The saffron-mantled morning[1] now was spread

O’er all the nations, when the Thunderer Jove

On the deep-fork’d Olympian topmost height

Convened the Gods in council, amid whom

He spake himself; they all attentive heard.5

Gods! Goddesses! Inhabitants of heaven!

Attend; I make my secret purpose known.

Let neither God nor Goddess interpose

My counsel to rescind, but with one heart

Approve it, that it reach, at once, its end.10

Whom I shall mark soever from the rest

Withdrawn, that he may Greeks or Trojans aid,

Disgrace shall find him; shamefully chastised

He shall return to the Olympian heights,

Or I will hurl him deep into the gulfs15

Of gloomy Tartarus, where Hell shuts fast

Her iron gates, and spreads her brazen floor,

As far below the shades, as earth from heaven.

There shall he learn how far I pass in might

All others; which if ye incline to doubt,20

Now prove me. Let ye down the golden chain[2]

From heaven, and at its nether links pull all,

Both Goddesses and Gods. But me your King,

Supreme in wisdom, ye shall never draw

To earth from heaven, toil adverse as ye may.25

Yet I, when once I shall be pleased to pull,

The earth itself, itself the sea, and you

Will lift with ease together, and will wind

The chain around the spiry summit sharp

Of the Olympian, that all things upheaved30

Shall hang in the mid heaven. So far do I,

Compared with all who live, transcend them all.

He ended, and the Gods long time amazed

Sat silent, for with awful tone he spake:

But at the last Pallas blue-eyed began.35

Father! Saturnian Jove! of Kings supreme!

We know thy force resistless; but our hearts

Feel not the less, when we behold the Greeks

Exhausting all the sorrows of their lot.

If thou command, we, doubtless, will abstain40

From battle, yet such counsel to the Greeks

Suggesting still, as may in part effect

Their safety, lest thy wrath consume them all.

To whom with smiles answer’d cloud-gatherer Jove.

Fear not, my child! stern as mine accent was,45

I forced a frown—no more. For in mine heart

Nought feel I but benevolence to thee.

He said, and to his chariot join’d his steeds

Swift, brazen-hoof’d, and mailed with wavy gold;

He put on golden raiment, his bright scourge50

Of gold receiving rose into his seat,

And lash’d his steeds; they not unwilling flew

Midway the earth between and starry heaven.

To spring-fed Ida, mother of wild beasts,

He came, where stands in Gargarus[3] his shrine55

Breathing fresh incense! there the Sire of all

Arriving, loosed his coursers, and around

Involving them in gather’d clouds opaque,

Sat on the mountain’s head, in his own might

Exulting, with the towers of Ilium all60

Beneath his eye, and the whole fleet of Greece.

In all their tents, meantime, Achaia’s sons

Took short refreshment, and for fight prepared.

On the other side, though fewer, yet constrain’d

By strong necessity, throughout all Troy,65

In the defence of children and wives

Ardent, the Trojans panted for the field.

Wide flew the city gates: forth rush’d to war

Horsemen and foot, and tumult wild arose.

They met, they clash’d; loud was the din of spears70

And bucklers on their bosoms brazen-mail’d

Encountering, shields in opposition from

Met bossy shields, and tumult wild arose.[4]

There many a shout and many a dying groan

Were heard, the slayer and the maim’d aloud75

Clamoring, and the earth was drench’d with blood.

Till sacred morn[5] had brighten’d into noon,

The vollied weapons on both sides their task

Perform’d effectual, and the people fell.

But when the sun had climb’d the middle skies,80

The Sire of all then took his golden scales;[6]

Doom against doom he weigh’d, the eternal fates

In counterpoise, of Trojans and of Greeks.

He rais’d the beam; low sank the heavier lot

Of the Achaians; the Achaian doom85

Subsided, and the Trojan struck the skies.

Then roar’d the thunders from the summit hurl’d

of Ida, and his vivid lightnings flew

Into Achaia’s host. They at the sight

Astonish’d stood; fear whiten’d every cheek.[7]90

Idomeneus dared not himself abide

That shock, nor Agamemnon stood, nor stood

The heroes Ajax, ministers of Mars.

Gerenian Nestor, guardian of the Greeks,

Alone fled not, nor he by choice remain’d,95

But by his steed retarded, which the mate

Of beauteous Helen, Paris, with a shaft

Had stricken where the forelock grows, a part

Of all most mortal. Tortured by the wound

Erect he rose, the arrow in his brain,100

And writhing furious, scared his fellow-steeds.

Meantime, while, strenuous, with his falchion’s edge

The hoary warrior stood slashing the reins,

Through multitudes of fierce pursuers borne

On rapid wheels, the dauntless charioteer105

Approach’d him, Hector. Then, past hope, had died

The ancient King, but Diomede discern’d

His peril imminent, and with a voice

Like thunder, called Ulysses to his aid.

Laertes’ noble son, for wiles renown’d!110

Art thou too fugitive, and turn’st thy back

Like the base multitude? Ah! fear a lance

Implanted ignominious in thy spine.

Stop—Nestor dies. Fell Hector is at hand.

So shouted Diomede, whose summons loud,115

Ulysses yet heard not, but, passing, flew

With headlong haste to the Achaian fleet.

Then, Diomede, unaided as he was,

Rush’d ardent to the vanward, and before

The steeds of the Neleian sovereign old120

Standing, in accents wing’d, him thus address’d.

Old Chief! these youthful warriors are too brisk

For thee, press’d also by encroaching age,

Thy servant too is feeble, and thy steeds

Are tardy. Mount my chariot. Thou shalt see125

With what rapidity the steeds of Troy,

Pursuing or retreating, scour the field.

I took them from that terror of his foes,

Æneas. Thine to our attendants leave,

While these against the warlike powers of Troy130

We push direct; that Hector’s self may know

If my spear rage not furious as his own.

He said, nor the Gerenian Chief refused.

Thenceforth their servants, Sthenelus and good

Eurymedon, took charge of Nestor’s steeds,135

And they the chariot of Tydides both

Ascended; Nestor seized the reins, plied well

The scourge, and soon they met. Tydides hurl’d

At Hector first, while rapid he advanced;

But missing Hector, wounded in the breast140

Eniopeus his charioteer, the son

Of brave Thebæus, managing the steeds.

He fell; his fiery coursers at the sound

Startled, recoil’d, and where he fell he died.

Deep sorrow for his charioteer o’erwhelm’d145

The mind of Hector; yet, although he mourn’d

He left him, and another sought as brave.

Nor wanted long his steeds a charioteer,

For finding soon the son of Iphitus,

Bold Archeptolemus, he bade him mount150

His chariot, and the reins gave to his hand.

Then deeds of bloodiest note should have ensued,

Penn’d had the Trojans been, as lambs, in Troy,

But for quick succor of the sire of all.

Thundering, he downward hurled his candent bolt155

To the horse-feet of Diomede; dire fumed

The flaming sulphur, and both horses drove

Under the axle, belly to the ground.

Forth flew the splendid reins from Nestor’s hand,

And thus to Diomede, appall’d, he spake.160

Back to the fleet, Tydides! Can’st not see

That Jove ordains not, now, the victory thine?

The son of Saturn glorifies to-day

This Trojan, and, if such his will, can make

The morrow ours; but vain it is to thwart165

The mind of Jove, for he is Lord of all.

To him the valiant Diomede replied.

Thou hast well said, old warrior! but the pang

That wrings my soul, is this. The public ear

In Ilium shall from Hector’s lips be told—170

I drove Tydides—fearing me he fled.

So shall he vaunt, and may the earth her jaws

That moment opening swallow me alive!

Him answer’d the Gerenian warrior old.

What saith the son of Tydeus, glorious Chief?175

Should Hector so traduce thee as to call

Thee base and timid, neither Trojan him

Nor Dardan would believe, nor yet the wives

Of numerous shielded warriors brave of Troy,

Widow’d by thy unconquerable arm.180

So saying, he through the fugitives his steeds

Turn’d swift to flight. Then Hector and his host

With clamor infinite their darts wo-wing’d

Shower’d after them, and Hector, mighty Chief

Majestic, from afar, thus call’d aloud.185

Tydides! thee the Danaï swift-horsed

Were wont to grace with a superior seat,

The mess of honor, and the brimming cup,

But now will mock thee. Thou art woman now.

Go, timorous girl! Thou never shalt behold190

Me flying, climb our battlements, or lead

Our women captive. I will slay thee first.

He ceased. Then Diomede in dread suspense

Thrice purposed, turning, to withstand the foe,

And thrice in thunder from the mountain-top195

Jove gave the signal of success to Troy.

When Hector thus the Trojans hail’d aloud.

Trojans and Lycians, and close-warring sons

Of Dardanus, oh summon all your might,

Now, now be men! I know that from his heart200

Saturnian Jove glory and bright success

For me prepares, but havoc for the Greeks.

Fools! they shall find this wall which they have raised

Too weak to check my course, a feeble guard

Contemptible; such also is the trench;205

My steeds shall slight it with an easy leap.

But when ye see me in their fleet arrived,

Remember fire. Then bring me flaming brands

That I may burn their galleys and themselves

Slaughter beside them, struggling in the smoke.[8]210

He spake, and thus encouraged next his steeds.

Xanthus! Podargus! and ye generous pair

Æthon and glossy Lampus! now requite

Mine, and the bounty of Andromache,

Far-famed Eëtion’s daughter; she your bowl215

With corn fresh-flavor’d and with wine full oft

Hath mingled, your refreshment seeking first

Ere mine, who have a youthful husband’s claim.[9]

Now follow! now be swift; that we may seize

The shield of Nestor, bruited to the skies220

As golden all, trappings and disk alike.

Now from the shoulders of the equestrian Chief

Tydides tear we off his splendid mail,

The work of Vulcan.[10] May we take but these,

I have good hope that, ere this night be spent,225

The Greeks shall climb their galleys and away.

So vaunted he, but Juno with disdain

His proud boast heard, and shuddering in her throne,

Rock’d the Olympian; turning then toward

The Ocean’s mighty sovereign, thus she spake.230

Alas! earth-shaking sovereign of the waves,

Feel’st thou no pity of the perishing Greeks?

Yet Greece, in Helice, with gifts nor few

Nor sordid, and in Ægæ, honors thee,

Whom therefore thou shouldst prosper. Would we all235

Who favor Greece associate to repulse

The Trojans, and to check loud-thundering Jove,

On Ida seated he might lour alone.

To whom the Sovereign, Shaker of the Shores,

Indignant. Juno! rash in speech! what word240

Hath ’scaped thy lips? never, with my consent,

Shall we, the powers subordinate, in arms

With Jove contend. He far excels us all.

So they. Meantime, the trench and wall between,[11]

The narrow interval with steeds was fill’d245

Close throng’d and shielded warriors. There immew’d

By Priameian Hector, fierce as Mars,

They stood, for Hector had the help of Jove.

And now with blazing fire their gallant barks

He had consumed, but Juno moved the mind250

Of Agamemnon, vigilant himself,

To exhortation of Achaia’s host.

Through camp and fleet the monarch took his way,

And, his wide robe imperial in his hand,

High on Ulysses’ huge black galley stood,255

The central ship conspicuous; thence his voice

Might reach the most remote of all the line

At each extreme, where Ajax had his tent

Pitch’d, and Achilles, fearless of surprise.

Thence, with loud voice, the Grecians thus he hail’d.260

Oh shame to Greece! Warriors in show alone!

Where is your boasted prowess? Ye profess’d

Vain-glorious erst in Lemnos, while ye fed

Plenteously on the flesh of beeves full-grown,

And crown’d your beakers high, that ye would face265

Each man a hundred Trojans in the field—

Ay, twice a hundred—yet are all too few

To face one Hector now; nor doubt I aught

But he shall soon fire the whole fleet of Greece.

Jove! Father! what great sovereign ever felt270

Thy frowns as I? Whom hast thou shamed as me?

