THE ENDING OF THE STRIFE
Achilles went along the shore of the sea, shouting aloud to the
warriors. And at his call they came; and also Diomed and Ulysses
came to the assembly, leaning on spears, for their wounds were fresh,
and King Agamemnon.
Then Achilles stood up, and spake: "It was ill done, son of Atreus,
that we strove for a woman! Would that Artemis had slain her with an
arrow on the day when I took her captive! Many a Greek who hath now
bitten the ground had then lived, and the Trojans had not reaped such
profit from our wrath. But come, let the past be past. Here I make
an end of my anger. And now make haste, and send the Greeks to
battle. Let us see whether the men of Troy will camp beside the
ships."
Then said Agamemnon, speaking from his place: "Listen, ye Greeks.
Oft have ye blamed me for this quarrel. Yet it was not I that was in
fault; rather it was Zeus and Fate, and the Fury that walketh in
darkness. But to thee, Achilles, I make full amends, for here I
offer thee the gifts which Ulysses promised thee yesterday. Stay for
a time, while my people bring them from my ships."
To him Achilles made answer: "Give thy gifts, O King, if it be thy
will, or keep them to thyself. But let us turn without delay to the
battle."
Then spake the wise Ulysses: "Achilles, urge not the Greeks to enter
fasting into the battle: for verily the strife will not be short. A
man that hath not eaten cannot fight till set of sun, for his limbs
grow heavy unawares, and he is hindered by hunger and thirst. Bid,
therefore, the people disperse, and make ready their food.
Meanwhile, let King Agamemnon send for the gifts and deliver them to
thee in full assembly. And afterwards let him furnish a feast."
Then said the King: "Thou speakest well, Ulysses. Do them thyself
fetch the gifts, and let the herald fetch us a boar, that we may do
sacrifice to Zeus and to the Sun."
But Achilles said: "Now the dead whom Hector slew lieth low, and ye
bid me think of food. Let the Greeks enter fasting into battle, and
make them a great supper when the sun goes down. As for me, neither
food nor drink shall pass my lips."
To him Ulysses made reply: "Thou art the stronger, son of Peleus, yet
I may be the wiser, for I am older than thou, and of more experience.
Ask not the Greeks to fast because of the dead. Verily they fall
every day. Rather let us bury him that dieth, and bewail him for a
day, and harden our hearts to forget: and then let us who are left
eat and drink, that we may fight with better heart."
Then did Ulysses go to the tent of the King; and they brought thence
the gifts, the treasure, and twelve horses, and seven women, skilled
workers with the needle, and the fair Briseis the eighth.
These the Myrmidons took to the tent of Achilles. But when Briseis
saw Patroclus, she beat her breast and her fair face and neck, and
wailed aloud, for he had been gentle and good, she said. And all the
women wailed with her, thinking each of her own sorrows.
Then the chiefs would have Achilles feast with them; but he hearkened
not, for he would neither eat nor drink till he had had vengeance for
the dead. And he spake, saying: "Often, Patroclus, hast thou ordered
the feast when we were hastening to the war. And now thou liest
slain, and for grief for thee I cannot eat nor drink. For greater
sorrow could not have come to me. Often did I think that I only
should perish here, but that thou shouldst return and show my son all
that was mine, goods and servants and palace."
And as he wept, the old men wept with him, thinking each of what he
had left at home.
But Zeus said to Athene: "Carest thou not for Achilles that is so
dear to thee? See, the other Greeks are gone to their meal, but he
sits fasting."
Then Athene leapt down from heaven, and shed into the breast of
Achilles nectar and ambrosia, that his knees should not fail from
hunger.
Meanwhile the Greeks poured out to battle, and in the midst Achilles
armed himself. He put the lordly greaves about his legs, and fitted
the corselet on his breast. From his shoulders he hung the sword,
and he took the great shield that Hephæstus had made, and it blazed
as it were the heaven. Also he put the helmet on his head, and the
plumes waved all around. Then he made trial of the arms, and they
fitted him well, and bare him up like wings. Last he drew from its
case his father's spear, which none might wield but Achilles' self.
Then he spake to his horses: "Take heed, Bayard and Piebald, that ye
save your driver to-day, nor leave him dead on the field, as ye left
Patroclus."
Then Hera gave to the horse Bayard a voice, so that he spake: "Surely
we will save thee, great Achilles; yet for all that, doom is near to
thee, nor are we the cause, but the gods and mastering Fate. Nor was
it of us that Patroclus died, but Apollo slew him and gave the glory
to Hector. So shalt thou, too, die by the hands of a god and of a
mortal man."
And Achilles said: "What need to tell me of my doom? Right well I
know it. Yet will I not cease till I have made the Trojans weary of
battle."