——“As thick as when a field
Of Ceres, ripe for harvest, waving bends
Her bearded grove of ears, which way the wind
Sways them.”—Paradise Lost, iv. 980.
“Alas! indomitable daughter of ægis-bearing Jove, thus now shall the
Argives fly home to their dear native land, over the broad back of the
deep, and leave to Priam glory, and to the Trojans Argive Helen, on
whose account many Greeks have perished at Troy, far from their dear
native land? But go now to the people of the brazen-mailed Greeks, and
restrain each man with thy own flattering words, nor suffer them to
launch to the sea their evenly-plied 91 barks.” Thus she spoke, nor did
the azure-eyed goddess Minerva refuse compliance. But she, hastening,
descended down from the summits of Olympus, and quickly reached the
swift ships of the Achæans. Then she found Ulysses, of equal weight
with Jove in counsel, standing still; nor was he touching his
well-benched, sable bark, since regret affected him in heart and mind.
But standing near him, azure-eyed Minerva said:
Footnote 91: (return) _I.e._ rowed on both sides. But Rost and Liddell
(s.v.) prefer “swaying, rocking on both sides.”
“Jove-sprung son of Laertes, Ulysses of many wiles, thus then will ye
fly home to your dear native land, embarking in your many-benched
ships? And will ye then leave to Priam glory, and to the Trojans Argive
Helen, on whose account many Greeks have fallen at Troy, far from their
dear native land? But go now to the people of the Greeks, delay not;
and restrain each man by thy own flattering words, nor suffer them to
launch to the sea their evenly-plied barks.”
Thus she spoke, but he knew the voice of the goddess speaking. Then he
hastened to run, and cast away his cloak, but the herald Eurybates, the
Ithacensian, who followed him, took it up. But he, meeting Agamemnon,
son of Atreus, received from him 92 the ever-imperishable paternal
sceptre, with which he went through the ships of the brazen-mailed
Greeks.
Footnote 92: (return) This is an instance of the σχῆμα Σικελικόν, as
in H. O. 88, γίνεται δε παραλαμξανομένης δοτικῆς πτώσεως άντι γενικῆς
και κατὰ παράλειψιν τού παρἁ προθέσεως.—Lesbonax, περί σχημ. ρ. 181,
ed. Valck.
Whatsoever king, indeed, or distinguished man he chanced to find
standing beside him, he checked him with gentle words:
“Strange man! it ill becomes thee, coward-like, to be in trepidation;
but both sit down thyself, and make the other people sit down, for thou
hast not as yet clearly ascertained what the intention of Atrides is.
He is now making trial of, and will quickly punish the sons of the
Greeks. We have not all heard what he said in council. Take care lest
he, being incensed, do some mischief to the sons of the Greeks. For the
anger of a Jove-nurtured king is great; his honour too is from Jove,
and great-counselling Jove loves him.”
But on the other hand, whatever man of the common people he chanced to
see, or find shouting out, him would he strike with the sceptre, and
reprove with words:
“Fellow, sit quietly, and listen to the voice of others, who are better
than thou; for thou art unwarlike and weak, nor ever of any account
either in war or in council. We Greeks cannot all by any means govern
here, for a government of many is not a good thing; 93 let there be but
one chief, one king, 94 to whom the son of wily Saturn has given a
sceptre, and laws, that he may govern among them.”
Footnote 93: (return) See Aristot. Polit. iv. 4, and Cicer. de Off. i.
8. This true maxim has been often abused by tyrants, as by Dion (Corn.
Nepos, Dion, § 6, 4), Caligula (Sueton. Cal. 22), and Domitian (id.
12).
Footnote 94: (return) On the aristocratic character of Homer’s poetry,
see Müller, Gk Lit. iv. § 2.
Thus he, acting as chief, was arranging the army. But they again rushed
with tumult from the ships and tents to an assembly, as when the waves
of the much-resounding sea roar against the lofty beach, and the deep
resounds.
The others indeed sat down, and were kept to their respective seats.
But Thersites alone, immediate in words, was wrangling; who, to wit,
knew in his mind expressions both unseemly and numerous, so as idly,
and not according to discipline, to wrangle with the princes, but [to
blurt out] whatever seemed to him to be matter of laughter to the
Greeks. And he was the ugliest man who came to Ilium. He was
bandy-legged, 95 and lame of one foot; his shoulders were crooked, and
contracted towards his breast; and his head was peaked 96 towards the
top, and thin woolly hair was scattered over it. To Achilles and
Ulysses he was particularly hostile, for these two he used to revile.