Yet I neglected not, through all the course

Of our disasterous voyage (in the hope

That we should vanquish Troy) thy sacred rites,

But where I found thine altar, piled it high275

With fat and flesh of bulls, on every shore.

But oh, vouchsafe to us, that we at least

Ourselves, deliver’d, may escape the sword,

Nor let their foes thus tread the Grecians down!

He said. The eternal father pitying saw280

His tears, and for the monarch’s sake preserved

The people. Instant, surest of all signs,

He sent his eagle; in his pounces strong

A fawn he bore, fruit of the nimble hind,

Which fast beside the beauteous altar raised285

To Panomphæan[12] Jove sudden he dropp’d.[13]

They, conscious, soon, that sent from Jove he came,

More ardent sprang to fight. Then none of all

Those numerous Chiefs could boast that he outstripp’d

Tydides, urging forth beyond the foss290

His rapid steeds, and rushing to the war.

He, foremost far, a Trojan slew, the son

Of Phradmon, Ageläus; as he turn’d

His steeds to flight, him turning with his spear

Through back and bosom Diomede transpierced.295

And with loud clangor of his arms he fell.

Then, royal Agamemnon pass’d the trench

And Menelaus; either Ajax, then,

Clad with fresh prowess both; them follow’d, next,

Idomeneus, with his heroic friend300

In battle dread as homicidal Mars,

Meriones; Evæmon’s son renown’d

Succeeded, bold Eurypylus; and ninth

Teucer, wide-straining his impatient bow.

He under covert fought of the broad shield305

Of Telamonian Ajax; Ajax high

Upraised his shield; the hero from beneath

Took aim, and whom his arrow struck, he fell;

Then close as to his mother’s side a child

For safety creeps, Teucer to Ajax’ side310

Retired, and Ajax shielded him again.

Whom then slew Teucer first, illustrious Chief?

Orsilochus, and Ophelestes, first,

And Ormenus he slew, then Dætor died,

Chromius and Lycophontes brave in fight315

With Amopaon Polyæmon’s son,

And Melanippus. These, together heap’d,

All fell by Teucer on the plain of Troy.

The Trojan ranks thinn’d by his mighty bow

The King of armies Agamemnon saw320

Well-pleased, and him approaching, thus began.

Brave Telamonian Teucer, oh, my friend,

Thus shoot, that light may visit once again

The Danaï, and Telamon rejoice!

Thee Telamon within his own abode325

Rear’d although spurious; mount him, in return,

Although remote, on glory’s heights again.

I tell thee, and the effect shall follow sure,

Let but the Thunderer and Minerva grant

The pillage of fair Ilium to the Greeks,330

And I will give to thy victorious hand,

After my own, the noblest recompense,

A tripod or a chariot with its steeds,

Or some fair captive to partake thy bed.

To whom the generous Teucer thus replied.335

Atrides! glorious monarch! wherefore me

Exhortest thou to battle? who myself

Glow with sufficient ardor, and such strength

As heaven affords me spare not to employ.

Since first we drove them back, with watchful eye340

Their warriors I have mark’d; eight shafts my bow

Hath sent long-barb’d, and every shaft, well-aim’d.

The body of some Trojan youth robust

Hath pierced, but still you ravening wolf escapes.

He said, and from the nerve another shaft345

Impatient sent at Hector; but it flew

Devious, and brave Gorgythion struck instead.

Him beautiful Castianira, brought

By Priam from Æsyma, nymph of form

Celestial, to the King of Ilium bore.350

As in the garden, with the weight surcharged

Of its own fruit, and drench’d by vernal rains

The poppy falls oblique, so he his head

Hung languid, by his helmet’s weight depress’d.[14]

Then Teucer yet an arrow from the nerve355

Dispatch’d at Hector, with impatience fired

To pierce him; but again his weapon err’d

Turn’d by Apollo, and the bosom struck

Of Archeptolemus, his rapid steeds

To battle urging, Hector’s charioteer.360

He fell, his fiery coursers at the sound

Recoil’d, and lifeless where he fell he lay.

Deep sorrow for his charioteer the mind

O’erwhelm’d of Hector, yet he left the slain,

And seeing his own brother nigh at hand,365

Cebriones, him summon’d to the reins,

Who with alacrity that charge received.

Then Hector, leaping with a dreadful shout

From his resplendent chariot, grasp’d a stone,

And rush’d on Teucer, vengeance in his heart.370

Teucer had newly fitted to the nerve

An arrow keen selected from the rest,

And warlike Hector, while he stood the cord

Retracting, smote him with that rugged rock

Just where the key-bone interposed divides375

The neck and bosom, a most mortal part.

It snapp’d the bow-string, and with numbing force

Struck dead his hand; low on his knees he dropp’d,

And from his opening grasp let fall the bow.

Then not unmindful of a brother fallen380

Was Ajax, but, advancing rapid, stalk’d

Around him, and his broad shield interposed,

Till brave Alaster and Mecisteus, son

Of Echius, friends of Teucer, from the earth

Upraised and bore him groaning to the fleet.385

And now again fresh force Olympian Jove

Gave to the Trojans; right toward the foss

They drove the Greeks, while Hector in the van

Advanced, death menacing in every look.

As some fleet hound close-threatening flank or haunch390

Of boar or lion, oft as he his head

Turns flying, marks him with a steadfast eye,

So Hector chased the Grecians, slaying still

The hindmost of the scatter’d multitude.

But when, at length, both piles and hollow foss395

They had surmounted, and no few had fallen

By Trojan hands, within their fleet they stood

Imprison’d, calling each to each, and prayer

With lifted hands, loud offering to the Gods.

With Gorgon looks, meantime, and eyes of Mars,400

Hector impetuous his mane-tossing steeds

From side to side before the rampart drove,

When white-arm’d Juno pitying the Greeks,

In accents wing’d her speech to Pallas turn’d.

Alas, Jove’s daughter! shall not we at least405

In this extremity of their distress

Care for the Grecians by the fatal force

Of this one Chief destroy’d? I can endure

The rage of Priameïan Hector now

No longer; such dire mischiefs he hath wrought.410

Whom answer’d thus Pallas, cærulean-eyed.

—And Hector had himself long since his life

Resign’d and rage together, by the Greeks

Slain under Ilium’s walls, but Jove, my sire,

Mad counsels executing and perverse,415

Me counterworks in all that I attempt,

Nor aught remembers how I saved ofttimes

His son enjoin’d full many a task severe

By King Eurystheus; to the Gods he wept,

And me Jove sent in haste to his relief.420

But had I then foreseen what now I know,

When through the adamantine gates he pass’d

To bind the dog of hell, by the deep floods

Hemm’d in of Styx, he had return’d no more.

But Thetis wins him now; her will prevails,425

And mine he hates; for she hath kiss’d his knees

And grasp’d his beard, and him in prayer implored

That he would honor her heroic son

Achilles, city-waster prince renown’d.

’Tis well—the day shall come when Jove again430

Shall call me darling, and his blue-eyed maid

As heretofore;—but thou thy steeds prepare,

While I, my father’s mansion entering, arm

For battle. I would learn by trial sure,

If Hector, Priam’s offspring famed in fight435

(Ourselves appearing in the walks of war)

Will greet us gladly. Doubtless at the fleet

Some Trojan also, shall to dogs resign

His flesh for food, and to the fowls of heaven.

So counsell’d Pallas, nor the daughter dread440

Of mighty Saturn, Juno, disapproved,

But busily and with dispatch prepared

The trappings of her coursers golden-rein’d.

Meantime, Minerva progeny of Jove,

On the adamantine floor of his abode445

Let fall profuse her variegated robe,

Labor of her own hands. She first put on

The corslet of the cloud-assembler God,

Then arm’d her for the field of wo, complete.

Mounting the fiery chariot, next she seized450

Her ponderous spear, huge, irresistible,

With which Jove’s awful daughter levels ranks

Of heroes against whom her anger burns.

Juno with lifted lash urged on the steeds.

At their approach, spontaneous roar’d the wide-455

Unfolding gates of heaven; the heavenly gates

Kept by the watchful Hours, to whom the charge

Of the Olympian summit appertains,

And of the boundless ether, back to roll,

And to replace the cloudy barrier dense.460

Spurr’d through the portal flew the rapid steeds:

Which when the Eternal Father from the heights

Of Ida saw, kindling with instant ire

To golden-pinion’d Iris thus he spake.

Haste, Iris, turn them thither whence they came;465

Me let them not encounter; honor small

To them, to me, should from that strife accrue.

Tell them, and the effect shall sure ensue,

That I will smite their steeds, and they shall halt

Disabled; break their chariot, dash themselves470

Headlong, and ten whole years shall not efface

The wounds by my avenging bolts impress’d.

So shall my blue-eyed daughter learn to dread

A father’s anger; but for the offence

Of Juno, I resent it less; for she475

Clashes[15] with all my counsels from of old.

He ended; Iris with a tempest’s speed

From the Idæan summit soar’d at once

To the Olympian; at the open gates

Exterior of the mountain many-valed480

She stayed them, and her coming thus declared.

Whither, and for what cause? What rage is this?

Ye may not aid the Grecians; Jove forbids;

The son of Saturn threatens, if ye force

His wrath by perseverance into act,485

That he will smite your steeds, and they shall halt

Disabled; break your chariot, dash yourselves

Headlong, and ten whole years shall not efface

The wounds by his avenging bolts impress’d.

So shall his blue-eyed daughter learn to dread490

A father’s anger; but for the offence

Of Juno, he resents it less; for she

Clashes with all his counsels from of old.

But thou, Minerva, if thou dare indeed

Lift thy vast spear against the breast of Jove,495

Incorrigible art and dead to shame.

So saying, the rapid Iris disappear’d,

And thus her speech to Pallas Juno turn’d.

Ah Pallas, progeny of Jove! henceforth

No longer, in the cause of mortal men,500

Contend we against Jove. Perish or live

Grecians or Trojans as he wills; let him

Dispose the order of his own concerns,

And judge between them, as of right he may.

So saying, she turn’d the coursers; them the Hours505

Released, and to ambrosial mangers bound,

Then thrust their chariot to the luminous wall.

They, mingling with the Gods, on golden thrones

Dejected sat, and Jove from Ida borne

Reach’d the Olympian heights, seat of the Gods.510

His steeds the glorious King of Ocean loosed,

And thrust the chariot, with its veil o’erspread.

Into its station at the altar’s side.

Then sat the Thunderer on his throne of gold

Himself, and the huge mountain shook. Meantime515

Juno and Pallas, seated both apart,

Spake not or question’d him. Their mute reserve

He noticed, conscious of the cause, and said.

Juno and Pallas, wherefore sit ye sad?

Not through fatigue by glorious fight incurr’d520

And slaughter of the Trojans whom ye hate.

Mark now the difference. Not the Gods combined

Should have constrain’d _me_ back, till all my force,

Superior as it is, had fail’d, and all

My fortitude. But ye, ere ye beheld525

The wonders of the field, trembling retired.

And ye did well—Hear what had else befallen.

My bolts had found you both, and ye had reach’d,

In your own chariot borne, the Olympian height,

Seat of the blest Immortals, never more.530

He ended; Juno and Minerva heard

Low murmuring deep disgust, and side by side

Devising sat calamity to Troy.

Minerva, through displeasure against Jove,

Nought utter’d, for her bosom boil’d with rage;535

But Juno check’d not hers, who thus replied.

What word hath pass’d thy lips, Jove most severe?

We know thy force resistless; yet our hearts

Feel not the less when we behold the Greeks

Exhausting all the sorrows of their lot.540

If thou command, we doubtless will abstain

From battle, yet such counsel to the Greeks

Suggesting still, as may in part effect

Their safety, lest thy wrath consume them all.

Then answer, thus, cloud-gatherer Jove return’d.545

Look forth, imperial Juno, if thou wilt,

To-morrow at the blush of earliest dawn,

And thou shalt see Saturn’s almighty son

The Argive host destroying far and wide.

