy, of arms, and dying m€u :
No aid, he deems, to either host is given, 15

While his high law suspends the powers of heaven.

Meantime the monarch of the watery main
Observed the Thunderer, nor observed in vain.
In Samothracia, on a mountain's brow.
Whose waving woods o'erhung the deeps below, 20
He sate ; and round him cast his azure eyes.
Where Ida's misty tops confusedly rise ;
Below, fair Ilion's glittering spires were seen ;
The crowded ships, and sable seas between.
There, from the crystal chambers of the main 25

Emerged, he sate, and mournM his Argives slain.
At Jove incensed, with grief and fury stung.
Prone down the rocky steep he rush'd along ;
Fierce as he pass'd, the lofty mountains nod.
The forest shakes ; earth trembled as he trod, 80

And felt the footsteps of the immortal god.
From realm to realm three ample strides he took,
And, at the fourth, the distant Mgdd shook.

Far in the bay his shining palace stands,
Eternal frame ! not raised by mortal hands ; 35

This having reacVd, his brass-hoof'd steeds he reins,
Fleet as the winds, and deck'd with golden manes.
Refulgent arms his mighty limbs infold.
Immortal arms of adamant and gold.
He mounts the car, the golden scourge applies, 40
He sits superior, and the chariot flies :
His whirling wheels the glassy surface sweep ;
The enormous monsters, rolling o'er the deep.

^^-1

ILIAD. — BOOK XIII. 277

There Greece has strength : but this, this part o*er-

thrown,
Her strength were vain ; I dread for you alone. ' 80
Here Hector rages like the force of fire,
Y&unts of his gods, and calls high Jove his sire.
If yet some heavenly power your breast excite.
Breathe in your hearts, and string your arms to fight,
Greece yet may live, her threatened fleet remain ; 8.5
And Hector's force, and Jove's own aid, be vain.'

Then with his sceptre, that the deep controls.
He touch'd the chiefs, and steel'd their manly souls :
Strength, not their own, the touch divine imparts.
Prompts their light limbs, and swells their daring
hearts. 90

Then as a falcon from the rocky height.
Her quarry seen, impetuous at the sight
Forth springing instant, darts herself from high,
Shoots on the wing, and skims along the sky :
Such, and so swift, the power of ocean flew ; 95

The wide horizon shut him from their view.

The inspiring god, Oileus' active son
Perceived the first, and thus to Telamon :

' Some god, my friend, some god in human form.
Favoring descends, and wills to stand the storm. 100
Not Calchas this, the venerable seer ;
Short as he turn'd, I saw the power appear :
I mark'd his parting, and the steps 4ie trod;
His own bright evidence reveals a god.
Ev'n now gome energy divine I share, 106

And seem to walk on wings, and tread in air!'

* With equal ardor,' Telamon returns,
* My soul is kindled, and my bosom burns :
New rising spirits all my force alarm.
Lift each impatient limb, and brace my arm. 110

This ready arm, unthinking, shakes the dart ;
The blood poi^rs back, and fortifies my heart ;

)i

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ILIAD. — BOOK XIII. 279

•

Fools ! will ye perish for your leader's vice ;

The purchase infamy, and life the price ? 150

'Tis not your cause, Achilles' injured fame :

Another's is the crime, but yours the shame.

Grant that our chief offend through rage or lust,

Must you be cowards if your king 's unjust?

Prevent this evil, and your country save : 155

Small thought retrieves the spirits of the brave.

Think, and subdue ; on dastards dead to fame

I waste no anger, for they feel no shame :

But you, the pride, the flower of all our host.

My heart weeps blood to see your glory lost ! 160

Nor deem this day, this battle, all you lose ;

A day more black, a fate more vile ensues.

Let each reflect, wlio prizes fame or breath,

On endless infamy, on instant death.

For lo ! the fated time, the appointed shore ; 165

Hark ! the gates burst, the brazen barriers roar !

Impetuous Hector thunders at the wall ;

The hour, the spot, to conquer, or to fall.'

These words the Grecians' fainting hearts inspire.
And listening armies catch the godlike fire, 170

Fix'd at his post was each bold Ajax found.
With well-ranged squadrons strongly circled round :
So close their order, so disposed their fight.
As Pallas self might view with fix'd delight ;
Or had the god of war inclined his eyes, 17d

The god of war had own'd a just surprise,
A chosen phalanx, firm, resolved as Fate,
Descending Hector and his battle wait.
An iron scene gleams dreadful o'er the fields,
Armor in armor lock'd, and shields in shields, 180
Spears lean on spears, on target targets throng,
Helms stuck to helms, and man drove man along^
The floating plumes unnumber'd wave above,
As wh^D an earthquake stirs the nodding grove ;

280 HOMER.

And, leveird at the skies with pointing raya, 185

Their brand ish'd lances at each motion blaze.

Thus breathing death, in terrible array,
The close-compacted legions urged the way :
Fierce they drove on, impatient to destroy ;
Troy charged the first, and Hector first of Troy. 190
As from some mountain's craggy forehead torn,
A rock's round fragment flies, with fury borne
( Which from the stubborn stone a torrent rends),
Precipitate the ponderous mass descends :
From steep to steep the rolling ruin bounds ; 195

At every shock the crackling wood resounds :
Still gathering force, it smokes ; and, urged amain.
Whirls, leaps, and thunders down, impetuous to the

plain :
There stops — so Hector. Their whole force he proved,
Resistless when he raged, and when he stopp'd, un-
moved. 200

On him the war is bent, the darts are shed,
And all their falchions wave around his head :
Repulsed he stands, nor from his stand retires ;
But with repeated shouts his army fires.
* Trojans ! be firm ; this arm shall make your way 205
Through yon square body, and that black array.
Stand, and my spear shall rout their scattering power.
Strong as they seem, embattled like a tower :
For he that Juno's heavenly bosom warms,
The first of gods, this day, inspires our arms.' 210

He said, and roused the soul in every breast ;
Urged with desire of fame, beyond the rest.
Forth march'd Deiphobus ; but marching held,
^ Before his wary steps, his ample shield.