But on this occasion, shouting out shrilly, he uttered bitter taunts
against noble Agamemnon; but the Greeks were greatly irritated against
him, and were indignant in their minds. But vociferating aloud, he
reviled Agamemnon with words:
Footnote 95: (return) See Buttm. Lexil. p. 540, § 8.
Footnote 96: (return) See Buttm. p. 537, who derives φοζος from
φώγειν, _to dry_, as if φωξός, _warped by heat_.
“Son of Atreus, of what dost thou now complain, or what dost thou want?
Thy tents are full of brass, and many chosen women are in thy tents,
whom we Greeks bestow on thee the first of all, whenever we capture a
city. Dost thou still require gold, which some one of the horse-taming
Trojans shall bring from Troy, as a ransom for his son, whom I, or some
other of the Greeks, having bound, may lead away? Or a young maid, that
thou mayest be mingled in dalliance, and whom thou for thyself mayest
retain apart 97 [from the rest]? Indeed it becomes not a man who is
chief in command, to lead the sons of the Greeks into evil. Ο ye soft
ones, vile disgraces, Grecian dames, no longer Grecian men, 98 let us
return home, home! 99 with our ships, and let us leave him here to
digest his honours at Troy, that he may know whether we really aid him
in anything or not. He, who but just now has dishonoured Achilles, a
man much more valiant than himself; for, taking away, he retains his
prize, he himself having seized it. But assuredly there is not much
anger in the heart of Achilles; but he is forbearing; for truly, were
it not so, Ο son of Atreus, thou wouldest have insulted now for the
last time.”
Footnote 97: (return) Not being compelled to restore her, like the
daughter of Chryses.
Footnote 98: (return) Virg. Æn. ix. 617: “Ο vere Phrygiæ, neque enim
Phryges!”
Footnote 99: (return) This is Nägelsbach’s spirited rendering of
οίκαδε περ.
Thus spoke Thersites, reviling Agamemnon, the shepherd of the people.
But godlike Ulysses immediately stood beside him, and eyeing him with
scowling brow, reproached him with harsh language:
“Thersites, reckless babbler! noisy declaimer though thou be, refrain,
nor be forward singly to strive with princes; for I affirm that there
is not another mortal more base than thou, as many as came with the son
of Atreus to Ilium. Wherefore do not harangue, having kings in thy
mouth, nor cast reproaches against them, nor be on the watch for a
return. Not as yet indeed do we certainly know how these matters will
turn out, whether we sons of the Greeks shall return to our advantage
or disadvantage. Wherefore, now thou sittest reviling Agamemnon, son of
Atreus, the leader of the people, because the Grecian heroes give him
very many gifts, whilst thou, insulting, dost harangue. But I declare
to thee, which shall also be accomplished: if ever again I catch thee
raving, as now thou art, no longer may the head of Ulysses rest upon
his shoulders, and no longer may I be called the father of Telemachus,
unless I seizing thee divest thee of thy very garments, thy coat, thy
cloak, and those which cover thy loins; and send thyself weeping to the
swift ships, having beaten thee out of the assembly with severe blows.”
Thus he spoke, and smote him with the sceptre upon the back and the
shoulders; but he writhed, and plenteous tears fell from him, and a
bloody weal arose under the sceptre upon his back. But he sat down and
trembled; and grieving, looking foolish, he wiped away the tears. They,
although chagrined, laughed heartily at him, and thus one would say,
looking towards the person next him:
“O strange! surely ten thousand good deeds has Ulysses already
performed, both originating good counsels, and arousing the war. But
now has he done this by far the best deed amongst the Greeks, in that
he has restrained this foul-mouthed reviler from his harangues. Surely
his petulant mind will not again urge him to chide the kings with
scurrilous language.”
Thus spake the multitude; but Ulysses, the sacker of cities, arose,
holding the sceptre, and beside him azure-eyed Minerva, likened unto a
herald, ordered the people to be silent, that at the same time the sons
of the Greeks, both first and last, might hear his speech, and weigh
his counsel. He wisely counselling, addressed them, and said:
“O son of Atreus, the Greeks wish to render thee now, O king, the
meanest amongst articulately-speaking men; nor perform their promise to
thee, 100 which they held forth, coming hither from steed-nourishing
Argos, that thou shouldest return home, having destroyed well-fortified
Ilium. For, like tender boys, or widowed women, they bewail unto one
another to return home. And truly it is a hardship to return [so],
having been grieved. For he is impatient who is absent even for a
single month from his wife, remaining with his many-benched ship, 101
though wintry storms and the boisterous sea may be hemming in; 102 but
to us it is [now] the ninth revolving year since we have been lingering
here. Wherefore I am not indignant that the Greeks are growing
impatient by their curved ships; but still it would be disgraceful both
to remain here so long, and to return ineffectually. Endure, my
friends, and remain yet awhile, that we may know whether Calchas
prophesies truly or not. For this we well know, and ye are all
witnesses, whom the Fates of death carried not off yesterday and the
day before, when the ships of the Greeks were collected at Aulis,
bearing evils to Priam and the Trojans, and we round about the
fountain, at the sacred altars, offered perfect hecatombs to the
immortals, beneath a beauteous plane-tree, whence flowed limpid water.