For Hector’s fury shall admit no pause550

Till he have roused Achilles, in that day

When at the ships, in perilous straits, the hosts

Shall wage fierce battle for Patroclus slain.

Such is the voice of fate. But, as for thee—

Withdraw thou to the confines of the abyss555

Where Saturn and Iäpetus retired,

Exclusion sad endure from balmy airs

And from the light of morn, hell-girt around,

I will not call thee thence. No. Should thy rage

Transport thee thither, there thou may’st abide,560

There sullen nurse thy disregarded spleen

Obstinate as thou art, and void of shame.

He ended; to whom Juno nought replied.

And now the radiant Sun in Ocean sank,

Drawing night after him o’er all the earth;565

Night, undesired by Troy, but to the Greeks

Thrice welcome for its interposing gloom.

Then Hector on the river’s brink fast by

The Grecian fleet, where space he found unstrew’d

With carcases convened the Chiefs of Troy.570

They, there dismounting, listen’d to the words

Of Hector Jove-beloved; he grasp’d a spear

In length eleven cubits, bright its head

Of brass, and color’d with a ring of gold.

He lean’d on it, and ardent thus began.575

Trojans, Dardanians, and allies of Troy!

I hoped, this evening (every ship consumed,

And all the Grecians slain) to have return’d

To wind-swept Ilium. But the shades of night

Have intervened, and to the night they owe,580

In chief, their whole fleet’s safety and their own.

Now, therefore, as the night enjoins, all take

Needful refreshment. Your high-mettled steeds

Release, lay food before them, and in haste

Drive hither from the city fatted sheep585

And oxen; bring ye from your houses bread,

Make speedy purchase of heart-cheering wine,

And gather fuel plenteous; that all night,

E’en till Aurora, daughter of the morn

Shall look abroad, we may with many fires590

Illume the skies; lest even in the night,

Launching, they mount the billows and escape.

Beware that they depart not unannoy’d,

But, as he leaps on board, give each a wound

With shaft or spear, which he shall nurse at home.595

So shall the nations fear us, and shall vex

With ruthless war Troy’s gallant sons no more.

Next, let the heralds, ministers of Jove,

Loud notice issue that the boys well-grown,

And ancients silver-hair’d on the high towers600

Built by the Gods, keep watch; on every hearth

In Troy, let those of the inferior sex

Make sprightly blaze, and place ye there a guard

Sufficient, lest in absence of the troops

An ambush enter, and surprise the town.605

Act thus, ye dauntless Trojans; the advice

Is wholesome, and shall serve the present need,

And so much for the night; ye shall be told

The business of the morn when morn appears.

It is my prayer to Jove and to all heaven610

(Not without hope) that I may hence expel

These dogs, whom Ilium’s unpropitious fates

Have wafted hither in their sable barks.

But we will also watch this night, ourselves,

And, arming with the dawn, will at their ships615

Give them brisk onset. Then shall it appear

If Diomede the brave shall me compel

Back to our walls, or I, his arms blood-stain’d,

Torn from his breathless body, bear away.

To-morrow, if he dare but to abide620

My lance, he shall not want occasion meet

For show of valor. But much more I judge

That the next rising sun shall see him slain

With no few friends around him. Would to heaven!

I were as sure to ’scape the blight of age625

And share their honors with the Gods above,

As comes the morrow fraught with wo to Greece.

So Hector, whom his host with loud acclaim

All praised. Then each his sweating steeds released,

And rein’d them safely at his chariot-side.630

And now from Troy provision large they brought,

Oxen, and sheep, with store of wine and bread,

And fuel much was gather’d. [16]Next the Gods

With sacrifice they sought, and from the plain

Upwafted by the winds the smoke aspired635

Savoury, but unacceptable to those

Above; such hatred in their hearts they bore

To Priam, to the people of the brave

Spear-practised Priam, and to sacred Troy.

Big with great purposes and proud, they sat,640

Not disarray’d, but in fair form disposed

Of even ranks, and watch’d their numerous fires,

As when around the clear bright moon, the stars

Shine in full splendor, and the winds are hush’d,

The groves, the mountain-tops, the headland-heights645

Stand all apparent, not a vapor streaks

The boundless blue, but ether open’d wide

All glitters, and the shepherd’s heart is cheer’d;[17]

So numerous seem’d those fires the bank between

Of Xanthus, blazing, and the fleet of Greece,650

In prospect all of Troy; a thousand fires,

Each watch’d by fifty warriors seated near.

The steeds beside the chariots stood, their corn

Chewing, and waiting till the golden-throned

Aurora should restore the light of day.655

BOOK IX.

ARGUMENT OF THE NINTH BOOK.

By advice of Nestor, Agamemnon sends Ulysses, Phœnix, and Ajax to the

tent of Achilles with proposals of reconciliation. They execute their

commission, but without effect. Phœnix remains with Achilles; Ulysses

and Ajax return.

BOOK IX.

So watch’d the Trojan host; but thoughts of flight,

Companions of chill fear, from heaven infused,

Possess’d the Grecians; every leader’s heart

Bled, pierced with anguish insupportable.

As when two adverse winds blowing from Thrace,5

Boreas and Zephyrus, the fishy Deep

Vex sudden, all around, the sable flood

High curl’d, flings forth the salt weed on the shore

Such tempest rent the mind of every Greek.

Forth stalk’d Atrides with heart-riving wo10

Transfixt; he bade his heralds call by name

Each Chief to council, but without the sound

Of proclamation; and that task himself

Among the foremost sedulous perform’d.

The sad assembly sat; when weeping fast15

As some deep[1] fountain pours its rapid stream

Down from the summit of a lofty rock,

King Agamemnon in the midst arose,

And, groaning, the Achaians thus address’d.

Friends, counsellors and leaders of the Greeks!20

In dire perplexity Saturnian Jove

Involves me, cruel; he assured me erst,

And solemnly, that I should not return

Till I had wasted wall-encircled Troy;

But now (ah fraudulent and foul reverse!)25

Commands me back inglorious to the shores

Of distant Argos, with diminish’d troops.

So stands the purpose of almighty Jove,

Who many a citadel hath laid in dust,

And shall hereafter, matchless in his power.30

Haste therefore. My advice is, that we all

Fly with our fleet into our native land,

For wide-built Ilium shall not yet be ours.

He ceased, and all sat silent; long the sons

Of Greece, o’erwhelm’d with sorrow, silent sat,35

When thus, at last, bold Diomede began.

Atrides! foremost of the Chiefs I rise

To contravert thy purpose ill-conceived,

And with such freedom as the laws, O King!

Of consultation and debate allow.40

Hear patient. Thou hast been thyself the first

Who e’er reproach’d me in the public ear

As one effeminate and slow to fight;

How truly, let both young and old decide.

The son of wily Saturn hath to thee45

Given, and refused; he placed thee high in power,

Gave thee to sway the sceptre o’er us all,

But courage gave thee not, his noblest gift.[2]

Art thou in truth persuaded that the Greeks

Are pusillanimous, as thou hast said?50

If thy own fears impel thee to depart,

Go thou, the way is open; numerous ships,

Thy followers from Mycenæ, line the shore.

But we, the rest, depart not, till the spoil

Of Troy reward us. Or if all incline55

To seek again their native home, fly all;

Myself and Sthenelus will persevere

Till Ilium fall, for with the Gods we came.

He ended; all the admiring sons of Greece

With shouts the warlike Diomede extoll’d,60

When thus equestrian Nestor next began.

Tydides, thou art eminently brave

In fight, and all the princes of thy years

Excell’st in council. None of all the Greeks

Shall find occasion just to blame thy speech65

Or to gainsay; yet thou hast fallen short.

What wonder? Thou art young; and were myself

Thy father, thou should’st be my latest born.

Yet when thy speech is to the Kings of Greece,

It is well-framed and prudent. Now attend!70

Myself will speak, who have more years to boast

Than thou hast seen, and will so closely scan

The matter, that Atrides, our supreme,

Himself shall have no cause to censure _me_.

He is a wretch, insensible and dead75

To all the charities of social life,

Whose pleasure is in civil broils alone.[3]

But Night is urgent, and with Night’s demands

Let all comply. Prepare we now repast,

And let the guard be stationed at the trench80

Without the wall; the youngest shall supply

That service; next, Atrides, thou begin

(For thou art here supreme) thy proper task.

Banquet the elders; it shall not disgrace

Thy sovereignty, but shall become thee well.85

Thy tents are fill’d with wine which day by day

Ships bring from Thrace; accommodation large

Hast thou, and numerous is thy menial train.

Thy many guests assembled, thou shalt hear

Our counsel, and shalt choose the best; great need90

Have all Achaia’s sons, now, of advice

Most prudent; for the foe, fast by the fleet

Hath kindled numerous fires, which who can see

Unmoved? This night shall save us or destroy.[4]

He spake, whom all with full consent approved.95

Forth rush’d the guard well-arm’d; first went the son

Of Nestor, Thrasymedes, valiant Chief;

Then, sons of Mars, Ascalaphus advanced,

And brave Iälmenus; whom follow’d next

Deipyrus, Aphareus, Meriones,100

And Lycomedes, Creon’s son renown’d.

Seven were the leaders of the guard, and each

A hundred spearmen headed, young and bold.

Between the wall and trench their seat they chose,

There kindled fires, and each his food prepared.105

Atrides, then, to his pavilion led

The thronging Chiefs of Greece, and at his board

Regaled them; they with readiness and keen

Dispatch of hunger shared the savory feast,

And when nor thirst remain’d nor hunger more110

Unsated, Nestor then, arising first,

Whose counsels had been ever wisest deem’d,

Warm for the public interest, thus began.

Atrides! glorious sovereign! King of men!

Thou art my first and last, proem and close,115

For thou art mighty, and to thee are given

From Jove the sceptre and the laws in charge,

For the advancement of the general good.

Hence, in peculiar, both to speak and hear

Become thy duty, and the best advice,120

By whomsoever offer’d, to adopt

And to perform, for thou art judge alone.

I will promulge the counsel which to me

Seems wisest; such, that other Grecian none

Shall give thee better; neither is it new,125

But I have ever held it since the day

When, most illustrious! thou wast pleased to take

By force the maid Briseïs from the tent

Of the enraged Achilles; not, in truth,

By my advice, who did dissuade thee much;130

But thou, complying with thy princely wrath,

Hast shamed a Hero whom themselves the Gods

Delight to honor, and his prize detain’st.

Yet even now contrive we, although late,

By lenient gifts liberal, and by speech135

Conciliatory, to assuage his ire.

Then answer’d Agamemnon, King of men.

Old Chief! there is no falsehood in thy charge;

I have offended, and confess the wrong.

The warrior is alone a host, whom Jove140

Loves as he loves Achilles, for whose sake

He hath Achaia’s thousands thus subdued.

But if the impulse of a wayward mind

Obeying, I have err’d, behold me, now,

Prepared to soothe him with atonement large145

Of gifts inestimable, which by name

I will propound in presence of you all.

Seven tripods, never sullied yet with fire;

Of gold ten talents; twenty cauldrons bright;

Twelve coursers, strong, victorious in the race;150

No man possessing prizes such as mine

Which they have won for me, shall feel the want

Of acquisitions splendid or of gold.

Seven virtuous female captives will I give

Expert in arts domestic, Lesbians all,155

Whom, when himself took Lesbos, I received

My chosen portion, passing womankind

In perfect loveliness of face and form.

These will I give, and will with these resign

Her whom I took, Briseïs, with an oath160

Most solemn, that unconscious as she was

Of my embraces, such I yield her his.

All these I give him now; and if at length

The Gods vouchsafe to us to overturn

Priam’s great city, let him heap his ships165

With gold and brass, entering and choosing first

When we shall share the spoil. Let him beside

Choose twenty from among the maids of Troy,

Helen except, loveliest of all their sex.

And if once more, the rich milk-flowing land170

We reach of Argos, he shall there become

My son-in-law, and shall enjoy like state

With him whom I in all abundance rear,

My only son Orestes. At my home

I have three daughters; let him thence conduct175

To Phthia, her whom he shall most approve.