Bold Merion aim'd a stroke, nor aim'd it wide ; 215
'he glittering javelin pierced the toiigh bull-hide ;

lit pierced not through : unfaithful to his hand,

le point broke short, and sparkled in the sand.

ILIAD. — BOOK Xlll. 281

The Trojan warrior, touch'd with timely fear,

On the raised orb to distance bore the spear : 220

The Greek retreating^ mourn'd his frustrate blow,

And cursed the treacherous lance that spared a foe ;

Then to the ships with surly speed he went,

To seek a surer javelin in his tent.

Meanwhile with rising rage the battle glows, 225
The tumult thickens, and the clamor grows.
By Teucer's arm the warlike Imbrius bleeds.
The son of Mentor, rich in generous steeds.
Ere yet to Troy the sons of Greece were led,
In fair Pedaeus' verdant pastures bred, 230

The youth had dwelt; remote from war's alarms.
And bless'd in bright Medesicaste's arms :
(This nymph, the fruit of Priam's ravish'd joy,
Allied the warrior to the house of Troy.)
To Troy, when glory call'd his arms, he came, 236
And match'd the bravest of her chiefs in fame :
With Priam's sons, a guardian of the throne.
He lived, beloved and honor'd as his own.
Him Teucer pierced between the throat and ear :
He groans beneath the Telamonian spear. 240

As from some far^seeij mountain's airy crown.
Subdued by steel, a tall ash tumbles down.
And soils its verdant tresses on the ground :
So falls the youth ; his arms the fall resound.
Then Teucer rushing to despoil the dead, 245

From Hector's hand a shining javelin fled :
He saw, and shunn'd the death ; the forceful dart
Sung on, and pierced Amphimachus' heart,
Cteatus' son, of Neptune's forceful line ;
Vain was his courage, and his race divine ! 250

Prostrate he falls ; his clanging arms resound,
And his broad buckler thunders on the ground.
To seize his beamy helm the victor flies,
And just had fasteu'd on the dazzling prize,

282 HOMER.

When Ajax' manly arm a javelin flung ; 265

Full on tbe shield's round boss the weapon rung ;

He felt the shock, nor more was doom'd to feel,

Secure in mail, and sheathM in shining steel.

Repulsed he yields ; the victor Greeks obtain

The spoils contested, and bear ofl^the slain. 260

Between the leaders of the Athenian line

(Stichius the brave, Menestheus the divine),

Deplored Amphimachus, sad object ! lies ;

Imbrius remains the fierce Ajaces' prize.

As two grim lions bear across the lawn, 265

Snatch'd from devouring hounds, a slaughter'd fawn.

In their fell jaws high lifting through the wood.

And sprinkling all the shrubs with drops of blood ;

So these tbe chief: great Ajax from the dead

Strips his bright arms, Oileus lops his head : 270

Toss'd like a ball, and whirl'd in air away,

At Hector's feet the gory visage lay.

The god of ocean, flred with stern disdain,
And pierced with sorrow for his grandson slain.
Inspires the Grecian hearts, confirms their hands, 275
And breathes destruction to the Trojan bands.
Swift as a whirlwind rushing to the fleet,
He finds the lance-famed Idomen of Crete ;
His pensive brow the generous care expressed
With which a wounded soldier touch'd his breast, 280
Whom in the chance of war a javelin tore,
And his sad comrades from the battle bore :
Him to the surgeons of the camp he sent ;
That office paid, he issued from his tent.
Fierce for the fight: to him the god begun, 285

In Thoas' voice, Andrasmon's valiant son,
Who ruled where Calydon's white rocks arise,
\nd Pleuron's chalky clifis emblaze the skies.

274 Amphimachus.

ILIAD. — BOOK XIII. 283

* Where's now the imperious vaunt, the daring hoast.
Of Greece victorious, and proud Ilion lost?' 290

To whom the king : * On Greece no blame be thrown,
Arms are her trade, and war is all her own.
Her hardy heroes from the well-fought plains
Nor fear withholds, nor shameful sloth detains.
'Tis Heaven, alas ! and Jove's all-powerful doom, 295
That far, far distant from our native home
Wills us to fall, inglorious ! Oh my friend !
Once foremost in the fight, still prone to lend
Or arms, or counsels ; now perform thy best.
And what thou canst not singly, urge the rest. 300

Thus he ; and thus the god, whose force can make
The solid globe's eternal basis shake :
Ah ! never may he see his native land.
But feed the vultures on this hateful strand.
Who seeks ignobly in his ships to stay, 305

Nor dares to combat on this signal day !
For this, behold ! in horrid arms I shine.
And urge thy soul to rival acts with mine ;
Together let us battle on the plain ;
Two, not the worst ; nor e'en this succor vain ; 310
Not vain the weakest, if their force unite ;
But ours, the bravest have confess'd in fight.'

