—“On th’ other side
Incensed with indignation Satan stood
Unterrified, and like a comet burn’d,
That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge
In th’ arctic sky, and from his horrid hair
Shakes pestilence and war.”
“Thou hast injured me, O Far-darter, most destructive of all gods,
having now turned me away hither from the wall; certainly many had now
seized the earth with their teeth, before they had arrived at Ilium.
But now hast thou deprived me of great glory, and hast preserved them
easily, for thou didst not at all dread vengeance after. Certainly I
would punish thee, if the power at least were mine.”
Thus saying, he went towards the city greatly elate, hastening like a
steed which bears away the prize, with his chariot, which striving
hard, runs swiftly over the plain. So Achilles briskly moved his feet
and his knees.
But him aged Priam first beheld with his eyes, rushing over the plain,
all shining like a star which rises in autumn; and its resplendent rays
shine among many stars in the depth of the night, which by name they
call the dog of Orion. Very bright indeed is this, but it is a baleful
sign, and brings violent heat upon miserable mortals. So shone the
brass round the breast of him running. But the old man groaned, and
smote his head with his hands, raising them on high, 696 and, groaning,
he cried out greatly, supplicating his dear son. But he stood before
the Scæan gates, insatiably eager to fight with Achilles; but the old
man piteously addressed him, stretching out his hands:
Footnote 696: (return) On this gesture of grief, see Gorius, Monum.
Columb. p. 12.
“O Hector, do not, my beloved son, await this man alone, without
others; lest that thou shouldst speedily draw on fate, subdued by the
son of Peleus; since he is much more powerful. Cruel! would that he
were [only] as dear to the gods as he is to me; quickly then would the
dogs and vultures devour him lying low; surely sad grief would then
depart from my heart. He who has made me deprived of many and brave
sons, slaying, and selling them into far-distant islands. For even now
the Trojans being shut up in the city, I cannot see my two sons, Lycaon
and Polydorus, whom Laothoë bore to me, queen among women. But if
indeed they live at the camp, surely we will afterwards redeem them
with brass and with gold; for it is within; for aged Altes, renowned by
fame, gave many things to his daughter. But if they are already dead,
and in the mansions of Hades, grief will be to my soul, and to their
mother, we who gave them birth. But to the other people the grief will
be shorter, if thou shouldst not die, subdued by Achilles. But come
inside the wall, O my son, that thou mayest save the Trojan men and
women, nor afford great glory to the son of Peleus, and thou thyself be
deprived of thy dear life. Moreover, pity me, wretched, yet still
preserving my senses, 697 unhappy, whom the Saturnian sire will destroy
by grievous fate, upon the threshold of old age, having seen many
evils, 698 my sons slain, my daughters dragged captives, their chambers
plundered, and my infant children dashed upon the earth in dire
hostility, and my daughters-in-law torn away by the pernicious hands of
the Greeks. And myself perhaps the last—the raw-devouring dogs, whom I
have nourished in my palaces, the attendants of my table, the guards of
my portals, will tear at the entrance of the gates, 699 after some one,
having stricken or wounded me with the sharp brass, shall take away my
soul from my limbs; and who, drinking my blood, will lie in the porch,
infuriated in mind. To a young man, indeed, slain in battle, lacerated
with the sharp brass, it is altogether becoming to lie, for all things
are honourable to him dead, whatever may appear; but when dogs
dishonour the grey head, the hoary beard, and privy members of an old
man slain, that is indeed most pitiable among wretched mortals.”
Footnote 697: (return) _I.e._ alive. Cf. xxiii.
Footnote 698: (return) On the proverbial woes of Priam, cf. Aristotle
Eth. i. 9, 10; and Ennius, fragm. Andromach. p. 236—9, with the notes
of Columna, ed. Hessel.
Footnote 699: (return) Cf. Virg. Æn. ii. 550, sqq., who has imitated
this passage in his description of the death of Priam.
The old man spoke, and tore out the hoary locks with his hands,
plucking them from his head; nor did he persuade the mind of Hector.
But his mother, then on the other side, wailing, shed tears, laying
bare her bosom, whilst with the other hand she laid forth her breast;
and shedding tears, addressed to him winged words: “Ο Hector, my son,
reverence these things, and pity me myself. If ever I afforded thee the
grief-lulling breast, remember these things, O dear son; and being
within the wall, repel [this] hostile man; nor stand a foremost
adversary to him. Wretched one! for if he shall slay thee, neither
shall I mourn thee on the couch, my dear offspring, whom I myself
brought forth, nor will thy rich-dowered wife; but far away from us
both, the swift dogs will devour thee at the ships of the Greeks.”
Thus weeping, they twain addressed their dear son, supplicating him
much; nor did they persuade the mind of Hector; but he awaited huge
Achilles, coming near. And as a fierce serpent at its den, fed on evil
poisons, awaits 700 a man, but direful rage enters it, and it glares
horribly, coiling itself around its den; so Hector, possessing
inextinguishable courage, retired not, leaning his splendid shield
against a projecting tower; but, indignant, he thus addressed his own
great-hearted soul: 701
“Ah me, if indeed I enter the gates and the wall, Polydamas will first
cast reproach upon me, 702 he who advised me to lead the Trojans
towards the city in this disastrous night, when noble Achilles arose to
battle. But I did not obey; certainly it would have been much better.
And now, since by my injurious obstinacy I have destroyed the people, I
fear the Trojan men, and the long-robed Trojan women, lest some one
inferior to me should say, ‘Hector, relying on his own strength, has
destroyed the people.’ Thus will they say; but it would have been far
better for me, slaying Achilles in the encounter, 703 to return, or
gloriously to be slain by him for the city. But if now I shall lay down
my bossed shield and stout helmet, and, resting my spear against the
wall, I myself going, shall come before renowned Achilles, and promise
that we will give to the Atrides to lead away Helen, and all the
numerous possessions along with her, whatever Paris brought to Troy in
his hollow barks, and who was the origin of the contention, and at the
same time that we will divide others, as many as this city contains,
among the Greeks,—but again I should exact an oath from the elders of
the Trojans, 704 that they would conceal nothing, but divide all things
into two portions, whatever treasure this delightful city contains
within it. Yet why does my soul discuss such things? [I dread] lest I,
going, should reach him, but he pity me not, nor at all respect me, but
slay me, being thus naked, as a woman, after I have put off my armour.
Nor, indeed, is it now allowed to converse with him from an oak, or
from a rock, as a virgin and a youth; a virgin and youth converse with
one another. But it is better to engage him in strife; that as soon as
possible we may know to which, indeed, the Olympian [Jove] will give
glory.”
Footnote 700: (return) Hesych. χειά’ ή κατάδυσις των οφεων και
δρακόντων.