Chrysothemis shall be his bride, or else

Laodice; or if she please him more,

Iphianassa; and from him I ask

No dower;[5] myself will such a dower bestow180

As never father on his child before.

Seven fair well-peopled cities I will give

Cardamyle and Enope, and rich

In herbage, Hira; Pheræ stately-built,

And for her depth of pasturage renown’d185

Antheia; proud Æpeia’s lofty towers,

And Pedasus impurpled dark with vines.

All these are maritime, and on the shore

They stand of Pylus, by a race possess’d

Most rich in flocks and herds, who tributes large,190

And gifts presenting to his sceptred hand,

Shall hold him high in honor as a God.

These will I give him if from wrath he cease.

Let him be overcome. Pluto alone

Is found implacable and deaf to prayer,195

Whom therefore of all Gods men hate the most.

My power is greater, and my years than his

More numerous, therefore let him yield to me.

To him Gerenian Nestor thus replied.

Atrides! glorious sovereign! King of men!200

No sordid gifts, or to be view’d with scorn,

Givest thou the Prince Achilles. But away!

Send chosen messengers, who shall the son

Of Peleus, instant, in his tent address.

Myself will choose them, be it theirs to obey.205

Let Phœnix lead, Jove loves him. Be the next

Huge Ajax; and the wise Ulysses third.

Of heralds, Odius and Eurybates

Shall them attend. Bring water for our hands;

Give charge that every tongue abstain from speech210

Portentous, and propitiate Jove by prayer.

He spake, and all were pleased. The heralds pour’d

Pure water on their hands;[6] attendant youths

The beakers crown’d, and wine from right to left

Distributed to all. Libation made,215

All drank, and in such measure as they chose,

Then hasted forth from Agamemnon’s tent.

Gerenian Nestor at their side them oft

Instructed, each admonishing by looks

Significant, and motion of his eyes,220

But most Ulysses, to omit no means

By which Achilles likeliest might be won.

Along the margin of the sounding deep

They pass’d, to Neptune, compasser of earth,

Preferring vows ardent with numerous prayers,225

That they might sway with ease the mighty mind

Of fierce Æacides. And now they reach’d

The station where his Myrmidons abode.

Him solacing they found his heart with notes

Struck from his silver-framed harmonious lyre;230

Among the spoils he found it when he sack’d

Eëtion’s city; with that lyre his cares

He sooth’d, and glorious heroes were his theme.[7]

Patroclus silent sat, and he alone,

Before him, on Æacides intent,235

Expecting still when he should cease to sing.

The messengers advanced (Ulysses first)

Into his presence; at the sight, his harp

Still in his hand, Achilles from his seat

Started astonish’d; nor with less amaze240

Patroclus also, seeing them, arose.

Achilles seized their hands, and thus he spake.[8]

Hail friends! ye all are welcome. Urgent cause

Hath doubtless brought you, whom I dearest hold

(Though angry still) of all Achaia’s host.245

So saying, he introduced them, and on seats

Placed them with purple arras overspread,

Then thus bespake Patroclus standing nigh.

Son of Menætius! bring a beaker more

Capacious, and replenish it with wine250

Diluted[9] less; then give to each his cup;

For dearer friends than these who now arrive

My roof beneath, or worthier, have I none.

He ended, and Patroclus quick obey’d,

Whom much he loved. Achilles, then, himself255

Advancing near the fire an ample[10] tray,

Spread goats’ flesh on it, with the flesh of sheep

And of a fatted brawn; of each a chine.

Automedon attending held them fast,

While with sharp steel Achilles from the bone260

Sliced thin the meat, then pierced it with the spits.

Meantime the godlike Menætiades

Kindled fierce fire, and when the flame declined,

Raked wide the embers, laid the meat to roast,

And taking sacred salt from the hearth-side265

Where it was treasured, shower’d it o’er the feast.

When all was finish’d, and the board set forth,

Patroclus furnish’d it around with bread

In baskets, and Achilles served the guests.

Beside the tent-wall, opposite, he sat270

To the divine Ulysses; first he bade

Patroclus make oblation; he consign’d

The consecrated morsel to the fire,

And each, at once, his savoury mess assail’d.

When neither edge of hunger now they felt275

Nor thirsted longer, Ajax with a nod

Made sign to Phœnix, which Ulysses mark’d,

And charging high his cup, drank to his host.

Health to Achilles! hospitable cheer

And well prepared, we want not at the board280

Of royal Agamemnon, or at thine,

For both are nobly spread; but dainties now,

Or plenteous boards, are little our concern.[11]

Oh godlike Chief! tremendous ills we sit

Contemplating with fear, doubtful if life285

Or death, with the destruction of our fleet,

Attend us, unless thou put on thy might.

For lo! the haughty Trojans, with their friends

Call’d from afar, at the fleet-side encamp,

Fast by the wall, where they have kindled fires290

Numerous, and threaten that no force of ours

Shall check their purposed inroad on the ships.

Jove grants them favorable signs from heaven,

Bright lightnings; Hector glares revenge, with rage

Infuriate, and by Jove assisted, heeds295

Nor God nor man, but prays the morn to rise

That he may hew away our vessel-heads,

Burn all our fleet with fire, and at their sides

Slay the Achaians struggling in the smoke.

Horrible are my fears lest these his threats300

The Gods accomplish, and it be our doom

To perish here, from Argos far remote.

Up, therefore! if thou canst, and now at last

The weary sons of all Achaia save

From Trojan violence. Regret, but vain,305

Shall else be thine hereafter, when no cure

Of such great ill, once suffer’d, can be found.

Thou therefore, seasonably kind, devise

Means to preserve from such disast’rous fate

The Grecians. Ah, my friend! when Peleus thee310

From Phthia sent to Agamemnon’s aid,

On that same day he gave thee thus in charge.

“Juno, my son, and Pallas, if they please,

Can make thee valiant; but thy own big heart

Thyself restrain. Sweet manners win respect.315

Cease from pernicious strife, and young and old

Throughout the host shall honor thee the more.”

Such was thy father’s charge, which thou, it seems,

Remember’st not. Yet even now thy wrath

Renounce; be reconciled; for princely gifts320

Atrides gives thee if thy wrath subside.

Hear, if thou wilt, and I will tell thee all,

How vast the gifts which Agamemnon made

By promise thine, this night within his tent.

Seven tripods never sullied yet with fire;325

Of gold ten talents; twenty cauldrons bright;

Twelve steeds strong-limb’d, victorious in the race;

No man possessing prizes such as those

Which they have won for him, shall feel the want

Of acquisitions splendid, or of gold.330

Seven virtuous female captives he will give,

Expert in arts domestic, Lesbians all,

Whom when thou conquer’dst Lesbos, he received

His chosen portion, passing woman-kind

In perfect loveliness of face and form.335

These will he give, and will with these resign

Her whom he took, Briseïs, with an oath

Most solemn, that unconscious as she was

Of his embraces, such he yields her back.

All these he gives thee now! and if at length340

The Gods vouchsafe to us to overturn

Priam’s great city, thou shalt heap thy ships

With gold and brass, entering and choosing first,

When we shall share the spoil; and shalt beside

Choose twenty from among the maids of Troy,345

Helen except, loveliest of all their sex.

And if once more the rich milk-flowing land

We reach of Argos, thou shalt there become

His son-in-law, and shalt enjoy like state

With him, whom he in all abundance rears,350

His only son Orestes. In his house

He hath three daughters; thou may’st home conduct

To Phthia, her whom thou shalt most approve.

Chrysothemis shall be thy bride; or else

Laodice; or if she please thee more355

Iphianassa; and from thee he asks

No dower; himself will such a dower bestow

As never father on his child before.

Seven fair well-peopled cities will he give;

Cardamyle and Enope; and rich360

In herbage, Hira; Pheræ stately-built,

And for her depth of pasturage renown’d,

Antheia; proud Æpeia’s lofty towers,

And Pedasus impurpled dark with vines.

All these are maritime, and on the shore365

They stand of Pylus, by a race possess’d

Most rich in flocks and herds, who tribute large

And gifts presenting to thy sceptred hand,

Shall hold thee high in honor as a God.

These will he give thee, if thy wrath subside.370

But should’st thou rather in thine heart the more

Both Agamemnon and his gifts detest,

Yet oh compassionate the afflicted host

Prepared to adore thee. Thou shalt win renown

Among the Grecians that shall never die.375

Now strike at Hector. He is here;—himself

Provokes thee forth; madness is in his heart,

And in his rage he glories that our ships

Have hither brought no Grecian brave as he.

Then thus Achilles matchless in the race.380

Laertes’ noble son, for wiles renown’d!

I must with plainness speak my fixt resolve

Unalterable; lest I hear from each

The same long murmur’d melancholy tale.

For I abhor the man, not more the gates385

Of hell itself, whose words belie his heart.

So shall not mine. My judgment undisguised

Is this; that neither Agamemnon me

Nor all the Greeks shall move; for ceaseless toil

Wins here no thanks; one recompense awaits390

The sedentary and the most alert,

The brave and base in equal honor stand,

And drones and heroes fall unwept alike.

I after all my labors, who exposed

My life continual in the field, have earn’d395

No very sumptuous prize. As the poor bird

Gives to her unfledged brood a morsel gain’d

After long search, though wanting it herself,

So I have worn out many sleepless nights,

And waded deep through many a bloody day400

In battle for their wives.[12] I have destroy’d

Twelve cities with my fleet, and twelve, save one,

On foot contending in the fields of Troy.

From all these cities, precious spoils I took

Abundant, and to Agamemnon’s hand405

Gave all the treasure. He within his ships

Abode the while, and having all received,

Little distributed, and much retained;

He gave, however, to the Kings and Chiefs

A portion, and they keep it. Me alone410

Of all the Grecian host he hath despoil’d;

My bride, my soul’s delight is in his hands,

And let him, couch’d with her, enjoy his fill

Of dalliance. What sufficient cause, what need

Have the Achaians to contend with Troy?415

Why hath Atrides gather’d such a host,

And led them hither? Was’t not for the sake

Of beauteous Helen? And of all mankind

Can none be found who love their proper wives

But the Atridæ? There is no good man420

Who loves not, guards not, and with care provides

For his own wife, and, though in battle won,

I loved the fair Briseïs at my heart.

But having dispossess’d me of my prize

So foully, let him not essay me now,425

For I am warn’d, and he shall not prevail.

With thee and with thy peers let him advise,

Ulysses! how the fleet may likeliest ’scape

Yon hostile fires; full many an arduous task

He hath accomplished without aid of mine;430

So hath he now this rampart and the trench

Which he hath digg’d around it, and with stakes

Planted contiguous—puny barriers all

To hero-slaughtering Hector’s force opposed.

While I the battle waged, present myself435

Among the Achaians, Hector never fought

Far from his walls, but to the Scæan gate

Advancing and the beech-tree, there remain’d.

Once, on that spot he met me, and my arm

Escaped with difficulty even there.440

But, since I feel myself not now inclined

To fight with noble Hector, yielding first

To Jove due worship, and to all the Gods,

To-morrow will I launch, and give my ships

Their lading. Look thou forth at early dawn,445

And, if such spectacle delight thee aught,

Thou shalt behold me cleaving with my prows

The waves of Hellespont, and all my crews

Of lusty rowers active in their task.

So shall I reach (if Ocean’s mighty God450

Prosper my passage) Phthia the deep-soil’d

On the third day. I have possessions there,

Which hither roaming in an evil hour

I left abundant. I shall also hence

Convey much treasure, gold and burnish’d brass,455

And glittering steel, and women passing fair

My portion of the spoils. But he, your King,

The prize he gave, himself resumed,

And taunted at me. Tell him my reply,

And tell it him aloud, that other Greeks460

May indignation feel like me, if arm’d

Always in impudence, he seek to wrong

Them also. Let him not henceforth presume,

Canine and hard in aspect though he be,

To look me in the face. I will not share465

His counsels, neither will I aid his works.