This said, he rushes where the combat bums ;
Swift to his tent the Cretan king returns.
From thence two javelins glittering in his hand, 315
And clad in arms that lighten'd all the strand.
Fierce on the foe the impetuous hero drove ;
Like lightning bursting from the arm of Jove,
Which to pale man the wrath of Heaven declares.
Or terrifies the offending world with wars ; 320

In streamy sparkles, kindling all the skies,
From pole to pole the trail of glory flies.
Thus his bright armor o'er the dazzled throng
Gleam'd dreadfi^l^ as the monarch flash'd along.

284 HOMEK.

Him, near his tent, Meriones attends ; 326

Whom thus he questions : ' Ever best of friends !

say, in every art of battle skill'd.

What holds thy courage from so brave a field ?

On some important message art thou bound.

Or bleeds my friend by some unhappy wound ? 330

Inglorious here, my soul abhors to stay, *

And glows with prospects of the approaching day.'

* O prince V Meriones replies, * whose care
Leads forth the embattled sons of Crete to war ^
This speaks my grief: this headless lance I wield ;
The rest lies rooted in a Trojan shield.' 336

To whom the Cretan : * Enter, and receive
The wanted weapons ; those my tent can give ;
Spears I have store, and Trojan lances all.
That shed a lustre round the illumined wall. 340

Though I, disdainful of the distant war.
Nor trust the dart, nor aim the uncertain spear.
Yet hand to hand I fight, and spoil the slain ;
And thence these trophies and these arms I gain.
Enter, and see on heaps the helmets roll'd, 345

And high hung spears, and shields that flame with gold.'

' Nor vain,' said Merion, * are our martial toils;
We too can boast of no ignoble spoils.
-But those my ship contains ; whence distant fur,

1 fight conspicuous in the van of war. 360
What need I more ? If any Greek there be

Who knows not Merion, I appeal to thee.'
To this, Idometieus : * The fields of fight
Have proved thy valor, and unconquer'd might ;
And were some ambush for the foes design'd, 365

"Tilv'n there, thy courage would not lag behind.
1 that sharp service, singled from the rest,
e fear of each, or valor stands confess'd.
force, no firmness, the pale coward shows ;
ihifts his place, his color comes and goes ; 360

ILIAD. — BOOK Xlil. 285

A dropping sweat creeps cold on every part;
Against his bosom beats his quivering heart ;
Terror and death in his wild eyeballs stare ; '
With chattering teeth he stands, and stiffening hair.
And looks a bloodless image of despair ! 365

Not so the brave — still dauntless, still the same,
Unchanged his color, and unmoved his frame ;
Composed his thought, determined is his eye,
And fix'd his squl, to conquer or to die :
If aught disturb the tenor of his breast, 370

'Tis but the wish to strike before the rest*

* In such assays thy blameless worth is known,-
And every art of dangerous war thy own.
By chance of fight whatever wound you bore.
Those wounds were glorious all, and all before ; 375
Such as may teach, 'twas still thy brave delight
To oppose fhy bosom where the foremost fight.
But why, like infants, cold to honor's charms.
Stand we to talk, when glory calls to arms?
Go — from my conquerM spears the choicest take, 380
And to their owners send them nobly back.'

Swift as the word bold Merlon snatch'd a spear,
And breathing slaughter follow'd to the war.
So Mars armipotent invades the plain
(The wide destroyer of the race of man) : 385

Terror, his best-loved son, attends his course,
Arm'd with slern boldness, and enormous force ;
The pride of haughty warriors to confound.
And lay the strength of tyrants on the ground :
From Thrace they fly, call'd to the dire alarms 390
Of warring Phlegyans, and Ephyrian arms ;
Invoked by both, relentless they dispose
To these glad conquest, murderous rout to those.
So march'd the leaders of the Cretan train.
And their bright arms shot horror o'er the plain. 39t

266 HOMER.

Then first spake Merion : ^ Shall we join the
right,
Or combat in the centre of the fight ?
Or to tlie left our wanted snccor lend ?
Hazard and fame all parts alike attend.'

' Not in the centre/ Idomen replied : 400

* Our ablest chieftains the main battle guide ;
Each godlike Ajax makes that post his care.
And gallant Teucer deals destruction there :
Skiird, or with shafts to gall the distant field.
Or bear close battle on the sounding shield. 405

These can the rage of haughty Hector tame :
Safe in their arms, the navy fears no fiame ;
Till Jove himself descends, his bolts to shed,
And hurl the blazing ruin at our head.
Great must he be, of more than human birth, 410

Nor feed like mortals on the fruits of earth.
Him neither rocks can crush, nor steel can wound,
Whom Ajax fells not on the ensanguined ground.
In standing fight he mates Achilles' force, '
Exceird alone in swiftness in the course. 415

Then to the left. our ready arms apply.
And live with glory, or with glory die.*

He said ; and Merion to the appointed place,
Fierce as the god of battles, urged his pace.
Soon as the foe the shining chiefs beheld 420

Rush like a fiery torrent o'er the field.
Their force embodied in a tide they pour ;
The rising combat sounds along the shore.
As warring winds, in Sirius* sultry reign.
From different quarters sweep the sandy plain ; 425
On every side the dusty whirlwinds rise.
And the dry fields are lifted to the skies :
Thus, by despair, hope, rage, together driven,
Met the black hosts, and, meeting, darken^ heaven.