103 There a great prodigy appeared; a serpent, spotted on the back,
horrible, which the Olympian himself had sent forth into the light,
having glided out from beneath the altar, proceeded forthwith to the
plane-tree. And there were the young of a sparrow, an infant offspring,
on a topmost branch, cowering amongst the foliage, eight in number; but
the mother, which had brought forth the young ones, was the ninth.
Thereupon he devoured them, twittering piteously, while the mother kept
fluttering about, lamenting her dear young; but then, having turned
himself about, he seized her by the wing, screaming around. But after
he had devoured the young of the sparrow, and herself, the god who had
displayed him rendered him very portentous, for the son of wily Saturn
changed him into a stone; but we, standing by, were astonished at what
happened. Thus, therefore, the dreadful portents of the gods approached
the hecatombs. Calchas, then, immediately addressed us, revealing from
the gods: ‘Why are ye become silent, ye waving-crested Greeks? For us,
indeed, provident Jove has shown a great sign, late, of late
accomplishment, the renown of which shall never perish. As this
[serpent] has devoured the young of the sparrow, eight in number, and
herself, the mother which brought out the brood, was the ninth, so must
we for as many years 104 wage war here, but in the tenth we shall take
the wide-wayed city.’ He indeed thus harangued: and all these things
are now in course of accomplishment. But come, ye well-greaved Greeks,
remain all here, until we shall take the great city of Priam.”
Footnote 100: (return) See Grote, vol. i. p. 392, n. 2.
Footnote 101: (return) I have followed Wolf, taking σὺν υνὶ πολυζύγῳ
in connection with μενών. Others most awkwardly make σὺν=παρά.
Footnote 102: (return) Cf. Buttm. Lexil. s. v. εἰλεῖν.
Footnote 103: (return) Pausanias, ix. 20, says that both the spring
and the remains of the tree were shown in his time. The whole of this
fable has been translated into verse by Cicero, de Div. ii. 30. Compare
the following passage of Apuleius de Deo Socr. p. 52, ed. Elm. “Calchas
longe præstabilis ariolari, simul alites et arborem contemplatus est,
actutum sua divinitate et tempestates flexit, et classem deduxit, et
decennium prædixit.”
Footnote 104: (return) _I. e._ for nine. It is remarkable that so
little notice has been taken of this story by the later poets. But the
sacrifice of Iphigenia was a more attractive subject for tragedy or
episode, and took the place of the Homeric legend.
Thus he [Ulysses] spoke, and the Greeks loudly shouted, applauding the
speech of divine Ulysses; but all around the ships echoed fearfully, by
reason of the Greeks shouting. Then the Gerenian 105 knight Nestor
addressed them:
“O strange! assuredly now ye are talking like infant children, with
whom warlike achievements are of no account. Whither then will your
compacts and oaths depart? Into the fire now must the counsels and
thoughts of men have sunk, and the unmixed libations, and the right
hands in which we trusted; for in vain do we dispute with words, nor
can we discover any resource, although we have been here for a long
time. But do thou, O son of Atreus, maintaining, as before, thy purpose
firm, command the Greeks in the hard-fought conflicts; and abandon
those to perish, one and both, 106 who, separated from the Greeks, are
meditating [but success shall not attend them] to return back to Argos,
before they know whether the promise of ægis-bearing Jove be false or
not. For I say that the powerful son of Saturn assented on that day,
when the Argives embarked in their swift ships, bearing death and fate
to the Trojans, flashing 107 his lightning on the right, and showing
propitious signs. Let not any one, therefore, hasten to return home
before each has slept with a Trojan wife, and has avenged the cares 108
and griefs of Helen. But if any one is extravagantly eager to return
home, let him lay hands upon his well-benched black ship, that he may
draw on death and fate before others. But do thou thyself deliberate
well, O king, and attend to another; nor shall the advice which I am
about to utter be discarded. Separate the troops, Agamemnon, according
to their tribes and clans, that kindred may support kindred, and clan.