Let it suffice him, that he wrong’d me once,

Deceived me once, henceforth his glozing arts

Are lost on me. But let him rot in peace

Crazed as he is, and by the stroke of Jove470

Infatuate. I detest his gifts, and him

So honor as the thing which most I scorn.

And would he give me twenty times the worth

Of this his offer, all the treasured heaps

Which he possesses, or shall yet possess,475

All that Orchomenos within her walls,

And all that opulent Egyptian Thebes

Receives, the city with a hundred gates,

Whence twenty thousand chariots rush to war,

And would he give me riches as the sands,480

And as the dust of earth, no gifts from him

Should soothe me, till my soul were first avenged

For all the offensive license of his tongue.

I will not wed the daughter of your Chief,

Of Agamemnon. Could she vie in charms485

With golden Venus, had she all the skill

Of blue-eyed Pallas, even so endow’d

She were no bride for me. No. He may choose

From the Achaians some superior Prince,

One more her equal. Peleus, if the Gods490

Preserve me, and I safe arrive at home,

Himself, ere long, shall mate me with a bride.

In Hellas and in Phthia may be found

Fair damsels many, daughters of the Chiefs

Who guard our cities; I may choose of them,495

And make the loveliest of them all my own.

There, in my country, it hath ever been

My dearest purpose, wedded to a wife

Of rank convenient, to enjoy in peace

Such wealth as ancient Peleus hath acquired.500

For life, in my account, surpasses far

In value all the treasures which report

Ascribed to populous Ilium, ere the Greeks

Arrived, and while the city yet had peace;

Those also which Apollo’s marble shrine505

In rocky Pytho boasts. Fat flocks and beeves

May be by force obtain’d, tripods and steeds

Are bought or won, but if the breath of man

Once overpass its bounds, no force arrests

Or may constrain the unbodied spirit back.510

Me, as my silver-footed mother speaks

Thetis, a twofold consummation waits.

If still with battle I encompass Troy,

I win immortal glory, but all hope

Renounce of my return. If I return515

To my beloved country, I renounce

The illustrious meed of glory, but obtain

Secure and long immunity from death.

And truly I would recommend to all

To voyage homeward, for the fall as yet520

Ye shall not see of Ilium’s lofty towers,

For that the Thunderer with uplifted arm

Protects her, and her courage hath revived.

Bear ye mine answer back, as is the part

Of good ambassadors, that they may frame525

Some likelier plan, by which both fleet and host

May be preserved; for, my resentment still

Burning, this project is but premature.

Let Phœnix stay with us, and sleep this night

Within my tent, that, if he so incline,530

He may to-morrow in my fleet embark,

And hence attend me; but I leave him free.

He ended; they astonish’d at his tone

(For vehement he spake) sat silent all,

Till Phœnix, aged warrior, at the last535

Gush’d into tears (for dread his heart o’erwhelm’d

Lest the whole fleet should perish) and replied.

If thou indeed have purposed to return,

Noble Achilles! and such wrath retain’st

That thou art altogether fixt to leave540

The fleet a prey to desolating fires,

How then, my son! shall I at Troy abide

Forlorn of thee? When Peleus, hoary Chief,

Sent thee to Agamemnon, yet a child,[13]

Unpractised in destructive fight, nor less545

Of councils ignorant, the schools in which

Great minds are form’d, he bade me to the war

Attend thee forth, that I might teach thee all,

Both elocution and address in arms.

Me therefore shalt thou not with my consent550

Leave here, my son! no, not would Jove himself

Promise me, reaping smooth this silver beard,

To make me downy-cheek’d as in my youth;

Such as when erst from Hellas beauty-famed

I fled, escaping from my father’s wrath555

Amyntor, son of Ormenus, who loved

A beauteous concubine, and for her sake

Despised his wife and persecuted me.

My mother suppliant at my knees, with prayer

Perpetual importuned me to embrace560

The damsel first, that she might loathe my sire.

I did so; and my father soon possess’d

With hot suspicion of the fact, let loose

A storm of imprecation, in his rage

Invoking all the Furies to forbid565

That ever son of mine should press his knees.

Tartarian Jove[14] and dread Persephone

Fulfill’d his curses; with my pointed spear

I would have pierced his heart, but that my wrath

Some Deity assuaged, suggesting oft570

What shame and obloquy I should incur,

Known as a parricide through all the land.

At length, so treated, I resolved to dwell

No longer in his house. My friends, indeed,

And all my kindred compass’d me around575

With much entreaty, wooing me to stay;

Oxen and sheep they slaughter’d, many a plump

Well-fatted brawn extended in the flames,

And drank the old man’s vessels to the lees.

Nine nights continual at my side they slept,580

While others watch’d by turns, nor were the fires

Extinguish’d ever, one, beneath the porch

Of the barr’d hall, and one that from within

The vestibule illumed my chamber door.

But when the tenth dark night at length arrived,585

Sudden the chamber doors bursting I flew

That moment forth, and unperceived alike

By guards and menial woman, leap’d the wall.

Through spacious Hellas flying thence afar,

I came at length to Phthia the deep-soil’d,590

Mother of flocks, and to the royal house

Of Peleus; Peleus with a willing heart

Receiving, loved me as a father loves

His only son, the son of his old age,

Inheritor of all his large demesnes.595

He made me rich; placed under my control

A populous realm, and on the skirts I dwelt

Of Phthia, ruling the Dolopian race.

Thee from my soul, thou semblance of the Gods,

I loved, and all illustrious as thou art,600

Achilles! such I made thee. For with me,

Me only, would’st thou forth to feast abroad,

Nor would’st thou taste thy food at home, till first

I placed thee on my knees, with my own hand

Thy viands carved and fed thee, and the wine605

Held to thy lips; and many a time, in fits

Of infant frowardness, the purple juice

Rejecting thou hast deluged all my vest,

And fill’d my bosom. Oh, I have endured

Much, and have also much perform’d for thee,610

Thus purposing, that since the Gods vouchsaf’d

No son to me, thyself shouldst be my son,

Godlike Achilles! who shouldst screen perchance

From a foul fate my else unshelter’d age.

Achilles! bid thy mighty spirit down.615

Thou shouldst not be thus merciless; the Gods,

Although more honorable, and in power

And virtue thy superiors, are themselves

Yet placable; and if a mortal man

Offend them by transgression of their laws,620

Libation, incense, sacrifice, and prayer,

In meekness offer’d turn their wrath away.

Prayers are Jove’s daughters,[15] wrinkled,[16] lame, slant-eyed,

Which though far distant, yet with constant pace

Follow Offence. Offence, robust of limb,625

And treading firm the ground, outstrips them all,

And over all the earth before them runs

Hurtful to man. They, following, heal the hurt.

Received respectfully when they approach,

They help us, and our prayers hear in return.630

But if we slight, and with obdurate heart

Resist them, to Saturnian Jove they cry

Against us, supplicating that Offence

May cleave to us for vengeance of the wrong.

Thou, therefore, O Achilles! honor yield635

To Jove’s own daughters, vanquished, as the brave

Have ofttimes been, by honor paid to thee.

For came not Agamemnon as he comes

With gifts in hand, and promises of more

Hereafter; burn’d his anger still the same,640

I would not move thee to renounce thy own,

And to assist us, howsoe’er distress’d.

But now, not only are his present gifts

Most liberal, and his promises of more

Such also, but these Princes he hath sent645

Charged with entreaties, thine especial friends,

And chosen for that cause, from all the host.

Slight not their embassy, nor put to shame

Their intercession. We confess that once

Thy wrath was unreprovable and just.650

Thus we have heard the heroes of old times

Applauded oft, whose anger, though intense,

Yet left them open to the gentle sway

Of reason and conciliatory gifts.

I recollect an ancient history,655

Which, since all here are friends, I will relate.

The brave Ætolians and Curetes met

Beneath the walls of Calydon, and fought

With mutual slaughter; the Ætolian powers

In the defence of Calydon the fair,660

And the Curetes bent to lay it waste:

That strife Diana of the golden throne

Kindled between them, with resentment fired

That Oeneus had not in some fertile spot

The first fruits of his harvest set apart665

To her; with hecatombs he entertained

All the Divinities of heaven beside,

And her alone, daughter of Jove supreme,

Or through forgetfulness, or some neglect,

Served not; omission careless and profane!670

She, progeny of Jove, Goddess shaft-arm’d,

A savage boar bright-tusk’d in anger sent,

Which haunting Oeneus’ fields much havoc made.

Trees numerous on the earth in heaps he cast

Uprooting them, with all their blossoms on.675

But Meleager, Oeneus’ son, at length

Slew him, the hunters gathering and the hounds

Of numerous cities; for a boar so vast

Might not be vanquish’d by the power of few,

And many to their funeral piles he sent.680

Then raised Diana clamorous dispute,

And contest hot between them, all alike,

Curetes and Ætolians fierce in arms

The boar’s head claiming, and his bristly hide.

So long as warlike Meleager fought,685

Ætolia prosper’d, nor with all their powers

Could the Curetes stand before the walls.

But when resentment once had fired the heart

Of Meleager, which hath tumult oft

Excited in the breasts of wisest men,690

(For his own mother had his wrath provoked

Althæa) thenceforth with his wedded wife

He dwelt, fair Cleopatra, close retired.

She was Marpessa’s daughter, whom she bore

To Idas, bravest warrior in his day695

Of all on earth. He fear’d not ’gainst the King

Himself Apollo, for the lovely nymph

Marpessa’s sake, his spouse, to bend his bow.

Her, therefore, Idas and Marpessa named

Thenceforth Alcyone, because the fate700

Of sad Alcyone Marpessa shared,

And wept like her, by Phœbus forced away.

Thus Meleager, tortured with the pangs

Of wrath indulged, with Cleopatra dwelt,

Vex’d that his mother cursed him; for, with grief705

Frantic, his mother importuned the Gods

To avenge her slaughter’d brothers[17] on his head.

Oft would she smite the earth, while on her knees

Seated, she fill’d her bosom with her tears,

And call’d on Pluto and dread Proserpine710

To slay her son; nor vain was that request,

But by implacable Erynnis heard

Roaming the shades of Erebus. Ere long

The tumult and the deafening din of war

Roar’d at the gates, and all the batter’d towers715

Resounded. Then the elders of the town

Dispatch’d the high-priests of the Gods to plead

With Meleager for his instant aid,

With strong assurances of rich reward.

Where Calydon afforded fattest soil720

They bade him choose to his own use a farm

Of fifty measured acres, vineyard half,

And half of land commodious for the plow.

Him Oeneus also, warrior grey with age,

Ascending to his chamber, and his doors725

Smiting importunate, with earnest prayers

Assay’d to soften, kneeling to his son.

Nor less his sisters woo’d him to relent,

Nor less his mother; but in vain; he grew

Still more obdurate. His companions last,730

The most esteem’d and dearest of his friends,

The same suit urged, yet he persisted still

Relentless, nor could even they prevail.

But when the battle shook his chamber-doors

And the Curetes climbing the high towers735

Had fired the spacious city, then with tears

The beauteous Cleopatra, and with prayers

Assail’d him; in his view she set the woes

Numberless of a city storm’d—the men

Slaughter’d, the city burnt to dust, the chaste740

Matrons with all their children dragg’d away.

That dread recital roused him, and at length

Issuing, he put his radiant armor on.

Thus Meleager, gratifying first

His own resentment from a fatal day745

Saved the Ætolians, who the promised gift

Refused him, and his toils found no reward.

But thou, my son, be wiser; follow thou

No demon who would tempt thee to a course

Like his; occasion more propitious far750

Smiles on thee now, than if the fleet were fired.

Come, while by gifts invited, and receive

From all the host, the honors of a God;

For shouldst thou, by no gifts induced, at last

Enter the bloody field, although thou chase755

The Trojans hence, yet less shall be thy praise.

Then thus Achilles, matchless in the race.

Phœnix, my guide, wise, noble and revered!