ILIAD. — BOOK XIII. 287

All dreadful glared the iron face of war, 430

Bristled with upright spears, and tlash'd afar ;

Dire was the gleam of breastplates, helms, and

shields,
And polish 'd arms emblazed the flaming fields :
Tremendous scene ! that general horror gave.
But touch'd with joy the bosoms of the brave. 435

Saturn's great sons in fierce contention vied,
And crowds of heroes in their anger died.
The sire of earth and heaven, by Thetis won
To crown vtrith glory Peleus' godlike son,
Will'd not destruction to the Grecian powers, 440

But spared a while the destined Trojan towers :
While Neptune, rising from his azure main,
Warr'd on the king of heaven with stern disdain.
And breathed revenge, and fired the Grecian train.
Gods of one source, of one ethereal race, 445

Alike divine, and heaven their native place :
But Jove the greater ; first-born of the skies,
And more than men, or gods, supremely wise.
For this, of Jove's superior might afraid,
Neptune in human form conceal'd his aid. 450

These powers infold the Greek and Trojan train
In War and Discord's adamantine chain,
Indissolubly strong ; the fatal tie
Is stretch'd on both,- and close-compell'd they die.

Dreadful in arms, and grown in combats gray, 455
The bold Idomeneus controls the day.
First by his hand Othryoneus was slain,
Sweird with false hopes, with mad ambition vain !
Caird by the voice of war to martial fame,
From high Cabesus' distant walls he came ; 460

Cassandra's love he sought, with boasts of power,
And promised conquest was the profier'd dower.
The king consented, by his vaunts abused ;
The king consented, but the Fates refused.

288 HOMER.

Proud of himself, and of the ima^ned bride, 4G:y

The field he measured with a larger stride.

Him, as he stalk'd, the Cretan javelin found ;

Vain was his breastplate to repel the wound :

His dream of glory lost, he plunged to hell :

His arms resounded as the boaster fell. 470

The great Idomeneus bestrides the dead ;
' And thus,' he cries, ' behold thy promise sped !
Such is the help thy arms to Ilion bring,
And such the contract of the Phrygian king!
Our offers now, illustrious prince ! receive ; 475

For such an aid what will not Argos give ?
To conquer Troy, with ours thy forces join.
And count Atrides' fairest daughter thine.
Meantime, on farther methods to advise.
Come, follow to the fleet thy new allies ; 480

There hear what Greece has on her part to say.'
He spoke, and dragg'd the gory corse away.

This Asius view'd, unable to contain,
Before his chariot warring on the plain :
His valued coursers, to his squire consigned, 48o

Impatient panted on his neck behind.
To vengeance rising with a sudden spring,
He hoped the conquest of the Cretan king.
The wary Cretan, as his foe drew near.
Full on his throat discharged the forceful spear : 490
Beneath the chin the point was seen to glide.
And glittered, extant, at the farther side.
As when the mountain oak, or poplar tall.
Or pine, fit' mast for some great admiral.
Groans to the oft-heaved axe, with many a wound.
Then spreads a length of ruin o*er the ground : 496
So sunk proud Asius in that dreadful day.
And stretch'd before his much-loved coursers lay.
He grinds the dust distain*d with streaming gore,
And, fierce in death, lies foamin&: on the shore. .MK)

1

J.'

ILIAD. — BOOK XIII. 289

Deprived of motion, stiff with stupid fear,

Stands all aghast his trembling charioteer,

Nor shuns the foe, nor turns the steeds away,

But falls transfix'd, an unresisting prey :

Pierced by Antilochus, he pants beneath 505

The stately car, and labors out his breath.

Thus Asius' steeds, their mighty master gone,

Remain the prize of Nestor's youthful son.

Stabb'd at the sight, Deiphobus drew nigh, .
And made, with force, the vengeful weapon fly. 510
The Cretan saw, and, stooping, caused to glance
f'rom his slope shield the disappointed lance.
Beneath the spacious targe (a blazing round,
Thick.with bull-hides, and brazen orbits bound,
On his raised arm by two strong braces staid) 515
He lay collected in defensive shade ;
O'er his safe head the javelin idly sung.
And on the tinkling verge more faintly rung.
Ev'n then, the spear, the vigorous arm confessed,
Aild pierced, obliquely, king Hypsenor's breast : 520
WarmM in his liver, to the ground it bore
The chief,, his people's guardian now no more!

' Not unattended,' the proud Trojan cries,
' Nor unrevenged, lamented Asius lies :
For thee though hell's black portals stand dis-

play'd.
This mate shall joy thy melancholy shade/ 526

Heart-piercing anguish, at the haughty boast,
Touch'd every Greek, but Nestor's son the most.
Grieved as he was, his pious arms attend.
And his broad buckler shields his slaughter'd friend ; '
Till sad Mecistheus and Alastor bore 531

His bonor'd body to the tented shore.

Not yet from fight Idomeneus withdraws ;
Resolved to perish in his country's cause,

HOM. VOL. I. T

^0 HOMER.

Or find some foe, whom Heaven and he shall doom

To wail his fate in death's eternal gloom. 536

He sees Alcathous in the front aspire ; ' .

Great ^Esyetes was the hero's sire :

His spouse, Hippodame, divinely fair,

Anchises' eldest hope, and darling care ; 540

Who charmM her parent's and her hushand's heart.

With heauty» sense, and every work of art ;

He once, of Ilion's youth, the loveliest hoy,

The fairest she of all the fair of Troy.

By Neptune now the hapless hero dies, 545

Who covers with a cloud those beauteous eyes,

And fetters every limb : yet bent to meet

His fate he stands ; nor shuns the lance of Crete.

Fix'd as some column, or deep-rooted oak,

(While the winds sleep,) his breast received the stroke.

Before the ponderous stroke his corslet yields, 551

Long used to ward the death in lighting fields.