If thou wilt thus act, and the Greeks obey, thou wilt then ascertain
which of the generals and which of the soldiers is a dastard, and which
of them may be brave, for they will fight their best, 109 and thou wilt
likewise learn whether it is by the divine interposition that thou art
destined not to dismantle the city, or by the cowardice of the troops,
and their unskilfulness in war.”
Footnote 105: (return) Nestor took this name from a city of Messena
(_Gerenium_, _a_, or _ia_. See Arnold, and Pinedo on Steph. Byz. s.v.
Γερηνία), where he was brought up, probably after Pylos had been
destroyed by Hercules.
Footnote 106: (return) Proverbially meaning a few, but probably
referring to Achilles and Thersites. See the Scholiast.
Footnote 107: (return) Observe this bold change of construction, and
compare Valck. on Lesbonax, at the end of his edition of Ammonius, p.
188.
Footnote 108: (return) Hesych. ὁρμήματα, μερίμναι. Etym. Μ.
ἐνθυμήματα, φροντίδες. See Buttm. Lexil. p. 440, sqq. Helen certainly
shows some repentance in iii. 176.
Footnote 109: (return) “Pro virili parte,” Wolf. Cf. i. 271.
But him answering, king Agamemnon addressed: “Old man, now indeed, as
at other times, dost thou excel the sons of the Greeks in council. For,
would, O father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, that I were possessed of ten
such fellow-counsellors among the Greeks! So should the city of Priam
quickly fall, captured and destroyed by our hands. But upon me hath
ægis-bearing Jove, the son of Saturn, sent sorrow, who casts me into
unavailing strifes and contentions. For I and Achilles have quarrelled
on account of a maid with opposing words: but I began quarrelling. But
if ever we shall consult in common, no longer then shall there be a
respite from evil to the Trojans, no, not for ever so short a time. Now
go to your repast, that we may join battle. Let each one well sharpen
his spear, and well prepare 110 his shield. Let him give fodder to his
swift-footed steeds, and let each one, looking well to his chariot, get
ready for war; that we may contend all day in the dreadful battle. Nor
shall there be a cessation, not for ever so short a while, until night
coming on shall part the wrath of the heroes. The belt of the
man-protecting 111 shield shall be moist with sweat around the breasts
of each one, and he shall weary his hand round his spear; and each
one’s horse shall sweat, dragging the well-polished chariot. But
whomsoever I shall perceive desirous to remain at the beaked ships,
apart from the battle, it will not be possible for him afterwards to
escape the dogs and the birds.”
Thus he spoke, but the Argives shouted aloud, as when a wave [roars]
against the steep shore, when the south wind urges it, coming against
an out-jutting rock; for this the billows from all kinds of winds never
forsake, when they may be here or there. And rising up, the people
hastened forth, scattered from ship to ship, and raised up smoke among
the tents, and took repast. And one sacrificed to some one of the
immortal gods, and [another to another,] praying to escape death and
the slaughter of war. But king Agamemnon offered up a fat ox, of five
years old, to the powerful son of Saturn, and summoned the elder chiefs
of all the Greeks, Nestor first of all, and king Idomeneus, but next
the two Ajaxes, 112 and the son of Tydeus, and sixth Ulysses, of equal
weight with Jove in council. But Menelaus, valiant in the din 113 of
war, came of his own accord, 114 for he knew his brother in his heart,
how he was oppressed. Then they stood around the ox, and raised up the
pounded barley cakes: and king Agamemnon, praying amidst them, said:
Footnote 110: (return) Schol. εύτρεπισάτω.
Footnote 111: (return) These shields were so large, that they covered
nearly the whole person.
Footnote 112: (return) One the son of Telamon, the other the son of
Oïleus.
Footnote 113: (return) This translation is, I think, far bolder than
“loud-voiced,” or “good in the battle-shout.” Βοῂ contains the whole
idea of the tumultuous noise heard in the heat of battle, and thence
the battle itself. Thus the Schol. ὁ ἐv τῷ πολἐμω γενναἲος; and Hesych.
κατὰ τῂν μάχην ανδρεἲος.
Footnote 114: (return) Opposed to κλητὸς, as in Oppian, Hal. iii. 360,
κλητοί τ’ αύτό μολοί τε. See Plato Sympos. p. 315, G. Læm. Why Menelaus
did so, is no matter to us, and probably was no mystery to his brother.