I covet no such glory! the renown

Ordain’d by Jove for me, is to resist760

All importunity to quit my ships

While I have power to move, or breath to draw.

Hear now, and mark me well. Cease thou from tears.

Confound me not, pleading with sighs and sobs

In Agamemnon’s cause; O love not him,765

Lest I renounce thee, who am now thy friend.

Assist me rather, as thy duty bids,

Him to afflict, who hath afflicted me,

So shalt thou share my glory and my power.

These shall report as they have heard, but here770

Rest thou this night, and with the rising morn

We will decide, to stay or to depart.

He ceased, and silent, by a nod enjoin’d

Patroclus to prepare an easy couch

For Phœnix, anxious to dismiss the rest775

Incontinent; when Ajax, godlike son

Of Telamon, arising, thus began.

Laertes’ noble son, for wiles renown’d:

Depart we now; for I perceive that end

Or fruit of all our reasonings shall be none.780

It is expedient also that we bear

Our answer back (unwelcome as it is)

With all dispatch, for the assembled Greeks

Expect us. Brave Achilles shuts a fire

Within his breast; the kindness of his friends,785

And the respect peculiar by ourselves

Shown to him, on his heart work no effect.

Inexorable man! others accept

Even for a brother slain, or for a son

Due compensation;[18] the delinquent dwells790

Secure at home, and the receiver, soothed

And pacified, represses his revenge.

But thou, resentful of the loss of one,

One virgin (such obduracy of heart

The Gods have given thee) can’st not be appeased795

Yet we assign thee seven in her stead,

The most distinguish’d of their sex, and add

Large gifts beside. Ah then, at last relent!

Respect thy roof; we are thy guests; we come

Chosen from the multitude of all the Greeks,800

Beyond them all ambitious of thy love.

To whom Achilles, swiftest of the swift.

My noble friend, offspring of Telamon!

Thou seem’st sincere, and I believe thee such.

But at the very mention of the name805

Of Atreus’ son, who shamed me in the sight

Of all Achaia’s host, bearing me down

As I had been some vagrant at his door,

My bosom boils. Return ye and report

Your answer. I no thought will entertain810

Of crimson war, till the illustrious son

Of warlike Priam, Hector, blood-embrued,

Shall in their tents the Myrmidons assail

Themselves, and fire my fleet. At my own ship,

And at my own pavilion it may chance815

That even Hector’s violence shall pause.[19]

He ended; they from massy goblets each

Libation pour’d, and to the fleet their course

Resumed direct, Ulysses at their head.

Patroclus then his fellow-warriors bade,820

And the attendant women spread a couch

For Phœnix; they the couch, obedient, spread

With fleeces, with rich arras, and with flax

Of subtlest woof. There hoary Phœnix lay

In expectation of the sacred dawn.825

Meantime Achilles in the interior tent,

With beauteous Diomeda by himself

From Lesbos brought, daughter of Phorbas, lay.

Patroclus opposite reposed, with whom

Slept charming Iphis; her, when he had won830

The lofty towers of Scyros, the divine

Achilles took, and on his friend bestow’d.

But when those Chiefs at Agamemnon’s tent

Arrived, the Greeks on every side arose

With golden cups welcoming their return.835

All question’d them, but Agamemnon first.

Oh worthy of Achaia’s highest praise,

And her chief ornament, Ulysses, speak!

Will he defend the fleet? or his big heart

Indulging wrathful, doth he still refuse?840

To whom renown’d Ulysses thus replied.

Atrides, Agamemnon, King of men!

He his resentment quenches not, nor will,

But burns with wrath the more, thee and thy gifts

Rejecting both. He bids thee with the Greeks845

Consult by what expedient thou may’st save

The fleet and people, threatening that himself

Will at the peep of day launch all his barks,

And counselling, beside, the general host

To voyage homeward, for that end as yet850

Of Ilium wall’d to heaven, ye shall not find,

Since Jove the Thunderer with uplifted arm

Protects her, and her courage hath revived.

Thus speaks the Chief, and Ajax is prepared,

With the attendant heralds to report855

As I have said. But Phœnix in the tent

Sleeps of Achilles, who his stay desired,

That on the morrow, if he so incline,

The hoary warrior may attend him hence

Home to his country, but he leaves him free.860

He ended. They astonish’d at his tone

(For vehement he spake) sat silent all.

Long silent sat the afflicted sons of Greece,

When thus the mighty Diomede began.

Atrides, Agamemnon, King of men!865

Thy supplications to the valiant son

Of Peleus, and the offer of thy gifts

Innumerous, had been better far withheld.

He is at all times haughty, and thy suit

Hath but increased his haughtiness of heart870

Past bounds: but let him stay or let him go

As he shall choose. He will resume the fight

When his own mind shall prompt him, and the Gods

Shall urge him forth. Now follow my advice.

Ye have refresh’d your hearts with food and wine875

Which are the strength of man; take now repose.

And when the rosy-finger’d morning fair

Shall shine again, set forth without delay

The battle, horse and foot, before the fleet,

And where the foremost fight, fight also thou.880

He ended; all the Kings applauded warm

His counsel, and the dauntless tone admired

Of Diomede. Then, due libation made,

Each sought his tent, and took the gift of sleep.

There is much in this book which is worthy of close attention. The

consummate genius, the varied and versatile power, the eloquence,

truth, and nature displayed in it, will always be admired. Perhaps

there is no portion of the poem more remarkable for these

attributes.—Felton.

BOOK X.

ARGUMENT OF THE TENTH BOOK.

Diomede and Ulysses enter the Trojan host by night, and slay Rhesus.

BOOK X.

All night the leaders of the host of Greece

Lay sunk in soft repose, all, save the Chief,[1]

The son of Atreus; him from thought to thought

Roving solicitous, no sleep relieved.

As when the spouse of beauteous Juno, darts5

His frequent fires, designing heavy rain

Immense, or hail-storm, or field-whitening snow,

Or else wide-throated war calamitous,

So frequent were the groans by Atreus’ son

Heaved from his inmost heart, trembling with dread.10

For cast he but his eye toward the plain

Of Ilium, there, astonish’d he beheld

The city fronted with bright fires, and heard

Pipes, and recorders, and the hum of war;

But when again the Grecian fleet he view’d,15

And thought on his own people, then his hair

Uprooted elevating to the Gods,

He from his generous bosom groan’d again.

At length he thus resolved; of all the Greeks

To seek Neleian Nestor first, with whom20

He might, perchance, some plan for the defence

Of the afflicted Danaï devise.

Rising, he wrapp’d his tunic to his breast,

And to his royal feet unsullied bound

His sandals; o’er his shoulders, next, he threw25

Of amplest size a lion’s tawny skin

That swept his footsteps, dappled o’er with blood,

Then took his spear. Meantime, not less appall’d

Was Menelaus, on whose eyelids sleep

Sat not, lest the Achaians for his sake30

O’er many waters borne, and now intent

On glorious deeds, should perish all at Troy.

With a pard’s spotted hide his shoulders broad

He mantled over; to his head he raised

His brazen helmet, and with vigorous hand35

Grasping his spear, forth issued to arouse

His brother, mighty sovereign of the host,

And by the Grecians like a God revered.

He found him at his galley’s stern, his arms

Assuming radiant; welcome he arrived40

To Agamemnon, whom he thus address’d.

Why arm’st thou, brother? Wouldst thou urge abroad

Some trusty spy into the Trojan camp?[2]

I fear lest none so hardy shall be found

As to adventure, in the dead still night,45

So far, alone; valiant indeed were he!

To whom great Agamemnon thus replied.

Heaven-favor’d Menelaus! We have need,

Thou and myself, of some device well-framed,

Which both the Grecians and the fleet of Greece50

May rescue, for the mind of Jove hath changed,

And Hector’s prayers alone now reach his ear.

I never saw, nor by report have learn’d

From any man, that ever single chief

Such awful wonders in one day perform’d55

As he with ease against the Greeks, although

Nor from a Goddess sprung nor from a God.

Deeds he hath done, which, as I think, the Greeks

Shall deep and long lament, such numerous ills

Achaia’s host hath at his hands sustain’d.60

But haste, begone, and at their several ships

Call Ajax and Idomeneus; I go

To exhort the noble Nestor to arise,

That he may visit, if he so incline,

The chosen band who watch, and his advice65

Give them; for him most prompt they will obey,

Whose son, together with Meriones,

Friend of Idomeneus, controls them all,

Entrusted by ourselves with that command.

Him answer’d Menelaus bold in arms.70

Explain thy purpose. Wouldst thou that I wait

Thy coming, there, or thy commands to both

Given, that I incontinent return?

To whom the Sovereign of the host replied.

There stay; lest striking into different paths75

(For many passes intersect the camp)

We miss each other; summon them aloud

Where thou shalt come; enjoin them to arise;

Call each by his hereditary name,

Honoring all. Beware of manners proud,80

For we ourselves must labor, at our birth

By Jove ordain’d to suffering and to toil.

So saying, he his brother thence dismiss’d

Instructed duly, and himself, his steps

Turned to the tent of Nestor. Him he found85

Amid his sable galleys in his tent

Reposing soft, his armor at his side,

Shield, spears, bright helmet, and the broider’d belt

Which, when the Senior arm’d led forth his host

To fight, he wore; for he complied not yet90

With the encroachments of enfeebling age.

He raised his head, and on his elbow propp’d,

Questioning Agamemnon, thus began.

But who art thou, who thus alone, the camp

Roamest, amid the darkness of the night,95

While other mortals sleep? Comest thou abroad

Seeking some friend or soldier of the guard?

Speak—come not nearer mute. What is thy wish?

To whom the son of Atreus, King of men.

Oh Nestor, glory of the Grecian name,100

Offspring of Neleus! thou in me shalt know

The son of Atreus, Agamemnon, doom’d

By Jove to toil, while life shall yet inform

These limbs, or I shall draw the vital air.

I wander thus, because that on my lids105

Sweet sleep sits not, but war and the concerns

Of the Achaians occupy my soul.

Terrible are the fears which I endure

For these my people; such as supersede

All thought; my bosom can no longer hold110

My throbbing heart, and tremors shake my limbs.

But if thy mind, more capable, project

Aught that may profit us (for thee it seems

Sleep also shuns) arise, and let us both

Visit the watch, lest, haply, overtoil’d115

They yield to sleep, forgetful of their charge.

The foe is posted near, and may intend

(None knows his purpose) an assault by night.

To him Gerenian Nestor thus replied.

Illustrious Agamemnon, King of men!120

Deep-planning Jove the imaginations proud

Of Hector will not ratify, nor all

His sanguine hopes effectuate; in his turn

He also (fierce Achilles once appeased)

Shall trouble feel, and haply, more than we.125

But with all readiness I will arise

And follow thee, that we may also rouse

Yet others; Diomede the spear-renown’d,

Ulysses, the swift Ajax, and the son

Of Phyleus, valiant Meges. It were well130

Were others also visited and call’d,

The godlike Ajax, and Idomeneus,

Whose ships are at the camp’s extremest bounds.

But though I love thy brother and revere,

And though I grieve e’en thee, yet speak I must,135

And plainly censure him, that thus he sleeps

And leaves to thee the labor, who himself

Should range the host, soliciting the Chiefs

Of every band, as utmost need requires.

Him answer’d Agamemnon, King of men.140

Old warrior, times there are, when I could wish

Myself thy censure of him, for in act

He is not seldom tardy and remiss.

Yet is not sluggish indolence the cause,

No, nor stupidity, but he observes145

Me much, expecting till I lead the way.

But he was foremost now, far more alert

This night than I, and I have sent him forth

Already, those to call whom thou hast named.

But let us hence, for at the guard I trust150

To find them, since I gave them so in charge.[3]

To whom the brave Gerenian Chief replied.

Him none will censure, or his will dispute,

Whom he shall waken and exhort to rise.