The riven armor sends a jarring sound :

His laboring heart heaves with so strong a bound.

The long lance shakes, and vibrates in the wound : 555

Fast fiowing from its source, as prone he lay.

Life's purple tide impetuous gush'd away.

Then Idomen, insulting o'er the slain ;
' Behold, Deiphobus ! nor vaunt in vain ;
See ! on one Greek three Trojan ghosts attend ; 560
This, my third victim, to the shades I send.
Approaching now, thy boasted might approve,
And try the prowess of the seed of Jove.
From Jove, enamor'd on a mortal dame, •
Great Minos, guardian of his country, came : 565

Deucalion, blameless prince ! was Minos' heir ;
'rlis first-born I, the third from Jupiter :
)'er spacious Crete and her bold sons I reign,
Lnd thence my ships transport me through the main :

ILIAD. — BOOK XIII. 291

Lord of a host, o'er all my host I shine, 570

A scourge to thee, thy father, and thy line.'

The Trojan heard ; uncertain, or to meet
Alone, with venturous arms, the king of Crete ;
Or seek auxiliar force : at length decreed
To call some hero to partake the deed. . 575

Forthwith ^neas rises to his thought :
For him, in Troy's remotest lines he sought ;
Where he, incensed at partial Priam stands,
And sees superior posts in meaner hands.
To him, amhitious of so great an aid, 580

The bold Deiphobus approach'd, and said :

' Now, Trojan prince, employ thy pious arms,
If e'er thy bosom felt fair honor's charms.
Alcathous dies, thy brother and thy friend !
Come, and the warrior's loved remains defend. 585
Beneath his cares thy early youth was train'd,
One table fed you, and one roof contain'd.
This deed to fierce Idomeneus we owe ;
Haste, and revenge it on the insulting foe.'

^neas heard, and for a space resign'd 590

To tender pity all his manly mind ;
Then, rising in his rage, he burns to fight :
The Greek awaits him, with collected might.
As the fell boar on some rough mountain's head,
Arm'd with wild terrors, and to slaughter bred, 595
When the loud rustics rise and shout from far,
Attends the tumult, and expects the war ;
O'er his bent back the bristly horrors rise.
Fires stream in lightning from his sanguine eyes,
His foaming tusks both dogs and men engage, 600
But most his hunters rouse his mighty rage :
So stood Idomeneus, his javelin shook.
And met the Trojan with a lowering look.
Antilochus, Deipyrus, were near,
The youthful offspring of the god of war, 60(

292 HOMER*

Merion, and Aphareus, in field renownM :

To these the warrior sent his voice around :

* Fellows in arms ! your timely aid unite ;

Lo, grreat i£neas rushes to the fight :

Sprung from a god, and more than mortal bold ; 610

He fresh in youth, and I in arms grown old.

Else should this hand, this hour, decide the strife,

The great dispute, of glory, or of life/

He spoke, and all as with one voice obey'd :
Their lifted bucklers cast a dreadful shade 615

Around the chief. iEneas too demands
The assisting forces of his native bands :
Paris, Deiphobus, Agenor join
(Co-aids and captains of the Trojan line) ;
In order follow all the embodied train ; 620

Like Ida's flocks proceeding o'er the plain :
Before his fleecy care, erect and bold,
Stalks the proud ram, the father of the fold :
With joy the swain surveys them, as he leads
To the cool fountains, through the well-known meads ;
So joys i£neas, as his native band 626

Moves on in rank, and stretches o'er the land.

Round dead Alcathous now the battle rose :
On every side the steely circle grows ;
Now batter'd breastplates and hack'd helmets ring,
And o'er their heads unheeded javelins sing. 631

Above the rest two towering chiefs appear,
There great Idomeneus, iEneas here ;
Like gods of war, dispensing fate, they stood.
And burn'd to drench the ground witb mutual blood.
The Trojan weappn whizz'd along in air, 636

The Cretan saw, and shunn'd the brazen spear :
Sent from an arm so strong, the missive wood
Stuck deep in earth, and quiver'd where it stood.
But CBnomas received the Cretan's stroke ; 640

The forceful spear his hollow corslet broke ;

ILIAD,— BOOK XIII. 398

It ripp'd his belly with a ghastly wound,

And roll'd the smoking entrails to the ground.

Stretch'd on the plain, he sobs away his breath,

And furious grasps the bloody dust in death. 645

The Tictor from his breast the weapon tears

(His spoils he could not, for the shower of spears).

Though now unfit an actire war to wage,

Heayy with cumbrous arms, stiff with cold age,

His listless limbs unable for the course ; 650

In standing fight he yet maintains his force :

Till, faint with labor, and by foes repell'd.

His tired slow steps he drags from off the field.

Deiphobus beheld him as he pass'd.
And, fired with hate, a parting javelin cast ; 655

The jayelin err'd, but held its course along.
And pierced Ascalaphus, the brave and young :
The son of Mars fell 'gasping on the ground,
And gnash'd the dust all bloody with his wound.

Nor knew the furious father of his fall ; 660

High throned amidst the great Olympian hall,
On golden clouds the immortal synod sate,
Detain'd from bloody war by Jove and Fate.