“O Jove, most glorious, most great dark-cloud-collector, dwelling in
the air, may not the sun set, nor darkness come on, before I have laid
prostrate Priam’s hall, blazing, and consumed its gates with the
hostile fire; and cut away Hector’s coat of mail around his breast,
split asunder with the brass; and around him may many comrades, prone
in the dust, seize the earth with their teeth.”
Thus he spoke, nor as yet did the son of Saturn assent, but he accepted
the offering, and increased abundant toil. But after they had prayed,
and thrown forward the bruised barley, they first drew back [the neck
of the victim,] slew it, and flayed it, then cut out the thighs, and
covered them in the fat, having arranged it in a double fold, and then
laid the raw flesh upon them. And they roasted them upon leafless
billets. Next, having pierced the entrails with spits, they held them
over the fire. But then, after the thighs were roasted, and they had
tasted the entrails, they cut the rest of them into small pieces, and
fixed them on spits, and roasted them skilfully, and drew them all off
[the spits]. But when they had ceased from labour, and had prepared the
banquet, they feasted; nor did their soul in anywise lack a due
allowance of the feast. But when they had dismissed the desire of drink
and food, them the Gerenian knight Nestor began to address:
“Most glorious son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, let us now no
longer sit prating 115 here, nor let us long defer the work which the
deity now delivers into our hands. But come, let the heralds of the
brazen-mailed Greeks, summoning the people, assemble them at the ships,
and let us thus in a body pass through the wide army of the Greeks,
that we may the sooner awaken keen warfare.”
Footnote 115: (return) See Buttm. Lexil. p. 398, Anthon, and Arnold.
Thus he spoke, nor did Agamemnon, king of men, refuse compliance.
Immediately he ordered the clear-voiced heralds to summon the
waving-crested Greeks to battle. These then gave the summons, and they
were hastily assembled, and the Jove-nurtured kings, who were with the
son of Atreus, kept hurrying about arranging them. But amongst them was
azure-eyed Minerva, holding the inestimable ægis, which grows not old,
and is immortal: from which one hundred golden fringes were suspended,
all well woven, and each worth a hundred oxen in price. With this she,
looking fiercely about, 116 traversed the host of the Greeks, inciting
them to advance, and kindled strength in the breast of each to fight
and contend unceasingly. Thus war became instantly sweeter to them than
to return in the hollow ships to their dear native land.
As when a destructive 117 fire consumes an immense forest upon the tops
of a mountain, and the gleam is seen from afar: so, as they advanced,
the radiance from the beaming brass glittering on all sides reached
heaven through the air.
Footnote 116: (return) See Liddell and Scott.
Footnote 117: (return) Literally “invisible.” Hence “making invisible,
destructive.” Cf. Buttm. Lex. s. v. ἀΐδηλος.
And of these—like as the numerous nations of winged fowl, of geese, or
cranes, or long-necked swans, on the Asian mead, by the waters of
Cayster, fly on this side and on that, disporting with their wings,
alighting beside each other clamorously, and the meadow resounds—so the
numerous nations of these [the Greeks] from the ships and tents poured
themselves forth into the plain of Scamander, countless as the flowers
and leaves are produced in spring.
As the numerous swarms of clustering flies which congregate round the
shepherd’s pen in the spring season, when too the milk overflows the
pails; so numerous stood the head-crested Greeks upon the plain against
the Trojans, eager to break [their lines].
And these, 118 as goat-herds easily separate the broad flocks of the
goats, when they are mingled in the pasture, so did the generals here
and there marshal them to go to battle; and among them commander
Agamemnon, resembling, as to his eyes and head, the thunder-delighting
Jove, as to his middle, Mars, and as to his breast, Neptune.
Footnote 118: (return) In τοὺς δὲ there is an anacoluthon similar to
the one in vs. 459
As a bull in the herd is greatly eminent above all, for he surpasses
the collected cattle, such on that day did Jove render Agamemnon,
distinguished amongst many, and conspicuous amongst heroes.
Tell me now, ye Muses, who possess the Olympian mansions (for ye are
goddesses, and are [ever] present, and ken all things, whilst we hear
but a rumour, nor know anything 119), who were the leaders and chiefs
of the Greeks. For I could not recount nor tell the multitude, not even
if ten tongues, and ten mouths were mine, [not though] a voice
unwearied, 120 and a brazen heart were within me; unless the Olympic
Muses, daughters of ægis-bearing Jove, reminded me of how many came to
Ilium. However, I will rehearse the commanders of the ships, and all
the ships.