So saying, he bound his corselet to his breast,155

His sandals fair to his unsullied feet,

And fastening by its clasps his purple cloak

Around him, double and of shaggy pile,

Seized, next, his sturdy spear headed with brass,

And issued first into the Grecian fleet.160

There, Nestor, brave Gerenian, with a voice

Sonorous roused the godlike counsellor

From sleep, Ulysses; the alarm came o’er

His startled ear, forth from his tent he sprang

Sudden, and of their coming, quick, inquired.165

Why roam ye thus the camp and fleet alone

In darkness? by what urgent need constrain’d?

To whom the hoary Pylian thus replied.

Laertes’ noble son, for wiles renown’d!

Resent it not, for dread is our distress.170

Come, therefore, and assist us to convene

Yet others, qualified to judge if war

Be most expedient, or immediate flight.

He ended, and regaining, quick, his tent,

Ulysses slung his shield, then coming forth175

Join’d them. The son of Tydeus first they sought.

Him sleeping arm’d before his tent they found,

Encompass’d by his friends also asleep;

His head each rested on his shield, and each

Had planted on its nether point[4] erect180

His spear beside him; bright their polish’d heads,

As Jove’s own lightning glittered from afar.

Himself, the Hero, slept. A wild bull’s hide

Was spread beneath him, and on arras tinged

With splendid purple lay his head reclined.185

Nestor, beside him standing, with his heel

Shook him, and, urgent, thus the Chief reproved.

Awake, Tydides! wherefore givest the night

Entire to balmy slumber? Hast not heard

How on the rising ground beside the fleet190

The Trojans sit, small interval between?

He ceased; then up sprang Diomede alarm’d

Instant, and in wing’d accents thus replied.

Old wakeful Chief! thy toils are never done.

Are there not younger of the sons of Greece,195

Who ranging in all parts the camp, might call

The Kings to council? But no curb controls

Or can abate activity like thine.

To whom Gerenian Nestor in return.

My friend! thou hast well spoken. I have sons,200

And they are well deserving; I have here

A numerous people also, one of whom

Might have sufficed to call the Kings of Greece.

But such occasion presses now the host

As hath not oft occurr’d; the overthrow205

Complete, or full deliverance of us all,

In balance hangs, poised on a razor’s edge.

But haste, and if thy pity of my toils

Be such, since thou art younger, call, thyself,

Ajax the swift, and Meges to the guard.210

Then Diomede a lion’s tawny skin

Around him wrapp’d, dependent to his heels,

And, spear in hand, set forth. The Hero call’d

Those two, and led them whither Nestor bade.

They, at the guard arrived, not sleeping found215

The captains of the guard, but sitting all

In vigilant posture with their arms prepared.

As dogs that, careful, watch the fold by night,

Hearing some wild beast in the woods,[5] which hounds

And hunters with tumultuous clamor drive220

Down from the mountain-top, all sleep forego;

So, sat not on their eyelids gentle sleep

That dreadful night, but constant to the plain

At every sound of Trojan feet they turn’d.

The old Chief joyful at the sight, in terms225

Of kind encouragement them thus address’d.

So watch, my children! and beware that sleep

Invade none here, lest all become a prey.

So saying, he traversed with quick pace the trench

By every Chief whom they had thither call’d230

Attended, with whom Nestor’s noble son

Went, and Meriones, invited both

To join their consultation. From the foss

Emerging, in a vacant space they sat,

Unstrew’d with bodies of the slain, the spot,235

Whence furious Hector, after slaughter made

Of numerous Greeks, night falling, had return’d.

There seated, mutual converse close they held,

And Nestor, brave Gerenian, thus began.

Oh friends! hath no Achaian here such trust240

In his own prowess, as to venture forth

Among yon haughty Trojans? He, perchance,

Might on the borders of their host surprise

Some wandering adversary, or might learn

Their consultations, whether they propose245

Here to abide in prospect of the fleet,

Or, satiate with success against the Greeks

So signal, meditate retreat to Troy.

These tidings gain’d, should he at last return

Secure, his recompense will be renown250

Extensive as the heavens, and fair reward.

From every leader of the fleet, his gift

Shall be a sable[6] ewe, and sucking lamb,

Rare acquisition! and at every board

And sumptuous banquet, he shall be a guest.255

He ceased, and all sat silent, when at length

The mighty son of Tydeus thus replied.

Me, Nestor, my courageous heart incites

To penetrate into the neighbor host

Of enemies; but went some other Chief260

With me, far greater would my comfort prove,

And I should dare the more. Two going forth,

One quicker sees than other, and suggests

Prudent advice; but he who single goes,

Mark whatsoe’er he may, the occasion less265

Improves, and his expedients soon exhausts.

He ended, and no few willing arose

To go with Diomede. Servants of Mars

Each Ajax willing stood; willing as they

Meriones; most willing Nestor’s son;270

Willing the brother of the Chief of all,

Nor willing less Ulysses to explore

The host of Troy, for he possess’d a heart

Delighted ever with some bold exploit.

Then Agamemnon, King of men, began.275

Now Diomede, in whom my soul delights!

Choose whom thou wilt for thy companion; choose

The fittest here; for numerous wish to go.

Leave not through deference to another’s rank,

The more deserving, nor prefer a worse,280

Respecting either pedigree or power.

Such speech he interposed, fearing his choice

Of Menelaus; then, renown’d in arms

The son of Tydeus, rising, spake again.

Since, then, ye bid me my own partner choose285

Free from constraint, how can I overlook

Divine Ulysses, whose courageous heart

With such peculiar cheerfulness endures

Whatever toils, and whom Minerva loves?

Let _him_ attend me, and through fire itself290

We shall return; for none is wise as he.[7]

To him Ulysses, hardy Chief, replied.

Tydides! neither praise me much, nor blame,

For these are Grecians in whose ears thou speak’st,

And know me well. But let us hence! the night295

Draws to a close; day comes apace; the stars

Are far advanced; two portions have elapsed

Of darkness, but the third is yet entire.

So they; then each his dreadful arms put on.

To Diomede, who at the fleet had left300

His own, the dauntless Thrasymedes gave

His shield and sword two-edged, and on his head

Placed, crestless, unadorn’d, his bull-skin casque.

It was a stripling’s helmet, such as youths

Scarce yet confirm’d in lusty manhood, wear.305

Meriones with quiver, bow and sword

Furnish’d Ulysses, and his brows enclosed

In his own casque of hide with many a thong

Well braced within;[8] guarded it was without

With boar’s teeth ivory-white inherent firm310

On all sides, and with woolen head-piece lined.

That helmet erst Autolycus[9] had brought

From Eleon, city of Amyntor son

Of Hormenus, where he the solid walls

Bored through, clandestine, of Amyntor’s house.315

He on Amphidamas the prize bestow’d

In Scandia;[10] from Amphidamas it pass’d

To Molus as a hospitable pledge;

He gave it to Meriones his son,

And now it guarded shrewd Ulysses’ brows.320

Both clad in arms terrific, forth they sped,

Leaving their fellow Chiefs, and as they went

A heron, by command of Pallas, flew

Close on the right beside them; darkling they

Discern’d him not, but heard his clanging plumes.[11]325

Ulysses in the favorable sign

Exulted, and Minerva thus invoked.[12]

Oh hear me, daughter of Jove Ægis-arm’d!

My present helper in all straits, whose eye

Marks all my ways, oh with peculiar care330

Now guard me, Pallas! grant that after toil

Successful, glorious, such as long shall fill

With grief the Trojans, we may safe return

And with immortal honors to the fleet.

Valiant Tydides, next, his prayer preferr’d.335

Hear also me, Jove’s offspring by the toils

Of war invincible! me follow now

As my heroic father erst to Thebes

Thou followedst, Tydeus; by the Greeks dispatch’d

Ambassador, he left the mail-clad host340

Beside Asopus, and with terms of peace

Entrusted, enter’d Thebes; but by thine aid

Benevolent, and in thy strength, perform’d

Returning, deeds of terrible renown.

Thus, now, protect me also! In return345

I vow an offering at thy shrine, a young

Broad-fronted heifer, to the yoke as yet

Untamed, whose horns I will incase with gold.

Such prayer they made, and Pallas heard well pleased.

Their orisons ended to the daughter dread350

Of mighty Jove, lion-like they advanced

Through shades of night, through carnage, arms and blood.

Nor Hector to his gallant host indulged

Sleep, but convened the leaders; leader none

Or senator of all his host he left355

Unsummon’d, and his purpose thus promulged.

Where is the warrior who for rich reward,

Such as shall well suffice him, will the task

Adventurous, which I propose, perform?

A chariot with two steeds of proudest height,360

Surpassing all in the whole fleet of Greece

Shall be his portion, with immortal praise,

Who shall the well-appointed ships approach

Courageous, there to learn if yet a guard

As heretofore, keep them, or if subdued365

Beneath us, the Achaians flight intend,

And worn with labor have no will to watch.

So Hector spake, but answer none return’d.

There was a certain Trojan, Dolon named,[13]

Son of Eumedes herald of the Gods,370

Rich both in gold and brass, but in his form

Unsightly; yet the man was swift of foot,

Sole brother of five sisters; he his speech

To Hector and the Trojans thus address’d.

My spirit, Hector, prompts me, and my mind375

Endued with manly vigor, to approach

Yon gallant ships, that I may tidings hear.

But come. For my assurance, lifting high

Thy sceptre, swear to me, for my reward,

The horses and the brazen chariot bright380

Which bear renown’d Achilles o’er the field.

I will not prove a useless spy, nor fall

Below thy best opinion; pass I will

Their army through, till I shall reach the ship

Of Agamemnon, where the Chiefs, perchance,385

Now sit consulting, or to fight, or fly.[14]

Then raising high his sceptre, Hector sware

Know, Jove himself, Juno’s high-thundering spouse!

That Trojan none shall in that chariot ride

By those steeds drawn, save Dolon; on my oath390

I make them thine; enjoy them evermore.

He said, and falsely sware, yet him assured.

Then Dolon, instant, o’er his shoulder slung

His bow elastic, wrapp’d himself around

With a grey wolf-skin, to his head a casque395

Adjusted, coated o’er with ferret’s felt,

And seizing his sharp javelin, from the host

Turn’d right toward the fleet, but was ordain’d

To disappoint his sender, and to bring

No tidings thence. The throng of Trojan steeds400

And warriors left, with brisker pace he moved,

When brave Ulysses his approach perceived,

And thus to Diomede his speech address’d.

Tydides! yonder man is from the host;

Either a spy he comes, or with intent405

To spoil the dead. First, freely let him pass

Few paces, then pursuing him with speed,

Seize on him suddenly; but should he prove

The nimbler of the three, with threatening spear

Enforce him from his camp toward the fleet,410

Lest he elude us, and escape to Troy.

So they; then, turning from the road oblique,

Among the carcases each laid him down.

Dolon, suspecting nought, ran swiftly by.

[15]But when such space was interposed as mules415

Plow in a day (for mules the ox surpass

Through fallows deep drawing the ponderous plow)

Both ran toward him. Dolon at the sound

Stood; for he hoped some Trojan friends at hand

From Hector sent to bid him back again.420

But when within spear’s cast, or less they came,

Knowing them enemies he turn’d to flight

Incontinent, whom they as swift pursued.

As two fleet hounds sharp fang’d, train’d to the chase,

Hang on the rear of flying hind or hare,425

And drive her, never swerving from the track,

Through copses close; she screaming scuds before;

So Diomede and dread Ulysses him

Chased constant, intercepting his return.

And now, fast-fleeting to the ships, he soon430

Had reach’d the guard, but Pallas with new force

Inspired Tydides, lest a meaner Greek

Should boast that he had smitten Dolon first,

And Diomede win only second praise.

He poised his lifted spear, and thus exclaim’d.435

Stand! or my spear shall stop thee. Death impends

At every step; thou canst not ’scape me long.

He said, and threw his spear, but by design,

Err’d from the man. The polish’d weapon swift

O’er-glancing his right shoulder, in the soil440

Stood fixt, beyond him. Terrified he stood,

Stammering, and sounding through his lips the clash

Of chattering teeth, with visage deadly wan.