Now, where in dust the breathless hero lay.
For slain Ascalaphus commenced the fray. 665

Deiphobus to seize his helmet flies.
And from his temples rends the glittering prize ;
Valiant as Mars, Meriones drew near.
And on his loaded arm discharged his spear :
He drops the weight, disabled with the pain ; 670

The hollow helmet rings against the plain.
Swift as the vulture leaping on his prey,
From his torn arm the Grecian rent away
The reeking javelin, and rejoin'd his friends;
His wounded brother good Polites tends ; 67^^

Around his waist his pious arms he threw,
And from the rage of combat gently drew :

294 HOMER.

Him his swift coursers^ on his splendid car,
Rapt from the lessening thunder of the war ;
To Troy they drove him, groaning, from the shore.
And sprinkling, as he pass'd, the sands with gore. 681
Meanwhile fresh slaughter bathes the sanguine ground.
Heaps fall on heaps, and heaven and earth resound.
Bold Aphareus by great iEneas bled ;
As toward the chief he turnM his daring head, 685
He pierced his throat ; the bending head, depressed
Beneath his helmet, nods upon his breast ;
His shield reversed o'er the fall'n warrior lies,
And everlasting slumber seals his eyes.
Antilochus, as Thoon turn'd him round, 690

Transpierced his back with a dishonest wound :
Tlie hollow vein that to the neck extends
Along the chine, his eager javelin rends :
Supine he falls, and to his social train
Spreads his imploring arms, but spreads in vain. 695
The exulting victor, leaping where he lay.
From his broad shoulders tore the spoils away ;
His time observed ; for, closed by foes around,
On all sides thick, the peals of arms resound.
His shield, emboss'd, the ringing storm sustains, 700
But he, impervious and untouched remains.
(Great Neptune's care preserved from hostile rage
This youth, the joy of Nestor's glorious age.)
In arms intrepid, with the first he fought.
Faced every foe, and every danger sought ; 705

His winged lance, resistless as the wind,
Obeys each motion of the master's mind ;
Restless it flies, impatient to be free,
And meditates the distant enemy.
The son of Asius, Adamas, drew near, 710

Aiid struck his target with the brazen spear,
Fierce in his front : but Neptune wards the blow,
And blunts the javelin of the eluded foe :

ILIAD. — BOOK XIII. 295

In the broad buckler half the weapon stood ;

Splinter'd on earth flew half the broken wood.s 715

Disarmed, he mingled in the Trojan crew ;

But Merlon's spear overtook him as he flew,

Deep in the belly's rim an entrance found,

Where sharp the pang, and mortal is the wound.

Bending he fell, and doubled to the ground, 720

Lay panting. Thus an ox, in fetters tied.

While death's strong pangs distend his laboring side,

His bulk enormous on the field displays ;

His heaving heart beats thick, as ebbing life decays.

The spear, the conqueror from his body drew, 725

And Death's dim shadows swarm before his view.

Next brave Deipyrus in dust was laid :

King Helenus waved high the Thracian blade,

And smote his temples, with an arm so strong.

The helm fell oflT, and roll'd amid the throng: 730

There, for some luckier Greek it rests a prize ;

For dark in death the godlike owner lies !

Raging with grief, great Menelaus .burns.

And, fraught with vengeance, to the victor turns ;

That shook the pond'rous lance in act to throw ; 735

And this stood adverse with the bended bow :

Full on his breast the Trojan arrow fell,

But harmless bounded from the plated steel.

As on some ample barn's well hardened floor

(The winds collected at each open door), 740

While the broad fan with force is whirFd around.

Light leaps the golden grain, resulting from th6

ground ;
So from the steel that guards Atrides' heart,
Repell'd to distance flies the bounding dart.
Atrides, watchful of the unwary foe, 745

Pierced with his lance the hand that grasp'd the bow,
And nail'd it to the eugh : the wounded hand
Trail'd the long lance that mark'd with blood the sand '

296 HOMER.

Bat good Agenor gently from the wound
The spear solicits, and the bandage bound ; 750

A sling's soft wool, snatch'd from a soldier's nde.
At once the tent and ligature supplied.

Behold ! Pisander, urged by Fate^s decree.
Springs through the ranks to fall, and fall by thee,
Great Menelaus ! to enhance thy fame ; 756

High-towering in the front, the warrior came.
First the sharp lance was by Atrides thrown ;
The lance far distant by the winds was blown.
"Nor pierced Pisander through Atrides' shield ;
Pisander's spear fell shiver'd on the field. 76D

Not 80 discouraged, to the future blind,
Vain dreams of conquest swell his haughty mind ;
Dauntless he rushes where the Spartan lord
Like lightning brandish'd his far-beaming sword.
His left arm high opposed the shining shield : 765

His right, beneath, the coTer'd pole-axe held
(An olive's cloudy grain the handle made,
Distinct with studs, and brazen was the blade);
This on the helm discharged a noble blow ;
The plume dropp'd nodding to the plain below, 770
Shorn from the crest. Atrides waved his steel :
Deep through bis front the weighty falchion fell ;
The crashing bones before its force gave way ;
Tn dust and blood the groaning hero lay ;
Forced from their ghastly orbs, and spouting gore,
The clotted eyeballs tumble on the shore. 776

The fierce Atrides spurh'd him as he bled.
Tore ofif his arms, and, loud-exulting, said :

' Thus, Trojans, thus, at length be taught to few ;
O race perfidious, who delight in war! 780

Already noble deeds ye have perform'd,
A princess rap'd transcends a navy storm'd :
In such bold feats your impious might approve.
Without the assistance or the fear of Jove.

ILIAD. — BOOK XIII. 207

The violated rites, the rayish'd dame, 785

Our heroes slaughtered, and our ships on flame.

Crimes heapM on crimes, shall hend your glory down.

And whelm in ruins yon flagitious town.

O thou, great Father I lord of earth and skies !

AhoYe the thought of man, supremely wise ! 790

If from thy hand the fates of mortals flow,

From whence this favor to an impious foe,

A godless crew, ahandon'd and unjust.

Still hreathing rapine, violence, and lust !

The hest of things beyond their measure cloy, 795

Sleep's balmy blessing, love's endearing joy ;

The feast, the dance ; whatever mankind desire,

Ev'n the sweet charms of sacred numbers tire*

But Troy for ever reaps a dire delight

In thirst of slaughter, and in lust of fight.' 800

This said, he seiased, while yet the carcass heaved,
The bloody armor, which his train received :
Then sudden mix'd among the warring crew,
And the bold son of Pylsemenes slew.
Harpalion had through Asia travelled far, 805

Following his martial father to the war ;
Through filial love he left his native shore,
Never, ah never, to behold it more !
His unsuccessful spear he chanced to fiing
Against the target of the Spartan king ; > 810

Thus of his lance disarmed, from death he files.
And turns around his apprehensive eyes.
Him through the hip transpiercing as he fled,
The shaft of Merion mingled with the dead.
Beneath the bone the glancing point descends, 815
And, driving down, the swelling bladder rends :
Sunk in his sad companions' arms he lay.
And in short pantings sobb'd his soul away
(lake some vile worm extended on the ground) ;
While life's red torrent gush'd from out the wound. ^

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ILIAD. — BOOK XIII. 299

And where low walls confine the beating tides, 865

Whose humble barrier scarce the foes divides ;

Where late in fight, both foot and horse engaged.

And all the thunder of the battle raged,)

There, join'd, the whole Boeotian strength remains,

The proud lonians with their sweeping trains, 860

Locrians and Phthians, and the Epaean force ;

But, join 'd, repel not Hector's fiery course.

The flower of Athens, Stichius, Phidas led,

Bias and great Menestheus at their head,

Meges the strong the Epeian bands controlled, 865

And Dracius prudent, and Amphion bold ;

The Phthians Medon, famed for martial might,

And brave Podarces, active in the fight.

This drew from Phylachus his noble line ;

Iphiclus' son ; and that, Oileus, thine. 870

(Young Ajax' brother, by a stolen embrace ;

He dwelt far distant from his native place.

By his fierce stepdame from his father's reign

Expeird and exiled for her brother slain.)

These rule the Phthians, and their arms employ, 875

Mix'd with Boeotians, on the shores of Troy.

Now side by side, with like unwearied care.
Each Ajax labor'd through the field of war :
So when two lordly bulls, with equal toil.
Force the bright ploughshare through the fallow soil,
Join'd to one yoke, the stubborn earth they tear, 881
And trace large furrows with the shining share ;
O'er their huge limbs the foam descends in snow,
And streams of sweat down their sour foreheads flow;
A train of heroes followed through the field, 885

Who bore by turns great Ajax' sevenfold shield ;
Whene'er he breathed, remissive of his might,
Tired with the incessant slaughters of the fight.
No following troops his brave associate grace : *

In close engagement an unpractised race, 890

900 HOMER.

The Locrian squadrons nor the jarelin wield,

Nor bear the helm, nor lift the moony shield ;

But skill'd from far the flying shaft to wing.

Or whirl the sounding pebble from the sling.

Dexterous with these they aim a certain wound, 896

Or fell the distant warrior to the gp'ound.

Thus in the van the Telamonian train,

Throng'd in bright arms, a pressing fight maintain ;

Far in the rear the Locrian archers lie.

Whose stones and arrows intercept the sky. 900

The mingled tempest on the foes they pour ;

Troy's scattering orders open to the shower.

Now had the Greeks eternal fame acquired,
And the gall'd Ilians to the walls retired ;
But sage Polydamas, discreetly brave, 905

Addressed great Hector, and this counsel gave :

' Though great in all, thou seem'st averse to lend
Impartial audience to a faithful friend :
To gods and men thy matchless worth is known,
And every art of glorious war thy own ; 910

But in cool thought and counsel to excel.
How widely differs this from warring well !
Content with what the bounteous gods have given.
Seek not alone to engross the gifts of Heaven.
To some the powers of bloody war belong, 915

To some, sweet music, and the charm of song ;
To few, and wondrous few, has Jove assigned
A wise, extensive, all-considering mind :
Their guardians these the nations round confess.
And towns and empires for their safety bless. 920

If Heaven have lodged this virtue in my breast,
Attend, O Hector, what I judge the best.
See, as thou movest, on dangers dangers spread,
And war's whole fury burns around thy head.
Behold ! distressed within yon hostile wall, 925

How many Trojans yield, disperse, or fall !

ILIAD. — BOOR XIII. 901

What troops, outnumber'd, scarce the war maintain !

And what brave heroes at the ships lie slain !

Here cease thy fury ; and the chiefs and kings

Convoked to council, weigh the sum of things : 930

Whether (the gods succeeding our desires)

To yon tall ships to bear the Trojan fires ;

Or quit the fleet, and pass unhurt away,

Contented with the conquest of the day.

I fear, I fear, lest Greece, not yet undone, 936

Pay the large debt of last revolving sun ;

Achilles, great Achilles, yet remains

On yonder decks, and yet overlooks the plains!'