They panting rush’d on him, and both his hands

Seized fast; he wept, and suppliant them bespake.445

Take me alive, and I will pay the price

Of my redemption. I have gold at home,

Brass also, and bright steel, and when report

Of my captivity within your fleet

Shall reach my father, treasures he will give450

Not to be told, for ransom of his son.

To whom Ulysses politic replied.

Take courage; entertain no thought of death.[16]

But haste! this tell me, and disclose the truth.

Why thus toward the ships comest thou alone455

From yonder host, by night, while others sleep?

To spoil some carcase? or from Hector sent

A spy of all that passes in the fleet?

Or by thy curiosity impell’d?

Then Dolon, his limbs trembling, thus replied.460

To my great detriment, and far beyond

My own design, Hector trepann’d me forth,

Who promised me the steeds of Peleus’ son

Illustrious, and his brazen chariot bright.

He bade me, under night’s fast-flitting shades465

Approach our enemies, a spy, to learn

If still as heretofore, ye station guards

For safety of your fleet, or if subdued

Completely, ye intend immediate flight,

And worn with labor, have no will to watch.470

To whom Ulysses, smiling, thus replied.

Thou hadst, in truth, an appetite to gifts

Of no mean value, coveting the steeds

Of brave Æacides; but steeds are they

Of fiery sort, difficult to be ruled475

By force of mortal man, Achilles’ self

Except, whom an immortal mother bore.

But tell me yet again; use no disguise;

Where left’st thou, at thy coming forth, your Chief,

The valiant Hector? where hath he disposed480

His armor battle-worn, and where his steeds?

What other quar4ers of your host are watch’d?

Where lodge the guard, and what intend ye next?

Still to abide in prospect of the fleet?

Or well-content that ye have thus reduced485

Achaia’s host, will ye retire to Troy?

To whom this answer Dolon straight returned

Son of Eumedes. With unfeigning truth

Simply and plainly will I utter all.

Hector, with all the Senatorial Chiefs,490

Beside the tomb of sacred Ilius sits

Consulting, from the noisy camp remote.

But for the guards, Hero! concerning whom

Thou hast inquired, there is no certain watch

And regular appointed o’er the camp;495

The native[17] Trojans (for _they_ can no less)

Sit sleepless all, and each his next exhorts

To vigilance; but all our foreign aids,

Who neither wives nor children hazard here,

Trusting the Trojans for that service, sleep.500

To whom Ulysses, ever wise, replied.

How sleep the strangers and allies?—apart?

Or with the Trojans mingled?—I would learn.

So spake Ulysses; to whom Dolon thus,

Son of Eumedes. I will all unfold,505

And all most truly. By the sea are lodged

The Carians, the Pæonians arm’d with bows,

The Leleges, with the Pelasgian band,

And the Caucones. On the skirts encamp

Of Thymbra, the Mæonians crested high,510

The Phrygian horsemen, with the Lycian host,

And the bold troop of Mysia’s haughty sons.

But wherefore these inquiries thus minu4e?

For if ye wish to penetrate the host,

These who possess the borders of the camp515

Farthest removed of all, are Thracian powers

Newly arrived; among them Rhesus sleeps,

Son of Eïoneus, their Chief and King.

His steeds I saw, the fairest by these eyes

Ever beheld, and loftiest; snow itself520

They pass in whiteness, and in speed the winds,

With gold and silver all his chariot burns,

And he arrived in golden armor clad

Stupendous! little suited to the state

Of mortal man—fit for a God to wear!525

Now, either lead me to your gallant fleet,

Or where ye find me leave me straitly bound

Till ye return, and after trial made,

Shall know if I have spoken false or true.

But him brave Diomede with aspect stern530

Answer’d. Since, Dolon! thou art caught, although

Thy tidings have been good, hope not to live;

For should we now release thee and dismiss,

Thou wilt revisit yet again the fleet

A spy or open foe; but smitten once535

By this death-dealing arm, thou shall return

To render mischief to the Greeks no more.

He ceased, and Dolon would have stretch’d his hand

Toward his beard, and pleaded hard for life,

But with his falchion, rising to the blow,540

On the mid-neck he smote him, cutting sheer

Both tendons with a stroke so swift, that ere

His tongue had ceased, his head was in the dust.[18]

They took his helmet clothed with ferret’s felt,

Stripp’d off his wolf-skin, seized his bow and spear,545

And brave Ulysses lifting in his hand

The trophy to Minerva, pray’d and said:

Hail Goddess; these are thine! for thee of all

Who in Olympus dwell, we will invoke

First to our aid. Now also guide our steps,550

Propitious, to the Thracian tents and steeds.

He ceased, and at arm’s-length the lifted spoils

Hung on a tamarisk; but mark’d the spot,

Plucking away with handful grasp the reeds

And spreading boughs, lest they should seek the prize555

Themselves in vain, returning ere the night,

Swift traveller, should have fled before the dawn.

Thence, o’er the bloody champain strew’d with arms

Proceeding, to the Thracian lines they came.

They, wearied, slept profound; beside them lay,560

In triple order regular arranged,

Their radiant armor, and their steeds in pairs.

Amid them Rhesus slept, and at his side

His coursers, to the outer chariot-ring

Fasten’d secure. Ulysses saw him first,565

And, seeing, mark’d him out to Diomede.

Behold the man, Tydides! Lo! the steeds

By Dolon specified whom we have slain.

Be quick. Exert thy force. Arm’d as thou art,

Sleep not. Loose thou the steeds, or slaughter thou570

The Thracians, and the steeds shall be my care.

He ceased; then blue-eyed Pallas with fresh force

Invigor’d Diomede. From side to side

He slew; dread groans arose of dying men

Hewn with the sword, and the earth swam with blood.575

As if he find a flock unguarded, sheep

Or goats, the lion rushes on his prey,

With such unsparing force Tydides smote

The men of Thrace, till he had slaughter’d twelve;

And whom Tydides with his falchion struck580

Laertes’ son dragg’d by his feet abroad,

Forecasting that the steeds might pass with ease,

Nor start, as yet uncustom’d to the dead.

But when the son of Tydeus found the King,

Him also panting forth his last, last, breath,585

He added to the twelve; for at his head

An evil dream that night had stood, the form

Of Diomede, by Pallas’ art devised.

Meantime, the bold Ulysses loosed the steeds,

Which, to each other rein’d, he drove abroad,590

Smiting them with his bow (for of the scourge

He thought not in the chariot-seat secured)

And as he went, hiss’d, warning Diomede.

But he, projecting still some hardier deed,

Stood doubtful, whether by the pole to draw595

The chariot thence, laden with gorgeous arms,

Or whether heaving it on high, to bear

The burthen off, or whether yet to take

More Thracian lives; when him with various thoughts

Perplex’d, Minerva, drawing near, bespake.600

Son of bold Tydeus! think on thy return

To yonder fleet, lest thou depart constrain’d.

Some other God may rouse the powers of Troy.

She ended, and he knew the voice divine.

At once he mounted. With his bow the steeds605

Ulysses plyed, and to the ships they flew.

Nor look’d the bender of the silver bow,

Apollo, forth in vain, but at the sight

Of Pallas following Diomede incensed,

Descended to the field where numerous most610

He saw the Trojans, and the Thracian Chief

And counsellor, Hippocoön aroused,[19]

Kinsman of Rhesus, and renown’d in arms.

He, starting from his sleep, soon as he saw

The spot deserted where so lately lay615

Those fiery coursers, and his warrior friends

Gasping around him, sounded loud the name

Of his loved Rhesus. Instant, at the voice,

Wild stir arose and clamorous uproar

Of fast-assembling Trojans. Deeds they saw—620

Terrible deeds, and marvellous perform’d,

But not their authors—they had sought the ships.

Meantime arrived where they had slain the spy

Of Hector, there Ulysses, dear to Jove,

The coursers stay’d, and, leaping to the ground,625

The son of Tydeus in Ulysses’ hands

The arms of Dolon placed foul with his blood,

Then vaulted light into his seat again.

He lash’d the steeds, they, not unwilling, flew

To the deep-bellied barks, as to their home.630

First Nestor heard the sound, and thus he said.

Friends! Counsellors! and leaders of the Greeks!

False shall I speak, or true?—but speak I must.

The echoing sound of hoofs alarms my ear.

Oh, that Ulysses, and brave Diomede635

This moment might arrive drawn into camp

By Trojan steeds! But, ah, the dread I feel!

Lest some disaster have for ever quell’d

In yon rude host those noblest of the Greeks.

He hath not ended, when themselves arrived,640

Both quick dismounted; joy at their return

Fill’d every bosom; each with kind salute

Cordial, and right-hand welcome greeted them,

And first Gerenian Nestor thus inquired.

Oh Chief by all extoll’d, glory of Greece,645

Ulysses! how have ye these steeds acquired?

In yonder host? or met ye as ye went

Some God who gave them to you? for they show

A lustre dazzling as the beams of day.

Old as I am, I mingle yet in fight650

With Ilium’s sons—lurk never in the fleet—

Yet saw I at no time, or have remark’d

Steeds such as these; which therefore I believe

Perforce, that ye have gained by gift divine;

For cloud-assembler Jove, and azure-eyed655

Minerva, Jove’s own daughter, love you both.

To whom Ulysses, thus, discreet, replied.

Neleian Nestor, glory of the Greeks!

A God, so willing, could have given us steeds

Superior, for their bounty knows no bounds.660

But, venerable Chief! these which thou seest

Are Thracians new-arrived. Their master lies

Slain by the valiant Diomede, with twelve

The noblest of his warriors at his side,

A thirteenth[20] also, at small distance hence665

We slew, by Hector and the Chiefs of Troy

Sent to inspect the posture of our host.

He said; then, high in exultation, drove

The coursers o’er the trench, and with him pass’d

The glad Achaians; at the spacious tent670

Of Diomede arrived, with even thongs

They tied them at the cribs where stood the steeds

Of Tydeus’ son, with winnow’d wheat supplied.

Ulysses in his bark the gory spoils

Of Dolon placed, designing them a gift675

To Pallas. Then, descending to the sea,

Neck, thighs, and legs from sweat profuse they cleansed,

And, so refresh’d and purified, their last

Ablution in bright tepid baths perform’d.

Each thus completely laved, and with smooth oil680

Anointed, at the well-spread board they sat,

And quaff’d, in honor of Minerva, wine

Delicious, from the brimming beaker drawn.

The vividness of the scenes presented to us in this Book constitute its

chief beauty. The reader sees the most natural night-scene in the

world. He is led step by step with the adventurers, and made the

companion of all their expectations and uncertainties. We see the very

color of the sky; know the time to a minute; are impatient while the

heroes are arming; our imagination follows them, knows all their

doubts, and even the secret wishes of their hearts sent up to Minerva.

We are alarmed at the approach of Dolon, hear his very footsteps,

assist the two chiefs in pursuing him, and stop just with the spear

that arrests him. We are perfectly acquainted with the situation of all

the forces, with the figure in which they lie, with the disposition of

Rhesus and the Thracians, with the posture of his chariot and horses.

The marshy spot of ground where Dolon is killed, the tamarisk, or

aquatic plant upon which they hung his spoils, and the reeds that are

heaped together to mark the place, are circumstances the most

picturesque imaginable.

BOOK XI.

ARGUMENT OF THE ELEVENTH BOOK.

Agamemnon distinguishes himself. He is wounded, and retires. Diomede is

wounded by Paris; Ulysses by Socus. Ajax with Menelaus flies to the

relief of Ulysses, and Eurypylus, soon after, to the relief of Ajax.

While he is employed in assisting Ajax, he is shot in the thigh by

Paris, who also wounds Machaon. Nestor conveys Machaon from the field.

Achilles dispatches Patroclus to the tent of Nestor, and Nestor takes

that occasion to exhort Patroclus to engage in battle, clothed in the

armor of Achilles.

BOOK XI.