The counsel pleased ; and Hector, with a bound,
LeapM from his chariot on the trembling ground ; 940
Swift as he leapM, his clanging arms resound.
' To guard this post,' he cried, ' thy art employ.
And here detain the scattered youth of Troy ;
Where yonder heroes faint, I bend my way,
Aod hasten back to end the doubtful day.' 945

This said, the towering chief prepares to go.
Shakes his white plumes that to the breezes flow.
And seems a moving mountain topp'd with snow.
Through all his host, inspiring force, he flies.
And bids anew the martial thunder rise. 950

To Panthus' son, at Hector's high command,
Haste the bold leaders of the Trojan band :
But round the battlements, and round the plain.
For many a chief he look'd, but look'd in vain ;
Deiphobus, nor Helenus the seer, 955

Nor Asins' son, nor Asius' self appear.
For these were pierced with many a ghastly wound,
Some cold in death, some groaning on the ground :
Some low in dust, a mournful object, lay ;
High on the wall some breathed their souls away. 900

Far on the left, amid the throng he found
(Cheering the troops, and dealing deaths around)

902 HOMER.

The graceful Paris ; whom, with fury moved,
Opprobrious, thus, the impatient chief reproved :

* Ill-fated Paris ! slave to womankind, 9G5

As smooth of face as fraudulent of mind !
Where is Deiphobus, where Asins gone ?
The godlike father, and the intrepid son ?
The force of Helenus, dispensing fate.
And great Othryoneus, so fear'd of late ? 970

Black fate hangs o'er thee from the avenging gods.
Imperial Troy from her foundation nods ;
Whelm'd in thy country's ruins shalt thou fall.
And one devouring vengeance swallow all.'

When Paris thus : * My brother and my friend, 975
Thy warm impatience makes thy tongue offend.
In other battles I deserved thy blame,
Though then not deedless, nor unknown to fame ;
But since yon rampart by thy arms lay low,
I scattered slaughter from my fatal bow. 980

The chiefs you seek on yonder shore lie slain :
Of all those heroes two alone remain,
Deiphobus, and Helenus the seer :
Each now disabled by a hostile spear.
Go then, successful, where thy soul inspires ; 985

This heart and hand shall second all thy fires :
What with this arm I can, prepare to know,
Till death for death be paid, and blow for blow.
But, 'tis not ours, with forces not our own
To combat ; strength is of the gods alone.' 990

These words the hero's angry mind assuage :
Then fierce they mingle where the thickest rage.
Around Polydamas, distain'd with blood,
Cebrion, Phalces, stern Orthseus, stood,
Palmus, with Polypoetes the divine, 995

And two bold brothers of Hippotion's line
(Who reach'd fair Ilion, from Ascania far,
The former day ; the next engaged in war).

IMAD. — BOOK XIII. 303

As when from gloomy clouds a whirlwind springs,

That hears Jove's thunder on its dreadful wings, 1000

Wide o'er the hlasted fields the tempest sweeps ;

Then, gathered, settles on the hoary deeps ;

The afflicted deeps tumultuous mix and roar ;

The waves behind impel the waves before,

Wide rolling, foaming high, and tumbling to the shore;

Thus rank on rank the thick battalions throng, 1006

Chief urged on chief, and man drove man along.

Far o'er the plains in dreadful order bright,

The brazen arms reflect a beamy light :

Full in the blazing van great Hector shined, 1010

Like Mars commissioned to confound mankind.

Before him flaming, his enormous shield.

Like the broad sun, illumined all the fleld :

His nodding helm emits a streamy ray ;

His piercing eyes through all the battle stray ; 1015

And, while beneath his targe he flash'd along.

Shot terrors round, that wither'd ev'n the strong.

Thus stalk'd he, dreadful ; death was in his look ;
Whole nations fear'd ; but not an Argive shook.
The towering Ajax, with an ample stride, 1020.

Advanced the first, and thus the chief defied :

' Hector ! come on, thy empty threats forbear ;
'Tis not thy arm, ^tis thundering Jove we fear :
The skill of war to us not idly given,
Lo ! Greece is humbled, not by Troy, but Heaven.
Vain are the hopes that haughty mind imparts, 102d
To force our fleet: the Greeks have hands and hearts.
Long ere in flames our lofty navy fall.
Your boasted city and your god-built wall
Shall sink beneath us, smoking on the ground, 1030
And spread a long, unmeasured ruin round.
The time shall come, when, chased along the plain,
Ev'n thou shalt call on Jove, and call in vain :

904 HOMER.

Ev'n thou shalt wish, to aid thy desperate coarse,
The wings of falcons for thy flying horse ; 103

Shalt run, forgetful of a warrior's fame.
While clouds of friendly dust conceal thy shame/

As thus he spoke, hehold in open view.
On sounding wings a dexter eagle flew.
To Jove's glad omen all the Grecians rise, 104<

And hail, with shouts, his progress through the skies :
Far-echoing clamors hound from side to side ;
They ceased ; and thus the chief of Troy replied :

' From whence this menace, this insulting strain ?
Enormous hoaster ! doom'd to vaunt in vain. 104'

So may the gods on Hector life hestow
(Not that short life which mortals lead below,
But such as those of Jove's high lineage born
The blue-eyed maid, or he that gilds the morn),
As this decisive day shall end the fame 1O50

Of Greece, and Argos be no more a name.
And thou, imperious ! if thy madness wait
The lance of Hector, thou shalt meet thy fate :
That giant corpse, extended on the shore.
Shall largely feed the fowls with fat and gore.' 1055

He said, and like a lion stalk'd along :
With shouts incessant earth and ocean rung.
Sent from his following host : the Grecian train
With answering thunders fiU'd the echoing plain :
A shout that tore heaven's concave, and above 1060
Shook the fix'd splendors of the throne of Jove.

END OF VOL. I.

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